Vine, Twitter’s app that allows you to create six-second videos, launched a couple of weeks ago with mixed emotions. From being called “the next generation of Instagram” to “a major time suck,” strategy for businesses emerges from the chatter.

Until you download the app, you’re assumptions are probably the same as mine – a straight 6-second video, but it’s not exactly like that. The end result is a 6-second video, but you have the ability to shoot different scenes—to make it more artistic, I suppose.

Last Tuesday, Jay Baer showed us his seaweed eating experiment:

My experiment with chipotle seaweed… vine.co/v/bJtdA2jrhO7

— Jay Baer (@jaybaer) January 29, 2013

I asked why he was eating seaweed in his bathroom – maybe shooting Vine in the bathroom is equivalent to mirror pics on MySpace.

I took my nail polish off then painted my nails. You should check it out, it’s really exciting. (@ChelseaRhane)

I’ve come up with 5 Ways Brands can use Vine to Excite Customers and, our favorite, advocates.

Behind the Scenes Access

Take your customers behind the scenes of your test kitchen, product development lab, or even the entrance of your corporate headquarters.

Sneak Peeks

Whether you’re launching a new product or putting together a conference, your customers (advocates, especially) enjoy seeing things from your brand that not everyone has access to.

Mini Series

Create a regular mini series highlighting awesome employees, product features, or something exciting about your brand that the average Joe wouldn’t typically see.

Product Promotion

Plain and simple—we all want a way to promote our products, why not do it in a quick and creative way. Hotels can showcase different rooms, while restaurants can feature new menu items. Do you have a digital product? Show how easy it is to use.

Encourage Customers to Showcase Your Products

Gone are the days of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest contents, okay not really, but add Vine into the mix. Your customers (specifically Advocates) are your best word of mouth content generators. Enourage, even without a contest, your fans to share why they love your product or service—some may be doing it already (hello, previously mentioned nail polish).

Brand Advocates are already talking about you, and they are going to be talking about you on Vine, probably making really creative clips that you can share with your fans. If you’re not sure where to start, or how big you want to go – test it with your Brand Advocates, first, they know you the best and aren’t afraid to give their input.

Have you been using Vine? Do you have a strategy? Let me know  below, I’d love to connect with you 

Facebook Adds “Nearby” Feature to Help Users Discover Nearby Businesses – Facebook Studio 

Facebook announced a new update this week called  ”Nearby,” accessed via the Facebook mobile app: now, in addition to showing which friends have checked in at a particular place, Nearby helps people discover places near them based on their friends’ recommendations.

Instagram’s response to angry users: “Thank You and We’re Listening” – Instagram Blog

Complaints of Instagrammers were heard ’round the world of social media recently after the company updated their Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Read Instagram’s response on their blog.

New Study: 70% of Consumers Seek New Products From Facebook Friends, Not Brands – Luxury Daily

Seventy percent of consumers prefer to hear about new products from Facebook friends rather than brands, according to a new report by 8thBridge. Therefore, online retailers should incorporate social sharing into the commerce experience.

Facebook Changes Privacy Controls, Forces Users to be Searchable – Mashable

Facebook’s new privacy tools will make it easier for you to pick which of your friends or subscribers can view your personal info, status updates and photos, according to Reuters. It also makes it simpler for you to request that a photograph of yourself be taken down by the uploader.

Twitter adds its own Instagram-like photo filters – CNN Tech

A day after confirming it had lost the ability to display Instagram images, Twitter has rolled out its own library of retro filters for its Android and iPhone apps. The eight filters are the usual suspects we’ve come to expect from mobile photo apps, including desaturated, black and white and high contrast.

(This post was originally published on WOMMA’s “All Things WOM” blog.)

I’m pretty much obsessed with Twitter. I give Tweetorials all the time to colleagues, friends, my cat, pretty much anyone who is interested in learning how to utilize the social network that has completely revolutionized global communication. I’m constantly looking for insider tips and tricks to reach Twenlightenment (that’s a stretch I know, but you get the idea). Here are five Twitter tips you’re probably unaware of:

1. If you start a tweet with someone’s Twitter handle, most of your followers won’t see it.

There’s a major difference between a @mention and a @reply. I see this mistake all the time and it makes me cringe, especially when I see it from major brands. By starting a tweet with someone’s twitter handle (a reply), you’re limiting the amount of followers that will see that tweet.

