SocialMedia.com Is Hiring A Senior Designer!

December 7th, 2009 by Katie Smillie

SocialMedia.com is developing the first platform for social advertising, and we need someone to make sure it looks great! We are looking to hire a multi-talented graphic and web designer who can turn out production-ready display banners and build new pages on our company website all in a single day.  Your time will be split approximately 65% on design and 35% on web development work. Therefore, we need someone with a strong background in design, typography, and branding while at the same time being able to code web pages, web forms, email templates, Wordpress themes, etc.

Candidates should take a strategic approach to projects, always looking for ways to improve ideas and to better the end result. At SocialMedia, you will have the opportunity to work on brand advertising for some of the world’s best-known companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Chevrolet, Kraft, Universal Studios, Target, Walmart, and many others!

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Business Development team to create polished display ads, including mock-ups for pitching and production-ready ads that will run on our network
• Help create pitches for large publishers companies by professionally packaging product collateral including ad mocks, presentations, spec sheets, etc.
• Conceptualize and build fully-functionally new product ideas for our advertising units, drawing on best practices in usability. Background in user experience design is highly preferred.
• Work with Marketing Manager to oversee the continued development and deployment of SocialMedia’s public-facing website. This includes creating original webpage designs and coding them into fully-functioning, standards-compliant pages for deployment on the web.
• Work with Marketing Manager to design and develop promotional materials, including custom-built newsletters and product guides.
• Maintain an organized collection of creative and branding assets for use by other team members.

Must-have technical skills

• Expert graphic designer with extensive experience using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator (Flash experience a major plus).
• Front-end web design and development, including mastery of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.
• Experience with the WordPress CMS.
• Experience developing for modern browsers and degrading sites gracefully for older ones.

Qualifications

• Leadership qualities and strong communication skills
• Strong multi-tasking skills
• Attention to detail and quality a must
• Desire to work in a fast-paced environment and ability to meet deadlines

About SocialMedia.com

We are a young, fast paced company continually innovating and growing in the constantly changing world of social advertising. We are looking for great people who are aligned with our values, want to move the ball forward, and do insanely great work:

• We are a small, talented team with great camaraderie.
• Everybody has a lot of responsibility and the opportunity to make a huge difference.
• We’re totally focused on what we believe is the next big wave in web advertising, which is bringing the social element into the mix.
• We were the first ad network dedicated to social network applications, and we continue to be the first to produce key offerings in the social media advertising category.
• We are widely regarded as the leader in this space.

Our office is located on the water at Pier 38 in San Francisco, just a short walk from the 4th & King Caltrain station.  Social Media is an EOE, competitive in salary, upside, equity and benefits. We are conveniently located near public transportation

To apply please send an resume and link to portfolio to jobs@socialmedia.com.

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In-Tweet Advertisements Break The Social Advertising Equation

November 23rd, 2009 by Katie Smillie

As a result of this New York Times article, the buzz in social advertising this weekend was all about in-tweet advertisements: To cash in or not to cash in? To unfollow or continue following those who participate? The debate is nearly as heated as Team Edward vs. Team Jacob.

Social Ads Improve Users’ Advertising Experience

At SocialMedia.com we are familiar with the arguments of using social media in advertising. In fact, using real people to spread brand messages is something we’ve been thinking about for awhile. In June 2008 we first introduced social banner ads which give users the opportunity to interact with a brand and share that interaction with a friend. If the user chooses to engage with the ad, we then display that choice to their friends in the same ad.

As SocialMedia.com co-founder, Dave Gentzel, explained in 2008:

The fundamental reason people dislike advertising is because they think it takes advantage of them. This is especially true when individuals are inside ads. But, our goal is not to put people inside of ads as a gimmick, as gimmicks die and provide little value to anyone. Instead, we want to facilitate real conversation and interaction around certain products and brands.

Our approach simply and easily makes existing display advertising more relevant and more engaging — without disrupting or invading your usual online experience. This is why we are excited to be developing the first social advertising platform that helps publishers make any online ad social, anywhere on the web. Here’s one example:

Social Ads Also Perform Better

Last year SocialMedia.com conducted the first-ever social advertising research study in partnership with Dynamic Logic, establishing that social ads perform better than their non-social counterparts with regards to purchase intent, online ad awareness, and brand favorability.

…But Paying Consumers to Create the Message Breaks The Equation

So we’ve come to the conclusion that social ads are better because:

Real messages from real people = higher brand awareness, purchase intent, and favorability.

But, when adding monetization to the equation, the equation falls apart:

Paid messages from real people = confusion, distrust, and annoyance.

Here are more highlights from the debate. What do you think?

AGAINST

• Robert Scoble was quoted in the NYT article that in-tweet advertising “interferes with your relationship with your friends and your audience.” He expands on this in his blog post, arguing that “if Twitter or Facebook becomes infested with instream ads it will piss everyone off and we’ll all leave, so any investment in building audiences in those systems will be destroyed by the greed of other people.”
• Paul Carr also comicly struggles between right and wrong in his recent blog post, ultimately deciding that “Following people on Twitter is like organising the world’s largest cocktail party – we’ve decided who’s opinions we trust, and we’ve invited them to come into our homes and talk to us about things they are genuinely interested in. The moment people start screwing around with that principle, the whole system collapses.”  After wrapping us his long-winded epiphany using the cocktail party metaphor, Carr bravely declares “Give me ad-free conversation, or give me death.”

