Here Facebook goes again…..!!

Posted by sdidcott on March 1, 2013
Posted in: Facebook, Social Media. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Yes Indeed – get ready to figure out the new changes Facebook is making on your Timeline !!

Facebook has been testing a new format for their Timeline in New Zealand.

It appears there will be a restructuring of the placements of advertising as well  as new options to like posts along with encouragement to generate more likes and shares. We should possibly  expect these changes to occur over the next month or two. (March, 2013)

According to Mashable, reporters have been invited to have a peak at this new Timeline structuring on March 7,2013 at Facebook headquarters.

I think I like what I see – especially the switching positions  of ads and the timeline navigation on the top right of the screen.

Read more at : http://mashable.com/2013/03/01/facebook-news-feed-event/

 

Integrated Marketing

Let’s Be AWESOME* Together!

2013 Social Media Trends

Posted by sdidcott on February 22, 2013
Posted in: Customer Experience, Social Media. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Here is a great slide share presentation from Edelman Digital – an Internaltional  leader in PR and Media

Their focus is big brands for the most parts, but that certainly does not mean a small business or independent professional can’t take away great ideas and insights from their expertise.

Let us know if you have any questions or thoughts on this presentation – we’d love to discuss them with you any time!! 🙂

Integrated Marketing

Let’s Be AWESOME* Together!

ENJOY:

Twitter Security and your passwords……

Posted by sdidcott on February 20, 2013
Posted in: Facebook, Social Media, social media security, Twitter. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Burger King, MacDonald’s, Jeep and Cadillac…….. what do these 4 brands have in common this week?

Over the last few days there has been a couple of instances of Twitter accounts being hacked -whereby Burger Kings logo was replaced with the Golden Arches and Jeep with Cadillac’s symbol and some strange and at times very inappropriate content was tweeted!

Regardless of being a newbie to social media or someone who has spent a reasonable amount of time  on the SoMe platforms this can be unnerving.  But there are ways to secure your accounts and also red flags to be on the watch for:

First thing is DO NOT USE the same simple password across all sites – yes I know it is easier to remember, but also very easy to crack –  make your password at least 10 characters that include upper and lower case characters,and include  numbers and/or symbols if possible (there are ways to remember these – and it does not have to be in your head! – check out password managers here )

Secondly, if you see links that seem weird – they probably are – and if you are asked to sign-in with your twitter password – look up at the address bar and check you are actually on twitter.com ( or Facebook.com ) and not on a fake site know as a Phishing site. If you are in doubt enter the site you want into the address bar and go directly to it to sign in.

Thirdly  – never give away your usernames and passwords to a third party – such as someone offering to bring in new contacts and likes to your accounts. An outside person can compromise your site. If you have someone doing Some marketing  for you they should be added as an admin for your Facebook page so if your agreement ends so does their access and posting abilities.

And last – but not least – ensure your computer’s anti-virus software and operation program are kept up to date with the latest updates and releases which are often to address the latest security threats.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy :

Not all of this is as terrible as a SoMe newbie might think  – according to Mashable,“The Twitter mishap isn’t all bad news for Burger King though — the account added 5,000 new followers in the first 30 minutes since the hackers took over.”

Integrated Marketing

Let’s Be AWESOME* Together!

Not so sure about Vine…?

Posted by sdidcott on February 6, 2013
Posted in: Customer Experience, Twitter, Video, You Tube. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Not so sure about Vine…? Well here is a post via Hubspot  –Good Vine? – about the best uses of vine to date.

I  have to say- it doesn’t always make the best impact;  some products are easier to promote with Vine than others. We definitely need to think  about the way we are marketing our products while using Vine – see if you agree with me: My top picks are – Malibu Rum,  Bacardi,  and Toyota – and…..No –  it is not even TGIF !

“Graph Search” – Facebook radically revamps its Search Engine…… what does this mean?

Posted by sdidcott on January 21, 2013
Posted in: Customer Experience, Facebook, Social Media, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This is the big news from Facebook for January 2013 – and it will be interesting to see it in action and what it will mean for marketers and Facebook users.

