Fortune 500 Companies Love Twitter

Friday, March 5, 2010 by Jeremy Porter
Social media marketing is at the forefront of integrated interactive marketing programs underway at almost every Fortune 500 company out there. Corporate blogging, online video and podcasts are among the most popular strategies used by the world's largest comapnies. But what about Twitter?

What might surprise you is how quickly Twitter is growing as the social medium of choice among Fortune 500 companies. According to recent studies like “Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Financial Insite, a Seattle-based Research Firm, Twitter is the platform of choice for Fortune 500 social media marketers.

The study examined the 2009 Fortune 500 in an attempt to quantify their adoption of social media tools and technologies, finding that 22% of Fortune 500 companies have a public-facing corporate blog – six percent more than 2008. The study also found that 86% of these blogs link directly to a corporate Twitter account, a 300% increase over 2008. Even more corporations have Twitter accounts, but not all link to them from their blog.

It would appear that Fortune 500 marketers are moving fast to Twitter for engaging with their key audiences. Of course, upon further analysis, you’d find that only 35% of these Twitter accounts are active – described as having been updated within the past 30 days. If I’m reading the study correctly, that means 65% are not being actively used.

While Fortune 500 companies have realized they need to be on Twitter – probably as defense against username squatting – few have truly embraced Twitter as a social channel. 

Of the groups that have engaged most heavily with Twitter, the insurance industry is leading the way, with 13 active Twitter accounts according to the study. Of course there are also companies like Exxon Mobil, the #1 company in the Fortune 500, that have no presence on Twitter.

A separate analysis of Fortune 500 Twitter, “The Global Social Media Check-Up” conducted by Burson-Marstellar, found that 79% of Fortune 100 Global companies are using one of four popular social media platforms, with Twitter leading Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogging as the platform of choice.

65% of Fortune Global 100 companies have active accounts on Twitter, while only 54% have Facebook accounts, 50% have YouTube channels, and 33% have a corporate blog. There is still plenty of room for improvement here.

Why Is Twitter the Preferred Platform?

Nobody knows for sure why Twitter is so popular, but there’s a good chance that it’s because it’s the easiest platform to launch. Companies can have a Twitter account up and running in a couple of hours (or less). There is a lot more work to do to launch a YouTube channel, corporate blog, or Facebook presence. It also takes considerably less resources to manage content production and audience interaction on Twitter than these other platforms. It’s a relatively low-cost and low-maintenance option for getting in the social media game.

Are Fortune 500 companies getting any value out of Twitter though? According to the Burson-Marstellar study, the answer is “yes”. Twitter accounts to the Fortune Global 100 average 1,489 followers. This doesn’t seem like much when you consider the average Facebook fan page for these companies has more than 40,000 fans, but it's progress.

A full copy of the new research report can be downloaded here: http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch.

 

 



Integrated Marketing Strategy: Tying It All Together

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 by Chris Thornton
I recently had an opportunity to participate in a webinar about the current trends and thinking around integrated marketing strategy, particularly in the areas of interative marketing.

The digital evolution has completely changed the way companies interact with their customers.  Companies can longer push their agenda to drive business, but must find ways to add value at every single touch point.  How can companies effectively create a unified message across so many disciplines to evolve the way consumers think of their brand?

A good part of my strategic discussion revolved around reinvention of the idea of brand, and what it means to be a marketer for a company in the 21st century. Some specific takeways I think I cover in this presentation include:
  1. How to organize and integrate your marketing operation to create a cohesive message
  2. How to identify early in the process if you are achieving your goals
  3. How to optimize your branding efforts and align them with your sales organization

If you're thinking about integrating your marketing programs, or just looking to improve the performance of your existing integrated marketing programs, perhaps you'll find the presentation relevant to your current discussions.

To view my presentation from the webinar, please click on the presentation below:
Questions or comments about the proposal? Please feel free to reach out to me through Twitter.

 
 
 
 
 

6 THINGS

Friday, January 22, 2010 by Doug Dimon
 “6 Things” is a list of things I have recently come across that I find interesting, inspiring, adventurous, or just plain cool. I’ll be publishing these fairly regularly, so keep an eye out.
Me speaking at recent Augmented Reality Panel
          Me speaking at Augmented Reality Event
I recently participated in a panel discussion on “augmented reality” at the Samsung center in NYC (more on that here). So today’s list begins with several things being done (or dreamed) in A/R.

1.  Esquire Augmented Reality Issue
           A/R Esquire Cover
One of my fellow panelists was the Art Director from Esquire magazine and he showcased the December A/R issue of Esquire. If you haven’t seen it, check out the demo. And if you can get your hands on a copy of the magazine, try it out yourself. As with most executions of A/R, it’s still got a way to go, but you can see the potential of bringing a new experience and added value to a publication or product.

2.  AR Art for the LAYAR
          ART LAYAR App
Many of you may be familiar with the LAYAR mobile application for Android and iPhones. It’s an A/R platform that lets developers “easily” create specific A/R executions for mobile devises. It uses the GPS, accelerometer, and camera to place objects and info in the environment around you. One of the those executions is “ART AR” that allows you to experience virtual art that has been placed at a specific location. If you are lucky enough to be near one of these locations, you simple view your surroundings on your phone’s display and voila… art all around you. I think this Mondrian sculpture has been placed at various locations, one of them being around the corner from where I live. Watching this video doesn’t really convey the experience. It’s pretty cool to see a virtual structure all around you. Again, it suffers from current technology limitations, but the possibilities are exciting.

3.  “SixthSense
          Experimental A/R interface
Here we get a glimpse into where A/R might lead. Clearly, the goal is to make this as a passive an experience as possible. This research team has assembled some off the shelf hardware and written some new software that allows you to integrate digital information into your everyday experience. It’s rough, and not entirely developed, but even at this stage it is pretty impressive.

4.   “Augmented (hyper) Reality
          The future of A/R?
This is a futuristic look at A/R. What will it be like when we really can overlay our world with a virtual world? One of the things all marketers struggle with is how to get branding in front of a consumer in a way that will not make them feel as if they are having something thrust upon them. One of the topics discussed at the panel was that if a consumer feels they are getting value (information, entertainment, etc) then they will accept a certain amount of invasive marketing. Would you be open the kind of branding seen in this video if it allowed the kind of interaction it promises?