For example if I were to tweet “@WOMMA rocks my socks!”, only people that follow both me and @WOMMA would see this tweet in their feeds. However, if I mentioned @WOMMA anywhere in the tweet besides at the beginning (“My socks are rocked by @WOMMA!), all of my followers would see the tweet regardless if they’re following @WOMMA or not. (And if you’re not following @WOMMA, tsk tsk on you!)

2. The 140 character limit is false.

Sometimes, gosh darnit, I just need a little longer than 140 characters to rant about how ridiculous Bravo TV’s new “Silicon Valley Startups” is (even though I’ve watched every episode thus far). Thankfully, a tool called Twitlonger allows you to compose a lengthy tweet that will post with a “….[link]” at the end that followers can click on to read more. However, my advice to you: Don’t get cray with Twitlonger. Twitter’s limit is 140 characters for a reason. Only use this tool when necessary.

3. You can search for tweets geographically.

Interested in a topic in a certain area? Type “Near:[City] Within:[Miles]” to refine your search (see below). Twitter has many other advanced search features to enhance results such as positive/negative tweets, questions, and more.

4. You can operate Twitter using keyboard shortcuts.

Using is a mouse is so old school. If you really want to up your Twitter game, get to know the keyboard shortcuts. Go to Twitter.com, type a question mark and you’ll see a directory of keyboard commands like ‘r’ to retweet or ‘g p’ to go to your profile.

5. You can find out who’s unfollowed you.

Have you ever noticed your following count fluctuate and wonder exactly who is over you and your tweets? Find out with Justunfollow.com to see who’s unfollowed you and when. Then you can sulk… or harass them. Your choice.

Do you have any insider tips to add? Help us out and share them here!

-Cara Fuggetta, Marketing Manager, Zuberance

Twitter to Add Photo Filters to Compete With Instagram - NY Times

Twitter is finally learning a lesson from Facebook: If you can’t buy it, build it. In the coming months, Twitter plans to update its mobile applications to introduce filters for photos that will allow people to share altered images on Twitter and bypass Instagram, the popular mobilecentric photo-sharing network, according to people who work at the company but asked not to be named as they are not allowed to discuss unannounced projects. The filters on Instagram make photos look like they were shot with 1960s Kodachrome or with 1890s sepia tone film.

Users Can Bypass EdgeRank, Opt-In To See All Facebook Page Posts - AllFacebook

The biggest recent gripe by brands on Facebook (as well as George Takei and Mark Cuban) has been the fact that fans don’t see all of their posts. Now, it appears that users can fix this. A reader tipped off sister site Inside Facebook, showing that some users can select to see notifications on desktop and mobile each time a page posts. By opting in to receive notifications whenever a page posts something, users can then see every post — answering a major problem for users and pages alike.

Obama’s “Four more years” bumps Bieber For Most Retweeted Tweet Ever - SF Gate

Not only did President Barack Obama beat challenger Mitt Romney to win reelection, but he shoved pop star Justin Bieber off the top of the charts for most re-tweeted Twitter tweet ever. The tweet, “Four more years,” with a photo of the president hugging first lady Michelle Obama, was sent about 8:16 p.m. Pacific time as the major TV networks were calling the race in Obama’s favor. In three hours, the message had been re-tweeted about 455,000 times, easily shattering the previous record of 223,000 set by Bieber in September.

Foursquare’s New Ratings Feature Should Terrify Yelp - VentureBeat

Yelp, Foursquare is gunning for you. The social network is adding to its iOS app and website a fairly minor yet hugely significant feature: Ratings. With the addition, Foursquare says its service will tell users where people actually like to go, not just the places they’ve visited.

Retailers Make Marketing Mistakes Amid Hurricane Sandy Tragedy – iMedia Connection

Hurricane Sandy was devastating. It took the lives of 113 people. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people will be left homeless. 8,000,000 people were without power from South Carolina to Maine (and many still remain without power). Amid the chaos, four major retailers somehow saw Hurricane Sandy as a marketing opportunity. Perhaps the potential dollar signs clouded their common sense and sensitivity for fellow Americans.

Hurricane Sandy was devastating. It took the lives of 113 people. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people will be left homeless. 8,000,000 people were without power from South Carolina to Maine (and many still remain without power).

Amid the chaos, four major retailers somehow saw Hurricane Sandy as a marketing opportunity. Perhaps the potential dollar signs clouded their common sense and sensitivity for fellow Americans.

