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Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
It looks as if Facebook has gotten its hands slapped. The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that a settlement has been reached in regards to Facebook’s privacy practices.
Facebook will now have to conduct privacy audits every two years for the next 20 years. This is a result of the mishandling of Facebook users’ private information back in December 2009. Facebook had made some changes to its privacy notices and did not give user’s a choice if they wanted their information used or not. Facebook was sharing user information with outside developers. This infuriated many users and complaints were filed.
Only the audits are required at the moment, no fines or fees. But, if it happens again, Facebook will be fined $16,000 a day for each time it happens. Also, Facebook will now have to make sure there is a link for the user to use in order to confirm any changes to their profile. It looks as if Facebook better be careful in the future.
Facebook is wildly popular around the world with an estimated 800 million users. You can’t go anywhere anymore without someone asking “are you on Facebook?” Even businesses are jumping on the bandwagon with Facebook pages for their business.
With so many users, it will remain to be seen if everyone will be happy with the stepped up security.
Tags: facebook, publicity, Reputation Management, Social Media, social networking
Posted in Social Media | 3 Comments »
Sunday, November 27th, 2011
We live in an interesting day. Most Internet marketers are about five years behind the times. That means they are really just now discovering social media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn.
Oh, they may have had a Twitter account three years ago. They might have created a YouTube account and a Facebook page. They may have even started answering questions on LinkedIn. Maybe they’ve been working the social media gig for themselves in three or five years. But have they been doing it for their clients? Have they been doing it well?
No and no.
Now that the writing is on the wall, Internet marketers are coming out of the woodwork claiming to be social media experts. But what they done for themselves?
If your social media consultant is stuck on proving value by showing you how many Likes they have on Facebook, you’ve got the wrong consultant. Social media isn’t about how many Likes you have. It’s not about how many retweets you can get on Twitter. It’s not about how many Plusses you can gain. It’s about driving traffic from those social media sites to your own and closing it.
Google Plus has recently announced that it is using realtime search again using Google+ content. You can also search hashtags on Google+. This is just the beginning. Social is about to go haywire.
Tags: google, internet marketing, Social Media
Posted in Social Media | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
A recent survey shows that Facebook is the king of social media for small businesses.
I think there’s an interesting study here. Why is Facebook so effective for small businesses? 36% say it’s very effective and 47% say it’s moderately so. That’s 83% who say that Facebook has any level of effectiveness. Is it just because there are 800 million users? Or maybe there’s something more.
By contrast, 70% of the respondents said they don’t use Google+. But the really interesting aspect to this survey is the muddle in the middle.
Only 14% of respondents consider Twitter very effective and 32% say it’s moderately effective. But look at the numbers for other social media services:
- Video sharing - 14% and 23%, respectively
- LinkedIn – 10% and 24%, respectively
- Review sites – 7% and 12%, respectively
- Local/daily deals – 5% and 6%, respectively
What’s interesting is that more small businesses are using Google+ than are using the local deals sites. As Frank Reed, with the hype surrounding the Groupon IPO, you’d think more small businesses were using those websites. But I guess that’s not the case.
And of course, I don’t think anyone is surprised that 81% of surveyed small businesses don’t use MySpace (does anyone still use MySpace?). Evidently so. 3% of respondents claim that it is either very effective or moderately effective.
If you own a small business and you are ready for social media, your best bet is probably Facebook.
Tags: facebook, small business, Social Media
Posted in Social Media | 3 Comments »
Monday, November 14th, 2011
If you troll the social media websites – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and various social bookmarking websites – you’ll find a lot of online marketers just posting links to their content. It’s pretty bland. But what if these marketers took a different approach? What if they took a less self-interested approach?
Like John Deere.
I like the thinking that went into this social media campaign. It isn’t focused on “buy John Deere tractors” because you really need a pumpkin patch in your back yard. Rather, the focus is on doing something that is good for the community.
John Deere’s name is recognizable. If they do something good for someone else, it will be noticeable. But you don’t have to have a household name to be effective at using social media for community service projects. You can do something nice for someone else no matter who you are. And you are likely to do something that is more noticeable, and noteworthy.
People like to share. They particularly like to share things that are humanistically share-worthy.