5.  Banshee Beat
         Going for a drive via streetview
Stepping away from A/R, here’s clever music video that was made by using Google Map’s Streetview. It traces the artists drive to work via the freeways of LA. Simple, engaging, fun.

6.  Upular
          all mixed UP
And finally, here’s a new offering from video remix artist, Pogo. He creates new works of music and video by using sounds and images contained in movies. Unlike many remix artists, he only uses sounds from the film. I found this one to be particularly successful because it can stand on its own as a great song. (As an aside, I first became aware of Pogo when his video was used to demonstrate www.yooouuutuuube.com, a fun use of the Google API that has since been co-opted for on on-air HBO promo campaign… the web leads again.)

Reaching Consumers Wherever They Are: Beyond the Three Screens

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 by Michael Kogon

Over the course of the past six months, we’ve continued to invest in technology and talent to expand our video production capabilities at Definition 6. Following the acquisition of Creative Bubble back in August, and leading up to the recent launch of the wildly popular Coca-Cola “Happiness Machine” viral video, we’ve seen increased demand across our client base for video production services as part of the integrated interactive marketing programs we provide.

We’re actively working with several long-time clients to help them develop and deliver video across broadcast, Web and mobile channels – the three screens. While there is no question delivering content across these channels drives significant ROI for our clients, we’re also seeing demand spike for channels that extend beyond the three screens.

Enter the Fourth Screen

Next time you’re out and about, keep your eyes peeled for monitors, LCDs and other screens as you go about your day. You’ll be surprised where these screens show up: airport terminals, taxis, grocery store checkouts, ATMs and even the bathroom. What you might not realize is a lot of those screens are already – or quickly becoming - part of integrated digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising networks. These networks enable brands to reach consumers with incredible precision, but also present new opportunities for creating immersive brand experiences.

Digital out-of-home advertising is great for targeting audiences for the obvious reasons –marketers can deliver content to specific places at specific times. The benefits of DOOH advertising go far beyond those of geographic targeting. Take for example the emerging behavioral or interactive components – being able to tap into lifestyle patterns, or to encourage consumers to interact with your advertising content through other technologies like mobile devices.

Beverage brands can penetrate the nightclub scene through displays in bars at 2am on weekend nights. Restaurants can reach tourists through the screens in the back of NYC taxi cabs. Airlines can reach business travelers in the terminal during excessive flight delays. And lotteries can post the latest jackpot value on the screen at checkout.

As far as interactivity goes, several major brands have recently started leveraging mobile devices, social networking sites and video cameras to pull consumers into an advertisement. Text a special code and see your message on the screen. Stand in front of a display and a camera puts you in the advertisement. This type of interactive content is transforming the way brands interact with consumers beyond the reach of broadcast, Internet and mobile media.

These are might seem like obvious applications of DOOH targeting, but only a handful of leading brands have begun integrating the 4th screen into their interactive marketing programs. You can expect more and more brands to take advantage of DOOH advertising, particularly as more organizations look to more integrated interactive marketing efforts.
 

The Age of the Developer

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 by Tom Kirszenstein

I recently read that the White House has chosen an Open Source CMS (Content Management System) to develop their government Web site. This announcement caught my attention for several reasons--not only are many agencies moving their clients to open source and praising it's virtues, I also started using Drupal this past year and found it remarkably fast and easy to setup and maintain my own Web sites with quality results. Despite some criticism of open source over the years--more and more commercial (and government) developers are choosing it.

It's hard to argue against the benefits of free software, especially when results show that the software does what we expect, often exceeds expectations, and provides more opportunities for expansion than many proprietary products. While relative newcomers Drupal and Wordpress lead the pack for CMS offerings, open source mainstays such as Linux and Perl have been around for many years--not only surviving, but thriving over time. In a study by Amit Deshpande and Dirk Riehle of SAP Labs, LLC, Total Growth of Open Source results have shown that "the total amount of source code and the total number of projects double about every 14 months." Open source enables freedom for both users and developers to move & change quickly when needed, as well as providing more flexibility with software decisions such as to upgrade or not to upgrade. It's really no surprise that businesses and individuals are moving to open source at exponential rates.

Of course, Open Source has always been very much associated with Free, although there are other solid reasons to choose it beyond its cost. The pool of development resources is not limited to a specific company or provider, but instead is seemingly unlimited. As a specific open source project becomes popular, more and more developers start contributing, growing and adding to the code. Not only do they enhance the software to make it better for everyone, but they also create markets for their own support services. The better the code is--more people will use it-- and the more support is needed. Large developer communities have evolved around each software project, contributing to its growth, and administering its support. These open source communities are continually coming up with new innovations, powerful add-ons, extensions, and effective tools.

With so many open source choices available, even the ubiquitous LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Perl) has come to be accepted as generic term for any completely open source application stack--substituting interchangeable parts from other sources that include "PostgreSQL, SQLLite, Apache Derby," as well as "PHP, Python, Ruby, Groovy and JavaScript." Even behemoth Microsoft has entered the game with their own Open Source CMS Platform.

Additionally, interactive ad agencies are able to offer their managed computer services at lower rates when developers take advantage of Open Source technologies. This enables clients to do more within their budgets. Every size company can now take advantage of Website integration, online advertising, and interactive media development due to the emergence of open source and accumulation of knowledge brought to us by the developer community. Businesses across industries are now embracing these technologies, taking advantage of interactive media, and using a more integrated approach to marketing with the vast number of new tools that are now available from these creative, innovative communities of developers.

Drinking From The Fire Hose

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 by Tom Kirszenstein

I've been hearing the phrase "Drinking from the fire hose" more often than usual lately. The curious thing is that it's coming from Interactive Media Professionals (including myself), as much as from end users. With the exponential growth of the Internet and its related technologies, we now have access to more information, in more places, in more ways than ever before. Web 2.0, Social Media, Application Software Development, Mobile and related technologies are having a profound impact on Interactive Marketing Strategies. Many agencies are capable at traditional & online media marketing, or they may have strong technical capabilities--but, it is rare to find an agency that has all of these abilities and deep technical resources such as Definition 6.

To follow the fire hose analogy--anyone faced with that situation would get out of the way. The high volume and velocity of incoming data require some type of control and direction to be useful to ourselves, our clients, and our business.  Developers, interactive designers, and marketers are faced with the same questions as consumers--how to manage the onslaught of incoming information. Interactive Ad Agencies are faced with the additional responsibility of creating new tools to distribute information in a clear and meaningful way. These interactive professionals are the firemen holding the hose. 

