This week: Facebook changes help reach but not frequency; social consumers want deals; best location services; new Yahoo! feature for social marketers; and the best tweeting advice
1. Best news for marketers: Facebook redesign boosts reach for brands
According to this cool infographic from SmartBlog, more than 93% of marketers plan to invest more or the same budget in social media in 2012. As you begin allocating dollars to Facebook, keep this new PageLever study that was featured on Advertising Age in mind. It found that lately more of your Facebook fans are seeing fewer of your messages. Apparently, the recent overhaul by the social network appears to have increased brands' reach in terms of the total number of people who see any given message. However, the Facebook tweaks have reduced the frequency with which any given user sees a brand's promotions. I'm thinking we might need a similar cost-benefit analysis if the rumored Twitter redesign hits before year end. Bottom line: Marketers need to stay informed and flexible as the social landscape continues to evolve.
2. Best consumer insight from Nielsen/McKinsey: Social consumers want deals
There's only one thing I love more than shopping, and that's finding a deal via social before I go shopping…so I can shop some more. And I'm not alone. According to Nielsen/McKinsey data, nearly 60% of users say they use social tools to find discounts. Almost a quarter say they do this at least once a week. The top reason given for following or liking a brand on social networking sites: to receive discounts and special offers. These results mirror the findings of Yahoo!'s own "The Gamesmanship of Shopping" study. Our researchers found that 49% of consumers give advice to others via social networks, motivated by a feeling of solidarity with other shoppers. Takeaway: One of the best ways for brands to attract followers on social sites is to offer giveaways and discounts.
3. Best geo-location apps with funny names: Booyah, Scvngr, Gowalla and Loopt
According to this new study on social media by Fortune 500, 62% of companies are on Twitter and 58% are active on Facebook. Among the top industries using social to drive business are retail and food. Both are perfect fits for location-based services like Foursquare. But Foursquare isn't the only name in the geo-location app game. ClickZ says companies like Booyah, Scvngr, Gowalla and Loopt are overhauling their business models to win investors and better compete with Foursquare. Booyah is focusing on social gaming; Gowalla has repositioned to focus on travel; Scvngr looks to incorporate loyalty programs and Loopt is aiming to break into the daily-deals market.
4. Best new social marketing tool on Yahoo!: Social Sentiment Slider
This week, in addition to launching Livestand for iPad, Yahoo! added a "Social Sentiment Slider" to Yahoo! News pages. This social polling feature allows consumers to answer questions related to the content they were just reading. In my case, I was reading an article about Neiman Marcus and was asked, "What is the attraction of luxury goods?" Advertisers can sponsor this social engagement feature, which will also connect to Facebook. This is just one step that Yahoo! is taking toward offering brands more ways to socially engage with readers and be a part of conversations around content online. Stay tuned!
5. Best tweeting advice from Hubspot: The retweeting button is not your friend
The Twitter rule-of-thumb that quickly emerged for me when I started tweeting professionally three years ago: Don't just hit that retweet button. It may seem super-convenient, but it makes your Twitter stream start reading like one big inbox of forwarded emails. It's like giving up your feed to other people. Your voice gets lost. That's why I love this piece from Hubspot on How to Retweet the Right Way, which confirms that it's better to copy tweets by hand, giving proper attribution and adding your own two cents about the comment or link in question. In social media and in life, the approach that takes a little more time and thought is usually the right choice.
--- Dianne Molina
Posted by dmolina
