• Are you wasting time trying to get Facebook to work for you?
•  Do you post too little or too often?
•  Has your fan page plateaued and you want to reinvigorate your followers?
•  Do you have “analysis paralysis” about your fan page metrics?

Trying to keep up with Facebook’s constant changes and upgrades can be a challenge but with the help of our FREE Advanced Facebook webinar, you can get started on streamlining your efforts and seeing real results.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 20^th at 3 PM EST for a full 60 minutes of no nonsense Facebook training based on this year’s laundry list of changes made to the platform.

Click here to register:  www.smmu.com/facebook-webinar

Do not miss what just may be the most important Facebook training you will attend this year as our resident Facebook expert, Jennifer Shaheen discusses what you can and should be doing to get more leads, increase your revenue and elevate your brand awareness.
Chances are Facebook has changed something that you have missed, don’t get left behind! Register Today: www.SMMU.com/facebook-webinar

Courtesy of blog.hudsonhorizons.com

• 1 in 4 display ad impressions in the USA are from social network sites. But there is still a resistance to social advertising, even though it is highly effective. Next year, spend more on your social ad network.
• Facebook will reach 1 billion users in 2012. That means one in every seven people on earth will be on this social network. It only makes Facebook’s marketing appeal that much more prolific.
• The internet is becoming more visual. Proof? A social image pinboard site called Pinterest.com grew by 512% this year.
• 95% of wall posts, get no response from the brand page owners. This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed in 2012.
• Facebook accounts for 3 of every 4 minutes spent on social networking sites on the internet. What does your page look like?
• 80% of all companies use social media for recruitment purposes. What does your social profile say about you?
• According to the research firm IHS, television sales are down for the first time in history. While this could be happening for many reasons, ReelSEO suggests that it’s because many younger people don’t NEED a television – they use the internet and sites like Youtube. Makes you think, doesn’t it!
• Google+ became the fastest growing social network in history, with 25 million users in just 4 weeks. Pay attention to the network and interlinking expertise used by Google, it’s the way of the future!
• 46% of all people on earth, access a social network, daily. Mostly, it’s one of the big 4 – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube.
• 95 million tweets are exchanged on Twitter every day. This rapidly increases when a breaking news story hits.
• A US Department of Education study showed that students, who learn online, do better than students who learn via face-to-face interaction. If your company teaches online, it’s only going to get better.
• Though half of the world’s population is under the age of 30, the people most active on social networks across the world tend to be older than that!
• 73% of all people believe that employees overshare, when publishing on social sites. Do you keep all of your updates positive, uplifting and professional?
• Using scheduled auto-posts when publishing to Facebook, actively decreases your comment interaction by 70%, according to Inside Facebook.
• According to Mashable, 57% of all people that like brands on Facebook, say that they do it because the brand offers them free discounts or coupons.
• According to Hubspot, 20% of all searches performed on Google today, have never been searched for before. Still think there’s no such thing as originality?

Have you come across any great stats recently? Post your shocking revelation here!

Courtesy of snb26pr.wordpress.com

Here are 5 ways social media could impact the 2012 election!

#1: The Evolution of Social Thinking

In 2008, social media was newer than new, and Obama was the only candidate to use this method of gaining new voters in the younger age demographic. But it’s not 2008 anymore, Facebook has jumped from 100 million to 800 million users, and people are sharing much more content and opinion now. President Obama’s social team is really going to have to dig for supporters now.

Simply being on the platform and repeating positive affirmations is not going to work this time round. Young people are still unemployed. America is still in a rut. Nothing much has changed since 2008. People are plugged into this sentiment, so a fresh angle is needed, and a powerful one.

#2: Foursquare Incentive Support

In 2008 Foursquare was but a twinkle in its founder’s eye. But the potential to use Foursquare to add real world incentives when campaigning is the real deal breaker. If candidates can harness the power of check-ins and badges, they may see a lot more support at rallies, from the younger generation. Link these real world check-ins with Twitter hashtags, and we could see powerful ideas syndicated at lighting speeds, from our good old friend – cloud sourcing.

