SEO Web Tips blog » Social Networking

Using Social Media To Reach New Car Buyers

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:30:27 +0000

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, have a greater reach among new-vehicle prospects than search engines or portals, according to a new report from J.D. Power and Associates.

Automotive marketers that establish a presence on social networking sites can be effective at finding and targeting new- vehicle buyers. Using tactics such as creating profiles or fan pages on these sites may increase chances for interaction with prospective customers. It is important for marketers to know that obvious advertising on social networking sites tends to be received negatively by the target audience.

Highlights of the report include:

· One-third of buyers visit an automotive brand site or third-party site six months or more prior to making a vehicle purchase, while two-thirds of buyers have visited at least one of those types of sites three months prior to purchase.
· Nearly one in five buyers (19 percent) who shop online first turn to dealer sites, with 41 percent first visiting manufacturer Web sites and 40 percent visiting third-party automotive sites first.
· New-vehicle buyers who shop online consider 2.9 vehicles, on average.

“Social media is now shaping customer expectations in any and every way,” said Chance Parker, vice president and general manager of the Web Intelligence Division at J.D. Power and Associates.

“Listening to social media is increasingly on people’s radar screens and people are scrambling to understand it. It’s not enough simply to count the buzz, it is important to understand what that buzz really means to your brand.”

Social Networkers In Russia Globe’s Most Engaged

Mike Sachoff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:38 +0000

People in Russia are big fans of social networking, in fact they are the most engaged users in the world, according to a new study from comScore.

The study found social networking users in Russia spend 6.6 hours and view 1,307 pages per visitor per month.

Of the 1.1 billion people age 15 and older worldwide who accessed the Internet from a home or work location in May 2009, 734.2 million visited at least one social networking site during the month, representing 65 percent of the global Internet audience.

The Russian social networking audience had the highest engagement among the 40 individual countries reported by comScore. Brazil ranked close behind at 6.3 hours, followed by Canada (5.6 hours), Puerto Rico (5.3 hours) and Spain (5.3 hours).

“Social networking has become a popular online pastime not only in mature Internet markets like North America, but also in developing, high-growth Internet markets such as Russia,” said Mike Read, SVP & managing director, comScore Europe.

“In a country as geographically large as Russia, social networking represents a way of connecting people from one corner of the country to the other. The highly engaged behavior of social networkers in Russia offers significant opportunity for marketers and advertisers seeking to reach these audiences.”

Of the 31.9 million people who accessed the Internet in Russia in April, 18.9 million visited at least one social networking site, representing a reach of 59 percent of the total online population.

The most popular of these sites was Russian-based Vkontakte.ru with 14.3 million visitors, followed by Odnoklassniki.ru (7.8 million visitors), Mail.ru – My World (6.3 million visitors) and Fotostrana.ru (1.6 million visitors). Facebook.com attracted 616,000 Russian visitors, up 277 percent versus year ago.

Facebook Sees 700 Percent Increase In Growth

Mike Sachoff — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:22:27 +0000

In the U.S. the total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 percent year-over-year, according to a new report from Nielsen Online.

Total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site for the month.

“We have seen some major growth in Facebook during the past year, and a subsequent decline in MySpace. Twitter has come on the scene in an explosive way perhaps changing the outlook for the entire space. The one thing that is clear about social networking is that regardless of how fast a site is growing or how big it is, it can quickly fall out of favor with consumers,” said Jon Gibs, vice president, online media and agency insights.

“Remember Friendster? Remember when MySpace was an unbeatable force? Neither Facebook nor Twitter are immune. Consumers have shown that they are willing to pick up their networks and move them to another platform, seemingly at a moment’s notice.”

While Facebook is now the most popular social network, MySpace has been doing well with its online video. With 120.8 million video streams, MySpace was the No. 1 social networking destination when ranked by streams and total minutes viewing video on the site, with an average of 38.8 minutes per viewer.

In comparison, Facebook visitors spent only 113.5 million minutes viewing video in April, with an average of 11.2 minutes per video viewer.

“So maybe the better question to ask is who does each site reach–not who is ‘winning.’ What audiences are they drawing and how are they building for the future to maintain the loyalty of their visitors, who to this point have shown little long-term loyalty to any specific platform,” said Gibs.

Facebook Gets $200 Million In Funding

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:52:59 +0000

Facebook has landed a $200 million investment from Digital Sky Technologies (DST), an Internet investment group with significant stakes in Eastern European and Russian Internet businesses.

The investment in Facebook is in exchange for preferred stock, representing a 1.96 percent equity stake at a $10 billion valuation.

“This investment demonstrates Facebook’s ongoing success at creating a global network for people to share and connect,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“We’ve worked hard to bring more than 200 million people – 70 percent outside of the U.S. – onto Facebook to share with friends, family and co-workers. A number of firms approached us, but DST stood out because of the global perspective they bring – backed up by the impressive growth and financial achievements of their Internet investments. We’re looking forward to working with the DST team.”

