Category Archives: Facebook

A Big Week for Social Media

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April 13, 2012

Facebook Acquires Instagram

There have been some big revelations this week in the world of social media. Two of the most notable are Facebook’s buyout of Instagram for a cool $1bn and Pinterest becoming the third biggest social media platform behind – of course – Facebook and Twitter.

The news of the acquisition of Instagram, a free photo sharing program, seemed to come as an unpleasant surprise to many. Facebook was seemingly prepared for a backlash, attempting a pre-emptive strike against the negative responses in its news release about the acquisition. However, this did little to dampen the reaction, which mainly consisted of scepticism that the giant corporation will tarnish the independent and ad free software that Instagram currently offers.

Social Media News


What is it about Instagram that has made it so attractive to the site? Facebook is, in its essence, a photo sharing platform, and the app that owns this space more than any other at this point is Instagram, so of course, Facebook wants to piggyback on its success. Also, because Facebook saw Instagram as a major competitor in the mobile market – which is widely acknowledged as the future channel of social media – the acquisition has now erased the possibility of another competitor – such as Google or Twitter – buying it.In other social news: Pinterest is now sitting pretty in the number three spot in the social race. How? Girl power! Around 97% of the US Pinterest fans on Facebook are female, with the most popular posts focusing on women’s clothing and accessories (and yes, kittens and cupcakes).Why is Pinterest so successful? Because it offers something that Facebook doesn’t. Where Facebook is connecting you to your friends, Pinterest provides users with the platform to collect things that you find interesting instantly, from anywhere and share them – with anyone. The word ‘collect’ seems to be the key to what makes Pinterest so addictive – it’s a collection that represents your personality, and people are spending plenty of time making sure that their personality is impressive.Pinterest also boasts a simple user interface and aesthetically pleasing display that puts the content first. This layout has proven to be addictive, supplying users with a form of information and entertainment that’s easy to digest. Pinterest also provides a very effective platform for linking content to websites and blogs. Impressively, it links more traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube do, combined.Certainly one to give serious consideration if you own a blog or website that has a flow of unique visual content.

 

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Spies Like Us

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February 10, 2012

Facebook is courting controversy yet again with its recent Timeline update, which to all intents and purposes now displays all of your posts from the very beginning of your social media journey … including those you’d rather forget and which indeed inquisitive employers might well stumble upon.

 

At the same time, Google has been criticised for lumping together privacy policies from around 60 sources into a single, apparently more useful resource… yes, for them possibly as they seek to garner yet more information on our behaviour and monetise that (no doubt) in any number of their commercial spaces.

 

And this comes at a time when the whole privacy debate is hotting up with the anticipated EU ruling on cookie usage – that is, when sites record you as a visitor, keeping some information that is used for various purposes, both user experience and advertising based.

Come May 2012, the local state representative (in the UK the Information Commissioner’s Office) will begin enforcing the European Privacy Directive on cookie usage. How the directive is implemented is still open for debate. However, unless it is toned down, the implications are game-changing.

Two things will be affected if the full force of the directive comes into play.  The first is user experience, which will be impacted as users are asked to opt-in to each individual cookie.   When this new approach was tested there was a 90 per cent drop in the amount of data collected, which has seen online networks/exchanges scrambling for ways of limiting the inevitable damage to their reach.

The second is how companies leverage the data question.   Businesses that are able to organise and make sense of all the data now available will be at a major competitive advantage in terms of customer insight, productivity and business insight. Google recently launched its Social Media Data Hub with the objective of creating a standardised way of tracking social data from all of your customer touch points. During 2012 we can expect to see more in the way of standards being applied to data but until Twitter and Facebook are on board, fragmentation will still exist.

 

We can also expect to see more intelligent data modelling from attribution modelling, as well as mobile data, customer data modelling and in analytics, from lifetime value through to cohort analysis. In tandem with this, data visualisation tools are going to become increasingly prevalent, streamlining the ability to model data and providing actionable intelligence to marketers.

 

So is the writing on the wall for behavioural marketing online as we know it ?  Well the signs are there… have you noticed this little icon popping up in the corner of ads that are retargeting you using cookie data ?   Not much data exists on opt-outs at this level, but May 2012 will be a pivotal moment in how data-driven online marketing might develop… or not.

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Like a Virgin

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September 23, 2011

This week Google finally publicly opened Google+ to all users after launching a private beta version in late June.  After an initial buzz online about how Google was stepping up it’s challenge for a piece of Facebook’s territory, this is clearly not a Facebook replacement. Despite initial predictions, it is not a stand alone social network. It’s more of a bolt-on for users already locked into the Google product.

Time will only tell but for now Google have rolled out some compelling additions to the platform including integration with Google documents, shared sketchpad, public video casts and now the ability to share video broadcast on Android (chat roulette?).

It is very early days for the platform. The main incentive for developers to use Google’s API (free +1 code) is to make the content on their site more sharable (and to be seen as innovative). However, as with all new things, the commercial model (most likely in the form of advertising revenue) will follow, with the +1 functionality being incorporated into perhaps the creative within the Google display network.