#3: Youtube Fueled Testimonials

You already know that nothing is as powerful as public sentiment. If a friend likes or does something, you are more likely to do it yourself. This concept acts on various levels. The 2012 candidates might prompt young supporters to record Youtube videos of themselves, their thoughts and why others should participate. These real world testimonials may be the hidden glue in an otherwise wayward social campaign.

#4: The QR Code Revival

Seeking a way to interact closely with their voters, candidates might rely on QR codes connected to real world functionality, to send a message and prompt actions. These QR codes can help with a number of candidate problems, namely donations, endorsements and organizational ability. Look out world, here comes the age of the hidden message.

#5: Mobile Tech Takes To The Sky

Politicians are realizing the need to reach the younger age demographic on their mobile phones. Not only is this a sure-fire way to get them involved, it reaches them on a uniquely personal level. Connecting their campaign on Facebook and updating fans, will result in mass smartphone syndication, along with thousands of new supporters. Mobile technology could be the reason one candidate wins, and the other doesn’t.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. These are our best guesses, but they’re very relevant to any politician that wants a shot at winning.

What do you think? How will social media affect the 2012 election?

Courtesy of cmorgansweb.us

#1: Facebook App Gold

The easiest way to create a viral craze, is to have a Facebook application created for your business. Social games or apps are naturally interactive, and there are a lot of ways to share them that don’t seem like a marketing drive. The ‘invite your friends’ feature is a great viral hook, or an application that is so entertaining it keeps fans coming back for more every day. Obsession and addiction are the goals.

#2: Selecting The Right Applications

When you start your fan page you have the basic apps like events, photos and video. But increasing your contents viral potential begins and ends with the right apps. Choose which ready-made apps you’d like to use on your fan page. Make sure they compliment your business message, and the overall tone of the page. There are tons of these apps available on Facebook, simply go the apps section and browse.

#3: Updating is Under-rated

You’ve probably heard that updating your page is important. But do you know why? The average life of an update – be it a video, text or photos – is only a few hours. Facebook is crazy about fresh new content. Their algorithm only indexes content that is new. If you want to become a savvy viral marketer, then you’ll understand there’s no such thing as 1 piece of content. The same message, remixed and republished works!

#4: Facebook Advertising Matters

How does advertising assist with viral potential you ask? Simple. The more eyes that see your content, the higher that potential becomes. The single most efficient way to build your community on Facebook is to use their ad system. Even Facebook has said “Facebook ads expand your viral distribution.” When you’re preparing to publish ‘viral’ content, plan a comprehensive ad strategy to go along with it. It’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made.

#5: Use Facebook Connect

When publishing viral content, you need to think outside of the Facebook platform. With Facebook connect on your sites and blogs, people will be able to log in with their Facebook account and comment or share. This means that more people will have access to your content, and they’ll be able to share it outside of Facebook as well. With the shortened registration process, more people will share.

These 5 viral marketing tips are just the beginning of your journey on Facebook. Creating and promoting popular content is the dream of every marketer online. It’s one of the most difficult things to do. How can a 7 year old child’s video go viral, and a video that you made (and that cost you thousands of dollars) didn’t even get 5000 views? You just have to practice, and get the basics right first. Don’t give up!

What was your favorite piece of viral content from Facebook this week? We’d like to know, so please leave us a comment!

Courtesy of techit.in

With the new groups on Facebook, you can now collect smaller communities together for individual (and private) chatting, discussion or messaging. This is excellent for businesses that have been looking for a way to interact with specific clients on Facebook, without the entire world seeing what they have to say. Let’s explore some of the latest features of Facebook groups.

#1: Group Your Community Together

Unlike fan pages, if you already have these friends on your personal or business profile, you can add them to your group. If they don’t want to be there – they can opt out. What this essentially does is, it allows you to segregate clients, JV prospects, influencers, friends and family. A nifty little feature is that anytime anyone posts in that group, everyone is automatically notified.

#2: New Questions and Polls Feature

Groups can now contain the new question and poll feature Facebook rolled out recently. This is an excellent way to gather market research, or to get to know your group a little better. The best part is that because groups are smaller, tighter communities with a more direct focus than a ‘page’ in general – you can really target appropriate, relevant questions/polls, and expect more of a response.

