As I have discovered and discussed in previous posts, the sports industry has a strong relationship with social media. According to the CEO of Mass Relevance, sports have always been about the fans and allowing them to gather and participate in sporting events. He explains that his company is essentially doing the same thing, but on social media, and states, "From the beginning, sports have been about fans getting together. Now you're participating with this group whether you're at the stadium or not, and that's a bullseye for social media." Mass Relevance is a a social engagement platform that allows brands to use relevant and curated content experiences in order to engage consumers. Mass Relevance has made such an impact with sports on social media that Twitter made Mass Relevance "its first official social engagement and curation partner." 
       Mashable's recent article on Mass Relevance asks CEO, Sam Decker, questions about the maturity of sports social media and how he sees it evolving in the future. Decker first is able to explain the success Mass Relevance has had because they are able to bring social media into other platforms and in a meaningful way. They understand that sports fans aren't going to be paying 100% attention to social platforms while they are watching a game, so he brings social media into other places like apps and TV channels. The company also tries to allow fans to create stories and content themselves rather than the brand doing it all. While storytelling and creating engaging content is important for everyone in the sports industry, creating content is a little more complicated for sports brands in comparison to teams and leagues. Sports brands need to understand what sports their consumers are interested in and combine that love of the sport with their product to create an impact with their content. 
       Decker believes that sports social media is still very early in the evolution process. Those that are standing out, such as MLB and Turner sports, have the entire organization utilizing and emphasizing social media. The ones farther behind in the evolution process have a very small social media marketing team and a social media presence that no one else in the organization is aware of. I agree that some brands are more ahead of others, but I think the sports social media presence is greater than described by Decker. I, myself, follow numerous teams and sports brands on different social media platforms and think they have created a strong presence. In the future, Decker believes social media will become more integrated into what fans are doing. I agree, not only is this true for social media in general but it is true for sports social media. Once teams, leagues, and brands realize the growing importance of social media they will place more emphasis on it. This will all fans to not only "like" a page or receive updates of teams, but to interact with them as well in a variety of ways. As a sports fan, I hope that teams and brands become more interactive on social platforms because these are brands I would be extremely interested in following. 

~Katie 

      I admit, I am one of those people that could sit on Pinterest forever, looking for new inspirational things to make, wear, or cook. I pin different recipes and clothing items, but never do these pins ever turn into a purchase. Many of the products I come across are out of my budget or are out-dated and are no longer in stock. A new social network that I recently read an article about that caught my interest is Luvocracy.
       Luvocracy is a San-Francisco based start-up that is similar to Pinterest in that users can take products they like and pin them to boards. They can also repin products from friends, brands, and stylists. Luvocracy differs from Pinterest by focusing more on the idea that we buy products that our friends recommend. According to Nielsen reports, 92% of customers trust word-of-mouth over any other type of advertising. Luvocracy has therefore ensured that all products featured on their site are in stock. Users are forbidden to post products to the site if they aren't available to be purchased. This differentiates Luvocracy from Pinterest where numerous products are either not yet available or are out-dated and no longer available. Luvocracy also has a plug-in that Pinterest does not offer that when downloaded it allows users to pin products to their Luvocracy account that they come across on various retailers' sites, such as Nordstroms or Etsy. When pinning products you can also pin them in your "Backroom" that is available to only you and not your friends. To further make them a site focused on buying products that your friends recommend, Luvocracy rewards consistent users with a small percentage of money back if someone buys one of your recommended products. While it takes multiple purchases to receive money back, it is still an incentive to continue participating on the site.
       While similar to Pinterest in the way products are pinned and shared, Luvocracy seems to have done a great job differentiating themselves. It therefore won't be a question of which site is better, but what you want to get out of the sites. If you are looking for inspiration then you might want to use Pinterest, and if you are interested more in purchasing the actual products then Luvocracy will better suit your needs. I personally have found use in both sites. I enjoy using Pinterest for recipe ideas and health tips and fitness inspiration, but I like using Luvocracy for buying products, whether it is clothes, jewelry, or decorations for my home. Luvocracy is yet to state how many users they have to-date, but I hope people continue to join this site because it really is a great new way to go shopping online.

