The Free Ride is Over for Brands on Facebook
Facebook Brand Pages Compete for Share of News Feed
For quite a while, brands have enjoyed building a free platform on Facebook. With a user base of 950 million people, how could you go wrong? Everyone from teens to great grandmas were logging in, posting photos, liking pages and playing Farmville. But if you’ve been using the channel as long as I have—since you were required [...]
Facebook Announces New Advertising Features
Small step in the right direction, but leap needed soon
Facebook announced last week that it would begin testing a program for brands to target users who haven’t liked the brand’s page yet, within the user’s news feed. Currently, that premium space is reserved for brands the user has already liked. Early screenshots show the ad clearly labeled as “sponsored,” with a large “Like Page” [...]
Do you work for or advise a fast-growing company that is thinking about going public? Or a privately owned business that has had difficulty finding the capital it needs to grow? Help is on the way in the form of a new law intended to spur job creation by relaxing the regulatory burdens of raising [...]
Whether you’re a fan of the new format or not, Facebook will automatically force business/brand Pages to move from a Wall to the new Timeline beginning March 30. That means marketers have less than a month to familiarize themselves with what’s new, make their updates (you’ll see a preview now) and publish the Page. Here [...]
Staying Ahead of the Social Media Curve
It's not just best practices, it's next practices
I spent last Thursday at the 2011 Midwest Social Media Summit, where I listened to a number of social media strategists and thought leaders. I came ready to learn, and quickly became energized by the creative ideas and general Internet marketing energy in the room. (more…)
How do you benchmark when you’re the leader?
Navigating social media’s uncharted waters as an innovator
In the creative world of communications and marketing, we’re always aiming to find that perfect balance between strategy and innovation, imagination and practicality, ingenuity and ROI. When you strike that sweet spot, there’s nothing but happy clients, engaged consumers, agency awards, fireworks, unicorns and rainbows. Until it comes time to benchmark your results. It’s then [...]
It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s Google+!
Search engine unveils its latest and greatest foray into social media
I am a proud Generation Y-er. Using internet and social media comes as second nature to me as reaching into a bag of chips like a zombie while watching a football game. To me, a world without a means to interact with friends or even the slightest acquaintance at any given time seems outlandish and [...]
Location-based applications gained a lot of momentum in 2010, nearly tripling the number of users from 2009 (from 12.3 million in 2009 to 33.2 million in 2010). A big reason for the increase in popularity was the highly publicized launch of Facebook Places, which was followed by an outpouring of press for other location-based programs [...]
She Loves Me. She Loves Me Not.
Our Ever-Changing Relationship with Social Media
Social media. I think many of us have a love/hate relationship with it. We love it when we can connect with family and friends, share photos and event invitations, and keep up with the brands, products and services we’re interested in. We hate it when our children are exposed to bullying, an obnoxious high school [...]
Physicians do an about face with social media
Take two tweets and call me in the morning
So most of us are on Facebook, right? But is your doctor? You’d be surprised how many medical practices are using social media as a way to engage their patients. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it, particularly for primary care physicians. As more and more patients take ownership of their [...]