Fast Five in Search – Week 18, 2013

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fast-fiveThis week’s Fast Five is mostly about social media – its possibilities and difficulties – but there’s a little SEO thrown in as well.

1) Google Plus: Bridging the Gap by Sarah Hill                                                                  The combination of a growing trend called Human Media and the development of Google + Hangouts, is fundamentally changing the possibilities of human communication. Thanks to Google + Hangouts, events can now be shared in real-time – anywhere a suitable internet connection exists. Sarah says, “Say goodbye to the culture of “likes” and hello to a culture of open dialogue that allows for publically debating issues, norms and beliefs right in front of your eyes.”  

2) How to Avoid Blogging Burnout by Sujan Patel                                                           Starting and maintaining a blog is worth the effort, but is it best to do it yourself, train existing staff or outsource? Sujan outlines all the possibilities for those who are thinking of starting a blog, or are looking for a new way to maintain an existing one.

3) Is Social Media Bad For Your Phone? By Corey Geer                                                     I’m going to show my two teenage daughters this post. Mobile search devices have increased our consumption of social media significantly. With teenagers this is even more so. This infographic outlines the numerous effects all this consumption may be having on our health and wellbeing.

4) What Every Graduate Should Know About SEO and Why by Kylie Olsen            Graduate programs in media and communications are not always adequate when it comes to preparing students for the changing environment of online communications – particularly SEO. One considered the domain of those with a technical bent, basic SEO is becoming a must in every communicator’s toolkit. This is a good catch-up-on-the-basics SEO post.

And finally for a bit of fun…

5) 6 Interesting Facebook Tricks You Might Not Know by Kristel Cuenta                          This is a fun post which provides ways to insert code that will modify the way Facebook updates are displayed on your business pages or profiles.

Happy reading!

*Image courtesy of Threadless

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Workshops: Social Media Marketing for Business

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venn-diagram-smm

Social Media Venn Diagram

If you’re in New Zealand, you are probably familiar with the Institute of IT Professionals.

The IITP is New Zealand’s oldest, non-profit professional body of IT members throughout the country. As well as an excellent mentoring program, the IITP run a series of professional development workshops across NZ on various IT, business and marketing subjects.

I’ve been running training workshops in conjunction with IITP now for over 12 months and really enjoy it. The next round of workshops coming up are on the subject of Social Media Marketing for Business.

This full-day workshop will show you step-by-step how to implement a social media marketing strategy for a business of any size. Included will be real-life case studies, practical examples and clever ideas for using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and other social media channels that you can immediately adapt to suit your own requirements.

It will be a fun day, with some group activities, games and (if time permits), live analysis of existing social media strategies of willing attendees.

Below are the details and booking links for Wellington and Auckland events, so please share with anyone you know who might benefit from attending:

Social Media Marketing for Business – Wellington
Date: 14 May 2013
Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Venue: Terrace Conference Centre

Social Media Marketing for Business – Auckland
Date: 16 May 2013
Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Venue: University of Otago House

Thanks for your support!

 

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Search Industry Job of the Week – Director/OVP Social Media

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Job Title: Director/OVP Social Media
Job Reference: unknown
Position Type: full time
Name of employer: Bloomingdale’s NYC
Location: New York City, NY
Date Posted: 20 April 2013
Position description:

Bloomingdale’s seeks a proven leader responsible for developing its social media strategy, designing its online engagement architecture (organization, technology infrastructure, process and policies), and overseeing social media execution. This senior leader will translate the overall brand marketing strategy into an aligned and innovative social media strategy, be accountable for social media performance against that strategy, and ultimately ensure that Bloomingdale’s philosophy, vision and mission are practiced online.

Core Job Responsibilities:

Brand Marketing and Digital Strategy:

  • Develop a social media strategy (content and architecture) in support of overall brand goals and marketing strategy.
  • Partner with the Social Media Operating Committee to ensure social media strategy is aligned with business deadlines and priorities.
  • Develop editorial calendar and approve campaign calendar developed by Manager of Online Engagement; ensure calendar alignment with brand marketing strategy.

Program Leadership:

  • Direct budgets and all investment decision making for Bloomingdale’s social media.
  • Partner with Social Media Operating Committee to scope projects, define schedules, and estimate the resources needed to achieve project goals. Orchestrate resources (including agency talent and internal teams) for social media strategy development and execution as needed.
  • Develop and drive overall social media programs, mitigating risks, escalating issues as needed, and communicating performance.
  • Continuously monitor social media business results and take action to improve performance where needed.
  • Drive innovation in social media strategy and associated technology as needed to effectively deliver Bloomingdale’s brand voice online.

Collaboration and Enablement:

  • Drive a shared vision for online engagement goals at Bloomingdale’s – create clearly actionable success criteria, objectives and requirements and ensure consistent communication of progress.
  • Partner with Social Media Operating Committee and other functional peers to collaborate with fashion houses, industry leaders, and other external organizations required to execute social media strategy.
  • Enable the organization to efficiently and effectively execute against the social media strategy and plans; accountable for training / enablement strategy with input from Manager of Online Engagement but may assign execution responsibilities as appropriate.

