The Patriots and Giants will be lining up on the 50 yard line, but the Super Bowl’s MVP – social media, got into the game weeks ago. Here’s a look at what’s going on in the streets and on screens. How has social media affected your Super Bowl experience so far?

Live from Super Bowl Village

With the Super Bowl buzz building to a loud crescendo, I had to see for myself what in the world was going on in Indianapolis. So, I did – on Groundhog’s Day.

In a trip that lasted 10.5 hours, include 7 hours of driving, I experienced first hand the excitement, energy and enthusiasm in the air. Strolling around on a blazingly sunny and unreasonably warm 60 degree day, I encountered a street party that went on for blocks and blocks.

What I most wanted to see, I didn’t get to: a 2,800-square-foot “Super Bowl Social Media Command Center” staffed by folks ready to answer questions coming in via social networks.

I did, however, score a live interview from Radio Row in Super Bowl Village with producer Ted Gregorek.

Super Fast Super Bowl Village Wi-Fi

Ever been to a tech event where you can’t get a signal? Me too. Knowing that thousands of people would want to connect simultaneously, I planned on having a weak signal on the street – not so in Indy. Thanks Verizon!

“Superbowl XVLI in Indianapolis will be the first-ever with widespread 4G and WiFi access. Verizon Wireless spent $160 million on cellular technology in Indiana in 2011. Most of the money was spent building new cell towers but some was targeted specifically at upcoming Superbowl XLVI.”

Super Bowl Ads, as seen on TV and . . .

“Running a Super Bowl ad will cost $3.5 million for a 30-second spot, not including production expenses. 80% of Super Bowl ads will feature social and/or mobile app integration.”

“The Washington Post said this year’s game will be the first ‘second screen’ Super Bowl, since advertisers, the football industry and others will all be trying to get your attention via other venues when you’re not focusing on your television.”

Social46 Bands Together to Back Up Super Bowl Host Committee

Thanks to Chris Theisen, for reaching out on behalf of Social 46. According to Jay Baer, also a Social 46 member, this is “a group of social media representatives selected to help make Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis the ‘most connected’ Super Bowl ever.” Jay’s post is required reading for any event organizers considering recruiting social media ambassadors.

Here’s Chris Theisen‘s video tour . . .

Super Bowl Coverage Brought to You by Google, YouTube and the NFL

Check out Google’s Super Bowl Game Day dashboard.

Browse YouTube’s Super Bowl Ad Blitz channel.

Watch the NFL’s Super Bowl coverage via live stream on your mobile device.

How about you – how many screens will you be watching during the game?

Image: copyright 2012 by Barbara Rozgonyi from the Super Bowl XLVI collection, which includes a fun Super Bowl Village zip line video.

Thanks to Brad Shorr for contributing today’s guest post.

Last November, Barbara wrote a valuable post on how to be a great guest blogger. She offered some great advice about both how to approach a blogger and actually write an effective post.

Important stuff, to be sure!

Getting published on other blogs is tremendous for brand awareness, establishing your credentials, and SEO.

In terms of SEO, guest blogging has really become a hot topic, as people are getting the message that Google is overlooking or penalizing those cheap and easy links, while rewarding quality links – like the ones involved in a quality guest blog post.

Since scads of people are looking for guest post opportunities, a strong pitch is vital. With that in mind, Barbara invited me to share some beneficial tips that work for me, as I find myself on both sides of pitches several times a day!

Here are three pitch tips I’ve picked up: I hope they help.

How to Pitch a Blogger on Writing a Guest Post

1. Define what you’re looking for.

If you approach bloggers haphazardly, it will show and you’ll get a lot of rejections. It’s better to create a model of the type of blog you’re looking for, and go after those opportunities with laser focus.

Things to consider include –

a.) Subject matter – Can you write authoritatively about the blog’s themes?

b.) Style – Can you write it the way they want it?

c.) Authority

- PageRank

- Subscriber

- Number of comments

- Social media presence

- Reputation

- Other factors

d.) Receptivity to guest authors

2. Give the blogger everything he/she needs to evaluate you.

If your pitch email leaves a lot to the imagination, don’t be surprised to get a rejection or a no-response. Bloggers are too busy to be proactive in filling in your blanks. In my pitch letters, I like to include:

a.) A brief explanation of why I could write an effective post on this particular blog

b.) Two or three links to other posts I’ve written that are as similar as possible to the style and/or subject matter of the blog in question

c.) How soon I could submit a post if asked to write one

d.) One or two topic ideas (including a title and thumbnail description)

e.) Express a willingness to write on other topics if these are not suitable, or if there is something “hot” the blogger wants covered

f.) End with a definite call to action, such as, “Would you like me to proceed with one of these topics?”

3. Follow up.

Pitching is selling, and all good sales people follow up. If you don’t hear from the blogger within a few days, it’s perfectly fine and totally professional to ask if he/she has had a chance to review your inquiry. When you follow up:

a.) Be polite and professional

b.) End with a call to action (see 2f above)

c.) In some situations, you might say that if you don’t get an answer within a few days, you will offer the topic(s) to other interested bloggers

Inherent in all of these tips are the need to do your homework, and to take a personal and customized approach to each pitch. This may seem obvious, but on pitches I receive, only a handful do those things. It’s too bad, because my suspicion is a lot of writers are much better than their pitches.