At the height of the dotcom boom, an old colleague used to remind me that technology is simply a way of doing things. As the old broadcast model of advertising becomes obsolete, and user discovery & social interaction drive engagement, the function of marketing itself must now change to meet these communication challenges. This new model now poses new questions about where marketers should be, how they communicate, and when that interaction will occur.  I still remember the first  7-Eleven convenience store that opened in my neighborhood, and discovering that name comes from its operating hours—--it was a big deal to be open until 11PM! Marketers didn’t create more ads to attract customers from 9-5, they simply changed to meet customers on their own terms.

Integrated interactive marketing campaigns must be open and immersed in the culture to create value and be relevant. Successful marketers are positioned alongside their target market, making use of tactics such as Branded Content and Branded Entertainment to engage the user, enabling them to discover that value on their own, and decide what truly fulfills their needs. This is not an easy task, and creating meaningful user interaction grows out of qualified analysis of users and their interactions. Those of us in Media and Advertising have been exposed to these ideas before, but never before have these been more important to interactive design. Today's consumer has become a partner in the design process, and defines how we approach our interactions with them. Social media tools such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter provide marketers with a limitless cache of information to help segment, target and engage users as never before— which only highlights the need for efficient processing of data.

Our obligation to clients is to find the relevant information, manage and organize it, and disperse it to potential customers.  To do this, we interpret client requirements and translate those requirements into a meaningful Interactive Experience. We need to collect and analyze enough user data to create strong, branded messages that reach the intended target. In addition, we must combine data with the tools and applications that make it meaningful to those target consumers.

In this new age of discovery, the true Integrated Interactive Agencies are taking the time and effort to find the tools necessary to do the job, or when needed, create them. With information coming constantly from every direction, those who are efficient at organizing, managing, and presenting it will be successful. Otherwise, we're just spraying a fire hose.  If we attempt to do that, consumers will just get out of the way.

Price or Differentiation

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Jasdeep Jaitla
With new businesses and new business models popping up on the Internet like a bag of microwave popcorn, differentiation is far more transitory these days than it once used to be.

Let's take this summary of the 21st Century Corporation from Business Week in August, 28, 2000*, over 9 years ago:

1. Everything gets cheaper faster. The Internet commoditizes every new service or product idea so rapidly by providing the ability to not just compare one or two sources, but 100 or 1,000 sources, that price reduction has accelerated almost out of control.

2. Cutting costs is the answer. With significant downward pressure of margins it is imperative to reduce expenses to maintain profitability.

3. Innovation builds profits. Since you cannot raise prices, and must consistently reduce prices, innovation is required accompanied with rapid expertise development and ingenuity. This advantage is temporary, so innovation must be constant, reflexive and accelerate (rather than coast forward) to address #1 above.

Adaptability

That article was almost a decade ago, and is still relevant, if not even more significant now than it was then. It was published prior to the dot com crash.  Unlike 100 years ago as the Industrial Revolution and the Carnegie's, Rockefellers' and Fords' were taking assembly line production to it's maximum potential, we clearly know it's weaknesses and limitations. One of the most significant limitations is adaptability. Workers specialize so much on their individual task that they cannot readily adapt to other tasks or provide generalization or see the whole picture.

The transition from the assembly line mentality of large deparments and silo style development is a slow one. Integrating departments and collaborating by increasing communication between sales, project managers, creative development, application development, product managers, production and delivery is not as simple as it may sound. Your value chain may involve a very large set of people and keep communication clear requires expertise and training.

New Models for Development

In application software development and internet software development, the models over the last 20 years have evolved considerably. Agile methodologies are gaining traction as a way to create adaptable solutions and modular approaches. This keeps the customer focus as well as the requirements together, and allows flexibility with solution delivery as the landscape changes. Social Media strategy is a fabulous example of this, requirements change so quickly that modular frameworks are developed so that new quick features can be added onto the framework rapidly to meet social change and social needs and Facebook is a fantastic example of this type of structure and development.

Clearly, to stay on top and to consistently provide value, you must value education exponentially, foster creative thinking, be vigilant with the technological landscape, and be able to generate ideas and critical thinking. In Interactive Media Agencies such as Definition6, we constantly strive towards an integrative approach, with all skillsets and all mindsets sharing information and cross-pollinating ideas. We dedicate ourselves to innovation through cross-department research and landscape analysis. Our Innovation Team is specifically dedicated to meeting the demands of the 21st Century business.

"Twenty-First Century Corporation," Business Week, August 28, 2000, p. 278.

Taming the Social Media Beast

Friday, October 2, 2009 by Mike Reese
Despite recent articles claiming the decline of adoption for social networks like Facebook and Twitter, social networking is an ever-growing, ever-expanding beast. Consider for a moment, that MySpace and Facebook really just got the whole thing started. Now there are networks popping up everywhere, corporate networks like Yammer, entrepreneurial  networks like ParnterUp and advanced social aggregation tools like the promise of Google Wave.

Slowly but surely, even traditional companies, with traditional practices and traditional mindsets, are realizing the importance of social. Don't believe me? Here's a real world example: 2 months ago I felt like the last person on earth that hadn't engaged in some form of social media. My friends, my wife, my family and my coworkers all had MySpace pages, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. I was proud, a renegade, a leader, not a follower! Now look at me, as I write this blog, I'm monitoring Yammer communications from Definition 6, Tweets from my favorite people, I've checked my Facebook page twice and I just submitted a request to Google to be a beta tester for Google Wave even though I know I'm too late. Believe me, social media is relevant!

Okay, now what? Well, before you go building out your social media strategy and corporate policy, take some time to understand what impact social is currently having on your online presence and your brand. My suggestion: start simple, work with your website analytics team and develop a baseline. What volume of traffic comes from social networks? What is the bounce rate of those visits? What is the conversion rate of those visits? What is the retained visit conversion rate? (thank you Brandt, awesome article about meaningful conversion metrics!) And, if at all possible, monetize clicks from social. Odds are, there will be some form of expenditure for your social media strategy, baseline these metrics before you begin or you may never know if you're succeeding.

