Wether you’re a small business, large corporation, non-profit, professional sports team, fraternity, or any other organization imaginable, these days no one would dare exclude the Internet and all its social media platforms as a tool to connect with their target audience!  And it is no different for all of those power-hungry politicians looking to spread their campaign platforms, recruit financial support and, most of all, win votes!

In 2008 we saw the significant role social media played in the presidential election and, with the 2012 presidential elections only a few months away, many foresee its impact to increase to an even more influential level.  Not only will about 82% of adults use the Internet as their source for 2012 election news, but voters have started to share their preferred party, discuss significant political topics or issues, and even ‘liking’ or ‘following’ their presidential candidate of choice.  In the last few years more political candidates have acknowledged these trends and have started joining in on the conversation.  Since 62% of Americans expect candidates to have a social media presence, if a politician cannot be found on Facebook or Twitter it could actually hurt their campaign success.

President Obama made sure to start shifting his social media presence into campaign mode as early as last year and is once again reach out to the young technically savvy voters who helped him get elected last year (Facebook: President Obama, Titter @BarackObama).  With over 25 million Facebook fans and more than 12 million followers on Twitter, President Obama has used these platforms as they were meant to be used: he’s not just pushing his campaign platform but he’s actually engaging with his fans and followers and making sure that concerns are addressed and fans feel part of the election process.  Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is still struggling to learn how to effectively use his social media voice to convert fans to votes.  He may want to keep a closer eye on President Obama’s successful strategies and stop using Facebook as if it’s the traditional media, where the focus is solely on pushing out his messages. Even Forbes expressed their disappointment with Romney’s apparent lack of desire to engage.  They stated “it’s like he’s not even trying.”

Regardless of which candidate will take the lead in the polls as the election moves along, it will be interesting to take a look at how the usage of Facebook, Twitter, Video and LinkedIn is expected to jump among both voters and candidates.  As we break down the growing correlation between the presidential election and social media, it has become clear that simply having a Facebook and Twitter account is no longer enough.  The public wants to see genuine engagement and the human side of politicians, especially those who may soon be their President.

To help understand the use of social media in the political realm, MDG Advertising created a great infographic that compares social media usage from the 2008 presidential election with its projected influence on the upcoming 2012 election.

Have you ever witnessed an online conversation that goes something along the lines of….

“Hey! How are you?!”

“I’m great! I haven’t seen you in so long!”

“I miss you!!!”

“My bike is green! It’s January! I like dogs!”

You get the idea!

The overuse of the exclamation point has become a common occurence in today’s digital world! And just incase you’re starting to worry that our overuse of them in this blog post will be nauseatingly cute, we’ll stop ourselves from using them from this point on. In fact, they may have become so cliché and standard that we’ll go out of our way to avoid using them  and save them for times when we’re particularly enthused.

Exclamation points should be reserved for sentences and phrases that actually deserve their presence: Fire! Bomb! Justin Bieber just sat next to me on the bus! However, they are not for statements like, “We’re having meatloaf for dinner.”

If we placed an exclamation point after that last statement, it would come across like talking too loud at a restaurant, and people might wonder if we know how to behave. Or that, for some unknown reason, meatloaf must be our favorite meal. Nonetheless, don’t take our displeasure for the exclamation point the wrong way. We do need ways to articulate our enthusiasm and passion in writing. However, words can do most of the work for us.  For example, the statement “I really can’t wait for our amazing adventure this weekend” doesn’t need an exclamation point—the excitement is in the language.

Here are a few simple tips.

Rule #1: Don’t use more than one exclamation point. Don’t do this!!!

Rule #2: Avoid using more than one exclamation mark in a given paragraph. If you feel compelled to use more than one, try to find words that express your eagerness instead.

Rule #3: Add camaraderie and happiness to your workplace. If an exuberant “Thanks!” or “See you tomorrow!” will enhance someone’s day, go for it.

With that being said, we challenge you to elimate a few exclamation points from your Facebook comments this week and replace them with some of your witty and extensive vocabulary. Good Luck.