In addition, DST has indicated that it is planning to offer to purchase at least $100 million of Facebook common stock from existing common stockholders that would facilitate liquidity for current and former employees’ vested shares in the company.

The details of the plan are expected to be announced to eligible participants during the summer.

“Our investment experience in other regions reveals the tremendous value social networking companies create as they redefine how people communicate and interact,” said Yuri Milner, chief executive of DST.

Google Launches New Search Tools

Mike Sachoff — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:05:22 +0000

Google has introduced new tools that aim to make users search results more focused and organized.

One of the new features is called “Search Options” which are a collection of tools that allow users to control search results and generate different views to find the information they need faster.

When doing a search on the Google homepage, a link under the search box says, “show options.” Clicking the link will bring up a menu to view results for video, forums, and reviews. Users can search by “recent results,” “anytime,” “the past week,” and “past year.”

Another search option that Google introduced called Wonder Wheel displays a visual concept map with related topics. A search for “dogs” brings up the Wonder Wheel with a number of different spokes leading to related topics with links. The topics included “dogs health,” “dog games,” “dog names,” and “dog breeds.”

Users can still see the standard search results when viewing the Wonder Wheel.

A tool called Google Squared, available in Google Labs next month, will automatically find information on the Internet to create spreadsheets a user is searching for.

Google also launched Google Sky Map for Android. Google Sky Map turns an Android-powered phone into a window on the night sky. By pointing the phone up towards the sky a map appears of the brightest stars, constellations and planets in that part of the sky. Sky Map can help users to identify specific stars.

BBB Warns Of Social Networking Ad Scams

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:12:26 +0000

The Better Business Bureau is advising social network users to read the fine print when responding to ads on Facebook or other social networking sites.

Ads for weight loss products, work-at-home opportunities and offers for “free” computers can cost users more than they bargained for.

According to Nielsen Online, social networking sites were more popular than email in 2008. Facebook’s 108.3 million members spent 20.5 billion minutes on the site last year. Advertisers are going to where the people are and eMarketer estimates that $1.3 billion will be spent on social networking advertising in 2009.

“People need to use extreme caution and read the fine print before handing over their credit card information to an online advertiser. Just because an ad appears on a Web site they trust, it doesn’t mean they can always trust the advertisers,” said Steve Cox, BBB spokesperson.

“One of the big red flags we’re seeing is ads that link to blog platforms designed to look like a personal testimonial from a satisfied customer. In our experience, if an ad takes you to a blog, it’s best to hit the back button immediately.”

Following are just a couple examples of common ads on social networking sites and what the fine print reveals:

The Pitch: Lose 4 Dress Sizes
In January, BBB issued a warning to consumers about online ads and Web sites that use Oprah’s name to sell acai berry supplements as weight-loss miracles. Despite the warning, these ads are still common on Facebook and MySpace and link to fake blogs such as www.jennylosesweight.com that are designed to look like testimonials of women who lost weight on the acai supplements. Recent research by the Center for Science in the Public Interest identified more than 75 different phony blogs that led to Web sites touting acai-berry supplements as a weight loss miracle.

The Fine Print: The phony blogs link to Web sites that offer a free trial of an acai supplement, and while the customer may think they only have to pay shipping, they could get billed as much as $87.13 every month if they don’t cancel before the trial period ends. The fine print also explains that the trial period begins from the moment the customer orders the supplements and not after they receive the shipment.

BBB Warns: Not only do health experts question the legitimacy of the weight loss claims linked to the acai berry, BBB has received thousands of complaints from consumers against such acai supplement companies because many were billed despite never receiving their free trial or were billed every month despite numerous attempts to cancel.

The Pitch: Learn How I Make $67,000 a Year Being a Stay-at-Home Mom!
There are many ads on Facebook that advertise ways to make easy money from home. Similar to the acai berry ads, the ads link to blogs that were supposedly created by people who made money through a work-at-home program. One such blog written by a “Sarah Roberts” claims that she added “$67,000 a year to my family’s income working 10 hours a week (that’s over $128 an hour!)” by creating Web sites that host Google ads. Another, “www.jasongetsrich.com”, is ostensibly written by the newly married Jason who makes “around $5,500 to $7,000 a month from Google.”

The Fine Print: The blogs direct readers to Web sites for programs such as Internet Money Machine and Easy Google Cash where they can sign up for a seven-day trial access to information on how to make money from home. While the free trial supposedly only costs $1.95-$2.95, the individual will be charged $69.90 every month if they don’t cancel seven days from signing up. The fine print also states that the company does not give refunds.