Don't rely on website analytics alone! Imagine this scenario. Scott, Jeremy, Jack and Mitch are looking for the best Vegas dinner destination prior to Frank's bachelor party festivities. Jack gets a promotional email from your restaurant describing the best Saturday night drink deals in town. Scott has been watching Twitter for "Vegas Restaurant" tweets hoping to get an indication of the best spot. Jeremy has been on a dozen restaurant review sites. They all come together in Google Wave to discuss. They invite other friends and family to chime in on their last Vegas experience. They finally decide on your place because of the drink deal (good choice). Mitch calls in the reservation and the Vegas plans are set. In all, across numerous networking sites, there were 21 mentions of your brand, 14 people commented about your restaurant, 13 other people hadn't even heard of your restaurant before conversation "Wave". And a $500 dinner was booked at your restaurant...all without anyone ever going to your website!

Hard to measure the impact of social media if you're just looking at website analytics. You've succeeded at integrated online marketing, but you may never know it. Work with an interactive agency capable of measuring, baselining current social impact (website and elsewhere), as well as the capability to develop a social media strategy that meets your objectives and expected ROI.

Marketing Integration. Technology Innovation. Building Brands that Matter.

Thursday, August 27, 2009 by Chris Thornton

And so it begins...

Over the past 15 years we have seen the rise of the digital age.  Well, we’ve seen the rise, fall, and rebirth of digital over that time frame.  Out of the ashes of the dotcom bust came a stronger, smarter marketer.  A marketer that understands the importance of measurement, ROI, brand, and business objective.  Also, out of the ashes came a smarter consumer.  A consumer who suddenly realized they have a voice, and the power to initiate change.  This combination has resulted in interactive marketing going from an afterthought in a CMO’s marketing plan to a focal point.  The web is now the hub of most marketing initiatives.  It is the place where we can create the deepest engagement, measure the most activity, and impact the audience the most by creating true brand experiences and real interaction with the brand. 

So traditional is dead, right?  Wrong.  Traditional mediums continue to be important. I have not thrown my HD flat screen out on the lawn yet.  My IPOD and my radio take turns in my car.  Occasionally, I still even read a magazine.  The real problem for marketers now is this: the interactive medium has gone from the smaller part of the overall mix, to the key driving factor that is the glue that enables a truly integrated experience for the user.  The advertising and marketing world has gone from a push to a pull.  Marketers need agencies who can execute a truly integrated plan by developing real interactive strategy…one message, one brand, many channels, multiple experiences. 
This fact has been the driving force for the recent growth and expansion of Definition 6.  For 13 years, Definition 6 has been creating interactive solutions that deliver measureable results for our clients.  We have taken great strides to build integrated strategies that work with our clients’ entire marketing plans.  And so today we announce the next evolution in Definition 6.

Definition 6 has acquired Creative Bubble  – A New York Based video design, production, and editing firm.  Creative Bubble is an Emmy Award Winning agency working with some of the best and brightest networks in the entertainment field including Nickelodeon, HBO, ESPN, Showtime, and USA Networks just to name a few.  This acquisition means a several things for Definition 6 and our clients...

First, we now have full in-house video production and editing capabilities, from script to screen.  As the lines between digital and traditional continue to blur, content becomes king.  We now have the ability to 100% in-house develop rich video content, coupled with our digital experience, enables us to develop and execute full integrated marketing campaigns that can be distributed across multiple mediums…Definition 6 has the capability to develop across the three screens that really matter: TV, Internet, and Mobile.  We also now have a fully functioning office in New York, the epicenter for the media world.  Again, with our existing strategy, social media, and analytics practices, we can develop more effective campaigns more efficiently that deliver real, quantifiable impact to the businesses of our clients. 

There will certainly be more news in the coming months from Definition 6.  But we are beginning to see the vision we’ve had for years come to fruition and we are very excited.  Marketing Integration.  Technology Innovation.  Building Brands that Matter.  That’s what Definition 6 has set out to do for our clients.  The game is changing everyday…and we can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Successes in Social Media (or Please start using Social Media now)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 by Lance King
I've compiled a small list here of Social Media success stories.  One of the interesting things that I find about most people who have already started marketing and consumer communications using Social Media is that they often say "don't be afraid to try something new" and "don't be afraid of failure".  Some failures have lead to even better campaigns.  If these companies (and more) can try a few ideas, so can you.  Most people familiar with social media agree that if you really want to connect with your consumers and help establish or reinforce brand recognition, you need to get on Social Media outlets now.  For one thing, it is often very cheap to do this while being able to reach out to thousands or even millions of potential and long-standing customers.  So please review these stories to see how easy some of them got started and the great successes that they had.

1. Taco Mac on Twitter
Followers of Taco Mac can follow the individual Taco Mac location of their choice.  They get updates on Taco Mac's latest specials and reminders of special events.  Taco Mac gets a lot more people attending special events because many of them might have forgotten.  On Pint Night they are running out of free pint glasses in 1 hour instead of 3 hours like it was before Twitter.  What else could your company do if you were sending constant "reminders" to your customers?
(http://www.ajc.com/business/taco-mac-uses-twitter-102656.html)
(http://twitter.com/TMacLindbergh)


2. Masi Bicycles on Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
New Masi Brand Manager, Tim Jackson, was given a very small budget and they were already spending much of that on some magazine ads.  So he had to come up with an inexpensive way to better market the Masi brand.  The easy (and cheap) way for him was to create a blog that he regularly posts to.  This actually helped him to establish good relationships with some of his vendors.  He is also actively using Twitter and Facebook and is moving toward podcasts and video.  With a new "cult" following, sales are really starting to grow.  What's really interesting is that Tim had never done any of this before.
(http://mediahunter.typepad.com/media_hunter/2008/07/social-media-su.html#more)
(http://twitter.com/MasiBicycles)


3. CNN with Facebook
CNN had a huge success when they teamed up with Facebook to present the Presidential Inaugaration and Michael Jackson's funeral.  21.3 million live video streams!  That's a lot of people.  Oh, and guess what?  CNN's first attempt failed (The Primary Debates).  But they figured it out before the inaugaration.  What can your company do that would attract watchers, even if you don't get 21.3 million?  Maybe a live fashion show for a new line of clothing?  Perhaps a live demonstration of how your product works or a new product offering? Or maybe a conversation with your CEO?
(http://vmarketingblog.com/2009/07/31/cnn-and-social-networking/)
(http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/21/inauguration.online.video/index.html)
(http://mashable.com/2009/01/20/cnn-facebook-inauguration-numbers/)
(http://newteevee.com/2009/01/20/facebook-cnn-is-future-of-tv/)


