This confession serves to preface my stance in the Foursquare vs. Facebook Places battle that rages on in the world of marketing blogs and in the screenlit chats of geo-location enthusiasts. I’m here to swear my loyalty to Team Facebook Places, and before any of my Foursquare friends accuse me of hypocrisy, I’ll admit that I use both. But that’s because I quite honestly don’t know how to handle myself when I have to wait more than five seconds for a table or when I’m standing in any formation resembling a line.

Yet if pushed to choose between the two, I’d side with Facebook Places without question. And my reasoning isn’t based on numbers or statistics, but on one thing that we all know yet don’t want to admit (avert your eyes, Mom and Dad, because I know you’re convinced that a Facebook post gone awry will result in me getting burgled or worse).

Here’s the secret about me and most of the people I know: I want people to know where I am and what I’m doing.

If we’re honest, we’ve all got a little bit of the mythological Narcissus in us. The only difference is that the image of ourselves we can’t seem to tear ourselves away from is reflected on a computer screen, not a Grecian pool. We love seeing the way we appear to others, and we love when other people notice us. Admit it – you stand just a little taller when you hear the self-validating “ping” of a new Facebook notification. You collect “Likes” as if they’re the adult equivalent of gold star stickers. New friend requests are proof that you’re putting yourself out there, making friends, having fun.

But it’s not just an obsession with ourselves that we’re cultivating on Facebook; it’s that we are, more than ever, in control of how other people view us. We just want to be “Liked.” It’s human nature, an understanding of which Facebook has capitalized on – and something that smart marketers can take advantage of, too.

Which brings me back to Facebook Places. Ultimately, I check in at a given place to share some insight into my life with my friends, coworkers, family members and even those people who fall into the “maybe I met you but have no idea who you are” friend category.

I want local friends to see that I’m at the corner bar so they can meet up for a drink. I want my sixth grade frenemy to know that I grew out of that awkward hair phase and am now seated at the salon whose waitlist spans the duration of an entire human gestation period. I want my foodie friends to see that I’m dining on kangaroo and pear cactus at that quirky new fusion restaurant in the city. I want my former soccer coach to notice my regular gym check-ins and accept them as a belated apology for the daggers I shot at him with my eyes for making me run sprints after practice.

Sure, I can check in at any of these places on Foursquare and a handful of people will see. If they go to the trouble of looking. Alternately, I can check in using Facebook, where my location pops up on my profile and takes its rightful place on the news feeds of hundreds of my closest friends, even those without smartphones.

I know I said I wouldn’t, but let’s talk numbers. If we take the average number of friends people have on Foursquare and Facebook (5-8 and 229, respectively), there’s a potential for at least 221 more people to see my check-in on Facebook . Which is a lot more. 2762% more. And if I tag my friends in my Facebook check-in? You don’t need an exact percentage to figure out that exposure to hundreds of people is more beneficial for your business than a tiny fraction of that.

For those of you with a hankering for more statistics, Facebook just reached 750 million active users. Foursquare claims a mere 1.3% of that number with 10 million users. More numbers, you say? Thirty million people were Facebook Places users as of last October. Which is, math lovers, three times the total number of people currently on Foursquare.

Okay, okay, I know people can “share” their Foursquare check-ins on their various social networks. But only 20% of people push their check-ins to Facebook and Twitter. Thank God – the only thing more annoying than seeing the big square Foursquare map clogging up my Facebook newsfeed is when someone posts about a catastrophic failure of their internet corn or a bad sale of virtual livestock.

My point is that if I’m going to check in somewhere, I’m going to do it where my online self and my online friends live. Which is why, if you’re a business, you want me to check in to your Place on Facebook. Some people may need a little more coaxing to check in, but creating a Facebook Deal is a simple trade-off for all of those impressions.

If I come to your place, I will be your best word of mouth marketer. You won’t even have to pay me for it. You may never even meet me.  But the chance is pretty high that one of my 900+ friends will find themselves thinking of you after they’ve seen your name alongside “Most delicious sandwich I’ve ever eaten” or “Relaxing at the spa!” or “OMG Best bar in the universe!!!!!!!!!”

If a video gets posted to YouTube but no one sees it, was it worth making?

Bad news for brands hoping to make it big on YouTube: With nearly 2 billion videos being served up on the site each day, it’s virtually impossible for your branded video to break through the clutter of dancing babies and anesthesia gone wrong and “go viral,” even if Carol from HR thinks it was the funniest thing she’s seen since the final episode of Cheers.

But that shouldn’t stop any brand from exploring opportunities within YouTube (or any other video sharing site). If you implement the below tips properly, branded Web videos can:

- Increase search engine optimization for terms related to a company.

- Drive brand awareness.

- Tell better, more in-depth brand stories.

And, with proper optimization, it’s possible to get some serious eyeballs to your video. So here are some of MGH’s simple tips for optimizing YouTube videos and driving viewership

1. Categorization: Arguably the biggest mistake made by users hoping to make it big on YouTube is in improper categorization of videos.

Most users assume that a video needs to be categorized as “Entertainment” or “Comedy” in order to reach the masses looking for funny viral videos, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. “Entertainment” and “Comedy” are, without a doubt, the two most popular categories on the site, making them two of the hardest categories to break through.

So rather than trying to compete with the next viral sensation, MGH recommends categorizing your video in a less popular category, such as “Travel & Events” or “People & Blogs.” Sounds boring, but this will increase your video’s exposure, while making it easier to reach the top of its category.

2. Tags and titles: What good is a video if no one can find it? Having a video that is easily accessible and favored by search engines starts with a proper title and tags.

