Oreo came up with a brilliant social media campaign on Feb 15^th 2011 to rally up their 16 million plus fans to set the Guinness record for the most Facebook ‘likes’ in a 24-hour period, and ultimately make Oreo the world’s most “liked” cookie.  They set the bar at 50,000 ‘likes’, and were able to accomplish that feat with a staggering 114,619 likes in a 24-hour period. Guinness World Records then confirmed today at 9am EST that Oreo now holds the record for the for the most ‘likes’ on a Facebook post in 24 hours- But for how long?

It seems that Lil Wayne caught wind of Oreo’s social media push, and decided to make an attempt at the record as well (4 hours later).  Within an hour he accumulated a whopping 194,092 ‘likes’, and eventually ended the 24-hour period at an astonishing 588,905 ‘likes’ to ultimately stomp Oreo’s existing record into proverbial cookie crumbs.

So why’d Lil Wayne do this to Oreo? According to Mashable.com, Mazy Kazerooni, Lil Wayne’s digital manager, says that the idea was to show the star’s social media prowess. “I want people to think ‘Bieber, Gaga and Lil Wayne.’ The traffic we do is ridiculous and no one really knows,” Kazerooni says.

Although, Lil Wayne consumed Oreo’s world record like an after dinner snack (with a dip in milk first, of course ), this battle for the record has turned to drive a huge amount of publicity for both Lil Wayne and Oreo, more than both parties could have possibly imagined. It just goes to show the power that Facebook and other social media outlets hold these days, and the opportunity for a small campaign such as this to go viral and grow into a beast of it’s own.
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Some may say that 2010 was the year for Facebook, and honestly, who are we to say otherwise? Facebook has grown into something that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself couldn’t have even imagined, and after an aggressive year in 2010 is one of the top dogs (and probably making some other companies a little nervous, Ahem…Google).  Lets take a look at some of the accomplishments Facebook has undertaken this year, and the reason why it seems like we all have the Facebook fever.

When looking at growth for Facebook in 2010 they not only reached the 500 million user mark (yes, 500 million), are worth an approximated $7.6 billion, but (according to comScore) also achieved an increase of 55% in U.S. unique visitors compared to 2009 (topping Twitters 30%), which makes it the second most visited site world wide (only trailing Google). Wow, those are some good numbers, not to mention that the average Facebook user spends about 55 minutes on the site daily. It used to be a Facebook vs. Twitter battle, but now it seems that Facebook has jumped that hurdle and is now on the way to give Google a run for their money. On top of that about 83% of businesses use Facebook, and there are 700,000+  active local business pages on the site.

Oh yea, did I forget to mention that The Social Network is nominated for 6 Golden Globe awards, and to top it all off Mark Zuckerberg was dubbed the 2010 Man Of The Year by Time Magazine (the second youngest to ever win the award). No big deal right?

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Nowadays everyone is starting to realize (if you didn’t already know) that social media is an excellent way to captivate your audience, and with the 500 million strong on Facebook and 200 million more on Twitter you can reach ANY demographic (my grandmother just friended me a couple days ago).  Not only is everyone using it (including my grandma, and probably yours too), but the spaces themselves encourage action and interaction, which can be extremely valuable. Instead of someone talking to their friends in their living room while your 100 thousand dollar commercial spot is running that they aren’t paying attention to, you can reach the same amount of people, get an instant action/reaction from them, and its all for free.

Ok, with that said, its hard enough to create awareness and get people to become a fan of your Facebook page as it is, but the hardest thing of all is keeping them engaged AFTER they become a fan. Do you know how to keep them engaged? Do you want to learn how to keep them engaged? (See what I did there ) Just be conversational with them! Use open-ended questions that relate to your product, relate to your fan base, and drive consumer action. People see plain old’ boring promotions all day long (and trust me they know how to tune them out), but if you tailor your updates and promos to something that not only promotes your product and brand, but also gets the user involved and thinking about your product you will create much more retention amongst consumers.

Oreo is a great example of how to structure that perfect balance of conversation and promotion and utilizing it in the social media space.

Here are some examples of Oreo’s promoting on Facebook that Ad Age so kindly provided for us.
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For the first time, Social Media stepped to the forefront as a conduit of information, interactivity and instantaneous updates for voters, candidates and traditional media alike. How did this happen? When did Twitter, Facebook and even Foursquare become such relevant communicative devices with these participants? How is conceding an election via Twitter an acceptable method for candidates? When did Foursquare become a conduit for reporting voter fraud? How did a former Governor use these outlets to endorse candidates and turn them into national personalities?

