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On Practical Ecommerce (@practicalecomm), contributing editor Paul Chaney (@pchaney) says blogs have advantages over social media platforms when it comes to brand marketing, including the ability to improve SEO results and the chance to add a personal touch by having one person communicate the brand's message directly. Here are his 5 points:

1. Blogging Can Improve Search Engine Optimization

2. Blogs Add a Personal Touch

3. Blogs Help Build Brand

4. Blogs Attract Media Attention

5. Blogs Exploit Marketable Niches

Read this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you manage your social media marketing strategy.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Social Media/Word Of Mouth tab.

Brand owners must pay attention to their “digital balance sheet” as the rise of ecommerce, the popularity of mobile devices, and the growth of social media reshape the trading climate internationally, according to The Digital Manifesto: How Companies and Countries Can Win in the Digital Economy by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (@BCG_Consultant).

The management consultancy says the Internet economy of the G20 countries — a group including Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, and the USA — should hit $4.2tr in 2016, up from $2.3tr in 2010 due in large part to the rapid expansion of the Web user base, which is set to surge from 1.9bn to 3bn during the same period (45% of the global population).

“No company or country can afford to ignore this development. Every business needs to go digital,” says David Dean, a coauthor of the report and a senior partner at BCG. “The ‘new’ Internet is no longer largely Western, accessed from your PC. It is now global, ubiquitous, and participatory.”

The BCG report charts several major shifts in the use and nature of the Internet:

·         From a Luxury to an Ordinary Good.

·         From Developed to Emerging Markets.

·         From PC to Mobile.

·         From Passive to Participatory.

BCG says companies that make extensive use of the Internet — including social media — to sell, market, and interact with their customers and suppliers grow faster than those that do not.

The study recommends that brands focus on their “digital balance sheet:”

digital assets comprised of

·         Information and analytics about customers, suppliers, employees, and competitors

·         Connectivity and feedback loops that lubricate the digital enterprise

·         Intellectual property that bestows a competitive digital advantage

·         The people, culture, and capabilities needed to execute and deliver

and digital liabilities (ways of working that handicap the ability to exploit their digital assets) of

·         Organizational structures, incentives, and cultures that collectively discourage adaptability and risk taking

·         IT systems, processes, and tools that limit flexibility and focus

·         Rigid strategies unsuited to a volatile business environment

Read the news release.

Read The Digital Manifesto (registration required).

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you determine your own brand’s digital balance sheet.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Central Connecticut State University (@CCSUToday) released its annual list of most literate major cities (population of 250,000 and above) Jan. 25 with Washington, DC #1 (the second year in a row). The study focuses on 6 key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. CCSU’s president Jack Miller says, “From this data we can better perceive the extent and quality of the long-term literacy essential to individual economic success, civic participation, and the quality of life in a community and a nation.”

Here are CCSU’s ranking of the top 20 most literate cities:

1.    Washington, DC

2.    Seattle, WA

3.    Minneapolis, MN

4.    Atlanta, GA

5.    Boston, MA

6.    Pittsburgh, PA

7.    Cincinnati, OH

8.    St. Louis, MO

9.    San Francisco, CA

10. Denver, CO

11. Portland, OR

12. St. Paul, MN

13. Cleveland, OH

14. Kansas City, MO

15. Oakland, CA

16. Raleigh, NC

17. New Orleans, LA

18. Baltimore, MD

19. Honolulu CDP, HI

20. Virginia Beach, VA

See the overall rankings of 75 cities.

To prioritize cities according to booksellers, 3 variables were used to determine a total score and consequent ranking:

1. Number of retail bookstores per 10,000 population
2. Number of rare and used bookstores per 10,000 population
3. Number of members of the American Booksellers Association per 10,000 population

The following are the top 10 cities for bookstores based on the above 3 criteria:

1.    Seattle, WA

2.    Portland, OR

3.    Minneapolis, MN

4.    Cincinnati, OH

5.    New Orleans, LA

6.    St. Paul, MN

7.    Pittsburgh, PA

8.    St. Louis, MO

9.    Denver, CO

10. Albuquerque, NM

See the full list.

To prioritize cities according to libraries, 4 variables were indexed to determine a total score and consequent ranking:

1. Number of branch libraries per 10,000 library service population
2. Volumes held in the library per capita of library service population
3. Number of circulations per capita of library service population
4. Number of library professional staff per 10,000 library service population

These numbers were then divided by the city population in order to calculate ratios of library services and resources available to the population.

