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0 Facebook Introduces Hashtags

June 14, 2013
Darren Durham
· Facebook · News

Facebook now supports hashtags, allowing users to find and follow popular and topical conversations on the site. Two of Facebook’s key rivals in the world of social media, Google+ and Twitter, have already incorporated hashtagging into their sites. Facebook affiliate Instagram, the photo sharing app, has also had hashtags for some time, so it is no surprise that Facebook has finally introduced them.

Microblogging site Twitter revolutionised the onsite search format by introducing hashtags early on in its development, allowing users to easily find and follow conversations, despite the amount of data published on the site every second.

Due to its early adoption of hashtagging, Twitter is now where users go to find out about the top stories and breaking news from around the web, and even around the world: Facebook have introduced hashtags in an attempt to compete with Twitter in this respect. According to the announcement post on the Facebook Newsroom page, people are already discussing popular television on the site:

During primetime television alone, there are between 88 and 100 million Americans engaged on Facebook – roughly a Super Bowl-sized audience every single night. The recent “Red Wedding” episode of Game of Thrones, received over 1.5 million mentions on Facebook, representing a significant portion of the 5.2 million people who watched the show. And this year’s Oscars buzz reached an all-time high on Facebook with over 66.5 million interactions, including likes, comments, and posts.

However, up until now there has been no “simple way to see the larger view of what’s happening or what people are talking about”. Hashtags are only the first step in Facebook’s plan: the social media giants intend to roll “out a series of features that surface some of the interesting discussions people are having about public events, people, and topics”.

According to the announcement post, hashtags allow users to:

• Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals.
• Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
• Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

Users can still control who sees their posts, even if they contain hashtags, which does limit the service slightly. However, hashtags may encourage users to post public content more frequently, increasing user interaction beyond their friendship group and liked pages.

Hashtags will also help increase brand interaction. Without hashtags, users were limited to seeing posts by their friends, the pages they had liked, and the pages their friends had liked – as well, of course, as any promoted posts. With hashtags, users are more likely to see posts from outside their immediate circle, but just as likely to see posts which interest them: it is the user, after all, who has to click on the hashtag to view the conversation, displaying a willingness to actively engage with the content.

Facebook has published a post on the Facebook Studio pages, advising marketers how they could and should be using hashtags to promote their brands. Here is what the company believes marketers need to know about the new feature:

If you are already using hashtags in an advertising campaign through other channels, you can amplify these campaigns by including your hashtags in Facebook advertising. The same creative best practices on Facebook still apply – compelling copy and photography that is in the brand voice works best.
Any hashtags that you use on other platforms that are connected to your Facebook Page will be automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook.
Like other Facebook marketing tools, hashtags allow you to join and drive the conversations happening about your business. We recommend you search for and view real-time public conversations and test strategies to drive those conversations using hashtags.
Hashtags do not impact your distribution or engagement in News Feed on either desktop or mobile. We recommend you continue to focus on your existing campaigns to drive your most important business objectives.

In the post, Facebook has also gone into more detail about the features they intend to release over the next few months to help drive conversations on the site, revealing that trending hashtags are in the pipeline. There is as yet no word on whether hashtags will be monetized or not, but if they are, it will presumably be in a fashion similar to Twitter’s Promoted Trends.

Do you think hashtags will work on Facebook?

Source: Social Media Today

0 Which Social Network is the Most Illiterate?

June 3, 2013
Darren Durham
· News · Social Media

Technology has been the driving factor in how we communicate in todays society… although some may argue for the worse. It’s now the norm to communicate within 140 characters, memes and an angry cat which have all transformed how we talk online.

To understand how we talk online Brandwatch have conducted research into how social media is helping drive evolution in the English language.

Twitter users are the least literate of the internet users looked at, with 0.56% of words on the network being either misspelled or otherwise unofficial, perhaps due to its stricter character limit.

Twitter: 0.56% or 1 in 179
Google+: 0.42% or 1 in 238
Facebook: 0.31% or 1 in 323
Forums: 0.18% or 1 in 556

Americans trend to deviate more than those based in the UK, with Brits at 0.53% and the USA at the global average of 0.56%. Interestingly, tweeters have been getting increasingly literate over the past few years, getting 0.01% more literate each year since 2011. Although this is probably as a result of increased adoption of auto-correcting devices.

