Within hours of each other, both Microsoft and Google announced agreements with Twitter which will allow them to provide more timely, micro-blog based information in their respective indexes.  The magnitude of this is best exemplified by how the major search engines struggled to be current in light of Michael Jackson’s death.

When TMZ.Com broke the story on their website, it had proliferated throughout Twitter through a series of retweets that accelerated to the point of bringing down the service.  When I saw my first retweet on Twitter, I immediately began to Google the topic looking for the time delay in a Google News result.  This took over 2 hours.

To Google’s credit, during that two hours there was a lot of debate on behalf of major news sources as to whether to confirm the story with the only source being the “edgy” TMZ.Com.  Still, it is a known fact that in light of Twitter, Google, Bing, and other search engines lack timeliness in the indexing of information.  That is why the literal simultaneous announcements regarding the Microsoft – Twitter agreement and the Google – Twitter agreement are significant.  Still, as all of the news focuses on the headline, the world needs to take a look back to headlines of the past to understand why Microsoft might have a leg up in the future of search as access to Twitter was commoditized today.

If you examine a list of Microsoft acquisitions, you will see one of the major keys to the future of their success search with the October 2, 2007 purchase of JellyFish.Com.  JellyFish.Com was Wisconsin based startup that was the CPA (cost per action) site of its kind.  The site created a win-win model between advertisers and consumers by only charging advertisers based on actions and providing consumers with cash back for purchases.  JellyFish.Com was eventually shut down and incorporated into Microsoft’s search real estate.  They have actually ventured into some advertising in their recent Bing campaigns.

This is the point in this post where I have to disclose that I worked in management at Microsoft for 10 years.  Yet, this post, which actually ventures into speculation, is simply a product of me thinking like a Microsoft versus any insider information.  Moving on . . . .

Prior to today’s announcements, I was in the middle of writing this post taking an angle that the timeliness of Twitter would drive more users to the micro blogging site and its API partners for relevant news and reduce the role of search engines to more static information searches including that of products and services.  Even though today’s announcements provide the search engines a much needed boost of instantaneous information, it is still unclear as to whether their tapping of Twitter’s API’s will customize results for search engine users based on the “following” lists and taxonomy (hashtags) preferences that they establish in other applications such as TweetDeck.  So, I will go with the assumption that both Microsoft and Google have a long way to go in making their indexing of Twitter data relevant to users and that the real competition will continue in the space of more static informational search.  This is where Microsoft’s JellyFish.Com acquisition becomes significant.

Consumers will do funny things if they think there is benefit.  They’ll buy locally on Tax Free Day when they could pay no taxes 365 days a year by purchasing online and probably get a more competitive price.  They’ll also base purchase decisions on whether or not they can get “flyer miles”.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used more than my fare share of flyer miles but THE LAST THING you want is a “receivable” with an Airline and that is exactly what a flyer mile is.  As a marketer to you learn to not fight consumer behavior rather you cater to it and that is what Microsoft is doing.  And, in a down economy where consumers are looking for benefit, it just might very well be able to sway consumers to use Bing for commercial searches.  This will eventually bring advertisers big and small along with them.  Still, Google’s dominance will likely require them to make some mistakes or have a strategic set back to provide Microsoft some sort of window.  I doubt Google will release the search engine equivalent of Windows Vista; yet, a major legal set back isn’t out of the question.

One area where Google is creating a situation for its advertisers is venturing into the social media space on the same real estate its advertisers pay for placement.  Their recent revelation of SideWiki creates exactly that situation.  Big advertisers will spread their bets if given the opportunity and Microsoft’s CPA program that provides consumers with cash back might very well give them that option.  Of course, Google is carefully evaluating similar models but has a major legacy pay per click system which will add complication to any strategy shift.

Though behind on search, Microsoft is no stranger to data.  One thing often overlooked about the underdog Microsoft is that they have years of R&D invested in processing of data in terms of multi-dimensional data warehousing and data mining.  Back in 1995 Microsoft began to bolster its minds and technology arsenal in this space including hiring the late data industry legend, Jim Gray.  The sad thing today is that search engines are still single dimensional.  If you search WINE in Google you get a limited list of websites, paid advertisements, and local business listings.  Why a multi-dimensional data set starting with regions, varietals, ages, and other suggestive search based characteristics aren’t provided to a user with drill down tools is a mystery to me.  I am sure this is coming but one has to concede that Microsoft has been researching and making acquisitions in this space for over a decade.  Whether Microsoft will go there is yet to be seen and my thinking here is mere speculation.

In my opinion, Microsoft does have a leg up; yet, they will have to get over bad habits if they want to succeed.  The biggest bad habit they have to “kick” is marketing above the heads of their consumers.  Though Crispin Porter is the bomb of advertising and doing amazing things with the brand in light of Apple, I have yet to meet a consumer who truly understands what the cash back message on the Bing advertising really means.  They are going to have to get down to consumers level if they want to convert on the advantage that they have.

The future of search is healthy and I am excited to learn of today’s Twitter announcements.  I’m also excited to watch search engines be forced to change based on the disruption of small startups versus using their large cash positions to dictate how consumers should get their online information.  What do you think?  What will search engines look like 5 years from now and will Twitter change the face of them or simply refine their definition?

As would be expected in a Social Media Marketing services firm, our office is constantly full of buzz, opinion, and new discoveries int he world of online marketing. We also have some very interesting people stop by for meetings or to work on client deliverables.

Jerod and I thought it would be a good idea to simple turn on the microphones once and a while. After all, we do have a fully digital studio in our offices that we use for client work.

In our first podcast, we simply decided to have an open discussion about the complex world of social media and provide some insight as to where a small or medium sized business owner should begin. We cover topics like Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon, and blogging with WordPress. And believe it or not, we aren’t bullish on all in the social media world.

