Facebook's latest redesign: Will it be better for brands?

True to Mark Zuckerberg’s entry in 2006 about how Facebook listened to feedback from its users and contributors, the company’s decision to revamp its news feed seems to be fueled by user complaints of boredom on the site and by pressure from advertisers that want more value for their money.

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The social networking site has gone far from being “brand new and still evolving” to something that is almost ubiquitous to people in the modern age. As the site attempts to change the way people find information on the Internet, it seems inevitable for its users to ask for more.

Previously, it launched its Graph Search feature, which allows people to “find more of what they’re looking for through their friends and connections.” The news feed redesign move, meanwhile, is aimed at making the site akin to “the best personalized newspaper in the world.”

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The customizable feed now allows users to see only the types of content that they want to see. They can focus on video feeds, music feeds, or photo feeds and expect to get the type of content that they favor from their friends. Meanwhile, advertisers can be happier with the following feed, which is dedicated to the posts of brands and people users are following, arranged chronologically. Facebook maintains that through this feed, people won’t be missing any posts now.

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With these changes, the social networking site has effectively responded to advertiser complaints that people aren’t seeing their important posts enough. In time when competitors are at the heels of Facebook, perhaps the change is enough to prevent advertisers from seeking another platform.

John Bohan is an Internet advertising expert who specializes in social marketing solutions. Find more material on effective social media use on Socialtyze.com.

The great equalizer: How social media brought back power to the people

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The advent of the Internet birthed a voice that gave unprecedented power to the people—a voice called social media.

A few years ago, the case differed. Companies and governments were untouchable, and the people had a lot to say but had no platform to express themselves easily or without legal repercussions. What little voice they had was quickly quashed and swept under, never to be heard again.

However, with the advent of the Internet, the people got back their voice in the form of social media, and even once-powerful corporations and governments are wary of this new power, as one wrong review or one bad press can instantly be read by billions of people, the precursor to potentially lost sales, revenue, and profit, or toppled governments.

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The best example would be the Arab Spring wherein oppressive governments in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and Libya were toppled by a wave of demonstrations, protests, and uprisings sparked by the use of social media. Another example is that customers who purchased a faulty product and shunned by the company that made the product can now complain on Twitter or such online platforms, their effective and better chance at being heard.

Social media is quickly changing the information dissemination landscape and becoming the de facto way of how people communicate online. This is why Internet advertising experts, like John Bohan and Mateo Gutierrez, advise companies and governments to leverage social media for directly interacting with their customers and constituents, respectively.

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John Bohan heads Socialtyze, a firm that crafts smarter-media campaigns, manages thriving communities, and builds engaging applications. Visit its webpage to learn more.

Social media management: Tools for businesses

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Social media is no longer just for individuals who want to connect with friends and family online. Businesses are now taking advantage of the power of social media to communicate with clients, promote products and services, and track competition. Below are two cost-effective programs which can help businesses effectively manage all their online accounts:

Sendible - Sendible is a social media management, monitoring, and analytics tool rolled into one. It allows businesses to engage with their customers across varied social media platforms, particularly Facebook, Twitter, and blog accounts. Through Sendible, online users can schedule updates, and they can post simultaneously to Facebook, Twitter, and blog sites with one click. Sendible starts at $9.99 a month for eight accounts, and offers plans for $ 99.99 for 120 accounts.

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Viralheat -- Like Sendible, Viralheat tracks a business’ Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest accounts, as well as blogs, company websites, and video sites. It also monitors conversations in real time so businesses can understand what’s going on online and how to best engage with its audience. Viralheat’s analytics also lets businesses stay ahead of the competition by understanding the competitor’s performance on social media. Viralheat is offered free for seven accounts and charges $ 499 a month for 50 accounts.

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Sendible and Viralheat are just two of the many social media management tools available in the market today. Such tools will help businesses effectively and efficiently market their brand online.

Be in the know of the latest in social media marketing by following this John Bohan Twitter page.

Measuring ROI of social media

Nowadays, business owners have adopted the principles of social media pioneers, like John Bohan and Jay Baer, and many entrepreneurs would agree that measuring the ROI of social media is one of the building blocks in coping with social media trends and strategies. How does one put a corresponding amount to a ‘tweet’ or a ‘like’? Here are some points to help businesses get started in calculating digital success.

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This article discusses metrics that online marketers can use as benchmarks that determine whether their social media efforts are paying off or not:

• Re-examining content strategy. Social media platforms should be able to interact with their target audience by asking them questions, speaking with them, and creating dialogues. Reviewing their content strategy should be done to make room for this practice.

