The Real-Time Web: A Primer, Part 1

This is part 1 of a three-part series on the fundamental characteristics of the real-time Web.

Like cloud computing less than a year ago and social networking two years ago, the real-time Web is the new black on the tech circuit. The trend has been publicly bandied about this summer, starting with a few industry get-togethers, followed by several enthusiastic testimonials from investors (notably angel investor Ron Conway's widely posted list of ways for Twitter to monetize). It was then capped by a glowing report in BusinessWeek in early August.

That a serious trend is on the rise would not be doubted by those watching Twitter's rise in usage and media popularity. In fact, the debate this summer has centered not on whether something is afoot but rather on what to call it. Ron Conway favors "now media" in the belief that it's a media phenomenon. But most commenters, led by several bloggers and lead investors, prefer to call it "real-time Web" ("real-time stream" is also popular).

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Social Media is where you'll find your customers

Businesses spend billions on marketing to reach customers. When I decided to launch my retail business online, I did the research. Where are people today? Online!! How do I reach these people - marketing! Therefore, people + internet = social media. Now wading through the numerous social networks to find and transition leads to customers is a little more complicated and time consuming, thats where over 20 years of business and technology experience comes in....stay tuned for The Social Marketing Touch! In the meantime, enjoy this video:

Customer Loyalty Begins with Experience

So, Why Isn’t Everyone Doing This?
— Posting from my iPhone at LAX. I’m flying Virgin America today for the first time, and I’m waiting at the gate to board a flight to JFK/New York City.
I’m already impressed. When I walked up to the ticket counter, hip music was playing. The counter is lower than other airlines, so you don’t perceive a barrier between you and the ticket agent.
After my bags were checked, the agent stepped from behind the counter to hand me a boarding pass and point me to security. The way she handled ...

Q 154: Is there any recent research about employee loyalty?

Q 154: Is there any recent research about employee loyalty?

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If You Build a Branded Online Community, Will Customers Come?

One of the key benefits of branded online communities relates to the idea of treating customers as cocreators or codevelopers. With the advent of social networking, companies can further automate and expand their efforts to involve customers in the innovation process. For most companies, innovation is the only sustainable competitive advantage.

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Mashable

Mashable’s Twitter Guide Book Now Available for Download

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Taking the Measure of Social Media

destinationCRM.com:
SIDEBAR: The Metrics of User-Generated Social Media

Need a pneumonic device to recall what to measure? Try this one: "Only the SAVViEST marketers grasp the nuances of social media metrics." (The "Vi" in the middle stands for "Virality.")


Sentiment: The positive, negative, or indifferent consumer reaction to your brand or a topic, which can be measured by text analytics and natural-language processing.

Author (Influencer): The people talking about your brand and their social media impact (e.g., number of followers, readers, commenters).

Volume: The number of comments, blog posts, tweets, links, etc., about your brand, your competition, and your field.

Virality: The reach of your brand and relevant topics around your brand (e.g., how many people are reading, posting, linking, and sharing).

Emotion: The reasons that a consumer felt good, bad, or indifferent that point to how you can resolve her problem or how your business can change and improve.

Source: Where the conversation is occurring (e.g., Twitter, blog, discussion board).

Topic/Issue: The context (e.g., product, customer service, advertising, competitor, etc.) in which your brand is being discussed. Nielsen’s Brand Association Map helps visually associate the relationship between terms; a Google AdWords keyword-expansion tool helps improve the relevancy of your selections.
Source: Alex Burmaster, Nielsen Online