As SXSW winds down, the insights come flying. See videos on the most buzzed-about tech and startups from the show, and learn how to tell better brand stories via social. We've also got tips on how to plan ROI-effective Vines, a link to Pinterest's new analytics service, updated guidelines for mobile advertising, and the usual tasty tidbits on what's changed at Twitter, Facebook, Google, Etsy... and even eBay.
Skim to keep the party going!
Social alpha dog. After an engaging social media-based search, Old Spice now has a new community manager: Mr. Wolfdog. Find him Tweeting random wolfdoggery and producing ironic company-culture Web videos like this one:
#SXLB sums up #SXSW. Missed the fun in Austin? Under the moniker #SXLB, Leo Burnett conducted over 25 interviews of the "most buzzed about technology aficionados, keynote speakers, start-up founders, journalists and academia". Watch and absorb. Here's Tumblr founder David Karp talking about how users can affect product development:
Cultivating more fruitful Vines. "Vine: Six Steps to Using Six-Second Videos..." at the Daily Fix walks you through how to use Vine in your marketing. And 12 Stars Media illustrates how to better use Vine. The key: micro-planning. The video explains how (you can also print out this handy-dandy Vine micro-planning tool):
Tweet your tunes. Now you can sing while tweeting! Twitter's launching a music app with third-party integration from SoundCloud, iTunes, and even Vevo; people will be able to watch music videos directly from their streams. Isn't this funner than your typical raw data?
Rom-com night with all your friends! Facebook now has access to the viewing histories of Netflix users, meaning that silly movie you watched while bored will now be visible to everyone you've ever met. Fun!
B2Bing on LinkedIn. Samantha Kirk provides ways to use LinkedIn for B2B marketing, explaining how to create a business page, participate in Groups, use Polls, and connect to other social feeds.
Pinalytics? Pinalicious! Pinterest finally (!) launched a proprietary Web analytics tool to help marketers better understand what gets Pinned and why. Tracked metrics include Pins, Repins, impressions, reach, clicks, and unique visitors. You'll also get access to reports on how Pin performance (Pinformance?) changes over time.
But can I Pin that second-hand bag? eBay's redesigned its site in favor of a style more... Pinteresting. Response is mixed: "The Pinterest design is meant for people who are in exploratory mode or looking for inspiration. That isn't the core use case for the eBay customer," argues CEO Kevin Kearney of Hard Candy Shell. R/GA's Chloé Gottlieb defended: "Retailers that are moving to these more visual interfaces are making their products more easily shareable. Commerce is becoming more social through the sharing of pictures and eBay gets that."
When brick-and-mortar smooches social. Etsy, an online community for people selling homemade goods, launched Etsy Wholesale, which invites upmarket vendors like West Elm and Nordstrom to sell one-of-a-kind pieces on the popular craft-punting site. Because your handmade lampshade just looks better with a brand-approved scarf draped over it.
Is this the end of RSS? In July, Google Reader officially shuts down: per Google, information on the Web is rapidly increasing and people still need places to filter content, but RSS is less and less looked-to as an option. If you need someplace to read all your favorite marketing and social blogs, CNET's five worthy alternatives may be telling: the vast majority of them look like iPad-ready magazines and are very image heavy (the better for skimming, my dear).
The skinny on social storytelling. Social strategist Carri Bugbee gave an instructive SXSW talk on how strong storytelling improves social media marketing. Her thesis: don't get caught up in pointless memes and Likes-hoarding. Give your social efforts a relatable, shareable core infused with your essential brand manifesto. She also explains why that works better (jump to slide 11). Here's her delicious presentation in full, jam-packed with case studies and tips (starting at slide 19):
Making mobile friendlier for marketers. The Interactive Advertising Bureau, Mobile Marketing Association, and Media Ratings Council released guidelines for mobile app advertising. They cover app testing, releases, viewable impressions, tracking accuracy, and other parameters relevant to in-app mobile ads. (The guidelines will be open for public comment until April 6.) And they will make a handy supplement to the FTC's latest truth-in-advertising decrees for mobile marketers (pdf).
