Posts Tagged ‘social media’

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FaceBook Releases Internal data About Brand Engagement

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

FaceBook conduced a month-long study of 23 brands, which measured more than 1200 posts. The study was looking to see what sorts of posts produced the most engagement, measured by likes, shares and comments.

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“By far, the biggest predictor of engagement was that the post was on a topic relevant to the brand,” is the ultimate conclusion of the study and a common-sense approach. The brand was, after all, liked for a reason and sticking to that message is already proven to be important to viewers. Other methods that have shown success, even thought the finding says they are not necessarily predictive of engagement, is to ask viewers to comment. The prompts for comments work best when it is posed as a question that begins with why, where, when or how. Without those words the prompts are seen to be less effective.

To propel a post into a user’s timeline, and hence seen by that user’s friends, is to post photos or videos. Those posts are more likely to garner likes or shares, which is a necessary step for the elusive ‘going viral.’

While this is not a conclusive list for the social media agency, it is helpful. The study is careful to elaborate that some brands have more success going into unusual areas, the Skittles campaign for example, than other brands. The social media agency will need to play with its clients to see which work for them.

FaceBook reveals data that offers insight on rules of engagement

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Posted in Facebook, advertising, social media | No Comments »

Pinterest Is Still Valuable for Brands

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Not only is Pinterest growing in popularity, but it also boasts a better conversion rate than when a customer finds a product on a different social network. The reasons are still not entirely known, but there is speculation. The social media agency needs to take its clients onto Pinterest and possibly even use that as the main social network as its platform. Users are able to use Pinterest to share onto FaceBook and Twitter, so a focus on Pinterest does not leave the other networks in the cold.

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One of the concerns with Pinterest is the domination by women. That number is changing though. From January to March the percentage of men on the service rose from 20% to 28%. Most of these users are making a decent income. Almost half make between $25k to $50k each year. The next largest group resides in the $50k to $75k income bracket. One thing to note, however, is that a product’s pin is twice as likely to be shared if it does not include a price.

The most important data to consider is about the percentage of internet purchases derived from the main three social networks. FaceBook is still dominant but its dominance is slipping. From the second quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012 the percentage of referrals from FaceBook fell from 89% to 82%. Twitter’s relevance dropped precipitously from 10% to 1%. Pinterest seems to be the network stealing those numbers as its share rose from 1% to 17% of all purchases referred by a social network.

The social media agency needs to develop a Pinterest strategy. This strategy would also help on the other networks as images become more and more important to a brand’s attempts to recruit sales and conversions.

Measuring the interest in Pinterest

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Posted in Digital Marketing, Online Shopping, social media | No Comments »

Google Analytics Coming to Google+ Accounts

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Google has been updating its Analytics package to make it more powerful and easier for the social media agency to use. One thing missing, however, is social data. There is not (yet?) a pairing with FaceBook or with Twitter for access to that data. Those two social networks seem unlikely to cooperate with Google in any near future. Other social networks, however, might be more receptive. The easy partnership is with Google+ and leaked photos show that integration is coming. The integration appears simple enough, an existing GA account number entered into the appropriate tab and all the Google+ social data is now being tracked into an Analytics account.

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It will be easy for users to see the data, as a new tab from within Google+ will show the data, eliminating the need to log into a GA separately. The expected statistics will be measured: visits, pageviews, average time and bounce rate. This is a welcome addition to the social media agency’s arsenal, and will help significantly with measuring the effectiveness of a brand’s Google+ presence. Although, the ultimate problem with Google+ remains. It is relatively small compared to the alternatives. Businesses need to be on both Google+ and FaceBook, but no matter how brand-friendly Google makes the network it will always come in second unless it attracts more users and more frequent usage among its users.

Google+ Becomes Analytical

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Posted in Digital Marketing, google, social media | No Comments »

Google Will Launch a Commenting System

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

The FaceBook commenting system is found on millions of websites. Google has decided that it does not want to miss out on the action and is launching its own service. It will be just like the FaceBook version, where third party sites host it and the comments then track back into Google’s network. It’s the deeper integration that makes it possibly better than FaceBook’s system.