4. Zappos on Twitter, Blogs
Customer satisfaction and relationships.  That is what Zappos is all about.  QUALITY interactions.  Not only do the CEO and COO get online, but many of their other employees do too.  It is like they are your friends.  What would it be like for your company if people considered your brand as their friend?  Zappos has come to the realization that your brand isn't what you say it is, it is what the consumers say it is.  They proudly look for and respond to negative comments about them.  They are all about "making things right".  They want people to be comfortable not just with Zappos' products, but with Zappos' employees.  How would people respond to your employees if they were responding to and interacting with consumers online?  To quote from the article below "we may not always remember what someone tells us, but we generally remember how we felt when we were interacting with the person. And when people feel respected and engaged, whether it is in-person with a co-worker or online on a social network, they have a natural desire to tell other people about the experience."
(http://mashable.com/2009/04/26/zappos/)
(http://twitter.com/zappos)


5. Common Wealth Credit Union (CWCU) on YouTube
CWCU wanted to target a specific demographic.  People between the ages of 17 and 25.  They wanted a way to keep the buzz going while acquiring new customers for life.  They created a microsite for this campaign that is managed by someone who is 17 - 25 years old and use YouTube to upload videos that will appeal to people their age, usually videos of themselves.  People can interact with the website by answering poll questions, watching videos, sharing pictures, submitting job postings, adding information about free stuff in their communities, and of course, applying for a chequing account.  The site "spokester" also blogs about money with fun little YouTube videos.  They opened up 2400 new accounts in the first 8 months after the campaign started (Note, the article does not say how that compares to previous months, but it must be good because they are still going and have a new "spokester" with lots of new material).
(http://mediahunter.typepad.com/media_hunter/2008/08/social-media--1.html#more)
(http://www.youngfreealberta.com/)


So those are just a few examples of companies making the most with Social Media.  In many cases it involved very little cost.  In other cases there was quite a bit of time, effort and money put into it, but the results were out of this world.  Given that there are several very active social media sites, it would be a smart move to get your company out there and in touch with your current and potential customers.

If you are looking for great ideas, let Definition 6 help you.  We are an online interactive marketing agency with experience in Social Media efforts.  There are so many good online marketing techniques and we can help you find the one (or more) that are right for you.  If you go to www.definition6.com, you can check out our new game that interacts directly with Twitter called TwitterINGO.  Or you can check out how we integrated AutoExtra's campaign with MySpace.  We can also help you with mobile marketing strategies.

If any of the above stories don't convince you to get on the Social Media bandwagon, then check out Mashable.com's "10 of the Smartest Big Brands in Social Media".

Top 10 Free Sales Force Applications for Your Business

Thursday, August 6, 2009 by Matt Epstein
Recently I visited the doctor for a single respiratory CT scan in which AFTER insurance I ended up paying close to $1,500. Upon seeing the exorbitant bill I headed straight to the nearest Mc Donald in an attempt to convince myself that ordering from the “Dollar Menu” could be a long term strategy to help me subsidize the 10 costly X-Rays (I think it’d have been cheaper for them to simply open my chest and take a look rather than spend 30 seconds photographing my lungs).

During the car ride home, in which I ate all of my fries before reaching the front doorstep, something dawned on me. As I attempted in vain to wipe the french-fry grease from my hands I came to the realization that when you combine something that’s good AND cheap it can make anyone’s day better.  Granted my cholesterol/MSG high only lasted for but a moment, I decided in the spirit of giving I’d share the same free and good satisfaction with those of you in the blogosphere.

As every aspect of business slowly moves into the clouds, businesses have been turning to website integration platforms such as SalesForce.com. Many businesses are unaware of the Sales Force app exchange, and those who are often times don’t realize there are a plethora (I’ve been dying to use that word) of extremely useful and FREE applications that help to make Sales Force a complete online marketing and sales tool.

So on behalf of myself and Definition 6, an interactive media agency in Atlanta, I present you with the top 10 FREE Sales Force applications that every business can benefit from. In no particular order;
  1. SalesView:
Of all the free Apps on the exchange list, Sales View may be perhaps the most valuable for your sales team. This App which was built specifically for Sales Force allows your sales team to instantly tap into a plethora (that’s twice now if I use the word one more time I own it) of sales resources such as Hoover's, D&B, Reuters, Jigsaw, NetProspex, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to get all they’d ever need to know about a potential client. 
 

Losing hours of time inputting contacts from e-mails and web-leads? With Contact Capture simply highlight the contacts information in an e-mail or on a website and Contact Capture automatically inputs the necessary contact information in Sales Force.

3. Google Web Analytics: 

Currently using google analytics to analyze your website? This free App allows you to track web page visits, browser capability, average visit time, and much more right from your dashboard. This is the perfect tool for any SalesForce user who also does work with their businesses search engine optimization and websight design.
 
I think every sales person and executive has been frustrated at one point or another in their sales force experience by running into the issue of duplicate leads. End the frustration with this nifty App that scans your entire SalesForce database and removes duplicate leads.
 
This free Skype application provides seamless Skype integration into Salesforce application.
 
6. SalesForce for iPhone:

Personally, I’ve never been cool enough to own an I-Phone, but for those of you that are this is a great App that allows you to instantly pull up SalesForce.com and log in to your account on your iPhone. Currently the I-Phone is the only smart phone with free SalesForce access (Blackberry charges). This one will most likely be a big hit in interactive agencies.

7.Form Factory Quotes & Invoices

A great application software development, I’ll use the Apps own description “FormFactory generates business forms including quotes, proposals, invoices, and packing slips. Documents can be delivered as live web forms, PDF or HTML files, and Microsoft Word. Create professional quality forms for free without leaving salesforce!”
 
8.Auto Complete Lookup: 

Granted this App will not triple your revenue, however it will make it much easier for your employees to instantly find the information they are looking for. This quick script creates a Google-type search interface in which typing a few letters into the search box provides you with options of the closest matches.
 
9. E-Mail Auto Complete

This nifty light-weight App provides you with access to all your contacts directly from the Salesforce Email page. Provides you with similar functionality to that of the auto complete search.
 
