Top Story: Google Integrates Google+ into Search Results

As I was scouting out a chili recipe online the other day, I was somewhat surprised to see so many Google results from people I actually know. Who knew that blogger’s chili was so popular that their image is the first result to come up on Google Images? That’s when I realized it had begun: Google had integrated Google+ into search. Up until now, I, like many other Google users, trusted that the search results I was getting on Google really were the top search results. But the other day, I quickly understood that the results I was getting for my chili search were showing up because I was logged in to my Google account. Results were showing up personalized just for me, not only from users I follow on Google+, but also for users it is recommended I follow on Google+. The thing is, I’m not very social on Google+. The social content that’s important to me can be found on Twitter and Facebook and most of the people I trust to get me that top chili recipe aren’t on Google+ just yet. Will the promise of your Google+ content showing up in the searches of others encourage you to use Google+ more actively? That’s certainly what Google hopes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many are upset that Google is choosing to promote content from its own service, despite the fact that it’s not necessarily the most relevant content to them. And if Google wants to be trusted as the most reputable search engine, they need to be providing the best results; not the results that cater to their own commercial means. Google will argue that Facebook doesn’t make its content publicly searchable and that Twitter ended their contract to incorporate real-time tweets into search results. But most of that information on Twitter is public, which means Google’s crawlers could easily be bringing relevant tweets to us in their results, too. But they’re not.

There is a bright side, though. Yes, if you’re logged into your Google account, personal search results will automatically show up. But you can easily toggle personal results off with just the click of a button. And I have a strong feeling that’s what most users will be doing.

Under the Radar: Google and the FTC

Speaking of Google, according to a report by Bloomberg, they may be in a little hot water with the FTC. Basically, Google’s expansion into the social space and the implications social search implications raise concerns about anti-competitive behavior – a.k.a. all Google, all the time. Other companies and agencies, including Twitter and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have spoken out about the narrowing of search results caused by the Search plus Your World feature. We’re looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Google has been criticized before for having selective results, and this could definitely have an impact on the results the search engine returns in the future.

Around the Hub: We Take it Back, MBTA

Last week we wrote about the MBTA missing out on a big PR and social opportunity by not endorsing a Tufts graduate student’s project to improve the design of an upcoming new T station location. Well, a few days after writing about this, the MBTA proved us wrong, launching its own initiative with Hubway.

Together, Hubway (the bike rental service) and the MBTA have launched the ‘MBTA + Boston Bikes Developer Challenge‘ that crowd-sources the creation of 2 different applications and a ‘visualization’. There will be a winner picked for each of the three categories, and the winner receives a one year membership to Hubway, a year of riding free on the T and passes to two food truck festivals. Those are some awesome prizes if you ask us!!

This is exactly what we thought the MBTA was missing out on doing – accessing Boston’s existing creative talent to build cool new stuff while gaining positive PR for working with its customers. The more initiatives the MBTA creates like this, the less the will be slammed on social media.

The three categories are as follows:

• Applications Challenge: This challenge calls on developers to create applications using MBTA data such as real-time and schedules bus, subway, and commuter rail data, together with New Balance Hubway Live Station Inventory Data to create an app, website, or other software application that provides an innovative way to access MBTA and New Balance Hubway information in real-time.
• Visualization Challenge: This challenge calls on developers to create a visualization of, “A day in the life of the MBTA and New Balance Hubway” using both MBTA and New Balance Hubway data such as  historical vehicle location, for the MBTA and Hubway origin-destination data.
• Bonus Challenge Bikes, Lunch, & T Challenge- This Challenge calls on developers to create innovative applications that help hungry residents learn about, locate and get to Boston′s food trucks. This app, for web or mobile, would ideally include locations of the trucks, menus, and routing information on how to get to them by walking, T or New Balance Hubway.

Tool of the Week: Pinterest

We’ll admit it: we’re addicted to Pinterest. In fact, it’s an obsession for some (we won’t name names) in our office. When it first came on the scene as a social tool to share images and ideas with our friends, we were on-board immediately.  Its integration with Facebook made it an awesome way to have a new conversation with existing contacts. And, due to its overwhelming popularity, Pinterest recently joined the illustrious list of the top ten social networks.

The mission of the company is simple enough: to connect everyone in the world through shared tastes and “things” they find interesting.  More recently, we’ve begun to think of Pinterest as a social tool for companies.  As an agency that focuses on consumer brands, having the ability to share images of your products and ideas that complement your brand in a visual way is a very appealing way for our clients to engage with their audience and help them picture their products in the home/in their closet/on their dinner table. Mashable recently released its top list of brands on Pinterest.  We put together our list of the top things we’ve seen brands do to leverage the hot new tool.

1. Clearly Defined Boards: the brands do a great job of dividing their content into themed boards, allowing users to easily follow the types of content that they want to see from the brand.
2. Stunning Images: people pin things they think are pretty.  Having high quality, beautiful images definitely make your pins more re-pinable.
3. It’s All In the Details: well-written descriptions explaining the content and context of an image makes it easier for pinners to add to your pin and share with their followers.
4. Complementary Content: just as with any good social media communication, adding complementary content in-line with the theme of your brand is a good call.  Don’t only talk about yourself: include content that contributes to the topic as a whole.
5. Encouraging Users to Pin Brand Content: Some brands have started to run promotions and contests that ask entrants to pin content from the brand to their own boards for a chance to win a prize. We’ll likely be seeing more and more brand promotions on Pinterest in the near future.
6. How-tos: Many brands are using Pinterest to show users how their fans use their product. For instance, Chobani has boards devoted to photos of dishes fans have created with their yogurt.

