We are fans of HootSuite, the convenient, social media aggregation tool. We use HootSuite to scheduled posts in advance for the agency and for clients. HootSuite saves time publishing content to Twitter and Facebook. It keeps all social media streams in one location. HootSuite enables us to map out a tweet schedule, collaborate and edit future tweets.
However, we have been asked a very interesting question: Does using a third party social media pre-scheduling tool negatively affect our SEO ranking?
For this to be true search engines would not only be scanning and evaluating content, but focus on the posting methodology. We cannot find evidence that search engines are penalizing third party application programming interfaces (API). It is important to note that HootSuite makes is easy to post redundant content and commit other SEO errors.
However, we have found a HootSuite opponent – Facebook. According to a HubSpot study, content shared by third party API services received fewer likes on Facebook and fewer clicks. Facebook sees tools like HootSuite as possible vehicles for spam, and punishes Facebook pages that rely on these tools for the majority of their postings.
Our recommendation for marketers:
1. Use HootSuite to schedule non-time sensitive social media.
2. Do not use HootSuite as the exclusive method to post content.
Social Media is about engagement and if all the content provided is automated, is there much engagement? Also, it is critical to be timely and relevant. If there is a new story that has captured the collective attention of the country and you are posting a video that shows a behind the scenes look at an event, nobody is going to pay attention. Worse yet, you look like you are out of touch.
Tell us if you have used HootSuite successfully and if you agree that third party API doesn’t affect your SEO. Share your stories with us on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow @Weise_Ideas on Twitter.
We’ve heard it over and over again: social media is a great, cost effective way to drive traffic into your business and create better brand awareness.
But what about the people who already know and love your brand? It is time that you show your loyalty customers some love.
First, ask yourself what makes your loyalty customers special and what do you want to accomplish? Do you want them to buy more or buy more often? Knowing your goals and the personality of your target audience is key is determining how likely they will respond to your attempts to reward their loyalty.
Second, do not forget about your social-loyal (SOLO) customers. For example, I am a huge SOLO customer of Dunkin Donuts. I follow them online and as soon as the Denver franchises open I will be a loyal buying customer. Here are a few ways to make your loyalty customers feel special:
Texting: Life revolves around our mobile devices. It has been shown that 73% of Americans send and receive text messages. This is a personal way to reach your loyal customers to offer them exclusive time-sensitive offers, notify them of their membership status and bring them in during your slower hours. Check out these examples:
Nail Salon: Monday & Tuesday special: free member only upgrade!
Frozen Yogurt: You only need 3 more purchases to qualify for a free 10 oz yogurt!
Facebook, also known as the face of social media, visually advertises your business, and allows you to interact with your followers. Loyal customers want to feel special, and through Facebook you can have conversations with them, give away specialty membership contests and reward loyal customers from their Facebook Check Ins.
Also, do not assume your loyal customers know all of the services you provide. Use Facebook to further advertise add-ons, special events, catering, monthly specials and new offers. If they are following your page, they are interested. They will be excited to know they can get more products and services than they may have thought.
Chick-fil-A: they offer their catering information (seemingly less known to the public) and (to date) have 2.4 million people talking about their page, and 6.2 million likes
Foursquare: Nearly half (46%) of American adults are smartphone owners as of February 2012. Foursquare is an app that lets you ‘check in’ at the businesses you frequent. If you go to one place more often than your friends do, you become the “Mayor.” The race to become the Mayor gives customers incentive to go, and to go repeatedly. You can further emphasize this incentive by offering the Mayor free products, upgrades, discounts and invites to exclusive events.
Arby’s Mayor special: they get to sit in the “4Square Mayor Booth” and get to taste test new sandwich offerings. They also get the special badge on their Foursquare profile.
Twitter: Tweeting may have less impact on purchasing behavior, but is a great outlet to educate your loyalty crowd. Customer service via Twitter is also useful because it will reach a vast number of customers and show them that you are concerned with their happiness. Exclusive offers for free products can also be advertised through a link to sign up with your membership or by registering to join your clientele base.
