Twitter Lists Adds Descriptions

by Todd Lucier on November 19, 2009

Thankfully the good folks at Twitter have enhanced the Lists feature by providing a space for users to add a description to each list they make.

It should be painfully obvious the last missing piece of the list equation – tags.

All the social media that is shared on the Web (photos, videos, blog posts, etc.) share the same conventions:

  • Title
  • Description
  • Tags

All three are valuable Search Engine Optimization tools but more importantly Description Field and yet-to-be-included Tags field will really let people know the value of the people you are tagging.  This will be much more valuable than just the title tag.

Some of the people I follow have terrific lists, but the list name doesn’t make the list relevant for outsiders and new twitter users who will benefit from your great lists.

So . . . get editing those Description fields in your Twitter Lists.

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Facebook Ads let you target Friends of your Fans

by Todd Lucier on November 17, 2009

Do you have a Facebook Page, Group or Event?  If you do, you will be super excited about the new opportunity Facebook is providing today.

Now you Facebook advertisers can deliver ads to the friends of people already connected with your Page,  Group or Event with something called “Friends of Connection” targeting.

Facebook user Data and Terms of Service might be an advertisers dream and a users nightmare

In addition to targeting your connections’ friends, EVERY “Friends of connection” targeted ad promoting a Page or Event includes social content about the friend’s interaction with your business.  This will increase the relevancy of your ad to the recipient – perhaps increasing the likelihood of a clickthrough.  Good for business.  Good for Facebook.  But good for Facebook users?

We’ll see.

Facebook owning your content means they can use your actions on the site to market to your friends.  Now this brings back scary visions from the days of Facebook revolts.  Remember the Facebook Beacon social advertising platform revolt in November 2007 and changes to terms of service changes revolt in February 2009.  Users of Facebook are notoriously anxious about how their personal data is used.  Of course Facebooks value is in large part due to the huge volume of user information that is generated each day.

How “Friends of Connection” advertising utilizes user data

Facebook explains:

For example, Priya is a fan of the Nordstrom, Inc. Page. When Nordstrom, Inc. promotes their Facebook Page, they can choose to target ads to Priya’s friends by selecting the “Friends of connection” filter. Priya’s friends will receive the Nordstrom, Inc. ad with the following sentence: “Priya Gupta is a fan of this Page.” Priya’s friends are naturally more interested because Priya’s interaction with Nordstrom, Inc. is showcased directly in the ad.

If you are a Facebook advertiser you might want to give this new powerful advertising option a try, after all it might not be here for long.

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Trip Advisor makes a cash grab with enhanced Business Listings, can small business afford not to invest?

November 17, 2009

TripAdvisor is leveraging the power of its network of travelers… some 25 Million Monthly users in order to pull cash from the wallets of business listing members. New enhanced business listings will include links to your Website, email address and phone number.
What’s the cost of Trip Advisor Enhanced Business Listings?
The cash grab, including the [...]

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Are you asking yourself the right questions?

November 16, 2009

Last week I started to dream the perfect Website and handheld application for our tourism business.
I didn’t start with my goals in mind.
I started by asking: What does our ideal guest appreciate?
Photo Sharing:
Our guests love getting copies of photos that are taken during their stay. Ideally, it would be nice to have our guests be [...]

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Catchy Video needs to appeal to your Ideal Client

November 13, 2009

Yellow Hostel, a Youth Hotel in Rome put together this catchy video that will undoubtedly appeal to their ideal client – backpack toting twenty-somethings.
Have a gander then think about how well your content talks to your ideal client.

What do you need to do to get content like this that appeals to your guest?
Tweet This

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Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media: lessons from #followmeatsea

November 11, 2009

Backstory:
@PrincessCruises invited a number of well known travel bloggers on a Caribbean Cruise. The folks at Princess Cruises must have been excited about all the social media they were going to generate. While the captain of the ship had his eye on the weather, (even changing the cruise route to avoid the worst [...]

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Why build an app? +400% increase in mobile revenue each month – Hilton

November 10, 2009

Hilton Worldwide yesterday unveiled a new iPhone app. They designed it by listening to what their customers were asking for.
I spoke with Chuck Sullivan, Hilton’s senior vice president, global online services about the new iPhone app on this version of the Tourism Keys Podcast. Sullivan reports that 57% of travelers want to check [...]

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Think outside the box: Creative email campaign from CTC

November 5, 2009

Check out this clever email campaign from the Canadian Tourism Commission.  CTC used a simple technology (email) and stretched the boundaries of what you might expect.  Usually forcing folks to use a scroll bar is way off limits, but this little email was fun,creative, and inexpensive.

Check it out online to get the whole experience:
http://newsletters.canada.travel/ca/localsknows_nov2009/mailer-en2.html
[...]

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What does Google Know about me?

November 5, 2009

Worried about What Google Knows about you and me?
Google Privacy Dashboard tries to alleviate criticism of the search giant curating user data by making users more aware of the information Google stores about us. Google also provides access to detailed settings so that users can adjust the privacy settings to their own comfort level.
I [...]

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Google Friend Connect Gadget Alternatives

November 5, 2009

Google Friend Connect adds some social sauce with new Gadgets but there are better options to serve the needs of your ideal guests. This post addresses a few of the new gadgets and better alternatives.
Friend Connect Widget
Google Friend Connect is featured in the side bar on this blog. Until now, Friend Connect Widget [...]

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