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Google will be able to combine its already large data pool with what people are saying on third party sites. Once Google also finishes its semantic data engine, then measuring what people say will be immediately testable against what they also buy and where they go online. The commenting system will also have some serious implications on Google’s search business.

The social media agency will be able to have a much more comprehensive understanding of their potential customers once this system goes into place. It might also be helpful to begin testing products and brands on different platforms so the commenting system will immediately begin accessing that information.

Google Battles Facebook

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Posted in Digital Marketing, Facebook, google, social media | No Comments »

Federal Trade Commission Reignites the Privacy legislation Debate

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

The FTC issued a report on Monday morning calling for more rules and practices governing “data brokers”, which are firms that trade in personal information like names, addresses and purchasing information. The FTC does acknowledge industry self-governing standards that were implemented and are in the process of being implemented. However, the FTC calls for more governance than the self-imposed kind.

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Not only should those self-imposed rules remain in place, but the industry should also create a centralized database outlining their practices. Congress is also being called upon to create legislation that would also provide more safeguards for individual consumers. Congress would codify the rules as well as create a system of rights that customers can appeal to. It would also clarify that do-not-track means not only do-not-advertise but also do-not-collect.

These concerns are old hat, which is not to say unfounded. The social media agency needs to do what it can to be fair and transparent as well to explain the benefits of these practices. Even though the FTC called for certain action, keeping public opinion in check is necessary to prevent Congressional legislation from overreaching. While the social media agency is often not the one doing the tracking, they are involved in the concerns and need to make sure the system appears as necessary and beneficial as possible.

The FTC Deals Privacy

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Posted in Customer Serivce, Internet News, social media | No Comments »

Twitter Hits Two Milestones

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

On Tuesday Twitter announced that it is now releasing promoted tweets into user’s timelines on mobile devices. The rollout is only for iOS and Android devices. Twitter is also allowing brands using promoted tweets to target desktops or mobile devices only, as well as specific platforms of the mobile devices.

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Until this announcement promoted tweets were limited to users that followed the brand purchasing the promotion. Twitter says it’s testing has gone very well and now similar interests will be enough to deliver a promoted tweet into a timeline.

Twitter also announced on Wednesday that it now has 140 million active users. 55% of those users log into their Twitter accounts at least once per month from a mobile device. This is a huge base of people that can be reached via Twitter. It is also a very quickly growing base. The 140 million figure represents a 40% growth since September.

Being able to reach people that are not a brand’s followers but that do show similar interests is a huge boon for the social media agency. Given the size of Twitter’s base and the ease of reaching them with promoted tweets, Twitter should be a top social network for brands’ outreach.

Twitter’s Milestone

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Posted in Mobile, Twitter, social media | No Comments »

Swaylo Offers Normally Hidden FaceBook data

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Swaylo is a new third party app for FaceBook. Users sign in to it and if they earn high enough influence scores, then Swaylo offers them free gifts and reduced items. The catch is that the user must give Swaylo access to not only his data but also to friends’ data. Swaylo then offers users a range of data about their impact and their audience on FaceBook. It is a unique service Swaylo offers not only to individual users but also to brands and social media agencies.

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Swaylo sells the collected data. There is some disagreement about if this violates FaceBook’s terms of services, but Swaylo management has an argument that might protect them. Even if the argument does not stand up to eventual scrutiny that is possibly a reason why firms should consider contacting Swaylo while they can.  An executive from Horizon Media says Swaylo’s data is much better than what FaceBook’s Insights offers. Horizon Media has decided to pass on partnering with Swaylo until FaceBook reviews the app and potential blowback has been assessed. It’s a prudent course of action and one that social media agencies need to consider.

The payoff for a well-sorted data set is not a secret. There is room for blowback, although it might be directed at the user who allowed an app to access his friends’ data. Regardless of what does happen brands need to take a look at the service and evaluate if it is for them. Aside from purchasing the data, using it as a platform to offer discounts for a brand’s goods might also turn out to be lucrative once its user base widens.

