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We are increasingly moving from a search driven world to a social driven world. If your online marketing spend includes the vast proportion being spent on SEO and SEM, it is time for a rethink. Google’s development of Google Plus in an effort to ‘get social’ (against the behemoth in the social world that is Facebook) is based on a simple fact: that Facebook and social is beginning to dominate traffic on the Internet. And traffic = money. Not just for the big players such as Facebook and Google, but to those these giants serve. That’s you, and your business.
There is no getting round it. We have moved into a new era on the Internet and there are now companies (and not just those who at first glance would seem most suited to the social world) where anywhere from 30% upwards of traffic comes directly from Facebook activity, and not from the search engines. Some companies, according to research published in 2011, are seeing nearly all of their traffic coming from social sites such as Facebook, Stumbleupon, Twitter etc rather than the carefully crafted SERPs.
Whilst it is unlikely that the world is suddenly going to cease using the search engines, and hence the need for SEO will continue, the reality is that social media marketing is becoming THE traffic driver and cannot be ignored.
“We don’t do Twitter or Facebook because we have banned all access to social sites within our business” sounded fairly ludicrous 4 or 5 years ago. But now it sounds more like a death knell for any company taking such a stance.
Ignoring the fact that Facebook is introducing new forms of advertising and using social signals amongst friends and networks to bring advertisers closer to potential customers would be plain daft. Google would seem to be deeply concerned about the Facebook threat to the display advertising market Google has held almost absolute power over this last few years. After all, that’s part of Google’s core business, and any threat to that level of revenue has to be taken seriously.
We are seeing the big advertisers exchanging www.ourdomain.com on TV and print ads, packaging, websites etc with Follow Us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Short status updates are so much easier to manage than redesigns and website updates. There is a level of immediacy about social media which is missing from websites; a layer of personalisation and response that is difficult to ’see’ on your bog standard, old school website. Whilst adding +1, Tweet, Like and other social sharing buttons to content on a website can help to illustrate the popularity, authority and quality of content, it somehow lacks the impact of a status update with 100+ comments, or a tweet that has been ReTweeted multiple times. A website also lacks the reach of social updates and it is easy to see how a simple tweet or status update can go viral, (mainly because of the lack of overlap between every individual’s personal network), at a cost – HR and cash – that is verging on impossible with more ‘traditional’ internet marketing methods.
Google’s Search Plus Your World is a clear indication that social signals are receiving more importance in the algorithms. And hence businesses need to pay more attention to the social space.
Are you still focussed on SEO and SEM? Or has your business decided to put more budget into social? What are your social media marketing plans for 2012?
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.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
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!
Twitter has completed its second acquisition in just under a week, according to an article published by New Media Age.
Following the purchase of Summify, the micro-blogging site has now purchased Dasient, an anti-malware firm.
As part of the deal, Dasient will be fully integrated into the platform – popular amongst social media marketing professionals; although it isn’t yet clear what type of role the anti-malware firm will play at the social media site.
A blog post, published on Dasient’s blog, read: “By joining Twitter, Dasient will be able to apply its technology and team to the world’s largest real-time information network.”
Dasient primarily work on solving security problems created by malware. The company also launched an “anti-malvertising” service – designed to protect advertising networks and publishers from malicious adverts – back in 2010.
Twitter is yet to comment on the acquisition but the deal is thought to be effective immediately; while the financial terms of the deal have also yet to have been disclosed.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
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.
As a platform for conducting social media marketing campaigns on, Twitter is undeniably great – especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
However, before setting up a profile, it is important to have a plan in place; this plan should ideally detail how Twitter is going to benefit your company.
Writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, David Wilson, has detailed a number of tips showing how small business owners can take advantage of the opportunities that the microblogging site offers.
Here are just a few of Wilson’s tips:
Know beforehand what you’re going to tweet about – This is vital; the information and content you posts should relate to one main theme – which in-turn should relate to your business.
Managing director at The Dubs, Josh Frith, provides an example; he states: “If you are a gym, tweet health and fitness tips – if you tweet about, say, Bengal tigers, you will forfeit followers.”
Follow back – People love being “followed” on Twitter, so naturally if someone follows your business, make the effort to return the favour. Remember Twitter isn’t a broadcasting medium, it’s a medium by which widespread conversation takes place.
Make searches to track down potential followers – Twitter users tend to follow based on the quality of content provided. If you produce interesting content, you’re likely to gain more followers with an interest in your business’ particular area.
To find more potential followers make searches; simply take the subject from your content and use it to search for others discussing the same subject or topic. Follow them and see if they follow you back.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
