What do you think? 3rd Annual State of Social Media Sponsorship Survey

Carri Bright — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:18:13 +0000

It’s time again for the 3rd Annual State of Social Media Sponsorship survey, brought to you by IZEA.

Each year, we gather data from brand marketers and social media influencers to gain insights into the changing SMS industry and provide guidance to better connect these two groups. Last year’s results showed us that there is:

A general lack of awareness and understanding for disclosure requirements.
Significant discrepancy between what a marketer and influencer believe is fair compensation for a tweet or blog post.

The survey is anonymous and only takes a few minutes!

We look forward to your feedback!

Get started:

The Importance of Disclosure

Carri Bright — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:00:52 +0000

Hospitality Magazine recently ran an article about Matt Moran, a celebrity chef from Australia who is under fire for not disclosing a deal he made to tweet for compensation.

The South Australian Tourism Commission was searching for a high-profile celebrity (or celebrities) to tweet about Kangaroo Island in return for $750 plus GST per tweet. The organization specifically mentioned “that the tweets shouldn’t appear to endorse but rather seem like an organic mention…”
See the complete article here.

We can’t speak to the Australian regulations but within the United States – and therefore, any tweet sent via IZEA’s Sponsored Tweets – the FTC requires disclosure. “When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product which might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience) such connection must be fully disclosed.” Read the complete Sponsored Tweets disclosure guidelines here.

One tweeters frustration with Matt Moran’s lack of disclosure sums up why it’s so important:

@trentlidstone said, “Interesting time re: pay pertweet, my advise, be honest otherwise if found out ie. Matt Moran your credibly is shot #kangarooisland

Twitter Acquires Posterous

Carri Bright — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:53:00 +0000

The big news in the Twittersphere this week was the acquisition of blogging platform Posterous by microblogging site, Twitter. When the news broke, there was a lot of speculation about the motives of the sale. Was it a means to cannibalize Posterous’ pool of talent which includes several former Apple iOS Engineers? Will the Posterous platform change or go away entirely?

Although the official word is that the site will continue, many Posterous bloggers have already begun moving their sites to a new domain. WordPress saw a 250% increase in account migrations immediately following the announcement.

The reactions to the news on Twitter were mixed.

Ted Murphy takes over the airwaves to broadcast Sponsored Tweets

ameliag — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:55:11 +0000

Last week, IZEA’s CEO Ted Murphy brought his new media expertise to the traditional media platform. In his interview with Marc Amazon on radio station 700WLW, Sponsored Tweets was the topic of conversation; not limited to 140 characters by the way.

Ted and Marc discussed the secret of a sponsored conversation; what both celebrities and the average Joe have to keep in mind if they want to bring in the bucks and host an effective conversation. Check it out, listen below to get the inside scoop!

Twitter Week in Review

Carri Bright — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:40:11 +0000

There’s so much going on in the Twittersphere this week that it’s been hard to keep up! Here are the top stories that have had us all ‘atwitter.’

Twitter Censorship

Twitter announced this week that it will, upon receiving a “valid legal request,” block tweets from being seen in specific regions. However, they have expanded their partnership with Chilling Effects to provide further information about the censored information.

It seems that everyone had something to say about this news. Canada’s The Globe And Mail published this article outlining why Twitter’s censorship plan is better than you think, while Amnesty International voiced their thoughts on what this policy means for Human Rights in the Huffington Post.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone maintains that this move is a “a huge win for free speech” while Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, addressed concerns about their policy in an interview he gave at the D: Dive into Media Conference saying that, “the company is focused on making sure tweets remain as accessible as possible.”

The Super Bowl of Tweets

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are at least aware, if not manically excited about the Super Bowl this weekend. So much so, that there has already been extensive monitoring and analysis of related topics on Twitter.

One post goes so far as to claim that Twitter is now the most important part of the NFL viewing experience.

Even the Twitter blog has chimed in to let everyone following the action know to use the hashtag #SuperBowl to monitor the conversation.

Facebook IPO

The news that Facebook had filed their S-1 with the SEC in preparation for becoming a publicly traded company became a trending topic on Twitter almost instantly.

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, penned this letter to investors and Tweeters world-wide voiced their reactions 140 characters at a time.

Twitter Tip of the Week

Make use of link shortening services like bit.ly to pare down long links and provide you more characters to express your thoughts.

Late Reaction to the CORRECT Hashtag Fashion

ameliag — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:33:51 +0000

Social media has reformed and redefined how we converse, where we view our news and how we interact with brands. Gone are the days when gaining “publisher status” was dictated by printed and copyrighted work. Today, essentially anyone can be a publisher, but with approximately 600 TPS (yep, that’s tweets per second) getting lost in the clutter is inevitable.

We have the luxury of communicating instantaneously on a platform that not only insists, but requires us to keep it short and sweet; 140 characters to be exact. We must be concise in our message, yet strategic in order to gain traction, increase our following and most importantly, engage our readers. Although there is no clean-cut method to the madness, there is a little tool that some of us might overlook and quite possibly misuse: the almighty hashtag.