~Katie

       All social media platforms at some point need to figure out how they are going to generate revenue. Facebook makes money through selling ads that are then displayed on the right side of users' new feeds and pages. They also make money through promoted posts that allow businesses to pay and have their posts featured on users' news feeds more often. These two methods of creating revenue alone have been successful, but Facebook is now allowing Facebook users to pay to promote their friends' posts as well. By paying $7 you can have your or your friend's post appear higher in your friends' news feeds. This new way of generating revenue has been controversial and critics fear that news feeds will soon be filled with promoted posts because of people trying to compete with one another.
       This new Facebook feature will gradually become available to all Facebook users, except those with more than 5,000 friends and followers. This is most likely due to technological issues. Users also won't be able to change the privacy settings of promoted posts either. Therefore, if it is set to only appear in the news feeds of that person's friends, then only your mutual friends with that person will see it. This feature provides Facebook with yet another way to make money through the social media platform, however whether or not it will be used on a regular basis is debatable.
       Many of the comments posted on Mashable's article, "Facebook: Now Pay to Promote Your Friends' Posts", have negative views about the new Facebook feature and most say they would not pay to promote their or their friends' posts. Besides examples like the ones mentioned in the article of promoting a friend's post about them raising money for a charity or promoting a post helping a friend rent their apartment, most people seem disinterested in paying for this feature. One comment was from a person that had actually paid to promote a post one time and they claimed that it didn't show up any higher on their friends' news feeds. Many comments also portray users' worries that this feature will become annoying when people pay to promote ugly pictures of their friends that people post and other posts of that nature. Others are angered with Facebook because it seems like everything with the company turns into money. One comment states, "I thought that Facebook is making enough money. Why is everything with them turning into money. I hate the fact that our profiles space on a page has become so small to make space for all the adds they run to the right of our pages, and I NEVER look at any of them, they limiting the posts people can see that likes your page, you have to pay to promote your own status plus now this? Ridiculous in my opinion."
       I agree with many of the comments myself and don't think that I would pay to promote my friends' posts, nor do I think that this new idea is a good one. Soon enough our news feeds will be filled with promoted posts from our friends and businesses, and we won't actually be reading or looking at anything we might care about. I personally think Facebook needs to reevaluate the effect of this feature 
before permanently making it an option for all Facebook users. 

~Katie

             I heard about Vine a while ago, but not until the past week or two have I seen more and more Vine videos in my Twitter feed. People are starting to pick up on the new app and have begun creating six-second looping videos. I recently made my own account, but I was yet to truly explore the use of the app through a business perspective until I came across an article on entrepreneur.com entitled “The Pros and Cons of Using Video App ‘Vine’ for Marketing.” This article points out that while the six-second videos allow you to stop and start recording to create a mixture or videos and images, it may be restricting for some marketers.

            The pros of Vine are that it is a new and attractive app that is quickly becoming popular and the use of videos and moving images will attract the attention of many. The use of photos is already extremely useful in engaging and connecting with viewers, and the effectiveness of videos is even greater. The ability to use Vine to share videos easily and quickly with viewers makes Vine a possibly successful marketing tool. Vine can be used in a variety of ways. As mentioned in the article, one candy maker used it to send a sweet message to viewers on Valentine’s Day. Vine can be used as a promotional tool to create a short demo of your product or service. It can also be used to make your brand more personable and allow consumers to connect with your brand by posting videos of employees, customers receiving the service, behind-the-scenes processes, etc. Or, if you want to focus on engaging consumers and encourage interaction, brands can get their Twitter followers to post their own Vine videos of the product. The ease of using Vine allows for multiple opportunities to use the app to promote one’s brand.

            Marketers have also found some cons to Vine that make it less viable as an effective marketing tool. Some of the drawbacks of Vine include its’ reputation, limited video time, and saturation. Immediately following the launch of the app, a pornographic image was uploaded and featured in the “Editor’s Picks” section of the app. iTunes then removed the app from their “Editor’s Choice” list and increased the rating to viewers “17 or older.” While most videos are appropriate for all eyes, Vine does not monitor or prohibit pornographic images. Businesses should therefore be careful when recommending the app to viewers. In addition to the reputation and limit of these six second clips, marketers are also turned off by the saturation of the app. Vine is simple to use and it is therefore easy to get carried away and constantly post videos to one’s account. Vine is like all other social media platforms though and posting irrelevant content too often can easily annoy consumers. Marketers need to spend time to think about the content of their videos and make sure they are providing customers with entertaining and appealing videos that positively reflect the brand.  After reading this article, I am interested to go follow different brands that I am interested in on Vine and see how they have decided to use the app and what kind of content they are producing for it.