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• Sharing of voice. It is the online marketers’ duty to make it a point that their brands’ presence can compete with other brands’ image in the industry. This has something to do with the size of their audience, followers, and fans.

• Acknowledging advocates. Engaging and leveraging the loyalty of avid followers, re-tweeters, and pinners for the brand kicks businesses into higher gear.

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To complement the above-mentioned practices, tools such as SourceMetrics and Klout help companies improve their bottom line.

This website provides industry news and tips on measuring social media’s ROI.

Social media strategy: Stepping up your game

If your business has been exposed to social media long enough to know that it takes strategy that doesn’t happen overnight, then you’re in the right track. However, if you have signed up on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platforms and noticed that the sales are not coming in as expected, you may be doing something wrong along the way.

Looking for some suggestions to address this concern can help you step up your game. This articlediscusses some methods to consider in making social media work for your brand:

• Organizing a social media team. The very first step toward having an effective social media strategy is to establish a team that will take care of the social media responsibilities. You may hire external manpower or utilize available personnel within your departments.

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• Getting rid of social media firewalls in the workplace. Allowing your employees to use social media at work is helpful for your business. Using free and fast publicity, your employees are able to help increase your brand awareness. But then, this is with the assumption that you’ve hired responsible individuals whom you can trust to use social media channels within the confines of their job descriptions.

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• Developing a consistent brand voice. Although this is one of the hardest strategies for effective online marketing, there are several options of doing it. Forbes offers 10 suggestions to get you started.

• Making your social media accounts interactive. Asking questions to your audience, adding a human appeal to your platforms, and replying to audience comments and queries in a timely fashion are some points to look into.

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Social media marketing is ever dynamic and coping with it is just fitting in order for you to prevent the risk of being left behind.

John Bohan is a pioneer in social media marketing solutions. This Facebook page offers more links to articles on social media.

Social media marketing: Making it work

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Many companies have tried their luck in social media marketing; however, a lot of them are still clueless as to how they can make it work to their advantage. Industry experts, like John Bohan and Scott Monty, note that there are ways to make social media the best marketing tool. Some of them are as follows:

1. Understanding the role of social media in marketing. The primary step toward effective social media marketing is by understanding its nature and role. Social media has a big role in marketing: It gives marketers the voice and avenue to communicate with customers. It personalizes the brand and spreads the message in a relaxed and conversational way.

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2. Choosing a network wisely. There are dozens of popular sites where businesses can set their shop. However, they should be careful in choosing one. They should consider how the social platform can benefit them and if they are willing to exert effort in using such social media platform.

3. Setting realistic goals. Companies can easily get overwhelmed in the social media world as a lot can be done in this dynamic platform. However, businesses should create realistic goals. Are they using social media to create a buzz, to build a network, to sell a product, or to gain feedback? Regardless of what their goals are, businesses must set and tailor their goals to get their desired results.

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4. Listening more, talking less. While it’s tempting to bombard social networking sites with information about a company’s product and services, it is sometimes necessary to listen, especially for start-up companies. Businesses should research about blogs, key industry players, and forums regarding their market to become aware of the social environment of their industry.

With a little planning and research and by learning the rules of the game, businesses can make social media marketing work to their advantage.

Learn more about social media marketing at this Live Journal blog.

How far is one’s social media reach?

Many business people challenge the hype of social media networking sites, often doubting whether such new platforms can create reach. While it can be quite challenging to measure a company’s social media reach, it is never impossible to determine the effect of social media.

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With the advent of social media, the competition to stay in the market is intensified. Majority of businesses make use of social media platforms to stay relevant. When customers are aware of a brand and interact with it through various social media posts, they are more likely to recommend it to their peers. A way of measuring brand recognition and online influence is by using Klout, an online tool that provides insight on how big a company’s influence is and how influential a company’s audience is.

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Traffic is also indicative of a brand’s reach. Besides sales opportunities, having good traffic equates to more people visiting and participating in a company’s media site. Measuring traffic can be easy with Google Analytics. It gives a glimpse of how visitors use a company’s site, how they arrived at the site, and how a company can encourage visitors to come back to the site. Moreover companies can measure sales, downloads, video plays, and other actions valuable to them. It also provides insights as to why some visitors buy from the company while others don’t.

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While social media marketing may mean free marketing, it is necessary to create focused efforts to arrive at one’s targeted goals because an unfocused effort is a huge time sink.

Learn more about John Bohan and social media marketing at this Google+ page.