The first manifestation of this will be found within Adwords, Google has quoted that since the implementation of the +1 button, it has been installed on over one million websites resulting in over a billion global impressions per day.

The potential impact on digital advertising is huge with this additional data being accessible. Let’s assume that the people you have added to your ‘circle’ are your friends – chances are that they are of a similar demographic to you. Google can now see not only your ‘likes’, but that of your social circle too, and they can use the information gathered on your friend to better target you.

Currently it only takes one friend from your Google+ circle to have clicked +1 on a site to dramatically influence the search engine results you see. Clearly this brings a whole new element to organic search.

As we speak,  What’s Hot can only assume that the darker sides of search engine optimisation are working on exploiting Google+ to influence search engine results. Malicious code has already been written and implemented, and is now “in the wild”. As with everything Google, the SEO community will act as a crowd sourced unpaid beta test group and it could be 6 months before any clear use or direction is found for the platform.

That said, it would only take one brilliant idea to make it the next big thing. In summary, watch this space.

 

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Half the World Away?

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July 25, 2011

We might not chat over the garden fence anymore, or even know our immediate neighbours, but it probably comes as no surprise that we are actually more social than ever, thanks of course to the continued march of the social web and the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, smartphones and Foursquare.

Where we are, what we are doing, what we’re consuming… many of us now like to tell the world, and guess what, brands are starting to listen, and in the best cases, are even joining the conversation.

Strategically, the social web is a place where, if a brand is useful, entertaining, engaging, it can generate ‘earned media value’ through the crowd propagating the brand’s message to others in their networks.   By smartly integrating channels such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube etc, a brand can build its ‘social graph’ so that, over time, advocacy becomes as, if not more, powerful than bought media reach.    In fact social media influence on purchases continues to grow, with recent IMRG data suggesting 20% of purchases are now directly impacted by social media groups, discussions or posts from brands.

But brands are only able to see a small part of the picture in the likes of Facebook. They typically cannot see and understand the relationships between their fans and their fans’ followers… if a fan likes them, does it follow that the rest of their network will too ?   And does this represent a bought media targeting opportunity ?

Step up a new age of online advertising networks that are promising to drive new customers by using data like this to identify who ‘truly connected’ within a certain network.  For example, there may not be much in common between the old secondary school friends who recently hooked up on Facebook, but there is lots between the two that regularly share YouTube video links.    It is these types of commonality that can now be understood and applied in social targeting.

Social targeting won’t completely change the digital advertising landscape but it will help to evolve advertising forwards and improve targeting yet further by making it more socially current.  Like retargeting (where tagging a user to a brand’s site means that they can be targeted elsewhere on their web travels with relevant messaging), seeking to understand shared beliefs and intention is a key dimension to making advertising more relevant.    If results from retargeting activity (analysis has shown up to 8 times better responses/interaction with retargeting) are anything to go by, we expect to social (re)targeting emerge as a strong contender for the performance-based online advertising pound.

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Reach Out

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June 22, 2011

Klout is the latest social media rating tool. It scores over 75 million people on their social reach using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn data to give you a rating from one to one hundred. Or one to Justin Bieber, as it currently stands.

It looks to be a popular metric, and has been mentioned in Forbes, The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal and more. On Twitter, Klout’s influence score is based on users’ ability to drive action through tweets and retweets. On Facebook, it examines how conversations and content generate interest and engagement via likes, comments and more. For LinkedIn, Klout analyses who users are influencing, how they’re influencing them and how much influence they have. Klout places a heavy emphasis on quality not quantity – so collecting connections won’t necessarily increase a user’s score.

Klout’s eventual aim is to be the stock measure of online influence and it’s making good progress. It combines the major social platforms and, perhaps more importantly, champions integration of its tool into other reporting systems. For example, Postling has partnered with Klout to allow business owners to get alerts when they have influential new followers. ReviewPro, a social media management provider for the hotel sector has integrated Klout scores into its product to help hoteliers interact with their guests. Social dashboards Hootsuite and Xobni are also on board.

Clearly there is a saturation of data on social media networks. Klout’s advantage to businesses is in its ability to quickly identify who is behind comments, assess the level of user influence and determine the most appropriate response. Prior to Klout the only way of measuring social influence was through friends, followers and fans. Nothing actually measured how social a person or brand really was and how well they were engaging with their audience or leading on various topics.

Experimental brands and businesses are testing out programs that provide special perks to social network users with high Klout scores. Brands like Disney, Audi, Hewlett Packard, and Universal Pictures have already been involved. Klout Perks are exclusive offers or experiences, given as a result of a users Klout. Perks allow brands to connect with influencers in their area of expertise. For example, Audi invited top design, technology and luxury influencers to test drive their new 2011 Audi A8 at exclusive events.

Klout’s latest addition, ‘+K’, allows those in a users’ social networks to effect their score on a specific topic of influence. The +K system puts a +K button next to all users’ topics and clicks tell the system that the user has recently influenced the clicker in this topic.