~Katie

       With March Madness beginning this afternoon, I thought it would be appropriate to see what was going on with social media when it came to the NCAA and the teams participating in the tournament. It is evident from blogging and researching about other topics, such as the Super Bowl, that social media has become a big part sporting events. One article, "March Madness Teams Disappoint on Social Media", emphasizes the importance of individual teams to have their own accounts on social media sites that are separate from their school's athletic department.
       According to this article, "Last year, March Madness drove over two million social mentions, and 83% of sports fans check social media during games. By definition, sports is a social activity, and the second-screen's role in sports is becoming obvious." Not only is social media being used for people to interact and talk about the tournament, but fans, and non-fans, are constantly using social media as a way to receive updates their teams and scores. This becomes a lot easier when teams have their own social media accounts and people aren't wasting their time reading about the athletic department's posts about other sports that they don't care about. Having a team presence on social media sites will not only benefit your fans by giving them an easy way to receive updates specific to you during March Madness, but it also creates a personal connection between the fan and the team by receiving updates and being able to stay connected year-round. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are easy ways to quickly learn about your favorite teams and are an easy and free way for those teams to spread new news and keep fans engaged and dedicated to the team. 
      Of the teams participating in the 2013 March Madness tournament, only 45% have team-specific accounts on both Twitter and Facebook. While I agree that social media is a great way for fans to interact and keep up with their teams during March Madness and the rest of the year, I don't believe it is necessary for teams to have their own account on social media platforms. It's a good idea for them to do and wouldn't hurt to create one, but there are also numerous other ways for people to be able to keep up with March Madness from their phone on social media sites. They may have to search through other updates for ones specific to their team, but numerous apps and Facebook pages are dedicated to providing viewers with immediate scores, results, and other information about the event. As previously talked about with the Oscars and the Super Bowl, it will be interesting to look up the statistics of March Madness after it is completed and see how many more tweets and posts are made about the tournament in comparison to past years. 

~Katie

       After recently writing about Super Bowl ads, such as Coca-Cola, and the different social media marketing efforts during the event, I decided to do the same for the Oscars and see what types of social media marketing seemed to be prevalent during the event. Overall, the Oscars were not as big on social media as the Super Bowl according to Twitter. The Oscars had a total of 8.98 million tweets during the entire event while the Super Bowl had a total of 24 million tweets. When comparing total social media activity overall, the Oscars had a total of 13.2 social media interactions compared to the Super Bowl's 47.7 million. This is an extremely large difference considering the time lengths of the events differ only by about half an hour. While these figures are far off from each other, it is important to note that for both events social interactions had increased by almost 200% from last year to this year.  Many thought the numbers would have been closer because the Oscars is supposed to be "the Superbowl for women" and many tend to believe that women are on social media more than men. However, the Oscars didn't have a thirty minute blackout to invite all the viewers onto social media during the down time. Another factor may be the audience. The Oscars' audience may make a difference in the amount of social media interaction. The audience of the Oscars is probably older and more interested in watching the awards and are therefore less likely to be using social media during the event. The Superbowl, however, probably has a wider age range of viewers and tends to be more of a social event that will entice people to interact on the social web as well. 
       Due to Oreo's immediate posts in reaction to the Super Bowl's blackout, many brands now feel they should do the same and spend their time coming up with funny and clever comments on the fly. Companies are starting to participate in social media simply for the sake of being on there and aren't contributing meaningful comment, ultimately turning viewers away. While some brands got it right during the Oscars, like Smart Car who used Vine to post "smart sized" videos celebrating the winners, other brands missed the mark. The Onion, for example, practiced real-time marketing by insulting the nine year old girl, Quvenzhane Wallis, who was nominated for an Oscar. Real-time marketing shouldn't be completely avoided, but there does need to be a great deal of effort and thought put in it before publishing. 
       An article on PR Daily, entitled "Social media lessons from Oscars' real-time marketing", examines the efforts of the social media marketing of the brands mentioned above as well as outlining four lessons that marketers can take away from the Oscars. The first lesson is to fit the brand message to the event and moment. There should be a strategy behind your social media efforts and they should connect to the brand. Brands shouldn't be participating in social media just to do it. Another lesson is that bigger doesn't always mean better returns. Brands should find the events that their audiences are interested in and get involved with those. As mentioned earlier, just because another brand has had success doing it, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will work for your brand. You need to consider beforehand if social media will make an impact on your brand and if your audience is present in these platforms. The final lesson is that without the infrastructure in place to execute in real time, making social media work will be difficult. Preparation is key and the legal aspects need to be looked at ahead of time. So, while it may seem like providing real-time marketing is a quick and easy marketing tool for brands to use, it is actually something that needs to be used with great preparation and effort before publishing.  