In many broadcast newsrooms around the country, pundits were relying heavily on social media to augment their reporting – live interaction with voters and candidates alike. Foursquare offered an “I Voted” badge while Facebook had an auto Live Feed feature giving their users the same option. Independent and even International news outlets participated with live online video broadcast and blog feeds. Akamai Technologies Inc., which delivers about 20 percent of the world’s Internet traffic, showed rising traffic on Tuesday afternoon. Around 5 p.m. EDT, traffic was peaking at over 4.6 million global page views per minute. Based on GMA news, one of Akamai’s highest rates of traffic in its five years of measurement. To compare, Obama’s election night speech in 2008 at Grant Park had 4.3 million global page views.

An important and relevant trend has been brewing; Viewership & consumer online participation has increased for most of the current 4,600+ online reporting agency websites every year through 2009 (Nielsen Net Ratings). For the most part, these online new organizations have taken advantage of new social media technologies to connect and engage the viewer. Since the majority of online viewers “grazing” the internet for news rather than staying with one source, it’s important these online entities engross the viewer and interact via Twitter feeds, Facebook announcements and the like.
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The latest study released by Microsoft Advertising and Carat tracks consumer shopping habits during the lingering recession and how new media channels and touchpoints have affected consumers. The study, conducted in March 2010 shares some pretty interesting data…

• The path to purchasing is increasingly nonlinear – consumers are moving along the path of awareness to sales that now includes digital media. For example, a user may hear about a product through a Facebook post of a Tweet, then visit their website via a smartphone to research it, consulting consumer reviews along the way. Traditional word of mouth and media still remain influencers.
• 38% of consumers are using mobile devices in-store to make final purchasing decisions. Does your site have a mobile presence?
• Following a purchase, 11% are blogging about it, posting it on their social network of choice, and leaving reviews. Are you following what’s being said about you?
• Advertising on with retailers whether online banners/video, along with in-store media is also influencing. Have you considered retailer channels in your media mix?

The main message we try to communicate to our clients at envisionit is that shopping behaviors are changing with the result of these new digital platforms, and engage consumers each step of the way, influencing purchases and keeping consumers satisfied post-purchase. Results of the study can be found here.
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The 26-year-old billionaire Mr. Mark Zuckerberg has received his share of media attention as of late. There’s his $100 million donation to Newark, New Jersey public schools and the persistent rumors of a Facebook phone. There’s overseeing one of the most influential websites in the world. And, of course, there’s the movie.

Zuckerberg, the notorious media hermit, wavers between condemning David Fincher’s The Social Network, (“I just think people have a lot of fiction,” he told ABC News in July), and more recently merely dismissing it as “fun”.

And the movie is fun and, indeed, fictionalized—because the book off which the movie is based, The Accidental Billionaires, is fictionalized. Movie Zuckerberg is a brilliant coder and hacker and an easily distracted, socially graceless stiff. He wants nothing more than to sit at a cool-kid Harvard lunch table—one of the school’s elite invite-only social clubs which is hardly more than the average fraternity, complete with hazing and discriminative cliquishness. He is approached by three members of one of these ratherish-frats who want to create a Harvard-only online social network with the help of Zuck’s coding skills. Movie Zuck accepts.

The film’s fiction is presumably within the collegiate antics, and within Movie Zuck himself, carelessly Livejournaling blogs that later come back to haunt him, a nod to the poor fools who have later been haunted by posting incriminating evidence of their own shenanigans to the good Book. But it’s clever, believable fiction that’s very likely rooted in fact. Movie Zuck’s wardrobe choices—North Face fleece, slide-on Adidas sandals, and general refusal to wear anything but jeans—and rapid vernacular, for instance, are characteristics we have witnessed from Real Zuck.
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In a recent New York Times article, it was announced that Facebook has been developing a new way for its clients to spend on the popular social networking site. With its new virtual Credits, Facebook hopes to open a new door to a potential multi-billion dollar revenue source. Although testing began over a year ago, it was just last month that Facebook credits became available in Target Stores nationwide.