The following are the top 10 cities for libraries based on the above 4 criteria:

1.    Cleveland, OH

2.    St. Louis, MO

3.    Pittsburgh, PA

4.    Seattle, WA

5.    Cincinnati, OH

6.    Toledo, OH

7.    Fort Wayne, IN

8.    Kansas City, MO

9.    Columbus, OH

10. Lincoln, NE

See the full list.

Read this report in full.

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard, created especially for marketing and publishing professionals.

Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) senior news editor Calvin Reid (@calreid) says, “Despite the constant economic pressures on a book publishing industry in the midst of change, the Digital Book World conference (#dbw12) [that ended yesterday in New York City] offered a snap shot of a range of industry positions and best practices as it comes to grips with digital delivery.... the book industry is indeed reinventing itself on a daily basis.”

There are more electronic reading devices, some 60 million e-readers and tablets, in the hands of consumer and there are more ways to buy books, read them, and talk about them, than ever before. “Books today are elastic and dynamic,” said Hyperion president Ellen Archer.

Read this in full.

Reid also reports

The transition to digitization continues in book publishing, an industry that is both susceptible to digital disruption, but also positioned to benefit tremendously from it, according to Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey (@jmcquivey) who kicked off this year's Digital Book World conference. That said, a survey conducted by Forrester in collaboration with Digital Book World found that while 82% of publishers were optimistic about digital, the number was down from 89% last year. Indeed only 28% of those thought their own company would be stronger in the future, down from 51% last year.

The decline has a lot to do with a realization of hard work ahead for publishers to adapt to the new digital environment, according to McQuivey.

Other stats:

·         25 million people in the US own an e-reader

·         34 million people own tablets

·         8 million homes have at least 2 tablets.

·         75% of publishers have an executive level person responsible for digital

·         63% of publishers report that digital skills are formally integrated into all departments

·         69% of publishers expect to increase digital staffiing in 2012

·         22% expect overall company staffing to go down in 2012.

·         75% of the publishers surveyed produce apps, but 51% said they cost too much to produce; only 19% believe apps will change the future of books and 15% say apps represent significant revenue for them.

Read this in full.

PW’s news editor Gabe Habash (@gabehabash) writes

Perhaps the most eye-opening facet of a study on the children's ebook market discussed at a Digital Book World panel was how great the potential for ebook reading in children really is:

·         27% of 7-12-year-olds own their own computer

·         25% own a cell phone

·         7% own a reading device.

·         teens have tripled their reading rate of ebooks in the last year.

Read this in full.

Ron Hogan (@RonHogan) reports that Shelf Awareness’ (@ShelfAwareness) editor-in-chief John Mutter (@JohnMutter) moderated a panel on “The Bookstore Renaissance” where it was stressed that bookstores must stay relevant. Roxanne Coady of R.J. Julia Booksellers (Madison, Conn.) (@rjjulia) talked about the recently launched JustTheRightBook.com (@JTRBook), which offers subscribers a monthly book selection based on a personal review of their reading tastes — “the opposite of the wisdom of crowds,” she quipped.

Coady elaborated on how the site’s “human algorithm” drew on one of their biggest strengths as booksellers: “We know how to put the right book in the right hands,” she said, “and we are early discoverers.” She noted that 67% of the visitors to the site who took their quiz wound up buying or borrowing one of the recommended titles (though not always from R.J. Julia).

Read this in full.

Also see DBW conference coverage by paidContent (@paidContent), especially its article about e-singles (and its “guide to e-singles”).

Read Porter Anderson’s (@Porter_Anderson) conference wrap-up on the Jane Friedman site (@JaneFriedman).

See GalleyCat's (@galleycat) coverage.

See DBW’s (@DigiBookWorld) own coverage of the show at “Video: Seen and Heard at Digital Book World.”

And see conference photos.

Stay current with news about the publishing world by bookmarking Somersault’s (@smrsault) SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Social media outlets including blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, have had an upsurge in credibility over the past year, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2012 (@EdelmanPR), which examines trust in 4 key institutions — government, business, media, and NGOs — as well as communications channels and sources, measuring attitudes across 25 countries.

Trust in government shows an exceptionally sharp drop in the 2012 Barometer. Trust in business is also decreasing. But trust in social media has taken a dramatic increase.

