Social Media from the Frontline: Sam @VaynerMedia

Welcome to the first “Social Media from the Frontline”, a new regular guest blogging spot from mycleveragency.

As much as we love to hear what the big cheese’s have to say and frequently indulge ourselves in the Social Media big wigs blog posts, interviews or videos – we thought it would be a nice diversion to check out the people on ground, those individuals in the “trenches” who are immersed in social day in, day out.

So we’ve lined up some of the industry’s finest to tap into their knowledge at first hand. We ask the same questions each week and they offer up completely different answers. All from the people living and breathing Social right now.

First up is Sam from VaynerMedia.

If you fancy getting involved drop us a tweet @mycleveragency.

 

NAME: Sam Taggart

COMPANY: VaynerMedia

ROLE: Account Executive

TWITTER: @gosam

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/samtaggart

BLOG: http://samtaggart.com

A little about myself...

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA (huge Philadelphia sports fan) and lived there until I left for college in 2005. I attended Boston University for my freshman year (where I met one of my best friends and my current employer AJ Vaynerchuk). I then left snow for sunshine, and transferred to the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, where I majored in Communication. I've worked at VaynerMedia  - an agency specializing in social media branding - since its inception in May 2009. I personally work with the New York Jets, New Jersey NETS, as well as Cap'n Crunch and another CPG as an account executive. My greatest loves in life are my family & friends, sports, the Phillies, the Internet, and my 21-year-old cat Mikey. And chocolate.

My likes...

Most people would get in lots of trouble if they were caught on Facebook or Twitter while at work. I'd get in trouble for not being on Facebook or Twitter. So, I like that. I like that social media is a new frontier. We are the pioneers, actively molding a new industry and a new way of thinking, each and every day. For me, that's really exciting. I like that social allows brands and consumers to engage in a way they never were able to before. I like that social allows old friends to stay in touch like they never were able to before... I think social media is the best thing that ever happened to fans of professional sports. It gives us inside access to the extreme, and even gives us the chance to interact one-on-one with our favorite athletes. Too cool!

My dislikes...

I dislike spam. I dislike people and brands that push without ever taking a second to listen to the people that care about them. And what I really dislike is how many people claim to be social media experts, gurus, ninjas, and so on. I try not to drink that haterade, though, so my list of dislikes is short.

My favourite books...

One of my favorites has to be The Thank You Economy, the most recent book by my boss, Gary Vaynerchuk. I'm obviously biased but I also think it's a really powerful book and worth the read. I'm also a big fan of Malcom Gladwell. Most of my other favorites have to do with sports: Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball, Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy, and and Buzz Bissinger's Three Nights in August.

My favourite blogs...

I'm not a big blog reader, to be honest. My daily reading list isn't all that out there - Mashable, TechCrunch, TechMeme, AllFacebook, etc. I prefer to skim, I prefer the short-form, so my go-to medium is Twitter. On my must-follow list? Fred Wilson, Tristan Walker, Gary V for different aspects of tech. Baratunde for social commentary & satire. Darren Rovell for sports business. Nate Jones for basketball. Eric Stangel for sports satire. I could go on...

Any Social Media tips...

If you're a brand, I recommend you go where your consumers are and treat social as much more of a listening tool than a push tool. It's not another press release mechanism, it's not another email list for you to beat into the ground... So don't treat it that way! Your consumers are there, telling you (or willing to tell you) what they like, don't like, want, don't want. So listen to them! And then go react based on their thoughts. They clicked the 'like' button and took the time to tell you something - they care!

Another tip? Drink lots of water! Especially in the summer...

Any Social Media predictions...

This isn't novel, but I think that community management of social media properties is going to be something we'll see a lot more brands doing. If you look at most brands' social media pages, they're not commenting on fan posts on their Facebook pages and they're not @replying their followers at a high rate. Next year, I'd expect most brands to have a full-time community manager engaging their butts off. Pretty soon, everyone will be on Facebook and Twitter and will have an established fan base, so the conversation is going to switch from quantity of fans & followers to quality of engagement.

