So Long Facebook FBML

May 4th, 2012


Are you ready to finally say goodbye to Facebook FBML tabs?

As of June 1, 2012, Facebook FBML apps will no longer work. As Facebook suggests, you can use HTML, JavaScript and CSS if you are building a new application. This is good news for web designers because it is just like building a regular web page without worrying about weird formatting issues. But this could be problematic for non-coders who liked the “simplicity” of using FBML.

For Page owners who haven’t used FBML, this news isn’t a big deal. For active users, it’s making the transition that could be difficult… depending on the number of tabs you have and their complexity.

There are many other alternative applications available and many are making the switch to iFrame Apps. Facebook accepts and favors this framework because the content will be hosted directly on the developer’s server, instead of through Facebook’s servers. Now here is one important thing to consider:

Should I use a Facebook tab application or make my own iFrame app? There are many applications to choose from if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to set up Facebook tabs – Wildfire, Involver, Tabsite to name a few. While these applications are easier to use, remember that they often have require monthly fees and are branded with their own company name (instead of yours’, unless you want to pay a higher fee for white label services).

Making your own iFrame app will give you the advantage of creating your very own web page on your Page. Depending on the number of tabs you want, it could be like creating your own mini-site with targeted landing pages that you can track using analytics. With FBML, this is something that couldn’t be done – don’t look at it as something that Facebook is doing to inconvenience owners!

So, if you need to, you have less than 1 month to make a transition. Give yourself time to think about the type of web design you’re looking for and weigh the benefits of using different applications for tabs. Be sure to contact us know if you have any questions and check out our portfolio!

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Taking a Look at Google Plus and Search

April 16th, 2012

google plus While there’s no argument that your website can benefit from an active presence on Google Plus, it’s still crucial to take a look at the different ways in which this is possible:

Inside the Social Realm
There’s no doubt that +1′s help web pages when we take a look at Search Plus Your World. This helps socialize your search results – meaning that your +1′s will show up when your Google plus friends search for something relevant to your recommendation (and vice versa). These +1′s act like a social sign of credibility and relevance since your friends are liking them and in return, endorsing that certain web page/company. This major change in search has businesses even more intently focused on creating content that will engage users and not just search engines.

Impact on Search Algorithm
The more +1′s your site has, the more it signifies relevance, credibility and trustworthiness. To what degree Google considers these social signals is unclear and their impact probably changes all the time, due to different factors. Of course, this also goes for Facebook Likes and Tweets, but some suspect that Google will give preference over their own social networking platform over the others that are out there.

Ongoing Debate
There is no direct answer on whether Google Plus can bring something “new” to your online organic campaigns but it’s the potential that people are focused on. In a way, you can look at Google + in a way that it isn’t doing anything to drastically change the search marketing game, but that it is amplifying the effects of things being spoken about in the SEO community for awhile now.

For example, these social signals are encouraging companies to create content that is more user-friendly and that will evoke more engagement. The addition of social factors to search engine results are also discouraging spammy content, keyword stuffing and other black hat methods that have been frowned upon because really, who is going to click on, read or even +1 a badly written, self-serving article?

Is Google Plus Right for Your Business?
This all boils down to making an analysis on what social platform will be a good fit for your company. Right now, big brand names and marketing/technology companies are doing well with Google Plus. Smaller companies might benefit as well, depending on their niche. In a comparison that can be easier to relate to, it’s like choosing whether direct mail, television ads or even paper directories are a good fit for your company. Believe me, there are some clients who still invest thousands a month in Yellow Page ads. Marketing is about choosing a mix of different strategies that will suit your company well – it doesn’t mean that you have to just choose one thing and stick to it.

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Facebook Timeline for Businesses Arrives

March 8th, 2012

We all knew this coming. So now that it’s here, how do you feel about the new Facebook Timeline for businesses and how it changes the game for social media marketing?

No More Default Landing Tabs – The Biggest Change
Most users where upset with the changes, so how do you think businesses will feel about the new Timeline rolling out to their Pages? Most are upset that there is no longer a main landing tab where businesses can conduct contests and other promotional strategies that were also known as “Like-Gating“.

Alternatives for Promotion
But don’t fret quite just yet. This is still possible! Check out Macy’s Win a Million tab (box?). This is example of how you can run these types of contests to engage with fans. Sure, Facebook makes things more difficult and is trying to get more businesses to spend more money in their ads, but it IS still possible. This is where a website marketing firm can come handy! To keep you in the loop with new information and to help out with creating graphics, applications and whatever else your business needs.

Key Features to Utilize
The new Timeline will force businesses to be more creative – from the cover photo to new content and even displaying company history. For business owners who are worried about their Page looking empty or inactive, the Timeline creates opportunity to populate more information that will be helpful for customers. Make sure to take advantage of this and fill out:

- Company history in the About section and adding Milestones. This can be robust as you want and you can fill out as much detail as you want.
- Monitor and show or hide the “Recent Posts by Others” Section. This part reminds me of a Twitter feed that you’ll have to keep your eye on for negative or spammy comments.
- “Pin” your posts at the top of your Page. (Pinterest, anyone?) Important posts can be highlighted at the top of your page for up to 1 whole week.