Morton’s: Peter Shankman tweeted to his 150,000 followers, “Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at Newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, Thanks ” – and they did!
Subway: incredible customer service through conversations with their followers regarding what they like and dislike.
With 12 million Americans using social media daily, you have a high probability that your loyal customers will be reached and appreciative that you have taken the initiative to thank them for being loyal. A little appreciation will keep them coming back, and more importantly, spreading a positive word about your business.
What advice do you have for businesses that are trying to reach their loyal customers? Give us your thoughts from the loyal customer point of view on Facebook at Weise Communications or on Twitter @Weise_Ideas.
Three tips to turn a Facebook like into a real paying customer
According to the Adobe Global digital advertising Q1 2012 update, there was a 176 percent increase year over year in brand engagement on Facebook. The increased engagement can be traced back to the release of Facebook Timeline for Fan Pages.
More than 600 million users regularly interact with Facebook. As more brands convert their fan page to the Timeline format, engagement should continue to grow. But that raises a big question, how does a marketer turn someone who clicked a Like button into someone that will pay for products and services? Here are three easy to implement tips to convert likes:
1. Contests
Facebook is a place where people commonly go to play games: Farmville, Words With Friends, etc. Leverage the gamification aspect of Facebook with your own game. Recently, PostNet held an ‘I Love My PostNet” contest, where customers were encouraged to post videos to Facebook explaining how much they love PostNet. The winner of a trip to San Francisco was announced on the Facebook and people were driven to the PostNet website to see the winning video.
2. Drive opt-in emails
Less than 10 percent of companies are leveraging Facebook to increase subscribers to email. But, the new Facebook Timeline provides the perfect opportunity to turn fans into customers. Use the Tab feature (pictured inside the red circle) in Facebook Timeline to create an opt-in form where someone can sign up to receive emails without leaving Facebook. Call the tab ‘Special Offers’ and describe your email program. It’s special because, as a Facebook fan, they will receive email notification of events, sales, coupons, etc. before the general public.
3. Share News
It is really important to avoid being too product focused on your Facebook wall, but according to the CMO Council, 55 percent of consumers connect through social media channels for new product information, Facebook is a viable news sharing platform. The tip here is to offer Facebook fans a behind the scenes look, or a preview at what’s new. Something they can’t get elsewhere and host drive traffic to the website for that Facebook special sneak peek. Make it easy to share and watch the loyalty build.
Have you seen any other great tips to turning a Facebook fan into a paying customer? Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications.
Its free, its accessible, and it reaches billions of people. Social media is providing three key factors that should be putting dollar signs in the eyes of franchisors.
Being active in your marketing efforts while maintaining control over how your brand is portrayed is a key for franchise success. Creating awareness, engaging customers, building customer loyalty, and boosting sales are all goals for franchisors, and social media doesn’t just accomplish these things; it does it with a smile.
Smashburger, a fast-casual, gourmet burger franchise is a prime example of how a small business can catapult into the big leagues via social media. Birthing from three Denver locations, this restaurant became a smash hit with its expansion to 150 locations nationwide. With more than 77,000 followers on Facebook, reaching out to bloggers and their tweeting prowess, they have solidified the social media tools for expanding a franchise.
People like to talk about themselves and what they want and like. Give your customers the chance to feel like they are a part of how your product or service is expanding. Use queries relating to feedback on a new product or answer their questions and complaints. If your franchisee is going to prosper, they have to listen to the desires of their target market. Take these examples from Smashburger’s Facebook and Twitter:
Make your interaction enticing
Posting information about a new product or service can be effective, but allowing the customer to be a part of the decision is even better. Trivia contests, voting pools and giveaways allow the customer to feel like their opinions are creating your brand. Interactive coupons also keep customers engaged and coming back to your page to check out what is being offered today; keeping your business in the forefront of their mind. Smashburger called out for votes and shared a link where they could vote to help their burger make it to the final round of the Dallas Morning News Burger Madness bracket:
Keep it interesting
Consistency in updating your social media profile will keep people interested. That said, humor and playfulness should not be overlooked. Simply creating a chuckle from your customer will improve their retention of the message you are conveying. Check out how Smashburger used humor to reach their customers:
Moral of the story, if you aren’t using social media you aren’t gaining the best exposure for your businesses. It is an opportunity to engage customers and that engagement can lead to loyal customers. Be sure to allocate enough resources to effectively manage your social media presence. Your franchisee will thank you. And even more importantly, they won’t go rogue.
