I downloaded the SoundCloud app for iPad over the weekend and feel like I contributed to the 10 million user milestone reached by the online audio distribution platform on Monday.

From my brief trawl through the site it’s a way for DJs, bands and artists to upload  live and recorded tracks and remixes – a way of promoting their music which will entice fans to purchase their recordings or attend their live shows and earn them money as they build a following.  Users can also record tracks using the site.

Some of the tracks are available as free downloads, or you can livestream the music on your preferred device.

The “Share” feature (pictured) allows members of the site to embed chosen clips on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress and other sites as pictured, with an easy embed code facility.  This social sharing feature allows artists to build a following both on SoundCloud itself, and across other key social media platforms.  It’s a great way of distributing music and leveraging the social networks of others to increase your reach.

When you register on the site, you can search for either “People” or “Tracks”, and once you’ve found what you’re looking for, you can “Follow” the people in the same way you do on Twitter, or “Favourite” a track, which will then appear in your Dashboard.

Alternatively, the site has enabled social login via Facebook.

Other users can follow you if they like your selection of music, and you can also join groups or create your own groups to collaborate with others.  In addition, the DropBox feature enables members of SoundCloud as well as others who aren’t using the service to share their tracks with you.

There’s also a “Comments” feature for artists to engage with their community and vice versa.

The above screenshot also shows the stats an artist obtains from site (right hand side) including number of comments, downloads, favourites and plays.

Branching out beyond pure music publishing, the company released Story Wheel on Monday, to celebrate reaching the 10 million user mark.  The web app allows users to create an audio slideshow, incorporating photos published to Instagram.

“Storywheel.cc allows Instagram users to import their favorite photos and then simply record an audio narrative via Flash in their browser while clicking through their slides.”

It will be interesting to see what other applications the site finds for the audio content it hosts.

Alex Ljung, SoundCloud‘s co-founder and chief executive, said the audio-hosting and streaming site aims to be the YouTube of audio.  Grand aspirations indeed.  Though 5 million new users in the past 7 months, a community that’s largely grown by word-of-mouth, definitely deserves some attention.

Oh – and the reason for the promotion of The Magician?  I saw him at Space in Ibiza last year and he was awesome!  Since then I’ve seen him twice, in small London venues, and he hasn’t disappointed.  Plus I like his use of social media.

The male version is available and the female version is still being worked on in the labs. 

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

In 2010, there were 15 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 41 posts. There were 10 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 694kb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was February 17th with 59 views. The most popular post that day was Big brands and their digital plans – in the firing line!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, lmodules.com, delicious.com, media-creativity.com, and bigextracash.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for social media marketing case studies, social media case studies 2009, digital eminence, reflexology, and wendy tarr.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Big brands and their digital plans – in the firing line! February 2010

300 Case Studies of Social Media Marketing November 2009
17 comments

Digital eminence – building your personal brand online February 2010
3 comments

About Wendy Tarr June 2009
5 comments

Reflexology: Unlock your (Business) Chi June 2009
2 comments

My new year’s resolution is to write more often and post more frequently!

1. Keywords in the title.
2. Keywords first in the title (the closer your keywords are to the start of the title – ideally the first words – the more powerful they are).
3. Keywords in the domain.
4. Keywords in the body text.
5. Relevancy between keywords and body text.
6. Keywords in H1 tag.
7. Keywords in the internal link anchor text on page.
8. Keywords in the external link anchor text on page.
9. Keyword in the URL.
10. Keywords in H2/3/4 tags.
11. Keywords in the alt tags of images.
12. Keywords in the bold/strong tags.
13. Keywords in the Meta Description Tag.
14. Keywords in the Meta Keywords Tag.

(List courtesy of Anthony Pusateri)

Interesting stats on how Fortune 100 brands are using social media.  The study considers Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogs. 

Slide 5: Interestingly, Twitter is the most popular social media tool, perhaps because it allows companies to promote existing content rather than create new content.  In my experience it was easy to set up a Twitter account and post frequently.  Identifying subject matter experts to participate in a corporate blog was a harder proposition, and once identified, gaining their commitment to post frequently was even more difficult.