Swaylo Reveals Facebook

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Posted in Digital Marketing, Facebook, social media | No Comments »

More FaceBook Changes Impacting Businesses

Monday, March 19th, 2012

Most already know about the coming March 30 deadline for FaceBook’s Timeline implementation. There are some other changes in the pipeline that will have some effects on how the social media agency runs business.

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This column has already discussed the new cover image. It’s large and also includes four buttons that are immediate calls to action. In a similar vein FaceBook is changing the formatting of photos and videos. They will now appear larger and more immediate to the viewer. FaceBook is concerned about the way businesses can tell stories, so this will help. It is also possible (click the star icon in the upper right corner) to have a post span both sides of the Timeline.

FaceBook is also now allowing brands to post milestones. These will appear as special moments on the Timeline and draw attention to the growth of the brand. This will also be helpful as a way to draw attention to certain events and thus possibly downplay the attention given to others.

FaceBook is expanding its FaceBook Offers. More brands than the current few will have access and it will help businesses offer deals to its fans. New offers will be sent through the newsfeed of fans. FaceBook will also be emailing the offers to subscribing viewers. The business will not be given access to the users email address, but the offer will at least be out there.

These are some exciting changes. Businesses will be able to have a much more dynamic and engaging presence on the social network after they roll out. There will be much for the social media agency to play with.

Facebook Expands and Changes

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Posted in Digital Marketing, Facebook, social media | No Comments »

Online Consumer Reviews Are Well Trusted

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

The social media agency should be encouraged by the results from the 2012 Local Consumer Review Survey. Only 15% of respondents had said they did not use the internet to find a local business and 16% said they use the internet every week to do so. The ratio of that split was similar to the split when asked about using online reviews to determine if a business is a good one to visit. 27% regularly use online reviews and 24% never use online reviews.  Most consumers, 67%, read between 2 and 10 reviews each week and only 7% said they read more than 20 each week. The final result is that 58% of customers trust a business that has an online review of it posted and these reviews are trusted by 72% of people as much as they trust personal recommendations.

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Social media agencies need to be more focused on cultivating positive reviews than ever before. Part of this mission will require the social media agency to be more attuned to being present on sites that easily collect reviews and allow them to be searchable. Brands will then need to encourage customers to leave reviews. It may be possible to offer discounts or some exclusive item for reviewers. The temptation will need to be resisted, however, to leave fake positive reviews or to encourage positive reviews. A rumor of deception will take any good will among those that have had positive experiences and prevent any gains from positive reviews. Positive reviews only gain such a premium in a world where they are trusted.

Trustworthy Customer Reviews

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Posted in Customer Serivce, Online Shopping, social media | No Comments »

Blogging Continues To Grow

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

By the end of 2011 there were over 181 million blogs of enough prominence to be tracked by NM Incite, which is a Nielsen/McKinsey Company. That number is a significant bump from the halcyon days immediately before FaceBook took over the internet. Blogging has shown a steady rise not only in publisher but also in the numbers of people that read them. Even with a FaceBook domination, blogging is still on the rise.

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NM Incite also has some data about who these bloggers are. Most of them are women and most of them have graduated from college. Mothers are one out of every three bloggers and over half of the bloggers have children younger than 18. They are also most likely to post and share on social media sites and to share content on those networks and not just on their blogs.

Blogger, owned by Google, is the second largest social networking site second only to FaceBook. This is important for the social media agency because it is easy to overlook or even forget about blogs in the craze of social network growth. FaceBook, Twitter and, now, Pinterest are fantastic outlets, but they still lack a comprehensive hold on how people share their preferences on the internet. This is especially important because Blogger is owned by Google and many Wordpress blogs offering advertising are partnered with Google’s Adwords. Reaching out to bloggers can still be a valuable marketing campaign, possibly even more so than the services measured by Klout and other metrics.

Blogging on the Rise

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Posted in Facebook, google, social media | No Comments »

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