What do you think of the new Google social search results? How does your brand use Pinterest to engage with customers? Let us know in the comments section below or tweet us at @451heat.

As we enter a new year, it’s a great time to evaluate 2011 and set goals for the year ahead. With that in mind, the 451 Marketing public relations team put together a list of their resolutions for 2012.

Say “No” More Often

In a job that’s all about client service it’s extremely difficult to tell clients “no,” even in a nice way, when they ask the team to take on tasks that don’t map directly to their program’s goals. In 2012, I resolve to challenge clients more often to allow my team to stay focused on the actions that produce the results we are measured on. I love my clients and get excited along with them about new opportunities, so this resolution is a tough one for me!

– Karyn Martin, Senior Account Director, @karynmartin

Always Do My Homework 

Who can forget the PR blunder that was “Qwikster”? As Jason Gilbert of the Huffington Post wrote, “It should certainly be a first ballot entrant into the Bad Decision Hall of Fame, enshrined next to New Coke, Prohibition and that time Garth Brooks dyed his hair black and played rock music under the name Chris Gaines.” After a disastrous price hike in July 2011, Netflix went on to announce a way to offer users more convenient way to “Qwickly” receive DVD’s by mail while keeping the “Netflix” name strictly for streaming. Judgments about business decisions aside, the launch of their new Qwikster service may not have been such a PR fail if they’d taken the time to actually do their homework. Even a simple Google search (a seemingly no-brainer move) to see if the term was already in use would have done the trick. Luckily, we in PR squealed with delight as we realized before Netflix did that the @Qwikster handle was owned not by Netflix, but by a marijuana-loving high school student; and thus, hilarity ensued. Although I wound up canceling my Netflix service along with  800,000 fellow subscribers, this PR blunder turned out to be a great reminder for us all and something I’ll take with me into 2012.

– Laura Christo, Account Executive,@LauraChristo

Keep Up With National Trends

My New Year’s resolution is to pay closer attention to national trends in food and hospitality before they hit Boston so that I can help our clients introduce these new ideas to our market. It can be tough to take a step back during our busy day-to-day, so I resolve to make time for this in 2012.

-Nicole Russo, Executive Vice President Public Relations, @NicoleRusso

Help Clients Understand the True Definition of PR

In 2012 I resolve to help clearly define what PR is with our current, new and prospective clients, especially in the beginning of a new project. The term “PR” gets thrown around so loosely (“Charlie Sheen is one big PR disaster!” “Ashton Kutcher’s PR team is now Tweeting for him.” “The BP oil spill was a case of bad PR.”) that I think sometimes the true definition as well as the various components of PR get muddled for those not embedded in the industry. Additionally, I want to help clients understand how the different facets of PR apply to them – every client is different, so each campaign is going to be different, too.

- Meredith D’Agostino, Account Executive, @ladymusic

Pick Up the Phone More Often.

It has become very easy to handle communication with clients and reporters via email, SMS text, and even an occasional direct message on Twitter. While an electronic message is often more efficient, it’s also much less personal. In a business where relationships are paramount, nothing is better for building and strengthening a relationship than a personal conversation. While a face to face conversation is always best, it’s not always possible, so a phone conversation is the next best thing.

-Tom Lee, Partner, @TomLee451

Do you have any PR resolutions for 2012? Share them with us in the comments section below!

Last week I found an interesting article on Social Media Today, “How Much Time Should I Spend on Social Media,” posted by Rachel Strella. I posted it to the @451Heat Twitter feed and was surprised at the feedback it received. There were a lot of comments with a range of opinions – a couple of people said that they spend their whole day using social media while others said that they really couldn’t measure how much time they spend.

The conversation really got me thinking – for many people in our increasingly digital world, social media is part of the daily routine. There are so many tools and tricks of the trade to make the process of engaging in social media easier and faster.

Personally, I spend about three hours a day on social media. I have a routine where I seek content in the morning to schedule though Hootsuite, my favorite platform for streamlining Twitter, Facebook, and now Google+. The majority of my time is spent on gathering content. I have a process where I like to ask questions and engage our followers rather than just giving them a link to view. This allows me to build and maintain relationships with them.

Certain tools, like the Hootlet extension and the Evernote extension, help to make my time on social media more efficient by creating an ‘easy button’ that gathers the important information while giving me the option to add my own thoughts.

Social media can be fun - but it can also be distracting. I like to Google everything. If there is something I see that might not be the right fit for @451Heat and it’s something that I can post to my personal Twitter or Facebook, email to the whole office, or it’s something that a client can post to their social media feeds, I’ll share it because it’s more efficient to get it off my plate right then and there versus going back to try to find it later. While that may add more interruptions to my day, it’s important, because for those of us who spend our whole day on social media - it is key to be timely, relevant, and consistent.

Since social media is an integral part of my day, for both work and personal engagement, I found the data below to be an interesting find. The report, which was released yesterday by comScore, shows what percentage of time is spent on social media throughout the world. According to the report, we spend an average of 1 of every 5 minutes on social media.

There are certain tools that can help you work smarter, track your time spent, and monitor your engagement with your audience. The key to managing your time spent on social media is balance and quality. Balance between a streamlined process, quality content, and building and maintaining relationships. This could be all or just part of your day depending on what you do.

What is your favorite social media site and how much time do you really spend on that site? We would love your feedback!