Slide 9: Only 40% of Asian companies are on Twitter and most use it to communicate with Western stakeholders – I wonder how many non-English language Twitter accounts are live?

Slide 12: Analysis claims that stakeholders want to hear what companies are saying based on the number of followers and tweets about companies.  These stakeholders would also comprise business partners, competitors, employees… Depending on the organisation’s Twitter strategy pure numbers aren’t necessarily a sign of success.  Better metrics would be linked to engagement and potentially lead generation or conversion.  Again, the metrics need to be mapped to the strategy behind the company’s Twitter account.

Slide 19: US companies are the most prominent on Facebook with 69% having fan pages.  I’d be interested in understanding the split between B2B and B2C organisations.  I also feel that cultural differences play apart, as well as age groups and gender.  Some of my more cynical colleagues would NEVER join the fan page of a brand – and look at the stats, it appears my fellow Aussies in the Asia-Pac region are also more reluctant to become “fan’s” of brands.  However, with Facebook adoption so mainstream, it appears that people are looking at fan pages as a way of conversing with brands and voicing opinions (Slides 22-23).

Twitter

Similar to IBM’s Blue Twit, Infosys have created their own internal version of Twitter.  Don’t you just love that about technology companies?!  I’ve been in the tech industry so long that I can barely remember what it’s like to not have all these applications available.  The tool allows employees to post tweets of 160 characters, including the ability to share files and links.  In a large organisation these vehicles are so important as they allow you to connect with your fellow employees and access information that would normally be sitting in people’s heads & on laptops.  I know how long it can take to build a strong network within a complex, multi-national organisation, and tools such as these allow you to bypass that process and reach out beyond your own personal connections.

Blogging

As well as having an external blogging platform, there are over 25,000 internal blogs on a huge variety of subjects, plus a search function that makes it easy to find people with specific expertise.  This has enabled the company to find people with a passion and interest in subjects as diverse as eCommerce, packaged software implementations, technical strategy and online banking, to be identified and staffed on projects based on their fields of interest, rather than just their functional reporting line.

Xobni

There was also a presentation on Xobni, an Outlook Plugin that integrates with social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, & provides email analytics including the ability to see the best time of day to get a response from selected individuals.  Or in some cases, those individuals who you NEVER receive a response from.

Wiki

Plus the Infy wiki allowing open collaboration for all employees.  Whilst we all have access to Sharepoint, a wiki is great for unstructured content, or topics where there is an open timeframe for response. 

Social media has its supporters and detractors, but I believe its benefits far outweigh the negatives.  Within the firewall, these tools facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing and allow employees to connect to each other beyond geographical boundaries.  So far I’ve been lucky to work for organisations that see the value and power of these tools. 

How is your organisation leveraging social media?

The YouTube video currently has close to 4,000 views and has been picked up by the mainstream media.

Can you set out to create a viral video?  I came across the following article which identifies The 7 Viral Video Campaign Elements by Jerry Bader:

1. Engage: Grab Attention.
2. Enlighten: Provide Substance.
3. Stylise: Create An Experience.
4. Focus: Be Consistent.
5. Entertain: Be Memorable.
6. Resonate: Hit A Nerve.
7. Excite: Compel Action.

I’ve recently been working on a video (I won’t say a viral video as that’s an unknown entity until we go live!) and whilst we’ve aimed to tick most of the boxes above, at this stage we’re hoping that people will find it engaging enough to share.

There are so many videos out there that it’s difficult to get cut-through, but with some targeted outreach we’re hoping to achieve our objective of informing, entertaining and engaging people.

Watch this space for results!

Do you have any hints & tips for improving the shareability of your content?

And the data is giving me a headache.

I’d like to say that my headache is caused by analysis paralysis.  But no – the data is giving me a headache because the numbers DO NOT STACK UP.  In a B2B environment we don’t have the luxury of generating thousands of responses.  Current conversion rates for web responses are low, in part because of the complex solutions we sell and the lengthy sales cycles involved.  It’s almost impossible to attribute a white paper download to a deal worth thousands (hundreds of thousands/millions) of GBP£.  (How we’re able to attribute the same opportunity to a customer attending an event has me shaking my head in exasperation…)

In fact, current measurement systems make it very difficult to justify the investment in digital tactics FULL STOP.  And the measurement issue drives self-perpetuating behaviour.  Tactics are chosen because they are easier to measure, not necessarily because they are the right thing to do.

