Aug 5 2011

Does BranchOut Have the Muscle to Take On LinkedIn and a Crowded Social Media Landscape?

August 5, 2011 – 9:05 am

Branchout muscle

By Jeff Wilson, APR (@wilson0507)

It seems that every few months there is a new social media darling that becomes all the rage. Right now, it’s Google+. While folks are starting to set up Google+ “circles,” there has been another social media player that has stealthily been invading my Facebook newsfeed.

Slowly and steadily many of my Facebook friends have begun asking me to BranchOut. Launched about a year ago, BranchOut is a professional social network that allows you to find jobs through your friends on Facebook.

“BranchOut’s Facebook app lets you search for companies and then shows you all your friends who either work there or know somebody who does. The application does what LinkedIn hasn’t done with Facebook – it unlocks the massive amounts of career data about your social graph on the world’s largest social network that was just impossible to get to before,” according to TechCruch.

But does BranchOut have the muscle to take on Linkedin – with its 100 million users – and make a name for itself in a crowded social media landscape?

Several investors seem to think so.

BranchOut recently raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Redpoint Ventures with Accel Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Floodgate also participating in the round. This investment brings BranchOut’s total funding to $24 million.

If You Build It, They Will Come

But it’s not just investors flocking to BranchOut. It now has more than 3 million jobs listing, including 20,000 internship opportunities, and 3 million users, according to Rick Marini, founder and CEO of BranchOut.

But long term, the verdict is still out on whether people will want to mix their business and personal networks.

“If BranchOut can overcome this concern, it could become a viable alternative for those who are comfortable using Facebook for professional networking or don’t want to build a new professional network on LinkedIn,” reports Forbes.

And don’t think LinkedIn is taking this new threat lightly. Once, LinkedIn was criticized for being too static. For most users – like me – it was a place to maintain a resume and view other users’ resumes. But that was it.

But the company extended its offerings to better engage its users, most notably with the runaway success of LinkedIn Groups in August 2008 and more recently the launch of LinkedIn Daily in March of this year. The user base interacts more frequently on LinkedIn now, reports ere.net.

LinkedIn is so confident in its future, that it launched an initial public offering (IPO) in mid-May, where its shares jumped 80 percent. So far, so good. It’s stock was trading at $95.52 yesterday.

Besides trying to take on the well-established LinkedIn, another issue that BranchOut – and all the other new social networks face – may be “social media fatigue” from users. Personally, it can get pretty time-consuming having to update my status and create posts on so many different platforms.

Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. YouTube. Foursquare. Now Google+. The list goes on and on. Do we have time for BranchOut, too?social-media-buttons-texture

Marini is optimistic.

“LinkedIn is a great service. [BrandOut is] addressing a different market. LinkedIn tends to have the top 10 percent, white collar, managerial roles. We’re trying to address everyone else. The other 90 percent. The college students. The hourly and temporary workers. Nurses. Teachers. Fireman. Military coming back and getting into the workforce,” Marini told ABC News. “We’re trying to address a market that really has never been spoken to before. All of these users aren’t on LinkedIn. They’re on Facebook. And we have the ability to give them a professional voice on Facebook.”

In the end, BranchOut isn’t focusing on fun and games. It’s about networking and getting jobs. And in this economy, that might just be the hook to make it a hit.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jeff Wilson | Posted in Search Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (3)
Aug 4 2011

Healthcare no longer a spectator sport for employers

August 4, 2011 – 7:00 am

By Lisa Kersey

Employers are tired of watching the rising costs of employee healthcare erode their bottom line. While many have reduced their contributions to benchemployee premiums, penalized smokers, and even cut benefits altogether, it has not been enough. What’s more, according to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, employer costs as percentage of payroll vary significantly across workers and settings, compounding the shared challenge facing policy makers, employers and employees to find an affordable health insurance solution. Health reform legislation has further upped the ante, forcing benefit plans to comply with new laws, such as removing lifetime limits and pre-existing condition exclusions for children. While some would argue that these are noble, and even necessary changes, employers are too busy working with their human resource and legal teams to figure out the ripple effect of these changes and how they need to respond.

