Weekly Round-Up of Top Social Media Articles
POSTED BY Stacy DeBroff AT 9:00 AM
Insight and Studies
8 Ways To Measure Return On PR Investments from CMO.com
Unlike other multichannel investments, PR strategies don't necessarily lend themselves to turnkey tracking solutions or measurement tools. So to discern ROI, executive managers need to take a broader look at the impact PR is having in their companies.
How Not To Think About Thought Leadership (And How To Do It Right) (MarketingProfs.com)
Thought leadership--if done correctly--can prompt sales leads to come to you. But some companies still get it wrong. Learn why that happens, how to avoid major mistakes, and how to excel in thought leadership.
Why Online Businesses are Moving from the Social Graph to the Interest Graph from Social Media Today
As social media expands further and becomes more fragmented it is the interest graph that should guide retailers and marketers rather than the social one.
How Do You Measure Member Engagement? from Social Media Today
A visit does not constitute engagement; a newsletter open is not engagement; a “like” or a re-tweet are not, in themselves, an engaged activity. Engagement means continuing attention and activity from the member over time.
Social Media Privacy [Infographic] from Social Media Today
If there’s one message in this infographic, it’s that consumers don’t have a clue how their data is being utilized. That’s where we need to focus the most attention!
1 In 3 Parents Sees IPad As Educational Device from Media Post
According to a survey of more than 2,000 consumers conducted by iYogi Insights, a third of all parents are willing to buy or have already bought an iPad for their children’s use. Furthermore, those parents are willing to let their kids spend an average of $14 a month on apps and programs, and spend at least two hours on the device every day.
Social Media
The Social Media Metrics That Truly Matter from iMedia Connection
How much a fan or follower is worth depends on your objective, audience, and offering. One way to minimize the limitations of standard social media metrics is to track them as ratios instead.
How Do You Measure Social Media? Return On Influence from Media Marketing Daily
Ask a marketer today what’s weighing on her mind -- and you’ll find social media near the top of the list. Forty percent of marketers believe it’s a CEO-level priority in their company, according to a Booz & Company/Buddy Media survey. It’s important because social media and the applications that sit on its platforms such as social gaming, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yelp are too big to ignore in terms of growth, mass reach, time spent and engagement.
Measuring Influence on Pinterest from Social Media Today
You can now measure how influential you are at pinning thanks to a new tool called PinPuff.
How Pinterest’s Female Audience Is Changing Social Marketing from Mashable
Currently, women make up about 82% of active users on Pinterest, according to Google Ad Planner. As a general trend, women engage more on most social sites, including on Facebook and Twitter. Comscore says women are the majority of social networking users, and spend 30% more time on sites than men. Plus, mobile social network usage is 55% female, according to Nielsen….Businesses use two primary marketing tactics to target women on Pinterest. The first, and perhaps most straightforward, is to use the platform to exhibit items or services that traditionally appeal to women….Another tactic for successful marketing on Pinterest and other social consumption sites involves creating an environment that fosters positive associations with a company, rather than directly selling products and services. This has the added benefit of falling in line with “pinning etiquette,” which maintains that shameless self-promotion is frowned upon.
Pinterest: The New Facebook for Lifestyle Magazines from AdWeek
While Pinterest’s usefulness and staying power are still being debated, one thing has become clear: With its mostly female user base and emphasis on visuals, the online corkboard has become a traffic boon for women’s lifestyle magazines, even if the site doesn’t make it easy for brands to stand out.
Pinterest's fast growth driven by women from MediaPost: Social Media & Marketing Daily
According to comScore, Pinterest drew 11.7 million unique monthly visitors in January, making it the third-fastest-growing website since December. By comScore's measurement methods, Pinterest became the fastest independent website ever to hit 10 million unique monthly visitors.
Google+
Google+ On Fast Decline from Social Media Today
The situation is so dire that users spend more time on Myspace than Google+. ComScore reports that users spend only an average of 3 minutes on Google+ compared to 8 on Myspace, 17 on LinkedIn, 21 on Twitter, 89 on Tumblr and Pinterest, and 405 on Facebook.