10. Mass Transfer Contacts:

If only someone had written this top 10 list before me I would have not had to spend 8 hours moving one of my sales reps contacts to another sales reps contact after the previous one left.  This app allows you to instantly shift all contact ownership from one sales person to another, a great tool for anyone using sales force for email marketing.

Plan now for a successful holiday season at your website

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 by Lynn Moss

MarketingSherpa released its 2009 eCommerce Benchmark Survey and reminds us that we should be gearing up for what is projected to be an improved holiday season: up 9% over 2008.  Nearly 1,500 eCommerce marketers rated tactics for improving website conversions.

1.  Perpetual shopping carts

These take many different forms:  from a simple note that there’s a product sitting in the cart to dynamic overlays showing images of the product, price, and estimated shipping costs.  The perpetual shopping cart keeps the purchase in the mind of the customer; that psychological anchor helps guide them back to the purchase.

2.  Website search

Consumer research suggests that almost 50% of shoppers prefer internal search over traditional menu options.  This number naturally rises when they have a specific product or brand in mind. 

The first priority is to test your internal search regularly to ensure that it works effectively. Second, examine the different business factors that can be used to optimize internal search results.  Some marketers use a ‘last in-first out’ method to move inventory, while others use their analytics and database systems to sort products by profit margin.  The choices are as broad as your technology and creativity.

3.  Enhanced display

Consumers are enthusiastic about getting multiple, varied photos of a product.   People want to know as much as they can about a product, and even static images can help.  Showing videos how to use products or explaining complex features can bring products to life for the user.

Definition 6 is an Atlanta ad agency and has extensive experience in building and designing eCommerce websites.  We can improve your Search Engine Optimization.  We are experts in Google Search technology and can implement search at your site.  We can also help you with your interactive advertising campaigns and targeted email marketing.  Do you need a mobile advertising strategy?  We can help!

TwitterINGO: When a Social Media Game Provides Real Value

Monday, August 3, 2009 by Paul Hernacki
Twitteringo Game Board

Last week Interactive Marketing Agency Definition 6 launched TwitterINGO, an online game of sorts that leverages Twitter. I won’t go into all the details of how it works in this post, but essentially it’s a free downloadable desktop widget you run in the background while working (or at least trying to work… the game is a bit addictive to watch) as the game is played each Tuesday at 3PM EST. The tweets of all the people you follow stream down the left hand side while you get a 5x5 game board of keywords. When someone you follow posts a tweet containing a term you have on your board the square will highlight and fill in with that person’s tweet.

I am a bit biased of course in thinking the game is cool, I helped create TwitterINGO. The idea came from watching multiple columns of twitstreams in Tweetdeck and thinking how it almost felt like modern-day BINGO card. After a couple of brainstorming sessions we arrived at the current design. It has several premises.

1.       If you use Twitter to really, effectively follow the pulse of news and information that you care about you typically have to follow a fairly large number of people (typically at least in the hundreds and often in excess of that) and learn how to organize those people into groups in addition to creating effective searches for subjects.

2.       Finding the right people to follow who discuss the subjects of interest to you beyond your immediate circle of friends and colleagues takes some time and can be a bit of an art form as you sort through the clutter

3.       One of the real powers of social media is in how we help each other to find great people, pearls of wisdom, diamonds in the rough, etc.

4.       It can be really hard to identify the holes in your Following (you often don’t realize that you aren’t following certain subjects that interest you as well as you could be).

With this in mind we created TwitterINGO. With over 100 keywords “baked in” to the cards (all of them relating to popular and highly relevant subjects in the areas of interactive marketing, technology, media and advertising, application development, and social media), plus 20 current “terms of the week” on trending subjects sent out at the beginning of each weekly game, your card populates with a randomized selection of 24 of those terms, the middle square is free of course. Then you can simply sit back, have some fun and see what happens.

If you follow only a handful of people you will invariably become quickly disappointed as you realize none or few of your squares are populating. This can be a quick hint that you aren’t yet following the global conversations on tech and interactive or current events very well. On the other hand, if you follow a few hundred people who do talk about these subjects you’ll likely have a very different experience. I found myself fascinated watching my squares fill in (and unfortunately being less productive than I should be). It was amazing to see who I follow that randomly starting giving me the keywords I needed as I sought to get a row, column or diagonal completed to win. Every 5-10 minutes I’d get a square. First I got my “SharePoint” square filled by SharePoint Samurai @Gannotti. Then my “Brand” square filled by a post from @TobyDiva. Then Sun Microsystem’s Social Media guru @Sumaya posted a tweet with the term “open source”. I was off to a great start and saw another 4-5 squares fill in. And I came close to winning. But as I looked at what terms I needed to win (without cheating), I stared at the empty square with the word “Linux” in it. Why was nobody that I follow mentioning the word Linux? Hmmmm… there it was. A hole in how and who I Follow. I realized that I follow a lot of people on a lot of subjects but perhaps only a few that talk about Linux. To quickly rectify this I searched on the term Linux on Twitter and looked to see who the major contributors were and began following them. It was too late for me to win TwitterINGO this week, but it helped me do a better job of following that rather important part of the global technology conversation. The same can be said of many other terms I saw on my card that sat empty, I set out to see who was talking about the terms and found some really great people to start following.

While the game itself was rather fun, the real value was in seeing how it could help me. Plus I could then go look at the Leaderboard to see who the major Tweet Contributors were and who won and who they are following. The game is helping me to be a better user of social media to benefit my professional and personal interests and awareness. And I found a few extremely interesting people who played the game and won, people I’d never met before but that I certainly follow now. That's a game worth playing.