Top Story: Twitter ‘Explores’ a New Look and Feel with Redesign

Twitter has redesigned not only its interface, but some of its terminology as well. They went to a simpler overall experience by giving more definite categories and designing the site to be easier to navigate.

Twitter added two categories – ‘Connect’ and ‘Discover’. While neither adds actual features, it changes how you view your content.

Connect – this is now where you will find all interactions: who tweeted you, who added you tweet to their favorites, followed you, or retweeted you. This is somewhat similar to the Facebook activity feed, if you ask us.

Discover – this basically is a news aggregator and it accomplishes this by, putting imagery, trending topics, and hot stories in one area. By pulling in more than just the words that are hot – they have made it into more of an actual news resource.

‘Discover’ is the feature that could really change how Twitter is used. It will now be more appealing to people solely looking to stay up to date in news real time because it has a dedicated page.

Under the Radar: Why is Facebook hiding messages from us?

Did you know that Facebook has been filtering your private messages for over a year? If you’ve never noticed your “Other” messages, you may want to take a look and see what you’ve been missing.

We all know what it’s like to be bombarded with annoying messages on Facebook. From event invites for parties located across the country to band performances from “friends” we talked to once in high school, it’s easy to feel spammed by Facebook on occasion. But what you may not know is that Facebook has its own form of a spam filter set up. It’s a section of your messages called “other” and you may have never noticed it if you haven’t bothered to look. But Facebook has allegedly been implementing this system since November of 2010.

I checked my “other” folder for the first time the other day and noticed quite a few messages in there. Admittedly, most of them are messages that weren’t important and I would have immediately trashed anyway. And, I thank Facebook for sparing me the creepy “I’d like to get to know you better” messages from faceless people. However, there were a few in there, like a special discount from a company I follow and a message from a friend (who I’m not connected with on Facebook), that I would have liked to see— messages that I had no idea were being hidden from me.

Am I mad? Not necessarily. I do think Facebook’s “other” folder is incredibly useful and has saved me much annoyance. But it’s also something that we should have been aware of from the start. I thank goodness for Gmail’s spam filter on a daily basis, but I still like to take a quick look at it from time to time to make sure nothing important is getting by. I’m thrilled not to get all those annoying Facebook messages to my inbox, but at the same time, I would have liked to know that my messages were being filtered and I wasn’t necessarily receiving everything that was sent to me. Check your “other” folder and see what you’ve been missing!

451 Labs Tool Review: Uber’s App—Making it easy to get a cab from your phone

Waiting on the side of the road waving your hand to get a cab to stop is so yesterday. With Uber, you can request a car right from your iPhone or Android. It will come in no time and be a whole lot less sketchy than many of the cabs you’ve likely ridden in before. But what will it cost you?

If you live in a major city, you likely know what it’s like to be frustrated trying to catch a cab. Especially if it happens to be raining out or you stay at the bar until last call and want to get home when every other city-dweller is also trying to hitch a ride. It’s enough to make you want to spend the winter huddled in your apartment to avoid being stranded far from home at all costs. Enter Uber.

Uber is a new service that makes it easy to get a cab. A non-sketchy car that is much more comfy and classy-looking than the average cab. All you need is the iPhone or Android app and you can request a car from anywhere. If you don’t have a smart phone, you can simply text Uber your address. A sleek black car with a professional driver will come pick you up, generally in about 10-15 minutes. Which means you can stick around the bar a little longer, instead of standing on the sidewalk with your hand up waving for a cab, while simultaneously shoving people out of your way and screaming that you were waiting first. Or maybe that’s just how we do it in Boston? (Tweet This!)

Adding to Uber’s appeal is the easy pay option. Instead of making certain you have cash on you or dealing with your cab’s faulty credit card machine (if they even have one!), Uber simply charges the credit card you have on file with them. It sounds super easy, but how much does it cost? Well, Uber charges based on distance traveled and time spent in cab and varies from city to city. In Boston, the base fee is $7.00, plus a $4.00 distance fee per mile, and $0.85 per minute time fee (for when the car is traveling less than 11 miles per hour). So, taking an Uber car will cost you more than a standard cab in Boston (which generally has a $2.60 base charge, plus a $2.80 per mile distance fee, and $0.47 per minute time fee). However, when you factor in the fact that you can avoid waiting and annoyance, along with a potentially sketchy cabby who’s chatting on his cell phone and swerving in and out of traffic, it seems pretty worth it for certain occasions. We’ll likely be saving the luxury for when we’re really stuck and want to get home hassle-free.

Uber’s services are currently offered in San Francisco/Palo Alto, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Paris, and Washington D.C.

Around the Hub: Foursquare-Amex Partnership comes and goes in Boston

There was a lot of buzz about the Foursquare-American Express partnership when it was announced, but in Boston there hasn’t been much talk about it lately because it wasn’t really activated anywhere in the Hub.

About a week ago, Foursquare quietly rolled out specials at a number of local businesses that have a ‘Spend $10, get $10 off’ specials – provided by American Express. While we are excited to see this feature coming to Boston, it raises some concerns as well.

In Boston, they did not consult the businesses before putting this special up. While the money exchange is done on the credit card, many customers will likely ask the businesses about the specials. It makes sense that Foursquare would want to push this out to many businesses, however they should be giving merchants more information and training staff on the specials. If a local restaurant was consulted on this, they would be able to internally push the promotion to existing customers and get more reach overall.
              

