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Friday, May 18th, 2012
Facebook, the world’s most popular social network, is well-known for letting its users share content – now investors can grab shares in the site itself, after the company floated on the Nasdaq stock market in New York.
Anticipation for the flotation has risen in recent months, after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans for an IPO (initial public offering). Stocks were initially set at a price of around $38.
The flotation was supposed to open at 4pm today (Friday), but was delayed by around 30 minutes. Zuckerberg finally dinged the bell to signal the sale start at 4.30pm.
If the shares sell at $38 each, it would value Facebook at around $104bn – even more than retail leader Amazon.
It is expecting to raise around $18.4bn from the sale of shares – even adding an extra 84 million after interest skyrocketed.
How the sale goes remains to be seen – with concerns about Facebook’s longevity and ability to raise ad revenue making some investors hesitant to commit.
The world of social media marketing will be watching with interest.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.
Tags: facebook, float, flotation, investors, IPO, nasdaq, network, shares, social, stocks, zuckerberg
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
General Motors, one of the biggest advertisers in the world, says it is no longer going to pay for advertising on Facebook – as the popular social network readies its initial public offering on the stock market.
Facebook is a free service with some 800million users worldwide: it makes its money from data-related, targeted advertising. The IPO valuation puts the company somewhere around the $100bn mark – based on potential revenue streams such as paid ads.
The timing of GM decision could prove to be the first dent in Facebook’s IPO plans.
According to Reuters, the company is yet to confirm the reason behind its decision. GM was thought to spend around $40m a year on Facebook – with around $10m of that paying for advertising.
GM has been one of the biggest proponents of social media ads – even using an entirely digital strategy to launch the Chevrolet Sonic last October.
The move to withdraw from Facebook’s advertising appears to be down to a lack of return on investment.
GM is quoted by Reuters as saying it will continue to maintain its free Facebook brand and car pages, as these continue to be “a very effective tool for engaging with our customers.”
GM said: “It’s not unusual for us to move our spending around various media outlets. In terms of Facebook specifically, while we currently do not plan to continue with advertising, we remain committed to an aggressive content strategy through all of our products and brands.”
Conversely, Ford Motor Co – another leading company in the world of Internet marketing, and an early embracer of social media – says it plans to boost its spending on Facebook, including paying for more adverts.
Around 20% of their marketing budget goes on social media marketing initiatives – including a huge push for the Fiesta, a car absent from the US market for almost 30 years. As a result of that campaign, costing $5m, Ford claims 60% of Americans were aware of the brand – something which may have cost $100m to achieve with traditional ads and marketing.
Whether GM’s decision does eventually impact on Facebook’s IPO, raises questions about the longevity of its financial strategy, or causes a cascade of advertising pull-outs from big brands remains to be seen.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: advertising, budget, cars, facebook, Ford, GM Motors, internet marketing, IPO, online, Paid Ads, Social network, US
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Friday, May 11th, 2012
Microsoft’s search offering, Bing, has undergone another revamp. And with a huge focus on social, Bing may have found a way to begin to oust Google from search dominance.
After joining a ‘search alliance’ with Yahoo!, the “New Bing” will try to usurp Google by offering things it currently can’t.
Of course, Bing will still return normal organic search results and paid ads, just like it used to.
But now its social annotations, scraped from public information across a variety of social networks, are being lumped into a special sidebar, giving you the chance to interact with social friends.
The sidebar will pull information from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare and even Google+.
Google has already fallen out with Twitter, and, to a lesser extent, with Facebook. It can’t return Twitter profiles in its search results, because the microblogging site has blocked their spiders.
Not so with Bing.
Whereas Google has faced accusations of throttling social results – leading Facebook and Twitter to publicly demand “Don’t be Evil” (a cheeky nod to Google’s original ethos) whilst falling out with the search giant – Bing isn’t discriminating.
Google isn’t going to be able to pull info from Twitter or public posts from Facebook until relations are mended. In the meantime, Bing has a big open deal which could allow it to steal a march on Google.
The ramifications of this social focus, on both search engine optimisation and pay per click campaigns, could be huge. It would see an integrated Internet marketing approach, where search marketing and advertising is combined with social media.
Friend recommendations could become key selling tools, for instance. Group discounts for social groups with similar interests could be offered. It’s still early days, but the potential to create more joined-up marketing campaigns certainly exists.
Bing has been quick to point out that in a blindfolded taste test – much like those undertaken during the 1980s cola wars between Coke and Pepsi – search users preferred Bing’s search results to Google’s.
