This very interesting world map is very fun because it shows the raw power of Facebook. It really is everywhere (except the country that has funded it’s most recent money grab…Russia). Thanks to Vinco!

Take a look at the PDF here.

My favorite recommendation out of the 137 submissions was from Matt McGee at SmallBusinessSEM:

“Many small businesses rely on local customers, so it’s imperative that they find and connect with
local Twitter users. You can use these sites to do that:

• Twitter Advanced Search
• ChirpCity
• Nearby Tweets
• Tweepz

Bonus tip: Since you’re essentially trying to connect with complete strangers, before I go out and
randomly follow local people, I make sure my most recent tweet says something like “I’m going
to look for other Tri-Cities folks to follow on Twitter.” That way, when they get followed by me and
check out my profile, the message explains to them why a total stranger is suddenly following them.”

Of course you have and one day we’ll be able to ask the folks at Twitter how it feels.  Until then, we can only imagine.  Check out this beautiful “hockey stick growth” released by ComScore (great article here as well)

The Twitter Hockey Stick

Oprah joined and told her following.  Ashton Kutcher and Larry King had a Twitter war.  You can follow almost any personality on television and restaurants all over the country have the Twitter logo on their menus, ads and billboards.  The growth chart above should remind all of us that television still has an impact:)

Colbert asked about the future of Twitter and Biz said: We will continue to run as an “independent company”….We have patient investors and we are in the value stage of our business not the make money phase.  Watch the fun interview for yourself:

I rarely twitter so to start doing the video equivalent sounds absolutely nuts to me BUT if you want to share store updates, sale updates or showcase some of your products what a great way to build a community in your nitch and show them instead of telling them about you, your business and your products.  It might be worth a shot? Check them out at 12seconds.tv (the .com looks like a great ab workout)

Anyway, back to Twitter.  If you are still curious about what all the talk is about, watch this:

So now you know why people are loving Twitter and hopefully you’ve thought of a few ways to build loyalty in your industry or for your business.  Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is a great example of someone maximizing Twitter exposure.  BusinessWeek did a great story about how Tony helped a customer with a delivery problem via Twitter.  More and more companies are sharing, updating and letting their customers and most loyal fans know everything about where they are, what they are doing etc.

If you haven’t tried Twitter it’s worth signing up and just trying for a week.  You don’t have to tweet every hour but a few times a week will give you a taste of why it’s called Twittermania

Imagine using this type of product to see areas of the country that talk about your product, your service, your competition etc.  Obviously it would only work with more popular items but what this Superbowl example teaches me is that the country is diverse, the search terms are influenced by media and events.  Search engine marketing is about understanding what people are searching for, how they are searching, why they are searching and matching your ads with their expectations.

Could Twitter help with understanding messaging by region? Of course.  Think Pop vs. Soda.  By understanding how people reference the same end product depending on region is helpful for any marketing but especially geo-targeted paid search and messaging.  Isn’t it great to know the NY Times is still adding value:)

NY Times Twitter Tweets Map

How does a product evangelist help a big business.  They become advocates, supporters and fanatics!  How does a product evangelist help a small business?  The exact same way.  Small businesses often overlook the power their happy customers have.  We

all know word of mouth advertising is the best form of marketing.  Think of social media as the ultimate word of mouth marketing platform.  Think of

Twitter as the frequency leader for word of mouth.  So how do you find these frequent evangelists on Twitter?  Sites like Twitscoop or Tweet Scan are a great start.  They tell you the trending on Twitter (what people are talking about) and let you search for twitter activity by keyword (see right for Buzz Trending from Twitscoop).

The way a business could use these tools would be to follow people that talk about your industry or products.  Chances are they will start following you (so you’ll want to start by creating a Twitter account here) and when you update with new products, events, product information, ask for reviews or talk about your industry, potential evangelists will see it, try it and talk about it.  I did a search for “massage chairs” and below is just a sampling of the people talking about massage chairs.  Not all of them are evangelists but with a quick scan I was able to identify 10-15 great prospects.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.

They compare data from Digg, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter, all of which are popular new media sites (social, cool and everything in between).   As an example, I’ve looked up some shoe brands to drive home a point: details matter.

Let’s suppose your ideal client is a “Skater Dude” (Male, 16-25) and you have a cool new product you want to promote.  Should you spend more energy, time and money on getting things ranked on Digg or create a really cool MySpace page?  Should you experiment with all things Twitter or post some cool videos of your product and/or sponsor videos on YouTube?  We can post all the options on a whiteboard and debate this all day OR use a site like SiteVolume to know where your “ideal customer” is spending their time.

Pay attention to the details of your “ideal customers”.  All of the “Skater Dudes” wear Vans.  So here’s what we learn from SiteVolume:

DIGG – More Nike however Vans is second (distant second)

Digg talks more about Nike (green) than Vans (orange)

MySpace is getting closer so perhaps a MySpace page and promotion would make sense.

MySpace talks more about Nike (green) but Vans (orange) is up there.

YouTube:  Now a cool YouTube channel and focusing on this avenue seems to make a lot of sense.

YouTube is high on the list. Vans (orange) is #1

Twitter users aren’t mentioning Vans very often so perhaps a Twitter push doesn’t make a lot of sense

Twitter talks more about Nike but Adidas and Vans are tied for #2

Although SiteVolume isn’t the savior of trending (obviously) at a quick glance it’s easy to see that YouTube and Vans seems to be a match so having fun with some cool videos and sponsoring channels that appeal to your ideal “Skater Dude” will be a great branding push for your new company, new product and new social marketing initiative.

Obviously there are other ways to use and learn from SiteVolume so feel free to use the comments section to share other options but it’s sites like this that make internet marketing so much fun.  Always something new to learn and try to figure out.