Businesses are taking different approaches to address employee healthcare needs. According to a recent study by Mercer, a benefits consulting firm, the number of large companies offering on-site health centers has increased by 4 percent in one year. By the same token, a recent Los Angeles Times article reported that major employers across the country are realizing that employer-sponsored clinics not only improve productivity and decrease absenteeism, they’re also less expensive than traditional health care.

One of the largest employers embracing in-house healthcare services is American Express. Currently, it only offers on-site services for urgent care needs , but it’s planning to provide preventive services and screenings in the future. More and more companies are realizing there is real economic benefit to bringing health services in-house. While some employers are hiring their own clinical providers, others are outsourcing the staffing of their health centers. In fact, the outsourcing option is rejuvenating the clinical staffing and management industry. One of the industry leaders has already doubled its business in the past three years and expects more of the same as employers explore B2B partnerships to reign in their health-related expenditures.


Despite the emergence of these models, National Business Group on Health, conducted a survey of large employers which showed that many employers are still relying on a variety of cost-sharing strategies to help control health-related costs. The most common strategy, increasing the employee percentage contribution to the premium, has been adopted by 63 percent, up 6 percent from 2010. Meanwhile, the number of employers that have raised out-of-pocket maximums has increased by 10 percent in the past year. Must we really revisit the definition of insanity??

baseballBetween stimulus funding, venture capitalism and pure economic principles, employers cannot honestly hope to cost-share their way out of this conundrum. There’s a lot of innovative thinking going on out there and there are a number of B2B opportunities for creating a healthier workplace. If you want to remain viable and competitive for the long term, and if you want to do your part to bend the healthcare cost curve, as a corporate citizen, even a U.S. citizen, try something different! Suit up Chief Executive Officers, Human Resource Executives, Business Development Executives and Chief Financial Officers! It’s your turn at bat in the World Series of Healthcare.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Lisa Kersey | Posted in Healthcare | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)
Aug 3 2011

Social Drinking…With a Little Help from My Friends

August 3, 2011 – 9:53 am

THE BOOZE BIN

By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara)

drunk-tweeting_SocialMediaJam Ok, I’ll admit it. I drink and tweet.

It’s usually not a great idea though, not only because one’s ability to self-edit after a few glasses is significantly weakened, but more importantly because it’s just hard to keep track of what I’ve tasted. I’ve written over 2,600 tweets, so the likelihood of finding one tweet about that awesome Tempranillo is pretty slim.

When I used to work for a boutique chain of wine shops, one of the most common inquiries from customers would go something like this:

I had this great wine the other week, but I can’t remember the name. It was an AWESOME red with a picture of an animal on the front…like a deer, or maybe a dog. I think the label was blue. Do you know it?

Since that narrowed it down to about a million wines, I’d usually just ask what kinds of wine they liked, their price range and what they were making for dinner, and go from there. More often now, people take smart phone pictures of favorite wines, and bring this into a store. I’ve personally taken so many pictures of wine labels at this point, I’ve had to download them onto my desktop to clear space.

One of the greatest inventions for wine lovers of late is the wine app. There are a million out there now, so our friends at VinTacrushd_logo_1000nk put together a great wine app report last spring reviewing the best of the best. Just recently, however, a cool, free iPhone wine app called Crushd launched at last month’s Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. It solves a few problems mentioned above, plus puts the social back in social drinking.

 Crushd_screenshot_03 Crushd is a straight-forward wine app with a user-friendly interface, combining the wine review concept of other apps like Drync, WineLog and HelloVino, with the social networking and geotagging capabilities of Twitter and Foursquare. This app allows you to share wine reviews and pictures with friends, but even cooler, if your friend has “crushd” a wine, you can click on the shopping cart icon to find out where to buy it nearby. As my own social group’s resident wine dork, I’m often asked for wine recommendations. Crushd would allow my friends instant advice without having to text me from the store.

Not that Crushd can replace your local, friendly wine steward (if you find that wine you love, ask your wine merchant for other similar recommendations!), but there’s nothing better than a recommendation from a friend. That is, except for sharing a glass or two in person with that friend. That’s definitely better.

If you decide to join the Crushd community, you can follow me (piamara) and my upcoming tasting shenanigans. Android users, the app is coming your way soon. Don’t just take my advice…here are a few other recent reviews on the wine app: Wine Harlots and Cork_Dork.