“We regularly test unbranded results, removing any trace of Google and Bing branding,” they said. “When we did this study in January of last year, 34% preferred Bing, whilst 38% preferred Google.
“The same unbranded study now shows that Bing search results have a much wider lead over Google’s. When shown unbranded search results, 43% prefer Bing, whilst only 28% prefer Google results.”
Of course, internal market research is hard to qualify. And Bing still needs to convince people to leave the relative comfort zone of Google and try something new.
If that works, though, then Google could face a real fight to maintain its position.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: Bing, facebook, Google, LinkedIn, online marketing, optimisation, PPC, results, search, SEO, social, twitter, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine Optimisation
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Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Facebook marketing is getting more expensive – even though less users are clicking on ads on the giant social network, according to a new report.
Research from one Facebook-focussed agency and verified by Cambridge University claims advertisers are forking out 15% more per click now than at the same time last year.
The study looked at Facebook advertising in 190 countries, involving 235 brands.
It found that costs per click had risen by around 23% in the top five countries, US, UK, Canada, France and Germany in the first three months of 2012, whilst the average cost of acquiring a Facebook fan has risen by 77% in the UK.
The rise in ad costs comes against an actual decrease in clickthrough rates on Facebook ads – around six per cent less Facebook users are clicking on paid ads now than at the start of 2011.
Facebook is launching a much-anticipated stock market flotation, with a valuation of around $100bn. Having access to 800m+ global users is a huge bargaining tool for Facebook – but the key is whether the social network can make money out of its popularity. Around 85% of Facebook’s revenue comes from advertising.
The business-end of the rise of social networks will mean an increased focus on paid-for advertising, making conversions a more important facet of social media marketing.
The study also shows that the UK is now the second most profitable social network advertising market, overtaking Canada and now just behind the US.
One of the biggest trend changes on Facebook is the number of clicks on news items – the launch of the social reader app has seen clicks rise 196% in quarter-on-quarter comparisons.
In terms of click costs, the research also revealed that the financial services industry is paying out more than anyone else for Facebook ads – around three and a half times more than the average food or drink marketer pays.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: clickthrough, cost per click, facebook, Facebook Ads, internet marketing, online marketing, paid search, social media advertising
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Monday, April 16th, 2012
Forget the outcry about SOPA – one of Google’s co-founders claims Facebook, not political meddling, is the “greatest threat” to internet freedom.
When the US congress began looking at SOPA – the Stop Online Piracy Act – the world-wide web went ballistic: claiming the act was so loosely worded, it could lead to political infringement which would, amongst other things, usurp the American right to free speech and shut down the “open web”. The anger spread quickly and countless sites protested about the legislation.
Whilst most webmasters may tell you they’re still keeping an eye on the political rumblings regarding SOPA-style legislature, over at Google, it seems something else entirely is causing a bee-in-the-bonnet-style headache.
Funnily enough, that something is Facebook.
According to Sergey Brin, who co-founded Google with Larry Page, the social network site is creating a “walled garden” which could lead to a loss of freedom on the net.
Brin claims Facebook’s rules are very restrictive, so much so that had they been applied to the web during the development of Google, the search engine may never have come to fruition.
He told the Guardian there were “very powerful forces” who opposed an open internet – naming Facebook and Apple specifically, and claiming “it’s scary.”
The comments came after several US employers were chastised in the past few weeks for asking prospective staff members for access to their social media profiles.Whilst Facebook was quick to point out such intrusion was against its terms of service, the debate has continued as to whether employers should, or shouldn’t, be granted access to personal information.
Brin has widened the debate, claiming Governments are trying to access, and control, public communication. In China and Saudi Arabia, for instance, this state censorship is prevalent and largely decried by the West. Ironically, the issue of such censorship is creeping into democratic Western countries now.
In the UK, several online instant messengers were hauled over the coals during UK parliamentary inquiries which followed last summer’s riots. The riots followed violent anti-government uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, amongst others, which were largely attributed to the dissemination of information via sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Brin, who was originally against Google operating in China, where the Government is renowned for censorship and propaganda, said simple shifts in online behaviour, such as people using apps in Facebook or via Apple devices, were restricting web freedom.
“All the information in apps – that data is not crawlable by web crawlers. You can’t search it,” he said, an effect which could greatly affect future search engine optimisation campaigns.
And he has a point. But then, Google has a vested interest in searchable information.
