Let’s look at how to use apps in your Web 3.0 marketing. In these instances of apps, we are looking for software tools, add-ins and fun programs that help us accomplish a few things:
- Increase the relationship building among your prospects/client
- Aid in the experience your prospects/clients receive
- Make communication easier and faster
- Help with the fun factor in your marketing
Twitter Apps
One of the biggest problems marketers have with Twitter is the challenge of keeping up the large amounts of tweets and direct messages. This causes a delay in response time along with the chance of missing some critical information. As a result, Twitter has allowed developers to start building apps to aid in this dilemma — helping Twitter members organize and prioritize the hundreds or thousands of incoming tweets they receive every day.
My favorite Twitter apps include:
- Twitterific
- Google Desktop for Twitter
- TweetDeck
- Tweet Later
The first three allow you to manage your tweets, making it much faster to get back to people. Tweet Later allows you to set up an auto-response that goes out to anyone who follows you, among dozens of other uses.
Mobile Apps
There are thousands of apps for use across the most popular devices, including the iPhone and BlackBerry, among others. Many apps allow you to interact quicker with your Web 3.0 marketing sites. For example, there is an iPhone app that connects to your Twitter account, allowing you to tweet quicker! You can also shoot a short video or audio with your iPhone and have it tweeted instantly. Take this to another level with Ustream’s new live broadcast app. You can view, record and broadcast live.
Facebook Apps
I don’t consider Facebook a Web 3.0 company for one key reason: because the site is open to the masses. Remember: one of the key trends in the shift from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 is the openness of the Web. Consumers are flocking to more exclusive and private social networks rather than simply doing all their networking on Facebook. The site is a powerhouse and generates a lot of revenue for our clients, but the whole point is to talk about the next and coming trends and the trends that have already been in play that you don’t yet know about. Keep using Facebook, but know there is going to be a Facebook revolt in the very near future!
Although Facebook is not a Web 3.0 company, there are a variety of apps that help you use it as a Web 3.0 marketing tool.
Here are my seven favorite apps for use on Facebook:
- LinkedIn: This puts a convenient LinkedIn banner on your profile and a direct link to your LinkedIn profile.
- Books: This app allows people to see what you have read and are currently reading.
- Causes: Become an advocate of your favorite causes and charities, and even raise money right from your profile.
- Video: Upload video right to your profile with ease.
- Countdown Calendar: Use this cool app to have a countdown to anything you’d like, from your birthday, to an event you’re hosting or even to the New Year.
- Where I’ve been: If you travel, this is a must-have. It creates a slick map of the world showing the different places you have traveled.
- DivShare: Sharing MP3s, videos and other files is a breeze with this app.
Virtual Reality World Apps
Virtual reality world apps vary across the different virtual worlds. The main thing you need to keep in mind, however, is virtual reality world technology is already very advanced, so most of the apps are already prebuilt into the technology for use. So the ability to add different apps instantly to your virtual worlds is typically nonexistent.
Instead, here are two tactics we use:
- We use Camtasia or Jing to record our virtual reality world presentations. Since these take a lot of prep work, we want to make sure we capture these on camera and then distribute them afterward (typically for a fee) or as a giveaway to capture leads.
- We always have a direct link to our various virtual reality world profiles or links to our upcoming presentations. There are a few apps on sites like Facebook that allow you to do this in an easy and design-appealing fashion. These apps are similar in nature to the LinkedIn app.
Live streaming video apps
With the growing popularity of live video, apps are becoming increasingly available to support that activity. We’ve used a variety of apps to enhance our users’ experiences, but after surveying our users, they actually found most of the apps we used to be distracting to their viewing experience. After testing hundreds, we have settled on two totally different apps that we use on a regular basis.
- Games: We broadcast live presentations and shows that often have quite a bit of attendance. What we have found is that many people like to log on early before the broadcast starts. Rather than just have these early birds staring at a blank screen, we have had a few game apps developed to give them something to do beforehand. Our users like the various games we offer, so we continue to develop new, fun games or leverage other game apps already out there.
- Mobile viewing: The second app we use when it comes to live streaming video is the mobile-viewing and streaming apps. These applications allow our users to view our shows right from their iPhone (or other approved device). They also allow us to stream live video right from our cell phones. You have seen many cellphone-captured videos on YouTube, but I promise you, you have not seen a lot of live footage being broadcasted from a mobile phone. I use my mobile phone to broadcast sparingly as the quality isn’t there yet, but it’s improving daily.
Michael Tasner is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and charity proponent who specializes in helping people achieve their dreams in life and goals in business. He founded Taz Soultions, Inc., in 2000 and has built it into a leading Web marketing firm with more than 1000 contractors involved in all areas of online/Internet strategy, marketing, and web site design.
