The Bulls Roar » Social network

What Facebook’s new ‘Likes’ and ‘Interests’ Means for Marketers

AnnieInfinite — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:50:31 +0000

Unless your head is stuck in the sand you will have noticed that Facebook no longers allows you to ‘Fan’ a Page, but rather to ‘Like’ a page and while most people are trying to get their head around this new change and figure out what it means I can tell you one thing, it means that marketers are applauding.

Why, I hear you ask?

First of all go take another look at the ‘Info’ tab on your profile, if you’re like many FBer’s you hardly ever look at your own ‘Info’ tab, you will see that now all the information you filled out on that page concerning your interests both business and personal have been attached to new pages with their own Thumbnails, some of these thumbnails have no real pages – yet.

What this means for marketers is that you can now target your marketing according to all this new information which is being indexed and geo – tagged via Google!

Let me run that by you again – everything that you fill out on your Info tab is now not only indexable and targetable it is being used by Facebook to do just that! That’s why we do not ‘Fan’ pages any more, this is why we now like Pages – because we can now target those ‘likes and interests’ and market directly to the people who have clicked on them.

No longer are fans only targetable by their own pages, they are targetable via their own profiles and the ‘likes and interests’ that are catalogued on their profiles as well. Now every time you click you ‘LIKE’ something: e.g. a movie, book, music, a news story or an FB Page – this data is added to the general social search engine that is Facebook and this updates your permanent Facebook profile at the same time.

Now I want to make it clear Facebook does not expose your data to everyone – only to those people you’ve have given permission to as a friend will actually see your profile as always, but the collated data us now being used by Facebook Advertising to target marketing more specifically to those who have shown an interest via the ‘likes and interests’ including FB Pages on their profile.

This makes FaceBook Advertising rival Google and perhaps be even more influencial, FB are not relying on keywords but rather YOUR likes and interests, now that’s a step forward in the evolution of online marketing!!

For more information check out this Mashable post: http://mashable.com/2010/04/19/facebook-pages

and this one is a video from Mark Zuckerberg himself on Facebook Changes to expect: http://mashable.com/2010/04/21/zuckerberg-video/

Facebook’s New Ad Targeting Knows What You Read (hubspot.com)
Facebook Ads Will Use Your Web History (mashable.com)
What might Facebook’s new Link to Profiles and Pages mean for Bloggers? (socialmediatoday.com)

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Business, Facebook, Google, Marketing, Social network, Target market

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Best Social Media Posts – this week

AnnieInfinite — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:52:47 +0000

Great posts for this week by major players in Social Media:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/twitter-hack-5-ways-to-up-your-visible-iq.html
Why should you care about appearing smart on Twitter? Because the people who hire, promote, fire, date, marry, and divorce you will all read your tweets (updates) at some point.

http://mashable.com/2010/03/19/facebook-fan-engagement/
there are many brands who’ve surpassed the one million fan mark, while their peers have languished in the thousands. What’s their secret? These companies have figured out how to move from “broadcast” mode into engagement. They have engaged people so well that their fans even invite others along for the ride.

http://mashable.com/2010/03/19/global-social-media-usage/
According to the Nielsen Company, the global average time spent per person on social networking sites is now nearly five and half hours per month (February 2010 data), with Facebook accounting for the majority of that time.

http://www.jenniearmato.com/blog/general/viral-marketing-facebook-game-game
What’s the REAL SECRET POWER OF FACEBOOK? Well you would be right if you said 1) the number of people that go there, 2) the number of connections you can make 3) the networking you can do or 4) the entertainment apps. Each one of these has something I call ‘gravitational pull’ – like gravity, they pull you towards them and make you want to stay, but they are not the Secret to viral marketing on Facebook.

http://socialmediarockstar.com/how-to-build-a-massive-online-community
Josh shares tips for building an online community and tells how he grew the site to almost 50,000 members:

http://www.allfacebook.com/2010/03/facebook-the-tool-of-big-brother/
If you’ve been up to “no good,” you might want to think twice about who you ‘friend’ on Facebook and other social media sites, because there just might be a government official trying to track you down. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has been collecting information on how a variety of U.S. federal agencies are fighting crime using Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networks.

http://mashable.com/2010/03/18/social-media-sites-data/
Twitterers mostly consume news, MySpace users want games and entertainment, Facebookers are into both news and community and Digg’s audience has a mixed bag of interests.

http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/legitimizing-your-lackluster-linkedin/
Over the last few years LinkedIn has evolved to play a central role in professional networking and relationship building. I’ve come to find it very disappointing when I see a profile that looks like it was thrown together in 20 minutes, doesn’t have much thought put in to it, or is clearly overdue for an update.

http://staynalive.com/articles/2010/03/18/facebook-goes-after-their-trademark-in-popular-domains/
It has long been known that Facebook Apps are not to have the name “Facebook” in their names, but it would appear that Facebook is starting to go after domain names too. Just recently, they have asked such major sites as Mari Smith’s WhyFacebook.com, to change their name in defense of their own Trademark.