A big thank you to Bre Wolta for her research and help uncovering Smashburger’s social media success.
If social networking hasn’t become the craving of the century, I don’t know what has.
Not only are people fascinated with how communication has turned into an interactive dialog, but whether they are finding friends on Facebook, tweeting their every move on Twitter, or now marketing their own customized burgers in the new frenzy that 4food has created, they are finding every excuse to play on the social media playground.
The restaurant, 4Food, in midtown Manhattan has brilliantly introduced a way to make creating your own burger an interactive experience. Like some other build your own burger joints, the patty comes in a variety of meats (even veggie) and you can chose every aspect of your meal, from bun to sauces. The donut shape of the patty is eye catching, however, leaving a hole in the middle of the patty for you to fill with a variety of “scoops” ranging from mac and cheese to Thai eggplant curry.
What sets 4Food apart is the marketing privilege the consumer acquires after their creation (from the 140 million combination possibilities) is complete. Through 4Food’s accounts on Facebook, Twitter and their blog, you can name and market your personalized burger.
After you have marketed your creation, you earn a royalty every time that burger is ordered at 4Food. The $.25 payment is credited to your account on 4food.com.
The learning curve is small, but fun for customers who currently use the provided iPads to order at the restaurant, and will be able to order on their smartphones in the near future.
The exposure that this new burger joint is experiencing purely at the fingertips of their customers is remarkable. Social networking has driven itself to virtually take the legwork out of marketing for you, purely for free…how is your business using the power of social media to expand?
Just when we all have gotten used to the “new” look of Facebook, the beast has evolved once again.
It seems that Facebook is trying to keep people on their toes with the endless face-lifts, and while most of us struggle to figure out how to simply maneuver to view photos, businesses are using the new Timeline to their full advantage.
How you ask? Here are a few perks of the new Timeline that will get your company ready for the switch:
Cover photo and profile image
Instead of just one small image to represent your brand, you can now also use another image as your cover photo. This photo spans the top of your page and is the background for your smaller profile image.
Large pinned posts
Timeline will not allow you to create a default-landing page, however you can manage the posts that appear on your wall. By moving a pinned post to the top of your wall, you can keep the most important and intriguing information and images in the forefront.
Ability to set company milestones
The Milestone section of your Timeline can update your fans about big events in the life of your company. People can visually see the history of your company and relate past experiences to themselves and other companies similar to you.
Facebook Offers
Similar to the Facebook Deals seen on the old Facebook format, the Facebook Offers are sent out to your fans via the news feeds. Not only is this more visible, but it is more personable when they click to claim the offer and it is sent directly to their email.
Whether you are a new company or a mature one, the new Timeline can help to increase awareness of your brand and expand your network.
Give it a go, and let us know how the re-facing of Facebook is working for you, or if you need help adjusting- give us a call!
Everyone’s got their lists – the best, the worst, the funniest, the cutest, etc. My approach was totally different.
Here’s my play-by-play/color commentary on all the commercials shown during this year’s Super Bowl. I was live posting these on Facebook during the game and there was plenty of debate. Real-time discussions were very interesting and many comments are still coming in.
What is below is just a quick thought on each commercial’s ideas, production value, brand stewardship, effort, etc. and finally a FINAL SCORE of each and how I thought it scored 1 to 10. 10 being the best.