Over to You

What pitching techniques are working for you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today’s guest post is by Brad Shorr, @bradshorr on twitter.

Brad Shorr is Director of Content & Social Media for Straight North, a Chicago web design company. The firm works with middle market B2B firms doing everything from online payment gateways to safety leather gloves. Join Straight North on Facebook and Brad Shorr on Google+ for conversation on SEO and other Internet marketing topics.

 

Today’s guest post is by Stacey Acevero, Social Media Community Manager at PR Web.

Looking for a way to boost your social media and PR?  We have the perfect tool to deepen your engagement with consumers and provide your online marketing with a creative spark.

Skype can give your business the face-to-face time with consumers that might otherwise be missing in your marketing.  You can use it in a number of ways to increase your public presence through the social realm.

Check out these 9 tips:

1. Install A Skype Button On Your Website

Give consumers immediate and direct access to your company by installing a Skype button on your website.  The person who manages your social media campaigns, responds to customer and writer inquiries can be the contact for all Skype calls.   

2. Create Video Contests

Because Skype and Facebook are integrated, you have the perfect opportunity to create a live platform for audience contests, combining social media and PR to produce powerful marketing results.

Try offering special rewards for contestants who answer questions correctly or demonstrate how your product worked for them.

For example, invite followers to put together groups and show all the places they ate your pizza or drank your coffee.

3.     Provide Question and Answer Sessions

Introducing a new product or service?  Skype can help you converse directly with potential customers.  Arrange a pre-set question and answer session and put out invitations via all your social channels for followers to join in

4.     Encourage Followers To Speak

One of the best ways to stay engaged with consumers is to ask for their feedback.  They get to share their opinions and you get the benefit of knowing how well you are giving them what they need.

Create regular feedback sessions and reward contributors with special coupons.  You can tweet or post the results and give credit to the folks who participated.

5.     Connect Your Audiences With Your Spokesperson

Do you have a celebrity spokesperson or CEO who conducts interviews for your brand?  Create a schedule of Skype interviews to connect journalists and bloggers directly, and then share the best moments on your website.

6.     Provide Customer Service Assistance

Suppose a consumer is trying to use your product, say an oven, to accomplish something (in this case, cook a holiday turkey) but has questions beyond what the user manual addresses.  Encourage them to Skype your customer service department for immediate support

7.     Help Your Workforce Communicate

Don’t forget the initial appeal of Skype for business.  You can use it for video conferencing between co-workers and vendors.

8.     Create A Video And Share It On Facebook

Get a number of your employees to put together a Skype group and create a video message to followers.  You can share holiday greetings or news of your next big event – and add to your social media and PR library of successful tactics.

9.     Strengthen Your Media Relationships

Perhaps there is a blogger who is especially important to your industry.  You may have sent them dozens of press releases but never met them.  Invite them to chat on Skype and add more power to your pitches.

The power of social is that it creates and sustains relationships.  When adding the immediacy of video to that formula, you’re bound to increase the connection between you and those you want to touch.

Searching for more tips? Check out this social media survival kit.

Companies who rely on social media as a customer service information outpost will be interested in a report that says, “The number of questions asked via social media channels account for less than 1/100th of a percent of questions asked via customer-facing websites.”

The report shows how much more likely people are to ask questions when they’re interacting directly at a company’s website versus communicating through a social network. To gather the data, Intelliresponse, a customer service management technology company, measured five clients’ results over a 30-day period.

That’s a small population; it would be interesting to analyze each company’s social media presence. For instance, if their customers are not active social media users, the number of questions might be higher. Still, that’s quite a gap to close. Download the report here.

Here are six ways to add customer information value to your site, starting at the very beginning of the prospect to customer cycle.

Have you ever walked into a store ready to buy, but you can’t get your questions answered? What happens? You walk out frustrated and the business loses the sale. On the web, traffic is unforgiving. That’s why it’s important to make your customer experience as clear and rewarding as possible.

1. Place contact information, including phone and an email icon on every page.
2. Add a contact page to your site that includes a form; monitor activity so you can respond right away.
3. Post a list of frequently asked questions that cover common objections to the sale, comparison to competition, and answers to most asked questions after the sale.
4. Feature top questions from social media as a monthly blog post. You can recognize your customers, with their permission, and share information with a wider audience.
5. Consider integrating technology. I used to prefer dialing in over chatting online with a customer service rep, but the wait time is  usually much less screen to screen.
6. Introduce your customer service reps on your site. Prospects and customers will feel more comfortable seeing a face and a name.

In the rush to get into social media, the company’s website may lose priority. Yes, it’s important, if not critical, to be where your customers can find you on LinkedIn, Facebook, twitter and Google+.  Remember, though, your home site is where your company is.

When do you interact with customers on your site versus via social media?