My iPhone thinks your web site is ugly and useless

Friday, June 19, 2009 by Paul Hernacki

According to recent studies and surveys over 50% of all smartphone traffic in the U.S. now comes from iPhones (AdMob Mobile Metrics, March 2009). And it’s growing. Other platforms are starting to catch on, but Apple truly succeeded in building and proliferating a means for people to have a vastly improved mobile web experience. Add to that a rabid user-base and the result is that iPhone’s Safari browser now starts showing up more and more on the overall analytics reports when companies review what browsers are accessing their sites. As an avid iPhone user myself since the first version I’ve been amazed at how I could navigate sites on this platform despite site designs that still required extensive zooming in and out and scrolling back and forth. I was so enamored that Apple designed UI mechanisms to help accommodate sites not designed for mobile that for a while I was simply excited to be able to use them at all. But slowly some sites began creating better mobile versions to make navigation even easier on the iPhone and other browsers. Now I grow greatly annoyed when I try to access a web site from my phone and find myself staring at a microscopic version of the homepage which makes it difficult to even find the buried link that says “Contact Us” just so I can find their address or phone number to get directions and a map while I’m out and about. Or even worse, the site is built in Flash with no HTML version and for whatever divine reason Apple has still not decided to support Flash on the iPhone. So the site is essentially useless on my phone and in some cases looks uglier than a Nip/Tuck season finale. I found it funny when I tried looking at the web sites of some of our competitors, some large digital agencies, and found they had sites built in Flash which are rendered useless on my device.

 

Numerous solutions exist for creating mobile presentation layers for even the most complex and transactional web sites to handle every different mobile device under the sun. We’ve helped many of our customers do exactly that. But there wasn’t a simple, fast and inexpensive way for a large majority of companies who just have a typical web site with typical CMS needs managed by a small number of people to easily publish and manage simple mobile site versions. With all this in mind, Definition 6 worked to build some simple scripts, toolsets and templates that integrate directly into a Content Management System enabling re-purposing of content by a non-technical marketing manager to easily deploy a site that looks great in an iPhone Safari browser. It leverages iPhone navigation mechanisms, and helps you to offer mobile users with the experience they desire and the information they likely need while mobile which is often quite different than what they want when they are sitting in front of a laptop or desktop computer. We’ve also packaged it all up in a simple series of offerings to make this an easy decision for our current and future customers so they can cost effectively begin to meet the needs of a growing market. If you don’t have an iPhone you can test to see what your site looks like using an iPhone simulator which we have posted at http://www.definition6.com/our-services/mobile.aspx and if you do have an iPhone just visit www.definition6.com now on your device to see an example.

 

In the coming weeks and months we’ll also be releasing the same kind of CMS plug-ins and templates for other mobile browsers as add-ons to these tools. But we thought we’d start with the one that represented the most traffic. For a quick and simple way to manage mobile sites in a CMS we think this new toolset makes great sense for a large number of businesses.

Ideas to Add Text Messaging to Your Business

Friday, June 19, 2009 by Jeremy Bromwell
After the recent L.G. National Texting Championship this week text messaging has been on my mind.  I came across a great article on ClickZ recently about how to begin integrating text messages with your business and mobile advertising strategy.

The author, Jack Aaronson, listed 7 ways to get started:
  • Order Status
  • Product Availability and Purchasing
  • Ratings and Reviews
  • Similar Items
  • Multimedia Messages
  • Policies and Store Hours/Locations
  • In-store Customer Service

There are many other uses for text messaging outside of the retail environment but these are just a few suggestions to help you generate ideas to help your business.  A mobile strategy, when well planned and thoughtfully implemented, can provide additional lift to other forms of media and advertising.

View the full article here or call me at Definition 6 to talk about how we can help develop your mobile marketing strategies.

Social Media Marketing

Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Michael Kogon

Social Media Strategy is one of the most interesting things we do here at Definition 6, Atlanta Interactive Agency.  The rise of Web 2.0 Applications as commonplace within our daily lives has made Socail Media mainstream.  Sometimes we are asked how can we use social medai to improve search engine optimization and other times we are asked how can make social media fit into an integrated online marketing plan.  But it is a daily topic of conversation and I've found a really good report from destinationCRM.com that talks about a 5 year forecast for social media. The key points from the author, Jessica Tsai citing Jeremiah Owyang, are:

The report breaks down the past, present, and future state of the social Web into five overlapping eras:

1. The era of social relationships: Beginning in the mid-1990s, people signed up for online profiles and connected with their friends to share information.
2. The era of social functionality: As it exists today, social networking is more than just a platform for "friending," but one that can support a broader array of what Owyang calls "social interactive applications." However, identities are essentially disconnected silos within individual sites.
3. The era of social colonization: By late 2009, technologies such as OpenID and Facebook Connect will begin to break down the barriers of social networks and allow individuals to integrate their social connections as part of their online experience, blurring the lines between networks and traditional sites.
4. The era of social context: In 2010, sites will begin to recognize personal identities and social relationships to deliver customized online experiences. Social networks will become the "base of operation for everyone's online experiences."
5. The era of social commerce: In approximately two years, social networks will be more powerful than corporate Web sites and CRM systems, as individual identities and relationships are built on this platform. Brands will serve community interests and grow based on community advocacy as users continue to drive innovation in this direction.

So if we are doing a good job of being Interactive Marketing Strategists to help prepare our clients for the "era of social context" and upgrading our customer's sites to incorporate OpenID and Facebook Connect today. This will help them meet their customers where they are and with what they are doing online today.  I'll talk more about being ready for your customer in some future posts.

Seven Top Online Marketing Trends for 2009

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 by Michael Kogon

Business Development Exec, Rhonda Vincent, shares with us the 7 top online marketing trends for 2009…

For online marketers 2009 will be a challenging year, they’ll need to build the basis for future expansion, leveraging social media, emerging technologies and vendor partners who are thinking about their business and find ways to maximize their budgets.  Here are 7 online marketing trends for 2009 that I came across on a ClickZ report:

• Increase customer retention efforts by marketing to your existing customer base – it’s cheaper and more effective because you know who they are and you understand their behavior.
• Create more attractive content – it will engage your customers and will help with your search engine optimization marketing
• Develop targeted marketing campaigns across a variety of mediums…e-mail, text messages, instant messages.
• Leverage online communities such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter…
• Increase your Web Analytics efforts
• Enhance search marketing advertising to expand across social media, mobile, and local search.
• Continue to integrate distribution channels despite higher cost

Interactive Ad Agencies like Definition 6 can leverage this insight to maximize your spends with the best ROI to get you through this year and still plan for 2010 initiatives.
 

D6 Managed Hosting is more secure than the White House

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 by Paul Hernacki

I’ve been a fan and follower for years of the series “24” starring Kiefer Sutherland. The first season was nothing short of amazing, it was absolutely a ground-breaking television series. The action and suspense is always top notch as Kiefer’s character, special agent Jack Bauer, pulls off amazing feats and defies death again and again to save millions of lives from terrorists and rogue forces from around the world. And of course it requires some degree of suspension of disbelief. I’m good with that, though as the series continued over the years, like most series, it’s stretched things further and further and has accordingly become less and less believable. This year, I think they have finally jumped the shark. And as a technologist I’m having a really hard time even watching the show at this point when I try to swallow the storylines they are feeding us.