UPDATE: As of this morning it appears the AMEX specials are gone in Boston

Will you be using the uber cool app for your next taxi? Will you be more keen to check your “other” Facebook messages, Will you be more tuned in with the new Twitter, or will you be checking in to see what new discount you can get? Join the conversation #451Labs and drop us a line.

Top Story: YouTube Gets Social

YouTube is getting a makeover! Yes, you heard right, YouTube is going to have a clean, simple, and more social interface than before. It’s going to feel a lot like watching TV.

Click here to view the embedded video.

With their new design, YouTube is trying to get us to click around, stick around, and become more social on their site. And after spending some time exploring the new design, we think they’ll be seeing success. However, they still have a long way to go in getting us to choose YouTube over television on a daily basis.

You can think of the new design as sort of like the YouTube version of DVR. With hundreds of new channels launching soon, (from celebrities and well-known personalities) YouTube wanted to give us a better way to organize our favorite channels, making it easier for us to watch. The new homepage succeeds in making it simple for us to see what channels we’re subscribed to, which ones are recommended to us, and which are popular and trending. It also gives us a quick way to share our videos with connections on Facebook and Google Plus. Admittedly, we found that the new homepage is making it much more common for us to get sucked in and fall into that endless clicking hole – which is exactly what YouTube wants.

Will the YouTube redesign have us canceling our cable and watching YouTube channels for our television fix? Definitely not. The content on YouTube’s channels is still just not as good as it is on television, though we are interested to see if channels from Ashton Kutcher, Jay-Z, and the like can change that. Also, unlike television, we still can’t fall into that lazy mode, where we keep watching and watching. Even with YouTube’s redesign, we still have to actively seek out and click on videos to watch. But they’ve certainly made that a lot easier for us to do.

Under the Radar: A Mayor Becomes a Mayor

Take a Foursquare tour of the city with Mayor Bob Buckem of Tampa, FL. Get insider tips and earn your badges!

Foursquare is all about connecting with other people. We have seen celebrities join, but for the most part they don’t actually want people to know exactly where they are. Politicians on the other hand, always want citizens knowing where they are going and what they are doing for their respective cities. This is what Tampa Mayor, Bob Buckhorn, has been doing. He recently has taken it to the next level by creating a ‘Tour of Tampa’ within Foursquare.

There is obvious value in this for someone who is a heavy Foursquare user visiting Tampa, but what is really interesting about this is that Mayor Buckhorn has started an initiative that is really pushing Foursquare and LBS’s (location based services) into the mainstream. This proves that LBS’s can serve more of a purpose than just finding where your friends are and occasionally getting discounts. The more practical uses that can be demonstrated, the more people are likely to use them and in turn the more businesses will embrace it.

451 Labs Tool Review: Buffer

Never know when to publish content on your twitter feed? Buffer is a platform that is here to help you engage your Twitter followers by taking tweets and publishing them at certain times to procure the most engagement.

We certainly have enough experience with tweet scheduling services, using Hootsuite and TweetDeck on a daily basis. So, our main goal here was to see if Buffer could set itself apart from those other easy-to-use services. Buffer’s main draw is that it does make scheduling tweets a bit easier. Instead of being forced to choose a specific time for each tweet we’re scheduling, the service lets us pre-define the times we want our tweets to be sent out. So, all we have to do is add our text and links to the “buffer” and let the service do the rest. That is, if we want our tweets to go out at the same times every day.

We loved that there’s a Buffer Bookmarklet for easy sharing. Instead of heading to Twitter.com or our preferred application, we can simply click on the bookmark extension and schedule our tweet without leaving the website we’re on. We also love that Buffer’s analytics allow us to see sent tweets, along with their retweets, clicks and estimated reach.

At first we were excited by Buffer’s suggested tweet option. But after playing around with it on different Twitter accounts, we found that the suggested tweets were not very well-tailored to the type of content we generally tweet out. They also included many advertisements for the service. Fair enough, considering the service is free to use with 1 Twitter account and 10 tweets in a queue at a time. If you want to use Buffer with 3 Twitter accounts, schedule 50 tweets at a time, and add a team member, it will cost you $10/month.

So, does Buffer really increase clicks by 200% as many claim? We didn’t see quite that high of a click-through rate, but we’ll continue experimenting with Buffer. It does make timing tweets simpler. But as we’ve known all along, it really is about tweeting valuable content that’s the most important factor in soliciting clicks and re-tweets.

According to Fantana’s research, 60% of the time it works every time. (Tweet This!)

Around the Hub: 31 Nights of Lights

Boston’s Prudential Center features “31 Nights of Light”

Every December the Prudential Center “lights up” to support Boston’s non-profit organizations. Many of these organizations will host fundraising events at the shops to raise awareness on their cause.The Prudential Center Tower is using its colorful combination of lights (often best known for supporting the Sox, B’s, C’s and Pats) to support a different charity for all 31 days of December.

This is a brilliant use of the Prudential Tower, which is a landmark of Boston, because it makes use of existing resources (the lights) to help align itself with 31 great charity organizations. The Tower is seen by millions every day, and the constantly changing colors will grab the notice of many.

The Prudential Center itself does not do a large amount of marketing, so this is a good way to push out their brand image – which is focused on supporting Boston (charities and sports). The month of supporting these organizations is also a good way to tap into the large networks of all of the charities, many of which are large national groups. It looks like the Prudential Center tower has found an eye catching and relatively easyway to execute to build their brand image and support some great non-profits this winter.