Suzuki “Sled”
THIS WAS MY FAVORITE! It was great because it was unexpected, unlike most of the other commercials that you knew what was coming. The music got you to tap your toe and snap your fingers, the dogs were great bouncing to the music along with the driver, of which had a great smile, and you could tell he REALLY BELIEVED in the decision he made. He knew he had made a great decision for his family…even though his wife may not understand…the family would be in a better place with this car.
FINAL SCORE: 10
8:14pm DETROIT/ DIRTY HARRY: ANY COMMERCIAL ABOUT THE REVITALIZATION OF DETROIT, I LOVE IT. The messaging is SO strong and I love the way they have positioned themselves with IMPORTED FROM DETROIT.
FINAL SCORE: 9
8:10pm CADILLAC: really? if you have to call out your competition (BMW 3 series) in your commercial, you’ve already lost. Nice try GM.
FINAL SCORE: 4
8:00pm SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE (SMART PHONE): A PHONE WITH A PEN? I HATE MUSICALS….and especially the ones that include spontaneous flash mobs of singing people. AND it looks like this spot was shot on the same back lot in LA as the Budweiser commercials.(Just saying.)
FINAL SCORE: 5
7:55pm CAREERBUILDER.COM/ MONKEYS : monkeys, deprecating humor = funny. Funny gets you points for the SB voting.
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
7:53pm KIA/OPTIMA/MISTER SAND MAN/ADRIANA LIMA/ great production value! great idea: concept: ok.
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
7:49pm BUD LIGHT: HEREWEGO THE DOG! I think my little boy needs a dog. Just like this one. Oh…and since there’s a dog in the commercial it will do well in the voting….
FINAL SCORE: 8
7:45pm HYUNDAI/ONE WORD GENESIS COUPE: weak…348 Horsepower…now that’s impressive. I didn’t know they could make a Hyundai with such a strong engine…but isn’t a little overkill for that brand?
FINAL SCORE: 6
7:38pm DISCLAIMER: MOVIE TRAILERS AND ‘THE VOICE” commercials DON’T COUNT AS SB COMMERCIALS…even though the Betty White commercial for THE VOICE was adorable…any thing with her in it always gets props.
7:36pm HONDA CRV/FERRIS BUELLER/Matthew’s Day Off: finally they showed it….deep into the 2nd half….2 minutes into the 4th quarter: I think we’ve all seen this commercial at least 27 times with all the press it got this week. Great idea: comfortable production value: the only thing that would have made it better would have been a cameo appearance by the wife (Sarah Jessica Parker)
FINAL SCORE: 8.5
7:31pm THE NFL: ONE OF THE BEST SPOTS YET! Using the history of the league in a great progression down the field was genius. How could anyone deny the richness of the NFL’s history and it’s promise to continue the this rich tradition. Hats off to the NFL. FINAL SCORE: 8.5
7:25pm BRIDGESTONE TIRES #2: Nice evolution of the campaign. Production value: spot on. Keep up the great work Bridgestone!
FINAL SCORE: 8.5
7:23pm BUDWEISER #2: BETTER THAN the first ad…more relateable to most people watching. I didn’t understand the 2011 music in a commercial that didn’t obviously get past the early 1990s? Nice evolution of the campaign AND with some of the same venues as the first commercial..the time evolution connection is subtle but well done.
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
7:18pm GE #3: Great Pride in America’s manufacturing! This campaign will be around a while. I approve! I wonder if Jack Welch had anything to do with this new idea.
FINAL SCORE: 8
7:16pm ACURA NSX/JERRY SEINFIELD; FUNNY…HUGE PRODUCTION FOR CAR THAT’S NOT REALLY FUNNY. Acura’s NSX is one of the worlds most spectacular cars and they pitted Leno and Seinfeld against each other. Sort of on target.
FINAL SCORE: 6.5
7:12pm CENTURY 21: SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER. : eh…Deon Sanders was in his 2nd .
FINAL SCORE: 4
7:10pm OIKOS GREEK YOGURT: Any time John Stamos gets knocked out, it’s a good thing.