How US Government Spies Use Facebook (readwriteweb.com)
FBI using Facebook to fight crime (guardian.co.uk)
Social Buzz Free Icon Pack: Web 2.0 Style Social Media Icons (crenk.com)

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Digg, engagement, Facebook, facebook marketing, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social network, Twitter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Facebook for Business – Are You Missing Out?

AnnieInfinite — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:07:50 +0000

: Image by onebutan-iphone via Flickr

Facebook is now one of the most competitive sites on the web for marketing your business and if you have discounted social media as not worth your time – you might be in for a surprise!

Some statistics:

Facebook now has over 400 Million users (that’s the 3rd largest country in the world!)

Over Christmas it was THE most searched site in the world
It is the 2nd most popular site in the US and the world only surpassed by Google for popularity
Facebook is making changes to evolve its platform that suit businesses
Facebook ads and PPC are now more cost effective than Google
Facebook is the webs ultimate time sink
Facebook has its own Mobile site for mobile users

Can you imagine putting your ad or your business fan page in front of 400 Million active users?

Targeting those users with a refinement Google has never had?

Taking advantage of the time user spend playing on Facebook?

Take another look – it might be time to rethink it.

3 Serious Benefits of Social Media for Entrepreneurs Testing the Tools (successful-blog.com)
PayPal and Facebook Credits Will Play Nice After All (mashable.com)
Three Simple and Powerful Ways to Use Facebook to Grow a Following (icemanbaldy.com)

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Advertising, Business, Facebook, Google, Pay per click, Social network

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Facebook’s Facelift has Ignition!

AnnieInfinite — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:24:14 +0000

Well I guess it’s not a total surprise we have been reading about it for a while…

The emphasis is now on search and it is a great search engine, however I know there will be folks like myself asking where are the status updates? Where are my friend lists? etc..

The new Facebook redesign will take some people by surprise and others will be just plain ticked off – we know that’s true, but just like in times past when FB made changes you will all have to get used to it.

This is the page that greeted most users this morning

and this is the guide to what’s changed and what’s new:

As you can see Facebook is changing into a new type of social site, really it’s becoming what I would call a social search site, which is an interesting tack to take – are they going to compete with Google for searches? It’s not out of the realm of possibility as over Christmas Facebook searches out weighed Google searches and that is a huge coup for FB.

Now is the time to get used to the changes and to change the way you use FB to compensate for those changes – how will you compensate for the loss of your easy to find friend lists which is one of the changes most users are upset about. The secret is they are still there, just click on ‘Friends’ and you will see ‘Status Updates’ right there under ‘Friends’ click on it to see all your usual folders or then click more and you will see them there and this is going to be the easiest way for you to find your favourite people and coversations in the future.

We have to ask the question “What’s next?” as Facebook as made major changes almost every 6 months over it’s history there is almost no time between redesigns to get used to them.

The Zen Bull

Is Facebook becoming a portal? Now 4th largest source of traffic to news sites (digital.venturebeat.com)
More Users Seeing New Facebook Home Page – a Birthday Launch Coming? (insidefacebook.com)
Live-blog: A rundown on Facebook’s new redesign (digital.venturebeat.com)

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, Facebook, Google, Social network, Web search engine

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

How to: Grow your Facebook Fans

AnnieInfinite — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:14:14 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

I hear a lot of people asking about growing their fan base on their Facebook Fan Page, and the answer is to create engagement through various means. The most important thing I can recommend is this:

If you are present and a presence on your fan page your fan base will grow just as quickly as your friends.

