Social Ads Upstart Unified Acquires YC-Backed Facebook Analytics Guru PageLever. Businesses won’t spend money on social if they don’t understand how it helps them. That’s why Unified‘s social ads buying platform could get a big boost from its acquisition of PageLever, which gives marketers deep insight into the impact of their social strategies. PageLever‘s detailed analysis can show brands what and how often to post on Facebook, and which of those posts to turn into ads. PageLever was founded in late 2010 by Jeff Widman (a former TechCrunch intern) and David Turner, and it received funding from Y Combinator. I can attest to the quality of its data. The company has long provided me with statistics to help me understand the impact of Facebook’s myriad changes to the news feed. For example, PageLever’s data showed that by making it easier for users to to flag Facebook Page posts as spam, many Pages received many for flags than before. All seven of PageLever’s employees will come aboard at Unified, joining the company’s San Francisco and New York offices.
Salesforce Ready to Buy Buddy Media For $800 Million [REPORT] Enterprise software giant Salesforce has agreed to acquire Buddy Media — which helps brands with their Facebook Pages — for more than $800 million, according to one report. The Buddy Media clientele currently includes such well-known brands as HP, Mattel, L'Oreal, Carnival, and Virgin Mobile and promises on its site to “turn fans and followers into real connections.” Buddy Media's services include setting up an interactive profile for clients, publishing and moderating content across social networks, creating and deploying socially-enabled content across the web, and creating and tracking social activity from a customer's first click on a website to when they make a purchase. According to All Things D, Salesforce has agreed to buy Buddy — but the deal has not yet been finalized.
The article cites “people familiar with the deal” who claim Buddy Media chose the deal with Salesforce over another competitive deal from Google. HOWTO: Get More Twitter Retweets, Facebook Likes, Blog Comments And Email Clicks [STUDY] Study: Social Sharing Icons Motivate CTR. GetResponse last week released an infographic which encapsulates in images the participation of social sharing options and entices an opinion at least, on email marketing campaign effectiveness under the influence of social networking. The study accounts for social media sharing through email using criteria from more than 2,200 million emails sent by GetResponse customers during 2011.
This study compares the social sharing preferences of email marketers with the image and response these sites encourage, which may give the marketing a visual hook. The study indicates that of the customers responsible for these emails, 18.3% provide social sharing buttons and, of that 18.3%, most (over 91%) use a Facebook share button. Twitter was used nearly half of the time (46%), and LinkedIn was a distant 3rd (8.5%). In addition to the catchy theme for the infographic, the study also explores year to year user and participation growth.
GetResponse, it would seem, gets response and then some. Discover your community - DISQUS. People Using Pseudonyms Leave Better Blog Comments [STUDY] People who use pseudonyms - as opposed to remaining anonymous or using their real identity - are more likely to leave high-quality comments on blogs and other Web sites, according to data released by Disqus. In addition to leaving more comments, people using pseudonyms are more likely to leave comments that get "likes" from other readers, according to Disqus, which operates blog commenting platforms for about one million Web sites, including ReadWriteWeb. Not only does the data throw the conventional web wisdom that people who use their real names leave better comment into question, it also gives Disqus and other comment platforms leverage to compete with Facebook, which has made inroads into the commenting space by allowing sites to let people leaving comments use their Facebook identities.
Disqus is one of the more than 400,000 Web sites that lets people use their Facebook profiles to leave comments. Research - DISQUS. Www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingReport2011.pdf. [Réseaux sociaux] Les entreprises européennes très en retard sur celles des pays émergents. En moyenne dans le monde, l’utilisation des réseaux sociaux par les entreprises est de 43%.
En Europe, 35% seulement des entreprises y sont présentes et uniquement 22% en France ! L’étude IBR (International Business Report) du groupe d’audit et de conseil Grant Thornton, menée entre août et septembre 2011 auprès d’un panel de 2 721 entreprises à travers 39 pays dans le monde, met en avant un décalage impressionnant entre le vieux continent et le reste du monde. Les entreprises latino-américaines présentes sur les réseaux sociaux sont 53%. Celles des économies BRIC (Brésil, Russie, Inde et Chine) sont 50% ! Au-delà de ce constat amer, les intentions futures entrent en ligne de compte et, là encore, les résultats de l’étude semblent sans appel : 78% des entreprises en Amérique latine prévoient d’en faire de plus en plus usage, contre 66% des entreprises européennes et à peine plus de la moitié des pays du G7 (55%.). Des Média sociaux au Social CRM - En 4 graphiques et 6 recommandations. " Des média sociaux au Social CRM ", c'est le titre du rapport élaboré par l'IBM Institute for Business Value qui vient d'être rendu public.