~ Katie 

       As I've gotten more into social media marketing and have been reading more articles and blogs about it, I have started to hear about all kinds of interesting social media campaigns that companies are using. Both big and little companies are starting to take advantage of these platforms to reach their consumer and engage with them. However, the most innovative social media campaign I am yet to come across is Edge Shave Gel's Twitter campaign that I read about in an article titled "Twitter + Random Acts of Kindness = A Successful Social Campaign." 
       The @EdgeShaveGel Twitter account has spread random acts of kindness to 234 people in four months . Their new "Anti-Irritation Campaign" involves two people that are devoted to relieving people's irritation across Twitter. People, even before knowing about their hashtag, #soirritating, would tweet normally about things they were irritated at and Edge Shave Gel would respond with anything from iPads to funny YouTube videos to solve peoples' irritations. According to the article, in only three months 1500 people started following @EdgeShaveGel and the #soirritating hashtag was used about 6,800 times. These numbers alone prove the success of this innovative campaign's use of  Twitter. 
      People had already been using Twitter to complain about daily activities. Edge Shave Gel simply used what people were already doing on Twitter to their advantage. It fit into what people were already doing and portrayed the brand in a way that worked. They were solving irritation problems on Twitter which is also the whole basis for their products and brand. It also creates a great brand association. Every time people use or look at what Edge Shave Gel sends them, they will associate that positively with the Edge Shave Gel brand. 
       This social campaign seemed to be successful not only because of its out of the box strategy, but because it allowed the brand to connect with consumers, create a conversation, and make a personality out of the brand. The devoted staff provided quick responses to make it seem like a real conversation and the responses themselves were honest and "real." It made it seem as if you were talking to a person and not just a company through their Twitter account. Others became engaged, started following them on Twitter and contributing themselves. I really hope to see more stories like this in the future.  This campaign has gone beyond engaging customers through social media to truly engaging with them by spreading various acts of kindness. 

~Katie

       The Super Bowl is an important outlet for businesses to showcase the ads that they have spent millions of dollars on. Being one of the most watched events on television, if not the most, the Super Bowl is an opportune event to release the creative ads that companies have taken so long to create. This is the one television event people don't turn the channel during commercials. Brands can therefore get a lot of exposure through showing their ads during these four hours of Sunday night football.
       Coca Cola is a brand you can always expect to see an ad from during the Super Bowl. When looking up articles about upcoming ads to be shown during this years game, one that I found was about Coke and was entitled "Coca-Cola to Run Its Own Game During the Super Bowl." The main point of Coke's cross-media campaign was to tell a story in order to engage consumers with the brand. As I have been learning, content is one of the most important aspects of media campaigns. Coke understands that for people to interact with your brand you must engage them. Last year Coke took the same approach during the Super Bowl with a cross-media campaign involving the famous Coca-Cola polar bears and a live feed of them watching the game. According to Coke, nine million people engaged with this campaign across various platforms.
       This years campaign allowed viewers to vote on which of three teams would make it first to the giant Coke bottle. An ad was shown with the three teams having fifty miles to go and then told viewers to go online and vote for their favorite team as well as giving them the opportunity to set up obstacles for the other teams. Viewers had the opportunity to reply to Coke with a hashtag of their favorite team. This campaign allowed consumers to interact with the brand and other consumers, creating a friendly competition. Brand engagement is important and consumers like to be involved. Having read this article before watching the game, I was still very impressed with the ad. It was interesting and caught my attention, which some other ads failed to do.
       I also noticed during the Super Bowl that numerous other commercials included hashtags at the bottom of the screen. This further emphasizes the greater impact social media is having on marketing/advertising efforts. Brands are trying to engage consumers more and more. However, I believe Coke was most successful. They were able to come up with an interesting story that caught people's attention and got them to interact with the brand, a step above simply having them view your ads. I am interested to see if other companies and brands will eventually do the same in the future and encourage consumers to interact.