So I look at my lead targets, the number of responses required to meet these, and the lovely Cognos cut of what the web is generating, and a couple of things become clear:

• We will NEVER meet the required response targets.

Even with an unlimited budget (and when has that EVER been a possibility?!) we won’t be able to drive the number of responses required at the current conversion rate.

But what can we do to try to boost our response numbers?

• Where we’re investing in paid media placements we need to drive publishers to commit to meet response targets and move away from advertising measurements (e.g. impressions) that don’t deliver responses.
• The reports from our new analytics package need to track conversions.
• Content distribution is necessary because, crazily, our prospects aren’t necessarily looking for information on our website.
• Social media is a must – we need to ensure alternative sources are driving traffic to our website.  Plus, the right vehicles, if they provide value to our prospects, will encourage them to provide us with their contact details.
• Search engine optimisation in order reduce the amount spent on paid search and ensure our pages rank naturally.  This is a challenge in the tech marketplace but essential if we want to intercept demand.

However, as I mentioned above, a single-minded focus on generating responses will not help us achieve our lead targets.  Therefore we need to focus on QUALITY, not quantity.

The current mantra is for the web to become a volume engine to drive leads.  The same fate fell to telemarketing and this didn’t work.  In fact, we saw a shift away from outbound lead generation tele activity to telenurturing of inbound responses.

We need to encourage the web to become a volume engine for better quality responses, thus improving conversion rates and reducing the number of responses required.  And we can improve conversion rates  by using digital techniques such as:

• Social media – again, social media is key to engaging with people and qualifying their interest to ensure that sales are engaged with the right prospects.
• Live chat – implementing chat facilities on the web to engage with prospects whilst they are on-site, to answer queries and to pass them onto sales if they meet certain criteria.
• Implementing nurturing techniques – though I’m starting to think that if we could ensure better qualified responses than our nurturing activities would perform even better.
• Planting relevant offers and harvesting responses from organic web visitors, analysing performance and testing offers to maximise conversion rates.

I’d love to hear if you’re encountering similar issues challenges in your organisation regarding response volumes, and how your using digital techniques to improve the quality of these responses.

First things first, let’s take a definition of eminence:

1. a position of superiority, distinction, high rank, or fame

And digital eminence?  I came across the following definition on an IBM internal community:

“Digital Eminence is a term that describes/defines the digital contributions that a user makes that add value to others.

Users with high digital eminence publish high quality articles, blog entries, and add value to key online business discussions.  These individuals not only produce/publish information, they also consume existing information and contribute by rating that content.  Evidence of their eminence is supported by others who have rated their contributions as valuable and have tagged them for reuse by others.”

What are some of the steps you can take to build your brand online?

1. Firstly, identify how you want to brand yourself.

I read a fantastic article on personal branding titled, “The brand called You” which was contained in an internal presentation put together by Jennifer Okimoto on the same subject.  Key questions to ask yourself include:

• What makes you different?
• What makes you stand out?
• What are your strengths?
• Establish the feature/benefits model of your personal brand – i.e. what benefits do you deliver to your clients?
• What do you do that adds distinguished, distinctive value?
• What do you do that you are most proud of?
• What do you want to be remembered for?

As with building a value proposition, you need to ensure that you can support each of your assertions and be unashamed to promote them.

2. For B2b professionals, create or update your profile on LinkedIn.

In addition to your current and past work experience and education, be sure to include a photo and summary paragraph that includes the keywords you want to be known for.  This is crucial for search.  LinkedIn’s New User Guide suggests you think of your summary as your elevator pitch.

To add more depth to your profile, add applications such as WordPress or Slideshare.  You can also promote events that you are running, planning to attend or speaking at with the event app.  This not only allows you to demonstrate your area of expertise, but also gives people an opportunity for people to connect with you face-to-face.

Make sure that you set your public profile and review the information that appears here and don’t forget to use your name in the URL.

3. Write a blog.

Be sure to update regularly as the fresh content will improve your search rankings.  Select topics that relate to your personal brand and area of expertise.