I have limited experience with Facebook applications such as MafiaWars and Farmville, but this seems like a great leap forward for Facebook and its users. Using prepaid cards not only will provide a convenient payment method for Facebook users, but will also make the purchasing of games and virtual goods more secure. In addition, the Credits system will undoubtedly help grow the global marketplace for such goods, which is fantastic because, after all, what would our virtual pets ever do without their favorite virtual cucumbers?

Facebook has already stated that it plans on using a substantial sum of their newfound revenue to invest in improving software for these types of programs. Eventually, it is hoped that Facebook Credits could become a “seamless” transaction method on sites beyond Facebook, making it a more diverse version of websites such as eBay. This could mean great things for everyone from online advertisers to application designers.

Besides the obvious benefits of advancing convenience, security, and revenue, this plan—like all plans—does have its dangers. There have been documented cases of Facebook addiction in the past, and adding a monetary element could prove dangerous to some users. Facebook Credits can seem less like money to some people and could lead to some of the same financial problems as gambling addiction, but at least you will have a beautiful virtual farm to show for it.
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Facebook recently released the information about their new location-based marketing tool so humbly titled “places”. When looking at the basics of places, all of the features seem to be right on compared to the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla. Although people called this the Foursquare killer, Foursquare and location-based marketers alike seem excited to integrate with the new Facebook feature. (Hmm, maybe it has to do with the 500 million users Facebook bring in?) However, although there are some similarities, Facebook did what they do best. (Take it to the next level)

How it works:

Like most location-based marketing tools you are able to check-in at a location via a GPS capable smart phone, and when you check-in you have the option whether or not you would like your location to be displayed to your friends, which is very similar to the features other companies like Foursquare offer. Then things start to get a little different from here on out. Not only do you know where your friends are, but also if you’re checked in nearby another friend, Facebook will send you a notification. This is a feature that has never been offered before, and one that could create some interesting interactions with Facebook friends.

Here’s a neat little video about places courtesy of Facebook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfX_ZQag1BM

Ok, so places seems pretty cool, but I know what you’re all thinking… How can this benefit my business? Well let me fill you in.

How it can benefit your business:

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Foursquare and other location-based marketing tools alike must be shaking in their boots today, while they un-eagerly await the big boy (Facebook) on the playground that’s about to show up in the sandbox that is location-based marketing.

Although rumors have been circulating the industry since May, Facebook is holding a large meeting at their central headquarters later this afternoon to officially release their plan for their location-based marketing tool.

When looking at current location-based marketing tools Foursquare is leading the way with over one million users. Well, when Facebook releases their program, it will instantly be available to 500 million users. (Yes, your math is correct, that’s 500 times the leader in the industry) With their whopping amount of users, it’s almost hard for anyone else to even compete.

So the question remains, will Foursquare and other location-based marketing tools become extinct upon the release of Facebook’s version? That is a question that can only be answered upon the release and evaluation of Facebook’s new tool. (usability, gratification, convenience, etc…)

One thing is for sure, this can be a great opportunity for local businesses to promote their company across the huge user-base that is Facebook, and directly offer discounts, information, and specials to them. Oh yea, don’t forget about nationwide companies getting in the mix, as McDonalds is in the talks as one of the first companies signing a contract with Facebook for the new location-based marketing tool.

Stay tuned for the soon-to-be-released details and specifics of Facebook’s 500 million user strong location-based marketing tool!

It’s the end of my second month here at envisionit media, and I’m proud to say that as the weeks pass, the learning curve continues to become steeper than ever before.  I stated in my last post that, “I’m only at the tip of the iceberg”, and let me tell you that statement was more dead-on than I could even imagine. During my first month I learned an abundance of different media and techniques (SEM, SEO, PPC, and Social Media to name a few) that could be applied to client accounts, but through my second month here I’m really beginning to delve deeper under the water by learning how to utilize these techniques to provide maximum gain for our clients.

With that said, let me give all of you local/nationwide/global business owners out there one small tip of advice I’ve learned while interning here: Use Social Media!! Unless you’ve been living under a rock (no offense if that’s your preferred living space), you’ve probably heard about Twitter and Facebook.  So you have heard about it? (I hope so) Are you using it? (Most likely) But the real question is; HOW are you using it?  Facebook currently has 400+ million users and Twitter is at 75 million, and botH can be great for promoting your business.  But on the other hand, there are already many other businesses being social, so it can be very hard to stand out amongst the crowd.
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