#3: Add Entire Photo Albums To Your Group

One of the most irritating issues with the old groups was that whenever you had more than 1 photo to post, you had to do it individually. Now, Facebook allows entire albums to be posted. Because they are posted in streamlined groups, you’ll probably get more comments, tags and interaction! This was a great fix by the Facebook development team.

#4: Privacy Means More Conversation

There’s nothing worse than having to watch what you say because it’s not relevant to other people on your page. When this happens, communication is strangled, and the people you could be interacting with go silent. With the new privacy features in Facebook groups, you don’t have to worry about it anymore! When you post in your group, only your group can see it – no one else. Finally, free speech!

#5: Group Send Buttons Change Sharing

The send button is an excellent group feature, as it allows you to selectively send links to specific people – even to one person. The potential for business in this one single feature is huge. Imagine receiving an inquiry from a client stating that they want to know how much a leg wax costs? Simply send them the promo link in your customer group. It’s completely private.

These features will continue to change Facebook, and make it a great platform for doing business. Why don’t you create a group and test it out for yourself? There must be many creative things you could do with such user-friendly features.

What is your favourite Facebook groups feature and why? We want to know!

Courtesy of geekersmagazine.com

It’s not as straight forward as you might think – there are some vital points that business owners suddenly forget (or never discover) about setting up a Facebook business page. Let’s go over these points right here!

#1: A Group is Not a Page

Many first time Facebook businesses make the horrible mistake of creating a group, instead of a page. Why is this such a horrid mistake? Groups are limited, and act as an extension of your own personal interests.

That means when you post on a group page, it comes from you, not your business. You also lose some great functionality if you create a group instead of a page – like adding applications, creating adverts and having a community larger than 5000 members.

#2: Use a Keyword in Your Title

If your business name is “Paul’s Bistro” then you’ll need to include a keyword in your title that best describes your business. That way, when people search that keyword – your business will pop up – and give them the option to join. So, “Paul’s Bistro” becomes “Paul’s Bistro and Seafood Restaurant.”

You can even take it a step further, and include a geographical location in your title, if it suits your business goals. “Paul’s West Palm Bistro and Seafood Restaurant.”

#3: Certain Tabs Have Limited Options

When you begin to set up your new business page, you’ll notice that Facebook asks you to choose a category for your business. Often your business won’t really fit into any of their suggestions – but choose the wrong one, and you might have to delete your page at a later point to start again.

This is because some of the categories have limited options, for example – they don’t let you put in your business history or story. Always stick to the ‘professional services’ category to get all the options for a complete page.

#4: Don’t Be Afraid To Customize

Your business is one in a million, and that means your Facebook business page should reflect that. Don’t be afraid to customize your page, until its perfect. Try adding new applications, removing ones you don’t need, and experimenting with content and images.
Look out for FBML apps, or Facebook Markup Language Apps, where you can customize your tabs – anything from promotions to adverts directly on your page.

#5: Invite People To Join Your Page

Once your page is all set, its time to invite everyone you know to become a fan of your business. Not everyone you know will join – so it’s up to you to suggest your page to other people in other groups, or to approach people individually after finding them on similar fan pages.

When your community reaches 100 people, politely ask them if they know anyone to invite – and move forward from there. Remember community interaction and inclusion is the key to a great business page.

These 5 excellent points will help you set up a practical and efficient Facebook business page. If you can think of any other pointers that we should know – from your own experience – or something you might have come across, please let us know! We are always on the hunt for improvement. Tell us below!

Consider this your advice column, covering all things social media marketing.  Got a question for the Expert?  Drop a comment at the end of the post, send us a tweet, or stop by our Facebook page and leave a comment!

Dear Expert;

I’ve spent the past few months building up my networks across all my social media profiles.  I’ve got a large following on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin – now what?

Sincerely,
What’s My Next Step

Dear What’s My Next Step;

While it’s great that you’ve got a large following built up across these three networks, the problem is that you’ve hit the road in a Chevy for a road trip, with no map, and no destination.

