The release of their S-1 Documents revealed interesting information about Facebook’s business operations. Most of the Social Network’s revenue is generated from advertising & associated fees, their payment infrastructure enables users to buy virtual and digital goods from their Platform developers. Of the $3.71 Billion[1] revenue generated in 2011, $445 million was made through virtual goods sold by Zynga Games who account for approximately 12% of Facebook’s revenue with Facebook taking 30% of all Virtual Goods sold by Zynga Games, such as FarmVille and CityVille.

Facebook’s public offering will make it a public company, enabling anyone to buy shares in the company. Though this means huge amounts of cashflow for the company to further their visions, it also means monetising the company which could compromise Mark Zucherburg’s idealistic & user based approach to running the pioneer social network. Just as Apple challenged Microsoft for Software supremacy, Facebook now challenges Google for Internet supremacy. To strengthen this challenge, they will have to begin to split focus as their users, who have always been at the fore of their business and who form the basis of the business value proposition will now become the product of their business, firstly, and secondly the shareholders will now also need to see returns on their investments.

The company is expected to be listed on New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq in a few months and investors from around the world will be watching eagerly to see how this long awaited listing performs. Internet advertisers will be looking to see what this does to the performance of their ads, especially in comparison to long dominant Google.

References:
[1]: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512034517/d287954ds1.htm
[2]: http://mashable.com/2012/02/02/facebook-ipo-tech-stocks/

Google’s social rival, the massively popular micro blogging site Twitter, are on the forefront of the accusing camp. After the new search algorithm was launched by Google, Twitter accused Google of trying to drive traffic to their social network by manipulating search results. A Twitter representative made the following statement: “For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results any time they wanted to find something on the internet. As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter, as a result, Twitter accounts and tweets are often the most relevant results. We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organisations and Twitter users”.

Personally, I think Twitter has a point. Twitter has had a massive social impact over the last few years (the “Twitter Revolutions” for example) and breaking news can often be found first on Twitter. If results from Twitter (or any other site for that matter) is the most relevant, the information should be available first in Google search results. This also ties in with the aforementioned Search Engine Optimisation. If you have to compete with only slightly relevant data from Google itself, you’re in for a losing battle. One option is to embrace the change from a social marketing perspective. But is this really best for the user?

In conclusion, it seems that many are worried that relevant results get pushed down in favour of Google + content. Fundamentally, relevancy is what it all boils down to. Google might not be in the wrong here, they are certainly entitled to promote their social network, but they should not compromise the quality of their search results in the process.

Twitter/Facebook - image credit - www.cbsnews.com

All you need do is sign in to your Facebook account, type ‘Timeline Movie Maker’ into the Search bar at the top, “Like” the page and go to the app.

When the light blue block appears on your screen with a small green block at the bottom saying “Make your movie”, it will start doing just that – make your very own movie!

After this process, you will be able to watch your Timeline Movie and make changes to it by adding or deleting photos at the bottom of the screen in your gallery. On top of the gallery you can even add music to complete a real ‘Timeline Music Video’ of your chosen range of photos.

http://www.timelinemoviemaker.com/

This is fun and so easy!  If you haven’t switched to Facebook Timeline…now is the time to do it!

2011

One of the most exciting launches in 2011 was the launch of the iPhone 4S, officially launched in South Africa December 16th 2011. The new member of the iPhone family has a dual core processor, improved camera (8 megapixels) and improved video capturing capabilities. With this Apple set a new standard for the development of Super Phones.

After months of speculation Google launched their new attempt at Social Media. Google Plus (Google+) was launched in mid 2011. The platform seems to be a combination of features from existing social media platforms and is visually very plain and simple to understand. It remains to be seen if Google+ will play a big role in Social Media or will it come to an end like its predecessor Google Wave.

YouTube got a little renovation. In 2011 YouTube improved the user experience of their website. They changed the layout to make navigation and finding channels easier and also made it visually more appealing.
Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5B, a dedicated Android partner, which will enable Google to supercharge the android ecosystem.

2012

Mobile! I think a lot of tech companies will be focusing on building better and more functional mobile applications as the market for smart and super phones is exploding. Mobile penetration in Africa especially is higher than some European countries. I think we’ll see a lot of innovation in the mobile application sector especially in terms of location based services, social networking, mobile commerce and mobile banking. I think we’ll also see advances when it comes to mobile hardware especially battery life.