As protests in Egypt continue, Google has launched a new service, called Speak-to-Tweet, that will allow people in Egypt to dial a phone number, and leave a voicemail, which is then transformed into text and posted onto Twitter. The new service will use voice recognition software to share communication, despite the recent ban on internet and text messaging. Speak-to-Tweet will also enable people within the region to call in and listen to messages left by others.

As social media evolves, new uses are endless. In terms of crisis-situations, it seems that these social sites become tools that enable people to help each other. Twitter isn’t just about shouting out your favorite pizza place during your lunch hour; it’s about being able to donate money instantly to people in the Gulf that were affected by the oil spill, or raising awareness of progress in Haiti. Even on a much smaller scale, these sites allow us to connect locally and help elderly neighbors shovel out of a big storm. Whatever the need, social media offers a way for people to come together.

What do you think this Speak-to-Tweet will do for the people of Egypt? For the rest of the world? Please share your thoughts!

-Sophie Gardner, 451 Marketing

451 is excited to let you know about the second annual “MegaTweetUp” happening this Thursday (12/16), from 6pm-10pm, at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center (NERD) in Cambridge, MA.  Last year’s MegaTweetUp was the largest tweetup in Massachusetts history and you don’t want to miss your opportunity to be part of something even bigger.

Here is a link to the Eventbrite invitation page: http://megatweetup2.eventbrite.com/.

To note, all proceeds for this event will be donated to Dana Farber.

As 451 Marketing friends, the first five people to sign up using the code “451Win” at checkout will receive complimentary admission.

In addition to attending the event, here are some other ways to get involved:

• Become a Raffle Partner! By becoming a Raffle Partner* and donating a raffle prize(s) (nothing is too small, call event producer Joselin Mane at 617.615.6263)  This is an excellent way for brands to be showcased at the event at a very low cost.
• Become a Promotion Partner! Send an email to your list & cc: Info@BostonTweetUp.com promoting MegaTweetUp and the event producer will add you on as a partner (Once you send the email send them your logo, URL and twitter info)
• Become a Sponsor! Sponsor the event by choosing a sponsorship level (http://bostontweetup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/MTUEventSponsorship2010.pdf or call Joselin at 617.615.6263)

There are many opportunities to educate people (including the many social media influencers) on your products, brands and companies by showcasing them at the event.

When writing a press release traditional PR practitioners wear a number of hats- content creator, creative director, editor and in the last few years- SEO expert. Press releases provide an opportunity to contribute to your brand’s search visibility and yet many releases are issued without being optimized for SEO.

Defining your company’s or client’s keywords, and a keyword strategy should be done in advance of release writing and involve key members of your PR, marketing, and web marketing or SEO team. You should have three to five very relevant, high search volume keyword terms that are core to how you define your company in the market. You’ll use these terms in strategic places throughout each press release. Don’t have a team to collaborate with you? You can use Google’s keyword tool while doing your keyword research to find variations of the keywords that are generating a high number of searches.

Marketwire includes a nice tool in its distribution process that will give you an SEO grade on your release, but the most effective way to apply SEO savvy to your release is to work it into the drafting process. Here are a few simple steps to creating an SEO-smart release:

• Retain reference to company name and pre-defined, most important keyword(s) in headline of all press releases
• Strategic value of keyword placement in body of release:
  1. Headline – First 70 characters most valuable; include one of your top keywords here
  2. Sub-headline – Include secondary keywords here
  3. First sentence; first paragraph – Include related keywords to re-enforce main keyword
  4. Peppered throughout release – Avoid anything that sounds “spammy;” use natural iterations of your keywords
• Use about 3-5 hyperlinks in body of release
• Attach URLs to descriptive anchor text – hyperlink keywords to URLs on your website that use that keyword and/or is focused on/optimized for that keyword
• Include the complete URL for your company website in the boiler plate (http://…)

Don’t forget to use your three to five most important keywords other places too, including on social media channels! Twitter posts, blog posts and Facebook updates are all great places to apply your SEO strategy.

What hasn’t changed is that our industry is still attracting and cultivating some of the smartest, most talented, and ambitious individuals around. This list consists of the people who the 451 team feel are setting the bar high.

As with any list of this nature, it cannot be comprehensive. If you know any great social media strategists out there, we invite you to contribute their names with a brief description of their work for us to post.

We look forward to seeing what these people will do in 2011!

Stephanie Agresta (@stephagresta) has been instrumental in developing digital strategies for Microsoft, Windows Phone, PepsiCo, HP and P&G. In 2010, she was named to PR Week’s “40 Under 40.” Her first book, Perspectives on Social Media Marketing, was released in October 2010. Additionally, she is a frequent speaker at industry events and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Social Media Advertising Consortium (SMAC).

David Armano (@armano) is SVP at Edelman Digital. He has 14 years of experience in the industry with the majority of his time spent in digital marketing and user experience design. Armano currently writes for the Harvard Business Review, and for his blog, Logic + Emotion, which is ranked in the top media and marketing blogs according to Advertising Age. BusinessWeek also named him to its “Best of 2006” list.

John Battelle (@johnbattelle) is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor and author who has founded, or co-founded scores of online, conference, magazine, and other media businesses. In addition to his work at Federated Media, Battelle continues to serve as the Executive Producer and Program Chair of the Web 2.0 Summit, as well as brand manager for BoingBoing.net. Battelle maintains Searchblog, which covers the intersection of media, technology, and culture. He was named one of the “Most Important People on The Web” by PCWorld.

