Facebook has given new meaning to words and phrases not previously associated with the Internet and social media, including: news feed, tag, poke and like. Soon we may be able to add other words to the Facebook repertoire: want and collection.

Facebook is testing a new feature with some big name brands, including Victoria’s Secret, Pottery Barn and Michael Kors. The concept is simple: brands create “collections” of their products in fashion similar to Pinterest; each item in the collection has a “want” button and a “buy” button linking back to the point of sale on the brand’s website. When a user clicks the “want” star the action goes onto that user’s timeline. (NOTE: When NST tested the “want” feature, we didn’t see the action appear on the news feed of friends. This could be a potential downside, because if users have to go hunting to see their friends’ wants, there are ultimately less impressions for the brand than if it appeared in news feeds automatically.) Facebook users also have the option to add a comment to the “want” action and are prompted with the question “Why do you want this?” These comments can give brands valuable insight into what customers like about their products.

When perusing the Victoria’s Secret Facebook page, I noticed the brand’s collections didn’t appear in the tab portion of their pages. Instead, the collections were only visible as news items on the wall. Facebook may be holding off on integrating collections into the tab until the testing phase for “want” is over. It would be a logical next step to give collections a permanent home on the profile so fans of the brands can find the feature as quickly and as easily as they can now browse photos, videos and other branded features.

The addition of a “want” button has enticed companies for some time as it adds another layer of brand engagement to the “like” factor already in place. But the “buy” feature is what intrigues me and it’s something Pinterest lacks. If Facebook analytics can shed some light into just how many people are purchasing a product after first engaging with the brand’s Facebook page, marketers may be able to more clearly delineate the ROI of social media.

Until this feature is rolled out to more brands, we’ll have to cross our fingers and hope one of the brands implementing “want” and “buy” right now will share some of their insight. In the meantime, be sure to check back to stay updated on the latest social media happenings.

Social media has made an indelible mark on how brands communicate with their customers – no one can deny that. Over the past five or so years, we’ve seen social media rise to new heights and now the question for brands isn’t “should we get involved in social media” but “how best can we use social media to our advantage?”

I recently attended Social Fresh, a conference dedicated to shining light on all things social media, much like Nuffer, Smith, Tucker’s own San Diego Social Media Symposium. Here, I heard from San Diego-based Intuit’s Adrian Parker regarding how the company handles social media, an approach Adrian likens to cooking.

People approach cooking in different ways. You can open a recipe book, make a list of ingredients, go to the grocery store and purchase ingredients, prepare your cooking space, follow directions, and finally serve the meal. This technique is full of calculated moves and would often result in a delicious dinner, but it lacks spontaneity.

Another approach would be to open the pantry, look for interesting ingredients, brainstorm combinations, develop your own recipe, improvise cooking techniques and finally serve the meal. There is a lot of room for error in this methodology, but it also opens the door for innovation and learning.

Adrian’s insight served as a fresh reminder to not rely on cookie-cutter social media techniques. While it may seem scary to take risks, it can give your brand the voice or reach it needs to make a splash in the social media landscape. Next time you log in to Twitter or Facebook on behalf of your brand, remember to blend tried-and-true tactics with new ideas to develop your own recipe for success.

According to The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism report, how people get their news has changed. The State of the News Media 2012: An Annual Report on American Journalism states:

[T]he majority of Americans now get news through at least one digital, web-based device. While the desktop or laptop computer remains the primary digital platform for news (54% of Americans get news there), the number of consumers who get news on multiple digital devices is growing. Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults, 23%, now get news on at least two devices.

As people get more of their news online, news organizations are also making adjustments. Twenty percent of U.S. newspapers require a paying subscription for full digital access – a number that has doubled since last year. For those going online to get news, what better way to bring readers to the heart of the action as it happens than video?

The Wall Street Journal created a hub called WSJ WorldStream, on the video-sharing site Tout, for mobile video shot via smartphone by more than 2,000 journalists around the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, their video viewership has more than doubled in the past six months so it makes sense for the paper to expand video creation.

Video storytelling was also used during New York Fashion Week by ”… several fashion reporters … turning to Viddy and other forms of mobile video distribution to compliment their coverage.” Many felt video brought the clothing to life in a way still images couldn’t, and the format was perfect for short interviews with designers and fashion show attendees.

What can brands learn from these examples? Share the latest news about your brand, details about events as they happen, and provide how-to videos. When Apple released iOS 6, Mashable shared a hands-on how-to video about the new features, which brought the information to life and made the changes easier to understand.

Creating videos to share information with customers is not a new concept for many brands. However, with the advent of video sharing sites like Viddy and Tout, brands don’t need to – and are not expected to – create long, edited, fancy videos. Instead, information can be shared quickly and in easily digestible, 15-second clips. Bring brand stories to life with video, make your blog posts and social media updates more interactive, and give customers an authentic feel for what your company is doing. Social media has created platforms for closer connections between brands and customers, and video can only help strengthen this connection.