Social media should have a large impact on search engines delivering more personalized search results than ever before. I also think Google and other large search engines will take social media more in account when it comes to delivering organic search results using user generated information to establish whether a website is a good resource or not. See Marcel’s article: The Impact of Personalized Search on SEO

Android will probably increase their market share in mobile device operating systems with the purchase of Motorola Mobility.

Whatever is in store for us for the year 2012 – it will be an exciting year for technology. I am sure we’ll see great innovation in technology in general and especially in mobile devices.

So how do we ensure the safety of our Facebook pages?

While there might be hundreds of ways out there, let’s look at some of the ways we have found to work:

• Moderate your page admins:
  It is very important to remember to delete your page admins if they are not working on your Facebook page. This will prevent people having access to your Facebook profile who no longer should.

• Do research about your third party application:
  Today there is a bunch full of applications on Facebook which help you promote your company better and to interact better with your fans. It is very important to do research about the application before you download it on your Facebook page. You need to be sure of what information the application will access and if the developing company of the application is committed to security as you are. This is only to protect yourself, because if the developing company gets hacked, the chances are very good that your information will also be hacked.

• Change your password and protect it:
  Remember to change your password on a regular basis to prevent from being hacked. Also, try not to use the same password for your entire social media platforms it will make it easier to hack all your profiles at once. If you are not good with passwords it’s a good idea to make use of Passpack. Passpack is an online Password Manage Website which help  store personal, work and client logins in one master list, then choose what to share with whom and when.

• Moderate your wall:
  You might wonder what this has to do with page security. Well, hackers can monitor and see if there is activity or not on your wall. If there is no activity, they can put links on your wall for your fans to click on and you definitely don’t want to lose your fans by clicking on those links. Moderate your page and be interactive with your fans.

Remember the golden rule: Your Facebook page is your virtual home, keep it locked and make it a safe “place” for your fans to visit.

Happy Facebooking!

The festive period means shops are selling Christmas trees, stockings, advent calendars and singing Christmas collectibles; all of which signals that the countdown to Christmas has begun.

So what should you be doing now in preparation for a lucrative Christmas?

Here are a few things you can do during this festive season:

The first step is to look at your account’s history:

Analyse your accounts past metrics such as cost per click, impressions and conversion rate in order to plan your strategy effectively. One metric that is pretty useful is the average position of the text ads and the related performance, so you will know more or less how to position your “special ads” to achieve the best results.

Choose relevant keywords and match types:

Ensure that you add festive keywords to your keyword list such as “Christmas gifts, Christmas hampers, Wine for Christmas” etc. Be sure to also include variations and misspellings as well, in this case it would be prudent to include search terms such as “Xmas gifts, Holiday activities, Xmas table decor” etc. You could even further improve relevancy, if for example you sold Christmas trees online, you could include keywords that include a clear call to action, such as “Buy Christmas Trees”. This type of keyword is great for your ROI. Another key point is to be aware of match types, if you are operating on a large advertising spend, a campaign incorporating all match types would be feasible, however if you have a smaller budget, you can try limiting the campaigns to exact and phrase match keywords.

Inject some glitter to your ad text:

This is the time of year where the competition is quite stiff, so in order to grab the user’s attention, you need to have ad text that really jumps off the page. Include call to actions, free offers and special discount prices in the ad text and more importantly include the “Christmas” terms as well.

Landing pages and website:

It’s important to keep the Christmas feel and theme on your landing pages and website, Christmas is a significant time for many people and these little touches can make a big difference in persuading users who have clicked through to convert by making a purchase.

Happy Marketing This Christmas Season!

Quite understandably, especially from the perspective of the United States, the top global topic of 2011 was the death of Osama bin Laden. The deaths of Apple’s Steve Jobs and singer Amy Winehouse were the 5th and 7th most popular topics respectively and Charlie Sheen’s antics landed him as the 4th most popular global topic on Facebook in 2011. The Royal Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, which happened in April, is at position 6. The massively popular Call of Duty game franchise, was the 8th most talked about global topic of 2011 with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Other topics in the top 10 include: ‘Casey Anthony found not guilty’, ‘Military operations begin in Libya’ and ‘Hurricane Irene’.

Facebook also provides country specific status trends of 2011 (you can take a look by following the second link below). Unfortunately South African topics are not provided (I am sure the Rugby World Cup would have featured in one form or another). Some interesting status trends from other countries include: UK Riots (United Kingdom), Skrillex (Canada), Planking and Skrillex (Australia), UFC and Slipknot (Brasil).