BBB Warns: Use extreme caution when signing up for a work-at-home job or money-making opportunity online. In 2008 alone, BBB received more than 3,500 complaints from people who signed up for offers to learn how to work from home but were ultimately disappointed. Job hunters should also be aware that while some work-at-home opportunities have the word “Google” in their name and use Google’s logo on their Web sites, they are not actually affiliated with Google.

“Of course, not all ads on social networking sites are misleading and misleading ads aren’t confined to Facebook or MySpace. The point though, is that it’s important that people always read the fine print carefully before giving their credit card information online,” added Cox.

Businesses Need To Monetize Web 2.0

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:13:48 +0000

An increasing variety of companies are seeing their business models change as communication services, information and entertainment content moves online.

For many telecom service providers and media companies, organizational survival is at stake, according to In-Stat’s new report, “Monetizing the Internet: Using Web 2.0 Business Models.”

Businesses must do more than just adding functions, such as links to social networking sites, Twitter messaging, chat rooms, and user comments/feedback. These function may help marketing and customer retention, they do not represent a Web 2.0 business model.

“Web 2.0 business models encompass an ecosystem of partnerships, designed to leverage both internal and external knowledge and assets,” says Keith Nissen, In-Stat analyst.

“End to end ownership of the entire business model is a dying breed. Telecom operators, media companies and others must modify their business models.”

In-Stat found the following:

78% of heavy Internet users regularly use two or more social networking sites.

Operators have a key opportunity to provide consumers a “Personal Information Center” (PIC) portal. For example, 66.6% of respondents are very or somewhat interested in aggregating access and sharing of personal images through a PIC.

Personalized content delivery and advertising is a key success factor. Currently, two-thirds of users never click on Internet ads.

ROI On Social Media Marketing

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:25:39 +0000

The globe’s best organizations understand and actively use social media to drive holistic marketing efforts and reach consumers who are participating in social media, according to a new survey by Aberdeen Research and Visible Technologies.

The survey found that the most successful organizations have tools and strategies in place to help drive marketing return on investment (ROI) by listening and learning from customers.

“Regardless of the current economic environment, companies need to directly connect with consumers through new digital channels to increase marketing ROI,” said report author Jeff Zabin, research fellow with href=”http://www.visibletechnologies.com/resources/aberdeen_report_20090305.php”>Aberdeen‘s customer management practice.

The report found that 68 percent of the companies gauged Best-in-Class have a process for monitoring social media. However, only a third of “average” companies and fewer than one in five of “laggard” organizations have a monitoring process in place.

The survey also looked at the potential of social media monitoring tools and platforms. Fewer than half of Best-in -Class respondents indicated they use tools and platforms to strengthen their social media monitoring process, and only 40 percent had defined metrics for measuring social monitoring effectiveness.

Brands Using Social Media To Attract Loyalty

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:17:38 +0000

A fifth of people look for ways to find out what an advertiser has to offer via its social networking profile, according to a new study conducted by MySpace and digital agency Jam.

“MySpace has a rich history in creating innovative and relevant advertising solutions for brands, we hope that with this research we can further develop that dialogue and help brands to maximize the return on their social media investment,” said Nick Reid, head of sales at MySpace UK.

The study examined users engagement levels, finding that 34 percent of user have communicated with brands via instant messaging and 24 percent have texted advertisers details to others. The survey found that chat rooms and blogs were also important types of communication for advertisers, with positive feedback spreading fast by consumers word of mouth.

“This research proves that consumers actually do want to interact with brands in social media, and have no qualms about passing branded content onto friends, as long as it’s executed with them in mind,” said Amy Kean, senior PR and marketing manager at IAB UK.

“It’s important not to make the assumption that people will automatically engage with you online, even if you’re a well love brand- give them something interesting to read or play with, and even offer them stuff for free if you want t to get people talking about you in a positive way.”

New Social Media Search Tool To Get You Talking

Mike Sachoff — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:11:24 +0000

A new social media search tool has recently launched in public beta called WhosTalkin.

The tools creator, Joe Hall says the new tool is, “a social media search tool that allows users to search for conversations surrounding topics that they care most about.”

The service distinguishes itself from other similar tools by aggregating results from over 60 different services on the Internet. “There is no other social media search tool online that aggregates data from this many sources,” says Hall.

The tool’s goal is to present the most relevant and current conversations happening in the world of social media. Hall says that the content freshness is one of the most important aspects of the tool’s search results.

“We are trying to connect people around similar ideas that they can engage in, so therefore we are interested in finding the freshest conversations in social media.”

Hall recruited around a dozen well known people in the search industry to take part in the private beta launch of WhosTalkin.

“We were real fortunate to have some industry all-stars sit in and give some great advice on the tool,” Hall says.

The tool is free to use, but Hall says that the long-term plan includes offering a separate subscription based service that will give users access to a number of other tools for a monthly price.

“We intend to always keep the basic functions free, however we will be offering a subscription service designed for small and medium sized business in the coming months,” says Hall.