Females are more deviate too, using slang in every 169 words, whereas males once every 192. The most common words used by women are ‘sooo’, ‘loool’ along with ‘awww’ and ‘ohh’. Whereas men prefer to shorten their words such as ‘wanna’ and ‘kinda’.

It comes as no surprise that the most frequent deviation was the usage of acronyms, resulting in words like im, hes and theres. The second most frequent deviation was the use of acronyms. The widest used was LOL, followed by WTF, LMAO, YOLO, OMG and FFS.

We found out plenty of other interesting statistics, which you can discover in this infographic, put together by mycleveragency.

Source: Social Media Today

0 How Teens Use Social Media [Infographic]

May 27, 2013
Darren Durham
· News · Social Media

A little while ago I made a post focussing on a recent study that concluded teens are “abandoning” Facebook (you can read it HERE). A sentiment I disagree with as teens are using Facebook more than ever, they’re just using it differently than what you would consider “traditional” use of the platform. Interacting with their friends by use of third party applications & games that are connected to Facebook using their login information etc.

Anyway, here at Blab It Canada we LOVE infographics this is one from the fine folks at Pew Research Center focusing on how teens are using social media. The infographic creates an interesting visual of teens social circles online, what kind of information they share and who they’re sharing it with as well as what they consider to be private information. Have a look!

1 Is Your Brand Still Using a Personal Facebook Profile?

May 8, 2013
Darren Durham
· Facebook · News

If so, then you’re doing it wrong. As a consumer there’s nothing quite as annoying as performing a Google search and being directed to a personal profile on Facebook, acting as a business. There is no information, no about section, no contact information, and I have to send you a friend request in order to engage with you? There’s about a 99% chance I’m going to hit the back button and move on to the next search result and completely disregard your brand in the future. That’s a pretty powerful thing. In social media it’s important to not only have the right attitude but also a solid strategy, this includes utilizing all your social media platforms properly. Nothing is foolproof but below is 15 reasons why you need a Facebook fan page instead of a personal profile.

1. Unlimited Friend Count

While the amount of friends you have on your personal profile page is limited and capped at 5,000, your Fan Page can have an infinite number of fans. This is probably one of the most important reasons that you should be using a Fan Page and not your personal page. Why would you ever want to limit the amount of fans your brand can have?

2. You Have The Option To Keep Your Personal Life Private(-ish)

In creating a Fan Page you are, essentially, keeping your personal page separate and not connected to it. For those who want to keep Facebook for friends and family, this is an important feature. It’s vital. You can control the privacy settings on your personal page and optimize publicity for your Fan Page. It can become incredibly annoying to your friends and family who are constantly seeing business updates from you. This option is a great way around it.

3. Search Engine Results

Facebook Fan Pages are indexed, which means that some of the public content is indexed as well. As a business, you want to show up on the search engines. Of course, you want to direct traffic to your website first, but having a social presence is very important.

4. Tagging Your Brand

Your fans and other Fan Pages can tag your Fan Page. Only your friends can tag your personal page. As you want to show up on as many newsfeeds as possible, you definitely want the option to be Tagged in photos and posts by others. This increases your engagement, not to mention your fan base.

5. Facebook Insights

Facebook Fan Pages have great analytics. You can tack the amount of views a post receives and monitor your weekly reach all within the Facebook Insights. To be a smart marketer means knowing how to maximize each post and learning which posts work best for your brand. This is the insight you need to deliver the right content to your fans.

6. Facebook Tabs

Facebook tabs are only allowed on Fan Pages. Enough said?

7. Facebook Contests

Facebook contests are often seen in tabs. You can’t host a successful contest on your personal page because the software and third party apps are just not there. Contests build engagement and engagement is your friend.

8. Profiles Look Like You Don’t Know What’s Going On

Plain and simple. A brand that directs to a personal page just looks amateur. You only get one first impression. You don’t want it to be this one.

9. Advertising

Facebook advertising, while expensive, is very targeted. Advertising to a Fan Page is more effective than an outside landing page because Facebook wants to keep the traffic within the network. You can promote your Fan Page through ads, but not your personal page.

10. Admin Connections

By granting select people access to your Fan Page, you avoid giving out your password to multiple people. You can chose what rights they get to finagle with and what they can do within your Fan Page. This also allows for a pretty nice checks and balances system for your brand.