Another shocker, but I'd expect mobile to be a much bigger play next year. The trends are staggering - smartphone usage is skyrocketing - walk down the street or drive on the highway and no one is looking up because they're too busy texting or tweeting or angry birdsing... If you're not thinking about a mobile strategy, you're already late to the game. Next year, you'll be dead.

BIG thanks to Sam!

 

We're a full service social media agency. Check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

Social Media from the Frontline: Sam @VaynerMedia

Welcome to the first “Social Media from the Frontline”, a new regular guest blogging spot from mycleveragency.

As much as we love to hear what the big cheese’s have to say and frequently indulge ourselves in the Social Media big wigs blog posts, interviews or videos – we thought it would be a nice diversion to check out the people on ground, those individuals in the “trenches” who are immersed in social day in, day out.

So we’ve lined up some of the industry’s finest to tap into their knowledge at first hand. We ask the same questions each week and they offer up completely different answers. All from the people living and breathing Social right now.

First up is Sam from VaynerMedia.

If you fancy getting involved drop us a tweet @mycleveragency.

 

NAME: Sam Taggart

COMPANY: VaynerMedia

ROLE: Account Executive

TWITTER: @gosam

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/samtaggart

BLOG: http://samtaggart.com

A little about myself...

I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA (huge Philadelphia sports fan) and lived there until I left for college in 2005. I attended Boston University for my freshman year (where I met one of my best friends and my current employer AJ Vaynerchuk). I then left snow for sunshine, and transferred to the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, where I majored in Communication. I've worked at VaynerMedia  - an agency specializing in social media branding - since its inception in May 2009. I personally work with the New York Jets, New Jersey NETS, as well as Cap'n Crunch and another CPG as an account executive. My greatest loves in life are my family & friends, sports, the Phillies, the Internet, and my 21-year-old cat Mikey. And chocolate.

My likes...

Most people would get in lots of trouble if they were caught on Facebook or Twitter while at work. I'd get in trouble for not being on Facebook or Twitter. So, I like that. I like that social media is a new frontier. We are the pioneers, actively molding a new industry and a new way of thinking, each and every day. For me, that's really exciting. I like that social allows brands and consumers to engage in a way they never were able to before. I like that social allows old friends to stay in touch like they never were able to before... I think social media is the best thing that ever happened to fans of professional sports. It gives us inside access to the extreme, and even gives us the chance to interact one-on-one with our favorite athletes. Too cool!

My dislikes...

I dislike spam. I dislike people and brands that push without ever taking a second to listen to the people that care about them. And what I really dislike is how many people claim to be social media experts, gurus, ninjas, and so on. I try not to drink that haterade, though, so my list of dislikes is short.

My favourite books...

One of my favorites has to be The Thank You Economy, the most recent book by my boss, Gary Vaynerchuk. I'm obviously biased but I also think it's a really powerful book and worth the read. I'm also a big fan of Malcom Gladwell. Most of my other favorites have to do with sports: Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball, Rick Reilly's Who's Your Caddy, and and Buzz Bissinger's Three Nights in August.

My favourite blogs...

I'm not a big blog reader, to be honest. My daily reading list isn't all that out there - Mashable, TechCrunch, TechMeme, AllFacebook, etc. I prefer to skim, I prefer the short-form, so my go-to medium is Twitter. On my must-follow list? Fred Wilson, Tristan Walker, Gary V for different aspects of tech. Baratunde for social commentary & satire. Darren Rovell for sports business. Nate Jones for basketball. Eric Stangel for sports satire. I could go on...

Any Social Media tips...

If you're a brand, I recommend you go where your consumers are and treat social as much more of a listening tool than a push tool. It's not another press release mechanism, it's not another email list for you to beat into the ground... So don't treat it that way! Your consumers are there, telling you (or willing to tell you) what they like, don't like, want, don't want. So listen to them! And then go react based on their thoughts. They clicked the 'like' button and took the time to tell you something - they care!

Another tip? Drink lots of water! Especially in the summer...

Any Social Media predictions...

This isn't novel, but I think that community management of social media properties is going to be something we'll see a lot more brands doing. If you look at most brands' social media pages, they're not commenting on fan posts on their Facebook pages and they're not @replying their followers at a high rate. Next year, I'd expect most brands to have a full-time community manager engaging their butts off. Pretty soon, everyone will be on Facebook and Twitter and will have an established fan base, so the conversation is going to switch from quantity of fans & followers to quality of engagement.