Klout does have its detractors. You don’t have to look far to find people slamming ‘another’ social media influence metric. For individuals that are getting good information from their networks, generating interesting content, having good discussions with people, making new connections and can find who they need to find and can be found, a score doesn’t really matter. But for brands who need to quickly and efficiently find influential users Klout looks to be a fantastic tool.
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Mamma Mayor

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May 16, 2011

Are check-ins dead?

The case for:

According to a survey from youth agency Dubit, 48% of teens have not heard of Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla and SCVNGR. Some 58% of those who did know what they were still did not use them because they ‘did not see the point’.

According to compete.com, Foursquare’s web traffic has declined by 50% over five consecutive months. Check-ins per day have dropped from 0.5 per person to 0.4, despite boasting a user increase from 2m to 5m, suggesting millions of inactive members. And with a much bigger user base, Facebook Places check-ins are five times lower than that of Foursquare.

Echoing the sentiments of Dubit’s teens, the check in is dead because it has no point. Checking-in within a densely populated city like London may reveal long-lost friends around the corner, which is great. But in more sprawling destinations it doesn’t work.

The ‘Mayor’ game may be fun but, as with even the best games, the novelty lasts no more than two weeks. Or until you realise that you can check into the trendy café over the road without leaving your office. And that being Mayor doesn’t result in free coffee after all.

The Facebook Places product offers even less: no points or badges to win, no tips – just a flat statement telling people where you are. Outside a niche set of people who want the personal branding (or ego boost) of the check-in, most people not only don’t want to check-in, but don’t know why they should.
 

The case against:

Location based check-in services are far from dead; in fact they are in their infancy. It has been predicted that location-based companies will generate $24 billion worldwide (according to ABI research 2010) by 2013, so clearly we have a lot more to come in the space.

The idea of checking into places through your mobile is still new a concept to most people. Concerns around security and privacy have been raised and the notorious argument for check-in fatigue is well known. The main question is “why bother?” or “what’s in it for me?”. Essentially, the reason for users to check-in is that it gives users the opportunity for companies to reward their custom/loyalty and spread the word. Even if companies themselves are only just starting to realise this.

We are on the cusp of Facebook deals being rolled out fully in the UK. This means that when users check-in to places they will be offered a deal, say a free coffee at Starbucks. This will be posted on their profile for all their friends to see. Facebook is the location-based service with the biggest attraction, with UK Facebook numbers now reaching 30 million. With even a small percentage of these using Facebook Places, we’re looking at a big number. However, because Facebook Places was rolled out without the Deals function, it’s easy to see why some think checking in is pointless. Until Facebook Deals starts to promote its check in for deals function, we will see slow growth.

Foursquare has always incentivised check-ins to earn badges, alert users to special offers in their area and promote ‘Mayorships’. ‘Mayorships’ recognize and reward the individual who is most loyal to an outlet. The latest addition is ‘Specials’ which is very similar to Facebook deals and gives local offers to anyone that checks in. The likes of Gowalla only offer badges at this stage – so in order to generate sign ups they really need to up their game

In reference to check-ins with the teen market – I’m sure if Justin Bieber or lady Gaga asked them to check-in to their O2 gig, more of them would know about check-ins!
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Google wants us to ‘+1’ search listings now but will users ‘like’ it?

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April 14, 2011

Google last week introduced the most significant social feature to its search service yet, adding a one-click button to allow users to recommend sites and share those recommendations with their friends. But will the concept of advocating content and sites which is so popular on social networks work when it comes to users’ search experiences?

Google will show ‘+1’ buttons initially next to all natural search results and later roll this out to paid ads, while encouraging other sites to include the buttons, similar to how you can ‘like’ content on websites to be published to your Facebook profile.

However it’s not totally ‘social’ in that only logged-in users can share their recommendations with contacts through their Gmail address book, Google Reader and Buzz contacts and, eventually, Twitter contacts. Google would not comment on whether Facebook contacts would eventually be integrated.

Google is characterising Plus One as a different function to Facebook’s Like, saying that recommendations are only shared within the context of relevant searches, rather than spamming all contacts.

Ultimately this move comes down to personalising search results. Users will be able to choose for recommended sites to be more visible in search results and therefore Plus One will also begin to influence the ranking of sites within search results listings. In the same way that Facebook recommendations are based on user activity and likes, users can have their search results based on their +1s and the +1s of their friends (their Google friends, that is) if they prefer.

The two are very different and should be viewed as such. The reason FB and Twitter saw such explosive growth is that they both created a peer pressure / peer encouragement
situation for people to sign-up and engage with their friends
on these services. The FB ‘like’ function acts more like a public
online (advocacy of something, whereas search is
much more of a personal experience and so will only work as
a means to personalise your search results.

The two outstanding issues to look out for will be :
how do Google monetise this? In other words, will advertisers
have to pay higher CPCs for their ads to be served to users
who have ‘+1d’ links to competitors’ sites?
If Google decide this is a genuine public brand content
advocacy tool like the FB ‘like’ button, and not just a way for their users to personalise
search results, how will FB react? Watch this digital space!

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Facebook launches “messages”

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November 22, 2010

Facebook has launched Messages, a social inbox and seamless messaging service that integrates chat, texts and email into one continuous thread. Read more

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