Social networking is the #1 activity online. Even though Google gets the most visitors, Facebook is where most of us are spending our time. And it’s not just about Facebook anymore. We are spending a lot of time on LinkedIn, YouTube, Tumblr and Twitter. While there are some clear major players in the social space, the social media universe continues to expand and 2011 was a banner year for the idea of an “Interest Graph.”

In 2011, we saw Google launching Google+ and Pinterest grewing at an astounding rate. Facebook launched “Timeline” and “frictionless sharing” with partners like the much anticipated Spotify. Facebook also acquired design companies and the team behind Gowalla, showing the company’s intent to provide a consistent experience across devices and becoming a more prominent player in the mobile space.

2011 was also a big year for social IPOs: From LinkedIn to Groupon and Zynga, small tech startups are becoming public companies. There is much speculation around the existence of a bubble, and some say growth cannot continue because social networks are running out of users. However, Facebook is not yet public and we still don’t see a clear exit for Twitter.

There might be saturation, but social media has changed the way we live. And this means social media is no longer a question for marketers. Companies of all sizes have accepted and even embraced the importance of social media. Investments are starting to increase and companies are now building teams to tackle the new risks and opportunities that social media has created. While Facebook and Twitter ad spending is expected to grow only at a decreasing rate, advanced brands are leveraging more digital dollars for their social media marketing strategies and tactics. “Social” has been an afterthought for many years, but marketing campaigns and programs are finally starting to feel inherently social.

This presentation is about the state of social media and social media marketing on January 1st, 2012:

Chris Brogan is a blogger, speaker, consultant, bestselling author and President and CEO of Human Business Works. Chris was one of the very first people I ever “met” on Twitter and I’ve been reading his blog www.chrisbrogan.com ever since.

Below is an interview with Chris about his upcoming book, examples of brands on Google+, Black Friday marketing in 2011, content curation tools, and more.

1. Congratulations on your upcoming book “Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything.” The book description says “This is a business book, not a technology book.” Can you share more about how this book can help businesspeople?

[CB] Business people tend to get a bit twitchy when a new technology comes along. But what I’m saying with this book is that this is a book about how to use the telephone to sell, or how to use business cards as part of your selling, or what to talk about at the cocktail party to sell. The tech of it all isn’t the worry. The problem is, for some unknown reason, humans get really weird when they start trying to use social media to sell. They forget the niceties and the human nature sometimes.

2. Google+ Pages have been around for a few weeks now. What are some examples of companies and organizations making good use of them?

[CB] I love what Samsung USA is doing (and no, not because you work there). I love what Dell has done. I think that Pepsi is already getting great engagement on their site. For a small business, check out Allure Home Improvements. I think people can really learn from places like these. Oh, and Kodak! Great work, Jennifer Cisney and team.

3. Social media is becoming an important part of how brands do marketing. What did you think of Black Friday efforts this year? You know who I saw doing something interesting for Black Friday?

[CB] Cali Lewis. Not a company, a person. Someone who works for a brand of her own, but who used Amazon associate links to point people towards products she endorsed, with a cut for herself. Did I see any brands doing something amazing with Black Friday? Well, at the risk of really seeming like I’m sucking up (I’m willing to risk this), I *did* like that Samsung had a nice summary on the Google+ page. Beyond that? Not as much on Twitter as I’d had expected, and I’m no longer qualified to talk about Facebook. I don’t go there anymore.

(more…)

According to recent eMarketer research, Facebook is the number one seller of display ads in the US. eMarketer expects Facebook to generate $2.19 billion in display advertising revenue this year.

How much is expected for Yahoo? $1.62 billion.

And what about Google? Only $1.15 billion.

We all know that if we want to place text ads on a website or blog, AdSense is the first place to go for revenue. AdSense is great because it delivers ads based on the website hosting the ad. But AdSense doesn’t seem to really know much, if at all, about the audience viewing the ads.

So what about display ads? And what about targeted, relevant display ads?

Everyone talks about targeted and relevant advertising, but no one has been able to deliver this in the way that Facebook can within Facebook.com.

It must be only a matter of time before Facebook decides to add advertisements to the Open Graph.

We already see “Like” buttons everywhere and companies like Amazon, CNN, Levi’s and Huffington Post have done some interesting personalization-like implementations on their sites.

Anyone can add a Facebook plugin in a matter of minutes.

So why not Facebook ads all over the web? Why not a FacebookSense of sorts that would allow both large and small sites to deliver targeted and relevant ads to Facebook users?

Think about. You’re connected to Facebook and happen to stroll away from Facebook for 5 minutes and end up on a sports blog. And let’s say you’re a young woman who recently got engaged. Facebook knows you’re engaged and you’re a young woman who likes to run so maybe it would show you a wedding dress ad and a Nike Women Sponsored Story. It might not be perfect because Facebook wouldn’t know whether you’ve bought that wedding dress yet but it would be a better experience than seeing an ad about muscle gain next to an ad for a questionable dating site, right?

And what about visitors who are not on Facebook or don’t feel like connecting to Facebook at that time? Well, Facebook could deliver ads based on the content of the site itself just as Google AdSense does.

My guess is that a Facebook AdSense coming and it’s coming before 2012. Why before 2012? Well, because 2012 is the alleged IPO year. Oh, and also because 2012 might be the end of the world. And Facebook doesn’t have time to wait until the end of the world.