Photos courtesy of Social Media Jam and Crushd.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Pia Mara Finkell | Posted in The Booze Bin, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (5)
Aug 2 2011

Weibo Out-Socials Socialism

August 2, 2011 – 6:00 am

china_train_crash

by Mike Mulvihill

Isn’t it interesting how social media empowers people in socialistic countries where the government neither protects nor encourages a free press?

On July 30, China Media Project Director Qian Gang delivered a radio address to the journalists of China and Hong Kong. His remarks highlighted the remarkably candid, bold and broad coverage by mainland Chinese media of the July 23 collision of two high speed trains on a Beijing to Shanghai line in Wenzhou that left 40 dead and nearly 200 injured.

As he spoke of this “rare high point” in Chinese media coverage, freedom of the press was being undermined by government censorship. A July 29 government notice was being put into effect demanding Chinese media immediately tone down their reporting and commentary of the now week old train crash. Newspaper editors were forced to destroy their Saturday editions, investigative articles with cartoons and unrelated stories.

An excerpt from the directive read:

“Latest demands on the Wenzhou train collision accident: 1. Figures on the number of dead must follow numbers from authoritative departments; 2. Frequency of reports must not be too dense; 3. More reporting should be done on stories that are extremely moving, for example people donating blood and taxi drivers not accepting fares; 4. There must be no seeking after the causes [of the accident], rather, statements from authoritative departments must be followed; 5. No looking back and no commentary.

” . . . From now on, the Wenzhou train accident should be reported along the theme of ‘major love in the face of major disaster’. No calling into doubt, no development [of further issues], no speculation, and no dissemination [of such things] on personal microblogs! . . . ”

The earlier “un-toned down” media reports had accused the government of safety lapses and attempts to hide mistakes. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported widespread public outrage at the government’s handling of the deadly crash, including moves to bury at least one wrecked passenger carriage before determining the cause of the collision after an online video showed a passenger car being buried at the site of the crash. The video sparked what Xinhua described as “concerns the true reason for the crash might be buried along with it.”

Beijing’s efforts at squashing the story (as well as fodder for concerns about a potential cover up) stem from scandal and mismanagement within China’s ambitious railway building program. The previous railways minister, Liu Zhijun, was forced to resign in February amid allegations that millions of dollars were embezzled from the program. The ministry managed more than $100 billion in high-speed rail projects last year, and China plans to build about 100,000 miles of high speed railway by the year 2020.

Social Media Fills The Void

Despite the directive to report only from state-run media, many online news outlets criticized the government openly.

After censors stepped up demands for the coverage to stop, users of the Chinese hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, Weibo (Chinese for microblogging), began posting messages denouncing the clampdown. In fact, the story broke on Weibo.

“Our train bumped into something. Our carriage has fallen onto its side. Children are screaming . . . Come to help us please! Come fast!” Those were the words immediately posted on July 23 via a Weibo account of a passenger on the train; the first in a string of similar microblogging messages sent over the Sina Corp (SINA) and Tencent Holdings microblogging sites that combined, have more users than Twitter has worldwide. In 10 hours, her plea was reposted 100,000 times. In the following week, there were 10 million messages about the crash on Sina’s Weibo and 20 million on Tencent’s QQ.com Weibo, the other major Chinese micro blog.

All in all, some 20 million micro-bloggers demonstrated their newsmaking ability. Anyone who had a Weibo account and received those messages would likely have turned on their local news to see what was going on beyond the short Weibo message.

During the two-year history of micro blogs in China, bloggers have claimed other successes. In March, they pushed a city government to not to cut down 600 old trees, and organized help for earthquake victims in Japan. In July, they put the Red Cross Society of China and its financial operations under public scrutiny

As reported in Forbes, Lu Yuegang, a former investigative reporter for the Party-run China Youth Daily, told Reuters, “These days, efforts to seal off the flow of opinion can’t work like it did before.”

Stand aside China, you can’t stop social media from undoing decades of socialistic government censorship.