Make sure to Add Value to your fans by posting great content and information in the form of blogs posts – your own and other experts in your field – that’s right, do not be afraid to prove that you are secure in your role by promoting others. Answer questions your fans may have and try to always to so promptly. Join in conversations, comment on other fan pages and use the @ feature to credit other fan pages for their information if you are reposting.
Other great ways to Add Value in the form of information is to bring your own blog feed into your Pages – Notes Tab, or you could choose to feed in selected Twitter updates via the RSS feed from your favorites to keep it updating. Then all you do is favorite your own blog updates, quotes and selceted retweets for them to instantly appear on your page.
Add a Static FBML or HTML App on it’s own tab on your Fan Page and configure it a little like a “Landing or Squeeze page” this is almost like having a Mini Website on your FB Fan Page and you can add in an Optin box and so much more.
Converse with your fans: ask them quesitons about their own businesses, their own challenges in your niche’s arena, give credit to others, give praise when it is due, quote others including other Facebookers. Find ways to create great conversation on your Page. Clue: conversation = engagement.
Post photo’s of you with friends, at seminars and your own place of business or workshops, at meetups and tweetups etc.. and tag the people you are seen with in those photo’s with a personal comment.
Promote your FB Fan Page on Twitter, your email signature, your online signature, your business card, and even on the bottom of your comments – when appropriate
Link your page to your Twitter account so that all your FB Fan Page comments automagically appear on your Twitter stream http://facebook.com/twitter Do this with your Friendfeed and any other social profiles you have.
Favourite other Pages on FB, this is easily done by clicking on this link and choosing which page to link it to.
Try out the Social Ads on FB: you can easily choose to target certain areas, age groups, sex, keywords and more and they’re easy to set up.

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, Blog, Facebook, RSS, Social network, Twitter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Twitillate Your World

AnnieInfinite — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:15:47 +0000

: Image by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten via Flickr

There are loads of different ways to use Twitter to enhance your social media marketing, I must admit I like the ones that make my life easier either by simplifying it in some way or by providing a time effective solution to my busy day.

This list of Twitter apps and sites and some of my hints on how I use them, will provide you with some ideas on how to do the same for your busy social media calendars:

Twitter Widgets and Downloads Page: A list right on Twitter itself of Twitter apps and widgets you can use to streamline your Twittering, and use to update other profiles like Facebook and Friendfeed.

Tweetbubble: This app allows you to record a short message via video and place it right on your Twitter profile where it will play anytime a user check out your profile.

TwitWall: Blogging app for Twitter, allows you to create articles and blog post including images and video and is auto linked to your Twitter profile.

Taweet: An event lister linked to your Twitter profile to publicise your events.

Twiturly: Find out what links are tops on Twitter in real time.

Tweetiator: this site notifies you when your links are shared on Twitter and by whom – very useful!

JustTweetIt: a directory of Twitter users – great to find users in your niche etc..

Twellow: the Twitter Business Directory – get listed!

Tweetmeme: Search and retweet the hottest stories on Twitter. Get the plugin for your blog and allow your posts to rate on Tweetmeme.

TwtPoll: easy to use poll app for Twitter, ask question, take surveys.

Seesmic: my Fav Twitter desktop app for tweeting multiple accounts, seeing my twitter lists, and more

Tweetdeck: another Twitter desktop app which is also a fav of many Tweeters

Tweetmic: an iPhone client that allows you to record a HD audio and tweetcast it directly to Twitter

FreeTwitterDesigner: Create a professional looking Twitter background for free, certainly not the only one, but very easy to use and pastes your new design straight to Twitter for you.

Selective Twitter to Facebook: Now this one is not a link, but it is one of the handiest things I can tell you about linking your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Many people use the Twitter widget for this however this results in what I term as an unsightly mess as all your Tweet end up willy nilly on your Facebook profile which can be quite annoying on other peoples walls and if you are a prolific Tweeter can also result in your overstepping the boundaries of Facebook protocol and getting yourself blocked, or banned.

How to make only selected Tweets appear in your Facebook wall: in Facebook either on your Profile or preferably your Fan Page go to Notes (if you are on your FB Fan Page first go into Edit page and look for the Notes app in your list) once there you will hopefully find a link that says “Import Blog” now open your Twitter profile page and look for “Favorites” click on it and this will take you to your favorites page (hopefully you have favorites some items along the way).

Now hover your mouse over the RSS link on the lower right hand area of your Twitter Favorites page a link should appear on the bottom toolbar, copy this link (I had to use pen and paper , now go back to Facebook and paste that link into the URL of your Import Blog page. If you have done this correctly another page will appear which asks you if this is the feed you wish to import. Click on “Import Blog”

Now when you want a selected Tweet to appear automagically on your FB Wall all you need to do is Favorite it and it stops the cluttering of your wall and those of your friends with loads of useless information!