Où il s'agit donc d'analyser et de décrypter les modifications des habitudes des clients/consommateurs en raison de l'explosion des média sociaux, les tendances lourdes qui en découlent, et dans le cadre d'une approche à la fois statistique et stratégique, de définir les orientations à adopter pour ne pas rater le virage du web social dans l'évolution du CRM. Nous avons donc pris le temps de lire le rapport, de le traduire, d'en extraire la substantifique moelle et de commenter pour vous permettre d'aller à l'essentiel. Nous avons voulu faire très pratique et opérationnel. Voici donc le rapport d'IBM sur le SOCIAL CRM en 4 graphiques et 6 recommandations. Attention, le Social CRM n'est pas une énième variante du management de la relation client! 4 GRAPHIQUES pour analyser MEDIA SOCIAUX ET SOCIAL CRM 1 - Qui utilise les média sociaux?
Quand une marque de boisson se relance avec Instagram et Twitter. Lundi 5 décembre Web - 5 décembre 2011 :: 09:12 :: Par Vincent-Puren Oasis vient de fêter ses 2 millions de fans jeudi 24 novembre dernier. A cette occasion la marque lance une nouvelle campagne axée autour de Twitter et Instagram. Facebook est indéniablement le réseau social le plus propice pour consolider l’image d’une marque, mais aussi fidéliser le consommateur. Il est donc logique de voir celles-ci lutter les unes contre les autres à coups de campagnes virales toutes plus ingénieuses les unes que les autres, afin de collecter puis fédérer un maximum d’internautes. Considérée comme une référence dans l’hexagone avec des dispositifs remarquables tels que « Fruit of the Year », Oasis s’est faite détrônée dernièrement par Coca-Cola. 2 millions de fans La marque du groupe Orangina-Schweppes n’a pas manqué de proposer en exclusivité à ses consommateurs (fans) une application, afin de remercier personnellement chacun d’entre eux.
. « Les Petits Pépins de Noël » 5 Companies That Are Rocking Social Media [Infographic] These days more and more companies and brands are turning to social media to promote themselves, but some of these companies stand out from the crowd. Voltier Digital has put together an infographic that lists 5 Companies That Are Rocking Social Media. Read on and check out the infographic below to find out more. So which companies made Voltier Digital’s cut? They didn’t go with the big obvious brands, like Old Spice or Skittles. Dell is rocking social media from the customer service perspective; Morton’s Steakhouse is going above and beyond to not only provide valuable information but also to satisfy influencers to build a positive buzz; Unisys uses social networking to build credentials and network with colleagues internally; ABC is providing fun new ways for viewers to engage with their favorite shows via social media; and KLM is rocking with real-time customer service and innovative social campaigns.
Check out the infographic below and let us know what you think. Bridging the Gap: Sharing Offline Experiences Online, and Sharing Online Community Offline. Sourcing content might be the biggest challenge in publishing, and one of the best ways to overcome this challenge is through bridging the offline-online gap.
Getting people to share their travel experiences online. Let me give you a few examples. This weekend I spotted this sign in Bryant Park in New York City: More hotels should be encouraging guests to share their travel experiences like this. Another way to “bridge the gap” is by publicizing your online community offline. Look at how one Swiss village did that: —Once you encourage people to share content online, you need a way to track and collect all the videos, photos, and other content.
Share. The Top 10 Marketing Infographics of 2011. It's almost impossible to believe that 2011 is so close to being over. Tons of great things happened in the world of marketing this year, one of which has been the creation of some awesome infographics that help provide valuable education and insight into the world of inbound marketing. While the web is full of some really great marketing infographics, we decided to limit our list to just 10. Check these out for a visual look at inbound marking in 2011. 1.