Make sure to carefully read Facebook’s new guidelines for Pages – for more on what you can and can’t do. Ahem, NO promotional language in the cover photo. This is just one of many, so make sure you’re playing by Facebook’s rules!
Also, check out the Emarketed Timeline and share yours with us!

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3 Missing Elements of Social Media Success

January 24th, 2012

social media influence

comScore and Buddy Media Research recently released a report on the effectiveness of social promotions during this past 2011 retail holiday season. If you haven’t seen the 17 slide presentation yet, it’s time to take a look before planning your next social media campaign.

While the report analyzes bigger brands like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, there are some important takeaways that you can apply to your small business. Take a look at this slide above. This is an important slide because it addresses many conceptions that business owners have about utilizing Facebook to promote their business. The immediate thought is to 1) Get Facebook Fans 2) Become successful. As we all know, success doesn’t come that easily. According to this slide, you can look at the missing process in three steps:

1) Cut-through – As your fan base grows, you’ll need to broadcast brand messages that are interesting so that they capture your customers’ attention. The importance of this step is that most Facebook users spend 27% of their time on their Newsfeed. Spread out your focus to include updates for your newsfeed, media updates (using photos and videos) as well as status updates.

2) Engagement – Your Facebook Page can’t truly gain exposure if it’s not being talked about. Comments and Likes are both very desirable forms of engagement. Don’t forget that these actions now also play a greater role in your search engine rankings! Interestingly enough, Mashable recently came out with in infographic that showed that “positive” updates are more likely to get Likes, while “negative” updates are more likely to get comments. See for yourself, here.

3) Amplification – Facebook Shares, reposts and even private messages are also intermediary ways to help reach your end goal of success. The best part about sharing on social media websites (especially on friends’ profiles) is that there is an extra component of trust and credibility when customers vouch for your product/service. These shares will come naturally and no coupon, newsletter or commercial can replace the value of word-of-mouth advertising.

Make sure to check out the report for yourself and see what other elements you can use or learn from for your next social media campaign!

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Social Media Spending Trends for 2012

January 7th, 2012

A recent report by Borrell Associates shows that small business spending for social media marketing is growing. But you don’t need a fancy study to tell you that. The interesting part of this article is that more small businesses feel that social media is a more important marketing channel than paid ads. Some experts have put these two findings together to predict that small businesses are going to be willing to spend more on social media marketing than paid search in 2012.

Why Spend More?
As some comments in the article suggest, the findings do not break down what “spend” really means. Does this consist of training, set up, consulting and other fees? And what do you plan to do with these assets after your accounts are created? As social networks become more popular, it’s also important for small business owners to have a good idea of the ROI on their investment for social media. Putting money into a marketing strategy without proper research or followup doesn’t guarantee success. In fact, investing the same amount into a paid search campaign may be even more productive for your business. There is no “right” answer and you can even choose a mix of both.

Choose an Effective Strategy
A growing demand and interest in social media can be overwhelming as you try and decide what is best for your small business. The answer isn’t easy, which is why an experienced marketing firm can help you evaluate all your options with a budget and resources that will fit your need. There is no set guideline for an effective social media plan, which is why experience and industry insight can give you a better idea of what to expect in your specific case. Contact us for a free consultation on how a social media campaign can help your business today.

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Looking Back at Marketing Trends in 2011

December 16th, 2011

There’s no other time of the year like the Christmas holiday season. My favorite thing about this time of the year (regarding marketing) are annual wrap up posts where we get to reminisce about all the interesting things that took place during 2011. Let’s take at 3 marketing trends that captivated customers this year:

1) Investing more time and resources into social media – Big businesses and small business alike invested more money into social media marketing this year. Not only that, but SMBs found that social media was helpful and an influential part of the decision making process. The introduction of Google +, Facebook’s Timeline and Twitter’s makeover for businesses are all a part of this social media revolution for customers and businesses.

2) Emphasis on local marketing – Geotargeting and local search marketing has become more important for SEO and PPC. Studies showed that mobile searches had more of a local emphasis, which spurred the growth of local sites like Groupon, LivingSocial and Yelp. This trend made it more inviting for businesses owner to reach out to locals and establish themselves as a part of the community.

3) Integration across different marketing mediums and platforms – 2011 showed us that an effective marketing campaign must be a coordinated effort. Old Spice’s manly man and Google Chrome’s Dear Sophie campaigns come to mind. These are all things you can learn in a typical business class but the horizon has expanded. Social and traditional. Written content and video. Desktop and mobile. What about tablets and video? All these things need to work together more than ever!

Do any other trends this year stand out in your mind?

And don’t forget about our end-of-the-year special!

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Pinterest Piquing Your Interest?

December 9th, 2011

If you love pictures, Pinterest is the new social networking/bookmarking/photosharing community for you! The site went live in March of 2010 but it’s gaining more attention for its potential for SEO.

Looking at it for the first time, the site reminds me of Tumblr and Chictopia. Think of it as a virtual pinboard where you can add pictures as well as links. For now, the links from the images are not nofollow, which means that your site can benefit from getting link juice here! Many people speculate that this tag could be added in the near future, so it’s best to take advantage of it now!