Graph Search is Facebook’s radically revamped search engine.

This new feature will let a person search for people, places, photos, and interests of their Facebook community and provide search results which will be constrained by the privacy settings of each user within that specific person’s Facebook Community.

{….. Facebook executives stressed. “The search we wanted to build is privacy-aware,” Zuckerberg said, adding that “every piece of content has its own audience.” He said 10 percent of the computational capacity in Facebook’s data centers is spent doing privacy checks. } via http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-15/facebook-radically-revamps-its-search-engine

And for Marketers?  ……..{Graph Search could allow Facebook to build some new businesses. When a user types in “music my friends like,” “TV shows my friends like,” or “restaurants liked by my friends in India,” the site returns a range of related media content and local businesses, and each listing includes ratings from friends. The next natural step for Facebook is to give users direct links to friend-recommended movies, TV shows, and restaurants, but Zuckerberg said the company is not currently thinking about making money from Graph Search:}…….. YET !!….{“This potentially could be a business over time, but for now we’ve been focused on building out this user experience. We first need to build something high quality. That is mission No. 1.”}

via http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-15/facebook-radically-revamps-its-search-engine

Facebook is removing Cover Photos……

Posted by sdidcott on December 1, 2012
Posted in: Facebook, Social Media. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Oh! It is happening – Facebook is cracking down on cover photos which are considered promotional.

When Facebook Cover Photos  (aka Timeline Photos) were first introduced in the summer there was a list of rules regarding how you can use your cover photo  – and it seemed a lot of people and brands did not pay to much attention to these RULES – well now it appears they will have to  in order to keep their cover photos on their pages.

Are you promoting yourself or someone else ? Then you might want to reconsider your cover photo before Facebook does…….If you need to see the rules check them out here http://bit.ly/fb_cover_rules

Why bother with Social Media ?

Posted by sdidcott on October 31, 2012
Posted in: Social Media. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Why bother with Social Media?

  • Until recently, search engines have used relevancy and authority to rank content in their search engine results: which means that if you are using the right keywords on your site and have numerous and good inbound links from other sites  – you are, more or less, “doing it right”.
  • However, it is becoming more and more relevant as to what your social graph looks like as well in order to keep a high SEO ranking.
  • Search engines such as Google and Bing are incorporating your social context into their search engine rankings.

What does this mean?

  • Basically any of your social connections via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and of course Google+ are being indexed through the search engine algorithms in order to prioritize results displayed for a search query.
  • These connections may be based on shared content and direct links by friends, colleagues and customers, as well as influencers.
  • Influencers are people in or outside of your social media graph who have become the “gurus” of your subject matter. They are critical as they offer a more objective referral to you or your business and as a result further validate your reputation. 

Social Search will continue to grow and become a key player in SEO and in order to keep up with your competition and be found ahead of them in search displays it is critical to actively engage in social media.

Lets us set up an AWESOME* SoMe Strategy for your today!

Take a look at this video from  Google as they walks you through how Google Plus Your World works:

Read more via :http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33662/A-Crystal-Clear-Explanation-of-How-Social-Media-Influences-SEO.aspx

Integrated Marketing

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Why can’t I share photos on Facebook?!………iphone upgrade iOS6

Posted by sdidcott on October 13, 2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment
Integrated Marketing

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iphone Users 

Have you recently   upgrade to iOS6  – and now find you  can’t share photos through the Facebook app!

You may have done what I did and  hit the “Don’t allow” when upgrading. There is a new privacy setting you’ll need to tweak – to do this go to:

https://www.facebook.com/help/483676711656264

Psychology and Social Media – it’s always about People!

Posted by sdidcott on September 28, 2012
Posted in: Customer Experience, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized, You Tube. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

AWESOME*

“…..an understanding of the psychology of your audience can help you navigate the constant changes on social media. Social media is always about people. Even if the tools change, people are not going to change and social media tools are ways to talk to people.”

via http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-persuasion-how-to-move-people-to-action/ – there is a very informative podcast on this post with Derek Halpern of http://socialtriggers.com/