Teens No Longer Interested in Facebook

Leave it to a 13 year-old to tell us how things really are. In this article, I'm 13 and None of My Friends Use Facebook, on Mashable.com, Ruby Karp explains how teens now see Facebook. It is no secret that Facebook has been losing part of its youngest demographic. They have been making up for these loses with additions from the older generations, but as we all know, without the youth on-board, Facebook's future is not looking so bright. We are really impressed how Ruby was able to explain Facebook's problems in such simple terms. For example:

Part of the reason Facebook is losing my generation's attention is the fact that there are other networks now. When I was 10, I wasn’t old enough to have a Facebook. But a magical thing called Instagram had just come out ... and our parents had no idea there was an age limit. Rapidly, all my friends got Instagrams.

We think this is an often overlooked fact. People seem to forget that when Facebook came out, the teens of today were not allowed to have accounts. Of course, when a teen is told they can't have something, it makes them want it even more. However, now that this group is old enough to have a Facebook account, they have already moved on to the latest and coolest platform, as Ruby explains:

Now, when we are old enough to get Facebook, we don’t want it. By the time we could have Facebooks, we were already obsessed with Instagram. Facebook was just this thing all our parents seemed to have.

Facebook is now so popular with the parents, and even grandparents, of today that kids don't want to be involved. Besides the obvious fact that what parents do is never "cool", teens are afraid of the Big Brother effect Facebook can have. With people constantly sharing and over-sharing every aspect of their lives on Facebook, it is only a matter of time before a teen's parent or grandparent sees something they shouldn't have. Ruby perfectly sums that up by saying:

All of our parents and parents' friends have Facebooks. It’s not just the fact that I occasionally get wall posts like, “Hello sweetie pie!” But my friends post photos that get me in trouble with those parents. 

Imagine your own teenage years if your parents could see your every move online, pretty scary thought huh? No matter what they are doing, innocent or not, no teenager wants their parents in on every aspect of their lives, and if not having a Facebook account can help keep that secrecy, the choice is obvious.

The final topic that Ruby brings up is Facebook's ever-changing interface:

Look at something like Twitter, where it’s four buttons — people like the "simple" design better. In the end, Facebook has been trying too hard. Teens hate it when people try too hard; it pushes them away. It’s like if my mom told me not to do something — I immediately need to do it. When she forces something on me, I really don’t want to do it. 

We all get annoyed when Facebook updates their platform and overhauls the user interface. Just like Ruby said, we like simple and we like familiar.  Every time Facebook makes you relearn how to use their platform, it turns people off and forces them to other, more simple, platforms.

Will Facebook figure out a way to win back the teens? We think they probably will. You don't get to where Facebook is without being able to adapt and solve problems. It will be very interesting to see how they do it, and what tactics they will use. Social media is built on trends, and nowhere is trending more important than with teenagers.

-Mike & Samantha

Better Facebook Posts in 10 Easy Steps

One of the most common mistakes businesses make on Facebook, is underestimating they strategy needed for a successful post. In order to achieve a truly engaging post, a business needs to do a certain amount of research and understand the best practices involved for each post. The infographic below, created by Shortstack, highlights 10 simple, but effective, ways you can improve your Facebook status updates.

-Mike & Samantha

Price Alerts Coming to Pinterest

For some reason, it doesn't seem that Pinterest gets the respect it deserves. Many people thought it was just a fad and would bring little to no benefit to their business. With 70 million users and growing, it looks like Pinterest is here to stay. Retailers have the most to benefit from Pinterest, and with their new price alerts feature being released, they have even more to gain. In the near future, when a user pins a product, they will get an email alert whenever that product goes on sale. According to Pinterest, it will look much like this:

Since many people use Pinterest as a type of "dream board", posting items they would like but most likely couldn't afford, this is a fantastic feature. A user may never consider buying that $500 pair of shoes they pinned a few weeks ago, but once they get that email alert letting them know they are now 50% off, the chances of that user buying those shoes just went up exponentially.

Don't forget that benefits this new feature will bring to your business's email marketing. This new feature basically supplies you with personalized, targeted emails to your most engaged users, without you doing any of the work! If you haven't already, get your business on Pinterest, it is here to stay and only getting bigger.

-Mike & Samantha

Facebook to Launch Video Ads

Facebook users will have a whole new reason to complain any day now as the social media giant plans to roll out video ads on your Newsfeed. As if your Newsfeed isn't already cluttered enough with various ads and promotions, Facebook's new video ads will be 15-second commercials that automatically play as soon as the site is loaded. Thankfully the ads will be muted as a default, but we are not so confident this convenient feature will last for long.

According to Bloomberg, Facebook is planning to charge between $1 million and $2.5 million for each 15-second ad, per day! Prices like that put these Facebook ads on the same level as the most notoriously expensive advertisements in the world, Super Bowl commercials. With the average 30-second commercial costing $4 million during the 2013 Super Bowl, Facebook's pricing seems to be right on track. Is your Newsfeed as valuable to marketers as the Super Bowl? According to Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandburg, with Facebook getting 3 times the viewership of the Super Bowl, EVERY DAY, it most certainly is. Now are you and your friends going to gather around your Newsfeed in anticipation for clever ads like on Super Bowl Sunday? We would think not. However, with the sheer numbers advantage alone, Facebook has a lot to offer its future advertising clients. 