People post pictures of everything including: food, inspirational quotes, celebrity crushes, scenic shots and more. Check out this image I found of an iPad cover. Now to the SEO part that can benefit your online marketing campaign! With every picture you post, there are three links you can add: 1) the picture itself 2) the link on the top right 3) a link in the description.

Businesses can benefit from pinning pictures but the purpose is to not be so self-serving. Instead, the things you post should be interesting and shareable. E-commerce stores can post pictures of their products and local businesses can contribute to categories related to their city or local neighborhood. All of these things help with your online reputation, while gaining momentum from linked pictures at the same time.

If you’ve used Pinterest, let us know what you think. As for now, I’m eagerly awaiting my own Pinterest invite!

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Google + For Businesses: Will You Join?

November 8th, 2011

Yesterday, Google + business profiles have finally arrived. A short clip about new “branded” pages shows that a business owner cares about customer loyalty and personal interaction with different types of people.

And that’s what I’m seeing showcased more in social media services for small business solutions. The promo ends with this tagline, “Business don’t make people happy. People do.” Social media can help businesses hone that human side and showcase an inviting persona. After all, clicks, Likes and +1′s if businesses don’t see the end result with real people after all their efforts.

Here are some questions that you should really think about investing time and resources on yet another social networking site:

  • Are my customers (or customers within the industry) actively using Google +?
  • What is the point of the company profile and what message do we want to convey?
  • Why would customers be interested in connecting with my company/brand?
  • How else will I promote my content on Google+ and off?
  • How will I integrate this campaign with my other online marketing efforts?

After you answer these questions, it’s important to take a step back and ask yourself the final question: are you ready to create unique and relevant content for your Google+ profile? After all, that is the goal of an effective profile. Check out these popular profiles for more examples of how they’re being used: Toyota, Angry Birds, NPR and Macy’s,

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Are Your Marketing Campaigns Ready for the Holidays?

November 2nd, 2011

holiday spending 2011

Halloween is over but Thanksgiving is up next. Before you know it, Christmas will be just around the corner! As a small business, what can you do to make the most of online marketing services during the holidays?

Research
Research is number one and it’s crucial to be aware of consumer trends.  As you can see from the snippet of the infographic above, 61% of consumers plan to research the “perfect” gift on social networks. The recent article on Mashable also shows that 38% of people have already started shopping. If your site isn’t optimized or prepared for curious buyers, you could be missing out on more than you think! Research counts in all areas including: trends, keywords and even phrases that consumers like (free shipping, sale, reward).

Be SEO-Prepared
Think smart so that you don’t have to work harder and exert your resources during the busy holiday season. SEO changes can be made easily and gradually over a period of time. These updates will also look more natural to search engines as they crawl and index your pages. Finding the right words that appeal to customers is effective when you incorporate them into your Title, title tags, meta descriptions, h1 tags and more.

Stay Relevant
Creating holiday specific content is a great way to generate link bait that is interesting and relevant. Very much like this infographic we posted! Creating content specifically for each holiday will help create awareness towards your desired demographic. Posting about different holidays can also inspire you to post more frequently and get all the relevant clicks that you’ve been looking for!

Need a Helping Hand?
Whether you hire an experienced marketing firm or handle your own online marketing, it’s important to get started as soon as possible. If you need extra help, it doesn’t hurt to ask for it or look for resources early on. You can always just keep an eye out for competitors. Also, starting early will give you more analytics and data on what is working and driving customers to your site and what isn’t.

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Diaspora – Your Next Alternative to Social Networking?

October 14th, 2011

Join Diaspora

Privacy concerns about Facebook and Google+ are growing. Just check out this infographic about Facebook security. As Facebook announced its new Timeline, many people feel that these features are too stalker-ish. Do you really need or want to know your friends’ timeline of events from the day that they were born? New privacy features enable all friends to see all your activity – this means your boss, client, mom, professor or whoever else you happen to be friends with. Although Mark Zuckerberg made it seem so good, this “frictionless sharing” is what a lot of people are afraid of. This problem also carries on over to Google+ accounts, which seems to made even more for public search than Facebook.

While Facebook and Google + seem to want you to open up more to the public, it’s hard to see how you can socialize AND keep your privacy. But the answer you’re looking for may come in the form of Diaspora. The selling point of this relatively new social network is that it is secure – you can share WHAT you want, with WHOM you want. Another great thing is that you own the pictures you upload. There’s none of this nonsense where you give the company consent to use your pictures however they please, ahem.. Twitpic.

I admit that I’ve had my Diaspora account for sometime, I haven’t been making full use of it. I’m pretty sure that my non-internet marketing friends and family are even aware of what Diaspora is. Which is part of their problem… some early reviews say that the profiles are too plain and that there needs to be more features. Also, Diaspora needs a helping hand when it comes to monetary funds and have been asking for donations to help further their project. Sometimes, simplicity is best and I’d like to see where Diaspora takes things.

What do you think? Are you worried about social networking privacy features of other mainstream sites and would you look into using alternatives like Diaspora?

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