Now that is handy!

The Zen Bull

101 Twitter Tools For the Ultimate Twitter Expert (sociableblog.com)
Web Based Twitter Clients – Which Is Right For You? (thenextweb.com)
How Twitter Conquered the World in 2009 (mashable.com)

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, Facebook, iPhone, Seesmic, Social Media, Social network, TweetDeck, Twitter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Brand Your Tweets with New Tool

AnnieInfinite — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:19:50 +0000

Now this is interesting, I am testing out a new Twitter tool today and I am liking it more and more. TweetBrand is a Twitter App installed via Adobe Air that allows you to brand your Tweets with your own URL – any URL!

You know at the bottom of each Tweet where it says via ? e.g. from Seesmic, from the web, or from Hootsuite now it can say “from your url” and click through to your specified url of choice and it couldn’t be easier to set up with full video and image support and best of all it is free.

Who could ask for any thing more? Try it out today here TweetBrand by Market Me Tweet

How TweetBrand rebrands your Tweets

This takes Twitter branding to a whole new level!

Watch this video for more:

Get this cute little app today – it’s free! TweetBrand by Market Me Tweet

Hint I have it up on my desktop screen all day and use it to Tweet whenever I have an idea – too easy!

The Zen Bull

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, Adobe Air, Online Communities, Social network, Twitter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Tracking Your Social Media Analytics

AnnieInfinite — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:08:51 +0000

: Image by See-ming Lee 李思明 SML via Flickr

One question I get asked quite a lot about is whether there is any way to track your Social Media Marketing success. The short answer is Yes! although in the next breath I have to explain that it is done in a different way to your ‘other’ marketing. Would you like to know how?

* Google Analytics: First of all, let’s not forget Google Analytics, this wonderful free tool by Google still has it’s place. by setting up some pages to be tracked and then only using those for your Social Media you can see what is working and what is not – yes you really can split test your social media. Try this and see: set up two pages with similar, but not the same content or even (of you have the ability two smaller sites), now set those pages or sites up in Google Analytics and use different types of social media – for instance only Twitter for one and Facebook for the other, or try different types of marketing content and posts to market those sites. Easy!

* Twitter Stats: Other than site stats try these Twitter trackers Twitalyzer, TweetStats, Twinfluence, Twitter Analyzer, Tweet Effect, and BackTweets. All of these work a little differently and give you different types of results, but the effect is an all round picture of your social marketing on Twitter. there is a new site called Klout.com which is also very useful for figuring out your reach and influence on Twitter, it is in open Beta right now, so give this one a go.
* Facebook Stats: If you market on Facebook and haven’t got a Facebook Fan Page you are missing out on your Facebook Insights which comes with every business profile/page. These have several views and some very noteworthy information for Admins, including how many people are interacting with your page, whether there are more male or females, how many people clicked your links and more..

* URL Shorteners: many of the better URL shorteners are now incorporating tracking your link stats for free when you sign up for an account. Most noteable are: bit.ly, budurl,and ow.ly from HootSuite. Not only will these shorten your links to a more managable size they will provide link tracking stats which are invaluable to check what kind of posts people are clicking on most. You can then change your comment and post strategy to take advantage of your insights. Personally I use bit.ly and ow.ly more often than not, as I like using HootSuite and bit.ly is available on Seesmic my Twitter App of choice. I have a new one I am testing out from Stumbleupon called su.pr and it seems to be working out as well and best of all there is a Worpress Plugin for it too.

Whatever you use, and I suggest for a complete picture you take a look at most of these, one way to track your social media influence and success is the conversations people are having with you. How much interaction there is, how many people comment on your links, or ask questions of your as the expert in your niche. Don’t forget that social media is social and understanding that this is a key component of your social media tracking and insights.

Have fun!

The Zen Bull

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Add new tag, bit.ly, Google, Google Analytics, HootSuite, Social Media, Social network, Twitter

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Social Media: Does the one with the biggest following really win?

AnnieInfinite — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:14:30 +0000

: Image by stevegarfield via Flickr

Have you seen them? If you are on Twitter I know you have.

You know the posts that tell you how to join this site and add 5 Million new followers!!

Are you tempted? Ask yourself why?

Now as an online marketer I understand that “it’s all in the list” and a list can be a list of social media followers, friends and fans.. BUT! Yes there is a big BUT and not the kind you want to shake (as in booty) lol.

and here is BUT # 1. What good is it to have a list of 5 million followers who all just want to sell their products to you? These people have their own agenda, they want to sell you on their product or opportunity they are not usually buyers.

