New Facebook Email Addresses Now Available

In recent times Facebook has announced that it has updated the Facebook addresses on its site so that there is now greater consistency across the various functions of site.

As a result the address used to get to your personal timeline will be exactly the same as the one used t you email you on Facebook.

The updated addresses for people who had not already selected an email address on Facebook, whereas anyone who already had selected an email address on Facebook will not be affected.

If you want to pro-actively select an email address now you can also do so by going directly to: Facebook.com/username. ​

No doubt email continues to play and important and ongoing role that is complimentary to and supportive of all our social media efforts.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Daniele.

Rocketing Up the Rankings. Pinterest Now the 3rd Most Popular Social Media Site

A recent report from Experian has revealed that Pinterest is now the third most popular social network in the U.S., based on traffic, behind only Facebook and Twitter.

Experian’s “2012 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report” stated that social networking has reached new highs, with 91 percent of adults using social media regularly as well as 15 percent of all U.S. Internet visits dedicated to social media sites in December 2011.

Pinterest made a huge splash late in 2011 when it made the top 10 list for social networks for the first time. The new Experian report says Pinterest’s traffic surged 50 percent between February and January of this year, which is growth that’s stunning in itself.

That surge has allowed the site to overtake services like Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Google+ for what Experian says is the third highest number of visits in February.

The popularity of Pinterest is already sparking a run of copy cat sites that are trying to cash in on its success.

For now however the simple take out message is that this site has added some genuine fun into social media and importantly, another powerful marketing tool.

How are you using Pinterest for your business? Please let us know.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Regards

Daniele

Finally a Little Joy for Blackberry Users As Well

I have to admit that as a fan of Blackberry smart phones, it's sometimes difficult to see the ongoing stream of new apps and gizmo's for all things iPhone and android, only to find that the same thing isn't available for the mighty Blackberry Bold.

So it is nice to hear this week that there is a new app that will allow for a more efficient connection between Blackberry and Twitter. (Yes. Go R.I.M).

An updated app of Twitter for BlackBerry phones, now includes more advances features for better connection to your network.

The new Twitter for BlackBerry feature will make it simpler to share links of your favourite web pages directly from the browser for example. As well when you want to Tweet a link you like to your network, it will automatically be shortened so it takes up fewer characters thereby allowing you more space to add more information and still stay within the tight character limits.

As well you can now upload pictures that you've taken to Twitter (via: pic.twitter.com) right from your device’s camera or when writing your Tweets.

This new and improved Twitter version can now be download from the BlackBerry App World.

Until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Regards,
Daniele.

Despite Everything, Recent Study Shows that Email Still Ahead of Social Media

It seems incredible to think that in spite of the seemingly endless supply of daily updates and general hype around all things social media,email remains the more popular option of on-line personal communication, based on the results of the recent study by research firm Ipsos.

The study was based on research with almost 20 thousand adult respondents (19,216) and was conducted over 24 countries making it a truly international cohort.

The key finding of the research was that more people still used the net for email rather than social media (85% vs. 62%). Naturally within specific nations the percentage that used either email or social media platforms (formally defined as any blog, forum or social networking site).

Another interesting statistic of note, is that around one in six people (14%) also use Voice-Over-IP.(VOIP) and again shows a high degree of variability with Russia for example have a high level of usage with over 1 in 3 (36%) as compared to the US with only (6%)currently.

The major players in the social media space have attempts to transition people away from email to other forms of electronic note writing such as Google with its now defunct Google Wave, but have failed.

Not surprising really when you consider how fundamentally sound, practical and sustainable email is as an option for quick, universally available personal electronic, letter writing.

What about you. Which do you prefer and why?

Until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.

Google Turns to TV Advertising

In what appears to be a turn around in thinking away from purely on-line advertising, to more traditional electronic advertising in the form of television. Specifically Google spent almost 70 million dollars on television ads in 2011.

Although on-line advertising remained the number one mode of advertising with over 120 million in ad spend in 2011, television ads increased from nothing in 2008, underpinning its continuing value to even the most powerful of corporate icons.

This continuing trend underscores the fact that Google has understood the need to blend traditional forms of media that are still high on the list of their target audience. AS well as television, additional traditional media such as newspaper, magazines, radio and outdoor advertising also accounted for almost another 21 million in advertising in 2011, further reinforcing the desirability of complimentary (non on-line) promotional platforms.

Google has now become more comfortable advertising its own products such as Chrome, and utilises these various approaches to great effect.

Overall Googles ad spend represented around 1.2% of its revenues, compared to 1.5% of the revenue owned by both Microsoft and Apple.

What about your business. How do you blend on-line and non on-line options.

And until next time, good luck and good marketing.

Daniele.

Interest Lists Introduced By Facebook

Facebook has now introduced interest lists which can be utilised to effectively act as a feeder source for news feeds arranged by subject.

Facebook account holders are now able to group either similar pages or well known individuals into “interest lists” so that they can source selective subject based content into their news feed.

Facebook boffins will of course know that the ability to build lists of friends is a well established feature of the market leading platform. However up until now users didn't have a comparable function to assemble lists of Facebook pages.

Facebook has announced that users will soon see the “Add Interests” link in their left-hand bookmarks. With this new function any Facebook user can either join other people's lists and / or build their own lists.

Interest lists will be made up of Facebook pages, friends and subscriptions. The most popularly read piece from each area of interest would then appear in the News Feed along with a hyper-link redirecting the reader back to read other related posts.

After Nearly 250 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica To Go Purely Electronic

Encyclopaedia Britannica will stop publishing print editions and go digital-only — a huge step for the encyclopedia which has been in print since 1768.

The sales of Britannica print editions has been on the decline since 1990, when 120,000 32-volume sets were sold.

The early nineties were the start of a revolution: People started turning to the internet for information, and Britannica sales fell to 40,000 in 1996, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. President Jorge Cauz.

However, Cauz insists that, while the print edition of the Britannica is no longer selling well, the digital editions are blooming. “This has nothing to do with Wikipedia or Google. This has to do with the fact that now Britannica sells its digital products to a large number of people,” said Cauz.

Those interested in the final hardcover edition of Britannica can buy it at the company’s website for $1,395.

Britannica currently sells several digital products, including a DVD version of the Encyclopaedia, an online version (available through subscription) and a variety of apps for kids and adults.