Thursday 19 April 2012

Facebook’s Analytics Tool for Ads

In a few weeks, Facebook will introduce a feature within its ads management platform that will allow marketers to see exactly how their Pages’ fans are responding to their ads.

The new feature — “Action Measurement” — will appear as a column and pie chart in Facebook’s Ads Manager and will help marketers tailor ads for relevant consumers.

“This isn’t just an analytics feature; it’s an optimization feature,” David Baser, product manager for Facebook’s Page Insights, told Mashable ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.

Traditionally, marketers use Facebook’s Ads Manager to create ads, target them to specific demographics and measure the performance of a campaign. With the new feature, marketers will be able to dive deeper into user-engagement data and go beyond the typical stats regarding inline actions.

The actions that Facebook will measure and that marketers will be able to optimize are:

People talking about this (includes Page likes, Page post likes, Page post shares, comments, @ mentions, check-ins, photo tags, offers shared, offers claimed)
App installs
App used
Credit spend events (number of times someone uses credits in the app)
Credit spend amount (value of credits that were spent in the app)
Number of RSVPs

Take a museum’s brand page, for example. A museum can run a campaign touting its Facebook app tab where people can buy museum tickets. In the past, Baser says, that museum could see how many clicks the ad got, but with the Actions data, the museum will see how many people used the app as well.

SEE ALSO: Facebook Ad Engagement Down 8% in U.S.

Stats about actions will be available for marketers to review in 1-day, 7-day or 28-day increments.

Google on Wednesday also introduced a plan, dubbed Brand Activate, to measure online advertising that it hopes will become the industry standard.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Facebook: A Smart Marketing Tool

The age of Facebook has come. Almost everyone is on it. Some even have multiple accounts. People log on to their account for just about anything. They use it to air their opinions, to let their friends know what they are doing, where they are or even just to share a video or a photo. This makes it an ideal venue for marketing your products or services.

Why is it a great marketing tool?

It is free. You don't have to pay a dime to start using it. This alone is reason enough to give it a go. More and more people are logging on to the media portal every day. In fact, many spend more time on the site than on television. If you have noticed, even the television programs are campaigning to join their fanpage.

It is interactive. You can post something on Facebook, tag a few people you know and they might just share the information you have provided. In minutes, a few more people will know about your post. But why do that if you can create a page entirely dedicated to your company? Creating a Facebook fanpage will achieve that.

Users used to think that a fan page is merely for celebrities and other personalities. But that is a thing of the past. Many companies have created official pages to attract more customers and retain loyalty. They also use this to reach as many possible consumers they can.

Creating fanpages:

Creating a fanpage is simple. All you need is to click on the Create A Page button on your Facebook account and you will be guided with what to do. You will need to fill out all the needed information including location and contact information. A little history of your business or company is also a plus. After providing all the needed information, you can start customizing the page. Start by adding a profile picture. Uploading photos of what you offer, and providing more details about your company (history, special offers, awards and the like) will also help bring more traffic to the page.

Facebook is a great marketing tool because most of your market is already using it. All you need is to direct them to a well designed fanpage of your company. Start building your brand and tap into its indefinite number of possible consumers. You can design the page yourself or ask professionals to do it for you. Organizations like DZPP provide effective images for several Facebook timeline pages.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6988669

Thursday 12 April 2012

Social Marketing: Things That Can Hurt Your Blog Posts

By now everyone has realized the importance of featuring a blog on their website. While many businesses now offer blogs, simply having one on your website is not enough to guarantee that it will be successful. We are going to offer you some tips on what not to do if you want your blog to survive and get the attention it deserves.

A blog's success can sometimes be determined by the title of the post. While you may think that you have come up with a witty and entertaining title, others may find it annoying or even distracting from the content that is included in your blog. The main idea behind the title of your blog should be to grab the attention of your readers and make them want to read more. The more specific and relevant your title is, the more likely it is to attract potential readers and keep their interest. A specific title can also help search engines distinguish your blog's subject matter and present it in search results. If you use a title that tends to be on the cute side or is not relevant to the content in your blog, you may be costing yourself valuable traffic to your website.

Another thing that can hurt your blogs is forgetting to link newer blog entries to older already published blogs. By linking a newer blog to an older post you will be providing that previous post with a new audience that may have missed it before. Just because a blog post was written a few months ago does not mean that the content is no longer important, provide readers with the chance to discover previous blog posts that they may have missed. While we are on the topic of linking it can also help your blog's success by linking to other bloggers. By linking your blog to content of another blogger you are providing it with an audience that it may never have had. It is also important that you link your content to a blogger if that idea came from them. Linking is an important tool in guaranteeing the success of your blog.

Including bad links or URL's that are full of unrecognizable words can also hurt your blog. To improve the chances of your blog getting noticed by search engines you should test all of the links you are including to ensure that they take visitors to the proper location. This is also true of URL's, if your URL is full of letters and numbers that are hard for a search engine to understand they will tend to pass over your website in favor of one that includes easy to read and use URL's.