Connie Bensen (@cbensen) is a community strategist whose passion is community building, and the related facets of social networking and branding.  Forbes.com listed her blog (conniebensen.com) as one of the top 20 marketing and social media blogs by women in 2009. She is also a 2009 Fellow with the Society of New Communications Research and speaks at leading social media conferences.

Ron Callari (@roncallari) is a self-proclaimed social media scientist and editorial cartoonist who currently consults, and is a freelance correspondent in the social media space. Callari’s published works explore current trends on the digital horizon, social media, humor, politics and innovation. His mission is to provide brands with social media expertise to distinguish them from their competition, while turning customers into brand advocates. Novologies’, the company Callari works for,  social media service FLIP.TO has been successful in adding over 50 hotel BETA customers internationally in the last 8 months.

CC Chapman (@cc_chapman) is a dedicated freelancer who works directly with clients, or through agencies in both creative and strategic roles. In 2009, he launched Digital Dads, a site where dads can share their thoughts on a variety of topics. Additionally, Chapman launched a podcast series in 2004, titled “Managing the Gray,” which provides, in simple terms, new media strategies, and information on technology and social media. His highly anticipated book, Content Rules, is available for pre-order.

Adam Cohen (@adamcohen) is a partner at the digital agency, Rosetta. Cohen leads Rosetta’s social media practice. His blog, A Thousand Cuts, was started in February of 2008 to encourage conversations about social media and interactive marketing.

Bob Collins (@robertcollins) is a digital media and public relations strategist with over 16 years of experience in marketing, new media communications, and public relations. He is the organizer and host of Boston’s Social Media Breakfast.

Angela Connor (@communitygirl) is an online community strategist who currently works for Capstrat as a social media manager. Angela is the author of 18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting with Customers Online.

Joe Cothrel (@Cothrel) is the Chief Community Officer at Lithium Technologies. He is Lithium’s top expert on community and social best practices. He has helped more than 300 companies execute social efforts.

Jeff Cutler (@JeffCutler) is a social media journalist and an event speaker who has run Novel Ideas for 19 years. Novel Ideas specializes in social media, advertising, marketing, non-profits and journalism. Jeff currently writes for  over twenty blogs, including Things To Worry About and Bowl of Cheese. Additionally, he is a Social Media Trainer for http://SPJ.org – the Society of Professional Journalists.

Caroline Dangson (@cdangson) is currently a consultant with Dachis Group. She focuses on the cultural and operational transformation required for companies to realize the full potential of social business initiatives. Caroline writes about relevant social media topics and issues for Dachis Group’s corporate blog.

Jason Falls (@JasonFalls) owns, co-authors and edits Social Media Explorer. He is an active public speaker, and thinker in the world of digital marketing and social media. As an industry-leading blog, Social Media Explorer is ranked consistently in the top 25 of Advertising Age’s “Power 150 Marketing Blogs.”

Laura Fitton (@pistachio) is the CEO and Founder of oneforty, which helps people discover thousands of tools that help them do more with their businesses, careers, or lives. She re-launched Pistachio Consulting, the first Twitter for business consultancy, in September 2008 to connect businesses to new ideas and innovations using all the tools of microsharing. Laura co-wrote Twitter for Dummies.

Kyle Flaherty (@kyleflaherty) currently works for BreakingPoint Systems, a leading provider of network simulation and traffic generation tools. Kyle manages external communications, community relationships and influencer marketing. He also regularly speaks at events and writes in his highly regarded industry blog, Dance with Strangers, which he “hopes will be the most read marketing blog in the entire world.”

AJ Gerritson (@AJGerritson) is a founding partner at 451 Marketing and has more than 13 years experience in brand strategy, search engine optimization, public relations, advertising and interactive marketing. He is a frequent speaker on the national circuit, and in 2010, Boston Business Journal named AJ to the “40 Under 40” class. AJ writes for 451 Marketing’s blog, 451 Heat.

Paul Gillin (@pgillin) is Principal of Paul Gillin Communications where he consults and advises on strategies to optimize social media’s use for marketing.  Prior to founding Paul Gillin Communications, he was the founding editor-in-chief of TechTarget and was also an executive editor of Computerworld. He has written two books, The New Influencers and Secrets of Social Media Marketing. Both books explore social media’s influence in marketing. Paul also writes a regular column for BtoB Magazine.

Tyson Goodridge (@goodridge) is Founder and Principal of Dialogue, a Social Media Education and Advisory Services Firm.  His firm specializes in social media training, curriculum development and consulting. Dialogue’s clients include IDG, Chaco, Harvard School of Public Health, and Novartis. He’s also founder of “Eat, Drink and Be Social” and is social media instructor/consultant at Apple retail stores.

Rachel Happe (@rhappe) is the Principal and Founder at The Community Roundtable, a peer network for community managers and social media practitioners. Happe also has a blog, The Social Organization, where she discusses her perspectives on how social media can be used as a problem-solving tool for organizations.

Doug Haslam (@DougH) is a supervisor for Voce Connect. At Voce, he has worked on social media projects for Nokia and Yahoo!. Haslam is also an organizer for Podcamp Boston, which provides ideas for content makers, by sharing knowledge of podcasting, blogging, video blogging, and social media. He writes regularly for his blog at doughaslam.com.

John Havens (@johnchavens) is the Senior Vice President for Social Media at Porter Novelli where he provides digital and social media counsel. Before that, Havens was the Vice President of Business Development at Blog Talk Radio. Havens is the co-author of the book Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media To Maximize Value and Build Their Brand.