Brin’s underlying message is backed by the 14 million-member online activist site Avaaz – but his attack on Facebook has been seen as something as a cheapshot.
He claimed Google could never have been developed under Facebook’s “restrictive” rules – saying the success of Google hinged on an “open, transparent web”. Brin criticised the ‘walled garden’ effect of sites like Facebook, and said that effect would, ultimately, lead to a less open Internet.
But, oddly, he didn’t mention Google+, Google’s recently-launched, and far less popular social network rival to Facebook.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: apple, apps, facebook, Google, Larry Page, open internet, sergey brin, social networks, sopa, twitter, walled gardens, web freedom
Posted in Search Engine News
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Friday, April 13th, 2012
Social media usage continues to rise, without any sign of reaching a saturation point in the near future, as Christian Arno points out in an article published on Search Engine Watch.
Arno pulls together statistics from a number of different sources to paint a picture of social media usage in 2012 – and generally speaking, it’s good news for those engaged in social media marketing. Some of the key statistics that he mentions are:
- Last month, EMarketer predicted that the number of people using social networks would increase by 19.2 per cent compared to last year – bringing the total number of users up to 1.43 billion
- A Pew Internet survey conducted last year discovered that 65 per cent of internet users in the US used social networking sites. In addition, 61 per cent of adults under the age of 30 used these sites at least once per day. The figure for daily usage amongst internet users between 50 and 64 was 32 per cent
- Another survey from late last year found that 96 per cent of companies surveyed would be spending more money on social media marketing
The article also looks at the continuing dominance of Facebook in 2012, pointing out that:
- The site has not faltered as the dominant social network since overtaking MySpace in 2008
- It boasts more than 845 million active users
- There are only six countries in the world in which Facebook is not the dominant social network – China (where TencentQZone is top of the pack), Russia (where Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki fight for the crown), as well as Japan, Vietnam, South Korea and Poland
- Facebook has recently tripled in audience size in the emerging Brazilian market, overtaking Orkut as the leading social media site in December
It looks like Facebook will rule the roost for some time. However, despite easily beating Twitter in terms of total users, Facebook is behind in terms of growth in the US. Twitter’s growth in the US will be four times greater than Facebook’s over the next two years, according to predictions made by The Realtime Report.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: Christian Arno, facebook, myspace, Search Engine Watch, twitter
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
Social media powerhouse Facebook will buy Instagram – the popular mobile photography app – for a staggering US$1 billion.
Instagram has already proven itself to be extremely popular with casual Facebookers and social media marketing professionals alike, with around 30 million registered users.
The buyout, the latest in a series of acquisitions by Facebook, was announced by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg in a post on his own timeline yesterday.
In the announcement, Zuckerburg assured users that Instagram would retain its own identity, saying: “We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.
“Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people,” he continued.
Zuckerburg also stressed that Instagram users would still be able to follow people and have followers entirely independently from their Facebook friends list, and will continue to be able to choose not to share Instagram photos on Facebook.
Instagram has seen enormously fast growth, despite being a baby in business terms.
The two-year-old company has just 13 employees and a virtually-non-existent bottom line. In a widely-reported comparison, the $1 billion paid for Instagram could bag the New York Times, which has been published continously since 1851.
Ali Harris, content manager at ClickThrough Marketing, gave his own spin on the situation today: “I don’t think that Instagram’s revenues are at all important to Facebook at this stage. I’m sure the takeover was inspired by user base, brand and features.
“Because despite sharing photos being an integral part of the Facebook experience, Facebook itself has never managed to make it quite as cool as Instagram has.”
Ali went on to praise the photo sharing app’s phenomenal rise: “We’ve seen Instagram take off like a rocket recently, and indeed we use the app ourselves here at ClickThrough. It’s great for sharing great-looking snaps in a matter of seconds, which is a godsend for those working in social media marketing”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.
Tags: facebook, instagram, Mark Zuckerburg
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Friday, March 30th, 2012
Industrial firms have firmly embraced social media marketing, according to an article published on ThomasNet today.
Seven out of ten small to medium-sized suppliers are already engaging with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as well as other channels, in an effort to promote themselves.
Thomas Industrial Group surveyed more than 3000 businesses, finding that many industrial firms already use social media to market products and services, gain new business, conduct research and forge relationships with their customer base.