Like any change on Facebook, there is sure to be complaints from its users. We think these video ads will create a larger backlash than normal, primarily depending on how annoying and intrusive Facebook allows these ads to be. However, like all the other changes Facebook has gone through over the years, give it a little bit of time, and most users will eventually accept it as normal.

Is this the right move for Facebook? With growing discontent among its users, we think it is dangerous for Facebook to continually hurt the user experience it has prided itself on since day one. However, on the other hand, we can see how saying no to the profit Facebook will see off these ads would be hard for any capitalistic company. Only time will tell if the monetary gains outweigh the potential loss in users due to this advertising decision.

-Mike & Samantha

Twitter Pulls Away From Rivals in Social Curating

We are all aware of the major social media platforms out there, from Facebook to Twitter, a successful brand must utilize them all. Each platform has its place in a successful marketing campaign, but new research shows that businesses are favoring one platform over the other, Twitter. According to social software startup, Livefyre, 93% of business are curating real-time, social activity from Twitter, while only 89% are using Facebook. Continuing down the social media ladder, 50% of business reported generating content from YouTube, and 41% are using Instagram. 

Why are these numbers so important? One of the biggest challenges for brands today is creating great content. A company can post content over all the social platforms 24/7, but if that content is not relevant to their target market, it is just a big waste of time and resources. Utilizing platforms, like Twitter, allows a brand to see what people are already saying about them organically. Once these trends are identified, a successful brand can leverage them to market themselves in a very authentic and poignant way.

Data from Livefyre's research shows that:

• 82% of businesses have increased user engagement from curating social activity.
• 88% of the businesses leveraging real-time social applications, have increased user engagement.
• 41% reported an increase in site traffic as a direct result of making their websites more social friendly.

We all know how critical it is for a business to monitor social media in order get a true feel for the public sentiment on their brand. What may not be so obvious, is how important social curating is to content creation. It is so important for a successful online presence to have relevant, engaging, and consistent content going out to its target market. What better way to create this content than leverage what is already out there, supplied by the customers themselves.

-Mike & Samantha

Social Media Crucial for Retailers

Everyone has been hearing about the importance of social media for the last few years, especially in retail business. Some businesses may have written off social media, not wanting to spend time and resources, thinking it is just a fad. Social media has officially been around long enough, and its importance validated enough, that we can all agree, this is no fad.

Speaking from a retailers point of view, more and more customers are using social media to stay informed and up to date on their favorite brands and retailers. According to Monetate.com, 80% of smartphone users access social media on their devices, and 55% of those users visit these social networks at least once a day. In addition to the social network activity, 96% of smartphone users have researched a product on their phone before purchase. With consumers relying so heavily on what comes through their mobile phone, it is imperative retailers take full advantage.

Although it is obvious that a retailer must commit to improving their online social presence, it is not always so clear as how to measure their return on this investment.   According to SocialBakers.com, here are a few social media metrics a retailer can use to measure the fruits of their labor.

• Fan/follower growth: How many new fans are you gaining during a select time frame?
• Engagement rate: The number of user interactions (likes, comments, retweets, replies and shares).
• Response rate: The percentage of user posts or questions that the administrator responded to.
• Response time: The average amount of time it takes for the administrator to respond to user posts or questions.
• User activity: Identifying the hours and days of the week your users are engaging most frequently.
• Shareability: The number of shares and retweets a post gets.
• Interactions: The number of interactions that a page or post receives and the types of interactions (likes, comments, retweets, replies and shares).

Whether done in house, or outsourced, do not underestimate the power of social media and what it can bring to your business.

-Mike

Pinterest Too Girly?

According to a recent Pew study of social media users, 25% of woman use Pinterest, while only 5% of men. A common complaint of Pinterest has been that the content is heavily weighted for female interests. Sure if you dig around you can find some manlier topics, but hey, this is social media and everything should be quick and easy. Since the realization that Pinterest is better off left to our female counterparts, a few new manlier versions have surfaced. Dartitup

President of Dartitup, Brandon Harris, was driven to create a manlier pinboard site after failing to get as engaged in Pinterest as his fiancee. This platform seems to be very similar to how Pinterest works, just with manlier topics.

Gentlemint

Started in late 2011, this is another very similar pinboard site, geared for only things manly. From bacon, to power tool, to barbecuing, the manlier the better for Gentlemint. What makes this platform different than others, is its goal to stay safe-for-work. Gentlemint doesn't allow questionable content that may get you in trouble when the boss walks by. We feel this could be a huge selling point for all those guys with hours a day to kill at work.

Dudepins

While very similar to the previous 2 services we mentioned, Dudepins like to think of itself as a place to find "cool stuff". According to co-founder, Kamil Szybalski, people need a place to discover, share and buy manly things. We have always liked a website that can show you something new, and if Dudepins can live up to that claim, it seems like a very promising alternative.

Now these are not the only 3 "manly Pinterests" on the internet, but this is a good place to start. If you are sick of watching your girlfriend pin images of wedding dresses and cupcakes all day, get on one of these sites and start perusing golf clubs and cars to your hearts content.

-Mike