BUT # 2. If you are making real, authentic connections and you are passionate, really passionate about what you do or sell the right poeple will be immediately attracted to you and you will have a list of people who trust you, listen to you and ultimately buy.

BUT # 3. When you give value to your friends and followers they know you are trustworthy, they know you know your stufff and they will follow (yes really, actually follow) your recommendations to them.

BUT # 4. Ask yourself why you need so many followers or friends, if you have no connection with these people, you do not know them or what they are looking for or what they need or want, why do you want them to follow you?

BUT # 5. Ask yourself, what if you could get people to follow you without following them first? What if you waited for them to find you, for them to optin to friending or following you, wouldn’t that mean they have chosen you and therefore have made a decision about you and what you have to offer and wouldn’t that mean that more of those people are ready not just to listen to you, but follow your lead? Wouldn’t this mean that most of those who made a decision to follow or friend you are not just prospects, BUT qualified prospects?

BUT # 6. Don’t you think that joining and recommending these sites makes you look a little desperate?

I am a social media marketer, and not once have I followed more than a few people a week (not a day even), and my followings have always grown more from people opting to follow me than the other way around. I love this, it might seem slower but trust me the type of friend or follower you have is a higher quality, you might even make some really great friends (as I have) make some amazing business JV’s (as I have) and gather new clients (as I have) without all the madness.

Social Media is easy, it is not about “the one with the biggest following wins” it is about “those who create the most connections and have the most real conversations win” and it is a win for all. It is not about having the biggest audience it is about who is willing to listen to you and click on your links.

Nothing can beat being real, giving value and creating relationships – think about it word of mouth is only any good if you trust the source.

Be a trusted source.

“Keeping Social Media Human” in Virginia Beach (socialmediaclub.org)

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Business, Online Communities, Relationships, Social Media, Social network, Twitter, Word of mouth

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Creating Pre-Launch Buzz

AnnieInfinite — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:41:15 +0000

: Image by nasa hq photo via Flickr

I presented a seminar on Social Media Marketing the other day and one of the questions that came up was “What’s the point of learning all this when my website isn’t even up yet?”

My answer was immediate, “Start now to create buzz, so that when your site does go up, you already have people ready and waiting to find out more.”

This created a real buzz of conversation that nearly ran us overtime. This is the inspiration for this post. How many of you know how to create buzz around something that doesn’t even exist yet? You know the concept isn’t new, movies producers have been doing it for years and we can all take some lessons from the film industry on this.

* Create trailers of your own, small videos of the kind of information, showcasing your skills, talents and personality act like movie teaser trailers – hooking a ready made audience who will eventually come to see your main show – your website and all it has to offer.

* Get a blog, Facebook Page or Group and Twitter profile up and running as soon as you can to get your intended clientele hooked on your information before your site is up and running and put Google Friend Connect on it and Disqus on your blog so that fans can become a fan base via the interlinking community aspects of these applications.

* Are you going to have a membership area on your site? This technique is just like a limited showing to test audience reviews: allow a certain number of Beta testers into your memberhsip area free of charge to test and review your site. If they love what you have to offer, their rave reviews will market your site for you.

* Most of all talk about your upcoming site via Social Media, give tidbits of upcoming information, let people know there will be a members only section, ask for volunteers to test your members area, let people see you really are an expert on your topic well before your site goes up in every way you can. Give away quality information, become a resource in your field and next thing you know your site will be too.

Follow these tips and watch your site stats jump as soon as your site is open for business. I love it when I am on Twitter and someone asks me when the site will go live, or when the membership area will be open for business, why? Because it means people are checking out the site and want to know more.. What could be better than that?

© AnnieInfinite for The Bulls Roar, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Facebook, Google Friend Connect, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social network, Twitter, Website

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

The Bulls Roar » Social network

What Facebook’s new ‘Likes’ and ‘Interests’ Means for Marketers

Related articles by Zemanta

Best Social Media Posts – this week

Related articles by Zemanta

Facebook for Business – Are You Missing Out?

Related articles by Zemanta

Facebook’s Facelift has Ignition!

Related articles by Zemanta

How to: Grow your Facebook Fans

Twitillate Your World

Related articles by Zemanta

Brand Your Tweets with New Tool

Tracking Your Social Media Analytics

Social Media: Does the one with the biggest following really win?

Related articles by Zemanta

Creating Pre-Launch Buzz