Shel Holtz (@shelholtz), Principal of Holtz Communications + Technology, is a writer, blogger and consultant. Holtz has written several books, including How to Do Everything With Podcasting and Blogging for Business. He is also a five-time winner of the International Association of Business Communicators’ “Gold Quill Award.”

Marta Kagan (@mzkagan) is the US Managing Director for Espresso and runs the blog, The Secret Diary of a Bonafide Marketing Genius.  Her presentation “What The F**K is Social Media?” has been translated into seven languages. She has received such accolades as a finalist for the “2004 Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs” and a finalist for Fast Company’s 2004 “Fast 50 Winner.” She is a recipient of Maildog Manager’s “Best in Show” award.

Rachel Levy (@bostonmarketer) is the Founder and CEO of the website, webinarlistings.com, which allows companies to promote webinars and simultaneously allow people to find webinars that may be of interest to them. Levy uses her twelve years of experience in marketing as a consultant and trainer for social media at Rachel Levy Consulting. She blogs at rachel-levy.com/blog.

Charlene Li (@charleneli) is a New York Times Best-Selling Author for her book, Open Leadership. She co-authored the book, Groundswell, which was named one of Amazon.com’s “Best Business Books of 2008.”  Li is the founder of Altimeter Group, and blogs at charleneli.com/blog.

Ravit Lichtenberg (@ravit_ustrategy) is the Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Ustrategy Consulting, a boutique consultancy that specializes in helping companies understand their customers’ psychology in today’s social world. She blogs at ravitlichtenberg.com.

Steven Lubetkin (@podcaststeve) is the managing partner of Lubetkin & Co. LLC, which specialize in Internet broadcasting and communications consulting. Lubetkin is a Senior Fellow of the Society of New Communication Research and is a recurrent speaker on social media. Lubetkin is the recipient of the “2010 ASTRA Award” for B2B podcasting from the New Jersey Communications, Advertising and Marketing Association.

Simon Mainwaring (@simonmainwaring) is the owner of Mainwaring Creative. Mainwaring works as a brand consultant who has over 20 years of performance experience. He has received over 60 international awards. He wrote a book, scheduled to be released in 2011, in response to Bill Gate’s speech, “Creative Capitalism.” Mainwaring’s book seeks to show ways in which new media can help promote positive world change.

Joselin Mane (@JoselinMane and @BostonTweetUp) carries 20 years of experience in computer technology as an Internet marketing consultant. Mane is the CEO and Founder of LITBeL Consulting, and the founder of Boston Tweetup. He focuses on leveraging Internet to systematically reach clients’ financial and growth goals.

Drew McLellan (@drewmclellan) is the CEO of McLellan Marketing Group. He is also a blogger and author. McLellan is recognized as a national branding and social media expert, and continues to be sought after as a public speaker. His blog, Drew’s Marketing Minute, is highly regarded in the marketing space.

Marc Meyer (@marc_meyer) is a digital, and social media strategist for Ernst and Young. Additionally, Meyer is the founder of the website, Hash Tag Social Media, which hosts a live sixty-minute Twitter chat at 12 pm every Tuesday, and helps people connect and share ideas related to the use of social media for businesses.

Tom O’Keefe (@BostonTweet) is the creator and founder of bostontweet.com.  His site was created as a way to generate business in a downturn economy and has transformed into an excellent way to find out about the happenings in Boston as well as to drive traffic to certain businesses.  With over 20,000 followers on Twitter and thousands of visitors to his blog, O’Keefe provides customers with the information they want, and boosts traffic to and gives valuable demographic information to businesses.

Neil Patel (@neilpatel) is the co-founder of two internet companies, Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. He was named to Technorati’s “Top 100 Bloggers” list, and according to the Wall Street Journal, is one of the top influencers on the web. Patel achieved these accolades by the age of 21. He uses his successes and failures as an entrepreneur to help others on his blog, Quick Sprout.

Erik Qualman (@equalman) is the author of the book, Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business, and the blog, Socialnomics. Erik is an MBA Professor at the Hult International Business School. For the past 16 years, Qualman has helped grow the digital capabilities of many companies, including Cadillac, EarthLink, EF Education, Yahoo!, Travelzoo and AT&T.

Neal Rodriguez (@notifyneal) is Managing Director of Shovecom, a full-service New York Interactive Agency. He is an online marketer with seven years of experience in social media engagement and search engine optimization. Neal writes for the Huffington Post and PBS.org.

Mike Rowland (@ImpactInteract) is president and founder of Impact Interactions. There, Mike leads the company’s engagements with large organizations to utilize online communities, and social media to engage site visitors and generate measurable business results. Prior to founding Impact Interactions, Mike built Participate Systems  into one of the pioneers in the online community management world.

Steve Rubel (@steverubel) is SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital. In his role, he helps clients identify emerging technologies and trends that can be applied in marketing communications programs. Rubel also explores these topics on his site at steverubel.com, and in monthly columns for Forbes.com and Advertising Age.

Marian Salzman (@mariansalzman) is president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America.  Marian is the author or co-author of 15 books on topics ranging from current affairs to the youth market and the commercial workplace.  She co-founded Cyberdialogue, the world’s first online market research company, in 1992.  Her annual trends forecast is highly regarded in the industry.

Allan Schoenberg (@allanschoenberg) is currently the Director of Corporate Communications at CME Group. He has broad experience in all aspects of business-to-business communications, including social media, brand management and marketing. Allan also has been teaching many public relations classes in the graduate school at DePaul University since 2005, and undergraduate public relations classes at Loyola University since 2006.