One of our clients, Markon Cooperative – a produce provider to the foodservice industry – does a nice job of providing timely produce updates to their customers and buyers via a weekly “Live From the Fields” video series. Markon’s Aug. 30, 2012 episode focused on the elevated insect pressure in the Salinas Valley at the time and what harvesters were doing to address the issue.

What do you think about companies integrating video into their communications? How could your company use video? What are the benefits?

A lot of companies place emphasis on ensuring their organization or brand “looks good” online – and that’s important – but they often focus only on the graphic, visual elements of a website or social media platform.  More importantly, who’s the voice of your brand online?  Who’s communicating with people via social media on your behalf?  Is there a consistent tone?

I recently sat through a Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) webinar that explained what things companies should want in an online community manager and helped paint a picture of what he/she should look like.  Below are seven qualities you should look for (or develop) in your online community manager:

1. Articulate:  An online community manager should be able to communicate effectively in a variety of media.  He/she should be capable of clearly expressing the organization’s messages in a language your community members like and understand.

2. Social:  He/she should be able to easily engage in authentic conversations online.  In other words, just because your I.T. guy knows about computers doesn’t mean he’s automatically the right fit – this person needs to be comfortable participating in online discussions and come across as natural.

3. Professional:  Having a personality is great, but coming across as professional is equally, if not more, important.  The person should act as a responsible ambassador for your organization and carry an appropriate, consistent tone across multiple mediums.

4. Adaptable:  An online community manager should be able to make decisions quickly during crisis situations.  This often involves knowing where to look for information, working across multiple departments, understanding the company’s values, and not getting frazzled easily.

5. Enthusiastic:  It’s easy to tell when the person “behind the post” actually cares about the brand and about helping or informing others.  Your online community manager should be energetic, passionate and engaged in relevant topics.

6. Connected:  Key members within your community can come to your defense and/or be your best ambassadors, so the person you choose as a community manager should have ties to the right people within the community, or at least be able to identify them.

7. Organized:  When managing a community, staying organized is key.  A community manager should be able to keep track of data, relationships, content calendars, and a variety of assets essential to maintaining your community.

WOMMA is a fantastic resource for social media newbies and experts, as it puts together case studies, ethics guidelines, and online and in-person educational seminars.  You can follow the organization on Twitter and keep checking back to the NST blog for more information on best practices, trends and updates related to social media.

NST's Young Influential Teresa Siles

She’s young. She’s influential. She’s NST’s very own Teresa Siles! Recently named a Young Influential by the San Diego Daily Transcript, Teresa was recognized for her knowledge in social media and her efforts to ensure our agency plays a leading role in the industry.

Teresa joined NST more than 10 years ago as an intern and worked her way up to become a vice president of the firm. In fact, she’s the youngest vice president in NST’s history! Through the years, Teresa has developed a well-deserved reputation of being a leader in public relations and social media. She is creative and is constantly pushing not only her clients, but also her colleagues, to try new things and stay on the edge of change.

In addition to managing client accounts, Teresa leads NST’s social media practice. In 2009, she created the San Diego Social Media Symposium, which is now an annual one-day conference that brings together leaders in public relations, marketing, academia and the business community from across Southern California to talk about social media and how it is impacting our respective industries. The most recent symposium was held March 1, 2012 and drew more than 200 attendees.

Teresa is also a two-time graduate of WOMM-U or “Word of Mouth Marketing University,” and received her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University (SDSU).

In her spare time, Teresa also finds time to give back. She leads a monthly social media workshop for SCORE San Diego, and serves on the marketing committee for LEAD San Diego and the advisory committee for the Digital and Social Media Collaborative at SDSU. As if all this was not enough, Teresa has also recently returned to SDSU as a student in its Executive MBA Program.

Please join me in recognizing Teresa for all her hard work and dedication not only to the profession and her clients, but also to NST and her colleagues. She is a true influential leader.

Managing your company’s community, blog or social networking page can be a daunting task.  As a community manager, you’re often responsible for balancing the needs of your members or subscribers with those of your organization, providing a consistent user experience, monitoring news and trends, posting engaging content, moderating content from others, measuring progress… The list goes on and on.  Here are a few tips, with thought-provoking questions below them, that should help you think through your community management strategy:

Define Roles and Responsibilities

• How does having a community, blog or social networking page fit within or help advance your company’s strategic business goals?
• Do you have the time, talent and resources to manage your community well?
• What behaviors do you want members or subscribers to exhibit, and what can you do to help them get there?
• How are you measuring success?

Be Consistent, but Add Value

• Does your community offer a similar user experience with your website, collateral and other materials?
• Is the tone and voice in your messages consistent?
• What are you doing to add value and encourage a two-way dialogue instead of just posting one-way marketing messages?

Identify and Leverage Community Leaders

• How often do you just say “thank you” to your members or subscribers?
• What’s the best way to incentivize increased engagement?
• How are you positioning your community as a resource?