11. Check-Ins & Location Services

You can allow people to check into your brand through your Facebook Fan Page. You can’t do anything like this on your personal page. If you have a location for your business, this is crucial for social proofing and newsfeed marketing. You always want to get people to interact with your brand. They can do so by checking in.

12. Promoted Posts

Okay, you can promote your posts now on your personal page, but they aren’t as strong. Your personal page is often less targeted than your Fan Page. In being able to promote certain posts you are able to garner more exposure for whatever it is you’re trying to push. You’ll also have analytic access to this promoted post. If you promote posts like I do, you’ll notice a definite leap in Likes.

13. Showcase The Other Pages You Like

Fan Pages give you the option to like pages and showcase them on your page. These should be brands that you have relationships with or brands that have a similar following. See tip #15 for more on this.

14. Newsfeed Marketing

Newsfeed marketing is the basis of social media marketing. By having a regularly updated Fan Page, you’ll be seen and noticed on the newsfeeds of your fans. When they interact with your posts and brand, you’ll show up on their friends’ newsfeeds. This is your key to gaining new fans.

15. Comment As Your Brand

This is great branding. As long as you Like pages officially to your Fan Page, you can comment on their content and posts as well. In doing so, you’re increasing exposure for your brand and providing valuable (read: priceless) insight and conversations with a new audience.

Do you use your personal page for business? What other benefits are there in using a fan page instead of a personal page?

Source: Stephanie Frasco – ConvertWithContent.com

2 Social Media Ad Revenue to Grow to $11 Billion by 2017

May 3, 2013
Blab It Canada
· News

Social media ad revenues expected to grow to $11 billion dollars by the year 2017. Facebook alone is expected to make close to $1 billion from its mobile ad revenue in 2013.

Many social media industry leaders scoff at the idea of paying for attention in social media. That’s easy to say for individuals that were early adopters and were able to grow a substantial following. That’s not the same situation that businesses find themselves in. It’s imperative that they build a following on social media – and to accelerate that growth and capture leads – paying for advertising is a solid investment with a positive return on investment.

Social ads reach the audience in which you’ve invested a lot of money and time into nurturing. You can see which audiences are engaging the most, so you can ensure that your ads are being bought correctly and you’re actually growing your fan base based on true data. Salesforce Marketing Cloud VP Peter Goodman

Take a look at the infographic below!

Source: Marketing Tech Blog

1 Have you Checked your Social Feeds today?

April 30, 2013
Blab It Canada
· News · Uncategorized

One in three anglo-phone Canadians says not a single day goes by without checking into their social media feeds.

It’s one of many social networking statistics compiled in a new report by the Media Technology Monitor, based on surveys conducted in the fall with 4,001 anglophone Canadians.

Almost seven in 10 Internet users said they were regular social media users, logging on at least once a month. That figure was up by about six per cent compared to 2011.

Those growing numbers didn’t surprise Aimee Morrison, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, who researches digital culture.

“It’s becoming a mainstream part of how we get the business of life accomplished and you’re at a disadvantage increasingly if you don’t do it,” says Morrison.

“I think social media is hitting a tipping point in a way that cellphones did in the later part of the 1990s, where we’ve moved from the stage where it was something that the early adopters did and then the hipsters did and then the kids did.”

About 63 per cent of social media users said they read Facebook posts, tweets and/or LinkedIn updates every single day.

Facebook remains far and away the most popular social network. About 63 per cent of Internet users and 93 per cent of social media users said they’re on Facebook.

While Twitter gets a lot of media hype and is growing rapidly it’s not all that commonly used in Canada, according to MTM’s numbers.

Less than one in five Internet users said they were on Twitter in the last month, although those numbers had grown by 80 per cent in a year, up from just 10 per cent in 2011.

“Probably in the press it looks like more people are on Twitter than actually are on Twitter,” said Morrison, who noted the stats were in line with usage of the social network among her graduate students.

“They didn’t think it was relevant to them or some had concerns about privacy or the exposure they might face as young workers. … They were worried it might be held against them if they did it wrong.”

Morrison pointed out that it can be difficult for new users “to know the right way to use Twitter and therefore it can be more alienating than something like Facebook.”

The business-oriented social network LinkedIn had similar usage numbers, although it grew slower since 2011.

About 12 per cent of Internet users said they used it at least once a month in 2011 and the figure was up to 18 per cent in 2012.

