A recent Comscore article shows that Facebook and Twitter Access via Mobile Browsers has Grows by Triple-Digits in the Past Year, which really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. I don’t know about you- but it seems that everyone I talk to these days has an iPhone, Droid, or Blackberry.

The rise of mobile technology has some neat (and somewhat frightening, in the Big Brother-sense) implications for how we can be targeted by marketing/advertising. Applications like Foursquare publishes your location to the world, which could allow a monitoring application to watch for anyone who “checks-in” at specific locations.  Think about the implications of checking-in on Beale Street in Memphis on a Saturday night, and then getting a reply that offers you no-cover entrance, or 2-for-1 on your first cocktail at a nearby blues club?

Consider what that technology could that do for restaurants: giving them the ability to offer location-specific specials for lunch or dinner?  What about B2B organizations (a lot of whom seem to be struggling with ways to use social media tools) who want to target locally?  It would be relatively simple for an application to cross-reference someone’s check-in location (like in your company’s office complex, for instance) with specific keywords in a Twitter profile data.  I could then send a message to anyone who is listed as a CMO or Director of Marketing that checks in at Memphis’ business incubator, Emerge Memphis, a message that said “Good to see you in our neck of the woods. If you’ve got 10 minutes, stop by and we’ll show you something neat that we’re up to”.

Alright, I may want to put a little more thought into that message itself, but the point is: I can get hyper-specific with who I am targeting and what messaging I send to that person.

A Better Mobile Web
My other thoughts on the rise of mobile are nothing new – I love that mobile technology gives us so much freedom and instant access to information, but I hate that web site (not app) developers are not catering more to mobile users.

Web sites need to get smarter!  This presentation from Razorfish’s John Petengill points out how mobile users do not want their Internet experience to be watered down. Check it out – very short, but powerful (plus its a really cool presentation).

Valeo is proposing an optional, mobile-friendly version of every with every new site project that we have pitched in the last 6 months.  Why wouldn’t you want a mobile site if you’re developing a new web presence?  Give mobile users a better experience, because their numbers will continue to rise.

There’s a lot of hype about having a mobile app, and there are some great companies who have developed an application that will build mobile apps for you. Our neighbors, Resolute Interactive, has developed their Appanda software that allows you to design and publish your own iPhone and Android app through a web interface. (Shameless plug: check out Valeo’s app on iTunes that was built using Appanda)

This is a break through for anyone who doesn’t want to hire someone like Resolute or Valeo to build you a custom app, but don’t forget about your website, which still has the power to drive far greater amounts of traffic to your online presence. Having your own mobile app is great – but between a mobile app, and a mobile-friendly version of your site, which do you think has more potential?  I’ll give you a hint- mobile apps are not showing up in search engine results…

Looking to the Future
Not huge in the States yet, but sure to be crossing the oceans and coming here soon, I think QR codes will play some part in the mobile future.  I’m not quite ready to talk about that yet – but we’re working up some ideas, so I’m sure we’ll have something for you sometime this year.  Stay tuned…

Some interesting reading about Foursquare:

• Facebook About to Drop a Bomb on Foursquare? (socialmediatoday.com)
• foursquare fascination (timesunion.com)
• Putting Foursquare-esque Technology to Work… at Work (socialmediatoday.com)

The Auto DM is a greatly debated subject in the Twittersphere.  Some people don’t mind them, some hate them with a passion, and there is obviously a huge number of people that are using them.  If you’ve attended the recent workshops on my PLET method for Twitter, then you’ll know that I’m an advocate of some of the features that SocialOomph affords (such as emailed tweet keyword searches).

However, I get really burned out on seeing a “nice to tweet you” or “thanks for joining my Tweeple on Twitter” messages. It’s not authentic, and it annoys me; but my purpose for this post is not to debate the validity of the Auto DM. There are plenty of other sites for that purpose, like StopAutoDM.com. My goal here is to show you how to [at least] opt out of the Auto DMs that are powered by SocialOomph:

1)  Log in to Twitter.
2)  Follow @OptMeOut.
3)  Wait for @OptMeOut to follow you back. @OptMeOut will send you a DM to tell you it has followed you.
4)  Then send a DM to @OptMeOut. (You can write whatever you want in the DM, it does not matter.)
5)  After sending the DM, unfollow @OptMeOut. (This way your opting out remains private since you won’t be in the list of @OptMeOut’s followers. We will unfollow you as well.)

Pretty simple!  This will at least block some of the silly messages.  Good luck!

I was asked to speak to NPA Worldwide, a global organization of personnel professionals, in a workshop for recruiters.  Social media and recruiting go hand-in-hand, especially in today’s climate where finding the ideal candidate is the name of the game.

Fortunately, social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook provide some amazing tools to allow recruiters to target potential placements.  We all post such detailed personal and professional information about ourselves in online profiles that can all be easily searched, that means that finding that ideal candidate is (or can be) easier now than ever before.

Time
One obvious issue that was discussed is the time investment required to be successful in social media.  Several of our participants today voiced concerns about the level of involvement needed. My thoughts on the large time investment are this:  if you are spending tons of time on LinkedIn and you know that it’s working, then that’s obviously well worth the effort.   In order to justify the time, you have to be monitoring your social media efforts and quantifying your results.

PLET
I presented my PLET method for using social media, which covers the basics that everyone needs to know if you’re going to successfully take advantage of these new media channels: Post, Listen, Engage, & Track

Here are some examples that I covered for how recruiters can use this methodology:

• Posting information is crucial, and content is still king! But don’t just throw out your job posting like every other recruiter does- find some way to “hook” people and get their interest. Keywords are crucial, but finding your (online) voice and letting your personality show through are important.
• If you aren’t measuring it, then you can’t improve it (or for that matter, know if it is worth your time investment).  Measuring the effectiveness of social media efforts is a must – so using tools like URL shorteners (bit.ly) that allow you to see how many clicks you’re getting to job postings can go a long way towards helping you start to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
• Listening for opportunities is one of the chief ways to take advantage of online tools.  Google alerts to monitor for lay-offs or openings is a free way to extend your ability to know what’s happening.  We also discussed the importance of organizing all of that kind of information, and using RSS feeds with Google Reader is a brilliant way to not only organize, but it will give you the ability to do searches as well.
• I talked a lot about the great tools that Google provides, and Analytics was another one.  Knowing that your site or blog is getting increased traffic from wherever you are spending your time promoting is just as important as knowing if people are hitting your links.  The reason we can be so good at online marketing is because we can measure it on such a granular level!

Image by Mike Rohde via Flickr

We consult with clients all the time on optimizing their web sites, creating new and fresh content and tips on making their web sites “sticky” and encouraging visitors to return to them time and time again. One of the best ways to accomplish all of these goals is to write a blog.

I know, you just asked yourself what in the world you have to write about. And, how will you ever find time to write a blog? Well, it’s truly as easy as this blog post by Jim Osterman makes it out to be. Just write it.

Sure, you’re first few posts may be short. They may not offer a lot of depthor comment-inspiring content, but they are a start. And, once you begin to blog, it will become easier and easier. You’ll then start reading other blogs; you’ll find out what others in your industry are saying; and then you can write about or disagree with their ideas. Other blogs are a great way to find inspiration, and there’s no easier way to find content and writing ideas. Before you know it, people will be visiting your site to see what you’re writing and reading about. They will see you as a leader in your industry.

So take our advice, and that of Jim Osterman. Just write!

Now that you’re ready to blog, read more blog tips:

Related articles:

• The 3 Main Pillars Of Blogging (shoutmeloud.com)
• The Benefits Of Business Blogging (slideshare.net)