When trying to rank against a certain term, such as your brand name, it’s imperative that your video’s title include that phrase at least once. However many recommend including that phrase twice; once at the front of the title, and once at the back (ex. “J. Crew – New Fall Line from J. Crew”).

As an added trick to drive viewership, include words within your title that make it appear more exciting than other videos within its category. Videos that include terms such as “exclusive,” “first-look,” and “new” tend to out-perform those that don’t. Capitalizing these words, while slightly obnoxious, can also attract even more clicks.

Also make sure to tag your videos with as many terms as apply. Use variations of terms to make sure Google can understand in cases of varying search terms (ex. “shoe” “shoes” “sneaker” “sneakers”). And be sure that your tags match terms used in your video title and description.

3.  Front-loading: Unbeknownst to most viewers, YouTube has a ranking system for newly uploaded videos. Videos that receive a high number of views, comments, and/or ratings within a 48-hour period receive, what-is-called, YouTube Honors. Videos that collect these Honors benefit from better placement on the site, and more views.

The key to earning these Honors is timing. As mentioned, you have 48 hours to earn a YouTube Honor. After that time, your video will likely become just one in a billion.

To avoid becoming just another video and to propel you into viral bliss, front-load your video promotion efforts. Send to every contact you have through email, Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc., and encourage them to not only watch the video, but to leave a rating and a comment. Ask them to post on their own networks – and do it quickly!

If your video receives enough views, ratings, and comments within the alloted time period, it will be earn an Honor, bumping it to the front of its category.

While your video may never reach the depths of  ”David After Dentist” or “Double Rainbow“, branded videos still assist in SEO and can help portray the personality of your brand. Just do it right, spread the word quickly and watch the views fly.

There’s something special happening in Baltimore right now.  Something almost indescribable.

The best way to explain it is to say that there’s a social media revolution happening in and around the city of Baltimore.  That’s right – a social media revolution.  And if you’re reading this, you’re about to watch a beautiful (and somewhat nerdy) flower blossom.

Each and every day, we witness a whole new flock of businesses and consumers joining the many social sites that we’ve been following for a quite some time now.  They’ve heard the buzz about these new communication tools, and they want in.  They’re expanding their personal networks, but also fueling a growing machine that’ll eventually connect each and every individual in and around the city of Baltimore.

On top of that, local web developers and marketing teams are developing ideas, sites and tools that are positioning the city as a major player in the social media realm.  Here are a few examples of what’s happening (if you haven’t already heard):

VisitMyBaltimore.com

Developed by FastSpot for the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, this reincarnation of a previous video-sharing site serves as an aggregator for all things Baltimore on the web.  Driven by three primary content areas – Watch, Look, and Listen – the site pulls in videos, pictures, and ‘tweets’ from the user’s accounts on the major social sites (YouTube, Twitter, Flickr).  The site’s users utilize this constantly updated content to define local attractions, events, restaurants, etc.  The site is years ahead of its time, and will undoubtedly be “mimicked” by other destinations.

*Disclaimer* The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association is a client of MGH.  The site is still awesome though.

600Block.com

There are an endless number of consumer review sites floating around the web right now, but 600Block.com is the one that finally got it right.  Local reviews of restaurants, attractions, and stores written by those who know them best are what make 600Block special.  Users create their “scene” in order to receive updates about the city’s newest dining options to the drink specials that can be found in town on a random Tuesday night (you have no idea how handy this can be).  Rumor has it that there’s also an iPhone application in development.  Okay…it’s not a rumor.  I saw it, and it’s awesome.

Beehive Baltimore

What do you get when you shove a bunch of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs into a room?  Most of the time, a lot of arguing and bickering.  But that’s not the case for Beehive Baltimore.  Beehive’s mission is to provide a common workspace for Baltimore’s creative professionals, hoping that ideas will be “cross-pollinated” (get it?) and that the business community will be better off because of them.  For a minimal fee, anyone can spend the day at Beehive and bounce ideas back and forth between the center’s attendees.  It’s a new way of doing business, and one that’s sure to produce results that will benefit the city as a whole.

It’s been said that Baltimore would be more aptly named “Smalltimore”.  Cliché, yes. But as these connectivity tools continue to develop and become populated by the city’s residents, we might need to request that name change.

Image c/o Grufnik (Flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/grufnik/

Written by Ryan Goff (@ryanatmghwom)

If the answer to either of those questions is no, then MGH WOM would most likely explain why we would not recommend a social media campaign and work to see what other advertising and/or marketing solutions would best meet the clients needs.

The thing is, we want our client’s campaigns to succeed as it is a reflection of our recommendations; however, if they do not have the authority or capacity to listen and respond, then we do not want to put them in a position to fail. Period.

A few weeks ago, I read a blog entry (via @whatsnext) about the reasons a company should not use Twitter, and it got me thinking about our duty to clients to offer them solutions that just aren’t fun and new, but effective.

BL Ochman, the author of that blog entry, was right on when she said companies should NOT tweet if it needs to protect its updates, needs to be approved by legal or if the company is not going to respond when people direct tweets at it. Put simply, it’s just not wise for a brand to be in any social forum where they can’t/won’t/don’t want to interact and respond. And, if that’s the case, that’s okay. Social media just isn’t the place for them…yet.

That said, we honestly believe that there is no better way to connect with customers and receive open and honest feedback than through emerging social mediums. But, it has also become absolutely necessary to realize what is required to make it successful.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think social networking is for everyone? Would you recommend becoming involved on a network if you knew the company couldn’t respond in real time? Discuss.

Written by: Ashley (@ahrycyk)

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• Putting Twitter’s World to Use
• Twitter: A Marketer’s Duct Tape