PHOTO: listoplenty.com

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (4)
Aug 1 2011

Don’t Throw Email Marketing Out of the Mix, Not Yet

August 1, 2011 – 3:03 pm

By Priya Ramesh (@newpr)

Email Open Rates Speak Louder Than “Likes” and “Follows”

email-marketing-worksCan’t believe its August already and CRT/tanaka clients are busy planning for 2012 campaigns. As we help them put together an integrated strategy (traditional + digital), one key observation we made based on first half of 2011 results is that Email Marketing still continues to be a cost-effective tactic for several of our clients especially in the B2C and B2B space. Consider the following and you will see what I mean:

  • 88% of B2C firms currently use e-mail marketing and another 10% planning to use before December 2011. – Forrester. “How US Marketers Use Email” (2011)
  • The majority of B2B firms (71%) use e-mail marketing, 16% don’t plan to in the next 12 months. – Forrester. “How US Marketers Use Email” (2011)
  • Email is the preferred method of commercial communication by 74% of all online adults. – Merkle “View From the Digital Inbox 2011″ (2011)
  • 63 % of mobile email users check the account a minimum of once per day. – Merkle “View From the Digital Inbox 2011″ (2011)
  • In 2010, 43% of online population believe that email is ‘fun’, compared to 55% in 2008. – Merkle “View From the Digital Inbox 2011″ (2011)

Courtesy: http://emailstatcenter.com/Usage.html

Okay, so you get the point: Email Marketing still needs to be part of your marketing mix. I whole heartedly agree with marketing expert, Seth Godin who said, “email the most personal advertising medium in history,” in his book Permission Marketing.  The bigger question is: Does your email campaign make your customers want to put you in the “Report as Spam” folder or actually read what you have to say? I think it’s worth re-visiting email marketing basics as we all go back to the drawing board for our 2012 PR and Marketing campaigns.

Lead with a CREATIVE Subject Line to Increase Open Rate

The subject line of your email needs to make me want to open your email. Can you be a little different? A little humor may be? Why is it so hard for us brand marketers to try to add some fun and creativity to increase our chances of getting heard? I will be honest I ONLY click vendor emails that have a subject line that sparks my interest on a hot topic or at the least is humorous. A plain old subject line will not cut it. Yeah we all know how many emails we get on a given day. A few examples of effective subject lines from Janine Popick (@janinepopick) in her blog post “Subject lines for B2B email marketing that work.”

  • How to Impress Your Cranky CFO – Save $1000
  • Secure Your SaaS Application (White paper Included) –
    (tells) you there is something tangible in it for you right in the subject line.

Treat your subject line as the resume that gets the interview.

Leverage Video to Increase Email Marketing Results

Since we all like stats ‘cos we are nerds like that, let me show you what a simple video can do to your email marketing campaign:

  • Online video is second to word of mouth for the ability to influence decision makers
  • Adding video to email results in 2x to 3x increase in the click through rate (Forrester)
  • Video generated 373% more leads than white paper downloads at 60% less cost (Searchmarketingsage)

If you think of the subject line as the resume to get the interview, the video content is like the first response you give to your interviewers. What you say and how you say it makes a huge impact. So why not deliver your key message via video to increase the attention span of your readers? A good place to start thinking about leveraging videos to your email campaigns is Constant Contact’s tutorial available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbKXjAyMBLM.

Provide a Specific Call to Action on Email Campaigns:

Unfortunately this is the part that most marketers fail to identify on their email campaigns. In some cases, they provide too many calls to action and lose their customers’ attention. Your call to action needs to be SIMPLE and EASY to get the desired action. If the desired action is to increase web traffic or to get 500+ downloads to a whitepaper etc. then the call to action needs to direct your readers towards that specific goal. I personally think there should be just ONE call to action to maximize your success rate. It’s very easy to turn off your audience if you give them to too many options to further engage with your brand. Check out what differentiates wimpy calls to action from strong ones from http://emailcritic.com/2011/03/email-marketing-calls-to-action-cta/.

Wimpy calls to action are vaguely worded like:

  • Click here
  • Read more
  • Click here to…
  • Get started

Strong calls to action are more direct and clearly stated like:

  • Start improving your response rates
  • Start saving money now
  • Download now
  • Be the first of your friends to …
  • Give me my free …

If you have any email marketing secrets that worked for you, please do share! We can always learn from each other. Thanks!

Photo courtesy: http://www.forwardresources.com/email-marketing

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Priya Ramesh | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends, Search Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (6)