FINAL SCORE: 6
7:07pm COKE POLAR BEARS #3: COKE MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER: duh?!
FINAL SCORE: 8
7:05pm CAMRY/REINVENTED...wa?
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
7:03pm FIAT/ABARTH: You’ll never forget the first time you see one. A nice way to keep your attention. Gratuitous legs, heels, cleavage, and a mini car tearing it up on a closed course.
FINAL SCORE: 7
6:58pm COMCAST: SUPER MONSTER HOUSE RACING!!! by Xfinity! Comcast: Great production value, simple idea, effective:
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
6:42pm TOYOTA CAMRY/THE CAMRY EFFECT: send us your story: Hasn’t this been done a bazillion times? the real story here is the fact you can ‘Shazam’ (http://www.shazam.com/) this commercial on your smart phone to enter the contest: something that’s NOT BEEN DONE AT ALL! for new technology efforts:
FINAL SCORE: 8.5
6:28pm JUSTFAB.COM : it’s a shoe commercial for a website: boring: production value low.
FINALS SCORE: 2
6:26pm AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE: People talking on a white background. no production value w no concept.
FINAL SCORE: 1
6:25pm OFFICE DEPOT: free pc tune-ups as told by an elf-like store associate and NASCAR driver: boring:
FINAL SCORE: 2
6:22pm HALF TIME COMMERCIALS: NFL.COM FANTASY: EH. A little too ghetto for me.
FINAL SCORE: 5
6:19pm ETRADE: SPEED DATING BABY: stick with what works. last years commercials were better: this iteration lacks real humor. Maybe eTrade needs to move on from the talking babies.
FINAL SCORE: 3.5
6:17pm DORITOS #2/BUNGIE BABY: funny: Customer created: not bad: Taunting is always appreciated in my world:
FINAL SCORE: 6
6:14pm CARS.COM/MY CONFIDENCE/FLOATING HEAD: funny, a little creepy.
FINAL SCORE: 5
6:13pm SKETCHERS: MR. QUIGGLY: funny, unexpected, and it features a Tone Loc tune…good but not great.
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
6:10pm TELEFLORA/Valentines: Give and You Will Receive: Genius to use one of the hottest super models in the world (not to mention, a Victoria Secrets model- ADRIANA LIMA) and the only line in the commercial is a great one. Small production but a Big Idea:
FINAL SCORE: 8
6:06pm CHEVY SONIC: It’s amazing what a car company will do to appeal to its demographic. I guess they want to be like Red Bull.
FINAL SCORE: 6 (FOR WOW FACTOR ONLY)
6:03pm COKE POLAR BEARS #2 NO DROP: Cute. Nice idea. SUSPENSEFUL I’m a COKE man so their brand promise lives strong in this commercial: AGAIN!
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
6:00pm H&M: BECKHAM UNDERWEAR Does everyone really need to see Beckham in his tightie whities? I thought H&M was a ladies clothing store?
FINAL SCORE: 2
5:57pm VW BUG/FAT DOG: Back better than ever: Nice idea. Emotional. Everyone loves dogs…I love VWs so I’m biased that I like the commercial. but the switch into the Darth Vader/Star Wars…whats up with that? a flashback to last years Kid Vader commercial?
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
5:51pm TAXACT.com FEEL THE FREE funny story, great suspense…I’m sure their servers just exploded.
FINAL SCORE: 7
5:47pm GE TURBINES #2: Turbines that make the beer…Budweiser Beer. Great idea to make GE relevant in today’s world. Too bad I can’t afford to buy a turbine.
FINAL SCORE: 7.5
5:45pm DORITOS/MAN’S BEST FRIEND : I have a cat and I think it was funny! I think this was one of the customer created commercial.
FINAL SCORE: 7
5:44pm BUDWEISER: Since 1876: Great production, HUGE PRODUCTION… and amazing how the shaving cream stayed on the guys face! It’s no field goal kicking Clydesdale, but good.
FINAL SCORE: 5
5:39pm LEXUS GS: THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING: of what? Big/cool production for a car that looks like the rest of the pack.