Here’s how American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Jonathan Adler, and Gap exploited #Sandy:

American Apparel launched a Hurricane Sandy sale for states affected by the hurricane in case they were “bored”:

Urban Outfitters offered free shipping in a tweet that including the hashtag #Frankenstorm:

Jonathan Adler also offered free shipping with the promo code SANDY which was then changed to STUCKINSIDE:

Gap even checked in at “Frankenstorm Apocalypse- Hurricane Sandy” on Foursquare and leveraged the hashtag #Sandy to promote shopping:

Just because a topic is receiving a spike in social chatter or is trending on Twitter, does not make it appropriate to exploit a catastrophe. Marketers, have we not learned from Kenneth Cole’s horrendous #Cairo tweet?

These four retailers pissed off a lot of customers and other social media users. And now these brands are in damage control mode. Of course, they’ve apologized for their incredible insensitivity (well, apparently not American Apparel), but their brand reputation is now tarnished.

This is a situation where Advocates could come to a brand’s rescue. Brand Advocates will not only support and promote their favorite companies, but they will defend them as well. For example, Gap could rally their Advocates to share this news: Gap is donating $1 million in cash and clothing to Hurricane Sandy relief. Spreading the word about their support of an important cause could at least drown out some of the backlash their tweet caused in the Twittersphere.

Let’s face it. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. But if you don’t have an army of Advocates ready to mobilize when you need it most, you could be left to fend for yourself.

If you would like to donate to Hurricane Sandy relief, please visit American Red Cross.

-Cara Fuggetta, Marketing Manager, Zuberance

Facebook Cuts Off Reach Generator - AdWeek

While Facebook recently rolled out the ability for advertisers to target customers in their CRM databases, it is cutting off the ability for big brands to make sure a page post hits a majority of their fans through the Reach Generator tool. “We are simplifying our offerings for advertisers, who can now achieve reach goals through Promoted Posts, a recently launched product which gives businesses the increased flexibility to hand-select and boost posts in the News Feed,” said a Facebook spokesperson.

Look Out, Facebook Like Button: Pinterest’s “Pin This” Sees 637 Percent Growth Since Februrary - AllFacebook

The ever-present Facebook like button has seen growth of 34 percent since February in terms of being published to external websites. One would think that 34 percent is a fairly solid growth rate, but it placed Facebook behind Google Plus, AddThis,Twitter, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn. And all of those social networks were dwarfed by the performance of the Pin This button from Pinterest, which saw growth skyrocket by 637 percent.

Twitter’s New Cover Shot Head Image- A Couple of Tips – Business 2 Community

As the update stands at the moment – you can effectively enhance your Twitter profile by including a background header image around your profile pic. Great for brands and enables individuals to get a bit more creative too. Simply select to update your Profile using the iPad App and select your Header image.

How to Tap into the Mind of Brand Advocates – AllThingsWOM by WOMMA 

A kick ass product or stellar customer service can be major factors in driving word of mouth. But let’s take a step back and look into the mind of a brand advocate. By getting a deeper understanding of their motivations and personality traits, we can tap into their wants and needs more effectively, forming a mutually beneficial relationship between brands and their best customers.

Five Ways to Spot a Fake Online Review, Restaurant or Otherwise – NPR

Thinking of going to a nice restaurant? Before you decide, you probably go online and read reviews of the place from other customers. Online reviews of restaurants, travel deals, apps and just about anything you want to buy have become a powerful driver of consumer behavior. Unsurprisingly, they have also created a powerful incentive to cheat.

Exciting news! Today we launched a new solution that empowers employees to act as Brand Advocates (click here to read full press release). The employee advocacy solution enables companies to systematically identify enthusiastic employees (“Employee Advocates”) via customer engagement and social media listening tools and energize them to spread positive brand messaging via word of mouth and boost sales via Zuberance’s hosted advocacy applications. The solution also allows brands to track employee advocacy results and ROI in real-time.

Zuberance's analytics enable companies to track results of employee advocacy solutions in real-time.

Employees: A Powerful, Untapped Marketing Force

Employees are a powerful, untapped marketing force. Employee Advocates are employees who are willing to recommend their company and its products or services to others without the company paying or providing incentives for their recommendations. Employee Advocates are uniquely qualified to serve as Brand Advocates because they are highly credible, trusted sources for information about companies and their products or services.

Empowered by social media, Employee Advocates can collectively reach thousands to millions of people on the social web. Companies may have hundreds of thousands of potential Employee Advocates, depending on the size of the business. Large corporations such as Walmart (2.2 million employees), IBM (436,000 employees) and UPS (400,000 employees) may have massive “Employee Advocate armies.”

