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In 2012, the majority of big companies operate, or have at least dabbled with, social media marketing campaigns on a regular basis; despite this many still struggle to get a ROI (return on investment), according to Kritsta Neher, writing for ClickZ.
As a relatively new marketing platform, mistakes are, and will continue, to be made on social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and now, Google+.
Neher has created a list of common errors made by businesses when conducting social media marketing campaigns; here are just a few of them:
Too much focus on fans/friends/followers – By and large people determine the success of their social media marketing campaigns based on how many fans/friends/followers they’ve gained – this shouldn’t be the case.
A recent study, conducted by PageLever, revealed that just 3 to 7.5 per cent of fans of a business’ Facebook page see the posts produced. Instead of obsessing over fans/friends/followers, look to produce the highest quality content you can – this will get more people reading what you produce and improve your ROI.
Not knowing how to respond to questions posed by fans – People who take notice of your social media presence do so for a reason – they expect your business to communicate and provide regular updates. Be prepared to answer the questions and queries posed by those who take the time to follow or like you.
A non-response won’t do your reputation any good. To prepare Neher recommends: “Make a list of the top ten questions you’re asked on the phone. Also make a list of the top ten PR crises that you have had in the past five years. Be prepared to handle these on social networks.”
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There does seem to be a constant erosion of privacy by social networks, and the announcement this week that Google’s latest privacy changes will use data across the entire product set is already subject to criticism. LinkedIn introduced social ads last summer which had a default opt-out setting for your name and photo to be used publicly in advertising on the network. Facebook has caused untold furores with its many privacy changes and this week is ‘forcing’ users to adopt the new Timeline.
The need to monetise social networks and apps and services is of course standard business practice. However, the consumer created content which leads to the growth and potential of services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube etc should not come as cheaply as it does to the network. The harvesting and use of personal details in order to attract advertisers is the payment that the users have to make in order to generate the profits for the network. This is not on a commission or affiliate level, but is ‘gifted’ freely to the network to do with as they choose. However, the depths to which some social networks seem willing to go in order to maximise this “free” content seems to increase rather than decrease over time. It is this seemingly never ending of the pushing of the limits of privacy decency with little respect for opt-in, permissions, or even the awareness of the users, that is worrying privacy advocates.
Despite protestations to the contrary, there would seem to be a casual yet ruthless attitude towards users’ privacy, mainly due to the cut throat market the networks are in. Facebook has been forced to add the strapline – it’s free and it always will be – after unfounded rumours that users would be charged to use the social site, leaving Facebook with one less route to capitalising on their enormous user base. (Friends Reunited, for instance, made its money by charging a nominal £4-5 per annum to access additional data on friends such as email addresses). However, the continuous drip drip introduction of default settings that require action by the user, rather than opt in, is telling about the attitudes which prevail amongst the internet giants.
LinkedIn require you to opt out from having your name and photo used on advertising across the site. Although this was introduced last summer, it is likely that a vast proportion of the users of LinkedIn remain unaware of the change. For many, the account and privacy settings on Facebook are simply too complex to work out what is being shown to whom. Google+ endeavoured to address these concerns by allowing you to choose precisely the people with whom you shared content, but the inclusion of Google+ posts in top search results, as well as the latest privacy changes across all of Google’s real estate, may have unravelled that feelgood strategy.
There have been users leaving the social networks in protest, but for many the privacy issue, or rather the possible results of such policies, is still unclear – what harm does it do me? Meanwhile, there are a number of start ups looking to create privacy enhanced and open source social networks, but the real benefit of social networks is when *everyone* you know is on them and a start up with limited members will struggle to compete with the phenomenal global user base that is Facebook today. (By the end of 2012, it is estimated that more than a billion people will be using Facebook).
How do you feel about the social networks use of your personal data? Would you leave a social network because of its privacy policy? What changes would be one step too far for you to stay?
Facebook is planning to give away around £4.2M of advertising to help SMEs, according to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, through the AdBoost programme. This campaign will offer £80 of Facebook ads to companies across Europe, hopefully encouraging more small businesses to use Facebook effectively for internet and social media marketing.
The new Facebook programme is being launched with the British Chamber of Commerce and businesses will be helped with the creation of Facebook pages, engaging with users, and using the ever-growing selection of Facebook tools for advertising on the network.
Small businesses can struggle to commit fully to social media marketing, often not grasping the importance of it for their business growth and reach, or finding it difficult to define a clear strategy for doing so. Small businesses also suffer from a lack of human resources and social media is, by its very nature, time consuming. However, this is where an agency can help, by offering additional resources, expertise and value for money marketing.
A simple Facebook page and associated advertising across the Facebook social network can help SMEs in many ways. For example, by allowing loyal customers to share their recommendations to others, including to their friends through posts on both their walls and the business page. For businesses who struggle to keep a blog updated, it can provide an easy, short form method for keeping customers in touch with new products, offers, sales, or events. However, it should be remembered that not all of the target audience of any business will use Facebook and so a more comprehensive internet marketing strategy will be required to attain maximum potential.
It is to be hoped that the free ad credits will not go to waste and that the 50,000 SMEs Facebook is intending to help across UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany will benefit from the exposure. Start creating your ad today!
Traditionally social media rivals, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have grouped together to create a new tool, aimed at drawing users’ attention to the “biased” results provided as part of Google’s Search Plus Your World, according to an article published by the Telegraph.
Entitled “Don’t be evil” (a nod to one of the search engine giant’s early mottos), the browser add-on is currently only compatible with Firefox.
The tool has been created to prevent Google searches returning content that’s been ‘ranked up’ by Google from its own social network, Google+.