~Katie

       TV shows have been using social media for a while now for promotional and advertising purposes. However, shows such as The Voice have begun integrating social media into their show in a whole new way. A current article on Mashable highlights the efforts and success of this innovative use of social media. The Voice has been able to use social media in a way no other television show has and this change in the industry is what has kept people so active and interested in the show. If shows aren't constantly reinventing themselves, viewers will fade away. The Voice has set themselves apart by allowing viewers to continuously engage and become a part of the show.
       The Voice has used changing technology to their advantage to allow viewers to actively participate in the show. They can Tweet, post on Facebook, etc. and then have their questions answered and comments posted live on the show. The people behind the latest digital integration on The Voice seem to understand the different aspects of the social web and how to use each to their advantage; Twitter has been used for live and engaging conversations while Facebook has created a dedicated and loyal fan base for the show that will keep them connected for seasons to come. Voting has even spread across the digital world to include voting apps and voting on iTunes. The interaction and hype doesn't stop at your typical social media sites or voting methods either. To keep fans interested and engaged between weekly showtimes, artists are constantly blogging about their experiences. The entertainment continues, regardless of if the show is playing or not.
       As stated in the article itself, "it might just be the future of television" and I agree. The Voice has been a leader in this movement and I have seen shows on other networks, such as Bravo, follow in their steps. Members of the digital team at The Voice understand that they must be changing as the digital world and technology do. Not only is it a new way for viewers to interact and engage with the show, but The Voice has also recognized that this is the world that these new artists must adapt themselves to in order to be successful and gain a fan base in the industry. They understand the changing ways and know how to attract and keep their viewers interested. This, to me, is a big factor to why this show has been so successful thus far.

~Katie 

       While searching sites focused on social media marketing, I came across an interesting article on Social Media Today titled "4 Lessons in Fan Engagement from Red Lobster's Facebook Page."  This title seemed to jump out of me because of the company, Red Lobster, that this article was written about. Maybe it is because I have never been a regular Red Lobster customer that I haven't seen much of it on social media sites, but I would not have expected Red Lobster to be a company with exceptional branding on social media networks.  However, after reading the article I completely agree with its' efforts and techniques for engaging fans and adding traffic to their Facebook page.
       As noted in the article, the four things Red Lobster seems to be doing right are their "LobStar of the Week" contest, the ability to buy eGift Cards and share/send them to friends via Facebook, filling their Facebook page with photos and descriptions of their food, and constantly engaging and talking to fans. As a Facebook user, I believe each of these are important lessons for other brands to consider. Their "LobStar of the Week" gets fans involved and gets more people to view the page by having their friends go to the page to like the photo. Selling eGift Cards provides a convenience for customers and advertises the brand when friends share it on their friends' walls. The delicious, well plated menu items is exactly what I expect and want to see when I go to a restaurant's page and no doubt entices me to go there. And finally, their constant communication, contests, and updates on the company gives fans a greater connection and relationship with the brand that will keep them going.
       After reading the article and taking note of all of the lessons for other brands, I immediately went to Red Lobster's Facebook page to see if it was as well kept as it sounded, and it was! It was everything that you want to see in any restaurant or any business' Facebook page. It pulls fans and friends in, when they go to vote for their friends' pictures, without being completely in your face. And for those, like me, that don't typically think about going to Red Lobster for dinner, this page will change their mind once they see the pictures that cover the wall. The page provides an intriguing aspect of contests that will keep customers coming through to try and win more, but all in a subtle, simple and well organized way.  I agree with the the author of this article, other businesses can definitely learn from the marketing of Red Lobster's Facebook page.
       Another thing that I came across multiple times while navigating through different socially media sites that I found interesting was that everyone seemed to be talking about Faceook's new graph search. From the way it is described, it sounds like a search engine like no other that can be extremely useful and help you target things that are more relevant to what you want than what Google or Yahoo may not bring up. It will let you search for friends that like certain things that you do, restaurants your friends like or have checked in at, specific pictures, etc. As one article stated, Facebook likes are going to be important again. They have come to be used loosely and brand builders have not been so concerned with gaining likes. However, the new graph search is going to change the way brand marketers are using Facebook to gain consumers and it will be interesting to see how it changes their marketing efforts.

~Katie