“If you join because you think you’re supposed to but you don’t have a burning need that you’re trying to fulfil, it’s pretty easy to give up before you get to that point where you start to see returns on investment in time and effort,” Morrison said.

Only seven per cent of the social media users surveyed said they were regular users of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, logging in to each at least once a month. Those users were most likely to be under 50, university educated and live in a high-income household with a child under 12 in the home.

Morrison said social media membership will likely continue to grow as users who previously held out feel obligated to finally join in.

On the other hand, there will always be resisters who refuse to sign on to what they deem to be a fad.

Source: The Windsor Star

0 Who Uses Social Media? A Demographic Breakdown

April 15, 2013
Blab It Canada
· News · Social Media

You think you know social? How about who uses it? Well, you might not know it as well as you would have guessed.

A new study from the Pew Research Center and Docstoc shed some light on just who uses social and on what platforms. Some of the findings seem in line with what you would probably guess, but others were surprising.

If you think the smarter, more attractive sex is more socially prolific than us men, well … you’re right. Women use social media 9% more than men do. Despite having more distractions, people living in cities have the most social media activity, at 70% of the population. Perhaps it’s the connectivity of large-city life.

In terms of racial and ethnic groups online, Hispanics lead the pack at 72% engagement, with African-Americans trailing at 68%, who are ahead of Caucasians at 65%. And in a strange twist, despite being somewhat economically disadvantaged, 72% of adults with annual household incomes below $30,000 use social networks, more than those with higher wages.

How about most popular social networks? That would be Facebook, with 67% of adults using the Zuckerberg-founded service. A distant second was LinkedIn with 20%, with Twitter coming in third at 16%, and Tumblr falling dead last at 6%.

Check out the details in the infographic below:

Via: Mashable

0 What’s the Future of Business by Brian Solis

April 12, 2013
Blab It Canada
· News

bigstock-Future-Business-Solutions-Busi-7170122

Source: Brian Solis – SlideShare

3 Google+ VS Facebook – What is Your Strategy?

April 2, 2013
Blab It Canada
· Facebook · Google · News

Quite often we’re asked the question “what is Google+? do I need to be on it? Is it better than Facebook?” and the like. Without giving a definitive Yes or No answer (nothing is ever that simple is it) below is excerpts from a recent article on Social Media Today including a useful infographic on the subject.

Knowing the audience is going to help you determine how much time to spend here. In general, you want to spend time where your audience is. When it comes to Social Media Marketing, you should allot the largest amount of resources, money, and time where you will get the best results.

Google Plus is:
* 63% male
* Primarily based in the US
* The audience is hard to determine because it is fairly inactive. As everyone with a Gmail account also has a G+ account, it is hard to say how many people actively use it.
* The audience here is quite tech savvy.

WHY IS GOOGLE PLUS SO DARN IMPORTANT?

This is a huge debate in the Internet marketing world. One: it is Google, and Google, whether we like it or not, is the game we are playing. While the network itself might not be as popular or as highly engaged as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest, being on Google+ will impact search (which we will get into in later posts). That just might outweigh the fact that your target audience isn’t yet on Google+. And who is to say they won’t be there in a year or two?

Another reason Google+ is important, and why you should be using it as a tool in your arsenal, is because it is still early. Getting into sites earlier gives you an advantage. It gives you time to work out your strategy and grow your network so that, when the rush of people come, you will be ready to deliver the content they are looking for.

Does Google+ drive traffic? In my experience, for some clients, yes, for others no. Taking a look at this blog’s traffic, we have seen some G+ traffic. In general, the traffic has come when it is shared by multiple people via the G+ button on my blog posts. If this blog strikes a cord with a powerful and influential G+ user, then this blog could see a ton of traffic from G+. This is the case with all the BIG 5 networks, which is why it is important to network with Influentials in your industry.

WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT- PEOPLE IN CIRCLE OR +1?

This is another debate in the internet marketing world. The answer is, both are important in their own way. By having your site +1 often, you are going to do two things: a) you will show Google that you are a “real” site that has valuable content, which in turn will increase your search ranking. And b) your content will be shared with many people and, in the right hands, this can give you a lot of traffic, sales, and new followers. An endorsement is always a good thing. By growing your circle, your official content will be seen by more people. As your community grows and becomes more loyal, you might also see more people +1ing and sharing your content.

Create good content and you will see an increase in both +1 and people who add you to their circle.