Inbound Marketing Rising 2. The Anatomy of a Fan 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 100 Million Professionals 8. 9. 10. What are some of your favorite inbound marketing infographics from the past year? The Connected Consumer: Strategies for Mobile & Social Challenges. Dr. Gary Edwards, Chief Customer Officer, Empathica It’s no secret that customer experiences are the lifeblood of any successful brand. Savvy brands aggressively pursue meaningful customer connections in an ongoing quest to transform one-time purchasers into loyal brand advocates. But delivering differentiated customer experiences that really stand out, especially for brands that are struggling to keep up with an increasingly competitive marketplace dominated by “constantly connected” consumers.
For better or worse, technology has given consumers the power to forge instant connections with brands and other consumers. The Connected Consumer The consumer love affair with communicating on the go has evolved to the point that four out of five American consumers now own a mobile device. Based on current growth rates, it is anticipated that by 2014, consumers will download 6.67 billion apps per year – creating both opportunities and challenges for mobile retailers.
Challenges for Brands. 7 Reasons You're Not Generating Leads From Social Media. This is a guest post written by Pam Sahota. Pam is a marketing communications/social media manager and freelance blogger who loves Boston, photography, charity events, sushi, wine, and the Red Sox. Social media is a great inbound marketing tool that allows businesses and marketing teams to interact with prospects, cater to customers, promote their content, and yes, generate leads.
When a business uses social media right, prospective customers have the opportunity to access great content and information via a platform they already populate and actually want to gather said content and information. Additionally, when prospects do “bite,” many of them are willing to provide their contact information, click to obtain more valuable content, and then come back for more, illustrating the concept of effective use of social media for lead generation beautifully. 1. Not being where your target customers are. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. How effectively are you using social media for lead generation? 5 Ways to Turn Social Customers Into Brand Ambassadors. Duke Chung co-founded Parature in 2000, with a vision to provide superior customer support software accessible via the Internet. Today, Parature’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product suite supports millions of end users worldwide.
With the advent of social media channels, customer service has forever changed. Consumers are no longer willing to sit and listen to classical music on hold. In today’s age of hyper-responsiveness, customers expect instant responses from support reps on very public online platforms. Instead of shying away from social media, smart businesses will leverage their social channels to spread a positive brand reputation, to connect happy customers and to step up their customer support efforts. Consumers aren’t eager to blast negative messages about your company – unless your brand is unresponsive. Here are the five best ways to turn customers into brand ambassadors through customer service. 1. 2. Social media sites foster an online community around your brand. 3. 4. How Harvard Business School Leverages Social Media to Boost Its Brand. Ever heard of Harvard Business School? Odds are that you have, since brand awareness has never been a Harvard problem.
What was a Harvard problem was the perception of the school as a stuffy, arrogant, blue-blood playground. And so, back in 2008, Harvard Business School hired Brian Kenny to be its first chief marketing and communications officer and to help tell the Harvard story to alumni and prospective students. Kenny's background is in marketing — he spearheaded U.S. marketing for Genuity, Inc. and oversaw global marketing at The Monitor Group before moving to academia — and was the VP of marketing at Northeastern University prior to moving to HBS. As CMO, Kenny and the interactive marketing team are tasked with telling the Harvard story and providing information to the 70,000+ HBS alumni and anyone who's learning about HBS, 70% of whom are getting information through digital means.
You’re the first CMO at HBS — why did the school decide to invest in a CMO? Testing Social Media Signals in Search. Meebo Now Reaches 250 Million People Across The Web. Meebo’s been around a long time in Web years. The company was founded in 2005 as a universal IM service. But two years ago, it introduced the Meebo Bar, a social toolbar that sites could put along the bottom of their web pages that allows visitors to chat with each other, check into websites, and get all sorts of notifications. Well, that was a good move. Co-founders Seth Sternberg and Sandy Jen tell me in the video interview above that Meebo now reaches 250 million uniques a month, according to Quantcast. That is up from 200 million just 4 or 5 months ago.
The growth has been astonishing. Meebo serves ads against its bar (which get a 0.7 percent clickthrough rate, and people who click spend on average 60 seconds with the ad), and shares those revenues with publisher sites. Sternberg and Jen talk about Meebo’s growth, evolution, and what’s coming next.
Social Media Dashboard MarketMeSuite Helps Turn Followers Into Customers.