A recent change has seen Google searches return Google+ content at the top of search results – a change previously announced as part of Search Plus Your World – at the expense of results from Twitter and Facebook.
Google has explained how the new update – which could affect SEO – worked.
A post published by Google read: “Starting today, if you search for a topic like (music) or (baseball), you might see prominent people who frequently discuss this topic on Google+ appearing on the right-hand side of the results page.”
The search engine giant has yet to respond to the launch of ‘Don’t be evil’ – which is currently only available in America. However, Google did previously say it had tried to strike a deal with both Twitter and Facebook to include their results in a prominent position – but wrangles over cost and privacy scuppered such a move.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies.
Unilever has announced the launch of new Lynx product specifically aimed at women, according to an article published by New Media Age.
The new deodorant is set to be sold via Facebook – a platform previously used by the brand to host social media marketing campaigns – with an initial run of 100 cans.
Axe – the international version of Lynx – previously launched a female spray, named Anarchy, in America earlier this month.
A marketing campaign, costing around £7.2 million and spread across digital and traditional marketing channels, is set to support the launch of this new product.
Lynx brand manager, Kieran Danaher, commented on the launch of the new product.
He said: “This is a historic moment for Lynx. As a brand we’re aiming to push boundaries with creative marketing campaigns this year, and the launch of Lynx Attract is set to do just that and more.”
A teaser taken from the upcoming advert is set to be available to view from today (January 23).
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Facebook has announced the launch of in excess of 60 new apps, designed specifically for use with the new Timeline feature on the social networking site, according to an article published by New Media Age.
Users will now be able to use the new apps to update their Timeline profile on Facebook – a site popular with social media marketing professionals.
News Corporation are one of the companies that have launched an app; it allows users to share and highlight the stories they’ve read in the company’s The Daily titles. The type of stories read are then broken down and displayed in a “Read-Graph.”
Soundcloud, Ticketmaster, The Wall Street Journal and AutoTrader have also launched new Timeline apps.
Posted on the official Facebook blog, a statement read: “Soon, there will be apps for all types of interests, as more apps will launch over time. Whether you love snowboarding, gardening, hiking or knitting, or something else, there will be an app for you.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Creating social media marketing content that is both captivating and engaging can be difficult – especially if you’ve been running campaigns, on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare for a while.
Pinterest is a relatively new social networking site and is quickly growing in popularity.
Reported to have a user base consisting largely of women under the age of 45, the image sharing website could easily be used to market a brand.
Writing for Search Engine Watch, Kalia Strong, has listed a number of creative ways in which brands could use Pinterest for marketing purposes.
Here are some of the ideas featured on Strong’s list:
Give your brand a face – Pinterest can be used as platform on which you can display how your business is different and what it stands for – with imagery.
Highlighting members of staff or your working environment can give people a face with which to associate to your brand. A relatively easy step to take, it will give your brand a more human appearance.
Promote your image content – Before taking this step, do some initial research; look at how other brands are utilising Pinterest for this purpose, Strong suggests.
Product images, designs and infographics can be posted onto Pinterest to promote your firm’s products or services.
Strong goes on to add: “Stylists, fashion editors and personal shoppers can feature their image content to help them sell their services. Their style and ability to put together an outfit can be easily translated through a board on Pinterest.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
Typically a platform used to promote the release of new films – via social media marketing campaigns – film studio Lionsgate are using Facebook as an outlet to release latest film, Abduction, according to an article published by the Financial Times.
Users of the social networking site will be able to rent the film for a 48-hour period.
Whilst movie studios have previously made films available via Facebook, the Taylor Lautner headed thriller is the first to be made accessible on launch.
Upon viewing, users will be able to write and post notes during the film which will be visible to friends should they watch.
Dean Alms, vice president of marketing at Milyoni, the company responsible for creating social software for movie studios, stated that studios that released films via Facebook in the past had seen their fan page fan base increase by between 20 and 30 per cent.
Speaking about Lionsgate’s move, he said: “Movie studio are going from awareness to adoption. We’re seeing more and newer social applications.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
New research has suggested that Facebook is offering marketers a significantly reduced rate on PPC advertising campaigns, providing that the ads don’t direct traffic away from the social networking site, according to an article published by New Media Age.
The report, released by TBG Digital, stated that advertisers could receive a discount of up to 45 per cent on PPC marketing campaigns; this strategy has proven to be successful, with ad revenue increasing by 23 per cent – when compared to figures released at the start of 2011.
The Q4 Global Facebook Advertising report also displayed that the top five industries to utilise the ads were finance, retail, games, entertainment and food and drink.
CEO of TBG Digital, Simon Mansell, commented on the results.
He said: “The potential cost savings available by maintaining traffic within the Facebook environment is particularly compelling and demonstrates its effectiveness as an advertising channel and also as a ‘destination,’ with more and more clients investing heavily into their Facebook presence.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, PPC, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
Channel 4 has start a promotional push for the latest series of Skins, with the launch of a social media marketing campaign, according to an article published by Marketing Week.
The campaign will see each of the show’s main characters have a Facebook page, allowing fans to interact with them in between episodes.
Users that aren’t committed to following every character on Facebook will be able to visit a dedicated site – which will collect and display all updates from each characters’ page.
Twitter and YouTube will also be utilised in the campaign – as the characters will Tweet and post vlogs.
The firm Something Else is responsible for developing the campaign.
Executive producer of digital at the production company, Michelle Feuerlicht, said: “For fans who are signed up to the characters’ profiles, they’re constantly reminded of the show everyday because the updates are appearing in their news feeds.”
Feuerlicht went on to add that it was important for a show like Skins to offer fans the chance to get involved in interactive campaigns.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