Tech World Overreacts To Google’s New Privacy Policy—How Does It Affect You? from Readwriteweb.com
On March 1, the rules become much simpler: Google is all one thing. If you use it, it tracks your usage, it stores your data, and it uses your activity to personalize its services for you. Every single way in which it will do so is clearly laid out. Today, members of Congress sent a letter to Google CEO Larry Page about the policy. They said it raises questions about whether consumers can opt-out of the new data sharing system either globally or on a product-by-product basis.
The Mounting Minuses at Google+ from SmartBrief on Social Media
Many Google+ users are doing virtually nothing with the service after signing up for the site, according to a comScore report. Google+ users spent an average of three minutes per month on the site between September and January, researchers found, while Facebook users spent an average of six to seven hours a month on the network. "Nobody wants another social network right now. ... Google hasn't communicated what the value of Google+ is," analyst Brian Solis says.
Google Privacy Policy Changing for Everyone from Huffington Post
The new privacy policy does not allow Google to collect more information about its users, though it does allow Google to do more with the information it has already been collecting across its services. Specifically, the terms permit Google to merge data it has compiled about its users as they engage with Google products, as well as build more comprehensive portraits by drawing on data from a greater number of Google services. YouTube, Gmail, Blogger, Google TV, Google+ and Web History, which records all searches performed on Google.com, will now be able to communicate with each other about a user’s preferences and practices.
Twitter Brings Sponsored Tweets To Timelines from Media Post
On Tuesday, Twitter announced that sponsored tweets and accounts would soon be rolling out to the timelines, searches and suggested follows seen by users of the social network’s mobile client apps.
Facebook Launching New Premium Ads from Social Media Today
The documents also reveal that Facebook will leveraging on a few core principles such as making new ads social by default which means they’ll show users what brands or advertisers that their contacts have Liked already. But the most notable aspect of this new ad format is that it won’t use a customized ad copy, the new format will include content from posts on brands’ Facebook pages.
Facebook Launches Timeline for Brands from Online Media Daily Newsletter
Facebook on Wednesday rolled out the new Timeline feature for companies with brand pages on the social network. Like individual users, marketers on Facebook will now be able to use the visually oriented format to highlight their entire history, as well as show more current updates. The new brand pages are launching with a small group of partners, including Walmart, Dove, Tiffany and Harley-Davidson. New features include the ability to pin important posts to the top of the Timeline for a week and exchange private messages with users. Previously, companies were not allowed to contact fans directly. All brand pages will change to timeline format on March 30.
Social Tools on Facebook Up Brand Money, Metrics from Online Media Daily Newsletter
Several companies have begun releasing tools that optimize Facebook ads and content. Wildfire and Adaptly, along with PowerReviews, separately built out services that can identify ROI, determine the lifetime worth of existing and potential customers and measure the financial impact of activities on a page. Some reward consumers for doing so. The tools measure the impact of social actions when a site visitor likes, comments or shares a post as more content gets indexed in search results and fan-generated content merges with ad units, like Sponsored Stories, and forthcoming products likely from Google+.
Company Reactions to the New Facebook Timeline from Readwriteweb.com
Of the 25 companies that responded to our request for feedback, all had held discussions about how they would incoporate Timeline into their strategy. Ten had already switched over and five more were planning to do so by the end of the day. Every brand's page will go to Timeline by the end of March. Right now, the response from companies seem cautiously optimistic:
-
- Most brands we spoke with love the idea of being able to use a cover image. "We now have the ability to showcase different locations we have deals to and hopefully encourage more travel from our social community," said Margaret Yekulis, social media manager for travel site www.FareBuzz.com.
- Several companies noted a new feature which allows users to message a brand's page administrator. That is great for boosting customer relationships, providing companies have a strategy in place.
Facebook Introduces Ads That Appear When You Log Out from Mashable
Mike Hoefflinger, director of customer marketing at Facebook, announced the ads will reach the 37 million people who log out of Facebook every day. Log-out ads, or “stories” as Facebook prefers they be called, are one of four new “Premium” products for advertisers that were announced at the Facebook Marketing Conference in New York. The other placements include right-hand ads on the homepage and ads within the News Feed on desktops.
