Working for a social media agency  has shown me first-hand how companies adopt new mediums.  The first phase seems to be that of denial - that these new fangled inventions can be ignored until they pass.  The second phase is that of casual acceptance, and in social media this is when you see companies cordially place "Follow Us" in emails and other existing website materials to almost prove why social media marketing isn't working for them. 

And now I'm afraid I am witnessing a third newly emerging phase: the use of social media as a condiment.

In the following points, let me explain the 4 myths that are often involved in this line of thinking.

Myth #1: Social Media is an after-thought

More and more, companies are approaching agencies like ours to help figure out social media and what it can do.  The only unfortunate part of this is that most approach us after they have developed a campaign, and they are seeking us to throw our special social sauce on it in a matter of weeks or days.  At this point we feel there isn't much we can do (even with our special sauce).  This is because in our opinion, something inherently social has to be thought-of from the very beginning.  So, if you are thinking of a campaign that you'd like to promote through your Twitter and Facebook account - allow enough lead time to answer simple yet crucial questions like, "Why would someone want to share this?".  You may find that you have a campaign that may be compelling to you but no one else, and will find it more beneficial to go back to the drawing board.

A couple of days ago, Steven Baker of Business Week published "Beware Social Media Snake Oil," warning that "hordes of marketing 'experts' are promoting the value of wikis, social networks, and blogs."

Since I run one of the nation's largest social media agencies (and help some of the world's largest brands with social media marketing), people asked me what I thought of it. It's not an answer I can condense to a tweet. So here goes:

1) He's right

His primary point was that there are too many shysters, too many speechmakers, too many pontificators, that sell social media as a panacea. Even Baker says in the subhead that "all the hype may obscure the real potential of these online tools." Social media is powerful enough, you don't need to oversell it.

With the holidays looming just around the corner, and us being the internet lurking folk that we are, I’m pretty sure that we all capitalized on good deals and got our Cyber Monday on. But just in case you didn’t get a chance to fulfill the wish list for all of your nerdy social media compatriots yet, here’s a list of some “Web 2.0” themed gifts that will have them all a-Twitter. Hahaha!

Just for fun, I have carefully curated this list of unique and wallet-friendly social media themed gifts for your perusal. Just click on the photos to be taken to the product page and if you're shopping for me, I am @oliviahayes, and I look good in blingy necklaces. By the way, if you ever want to truly experience the greatest in human creativity, please spend some time browsing Etsy.

Social media monitoring often gets lumped into very traditional departments inside organizations, and when this happens, certain aspects of the practice can be overlooked. There are many features of social media monitoring beyond its ability to help manage your brand’s reputation via customer service. When brands come to Ignite asking for help with 'social media monitoring', we think holistically with the understanding that the practice helps service many different channels inside of their brand (not just customer service).

The four cornerstones of social media monitoring are (1) Competitive Analysis, (2) Product Development, (3) Reputation Management and (4) Outreach.

If you happen to be a woman doing your dance in the midst of the nerd kingdom that is social media, you may or may not have noticed that we are a very small slice of the overall pie chart of geekdom.

This shouldn’t be news to anyone. The tech world has long been a boys club, and in general, boys like to hear what other boys are saying. But recently this point was brought home to me when I noticed this tweet:

 She’s referring to Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, who recently posted an article on CNN citing his favorite blogs to make you think, none of which are authored by women.

For our next post in the social media nonprofit series, I wanted to highlight one of the ways that the American Red Cross has been successful with their social media strategies. I recently stumbled across their website and discovered their “Holiday Mail for Heroes” campaign. I love the holidays, so it’s no surprise that I wanted to find out more. This great program allows people to send holiday cards to service members, veterans, and their families. Amy Grant is partnering with the Red Cross and Pitney Bowes to make the program a success and was at the special kick-off event on November 11th (Veteran’s Day). How is the Red Cross spreading the word out about such a great opportunity to thank our heroes? Why through social media of course!

Buttons and Banners

The “Holiday Mail for Heroes” campaign makes it really easy to spread the word to friends and family. You can grab buttons and web banners and place them on your own Facebook page, blog, website or other social networking site.                                                        

UPDATE 11/19: Keep reading for a quick how-to guide to posting to your Facebook profile.

Most people would no doubt lose their jobs if they spent half the working hours that I spend on Facebook. Luckily for me, working at a social media agency means that pretty much IS my job. So, as I was doing my job today, I came across something I've not yet seen: Facebook Fan Badges. I'm more than familar with Fan Page badges that creators of fan pages can use to promote their presence on Facebook across various other social channels. However, this new discovery sparked my interest. Here's what I was greeted with upon logging into Facebook and loading a page of which I am currently a fan:

Last week was the infamous Pubcon Internet and Social Media Marketing conference held in Las Vegas Nevada. Over 4,000 fellow Internet marketers each year descend on the bright city. This year, I had the chance to speak on a panel about Reputation Management and Monitoring. I was excited to see this year that they had added an extensive amount of panels discussing social media marketing tactics. If you think SEO and Social Media still don't belong together at Internet Marketing conferences, then you are living in the dark.

Below you will find my presentation I gave at the conference where I discussed how reputation monitoring works, specifically focusing on the details surrounding a heavily talked about term, such as Walmart in this example.

If you follow our blog, then you probably recall one of our most recent campaigns for Nature Made SAM-e Complete®: The Good Mood Gig. We had an overwhelming response, as over 800 folks applied, and the collective votes reached nearly 300,000. Thanks to everyone who applied and voted, we’ve enjoyed checking out your entries and essays.

Now, we’re highlighting our top 20 vote earners, who created videos to show off why they should be the ones to land the Good Mood Gig. You can (and should) go vote for one of these applicants, because it is going to be hard enough for us to decide which blogger will take over the duty of blogging his or her good mood. The second phase of voting starts today and will continue through December 7th.

Go to SAM-e.com to see all of the final candidates and vote for your favorite. Thanks again to all who applied and everyone who has voted so far. Check out the Official Rules and the FAQ for more info.

I'm a fan of Stephen King, even though I find some of his work to be a bit daunting and overwhelming, he is still one of the greatest literary giants of our time. There's really no denying that. His stories are often gruesome and bone-chilling (Cujo, Carrie, The Shining), and some are even heart wrenching and beautiful (Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption). Others are epic works that encompass entire lives and worlds (The Stand). Now, King has embraced the power of social media and adapted a new way of storytelling by sharing peices of his latest story, Under the Dome, all over the world. 5,196 pieces to be exact. The book itself can be bought on Amazon and other outlets on November 10th, but where's the fun in that? Nowhere's the fun, that's where.

Where the fun IS, however, is in the social experiment King-- and his people, I reckon-- are concocting. Basically the idea is to string together pieces of the novel that are scattered all over the internet (and beyond) and put them together in a readable format. Simple as that. But wait, there's more...

The Story

Under the Dome, at its core, is the tale of a village in Maine that is suddenly encased in a giant dome. The dome is a virtual forcefield, and no one can get in, or out. The story features over 100 characters, including town officials, kids, and even a few dogs. Under the Dome rings in at 336,114 words (or about 1200 pages) and is being touted as King's most epic work since The Stand.