To understand the evolution of Google’s new venture, lets take a look at some recent internet history. Since 2009, Facebook users have been able to “like” content posted by their friends, a gesture that allows users to indicate approval without writing a comment. This simple change lowered the barrier to entry for participation, and presumably increased social interaction across the platform.  At the F8 developer’s conference in April of 2010, Facebook announced that the “Like” button would now be available for 3^rd party websites to install (and 50,000 sites did so within a week of the announcement).

Allowing outside websites to use the “Like” button had important consequences. While previously a “Like” was a purely social action performed in response to a friend’s post, the new “Like” blended the commercial and social aspects of the internet. The “Like” became both a tool to bookmark interesting content, as one might “like” a blog post or news story; and a show of allegiance to a brand entity, as one might “like” Nike or Coke.

Brands quickly recognized the value of “Likes,” as a type of free marketing and as a meter stick of general popularity.  Although the dollar value of each like is highly debated (and may be subject to variation across different industries), brands agree that “likes” are a good thing to have.

The real coup, though, was the announcement of the integration between Facebook’s “Likes” and Microsoft’s Bing search results.  As part of the “Open Graph” announcement, Facebook and Microsoft revealed that searches would include the “likes” of your Facebook friends underneath their results.  Not only does this make searches more relevant to the user, but it also has an extra effect for businesses: people consistently report trusting their friends’ opinions more than advertisements.  The “like” button now serves as a seal of approval from friends for everything from apples to zombie films.

But who cares about Bing results, you might wonder, when Google is the search behemoth (although recent data suggests that Bing commands about 25% of search traffic)?  Enter Google Plus, stage left.

Google has long been envious of Facebook’s 500 million users, and was correct to see Facebook’s integration with Bing as a threat. They had a failed attempt to create a social network with Google Buzz, and were forced to go back to the drawing board to create something new.  Early reports suggest that Plus is the real deal. Preliminary users are especially happy with the “circles” and “hangout” features, and many people seem ready to leave Facebook.

Thanks for the history lesson, but what does this mean for me?

Essentially, you have an opportunity to increase your SEO by encouraging users to “plus 1” your page. Google’s search algorithms have started to take into account how many “plus 1s” you have, using them as an indicator of quality and importance.  This is good news for legitimate websites that provide value, since nobody is going to “plus 1” a website with poorly worded articles laden with keywords.  Although we do not know exactly how “plus 1s” will be used within Google’s algorithms, it is safe to say that savvy webmasters will begin to incorporate Google Plus into their SEO strategy.

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I received this email from The Grove, a local “lifestyle” center in Los Angeles, offering to enter me into a $50 gift card drawing simply for “liking” them on Facebook. I realized that over the past couple months, I’d been receiving similar emails with increased frequency.

Apparently, buying friends has now become an accepted strategy. And while our parents might scoff at the idea of purchasing relationships, it makes good business sense for a number of reasons.

1. As marketers, buying leads is something we have been doing for generations. Long before the Internet and Facebook, we have purchased lists and given away trips as the price for getting people to listen to a timeshare pitch.
2. Much of the time, the people you’re asking to “like” you are those with whom you already have a relationship. Take The Grove example; I’m already on their email list. So, since I’m open to receiving messages from The Grove, I’m a good candidate for “liking” them.
3. It’s an inexpensive way to augment your social media presence and strengthen your online reputation. One or two $50 gift cards is a small price to pay to add hundreds of new people to your Facebook community.

So regardless of what the Beatles and  your parents told you, it might be time to consider offering an incentive to get prospects to like you on Facebook.

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I don’t know about you, but with just over 150 friends on my own Facebook page, I’m getting more Farmville, Mafia Wars and Bejewelled Blitz updates than I can handle or care about. With 10 million fans, I can’t imagine what Starbucks is going through.

Truly, though, a fan base that large is a testament to Starbucks’ social media savvy. By promoting special offers, coupons, discounts and more on Facebook, the company keeps its customers engaged with its online content and in-store products.

Starbucks’ success with emphasizing product promotions on Facebook seems to validate the results of a Razorfish study last year that found that traditional direct marketing techniques like offering discounts and deals are the keys to building engagement on social networking sites rather counting on some deeper connection to a brand. Except from Online Media Daily, 7/15/10

For more  on Starbucks’ successful Facebook program, read the Online Media Daily article here.

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For a more detailed look at the findings, the survey can be downloaded here, free of charge.

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1. Discover all relevant communities of interest and observe the choices, challenges, impressions, and wants of the people within each network.

2. Don’t just participate solely in your own domains (Facebook Fan Page, Twitter conversations related to your brand, etc.). Participate where your presence is advantageous and mandatory.

3. Determine the identity, character, and personality of the brand and match it to the persona of the individuals representing it online.

4. Establish a point of contact who is ultimately responsible for identifying, trafficking, or responding to all things that can affect brand perception.

5. As in customer service, representatives require training to learn how to proactively and reactively respond across multiple scenarios. Don’t just put the person familiar with social networking in front of the brand.

6. Embody the attributes you wish to portray and instill. Operate by a code of conduct.

7. Observe the behavioral cultures within each network and adjust your outreach accordingly.

8. Assess pain points, frustrations, and also those of contentment in order to establish meaningful connections.

9. Become a true participant in each community you wish to activate. Move beyond marketing and sales.

10. Don’t speak at audiences through canned messages. Introduce value, insight and direction with each engagement.

Click for the complete list.

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1. Using a weak password Stay away from simple names and obvious choices with a number tacked onto the end. Instead, mix upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Better still,  add a number or symbol the middle of your password.
2. Providing your full birth date Avoid showing your full birth date in your profile (day, month, year). This info can be used to obtain additional personal info, or access to your bank and credit accounts. Just show only your birth month and day, or nothing at all.
3. Ignoring useful privacy controls Take advantage of Facebooks many options for limiting what private information is seen by who-knows-who.
4. Posting a child’s name in a photo caption Just don’t do it. And, if someone else adds a tag to one of your photos with your child’s name, just delete it by clicking “remove tag”.
5. Mentioning being away from home When you do this, you’re letting everyone know that the house is empty.
6. Being found by a search engine You can stop strangers from accessing a profile by going to the Search section of Facebook’s privacy controls and select “Only Friends for Facebook” search results. Be sure the box for Public Search isn’t checked.
7. Permitting youngsters to use Facebook unsupervised. If there’s a young child or teenager in the household who uses Facebook, have an adult in the same household  become one of their online friends and use their e-mail as the contact for the account in order to receive notification and monitor activity.

Read the original Los Angeles Times article here.

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Why did Facebook do this? According to the LA Times, it’s simply good business. For them, not necessarily for you. Read the Op-ed piece here.

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For a primer on all the great truck food, check out this video from the folks at WunderBlog covering their recent truck tasting tour. Their first stop is at TLofts.

LA Food Truck Tour from Terry Wunder on Vimeo.

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The home building industry is starting to catch on to Social Media but many do not know where to start.  Carol Ruiz, principal, public relations for red rocket LA, participated in a Webinar put on by Big Builder magazine on how to best use Social Media in the home building space. Carol Flammer of mRelevance in Atlanta also participated, while Sarah Yaussi, editor of Big Builder Magazine, hosted.

Even if you aren’t in the home building industry, this Webinar is chock full of valuable advice for anyone to apply.

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