Writing and including a blog on your website is not enough to guarantee that it will provide you with the desired results. You need to pay attention to any and all information and links that you include in your blog. Creating a successful blog isn't that hard, as long as you avoid some of the most common mistakes that other blog writers tend to make.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6985756

Tuesday 10 April 2012

The Power of Social Media In Today's Society

The most significant influence online today is social media. Social Media has the strength to connect people from all around the world like never before. It has the power to promote businesses to a level never thought possible. It has the influence to raise awareness to aid special causes around the globe to a very extraordinary degree. Millions of people make use of social media in day-to-day life.

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are amongst the leading social outlets widely utilized across the Internet, TV advertisements, sporting events and so much more. LinkedIn is another top social community which is commonly used for connecting business professionals across an entire shared network.

A multitude of social channels and social websites are made use of every single day, almost everyone has heard of or uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook has had an incredible impact on social groups, making it easier to stay connected to friends, family and businesses.

With the help of Twitter, people can keep track of even the smallest details of other people's daily activities. Facebook and Twitter are also used as promotional tools by businesses and companies to introduce people to new and upcoming products or promotions and so much more.

YouTube makes sharing videos of all categories easy and accessible for people of all creeds, colours, and income levels. People who upload videos become famous for all sorts of things from singing, to extreme sports, to comedy. Furthermore, YouTube, like Facebook and Twitter, have provided people with the never before seen ability to raise awareness about important and significant causes with ease and amazing effectiveness.

From humanitarian issues like the plight in Syria to problems closer to home like political debates, Social Media has granted people the power to interact with one another and form communities of causes that are better able to collectively argue points and make a difference. Now, with a simple internet connection and a mobile device or computer, an individual can become an integral part of all sorts of social communities and causes with the help of social media.

The power of the people has been a recognized power for all of history, but now with social networks, people are connected closer than ever before and as a result, people from all different nations can form groups and bonds that span the world, penetrate political barriers, and escape persecution. This connectivity power of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is remarkable and still finding its true ability for change and inspiration.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6984241

Thursday 5 April 2012

Facebook vs. Yahoo Round 2: Social Network Files a Suit of Its Own

The Facebook-Yahoo grudge match continues.

Now Facebook is countersuing Yahoo, denying Yahoo’s allegations that Facebook infringed on the company’s patents — and claiming Yahoo is actually infringing on Facebook’s patents.

Facebook’s counter-claim, filed Tuesday, denies Yahoo’s statements that many of Facebook’s tools and features on the site stem from developments made by Yahoo. Facebook requests that any triable issues be taken to court.

The social network also says Yahoo is in violation of some of its patents, including patents the company holds for “generating a feed of stories personalized for members of a social network,” and “tagging digital media.”

Facebook says it plans to fight the original lawsuit.

“From the outset, we said we would defend ourselves vigorously against Yahoo’s lawsuit, and today we filed our answer as well as counter-claims against Yahoo for infringing ten of Facebook’s patents,” Ted Ullyot, Facebook General Counsel said in a statement.

“While we are asserting patent claims of our own, we do so in response to Yahoo’s short-sighted decision to attack one of its partners and prioritize litigation over innovation.”

Yahoo formally went after Facebook in March, claiming the company violated 10 of its patents.

Yahoo said it had “a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property.”

The Twitterverse, meanwhile, showed its support for Facebook. Even Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook’s former marketing director, got in on the Yahoo-bashing.

“This Yahoo stuff feels to me like the business equivalent of when celebs do ‘Dancing With The Stars’ in a last-ditch effort to save a career,” she tweeted.

What do you think about Facebook’s counter-suit against Yahoo? Tell us in the comments.

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Pinterest Involving Your Customers With Your Boards

If you have an idea you find interesting and wish to share, or something you want post as an important discussion on better ways of communication, there is a good way relaying this to your customers.

I believe that the old ways of using notepads and other avenues of keeping information and ideas afloat to both your business and its customers are still in use.

Nonetheless, if you want to make it big then you should consider using Pinterest for business growth and ideas.

It may not be a vibrantly known social networking platform but it has grown to have ample recognition for its role in the development of new businesses and business concepts.

Pinterest gives you ample space to express your thoughts to your customers and business partners.

The online clipboard can be a good marketing avenue, which is if you have the wits on how to make the best of visual impressions.

If you have an idea that springs from something you saw, you can take a picture of it and then pin it on the Pinterest board.

Leave a comment directed to your customers and ask for their ideas.

As a way of passing on ideas, let them comment or pin their own pictures that they find relevant to your idea.

You can then create another board that takes the customers through your choice of the various ideas passed and what you have come up with, out them.

The earlier board acts like a stepping-stone on which the customers get to pass varied ideas with limited actual dictates of picking on all the ideas.

You use it to source the best of these ideas and the pin them on the second board. On this board, you can have solid business ideas that you can work with.

You still should pin more note comments and pictures indicating how things are going for your customers to view and remark on.

The emergence and use of Pinterest for business has come full circle within just two years of its existence.

You may wonder how some businesses have made it big with such a short time. Social circles created on Pinterest boards can come up without your knowledge.

You create a board full of ideas and present products that your business has and in no time, you have new online clients and potential customers.

The icing on it is they help you along with developing you small business into an empire as you keep them engaged on the Pinterest boards.

If used in the right way Pinterest can really benefit your social marketing campaign.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6964098