FINAL SCORE: 2
5:38pm GO DADDY.COM: .co – we all know there’s never ever going to have anything revealed in these commercials so why bother watching them.
FINAL SCORE: 1
5:36pm BRIDGESTONE TIRES #1: Good, funny idea to make a point. Cameos by Deon Sanders and Troy Aikman.
FINAL SCORE: 6
5:31pm COKE POLAR BEARS: Cute. Nice idea. I’m a COKE man so their brand promise lives strong in this commercial.
FINAL SCORE: 7
5:28pm BEST BUY: All mobile phone carriers are available at one store. Who cares…the word on the street is that Best Buy is going out of business soon.
FINAL SCORE: 1
5:26pm M&MS/Chocolate Naked M&M: Funny! not to mention the Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle song…who wouldn’t like an M&M commercial.
FINAL SCORE: 8
5:23pm BUD LIGHT PLATINUM #2: An evolution of the first spot, but no real idea here, just people at a party…just like half of the other beer commercials on tonight.
FINAL SCORE: 3
5:21pm PEPSI/ELTON JOHN: Pepsi for All: I’m a Coke drinker so this commercial did nothing for me, but it’s always amazing to see Flava Flav pop up in the weirdest places. Elton John was cool, but the lady that sang for her Pepsi(Huge production for little pay-off)
FINAL SCORE: 1
5:18pm AUDI HEADLIGHTS/VAMPIRE BONFIRE: really? I could see this idea coming from a mile away, corny, less than appropriate for Audi’s brand:
FINAL SCORE: 3
5:15pm BUD LIGHT PLATINUM: huge production for little pay-off, a new beer intro needs more.Why would I buy a beer that is portrayed as something crafted in a high-tech foundry? It almost looked like a cell phone commercial.
FINAL SCORE: 2
5:14pm Hyundai: Rocky Movie Theme Song: toe tapping idea, little payoff.
FINAL SCORE: 5
Regardless of your company size, a social media policy to control the way your team communicates with online audiences is critical to the success of your business. Now that Facebook and Twitter have become an important part of doing business, it’s time for your company to craft an up-to-date and flexible social media policy to protect your company’s reputation both online and off.
Your policy must have a clear objective and should clearly define what employees can or can’t do on social media. Make sure that the objective is practical, reasonable and applicable to all who are participating in social media for your business. However when it comes to your company data, confidential information is an asset and everyone has the responsibility to protect it. If the social media policy is violated, ensure you have reasonable responses. Depending on the degree of damage or violation, you can go from disciplinary actions like suspension, termination, or even civil or criminal penalties.
Back in September, Microsoft employee Joe Marini tweeted about a Nokia Windows Phone. The trouble was, the phone hadn’t been released yet. This upset his bosses, and Marini ended up leaving Microsoft.
In 2008, Virgin Atlantic took disciplinary action against 13 crew members who participated in a Facebook discussion that “criticized Virgin’s safety standards and insulted passengers,” according to the Guardian. The comments were promptly removed, the group was fired.
When crafting a policy, be sure to:
Remind employees to familiarize themselves with the employment agreement and policies included in the employee handbook.
State that the policy applies to multi-media, social networking websites, blogs and wikis for both professional and personal use.
Tweets or posts should not disclose any information that is confidential or proprietary.
If an employee comments on any aspect of the company’s business they must clearly identify themselves as an employee and include a disclaimer, that should be something like “the views expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of (your company’s name).”
Tweets or posts should not include company logos or trademarks unless permission is asked for and granted, and must respect copyright, privacy, fair use, financial disclosure, and other applicable laws.
Employees should neither claim nor imply that they are speaking on the company’s behalf.
Require approval on corporate blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, etc., when the employee is posting about the company and the industry.
Reserve the right to request the certain subjects are avoided, withdraw certain posts, and remove inappropriate comments.