 

I’m not even going to dwell on the fact that the beginning of the season featured several shows where terrorists had created a “CIP Device” (I won’t bore anyone here with what a CIP device is, but picture a small piece of hardware that you plug into a network) that gives them absolute access to every government controlled system and allows them to bypass all firewall protections. With ease they begin to take over air traffic control, override safety precautions in chemical plants and according to government officials could take over just about anything. They go on to say that it would take 7 days to restructure their firewalls and security to guard against the device. And since the whole season is supposed to occur within a 24 hour period that definitely presents a problem. Luckily, within a few hours/episodes the device is destroyed. The whole concept that such a device could exist is a bit beyond ridiculous not to mention how easily and quickly they created it. And that doesn’t even take into consideration how preposterous it is that some of the agencies and installations out there are even close to being advanced and well networked enough to be so easily connected to and controlled in the first place by those who are supposed to have such access.

 

But the most recent episodes didn’t just jump the shark. They circled around and had a pyramid of leather-jacket-clad Fonzies jump 100 meters over an entire school of sharks. In the show, a group of about a dozen terrorist commandos from a fictional small African country called Sengala manage to break into the White House and take the president hostage. To do this they go underwater (in a river about a mile from the White House) and drill a hole to enter the sewer systems, then march right up to underneath the White House where they drill another hole only to be confronted by a series of glowing laser beam motion detectors criss-crossed in front of them. Their “inside guy”, a lowly janitor, then cuts the power to the detection grid so they can rush across the tunnel, emerge on the other side in the White House and begin their assault. Really? I mean… seriously?

 

At Definition 6 we host and manage web sites for a large portion of our customers, including sites that see hundreds of thousands of users per day and process millions of dollars in transactions each day. Very important stuff, though not even close to the value of the White House and the President of the United States. We have so many different mechanisms in place to guard against power outages (like enterprise class data centers with more power backups than you can shake a stick at including diesel generators that could run for weeks… power isn’t interrupted for more than a millisecond without back-ups kicking in, alerts being shot off and warning boards lighting up like Christmas trees). We have monitoring and alerting systems that tell us the moment a site or system is down and even proactively look for warnings that a system is degrading. We have monitoring systems that monitor our monitoring systems to make sure they are up. Tiny outages launch alerts via several different mechanisms to an army of engineers who receive instant notifications. And even if someone on our own team who has all the needed admin access and knowledge wanted to maliciously take something down and try to obscure this from others it would be amazingly difficult. There would practically need to be collusion amongst all the top engineers with some pretty impressive and clandestine planning – even then they would only be buying themselves minutes. And given the work we’ve done over the past couple of years related to helping our customers with PCI compliance the processes, procedures and training (and in some cases even background checks) we’ve put our teams through and implemented it makes it even more unlikely anything like this could ever happen.

 

So as much as I love a good action TV show with outlandish plot lines, as soon as you try to make me believe White House security is that poor I’m faced with either having to change the channel, or I need to consider they could be right in which case I’m packing my bags and moving my family to rural Montana to build a bunker. In this case, I think I’m going to put my bunker plans on hold. And for web sites and their security I’m going to keep my faith in the engineering teams of Definition 6. Keep up the great work guys, and maybe we can get you some work as technical plot advisors with the Fox Network. They could definitely use some help.

Onsite Search

Monday, March 16, 2009 by Graham Street
Most of us have low expectation when it comes to site search.   We use google.com to find something we're looking for and hopefully we find our way right to it.  But sometimes you know you've been directed to the right website however you just cannot find the page you are looking for.  And if you're a savvy searcher, you have some luck using Google's site scope feature to drill down to the page you need.   If not, then you may need to turn to the website's own on-site search.
 
If you are looking for anything other than a very specific phrase or product code that only appears on the page you're looking for, your search experience is likely to be unpleasant.  On-site search is known for offering slow, low relevance results.
 
This is unfortunate because site search affords your company the unique opportunity to know exactly what visitors are looking for.  But, if your site cannot respond intelligently to these requests, it's a lost opportunity.  And, when it comes to your visitors’ perception of relevance, the bar is set pretty high, thanks to Google.  Google has transformed your visitors into discriminating searchers, expecting to find t just what they're looking for within the first page of results.   
 
Search is often the last thing on the list when a company is evaluating its public website.   As long as company executives are able to find their own biographies, site search gets a passing grade.  Making site search truly useful to your visitors can be very challenging to address, particularly if you're approaching it with a custom software solution.   Supporting features like spelling suggestions and stemming (making plurals out of singular keywords, and vice versa) require many thousands of lines of code.
 
More and more companies are looking for a better way, an intelligent search solution, to capture the attention of your visitors by serving up relevant results.  Google themselves are leading the pack with their own line of enterprise search products.  They're sold as search appliances, robust combination hardware/software solutions designed to meet all of your enterprise search needs.     
 
While the machines are packed with search power and extensibility,   configuration is not for the faint of heart.  Their use of template patterns in XSLT is a work of art that any developer can appreciate.  But it's not something most IT departments or web developers are equipped to manage.  You'd be well served to partner up with someone with extensive experience in this line of business like Definition 6.  With an experienced search integration specialist at your side,  you can harness the power and innovation of Google enterprise search products.

Interactive Tools Make Life Better

Friday, March 6, 2009 by Michael Kogon
I get really cool alerts as part of my job at an Online Ad Agency and one of the blogs that I subscribe to is the Google Blog. I found a really cool feature that is great if you are planning a trip or going on a trip. It shows how good website integration with user needs makes interactive a part of our everyday lives.  Check this out:

"Google Street View has a new option to show photos uploaded to the Google-owned Panoramio. "Now you can browse user-contributed photos that have been precisely-matched to Street View images. Gorgeous photos from Panoramio allow you to see some of the world's most famous landmarks at an even closer level," explains Google."

Here is a video of how it works: Video


I hope you find it as fun as I do. Think about it, which hotel should I stay out, take a virtual tour around the corner, not just in your room. Interactive at its best!