Overall, there is a huge drop in trust for CEOs while trust in persons such as regular employees and “a person like yourself” is increasing dramatically. In other words, people tend to distrust messages communicated by CEOs through traditional corporate channels, but have increased trust in messages from their peers, communicated through for example social media channels.

Read more here.

In this video, Richard Edelman introduces the findings from the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer.

Read the Executive Summary.

See the Slide Presentation.

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard for marketing and publishing professionals.

On mediabistro’s (@Mediabistro) AllTw!tter (@alltwtr), Shea Bennett (@Sheamus) writes:

A couple of years back Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly) wrote an excellent piece that argued that a person only needed to acquire 1000 true fans to make a living. Kelly expanded on the concept of the true fan, outlining exactly what makes them tick.

They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

And on that total, he says:

One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate.

I’d argue (and often do) that you don’t actually need as many as one thousand. I think for start-up brands (and artists and entrepreneurs) aiming for 50 true fans is a worthwhile exercise. As those 50, if they’re nurtured and respected accordingly, will tell their friends. Who will tell their friends. Who will tell their friends. All of a sudden, you’ll have your 1000 true fans – and shortly after that, a heck of a lot more.

Read this in full.

The Infographic below by Kissmetrics (@KISSmetrics) offers tips on how to grow your fan base:

1. Define your target market.
2. Get the tone right.
3. Identify which types of engagement are effective.
4. Look at it as a long-term investment.
5. Keep it real, relevant, and relaxed.
6. Create a schedule for updates.
7. Monitor and measure.

Source: The Importance Of A Fan Base Infographic

According to a survey of senior executives conducted by Weber Shandwick (@WeberShandwick) in partnership with Forbes Insights (@ForbesInsights), 84% believe their brand’s sociability is not up to world-class standards.

In the report “Socializing Your Brand: A Brand’s Guide to Sociability”  Weber Shandwick offers 9 tips. The study finds that being a world class social brand means interacting with target audiences and creating original content that heightens the interactive experience, going beyond broadcasting news, deals, or events..

1. It’s not the medium — and it’s more than the message

2. Put your brands in motion

3. Integrate or die

4. Make social central

5. Listen more than you talk

6. Count what matters — meaningful engagement

7. Think global

8. Go outside to get inside

9. Be vigilant

Read the report.

Infographic: horizontal pdf / vertical jpg

Bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Branding tab.

On Publishing Perspectives (@pubperspectives), Drew Nellins writes about the offense he took when he was presented with a fully stuffed publicity kit promoting a book by an author he likes. It raises the question, “When does zealous publicity information oversell and actually become a detriment?”

...It didn’t come with a page or two of information about the author or the book itself. No, it came with a folder overflowing with material, the contents of which I would like to share with you....

Now, imagine opening a folder, and the second you open it, pages spew out of it like fake snakes from a can of gag peanut brittle, because the folder is so overstuffed that no matter how great its quality (and its quality is pretty damn great) this volume of pages simply cannot be contained by this folder. Now dial that image back a few notches, and you’ve got a pretty close approximation of what we have here. A brief inventory included therein follows:....

I think the reason the “Folder of Acclaim” bothered me so much is that, taken in total, it arguably leaves the realm of standard corporate supportiveness and enters the terrifying realm of intellectual bullying....

I don’t want to have books marketed to me the way that Hot Wheels are marketed to eight-year-old boys. You don’t have to show me images of other kids crashing their cars and smashing them into one another. Just give me the toy already, and if I have fun with it, then I have fun with it. Sheesh! It all just seems so... aggressive....

Read it in full.

What do you think? Do you agree? How do you keep from crossing the line in creating publicity that might be over-the-top? Write your comments below.

Stephan Spencer (@sspencer), co-author of The Art of SEO, lists common SEO myths in an article for Multichannel Merchant (@mcmerchant):

·         Meta tags will boost your rankings. Fact: Optimizing your meta keywords is a complete waste of time. They’ve been so abused by spammers that the engines haven't put any stock in them for years. In fact, Google never did support this meta tag. None of the various meta tags are given any real weight in the rankings algorithm.

·         If you define a meta description, Google uses it in the snippet.

·         Tweaking your meta description is the way to optimize the Google snippet's conversion potential.

·         Placing links in a teeny-tiny size font at the bottom of your homepage is an effective tactic to raise the rankings of deep pages in your site.

Read this in full.