Posts Tagged ‘facebook’

In Rome, Do as the Yelpers Do

Posted on: February 25th, 2013 by Geoff Livingston 6 Comments

Monticello
Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello, a must-see in Charlottesville

During my winter holiday in Charlottesville, every meal we enjoyed at a restaurant was at a well recommended Yelp venue. Similarly my colleague Chris Pilbeam remarked that every venue he visited on a recent trip was suggested by travelers on TripAdvisor.

I guess the old adage should be revised: When in Rome do as the Yelpers do. After all, 100 million other people are using Yelp, too, and it ranks as a top 40 U.S. website according to Comscore.

All jokes aside, local search marketing now extends well beyond traditional SEO mainstays Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

If you have local business getting reviewed on Foursquare, Yelp!, TripAdvisor, Google+ Local, and perhaps Facebook’s new Nearby service is critical to your success.
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Geoff Livingston on Google+

The Yogi Berra School of Marketing

Posted on: February 11th, 2013 by Geoff Livingston 6 Comments

Yogi Berra
Image by cliff1066

Pitchers and catchers report today, marking the beginning of the long journey to the World Series. What better way to celebrate than apply some of Yogi Berra’s quotes to marketing?

I believe in speaking to an audience using their vernacular. That’s why I love Yogi Berra, and his terribly funny euphemisms for life, which just absolutely drive grammar perfectionists crazy.

Here are my five favorite Yogisms as they apply to marketing:

“It ain’t over till it’s over.”

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Geoff Livingston on Google+

The End of the Social PR Revolution

Posted on: January 14th, 2013 by Geoff Livingston 25 Comments

Soup Lines
Image by OakleyOriginals

In building the program for xPotomac (February 25th), I sought to address a sea change in media evolution. That change spells the end for the social PR revolution, a marketing movement embodied by brand-led conversations over the past seven years.

We are currently experiencing a throttling of branded, online grassroots power. Specifically, it’s becoming harder and harder for marketers to be seen with branded earned media and social updates.

This evolution is best evidenced by the increasing role of owned and paid content placement (as discussed, content marketing is the 21st century nice description of advertising), and social or native advertising.

Other signs evidence this change, too. Social search and stronger policing of black hat SEO by Google has put a premium on paid search again. Facebook’s use of Edgerank to force companies and individuals alike to pay for attention is another harbinger of this fate.

The rise of big data and the forthcoming wearable computing revolution — themes that run throughout xPotomac — will cause a further throttling of online grassroots pipes.

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Geoff Livingston on Google+