If you’ll find a charity that you believe in and go out of your way to promote that charity through social media expecting nothing in return, it will be noticed. If other people believe in that cause too, your efforts will be shared. You’ll be marketing your business indirectly. And that’s the best kind of marketing.
Tags: charity, online marketing, Social Media
Posted in Social Media | 4 Comments »
Friday, November 11th, 2011
Let’s say you want to order a pizza. So you Google “pizza wayzata minnesota.” If there is a popular pizza joint in Wayzata that is getting a lot of +1s on Google’s new social platform Google+, the search engine could tell you that in the SERP. Thanks to the Google Operating System blog for pointing this out.
This could have far-reaching consequences for local businesses trying to increase their search engine positioning.
When people see others enjoying something, they are more likely to enjoy it too. In other words, if a Facebook post has a lot of Likes, it is more likely to get more Likes because of its perceived popular value. The same is true of +1s. And that’s just as true at the local level as it is on any other level. If local prospects see that your business is popular among their friends in the local area, then you are more likely to get a +1 from that prospect or customer as well.
This just points to the necessity of adding a +1 badge to your website. Encourage those +1s and Likes because you never know when one of your blog posts will go viral or become popular through social sharing. That social sharing could in turn translate into higher search engine rankings.
Tags: google, local SEO, search engine rankings, social sharing
Posted in Social Media | 3 Comments »
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Google+ business pages haven’t even been out a week yet and already they’re getting criticisms. Petty criticisms at that.
I’m not saying Robert Scoble is wrong, just petty. I hear that the things he wants Google+ to do are on the way. Should Google have added those features before rolling its pages out publicly? Possibly so. But that’s neither here nor there. Google has a habit of rolling out its products in waves and improving upon them over time. That’s just the way they do things. Right or wrong.
Whether you should rush out and get your own Google+ page right now is a decision you’ll have to make for your company. There are arguments for and against, but if you do, don’t complain about what business pages don’t have. Just enjoy it as it is and wait for developments or don’t use them.
Why complain?
If you want to help improve the product, there are ways to do that. You can send an e-mail to the developers of the product with a suggestion. But complaining about what the service doesn’t have and how you wish you’d never heard of them because it doesn’t do what you want it to do, that’s a waste of time.
I think Google+ business pages have a lot of potential. Right now, that’s all it is. Potential. Take it for what it is.
Tags: business pages, google
Posted in Social Media | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
If you’ve been following the Google+ soap opera, then here’s another twist for you. You can now get your very own Google+ page for business.
This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, folks.
If you have a Facebook page, then you know how terrific it is for marketing and branding your business through Facebook. The Google+ business pages are going to do the same thing for businesses. But you’ll get even greater benefits by having a Google+ business page.
Right now, branded permalinks aren’t possible like they are on Facebook, but I suspect they will be in the future so stay tuned.
The first step to getting a business page on Google+ is to sign up for a Google+ personal profile. All business pages are connected with a personal account. So that’s a necessary first step. After you’ve done that, then you can create a Google+ business page. You can start using it to post to Google+ immediately.
One of the benefits to doing this is greater targeted marketing. You can create circles for each of your market segments and send out periodic promos to each segment along with coupons, discounts and specials. This will become a great way to market and brand your business online through Google. Don’t miss this train. It’s going to move fast.
Tags: business pages, facebook, google
Posted in Social Media | 3 Comments »
Friday, October 28th, 2011
Have you ever wondered where your social media posts went after you shared them? Whether you were on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or somewhere else? Well, Google+ is making that possible.
It’s really a recycled idea from the Wonder Wheel. Remember that Google product?
Not many people used it, but some people did. It essentially allowed you to search for a keyword then see what related keywords return in their SERPs. Then you can look at related keywords to that keyword, etc. With Google+ Ripples you can see who has shared a particular post and through a graphic representation view the string of shares from one person to the next.
Here’s an example.
So what benefit do you get out of this? You can use it as another networking tool.
Let’s say, for instance, that you share a post from your blog. Three hours later you decide to see its Ripple. You discover that five of your circle friends have shared the post. Each of them have a smattering of circle friends who have also shared the post. Why not take a look at the profiles of those friends of friends and see if any of them are in your circles? You can see if you have anything else in common. Befriend them, add them to your circles, turn them into customers.
Google is always innovating. It’s the sign of a strong company.
Tags: google, Social Media
Posted in Social Media | 4 Comments »
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