It’s funny to see some of the same people who have praised Web 2.0 and social media for years and highly depend on social media themselves, pointing the finger at “social media experts.” These myopic blog posts get views and buzz, but they are so generic that it shows that they don’t really see the entire picture or are simply seeking attention by trying to stand out amidst a sea of social media related content and opinions.

Are these kinds of articles/posts new? Nope. Criticism of “gurus,” “ninjas,” “experts,” “snake oil salesmen,” etc. abound online. Everyone and their cousin has written about it (I’m sure I’ve done it myself and I apologize on behalf of my younger, ignorant self).

Ironically, many of the people  making these claims are the same ones that speak at conferences, write books, and appear on TV and magazine articles to talk about how much they know about social media. They speak as experts and then talk about a generic group of renegade “social media experts.”

Based on my experience, I know how some small business owners see social media and how very large corporations see social media. I also have interacted with PR/marketing/advertising agencies, technology vendors, and startups/developers to have enough of an idea of how they see it.

And from what I’ve experienced, regardless of what you read in blog post x, most large companies need people who specialize in social media in various areas of the organization. In the same way, most small businesses need help with getting started in social media.

Sure, it would be fantastic if everyone from the CEO to customer service reps, marketing departments, and the agencies helping them were not only aware of how the space is evolving on a monthly basis, but also had experience and deep knowledge about what works, what doesn’t, and what it all means for the organization.

In an ideal world, everyone would have experience and knowledge around social strategy, integration, execution, management, testing, and measurement, and everyone would know how to spend dollars correctly to make things happen efficiently, creatively and with relevance, but that is not the case. The fact is that most large companies are still learning and some are still skeptic, despite the strong data suggesting that people are spending a lot of their time and attention on social sites. It takes resources and money to provide great customer service and create great marketing. In the same way, most small businesses probably don’t even have the time to do much more beyond creating a Facebook page and putting a Facebook icon on a billboard.

Pointing a finger at “social media experts” is like pointing a finger at “media planning experts.” It’s terribly vague. (more…)

I have a few problems with “Personal Branding.” I’ve read a lot about the topic and the recommendations provided are all pretty good. Things like  creating a blog, signing up to services all over the web, tweeting, podcasting,  commenting, getting a yourname.com, checking-in, speaking at conferences, creating content, connecting on LinkedIn, name dropping, making fun of MySpace, etc.

I’ve done most of these things myself and they’ve all been helpful. I wouldn’t be a Social Media Manager if I hadn’t tried all of these. More importantly, doing them has been a fun and rewarding learning experience.

Still, I don’t like that ”personal branding” is sometimes sold as a roadmap to success. It’s sold as a way to make money and become a micro-celebrity. Celebrities are often associated with “personal branding,” as if the average person could ever be Oprah. I’m sorry but Oprah doesn’t need Twitter to be Oprah and if she wrote a book about success, I doubt she would start with “How To Tweet Your Way to Success.” The fact is Oprah happens to be a nice likeable lady that worked like crazy for many many years.

Another thing I don’t like when I read about “personal branding” is that they often fail to mention that actual branding at companies includes a heck of a lot more than just doing social media marketing. Sure, anyone can grab a marketing book and say “see, you can do all of these things, starting with the 4 P’s.” Again, just like with Oprah, McDonald’s did not become McDonald’s over night.

Please don’t get me wrong, I have huge respect for anyone that has ever written about the topic and I know their intentions are probably good (I myself try to share what I’ve learned about and in social media and would love to be able to even start writing a book some day).

My really big problem with “personal branding” is… the term itself. People don’t need to be more like brands. Brands need to be more like people. (more…)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab was unveiled today at IFA in Berlin. As Samsung USA‘s Social Media Manager, I’m a bit biased about all things Samsung (and Android in general), but I’ve seen the Galaxy Tab myself and it is truly an impressive device. I’ll keep sharing my thoughts on Twitter @SamsungEsteban & @SocialNerdia, but here are links to initial reactions from around the web so you read some previews/reviews and watch some videos/photos.

Engadget: Samsung Galaxy Tab Preview
Engadget: Live from Samsung IFA 2010 press event
Android Central: Samsung Galaxy Tab photo gallery
Android Central: Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 7-inch Android tablet
Android Central: Samsung Galaxy Tab Hands-On [Video]
CNET: Samsung Galaxy Tab Photos
CNET: Samsung Galaxy Tab Android tablet goes official
CNET: Samsung: Galaxy Tab has leg up on Apple iPad
Gizmodo: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Runs Froyo, Has Flash and Measures 7-Inches
Into Mobile: Hands-on: Samsung Galaxy Tab Android – 7 inches of Android tablet goodness
Mashable: Samsung Officially Unveils Galaxy Tab
Mobile Burn Samsung launches new Galaxy Tab Android 2.2 tablet
Mobiel Review Samsung Galaxy TAB. First Look
PC Mag: Samsung Introduces Galaxy Tab
PC World: Samsung Galaxy Tab Makes Its Intriguing Debut
Phone Arena: Samsung Galaxy Tab Preview
Samsung Hub (unofficial): Galaxy Tab gets official
TechIt: Fringing has just become more awesome on Galaxy Tab
The Droid Guy: Samsung Galaxy Tab officially exposed to select members of the US Android/Mobile Media
The Next Web: Samsung Galaxy Tab goes official, gets mid-September european release
Twice: Samsung Galaxy Tab Targets iPad

Stay tuned to @SamsungTweets and facebook.com/samsungusa for the latest news about the Galaxy Tab in the U.S.

Disclaimer: While I am employed by Samsung, the views expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of Samsung.