2011 has certainly been an exciting, tragic and strange year for the 3rd rock from the sun.

Learn more about Social Media Marketing

Links:
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=10150391956652131
http://www.facebook.com/facebook?sk=app_271705986210152

The homepage provides the entry point to the entertainment universe YouTube offers. To help users find their way around YouTube with ease, the layout of the homepage has been changed making it easier to navigate & to follow channels when you arrive. The left side of the home page allows you to create your own personal YouTube channel line-up, Sign-in or create an account. Other interesting functionality new and old, available on the homepage is the ability to browse channels by genre & recommended channels, customize your home page feed & link your YouTube account to your Google+ and Facebook account to see what friends are sharing.

The look & feel of the channels themselves has been updated to keep up with the homepage theme of helping organise your favourite channels. The new channel design is focused on helping users find great videos; a new channel template has been created to help users who upload content to achieve the goals they have set for their content.

A new design has been implemented across the site to bring together the new homepage and channel designs. Feedback from the experimental design launched in July, called “Cosmic Panda”, and has been used to improve the sites general design in an aim to make YouTube clearer & simpler with a consistent grey background, bigger video thumbnails & a more streamlined watch page.

With these new changes in place all there is to wait for over 100 new channels they’ve promised to bring to the site from sports to drama to new Disney programming, there is sure to be something for everyone.

A recent survey by business information solution provider LexisNexis™, compared technology and software usage among working professionals including, Baby Boomers (1946 -1964) , Generation X (1964 – 1980) and Generation Y (1980 – 1989).

According to the survey:

• 60% of  Baby Boomers felt that Smartphones such as the Blackberry and iPhones contribute to a decline in proper workplace etiquette, and believe the use of a laptop during in-person meetings is “distracting,” however less than half of Gen Y workers agree.
• A Mere 17% of Boomers believe using laptops during in-person meetings is “efficient,” while more than 65% of Gen Y do.

• Only 28% percent of Boomers think blogging about work-related issues is acceptable, while forty percent of Gen Y workers do.

Laptops and phones are inefficient tools?  blogging is unacceptable? Who are these people and surely it can’t be so in our technologically inclined world?. Unfortunately, they are the ones who have a lot of power, they are the CEO’s, directors and executives, whilst Gen Y is only just starting out.

So why the great divide? Is it simply a case of baby boomers feeling secure and set in their ways, or being overwhelmed at the rapid growth of new technologies? Truth be told, it seems that Generation Y takes to technology like the proverbial duck to water, this could be a result of having been exposed to such technologies quite early in their development. Nowadays it’s not uncommon that children as young as 7 years old are proficient at using an iPad or latest mobile device, whilst most adults find the technology a bit difficult to figure out.

So how then do we hope to bridge the growing technology gap that exists between the generations?

Working professionals need to  acknowledge that in the ever evolving business world, technology plays a vital role and to simply ignore it could be catastrophic.

“Insanity : Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”
- Albert Einstein

• Google Friend Connect – gave web masters the ability to add social features to their sites by embedding a few lines of code. The feature will be retired as of 1^st March 2012 for non-blogger sites. Affected sites have been encouraged to create a Google+ page, and add a Google+ badge to their site so they can keep in touch with their community of followers via their page.

• Google Gears – browser extension allowed creation of offline web applications. As part of efforts to help incorporate offline capabilities into HTML5, as of 1^st December 2011, Gears based Gmail and Calendar offline will no longer work and later in December Gears will no longer be available for download. Gmail, Calendar and Docs can instead be accessed offline in Chrome.

• Google Wave – a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. Development on Google Wave was stopped over a year ago, but as of 31^st January 2012 Wave will become read-only and no new “Waves” will be created. On 30^th April 2012 Wave will be turned off completely. Individual Waves can still be exported until the feature is turned off, but there are still open-source projects such as Apache Wave and Walkaround which offer equal functionality.

• Knol – aimed to improve web content by allowing experts to collaborate on in-depth articles (similar to Wikipedia). Annotum, “an open-source scholarly authoring and publishing platform based on WordPress” [1], has been created in order to continue the work of Knol – which will no longer be available as of 1^st October 2012.

These are just a few of the products Google will be scrapping, their aim: “to build a simpler, more intuitive, truly beautiful Google user experience”[1], which, in turn, will benefit not only users but advertisers as well.

To find out how we can help your site to rank better on Google, take a look at our Search Engine Optimization page

References:

1. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-spring-cleaning-out-of-season.html