How to set up and use Google's AuthorRank (a.k.a. authorship markup) [Infographic]
Tremendously useful infographic from the BlueGlass team. This is the first one I've seen that embeds a video.
Some interesting data on Twitter CTR from @danzarella
The more interesting points here include the location of links (first half of tweets), using more verbs, and tweeting between 2-3 p.m.
The part about paper.li is useless though. People click on the "dailies" because they are mentioned in them, but it goes to a Paper.li site and you're buried there. Given how arbitrary Paper.li generates its "dailies", I'm not sure how this is useful data.
Facebook engagement comes from storytelling and stories are visual
I suppose this data shouldn't come as a surprise, as most of my personal Facebook posts with photos get the most likes and comments. This has been my experience helping clients manage Facebook pages as well.
When Facebook announced Timeline in September, I blogged my expectations for what the strategy behind it and other changes will mean for company pages. Companies should expect that Timeline features will be applied to pages as well and they should change their mindset from posting "updates" to telling stories.
The best stories are visual. Perhaps the most striking thing about the Facebook changes are the way photos are displayed. Gone are the thumbnail images. Don't let the photo and video album app be underutilized. Gather as much in the way of photos and videos from employees, create more albums and tell stories through the captions.
If Timeline comes to business pages, those assets will fill it up nicely and spark more interaction with followers, just like those personal photos do among your friends.
Then it will be interesting to see what this data looks like in the future.
When Clear and Simple Messaging Works (#kindlefire)
Dear Customer,
There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.
Drawn to Amazon's home page as a result of the coverage and buzz from today's Kindle Fire announcement, I was struck by the customer letter that appeared front and center.
Kudos to Amazon for developing the simplest and clearest message I've seen in a long time. It works so well because it positions them and their products very clearly without naming competitors and appeals to the cost-consciousness that is so acute among consumers today. The "work hard to charge customers less" bit is incredibly powerful.
Will it make me buy one of their products? No, because I'm in the competitor's target market and value the elegant experience. But, it's compelling and will make Amazon successful.
Social network user growth records like comparing home run records
I chuckled when the first wave of comparisons came about when Google announced the Google+ 10 million and 25 million user milestones. Now that Google+ is open to anyone, perhaps it was inevitable that the next milestone of 50 million would bring about more comparisons like the image above that have been all over the streams today.
My feeling is the same as it was then. Comparing social network growth records is like comparing home run records. With home runs, it's hard because records are set in different eras, may be affected by live balls, different size pitchers mounds and the presence of performance enhancers.
Although we're talking about a much shorter span of time with social networks, we're definitely in a different "era" than when MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn launched. Social networks are so much a bigger part of mainstream culture now that a new one from a company like Google will get adopted much more rapidly.