Employee Advocate Testimonial

Measurable Benefits

Zuberance’s employee advocacy solution makes it easy for companies to unleash the power of their Employee Advocates to recommend their company as a place to work, helping firms attract qualified employees and lowering hiring costs. Employee Advocates can also evangelize the company’s products and services, helping spread positive messaging and generating referral leads and sales. They can also defend their companies from negative messaging and social media ambushes.

Target Companies

Zuberance’s new employee advocacy solution is ideal for mid-size to large companies across multiple industries and verticals including retail, technology, healthcare, automotive, transportation, travel and hospitality and more. There are more than more than 10,000 firms in the U.S. alone with more than 1,000 employees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The employee advocacy solution is a perfect complement to Zuberance’s award-winning brand advocate solution, which leverages Customer Advocates as a marketing force.

Overview of Zuberance Advocacy Solution (both Brand Advocacy and Employee Advocacy)

Pricing & Availability

The Zuberance employee advocacy solution is available now! Click here to contact us for pricing and other details.

Foursquare to Let Brands Talk to Users Who’ve Checked in the Most – AdAge

Foursquare will start letting businesses capitalize on the enthusiasm of customers who’ve checked in repeatedly by rolling out a way to message them, starting today. Through the “local updates” tool, businesses can send their updates to a pool of users who will be picked by Foursquare’s algorithm based on the frequency and recency of their check-ins and the businesses they’ve “liked” (a feature Foursquare made available with its redesign last month).

Now Available! Download Chapter 1 of New Book, Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force – BrandAdvocateBook.com

In this ground-breaking book, advocacy expert Rob Fuggetta shows marketers and business leaders how to identify Brand Advocates; energize them to spread positive Word of Mouth and drive sales; and track results from advocacy programs. Brand Advocates is chock full of colorful real-world stories of Brand Advocates and innovative marketers who are getting eye-popping results by turning Advocates into powerful marketing forces.

Twitter is Working on a Way to Retrieve Your Own Tweets – NY Times

Trying to remember that pithy, brilliantly composed tweet about the latest Wes Anderson movie that you fired off a few months ago? You’re out of luck: Twitter gives users access only to the last few thousand posts made to the site. But Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief executive, promises that this will eventually change.

No API For You: Twitter Shuts Off “Find Friends” Feature For Instagram – TechCrunch

Instagram has just announced 80 million users and a new app update; Noticeably missing in the update? The “Find Your Friends” on Twitter feature, which allowed users to follow the same people they follow on Twitter on Instagram. The feature is missing due to API restrictions from Twitter’s end, restrictions that possibly came about over concerns about Instagram’s scale and its strain on data pulls.

New INFOGRAPHIC: Influencers vs Brand Advocates and Why Influencer Outreach is Overrated – ZuberRants

Many marketers are investing in Influencer outreach strategies in hopes that a known name can deliver their message to a vast audience. 40,000 Twitter followers may look tempting, but don’t overlook your own satisfied customers, your genuine Brand Advocates. While their networks may be smaller, their enthusiasm is greater and their recommendations drive real business.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BRAND ADVOCATES at BrandAdvocateBook.com

Getting more customer recommendations is considered the Holy Grail in the social media age. For example, restaurants that boost their Yelp ratings by only one star can increase revenues by a whopping nine percent, according to recent research by Michael Luca from Harvard Business School. For a large restaurant chain, this can mean millions of dollars in sales.

Now, a ground-breaking new book shows marketers, small business owners, and even non-profits how to generate thousands of customer recommendations and boost online ratings by turning their best customers – “Brand Advocates” – into a volunteer marketing force.

The book, Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force (Wiley; ISBN: 978-1-1183-3603-8; July 2012; Hardcover & E-book) provides a step-by-step guide on how marketers, small business owners, and others can:

• Discover who their Brand Advocates are and what makes these influential customers tick
• Energize Advocates, generating thousands of positive recommendations on Amazon.com, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere without paying for or providing incentives to Advocates
• Reward Brand Advocates by giving them what they crave most (here’s a hint: it isn’t money)
• Measure results and ROI from advocacy programs

 Advocacy is Hot

Driving customer advocacy is now the #1 digital priority for CMOs worldwide, a recent IBM study of global CMOs showed.  And eMarketer recently stated: “Brand advocacy has become a critical part of the social media marketing mix.”