Enjoy the information and the debate!

We would like to thank the people over at Marshall Electronics for bringing the vintage warmth of Ribbon Microphone technology to a price point affordable by the masses. This is the first series where we are putting our newly acquired MXL R144 microphones to work! We connected these directly into our Zoom H4N and what you hear is what you get. (We do run our microphones into an 8 track board if we are recording 3 or more guests but for normal two person podcasts in person or via phone we go direct to the H4N)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I got a little upset this week when a small business owner told me that they were told at a presentation at a local chamber of commerce that, “If you aren’t out on Facebook and Twitter, you are going to be left behind.”  Obviously, I believe in social media, so why did this upset me?

First, in our office we have a wall called “The Dinosaur Wall” that has all kinds of antiquated forms of marketing which include The Yellow Pages, The Dallas Morning News Briefing, and other marketing artifacts that just aren’t affective. The following is the graphic on the wall:

Please understand, this jab at traditional marketing is made from quantitative data we’ve provided for our clients.  We’ve shown that online blogging, search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM) have provided exponential increases in results and valuable data and feedback.

Furthermore, I am the first to admit that many businesses are not suited for online marketing and I’m pretty good at picking them out and suggesting more conventional marketing. What upset me about a blanket statement telling a small business owner that they need to be on Facebook and Twitter is that there was absolutely no guidance given in terms of return on investment (ROI).

Yes, these services are free and you can expose yourself to millions of people. However, success on these services requires time; time that could be spent harvesting opportunity in existing customer bases, meeting new people, or using other more proven forms of online marketing such as SEM and SEO.

ROI Advice When Testing a Facebook/Twitter Marketing Campaign

Please understand, I am not against Facebook or Twitter, at all. I just think that whenever a small business is going to embark on this venture, they need to be ready.  Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter are absolutely changing the way that the world is marketed to.  Facebook Pages can be an excellent tool to expand your brand and connect with your network in a viral way.  Twitter is an excellent way to gain quick access to a lot of interesting people and to easily connect with people that have interest in what you are promoting.  However, without specific checks and balances in place, your small business’s efficiency and effectiveness could plummet.  Here are three critical things to consider if you decide to expand your marketing efforts to include Facebook, Twitter or another social networking website.

(1)    Know Your Demographic – 77% of the Facebook Community are under 34 years old, according to a recent Quantcast report.  A TIME Magazine article reported that Twitter’s “largest age demographic is 35-to-44-year-olds, who make up 25.9% of its users.” If your business isn’t catering to the Facebook or Twitter demographics, then you’ll be wasting your time.

(2)    Define Your Strategy – As with any effective marketing campaign, networking with no defined strategy will eat away at efficiency, productivity and the bottom-line.  Remember, the goal of tools like Twitter and Facebook is to keep you online as long as possible. Appropriate guidelines must be established before the campaigns are launched.

ROI Guidance on Facebook and Twitter:

• Setup a quantitative business goal. This could be as aggressive as, “sell $X of product or services in the next 90 days” to something more realistic like, “expand my business network by X% or meet 10 new people who will be at an upcoming conference and schedule at least 5 One on One’s at the conference.”
• Keep detailed track of your time.  You have to be able to show that the man hours your company is spending on social media is paying off.
• Classify time spent as “extra hours” or detail what daily tasks took a back seat. Also, list out a wish list of “To Do” items that you would have been doing had you not been working on social media (opportunity cost).
• Talk to other business owners who are embarking on Facebook and Twitter campaigns and understand how they are hoping to improve business results.  Understand all the capabilities of Facebook Pages and Twitter Searches and use them appropriately.

(3)    Evaluate – After 90 days of connecting, tweeting, and doing your thing, sit down and run your numbers. As with any sales oriented process, meetings, introductions, and information exchanges are nice, but any ROI calculation must be made on checks that cleared the bank.

At this past week’s DFWSEM monthly meeting, we assembled a pane of attendees and speakers who went to PubCon in Austin, TX this month to give their recap and thoughts on the conference.  There was one theme that was overwhelming–Twitter, Twitter, Twitter.

There is no question in that Twitter is the rage.  The question is whether it provides return on investment (ROI) to businesses who are investing time into it.  The even larger question is Twitter’s business model itself.  We’ll save that for a later post.

So, who cares what you or your business is up to on a minute by minute basis in 140 characters or less?  As with anything, it depends on what you have to say.  More importantly in the world of social media, it depends on how many people are listening as well.

Twitter Models that Won’t Work

I’ve heard countless stories of a business having their marketing person get on Twitter, reach out to a bunch of people, and try to sell them something.  In the email world we call it SPAM.  With the telephone world we see it as flat out annoying.  So, does changing the transport to Twitter make that any different?   Nope!

Twitter Models that Have Potential

It was reported at the DFWSEM meeting that Dell has a twitter handle in which they announce specials on overstocked items and open boxes via Twitter.  If you are looking for computer equipment, following those tweets has value.  I’ve also been introduced to an individual on Twitter that has 5K publicists and journalist following them and shares stories and information.  That has value.  People who attended PubCon and gave play by plays via Twitter making it available to those who couldn’t attend has significant value and can be considered a cost cutting technique.

Final Thoughts

Having founded a digital agency that more into Social Media than heads down SEO, I’m really glad that one of the premier SEO conferences was inundated by social media (Twitter).  I’m facinated by the number of topics and discussions that came out of our panel discussion from both a business and marketing perspective as well as SEO as it relates to Twitter.  So what was actually said during our panel discussion?  Well, if you are in Dallas, you should join us.  If you aren’t, find us on Twitter!