Online Marketing for Local Business
Posts tagged twitter
How Social Media Is Changing Everything – Chatting With The Photo Comment Feature On Facebook
14 years
by admin
in Uncategorized
As I thought of a topic for this week’s blog, I was immediately drawn to an experience I recently had online between myself and my Mom on Facebook. She is still fairly new to Facebook, like so many others, but has made lots of connections since joining, and is beginning to use the network more frequently. (This makes perfect sense, since the fastest growing segment of Facebook is women aged 55 and older!) And the interaction that I had with her showed me the huge, growing potential of social networks.
I had posted a few photos of myself and friends on my FB page from the previous night, of us and the guys from Jackopierce, a great two-man band that we like to check out whenever they come to town. Shortly thereafter, my Mom posted a Comment on one of the photos, which I then instantly was alerted to and read. So I wrote back. And before we knew it, we were having a back and forth discussion on the Photo Comment section of Facebook! (She invited me over for dinner, which was delicious by the way…)
Now why do I bring this up? Because it is a perfect example of the utility of social media, and how it is fundamentally changing the way that people communicate. Did the designers of this Facebook function plan on people using the Comment section in this way? Maybe, but maybe not. But the fact is that each of these capabilities and options, not just in Facebook but also the unique features contained within Twitter, LinkedIn, various Google platforms, social bookmarking services, even MySpace and Friendster at the beginning of the social media revolution – are giving us all communication options that we’ve never had before.
And that’s the real story – the fact that interactive, instant communication is now becoming the norm, across all platforms.
It’s an exciting time to be in my business, as the many social as well as business applications and functions of these networks are just being discovered and utilized.
Who knows where they will go next, and what impact they will have on how business, marketing and promotions are done…not to mention how they are shaping our global society and culture?
If you would like more information on how you and your company can take advantage of the tremendous business opportunities within social media, please visit our Social Media Services page.
3 Social Media Aggregators That Bring It All Together
014 years
by admin
in Uncategorized
Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a host of other social media services, people are more connected than ever. But keeping up with all the posts, tweets, status updates and social bookmarks isn’t always easy, because they all come from different social media sites. So how do you connect the different services that keep you connected? How do you steer all of that stuff to one spot on the Web where it becomes a lot easier to manage?
New tools called social media aggregators have risen to address that challenge. Their goal: to provide you with one simple point of entry where you can keep track of the streams from any and all of the most popular social networking sites.
A bunch of social media aggregators (sometimes called “life-streaming” tools) have popped up in recent years, but some social media services don’t always do the job you need them to do. Here’s a look at the three that fulfill the promise of social media aggregation most completely, Streamy, Flock, and FriendFeed.
More Social Statistics – 101
14 years
by admin
in Uncategorized
As social networks grow and mature, new data has begun to surface that show the behaviors and preferences of its users that could prove invaluable to businesses in the future.
Business owners and marketing professionals are of course quite interested to learn more about how consumers on Facebook and other social media become motivated to connect with companies and brands, and their preferences in interacting with organizations.
Some of the latest statistics:
Many users of social media initially displayed a resistance to connecting directly with businesses from their personal pages, in effect showing a desire to keep “business separate from pleasure”, or their personal lives. A fear of being inundated with advertising pitches surely helped shape this mentality. However, new research shows that 43% of Facebook users now “Like” at least one brand or official company page, and this number is rapidly growing.
Of these, 38% of consumers “Like” a company on Facebook so they can publicly display their brand affiliation to friends. This new trend is being called “Social Badging”, and can be a very powerful motivation for affiliation. These users want to display their connection to brands and organizations that they believe represent them, their personal beliefs, are “cutting edge”, say something unique or valuable about them.
42% become fans so that they can receive special discounts and promotions. Many companies have begun to offer Social-specific sales and announcements, which can give their followers the sense that they are part of an intimate online community…even if they are one of tens of thousands of followers; and that they have the privilege of being included in exclusive, “members-only” specials.
35% say they follow companies and brands to stay current about the organization’s activities, public initiatives, or new products. Once again, the ability to connect with your brand’s following directly when announcing new initiatives, events, products and services can be a quite effective method to roll out your new marketing programs, sales and specials.
Only 23% of respondents said they follow brands on Twitter. Twitter has become more of a “news aggregator” for many users; a large number of new Twitter users have sent fewer than 20 personal tweets, but instead are using the service to gather news and opinions on brands, products and stay up-to-date on cultural trends in general.