Hash whaa?

Hashtag. It is essentially defined in its name. It is a tag; a tool sites use to help optimize their posts- similar to a keyword you would use to search a topic in Google. Essentially, it’s a descriptive word that is relevant to what you are saying and why you are saying it.

Use it, Don’t Abuse it.

There is not a stone tablet displaying the rules of Twitter’s infamous trademark, however, there are some guidelines to tweet by if you want to increase your following and conduct meaningful conversations.

1. Stand out in the crowd

If no one can find you, your tweets will become obsolete chirps. You would probably never search the word “and” on Google unless it was an integral part of the topic you’re searching- same goes for Twitter.

Those searching for content relevant to what you’re tweeting will primarily find you through equally relevant hashtags. Be sure to hashtag key aspects of your tweet like #socialmedia or #tigerblood (just kidding!) They provide trackability for you, for other users and for topics that you’re interested in. More keyword trackability = more niche followers = more engagement.

2. Don’t be that guy.

Use your hashtags as conversation tools, #dontspamyourfollowerswithatweetlikethis. A bad hashtag can transform that otherwise meaningful tweet into a noisy crow; remember that the unfollow option is always just a click away. One “spammy” hashtag and your following of typically happy tweeters will turn into a mob of angry birds.

3. Be a little nerdy

Stay current on the latest in your field of interest. Become a source of information rather than a receptacle for it. Follow the experts and use the same hashtags for similar topics you focus on.

4. But be the class clown too.

Don’t be too serious. Have fun with your tweets and hashtags. Pushing out relevant, interesting and humorous content? You’re a triple threat.

Why Should I Care?

Why is this relevant for SponsoredTweets? Well, the more followers you gain and retain, the larger your following will become. As your engaged following grows, so will your clicks and your cash flow.

Keep in Mind the reTweet!

ashley — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:58:52 +0000

Here’s a little tip for you, something to keep in mind when you’re crafting a Tweet (and this is with any Tweet, not just a Sponsored Tweet):

Always keep in mind that the message you publish could potentially be reTweeted by any of your Followers, or even people that don’t Follow you. One of my biggest pet peeves on Twitter is when I think a message is worth reTweeting, and I want to add a comment to the Tweet but can’t because there’s not enough room:

Yuck! In the example above I’m already down 15 characters. Most of the time when I’m presented with this, I just end-up not reTweeting, unfortunately. I don’t typically feel like taking the time to edit and get the message down to an amount of characters that will accommodate my comment. So see…the Tweeter loses out on having their message shared, along with the additional exposure of their Twitter profile. (Again, in the example above, the Outlets, Pinkberry and @attractions all lose out on additional exposure.)

Of course, if said Tweet is a Sponsored Tweet, then the Advertiser would’ve missed out on having their brand reach a larger audience, and you as the Tweeter may miss out on the opportunity to earn extra money (if the Tweet is a CPC Opp).

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think you’ll take greater note of how you craft your Tweets in the future?

Signing In to SponsoredTweets.com

ashley — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:24:28 +0000

Believe-it-or-not something as simple as signing in to a site can cause challenges for some. As is sometimes the case with Sponsored Tweets, as we get questions on Twitter and in our Support Forums. So here’s a little tip to help access your account on SponsoredTweets.com:

If you’re a Tweeter, you’ll want to click the “Sign in with Twitter” button after hitting “Log In.” This is the same information you use to sign in to Twitter – we connect to Twitter’s API and do not store your information (so if you ever have problems signing in to Sponsored Tweets, it’s most likely an issue on Twitter’s end).

If you’re an Advertiser, you’ll want to sign in with an e-mail address and password (which you originally used when you created a Sponsored Tweets account).

Here’s a visual to help out:

Refer a Friend and Make Some $$$

ashley — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:14:58 +0000

You like to make money, right? Of course you do, or you wouldn’t be using Sponsored Tweets! Many of you probably already know Sponsored Tweets has a referral program, but for those of you who don’t you can actually earn money doing…well, nothing!

Referring people to Sponsored Tweets is quite simple. First, sign in to your account. On the right-hand side of the page you’ll see a button that reads “join our referral program”:

Next, click the button and you’ll then be taken to a page explaining how the referral program works. Here you can also keep track of the people you’ve referred (“people you’ve referred” tab). To start referring, all you have to do is grab the link featured in the “your link” section of the page. NOTE: Do not use the link featured in the following image (unless you want your referral money to come to me). It is a unique tracking link and will not earn you money.

Seriously, does making money get any easier?! I think not!

When referring someone please keep in mind:

You will not earn any money until your referral makes a successful transaction.
You can sign someone up as an Advertiser and earn %5 of their transactions.
Referral money cannot be earned on promotional campaigns.
There are badges available for you to use, if you have a blog or website to post them on.

Have fun referring people, and don’t forget we’re here if you have any questions.

Sponsored Tweets » Insight