On June 5th, I will be presenting a webinar called “Beyond the Basics: 5 Myths and 10 Rules for Advanced Social Media Mastery“. It might as well be called, “Stop the madness because the social media world is going down a dark path.”
Avoid KGB Fan Acquisition and Algo-Buster Techniques Like the Plague
May 17, 2013 by 1 Comment
The KBG. Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti. The Committee for State Security for the former Soviet Union was one of the most feared agencies in history. Thankfully, this post isn’t about them.
Getting More Facebook Fans is NOT the Key to Social Success
May 17, 2013 by 1 Comment
I’m not a broken record, at least I’m not trying to be. It seems that I’ve covered this topic from different angles a lot lately, but it’s simply that important to understand. In business in general and in automotive marketing in particular, getting more Facebook fans is a very low priority compared to reaching more people.
Kissing Up to the Facebook and Google+ Algorithms
May 12, 2013 by 1 Comment
There’s a fine line between making social media useless by posting things that aren’t relevant for business and making it ineffective by having posts that are too promotional, thus killing the posts through “death by algorithm”. Done right, businesses have the ability to be interesting enough to make the algorithms like them while being relevant enough to get a benefit out of the networks.
Social Media is More than a Branding Tool
May 11, 2013 by 3 Comments
Branding is important. It’s something that most businesses want but few do well enough considering the tools that we all have at our disposal through the internet in general and social media in particular. However, too many are starting to use social media as a branding tool only. The reality for local businesses is that it can and should be used to drive foot traffic and website visitors. Branding should be a secondary benefit, a side-effect of a proper promotional strategy.
Getting More Facebook Fans is a Minimal Need Compared to Reach
May 11, 2013 by 1 Comment
For years, the acquisition of a bigger, “better” Facebook page has been a focus of many in the social media marketing realm. There are companies that are dedicated to the task. The reality now (and for a long time, actually) is that fan acquisition for business Facebook pages is such a minor piece of the puzzle that it’s something most businesses should push to the back burner. It’s not that you don’t need them at all, but the success of a Facebook page is determined by reach and fans are only a small part of the equation.
Keep it Local, Local, or Local on Facebook
April 30, 2013 by 4 Comments
I was moderating a small panel at a conference about two and a half years ago that focused on Facebook fans. The two panelists represented the two different sides of Facebook promotion at the time: one focused on local quality fans and the other focused on bulk fans. After the debate, one might have called it a draw. That was over two years ago. Today, there’s really only one side that deserves any representation at all. Local businesses should focus solely on getting local fans, period. To get a broad reach of fans outside of the market area as a local business can do more harm than good.
Facebook Secretly Adds Recommendation Star Rating to its Business Pages
April 29, 2013 by 2 Comments
Consumers are quite used to the quick star rating when it comes to sharing our input on how we feel about a business’s customer service. Not only has it been available to us throughout companies feedback boxes for years in-store, it has been provided nearly everywhere online too. Heck, even movies are rated in a 5 star format. However it looks like Facebook has finally caught on; better late than never.
Since this type of rating system is widely known, it only makes sense that it makes its way onto Facebook, although you would never know of the change unless you actually click on the recommendations section on a Facebook Page for a business. It seems like Facebook secretly rolled it out, and even though a secret roll-out is nothing new for Facebook, adding a new feature that will impact a business will be more than subtle.
Why Internet Explorer Has This 90s Kid Screaming Hip Hop Hooray
April 16, 2013 by 4 Comments
Nowadays the web browser known as Internet Explorer (IE) is mostly known to be used by businesses. Admittedly I haven’t been its biggest supporter, I haven’t used Topps cards or played skip it in a long time either. But Internet Explorer has definitely persuaded me to give it another look by simply time traveling me back to my childhood.
GM and Facebook are Friends Again (but only on mobile)
April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The rift between the auto manufacturing giant and the social media titan is temporarily over. General Motors is cautiously returning to Facebook advertising only 11 months after making a high-profile exit from the network’s advertising platform, having decided that “paid ads on the site have little impact on consumers’ car purchases.”