4. Comment on other people’s blogs.

Identify other experts in your field and comment on their blogs.  Remember to add value with your comments, don’t use this purely as a vehicle for self-promotion.  Your objective should be to connect with others and build your community, as well as demonstrating your knowledge in a specific field.

5. Find & share useful information.

Whether this is via Twitter, social bookmarking or sites such as Digg or Sumbleupon.

6. It’s all about the content!

Create and distribute useful content – whether that be podcasts, videos, presentations, webinars or documents there are lot’s of asset distribution sites that can enable you to share your content.  And by ensuring you keep using your chosen keywords you should start improving your findability online.

7. Gauge your eminence on a regular basis.

Search on the web, be that via Google, Bing or another search engine, and see where you appear and against which keywords.  This intelligence can help you refine your efforts and enhance your profile.

What other tactics are you using to build your digital eminence?

At the end of a long day I thought the room would be fairly empty, but the promise of cocktails after the session must have kept people hanging around – and Aaron Kahlow of Online Marketing Connect, who was chairing the panel, prompted the audience to go for a “no holds barred” approach to their questions.

Following are some of the questions and responses from the panel (paraphrased from memory!):

• If you had to put all your money on a single digital tactic, which would it be?

The almost unanimous response was search (both SEO and SEM).

• Were companies focused on bring digital in-house or out-house ?

This had a mixed response.  SAP and IBM were both moving to bring more skills in-house.  For IBM, this is particularly with regards to our search capabilities with some significant investments in technology to assist us internally.  Some other brands were focused on a mix of in-house and out-house.  The British Museum were looking to outsource their digital marketing and saw the growing number of integrated agencies as a key driver in enabling this move.

• When it comes to social media, what role do you see agencies playing?

There was a mixed response to whether companies would use agencies or bring these skills in-house.  I’ve seen a number of agency proposals which have jumped straight to social media tactics/vehicles, without regard for the objectives, approach, and metrics to demonstrate return/value.   James Meers, of the British Museum, suggested organisation’s run a small social media pilot to see what works and learn lessons in a “suck it and see” approach.  I have to agree – how can you appraise an agency proposal without first having an understanding of what’s involved and the metrics available.  There are too many agencies out there who are over-charging for services that can be done at low-cost or free.  Understand your objectives and then invite agencies in to pitch.

• How are you leveraging social media?

With regards to social media initiatives, understanding who your gurus are is key.   SAP recently trained all their marketing people on how to leverage social media, what language to use, and how to engage with people.  At IBM we have numerous internal tools available to trial social media in a risk-free environment before trying to engage external audiences.  We also use internal communications to seek out subject matter experts who are already active online.

• What can small businesses do to beat the big brands on Google?

Local.com suggested looking at Geo targeting for search.  Large organisations are often approaching search from an advertising perspective – it’s about reach and impressions rather than targeted messages to niche audiences.  Small businesses can often steal a march on big brands by narrowing the focus of their advertising messages to a specific segment.

• What role does social media play in the sales funnel?

An earlier pitch had suggested that social media didn’t play in the sales funnel.  I would disagree.  Depending on your objectives there is definitely a role.  LinkedIn has great suggestions for sales prospecting, and we’re also piloting extending the scope of our telesales teams to include “listening” for opportunities on social media (e.g. Twitter) and engaging directly with customers and prospects.   My counterparts on the panel also felt that social media played across the board.  From customer service to prospecting.  Don’t think about social media just in terms of “campaigns”.

• What’s the future of social media?

Laura Lippay of Yahoo suggested that the rise of mobile devices, RFID, and digital technology embedded in EVERYTHING would mean that social would become ubiquitous.  It would become the way we do business, offering us the ability to engage with customers on a 1-2-1 basis, rather than being about marketing campaigns or advertising.

• What about governance?

SAP have a social media council made up of their key social “Efluencers” who vet agency proposals and try to reign in the “spray” approach where every marketing department has dipped their toe in the water.  At IBM we also have a social media council who, amongst other things, are exploring such issues as managing intellectual property, building education programs and establishing social media blueprints.

All in all it was a great opportunity to field the burning questions from agencies and organisations and hear, first-hand, what other big brands are doing in this space.