So my name is Paul Adams and I work in the UX team at Google. Iʼm the user research lead for social, and work on things like Buzz and YouTube. I spend a lot of my time doing research with people on how they use social media. I sit down with people, and have them map out their social network for me, and we look at how they use tools like email, Facebook, Twitter, their phone, and so on. One of the things we talk about is the differences between their social network online, and their social network offline. Today, Iʼm going to talk about some of the things weʼve learned over the past few years, what it means for the future of the web, and some tips for design. Before I get down into some detail about social networks, I want to start by telling you a story from our research.

A note from Paul’s comments:

…the story is because the story is *real*, it’s not fictional. It’s a story from my research. I changed the names to protect the identity of our research participant but left all other details exactly as they were.

Visit Paul’s website: ThinkOutsideIn

I do suspect that we will see Gowalla or Brightkite get bought by a big player. I really doubt the founders of Foursquare will sell after the Dodgeball debacle with Google.

Photo Credit: DeanJ

A few thoughts about the event:

• I actually was a 6th grade teacher and had taken classes at NCCU in the same rooms where the event was held.
• I am TERRIBLE at putting a Twitter avatar to an actual face.
• While my session was about using social media to reduce paid search spend, most people had few questions about actual campaign management. I think it was due to many people in the room not being paid search managers.
• I realized that many of the people I interact with online are just as awesome offline. I think this is due to a few things. One, we have a great group of people in the area and two, that online interaction acts as a filter. I don’t follow or interact with anyone whom I “don’t Like.” If a person I start to follow or interact with doesn’t seem to be the type of person I want to associate with, I don’t keep interacting with them.
• I’d like to thank the guys who put on the event: Wayne Sutton, Jeff Cohen, Ryan Boyles, and Kipp Bodnar.
• Id like to thank my co-presenter Eric Miltisch of Auction Direct Used Car Sales
• I’d like to thanks everyone who attended my session and everyone that sent out Tweets summarizing my key points.
• I hate that I had to leave early, but we had a big meeting at ShareFile with a pretty big virtual data room client.
• I think Twitter ate all my Tweets that I sent out on Friday thanking everyone. I owe you guys. I know who you are. THANKS!

I’m looking to speak at more events in the area and if you’d like me to talk at your event, just let me know.

if you saw my session and would like to learn more about paid search, or marketing in general, feel free to reach out to me.

Photo Credit: @1918

The video

SEO for Social Media – Panel from #SMBF “Social Media: Search Engine Marketing’s Best Friend” from Alter Imaging, Inc. on Vimeo.

Special Thanks to Charlotte Web Design firm Alter Imaging for capturing the video of my session.

The Social Media Business Forum in Durham, NC should be a great event. There are some truly smart people in the area and it seems like most of them will be joining me at the event.

Friday, October 23, 2009
North Carolina Central University
School of Education, Durham, NC

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Here are a few ideas on how a business can use Twitter effectively:

• Local Durham, NC wine bar Six Plates uses Twitter to announce wine and dinner specials. I have followed them since they started the account in 08 (they even hosted a small “Tweet up”) and seen the account grow from just a handful of followers to nearly 915. Think about how much revenue can be generated if just 1% of those followers see a Twitter message announcing a special for that night and decide to go in and grab a meal. That is 2 or 3 extra tables in a night and adds up to a decent portion of revenue in a month.

• Personally, I have grown tired of businesses sending me a bland direct message thanking me for following the Twitter feed. Give a customer a real thank you in the form of a coupon or discount. eCommerce sites can easily send a unique promo code instead of a bland message. A local business can send a message for a discount when the message is shown at the store or restaurant. Many Twitterers use the service on the go and showing the message right on the mobile device is easy. Non-mobile users can simply print the screen or use a “verbal” coupon to take advantage of the offer.

• Take customer service issues to email. If a customer has an issue, do not try to resolve it using 140 characters. Send a personal email address to the customer and have them fully explain their issue.

• I use the search functionality in Tweetie to monitor brand terms. This way, I can see what people are saying about my company and respond quickly (to both good and bad messages).

Twitter can be an effective tool to help a business of any size communicate with customers and generate revenue.