The new features to Facebook added last month caused quite a stir, and now Facebook is continuing these changes to impact upon businesses who use the site to connect to potential consumers. As the user experience becomes more personal and engaging, Facebook is opening up to give business users a new platform of interaction.
Twitter and the impact of ‘tweeting’ has been something which has been widely discussed, documented and debated. It’s no secret that Twitter is growing at a rapid rate, and is beginning to outshine its former competitor Facebook. Twitter currently hosts 230 million tweets a day, and half of Twitters 200 million registered users log in each month; a figure which is up 82 percent from the start of 2011.
Up until now Twitter has not yet provided an in house analytics tool, much to the surprise of many. Social Media outputs like Facebook, have for some time provided the analytics tool “insights” which has allowed business owners to keep a constant track to the success of their page. However as Twitter has become an increasingly fundamental part of the media strategy for content producers such as newspapers, TV networks and other media players, measuring the impact of a ‘tweet’ has become even more important. (more…)
Facebook is a great way to network both professionally and personally for your business. There are plenty of social media options but you need to choose the one that’s best for your consumers. There is little use having an excellent presence if your target audience isn’t using it. It’s not about using everything that’s available; you need to tailor it to your audience. Facebook lets you listen to what your consumers are saying and what they want, letting you build up a community of solid customers who, with the right nurturing should turn into profitable brand advocates. And the best part? It’s free. (more…)
For many companies, using LinkedIn to manage a professional identity is the norm. But how do you know if you are using it correctly and reaping all the benefits? Here is everything you need to know about using LinkedIn to benefit your business:
LinkedIn is as much about gaining expert knowledge as it is about promoting your own expert knowledge. It is a space for you to create your professional identity in front of potential employees, so use it to build your additional skills and experience. If you are marketing yourself as an expert, you need to show why; through getting involved with other industry professionals and showing your prospects. If you are changing your career, make your contacts aware of it and use your profile to ask for advice and guidance.
Here, we have compiled some advice that will help you to make the most of your LinkedIn profile.
Being a fan of science fiction, technology and generally looking ahead to what things will be like in 10 years – there is so much excitement (both joyous and nervous) to be had when you consider how technology can evolve and change the way we live in what can seem a very short space of time.
I remember a mate from school (circa 1998 here) working in a Vodafone shop at the time who waxed lyrical about mobile phones within a couple of years being able to take photos, play games far more advanced than snakes, even being able to go online on our mobiles (as if!!!!)
Bing recently announced their collaboration with Facebook which has allowed Bing search results to display data from the social network based on the ‘Like’ feature.
From a user experience point of view, this means that users can make better educated assertions about search results and which will be more relevant to them. Bing will aid this decision by including most ‘Liked’ results at the top of the page, providing a personalised search experience.
(more…)
I’ve always been fascinated by the way we use words; written, spoken, texted… it’s all unique to each person but the same in so many ways. Words convey feelings and emotions, portray a tone of voice, communicate opinions, outlines facts, build relationships… the list is endless.
The majority of ‘tech geeks’ (like me) out there will already know about the new “social network” offering from Apple, known as Ping. Integrated directly into iTunes 10, Ping claims to bring Facebook and Twitter type functionality together to create a “social network all about music” (quote from Steve Jobs of Apple).
Allowing users to follow artists (like MySpace) and follow what their friends are listening to (like Last.fm), Ping has set itself up as a rival to the likes of Spotify, MySpace and Last.fm, all of which have considerably less users than iTunes’ huge 160 million strong user base. But will it really rival other social networks?
Rumour has it that Google are in the process of building their own social networking site called Google Me.
Since it’s inception, Facebook has grown and grown in popularity and use and, despite some problems (including the ongoing privacy debate), took social networking to a level previously unseen and taking the concept of the social network to the masses.
This won’t be the first time Google have attempted to take on the social networking giant. In February 2010, Google announced Buzz, a social networking addition to GMail, intergrating email with updates from friends and rich media sharing. However, a lack of any real uptake meant Buzz was never a rival to Zuckerberg’s offering.
How can Google Me have any chance against Facebook?
Want vs Need
The first hurdle for new social networks to overcome is that, if no one is on the network, no one will want to be on the network. It’s a vicious circle of want vs need and, in my opinion, users will have to need to change social networks for Google Me to stand a chance. As the most used search engine of the moment, Google clearly has its followers, but is this enough?
Social Search
Also termed ‘tribal search’ by some, social search is the process through which Google and other search engines are altering their algorhythms to account for the behaviours of the user and their friends and acquaintances. So, in theory, because Kate the Account Manager at Zabisco is my Facebook friend, if she has seen an interesting blog about online marketing for instance and I then search for online marketing blogs, I’ll be more likely to see the one she has liked than any other. A great tool for improving the user experience if you ask me.
The social search is already beginning to be implemented, with the high uptake of the Facebook ‘like’ button and other such tools (a good example is StumbleUpon) to a whole range of websites (including our own inafishbowl.com) meaning that Google is already able to collate information about what we and our networks ‘like’.
Google Like?
The next logical step then would seem to be for Google to create its own social network from which it can obtain information about users’ behaviour and that of their friends. They already give more weighting to videos from their own product YouTube than from other video services such as Vimeo, so what would stop them giving more weighting to algorythms obtained via their own social network than any other?
Can Google take on Facebook?
By creating a need to be on Google Me rather than Facebook, I think Google could stand a chance. So, if Google can improve search results significantly enough using social search and then they put more weighting on social information from Google Me, it could be difficult for Facebook to compete.
MySpace?
And now MySpace seem to be putting up a fight at their end too! MySpace recently told Mashable:
“We’re testing a new look and feel of our site among users and the response so far has been positive. As always, we’re interested in hearing feedback from our community as we roll out enhancements to the user experience and look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks.”
What do you think? Which social network can win in this clash of the titans? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Are you interested in utilising the best social networks for your business? Get in touch at team@zabisco.com to see what we can do for you.
CONTACT