“Ultimate Guidebook to Brand Advocacy”

Brand Advocates is the first book that focuses on these influential consumers and shows marketers exactly how to engage and energize them to drive positive Word of Mouth, referral leads, and sales.

Porter Gale, the former VP Marketing at Virgin America, calls Brand Advocates the “ultimate guidebook to brand advocacy.” Says Gale: “Advocacy is the ultimate goal for every brand. Rob Fuggetta’s book is simple, clear, and filled with practical advice.”

 Packed with Real-World Case Studies

Brand Advocates is packed with dozens of real-world case studies from multiple industries and verticals including consumer products, restaurants, health and fitness, automotive, software, consumer electronics, and more. It includes a chapter devoted to how B2B marketers can activate Advocates as well.

Brand Advocates shows how GMC, Ford, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill, Club One Fitness, Virgin America, Intuit, Microsoft, Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, and many others are leveraging their Advocates to amplify positive Word of Mouth and sales.

Who Should Read Brand Advocates?

• Brand Advocates is valuable for a wide range of audiences:
• B2C and B2B marketers in a variety of roles: branding, online/digital, social media, demand generation, eCommerce, corporate communications, market research, and more
• Sales executives and managers
• Customer experience and loyalty program professionals
• Executives and managers in ad agencies, digital agencies, public relations firms, and other marketing services providers
• Small business owners and entrepreneurs
• Professionals in non-profit organizations, government agencies, and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) plus in political campaigns
• College students in business and marketing programs

In addition, any company or organization that is measuring customer satisfaction, loyalty, or advocacy via Net Promoter® can also benefit from Brand Advocates. The book describes how to turn Promoters into a powerful marketing force.

About the Author

Rob Fuggetta is the world’s foremost authority on brand advocacy. Fuggetta is the founder and CEO of Zuberance, a leading social media marketing company that powers award-winning advocacy programs for consumer and business brands. A twenty-year veteran of Silicon Valley, Fuggetta has played a leadership role in three start-ups including Genuity, a Verizon spinout. He was formerly a partner at Regis McKenna, Inc., the legendary Silicon Valley marketing and communications firm that helped put Apple on the map.

 Available Now

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Brand Advocates is available now at leading book sellers including Amazon.com (print and Kindle edition); Barnes & Noble; 800 CEO Read; and BAM (Books-a-Million). In addition, the book is available directly from Wiley at www.wiley.com in both print and e-book editions from Wiley.com.

Net Promoter® is a registered trademark of Satmetrix Systems, Inc.; Bain & Company; and Fred Reichheld. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective holders.

Twitter Implements Do Not Track Privacy Option – NY Times

It’s no secret that Facebook is worth about $100 billion because itcollected personal data about its users. A lot of data. Although Twitter tracks its users too — albeit in a much less aggressive way — the company has decided to take a different route. It announced Thursday that it is joining Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox Web browser, and giving its users the ability to opt-out of being tracked in any way through Twitter.

Marketers from GNC to P&G Weigh in on Social Platform Strategy- Brands on Facebook: Advertising is Optional – AdAge

One in five clicks in the U.S. happens on Facebook, and like any mass platform, most brands maintain a presence there and carefully cultivate their fan base. But do they need to advertise as well? That’s the question facing brands — as well as investors –as Facebook prepares for its anticipated $100 billion IPO on Friday.

GM to Forgo Pricey Superbowl Ads – WSJ

General Motors Co. said it will forgo advertising in the next Super Bowl rather than swallow a price hike, a surprising reversal of strategy that comes as the auto maker overhauls its global marketing operations. Super Bowl advertising is effective but has become too expensive to justify the cost, Joel Ewanick, GM’s global marketing chief, said in an interview. Ads for next year’s National Football League championship game are up about 9%, selling for about $3.8 million for a 30-second spot, according to media buyers.

Facebook Running Tests For User Highlighted Posts - Stuff.co.nz

Facebook is considering charging its members US$2 to “highlight” important posts so they are more visible on the social networking site. The feature is being trialled and was chanced across by a Facebook user in Whangarei who initially assumed it might be a scam. However, Facebook spokeswoman Mia Garlick confirmed it was a new “feature” it was testing.

Internet Greets Facebook IPO Price With Glee, Skepticism – CNN

Friends may be priceless. But ‘friending’ is worth $38 a share. That’s what Facebook set as the initial price when its stock begins trading on Wall Street Friday morning. That’s at the top end of the range analysts were expecting and gives the company a valuation of roughly $104 billion.