When the guidelines are used correctly this policy can help increase productivity as well as secure your company from social media disasters on the web. What do you think about social media policies? How critical is it for your business? How would implement it? Tell us what you think on our blog, share it with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Facebook purchased the location-based social media service (LBS) Gowalla. This is the latest acquisition by Facebook pre 2012 IPO. Interestingly enough, when Facebook acquires a company, it acquires the leadership, developers and talent instead of keeping just the product.
From the Gowalla Co-Founder Josh Williams, “Gowalla, as a service, will be winding down at the end of January. We plan to provide an easy way to export your Passport data, your Stamp and Pin data (along with your legacy Item data), and your photos as well.”
As with many of the strategic moves from Facebook, there are privacy concerns. In this case, Facebook now owns all the pictures, check-ins and connections entered by users of Gowalla. Early rumors have the Gowalla team working on the new Facebook profile, Timeline. Gowalla’s team and data would add a robust component to the Timeline, but will Facebook risk the inevitable complaints of privacy exploitation?
So, in the world of location-based social media, Foursquare is left standing. In 2009, Gowalla and Foursquare launched in the same week as rival location service apps. Both apps provided a method for people to announce their whereabouts by using their smartphones to “check-in” at real-world locations, such as Starbucks. In 2010, Facebook launched Places as an alternative LBS. Places has received luke-warm acceptance, it is not a huge leap to assume the acquired leadership from Gowalla will be able to improve the user experience of Facebook Places.
In the meantime, Foursquare has a window of opportunity prior to Gowalla/Places integration to capitalize on reduced competition and own the LBS marketplace. Foursquare should take our advice and use these ways to improve the service.
Let us know if you think Foursquare will seize the day or if Facebook Places with the infusion of Gowalla talent will overwhelm the LBS market. Share your thoughts here or on Facebook at Weise Communications and follow us on Twitter at @Weise_Ideas.
One of the often-overlooked parts of Facebook has been the profile, with a combination of privacy concerns as well as Facebook automatic like and app postings apps to the profile. However, prior to the 2012 IPO Facebook keeps rolling out improvements as well as value added applications to the service. The latest in beta testing is called Timeline. Timing of full release is unknown to due a legal dispute with timelines.com.
This redefining of the personal profile is a significant change. Facebook knows a lot about us. It knows about the crazy party, the time we went on vacation and when we met specific friends. This is the primary source of Facebook power; it is the online service with the most personal data about our lives. Timeline is the vehicle where a user can harness that power.
In another Facebook surprise, Timeline allows users to control what is displayed. (Three cheers for user control over Facebook content!)
Certain stories can be promoted, they will grab more real estate on the profile. You are not tied to chronological order.
Stories and posts can easily be deleted from the Timeline.
If anything is missing, it is easy to add ‘life events’ to the Timeline. The more info you put into the Timeline, the more robust it becomes.
It is easy to selectively edit the postings that will shape the view of people going forward.
In the past, I’ve written about my favorite iPad app, Flipboard. It appears that the Facebook team has taken the best of Flipboard to create Timeline. Instead of a random scrapbook, Timeline presents our online life as a high-end photo album.
Tell us what you think of Facebook grouping information to tell the story of our lives. Is Timeline a new, exciting way to detail history or is it a creepy way to reveal everything you’ve done in a potentially unnerving way? One thing for sure, anytime Facebook makes a change there will be a cry over privacy concerns.
We are fans of HootSuite, the convenient, social media aggregation tool. We use HootSuite to scheduled posts in advance for the agency and for clients. HootSuite saves time publishing content to Twitter and Facebook. It keeps all social media streams in one location. HootSuite enables us to map out a tweet schedule, collaborate and edit future tweets.
” – and they did!
Three tips to turn a Facebook like into a real paying customer
Its free, its accessible, and it reaches billions of people. Social media is providing three key factors that should be putting dollar signs in the eyes of franchisors.
urchased the location-based social media service (LBS) Gowalla. This is the latest acquisition by Facebook 
One of the often-overlooked parts of 
on Facebook
on Twitter
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