FOR

• Mark Suster (of the firm GRP Partners that funds Ad.ly - a startup that powers the monetization of in-tweet advertising) argues that in-tweet advertising is good for consumers here and here. Based on the assumption that some form of advertising must be perpetuated,  shouldn’t those who create the content (tweets) be the ones making money from it?  Moreover, in-tweet advertising still bestows users with the power of choosing who they follow and thus, who they receive in-tweet advertising from. Suster also points out that in-stream ads expands the reach of the brand message, as they would appear on third-party apps through tweets, where banner or side ads could only live on Twitter.com.

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SocialMedia.com Transitions Ad Network To Focus On Social Advertising Platform

November 18th, 2009 by Katie Smillie

SocialMedia.com and Adknowledge announced today that SocialMedia.com’s ad network will be moving to Adknowledge, effective this Friday, November 20.  We at SocialMedia.com are excited about this transition as it will allow us to focus 100% of our time and effort into developing the first social advertising platform for publishers and advertisers, enabling them to make all online ads social, anywhere on the web.

Below are excerpts from a joint press release between SocialMedia.com and Adknowledge:

Adknowledge currently partners with more than 2,000 publishers and developers. In the past two years, the company has made four acquisitions in the social media space. Cubics, an Adknowledge company, delivers more than 700 million banner impressions daily to consumers using Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking sites. Super Rewards, another Adknowledge company, is the leading virtual currency platform. Together, they deliver over 10% of total daily page impressions on Facebook. By adding the ad network business of SocialMedia.com, Adknowledge is providing publishers with increased monetization opportunities.

“We are excited to welcome SocialMedia’s publishers to our network.  We are committed to providing them with highly competitive payouts and industry-leading, ad content management tools,” commented Dwayne Lafleur, General Manager of Social Advertising at Adknowledge. “As the only major social ad network that does not build applications that compete with developers, we can assure developers that we only have their best interests at heart,” he added.

Effective November 18, publishers will be able to access a new Cubics account from Adknowledge and can elect to replace their existing ad code. Publishers will also be able to source administrative reports and stats.

SocialMedia.com and Adknowledge will continue to work closely together in the future.  Adknowledge will continue to provide publishers with industry-leading payouts and will be running branded ads that SocialMedia.com will be selling.

The transition of SocialMedia.com’s ad network to Adknowledge will allow SocialMedia to focus solely on its core business of developing the first social advertising platform. SocialMedia.com is focused on powering the next generation of social ads across the web through this platform. SocialMedia.com has been a pioneer in social advertising since 2007, building a Facebook ad platform that has allowed app developers to manage, market, and monetize their inventory. Moving forward, the company is going to bring this level of holistic publisher service beyond Facebook app developers, allowing web publishers to socially enable their inventory across the web.

Information for SocialMedia.com Developers:

• SocialMedia.com will continue to serve ads and record activity in your Social Media account until Friday, November 20, noon (PST). Please direct questions to adsupport@socialmedia.com
• On Friday your inventory will be directed to Adknowledge. Adknowledge has already set up accounts for you that can be accessed at cubics.com. You will receive an email with your login information.

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Social Online Ads Are Good For Consumers

November 6th, 2009 by Katie Smillie

It’s easy to make the case that social online ads are good for brands. At SocialMedia.com we’ve seen that social ads enjoy a significant lift in CTR, brand awareness, and purchase intent — compared to their non-social counterparts.

But what is it about social ads that leads to higher performance? We believe the reason that social ads are better for brands is because they are better for consumers. And, social ads are better for consumers because they provide relevant connections with real people whose opinions consumers care about.

Performics and ROI Research just released a joint survey study of over 3,000 US consumers, with some compelling data showing that many consumers are actively using their social networks to recommend and to learn about brands*:

• 46% of respondents say they would talk about or recommend a product on Facebook
• 44% of Twitter users have recommended a product

Michael Kahn, SVP of Marketing at Performics, presented more of the survey findings this morning at ad:tech in NY, including the slide below:

© 2009. All rights reserved. Performics Inc. and ROI Research Inc.

The implications are clear: advertising on social networks can be powerful. At SocialMedia.com we are taking this idea to the next level by extending the power of social advertising beyond social networks and into the broader social web. We hope you’ll join us.

*Read the full press release from November 5, 2009 here.

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AdAge Covers The First Twitter Pulse Campaign

June 10th, 2009 by Nick Gonzalez

Michael Learmonth of AdAge got the scoop on our first Twitter Pulse campaign. The campaign is for Nestle’s Juicy Juice line and features parenting related questions. You can learn more about the campaign from Michael’s article. You can contact us about customizing a campaign of your own through info@socialmedia.com.

Twitter Pulse lets brands capture the stream of Twitter conversations related to their brand and promote them across the web. Twitter Pulse shows the latest Tweets from a managed feed around a topic or question and lets viewers submit Tweets of their own.

Setting up a campaign is simple. Twitter Pulse Ads feature a fully customizable skin and questions your audience can Tweet about right from the ad unit. Campaigns feature multiple questions (50 characters each) to optimize and add variety to the campaign. Ads are served in a 300 x 250 IAB standard ad inventory and can be delivered across DoubleClick and Atlas ad servers.

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Fred Wilson, John Borthwick - Video Highlights From Social Media Boot Camp

May 26th, 2009 by Nick Gonzalez

Last week in New York, we held a Social Media Boot Camp for brands and ad agencies. The event featured thoughts on the social media space from a long list of industry luminaries.

We were lucky enough to get commentary from two of the investors behind Twitter, Fred Wilson and John Borthwick. Fred, a partner at Union Square Ventures, was an early investor in Twitter, while John was an investor in Summize, a search startup acquired by Twitter.

Rather than posting the entire discussion, we’ve selected a few key videos parts of the panel.

Continue reading this entry →

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