This week I had one minute to cover CES 2012 on Chicagonista Live!, a live Internet TV show, based in Chicago. A year ago, I covered CES live in Las Vegas, as a member of the Sears Blue Blogger Crew, for three days. Here’s a quick recap of my UltraLight “Barbed Wired” report. Did you cover the show? Please add a link to your coverage in the comments section – I’d love to hear your take.

As I watched the CES12 news coming in, I’ll admit it: I kind of missed being on the floor of the world’s largest trade show. As a member of Sears Blue Blogger Crew last year, all five of us were treated to individual attention at the Sony, Samsung and Panasonic booths. It was entertaining, exciting and exhausting.

As one who’s been there, I can tell you CES live is a head spinner. Even though I am not there in person, I am on the CES press list. Announcements flooded into my email box touting the latest, the best, the newest. All of this promotion makes me want to buy more gear. And, I’m not alone. According to a LinkedIn survey about consumer buying habits, 41% of business people surveyed plan to spend over $1,000 on electronics this year.

What’s amazing to me to about the CES 2012 media outreach?

In over 240 releases, no one’s reached out beyond my inbox to find me on twitter, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn. For the most part, the releases are pretty basic. Here’s a quick round up of what’s hot this year. Check out Sarah Evans’s CES12 coverage, too.

CES 2012 Trends

CES is about prototypes and what’s coming next. What you see, you probably won’t be able to buy – yet. That’s why Microsoft is pulling out of CES. They announce their new products in the fall. By the time CES rolls around, they’re recapping, not revealing. Apple’s not there, either. But Sony is. Here are a few highlights from their press conference.

CES 2012 Announcements from Sony

Special thanks to my high school junior for watching Sony’s live press conference with me. It’s so cool to get his take on what these announcements mean to teens and gamers. And, it was fun to wear our 3D glasses and watch Sony’s 3D sports clip together – all while two batches of cookies baked away in the oven. This is my kind of bonding!! A few of the highlights . . .

• Sony Ericsson is now Sony Mobile Communications. Sony’s new phone will have a 12 mega pixel camera.
• Sony Blogger will come with build in wi-fi so you can live stream from anywhere.
• Sony Walkman will be Android based, wi-fi enabled and will come with a touchscreen.
• 4K is a new resolution standard than increases HD video quality by up to four times.  4K projectors are installed in 10,000 theaters now. A 4K home projector is in the works.
• Sports goes 3D. Sony will be broadcasting more sports events in 3D. The clip showed several sports, but not football.
• Sony earned $6 billion on 3D releases in 2011

6 CES12 Trends

1. Ultrabooks

Tablets took over the stage in 2011. At CES 2012, Ultrabooks are all the rage. According to PC Magazine, to be an ultrabook, a laptop must be less than an inch thick, use Flash storage, and come with both HDMI and a USB 3.0 port.

“Ultrabooks are light, powerful and svelte. What they are not is cheap: expect prices to air-kiss $1,000.” Source

What’s your number one portable business device?

2. Digital Wearable Devices

Expect to see a bevy of wearable devices, including a bandage-like patch from BodyMedia, that will monitor approximately 5,000 data points on its wearer. Using technology developed by I.B.M., the patch can determine things like calories burned, steps taken, sleep patterns and much more. Source

Who do you know that could use one of these?

3. Connected Cars

There are two trends to watch here: The rise of the “connected car,” which can take the various apps and content off your smartphone and redistribute them around the dashboard, and the growth of automatic safety systems that can keep you from rear-ending someone, drifting out of your lane or missing a car in your blind spot — presumably because, in part, you have apps and content all over your dashboard. Source

When do you use apps in your car?

4. More Likeable Laptops 

“Laptops are about to change…later this year laptops coming later this year featuring Windows 8 and Ivy Bridge will bend over backward to wow with new design elements. The redesigning of what’s currently a pretty boring landscape of laptops may start soon enough.” Source

5. Smarter TVs

Samsung’s 2012 line of smart TVs includes a built-in HD camera and dual microphones to support voice controls, motion controls and face recognition. The Smart Hub adds three new services: Family Story for users to share photos and messages, Fitness for customized workouts and a Kids option to help parents find educational programming. Samsung Smart TVs will add a slot on the back for “Evolution Kits.” These kits allow owners to make quick TV upgrades.  Source

6. MySpace Comes Back – on TV

Specific Media-owned social network Myspace on Monday unveiled  Myspace TV, a social TV service that it will launch on Panasonic Viera Connect-enabled HD TV sets during the first half of the year. Myspace co-owner and singer/actor Justin Timberlake: “We’re ready to take television and entertainment to the next step by upgrading it to the social networking experience. Why text or email your friends to talk about your favorite programs after they’ve aired when you could be sharing the experience with real-time interactivity from anywhere across the globe?” Source

Want to watch my Barbed Wired report for Chicagonista Live? Fast-forward to the 54 minute mark. Thanks the show’s co-hosts for including me: MJ Tam, Nancy Loo, Beth Rosen and Duong Sheahan.

Image: CES 2011 press conference by Barbara Rozgonyi.

What’s on your 2012 must-have gear acquisition list?