Job Qualifications/Requirements:

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in communications, advertising, or marketing preferred
  • Master’s degree preferred.

Experience

  • 12+ years of marketing, corporate communications, digital or similar experience
  • Demonstrated ability to bridge traditional brand marketing and digital strategy
  • Omni-channel retail brand marketing or digital strategy experience preferred

Skills

  • Strong leadership of complex, cross-functional programs, fostering collaboration to deliver business results
  • Adept at navigating across organizational lines, building consensus and alignment across teams
  • Experience leading social media, social networking, and/or community projects
  • Ability to deal with ambiguity and change
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to seek input and demonstrate persuasiveness when needed. Able to effectively communicate the business value of social media strategies inside the organization and build support.
  • Able to prioritize, problem solve, and innovate to deliver on business objectives
  • Net savvy (enjoy online activity, social networking sites & all things Web 2.0)

Salary range: Unknown
Closing date: Unknown
More info from: Bloomingdale’s Jobs
Contact: Send resumes via online form to: Bloomingdale’s Jobs

For more search industry jobs, or to post a vacancy, visit Search Engine College Jobs Board.

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Fast Five in Search – Week 17, 2013

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fast-fiveThis week’s fast five includes: the history of advertising, SEO spring cleaning, Facebook face lifts and lessons from the guru of advertising – George Lucas.

1) Advertising: A Brief History by David Wallace                                                                      I love these infographics-based posts Search Engine Journalers have been creating lately. Advertising is almost as old as civilisation. This is a great one to share for a broader perspective!

2) Dusting the Website for Spring: Optimization and SEO Cleaning by Scott Wyden          In this post Scott gives us nine great tips on onsite website improvement and two offsite tips. Interesting to hear that sites with Google’s Authorship tool enabled, receive 120% more clicks. The internet is becoming so much more personal and the search industry is at the forefront of these changes.

3) Mastering the Art of Local SEO by Tina Courtney-Brown                                                  A friend of mine has a picture framing business which has slowly transitioned from completely offline to mostly online. He used to rely on his village market stall, but now finds he gets most orders online, even local orders. Some businesses, even though they have a strong online presence, they still require a lot of local promotion. This is a great post on Local SEO and covers all the basics.

4) Give Your Facebook Page a Free Facelift by Tina Courtney Brown                                    I am intrigued by the Social Fixer App described by Tina in this post. I haven’t used it yet, but after reading this post, I’m going to try it out. It would be great to make small adjustments to the look and feel of my Facebook page and profile.

And for something a bit different…

5) Transmedia Storytelling: Building Worlds For and With Fans by Gianluca Fiorelli        We are living in the age of transmedia storytelling and this post outlines how you can make this work for your brand. Transmedia storytelling happens when a story unfolds across multi media outlets and platforms and the end users take on an active role in its expansion. You don’t have to be a George Lucas fan to enjoy the message in this post. Transmedia storytelling is where storytelling and marketing collide.

Happy reading!

*Image by Threadless

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Fast Five in Search – Week 16, 2013

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From viral marketing to legendary podcasting – this week’s Fast Five contains a great mix from the blogosphere.

1) Foolishly Viral: Lessons from a Million Pageview Day by Jacob Klein                         Most of us have wondered about the phenomena of content going viral and wondered how it happens. Can it be planned? How do people feel when their content strikes a chord with many more people than expected? Jacob shares his insights in this great post about viral marketing success.

2) Remove Unnecessary Steps and Win More Links, Shares and Conversions – Whiteboard Friday by Rand Fishkin                                                                               You’ve got to love Rand’s posts about keeping things simple. He is great at explaining why some things are no longer important, while other details are crucial to building relationships and maintaining your reader’s attention. This post could have been called:  How to Win Readers and Influence people.

3) 17 Things You Should Stop Doing to Your Websites by Inessa Bokhan                    I really enjoyed this post. I have to admit I’ve been guilty of using cheesy stock images before! Inessa gives some great advice in this post – it all comes down to keeping it real and fresh and… don’t forget your readers!

4) Losing Traffic (and sleep) Over Google Reader’s Death? Here’s What You Can Do About It by Federico Einhorn                                                                                                   In case you’re wondering where you can source story ideas and news feeds now that Google Reader is closing down, I thought I’d include this post. Federico shares links to other news feed sites and gives some helpful advice for webmasters who may have relied on Google Reader until now.

And finally…

5) Case Study: How to Build a Vast Audience by Mastering the Art of the Interview by Beth Hayden                                                                                                                                      I’m finishing this week’s Fast Five with a bit of inspiration. It’s always interesting to hear from other creative people – how they’ve worked hard to build a successful platform. In this post Beth interviews legendary podcaster Srinivas Rao about his successful career as a content marketer.

Happy reading!

*Image courtesy of Threadless

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