Nuffer, Smith, Tucker has been managing communities for more than a decade, before the term “social media” was coined.  While we may not have all the answers to these questions without getting to know your organization and its key stakeholders first, we’d be happy to share our insights and ideas and work with you to make your community the best it can be.

How much is too much sharing when it comes to social media? We all have “friends” on our feeds that post incessantly throughout the day, divulging intimate details of their lives that no one truly wants to know. These over-sharers have been around a long time, and they’re probably not going to stop sharing personal information any time soon. Recently, the No. 1 search engine took personalization and online searches to a new level when Google launched Google Search, plus Your World.

The new functionality incorporates the content of Google+ users into the search results of anyone connected to that user. This means, if I run a Google search looking for good wine bars in the Gaslamp area, it’s quite possible that photos posted by my friends who attended San Diego Wine Wednesday at Proper Gastro Pub would populate in my results, along with the standard search results for that particular term. This new search system has some benefits, but also has some people longing to return to how things used to be.

There are two levels on which people seem to be upset about Google Search, plus Your World: concern over privacy, and annoyance at irrelevant results cluttering up searches for breaking news. Those concerned with not finding pertinent results should consider hiding Google+ results or switching to a new search engine altogether. By giving preference to Google+ content, Google Search, plus Your World pushes more informative results, like company websites, Wikipedia pages or news sites, to the bottom of the page. For those worried about privacy, this change serves as yet another reminder that anything made public on a social media profile is out there for the world to see.

This change provides both an opportunity and a challenge for brands. We already know developing content for a Google+ profile is important for a brand because Google admitted having a brand page on their social network would yield higher results in Google searches. Now we know that a brand’s Google+ content is even more likely to be seen by people who have placed the brand in their circles. However, it also means your company’s actual website and other non-Google+ content will be harder to find when a customer searches your name.

It’s important to note the added exposure to your brand’s social media content is limited to Google+ pages. Don’t expect your company’s Facebook page or Twitter account to be getting equal real estate any time soon. This change in search results is clearly pointed at giving exposure to Google’s burgeoning social network, not all social networks in general, and it’s made at least one other social network unhappy.

As more than 62 million Google+ users navigate the murky waters of their new search results, we wonder if Google will acknowledge the public’s dissatisfaction with its recent move. What’s your opinion on these changes? Have they given you a reason to favor Google over other search engines or look for a replacement? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

What are you doing March 1, 2012? Joining the NST team at the San Diego Hall of Champions for the 2012 San Diego Social Media Symposium, of course!

After a sell-out event in 2011, we are excited to be again hosting the San Diego Social Media Symposium, a one-day event designed to bring together leaders in public relations, academia and the business community to talk about social media and how it is impacting our respective industries. Now in its third year, the San Diego Social Media Symposium is about more than social media tactics – it’s about social media strategy.  Check out the event website and be sure to get your tickets now to secure the early bird discount: http://sdsocialmediasymposium.com/

At the recent Wine Wednesday networking event NST hosted with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, we asked attendees to tell us their burning social media questions.  Now, as a regular feature on our blog, we are going to answer these questions, in addition to any other social media related questions that get thrown our way.  Got a question for us?  Feel free to leave it in the comments below, send us an email or post it on our Facebook wall. Be sure to check back soon, because your question could be the next one to be answered.

Our first question comes from Kari: Do you recommend a customized welcome tab for Facebook Pages?

Answer: Yes, we recommend not only creating a customized welcome tab, but also creating other customized tabs and content for a brand or organization’s Facebook page.  With more than 800 million active users on Facebook, a customized tab will encourage people to “like” your brand’s page and help you stand out among the other pages.  A customized tab also allows you to highlight new promotions or activities (such as a contest), and gives your Facebook fans another reason to visit your page.  Think of customized tabs as a way to showcase your brand’s elevator speech online and have some fun in the process.

Here are some examples of customized tabs created by NST:

WD-40

Space Bag

Ocean Mist Farms

Plans for Aug. 24? We hope you join us at Proper Gastro Pub, where we will be hanging out on the Sports Deck from 5:30 – 8 p.m. for the first San Diego Wine Wednesday.  NST is hosting this event in conjunction with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (or WOMMA for short), and it will be an evening of networking and conversation centered around the role social media and word-of-mouth marketing plays in industries of all types and sizes.

As you may recall, NST hosts the San Diego Social Media Symposium, and we see Wine Wednesday as a way to continue the conversations that were started there.  What better way to do this than to discuss the latest social media and word-of-mouth marketing trends, technologies and concepts over tasty appetizers and wine at one of the coolest outdoor patios in San Diego?

Come prepared to chat about the all things social media and word of mouth. What’s working? What’s not? And, where is social media and word of mouth headed?

Wine Wednesday is free to attend, but registration is required. Plus, the first round of drinks and tasty appetizers are on us!  To register, visit www.sdwinewednesday.com.

We hope to see you there!