Every social media marketing endeavor needs to start with a solid strategy in place.  Not only should you know where you want to go and how you’re going to try to get there, but you also need to know where you started.  This is especially important when it comes to measuring how successful your social media endeavors have been for you.

I recommend taking a look at our two-part blog post on Creating a Winning Social Media Presence, and then going back to re-asses if your network is built to accomplish your goals.

Sincerely,
The Expert

Dear Expert;

I’m intrigued by the possibilities that social media marketing has to offer for businesses, but I’m wondering, how do we go about reaching potential clients, and not just peers in the industry?

Sincerely,
Looking for the Right Ones

Dear Looking for the Right Ones;

It’s tempting, when first starting out in social media, to simply run and join every industry network there is, only to discover that you end up preaching to the choir instead of converting the lost.

I’m assuming you’ve got your target market nailed down, and that you know them inside and out – and if you haven’t done that, then you need to sit down before going any further, and figure it out.  Knowing who your target market is includes knowing their pain points,  where they’re most likely to hang out, or what activities and products they are into, lifestyle choices they make, etc.  Once you’ve got a handle on your target market, it’s simply a matter of reaching out to your prospects through those channels (networks, groups, etc.).

Having said that, there’s one big thing to avoid doing – spamming.  The minute you open your mouth, and your audience thinks you’re simply there to sell something, you’ve lost.  Instead, go in as a contributor – someone with knowledge to freely share, and once they’ve embraced you, then you can start to build a potentially profitable relationship.

Sincerely,

The Expert

Interested in having one of your own?  It’s not a bad idea, afterall, it’s a great way to increase visibility.  Thankfully, it’s a fairly simple process.  Go to the Like Button Page in the Facebook Developer’s section, answer seven questions, and presto! Now you’ve got the code you need to add to your webpage or blog.  Once added to your page, any fan who clicks on it will automatically be letting their Facebook network know that they’re a fan of your website/blog/Twitter/and the list goes on…

Here’s a sample of what ours looks like (This button is set up to let others “like” our page on Twitter):

Interested in having one of your own?  It’s not a bad idea, afterall, it’s a great way to increase visibility.  Thankfully, it’s a fairly simple process.  Go to the Like Button Page in the Facebook Developer’s section, answer seven questions, and presto! Now you’ve got the code you need to add to your webpage or blog.  Once added to your page, any fan who clicks on it will automatically be letting their Facebook network know that they’re a fan of your website/blog/Twitter/and the list goes on…

Here’s a sample of what ours looks like (This button is set up to let others “like” our page on Twitter):

Ok for one, it’s just really cool to tweet something, then jump over to Google or Bing to do a search, and see your tweet pop up under the results.  Real-time search provides a fascinating look at what conversations are taking place right at that moment, around the world.  And, it marks an important step forward in online search capability.  Beyond this, however, is there any real value to real-time search?  Well, there’s good debate going on about that too.  The potential is there, definitely, and the likes of search engines and social media networks alike are nodding their heads in fervent agreement.  So what does all of this mean for the average business professional?

Imagine a company looking for customers interested in rock climbing.  A quick look online and you’ll find conversations and tweets from customers talking about the very subject your company addresses, and within moments you can be involved in that conversation as well.  In fact, there are a lot of businesses doing this already.

The reverse is also happening as well.  Consumers looking for a particular company, or information on a subject/product/etc. are finding real-time results for their queries, posted by the businesses hoping to capture their attention (and loyalty).  Any business that isn’t thinking about this, is one that is potentially leaving some customers on the table.

Real-time search also calls into question the relevance of content on company websites.  In the past, SEO experts in particular, recommended updating content periodically, in order to remain on top of search engine results.  This becomes even more critical as real-time takes hold, only now companies will need to think about updating content daily, or more frequently, if they’re going to keep their top-ranking on search engines alive.

At the same time, there’s still some growth and innovation that needs to take place in this arena.  With Twitter and Facebook opening up to search engines,  the pool of content available online just expanded by an incredible amount, and as many are pointing out, search engines are still figuring out how to wrap their arms around it all.