LOCAL & G+

As Google runs the local search world, it is very important to have a presence on G+. The first thing you should do is claim your place. You want to show up on Google Maps don’t you? If you already have a G+ business page here is how you can merge it with Google+ Local.

What kind of content works here? As the audience on G+ is geekier, younger and predominantly male, the type of content that works best is good, smart content. As opposed to Pinterest, which is a photo heavy site, and even Facebook, which is also heavy on the media, the Google+ audience likes to talk. There is no limit to the number of characters in G+, as there is on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter, so you could write a novel here if you wanted to. (I’m not sure if that would be the best idea, but it is possible.) Remember, with Google+, and all Social Media in general, Conversations Matter!

Now, just because I said that the written word works well here does not mean you should exclude multimedia. Photos and videos look very nice on Google+ as well.

How do you use Google Plus currently? Do you have a business page and a personal page? What questions do you have?

Source: Social Media Today

1 Google+ Integration Allows Domination Over Twitter

March 28, 2013
Blab It Canada
· Google · News

Google Plus, the burgeoning social network from search giant Google, recently overtook Twitter in the list of social platforms with the most active users, despite the latter officially winning the crown for fastest growing network for 2012.

Supposedly, 25% of the global internet population actively use Google Plus in one way or another, compared to the 21% on Twitter. Facebook is still very much in the lead, with 51% using it on a monthly basis.

Google Plus has a number of killer features which are driving its growth and helping it steal precious attention away from the established social networks.

Holistic integration

The key to Google Plus is its deep integration with most other Google products, such as Search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive and Picasa. Instead of using a social network which requires complex integration with other core web tools, or the use of multiple applications to create a single dashboard experience, Google has built a social platform which is woven tightly with our day-to-day experience of the internet.

This has allowed Google Plus to grow rapidly thanks to a seamless usage flow from mobile via Android through to the desktop browser, providing the complete digital toolset most of us have been craving. And we can see Google continue its war of attrition with the recent launch of Google Keep, clearly targeted at overhauling its tepid Tasks functionality and taking on the Evernote and sundry ToDo apps market.

We can also witness this developing social layer by the automatic creation of a Google Plus brand page for any business present in Google Local, using the model which Yelp and other listings companies have followed in encouraging brands to take control of a pre-built social presence.

Hangouts

A feature which sets Google Plus apart from other social networks is its group video chat tool,Hangouts. Skype has offered this feature for a while but currently charges for it, and has the disadvantage of having to collate contacts’ Skype IDs before being able to make the call. As a freebie, using Hangouts is a no-brainer.

Google+ Hangouts allows free video conferencing for up to 10 people, and are perfect for client or staff meetings, hosting networking sessions, collaboration on projects, augmenting a virtual work environment. You can also “Enable Hangouts On Air” to stream your live hangout publicly on your Google+ profile, your YouTube channel, your website, and of course, to invited guests. If you activate Google+ premium features, the limit increases to 15 participants for both Hangouts and Hangouts On Air. Hangouts are also increasingly being used to broadcast conference panels live on YouTube.

SEO benefits for Google ranking

Given the tight integration between Google Search and Google Plus, it stands to reason that Google rewards social actions from within its social network with better page ranking in Search. This is particularly visible within Google’s personalised search results – +1 an article and it is pushed up the rankings for people who have you in their Circles. This is highly effective if one of your articles or sites is +1 or posted on Google Plus by someone who has been added to a large number of Circles.

Ensuring your content is submitted to your brand page, or promoted by your staff to their personal Google Plus networks, becomes a valuable activity which directly affects your SEO. If you already push out content or links to your site via Twitter and Facebook, the impact on search visibility is greatly increased by doing the same on Google Plus, validating participation over other social networks.

Authorship rank

Google offers a way to link up your Plus profile and any content you create for websites and blogs you contribute to. This helps to quickly identify content written by recognised topic authorities in Search by displaying their name and face next to the articles, and will promote their content over others. As well as providing a major incentive for bloggers and journalists to use Google Plus, this by default minimises the impact of participation on other social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

We can see the effects of this deep integration in the changes to what users are doing on each of the main three social networks. For example, thanks to Google Plus’ Instant Upload in its mobile app,photos taken on smartphones are automatically uploaded, ready to be shared. Seamless features such as these will affect usage, which we can see on the chart below.

Via: Social Media Today

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