Mark Bertils (@mdash) tweeted a slogan I liked a few days ago that went something like ‘hyper-local is the new global’ (okay, I just checked and Mark actually said “multi-local” but I’m sticking with hyper because “are you feeling multi yet?” just doesn’t do it for me). Perhaps that comes as a response to the release of foursquare.com’s Toronto edition, I’m not sure—but ever since using twitter and thinking about geolocation, rfid and narrowcasting I have believed the direction search is likely to go and where value can really be added is by enabling that hyper-local awareness. Well what about adding hyper-real time to that equation?
Last week both bing and google announced that they will now be indexing the real time web, and certainly part of the affect of this will be to fine tune local results. Bing has cut a deal with twitter and Facebook, (bing.com/twitter is live now but make sure your locale is United States because once again if you’re Canadian you experience the digital ghetto we have come to live in!). And Google in what seems to me a bit of a mea culpa made their announcement about including twitter at the Web 2.0 conference hosted by O’Reilly. Google also announced that they will be adding social search to google labs within the next few weeks. Google intends to index all “open” social data.
What does all of this mean to you—the brand? I think Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang—a silicon valley web strategist) sums it up nicely:
Customers Impact Brand Search Results Using Twitter
Even if your company is not active on Twitter, your customers can influence the search results related to your company—you must pay attention to this trend. Just as your company likely already has a search strategy through search optimization or paid search terms, you’ll need to extend micromedia to your strategy. In order to be prepared for this change, companies must:
1. Develop a Listening Strategy That Starts With Roles and Process.
Every business and market is now moving faster and faster as information spreads around the globe in minutes—if not seconds. Companies must be ready to quickly identify flare ups, be ready to respond, and correct incorrect information. Develop a listening strategy that has internal roles set in place, a process to respond and the right tools like Radian 6, Visible Technologies, BuzzMetrics, or Cymfony.
2. Change The Marketing Mindset—Legacy Methods Ineffective.
Search marketers must understand that blasting marketing information through Facebook or Twitter won’t be effective, as search engines will filter out irrelevant messages that nobody listens to. Instead, marketers should allow content on all web properties and email marketing to be easily added to Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites by offering icons that encourage people to share. Providers like ShareThis and AddThis make this simple to do.
3. Develop Influence Marketing Programs.
Since these search engines have all noted that they will rank real time information on a person’s authority and not just traditional page ranking, marketers must double down on building these relationships. More than ever, brands will need to foster discussions within Twitter as retweet, replies, and linking behavior will influence what is served up on results pages. It takes time to build real relationships that develop into public conversations so get started now.
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