Facebook Marketing: Why News Feed Still Trumps Timeline Pages from Mashable
Providing relevant, interactive and valuable content via the News Feed is the number-one priority for consumer engagement. And with Facebook’s recent EdgeRank changes, creating this type of content is more critical than ever in order to gain exposure on News Feeds. Why is the News Feed where engagement happens? Because that’s where consumers spend most of their time. Don’t believe me? Consider your own Facebook behavior. Need some real-data proof? Our research shows that the News Feed is 110-times more engaging than other features.
LinkedIn Reveals “Follow Company” Button from Social Media Today
In a blog post Monday, LinkedIn revealed the new rollout complete with a video explaining how the new feature works. Much like Facebook's "Like" button, when a user follows a brand they will in turn receive automatic updates from the brand in their LinkedIn feed.
Marketing to Moms
Which Celebrity Spokespeople Do Ladies Love? From Media Marketing Daily
A new analysis from Women at NBCU's Brand Power Index reports that the less likely the matchup, the more apt it is to get women's attention, and to be seen as a positive for the brand.
Will JCPenney's 'Ellen' Ads Backfire? From Media Marketing Daily
JCPenney unleashed a handful of über-adorable new ads during the Academy Awards, using spokesperson Ellen DeGeneres to herald its new look and strategy. But some critics say the ads, from San Francisco-based Brandadvisors, are premature -- and may even drive business to competitors like Kohl’s and Macy’s before earning it any new fans.
Picture Perfect from Media Post: Engage Moms
In marketing and communications, images that depict a product’s benefits are the ideal ways to communicate. After all, Moms, like all busy and successful people, are results-oriented. This isn’t really groundbreaking news, but in today’s world, digital communications need to be managed visually as well as verbally. (Read full article to how to visually engage and communicate results to busy moms)
Portrait: Womenkind from AdWeek
Industry pioneer Mary Wells Lawrence notwithstanding, the advertising world isn’t known for women who start agencies. After working at big companies like Ammirati Puris Lintas, Kristi Faulkner and Sandy Sabean saw a need in the market for an agency that brings a uniquely female perspective. Clients agreed, with marketers like Citibank Women & Co., TD Ameritrade, Post cereals and Bag Borrow or Steal enlisting the 12-person shop. Look for Womenkind to make its national debut in May on AMC’s upcoming ad competition reality show, The Pitch.
Mobile Marketing
FTC: Apps For Children Raise Privacy Concerns From Mashable
Mobile apps can collect a wide swath of information about a user. Adults may be reasonably expected to figure out what an app does with all that data before installing it. But an FTC report suggests children are less likely to be so proactive and security-minded.
Mobile Apps, Social Sites Are Key Search Tools For Local Businesses from Online Media Daily Newsletter
Tablets and smartphones continue to influence local search and consumer buying habits, but social networks, mobile apps and daily deals have become the go-to source for finding information about nearby businesses, according to a new survey. Some 49% of mobile and tablet users use apps for local business searches, and 64% of tablet owners search for local stores on the device at least weekly, with 86% making a purchase from their most recent search. In addition, 61% of smartphone users conduct local searches from the device, according to the Localeze and 15miles Fifth Annual Local Search Usage Study conducted by comScore.
Twitter Expands Ad Options In Mobile from Online Media Daily Newsletter
Twitter said Tuesday it will expand its mobile advertising options in connection with the latest updates to its iPhone and Android apps. With the upgrades, “promoted accounts” and “promoted tweets” will be added to the timeline on its mobile applications for both platforms. Until now, promoted trends and promoted tweets were available only through a search page when someone accessed Twitter on iPhone or Android or the mobile Web (m.twitter.com). Promoted accounts and promoted tweets have been available on the mobile Web for several months. “Initially, a small number of users may see Promoted Tweets near the top of their timelines from brands they already follow. This will help people see important Tweets from brands they care about,” stated a Twitter blog post today.
Comments