Robert Scoble (@scobleizer) is currently working at Rackspace to build a new community of people fanatical about tech startups called, “Building 43.” He is a tech enthusiast, video blogger and media innovator who searches for world-changing technologies. Before working at Rackspace, Robert worked at Microsoft as an evangelist and one of the people who started its Channel 9 video community.

David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker and the best-selling author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR. He is also the author of Real-Time Marketing & PR. David’s popular blog (davidmeermanscott.com), and numerous speaking engagements around the world give him great credibility and authority to discuss how businesses are implementing/should be implementing new strategies to reach buyers.

Derek Showerman (@derekshowerman) is currently the Director of Digital Marketing and Business Development at Environmental Data Resources. Prior to working at EDR, he was the Senior Manager of SEO at Sokolove Law, LLC and prior to that, he was the Director of Social Media at Authority Domains. Derek is considered a pioneer in the industry as he utilized Web 2.0 tools when he owned and ran a music website before they were utilized regularly in the business world.

Jim Storer (@jimstorer) is an experienced community manager and social media strategist who co-founded The Community Roundtable. Within the past ten years, he’s built and managed communities as well as consulted with both start-ups, and large enterprises on how to effectively build lasting value with community, and social media solutions.

Aaron Strout (@aaronstrout) is the Chief Marketing Officer at the social media agency, Powered Inc.. He provides a social voice for the company by speaking, blogging, podcasting and participating in social networking activities. Aaron is a founding member and former president of BIMA, and serves on the advisory board of the prestigious Social Media Club.

Mike Troiano (@miketrap) is the Principal of Holland-Mark, a leading independent advertising agency. Mike serves on the boards of several VC-funded technology companies, including Crimson Hexagon. His blog, Scalable Intimacy, is listed on both AdAge’s “Power150” and Alltop, and he is ranked in the top 1 percent of the most influential people on Twitter.

Todd Van Hoosear (@vanhoosear) is the Principal of Fresh Ground, and a founding member and interim director of the Social Media Club of Boston. He is also the VP of Social Media for Publicity Club of New England and has lead regional, national, and global public relations teams in the telecommunications, CAD/CAM, networking and Web spaces. Todd was recognized as a 2009 Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research.

Mark Wallace (@mwallcomm) is the Vice President of Social Media for EDR. He oversees the strategic growth initiatives for Commonground – the global community for environmental and property due diligence professionals. Prior to joining EDR, Mark was Vice President of Community Sales at Mzinga, a leading provider of social networking consulting, technology, and services

Tamar Weinberg (@tamar) is the author of The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web and the creator of Techipedia. She provides consulting in internet marketing, and manages community support and  advertising at Mashable. She specializes in social media consulting and strategy, blogger outreach, reputation management, and search engine marketing.

Alan Wolk (@awolk) is the Managing Director of Social Media Strategy at KickApps, a fast-growing company that builds, and maintains social web sites and applications. His blog, The Toad Stool, is “one of the ‘must read’ blogs for our industry,” and looks at the confluence of advertising, marketing and the social web. Wolk is also the founder of “The Hive Awards,” a new awards show that debuted at SXSW Interactive in March 2010.

Adam Zand (@nooneyouknow) is the Marketing & PR Consultant and Connector at Almost Ubiquitous. With over 16 years of business development, marketing and media relations experience, Adam specializes in marketing communications, PR, social media, advertising, content creation, and business development.

Dan Zarrella (@danzarrella) is an award-winning social, search, and viral marketing scientist and author of the O’Reilly Media book, The Social Media Marketing Book. He has been featured in numerous well-known newspapers and speaks at conferences around the country. In 2009, he was awarded “Shorty and Semmy” awards for social media and viral marketing.

Add your picks for top social media strategists below!

With 9.2% nationwide unemployment and an increasing number of qualified people looking for jobs, applicants are becoming more creative in the job search.  For example, the paper resume has taken a back seat to the “digital interview” as YouTube is becoming an emerging platform for job seekers to showcase their expertise, skills and talents to prospective employers.

Using YouTube as a platform for job applications is more personalized and can be more effective than a resume when done correctly.  Video is a great way to “brand yourself,” reach a broader audience and highlight special talents that may not stand out on a traditional resume.   Additionally, video is a great way to show your personality and demonstrate who you are beyond words on paper.

Blogs are another useful way to pop up on the radar of a hiring manager or corporate executive.  Use blogs to strategically place yourself directly in front of targeted companies, by using search optimization and strategic content creation.  However, make sure that you create relevant content and attract attention in a positive way.  SlideShare is also another great way to communicate your knowledge and creativity in your field of expertise.

Some Tips:

• Promote yourself and be creative, consistent and honest; build authority with your target audience and followers
• Post videos and blogs links on your website (if you have one), and remember to tweet and post to Facebook to increase visibility
• Make sure your contact information is visible so you can actually be reached
• You never know who is watching – if you have an idea for a company, build it and share online
• Enter contests hosted by companies you might like to work for – this is a great way to stand out from the pack and increase your chances of landing a job
• Use LinkedIn to connect with recruiters, and learn more about the companies and the people who work at them

Social media is powerful and can put you in front of the “right” people in your job search as your build your network.  Remember to reach out to your social network often, offer valuable information and continue to look for new ways to build your brand.

Have you used social media to find a job or learn more about a job?   What worked for you?  Do you think social media will come to replace the traditional resume in the future?

-Jenn Smith