Top Internet Strategy, Marketing & Technology Links – Feb 1, 2010

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The truth is that in the era of new media, we are all brand managers, responsible for its stature, resonance, and direction. While we may not retain control, we now have the ability to shape and steer impressions, answer questions, solve problems, and engender appreciation. And in the social web, brands are now expected to humanize and connect directly with everyday denizens to convey purpose, establish goodwill, and reassure communities that their voices are heard – The Myth of Control in New Media (Brian Solis)

The fear of lack of control has been one that many clients have had. By creating a place where customers can leave feedback, they fear that they’re providing a platform where negative things can be broadcast to other potential customers. The problem is, customers are already talking about you and your brand – either online or off. By providing a place where people can communicate with you, you’re creating a feeling of goodwill and opening the doors to improve the relationship with your customers (so they’ll, in turn, improve what they’re communicating to potential customers). Being involved with your customers is so important.

Apparently the name iPad was not something that someone atApple just recently thought up. So unless Apple gets a ruling in its favor (not likely, unless money changes hands) the iPad will have to become the i-something else. – IPad Name May Have To Change (Lockergnome)

Whether or not Apple has to change the name of the iPad for legal reasons, I think they should change the name because it’s horrible. I understand their love of all things with a little i before them. And that’s fine. But how about picking an imaginative name that encapsulates the product. iPad just makes me think of feminine hygiene products. The product may be cool, but the name certainly is not.

Looking to turn your PC into a live video production studio? Ustreamhas just launched a new desktop application to help make that happen. Today, the company is launching a new desktop client called Ustream Producer that boasts high video quality and editing tools that can help give your streams an added layer of polish. – Ustream Helps Give Your Live Broadcasts A Professional Feel With New Desktop Client (TechCrunch)

Video online is huge. It’s a great way to provide personality for your brand and a nice way to get your message heard (and provide valuable content). Ustream’s product looks pretty nice – providing some nice features like picture in picture and other editing. I personally haven’t been big on streaming live – I like to edit my content – but not everyone has the time or inclination to do so – and there certainly are events and situations where a live feed is better. If you’re interested in live video feeds, take a look at Ustream’s new products and let us know what you think.

Google, Apple and several start-ups are trying to break the mold in mobile advertising, hoping to persuade marketers to spend more on a format that the technology industry has been hyping for years, with little to show for it. – Giving Mobile Ads a Makeover (WSJ) (subscription required)

Mobile is going to be big (have I mentioned that?). I’d expect all the major Internet players to get in the game, not only Google & Apple, but Microsoft and perhaps some of the ad networks (plus some startups). In order to support free services on mobile devices, creators will need to be able to collect some sort of revenue and advertising is one of them. It’s also tempting for marketers to be able to advertise more contextually to people – meaning right when they’re searching for a restaurant on their phone, you give them some ads from local restaurants. I imagine the ad formats will continue to evolve with the platform.

Rishi Rawat of the Retail In The Eyes of the Everyday Customer blog posted a very thought provoking idea on his blog earlier this week: Could a retailer improve its natural search rankings by asking its email subscribers to Google its most desirable keyword phrase and click on its listing in search (especially if it’s on the second page of results)? Rishi calls his tactic “email marketing optimization” or EMO (not to be confused with emo or Elmo). – Can EMO Improve Search Rankings? (Get Elastic)

This is a really interesting tactic. Basically you ask your email subscribers to click on the link from your Google search results for a particular keyword. Why? Because Google supposedly (everything is supposedly with Google) ranks your site’s connection with that keyword partially based upon how many times humans click on the search results. So if you can ask your customers to click on a link for a keyword, you may be able to improve your rankings for that keyword. Similarly, this is why SEO experts try to do guest posts or link bait on external sites with URLs around specific keywords – to increase the site’s association with that keyword.

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