The New Year has gotten underway, and countless blogs are recapping the past year as well as looking forward to what the future may hold in 2012. Of course it would be naïve to discount either of these discussions; however, hasn’t it become a bit boring? Reading the same thing over and over again, hoping for something new and exciting to be on the cutting edge—despite the fact there is a very good chance things aren’t going to change all that much.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have established themselves as the cream of the crop that’s risen to the top of the social media world. Yet in the coming months there will be countless startups heralded as the possible destroyers of these Goliath’s. However, none of the giants are going anywhere…SURPRISE! As a result, companies will (and have been) respond accordingly, and following each other like a herd of cattle.

Despite the fact many of the digital efforts are underwhelming and completely despondent of any creativity, some companies are clearly embracing the personal nature of social media. Old Spice, Bonobos, and Zappos.com are some of the most popular companies on Facebook, which is clearly demonstrated by the monstrous amount of likes as well as pure, straightforward engagement. These brands are the shinning stars right now, but just like the social media behemoths, there is a very “next man up” mentality.

Who do you think will step up to the plate, wink at the pitcher, and knock their Facebook/Digital Marketing into the cornfield? Will it be you?

Although some of us have been able to sneak a peak at Facebook’s new Timeline interface during the past few months, this new massive design overhaul is now finally also available to the rest of the Facebook community! The powers at be have once again revamped the look of your Facebook profile and created a ‘timeline’ that allows users to scroll back through the years and revisit photos, comments, videos, and anything else that was captured back in the day.

Since many people tend to rebel against any change Facebook initiates (and yes we admit it, we too have been caught whining form time to time when another redesign left us wondering how to navigate our once oh-so-simple Facebook page) we want to take a few minutes to show you how to get your very own Timeline and also address some of the new capabilities that we’re now presented with.

Start Your Timeline

Although eventually Timeline will be become the standard format for Facebook profiles, for now you need to activate it yourself. Luckily Facebook has made it quite simple and will walk you through the new layout. You’ll have 7 days to edit the content of your pages before it’s published for the world to see.  Use this time to flesh out which photos, comments, and interactions you want the world to see. Go back through the years and create a complete history of the life that you want people to see. This may take some time so make sure to start the nostalgic trip through your past and activate your Timeline today!

Pick Your Cover

One of our favorite elements of the new Timeline is the addition of the cover photo. This banner style photo gives you the opportunity to personalize your Facebook profile and add a little pizazz! Besides your fabulous glamour shot you can now also showcase your favorite team, pet, or perhaps your new home.  It’s almost like a Twitter skin for your Facebook.

A Snapshot of Your Life

What Timeline is really about is showcasing the various stages of your life and creating a virtual scrapbook of all the major events that were captured throughout the years. You can now easily go back in time to your high school or college glory days by simply clicking on the specific years you are most proud of. However, to all of you who did not screen your Facebook photos very carefully during the early days of Facebook, you may want to go back and do some housekeeping to avoid your boss seeing any embarrassing photos.  In addition to digging up old memories, you can also add additional events to your timeline. If you upload an old baby photo just make sure to set the date accordingly and it will pop up in the correct place on your Timeline.  You are now the proud owner of a digital log of your life!

Timeline and Business Pages

Even though Timeline is not available for business pages at this point, there are several companies who have found ways to make Facebook’s new look give them some additional expose. Mountain Dew is a prime example of getting creative and using Timeline to showcase their brand. They offer users free, customizable images that have been optimized to fit the 851×315 cover photo dimensions. They have started this free ad campaign that is already going viral. We’re sure that more brands will be doing something similar soon!

Facebook’s Timeline is definitely one of the most significant profile overhauls in years! However, time can only tell its true functionality and in the meantime you’ll be sure to hear both rave reviews and frustrated rants from all sides. We encourage you to hop on board sooner rather than later. Get yourself familiar with the new look because regardless of what you want, this will be become the standard Facebook profile in the very near future.

Happy Timeline-ing!