The study also found that 56 per cent of buyers are more keen to do business with suppliers that have a social media presence. Perhaps unsurprisingly, industrial suppliers are now using social en masse, with 20 percent saying that they used social platforms to learn about customer’s opinions, 27 percent to find new prospects, and 41 percent to provide information on the products and services that they offer.
It isn’t all good news, however. The results suggest that those companies that fail to get on board the social train are at risk of losing business opportunities to those who have already engaged with social media platforms.
Susan Orr, senior director, strategic marketing at Thomas Industrial Network said: “The industrial sector is awakening to the fact that social media isn’t just a passing consumer fancy, but an essential part of any branding and marketing programme.”
Orr also stressed that social media campaigns require careful management, saying: “Savvy suppliers also understand that the most effective social media programs need constant care and feeding. To influence prospective buyers, suppliers need to continually update their social media content, and to be actively engaging in and initiating conversations.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, PPC, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: facebook, industry, LinkedIn, twitter
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
The first big social network in the UK, Friends Reunited, is set to relaunch with a new focus on online nostalgia.
The website was one of the pioneers of social media: offering old school friends a place to meet up, reminisce and contact lost loves.
At its height, Friends Reunited had 20 million users – small potatoes when compared to Facebook’s 800m-strong base – but still a huge figure considering Friends Reunited opened in 2000 and peaked almost a decade ago.
In 2005, ITV bought out the site for £175m, but by then, MySpace had already become the network of choice. Just two years later, MySpace was abandoned in favour of Facebook. Friends Reunited saw its userbase fall and it became all-but-forgotten.
ITV cut its losses and shifted the site for £25.6m in 2009, selling to publisher Brightsolid, but losing £150m on its original investment.
Brightsolid has since been looking at ways to rejuvenate the site: and has settled on a nostalgia focus.
It believes providing an open network for reminiscing, sharing memories and asking questions to fill the gaps in long-forgotten will be unique enough to attract users back. The homepage offers users the chance to log-in with their Facebook account, so it’s clear Brightsolid hasn’t set its sights on dislodging the current king of social networks.
The refocus has been based loosely on the success of a brand new social site, Pinterest.
In an interview with BBC News, Brightsolid chief executive Chris van der Kuyl said: “We wouldn’t do this if we thought it was just another also-ran. It’s about every blast from your past – every kind of great memory you have.”
Rather than relying solely on users’ recollections, Friends Reunited has enlisted professional archivists, including the British Library and the Press Association, to provide historical information, newspaper clippings, and other documents, which users can then attach to their “memory box”. The boxes can then be shared with other Friends Reunited users, or posted to Facebook via a special app.
Friends Reunited will stay free at first, but clearly, Brightsolid will investigate potential revenue streams, such as nostalgic brand pages. How effective the site could be for social media marketing remains to be seen.
It’s likely older users will make up most of Friends Reunited’s userbase: it’s unlikely to draw younger users away from Pinterest or Tumblr or Facebook – but, with a focus on simplicity, and memories from the past, it may be that less web-savvy, older Internet users help make this relaunch worthwhile for Brightsolid.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, Pay Per Click Services, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Tags: brightsolid, facebook, friends reunited, myspace, network, nostalgia, Pinterest, Social Media
Posted in Social Media Marketing
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Thursday, March 22nd, 2012
Only 33 per cent of businesses have a long-term strategy in place for social media marketing, according to white papers recently released by Facebook.
Dubbed ‘Social Media Blueprints’, the documents have been compiled using surveys conducted with business leaders.
Just one-third of those surveyed agreed with the statement: “We have a long term strategy for becoming a social business,” whilst 76 per cent concurred that: “Social media is important for brand-building for our business.”
More worryingly, whilst 59 per cent of company chiefs believe that the future looks uncertain for businesses that fail to fully embrace social media, nearly half of those surveyed felt that they had not yet completely integrated social media throughout their business.
Facebook’s blueprints aim to help businesses ‘fill in the gaps’ that are preventing them from becoming 100 per cent social, and identify opportunities to engage with customers more effectively using social media platforms.
The first document, nicknamed the ‘Brand Building Blueprint’ focuses, as its name implies, on articulating a brand’s identity in the social world, and creating a compelling voice with which to engage with consumers.
The second, dubbed the ‘ORG Design Blueprint’, looks at the organisational changes that a company must make in order to implement its new social marketing strategy.
The two blueprints, produced in conjunction with Forrester Consulting, are the first in a series.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Tags: Brand, facebook, Likes, marketing, pages, Social Media
Posted in Social Media Marketing