Another shocker, but I'd expect mobile to be a much bigger play next year. The trends are staggering - smartphone usage is skyrocketing - walk down the street or drive on the highway and no one is looking up because they're too busy texting or tweeting or angry birdsing... If you're not thinking about a mobile strategy, you're already late to the game. Next year, you'll be dead.

BIG thanks to Sam!

 

We're a full service social media agency. Check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

Google+ vs Facebook [INFOGRAPHIC]

Looks like Google+ is turning more than a few heads within the social space, drawing some attention away from the "mothership" that is Facebook.

If, like the majority, you haven't had a chance to explore Google's rival to Facebook yet, Technobombs has put together a helpful comparison of the two services.

If it was a boxing match, going on this example Google+ may just take it on points but the additional features Facebook has make it a tightly contested bout.

Who wins it for you? Will you and your friends be switching to Google+ anytime soon? Tell us in the comments below.

Enjoying reading the mycleveragency blog? Why not check us out on Twitter and hook up on Facebook.

Things You Wimbledidn't Know [INFOGRAPHIC]

As Wimbledon finals weekend approaches and the small matter of Andy and Rafa is set to be resolved, I bet you're asking yourself the same questions.

Strawberries, rackets, ball boys and girls, grunting and money - everything you Wimbledidn't know we've got it covered in our shiny (and extremely useful) infographic.

So as you're screaming at the telly this afternoon or over the weekend, spare a thought for the finer details that go into making the championship extra special.

social media agency

What is Google+?

So you may have seen a lot of fuss being made about Google's new stab at social networking in the form of 'Google+', which was announced last night.

Following on from the-not-so-succesful 'Buzz' and 'Wave', Google it would seem has a lot of making up to do in the social space. That's an understatement considering the popularity of Facebook; can Google+ ever lay a finger on Zuckerberg's empire? 

We've pulled together some of the chat going on and some helpful vids to give you the lowdown.

What is Google+?

 

What is being said? 

Wired says:

The parts announced Tuesday represent only a portion of Google’s plans. In an approach the company refers to as “rolling thunder,” Google has been quietly been pushing out pieces of its ambitious social strategy — there are well over 100 launches on its calendar. When some launches were greeted by yawns, the Emerald Sea team leaders weren’t ruffled at all — lack of drama is part of the plan. Google has consciously refrained from contextualizing those products into its overall strategy.

That will begin now, with the announcement of the two centerpieces of Google+. But even this moment — revealed in a blog post that marks the first limited “field tests” outside the company — will be muted, because it marks just one more milestone in a long, tough slog to remake Google into something more “people-centric.”

GigaOM says:

One of the reasons why I think Facebook is safe is because it cannot be beaten with this unified strategy. Theoretically speaking, the only way to beat Facebook is through a thousand cuts. Photo sharing services such as Instagram can move attention away from Facebook, much like other tiny companies who can bootstrap themselves based on Facebook social graph and then built alternative graphs to siphon away attention from Facebook. Google, could in theory go one step further – team up with alternative social graphs such as Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr and use those graphs to create an uber graph.

TechCrunch says:

Overall, I’m impressed by Google+ after day one. Of course, like many, I also had fairly low expectations of anything Google tried to do in the social sphere after Wave and Buzz. Still, I used Google+ for hours and kept coming back. And I have a desire to come back tomorrow. That’s never a bad thing.

Google has done a very good job with the early execution. Can they maintain that? Once the novelty is gone, will there be a reason to use it? And will the idea scale — meaning both in absolute size and in terms of moving beyond an early adopter market? Remember, as great as FriendFeed was, it never really went beyond the early adopters.

Of course, you could also make the case (as I once presciently did) that a lot of what FriendFeed was is now being used by hundreds of millions of people around the world inside of Facebook. Google, given its size, will have a similar opportunity to take their concepts to the masses. It didn’t work with Buzz, will it with Google+?

Let’s revisit the question in about a month.

 

Would you make the switch from Facebook to Google+?

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