Business Reviews to Change Future Facebook Marketing

As you may have noticed, Facebook has begun to introduce their latest roll out: business reviews. In the same fashion that fans can rate movies or books on a one to five star scale, Facebook is now letting users rate brand pages in the same fashion. Such ratings have started popping up on varying business pages to the right of the company's name at the top of the Facebook page.

According to TechCrunch, the new rating system is available to a small group of pages --for now. In addition to the new search functions added to the platform last year, the business reviews will show up when fans search for particular topics like "restaurants nearby", etc.

A spokesperson from Facebook noted, “Star ratings encourage more people to rate a business, making it eligible to appear in News Feed and help others discover a business they didn’t know about previously. For businesses themselves, this also leads to greater brand awareness.”

It has yet to be determined whether or not the rating system will be mandatory for brands to use on pages. If they do become a default, brands will need to rethink how they are engaging and marketing to fans, as the page will inherently function more as a customer service platform. Because many users have varying reasons for Liking a page, an in-your-face star rating would certainly play a part in whether or not one engages with it -- just as it does for other review sites like Yelp and Angie's List. Personally, we're looking forward to see how this roll out will impact small businesses in the future.

Tell us: Have you seen the new business rating system on Facebook pages? If so, how do you think it'll impact upcoming marketing efforts?

-- Samantha

Worried About Instagram Ads?

We all hate ads being shoved in our face left and right, but don't be scared, it seems Instagram's new ad campaign will actually be pretty pleasant. Pleasant ads? Hard to believe we know, but Instagram is being very careful not to repeat mistakes made by Facebook when they first introduced ads. Instagram plans to slowly integrate these new "promoted" posts by allowing only a few, hand-picked, brands with successful existing accounts. Such brands include, Levi's, Ben & Jerry's, General Electric and PayPal. By only allowing access to these big, well funded brands, the posts are much more likely to be high quality, enjoyable photos. Here are two examples from Levi's and Instagram themselves:

As you can see, these are actually pretty cool photos. If you don't agree and would rather not see a certain add, you even have the ability to click on the "..." in the bottom right-hand corner and hide and provide feedback on the ad. This will help Instagram learn what you like and provide more appropriate ads in the future.

Will these ads continue to be visually appealing and unobtrusive as time goes on? We will have to wait and see. No one really likes ads, but it is refreshing to see that Instagram is making the user experience its number one priority. How do you feel about this new introduction?

Mike & Samantha

What is More Important to Teen Buying, Twitter or Facebook?

We have been seeing more and more data indicating that Facebook's popularity among teens is fading. What was once the coolest social media platform has been losing ground to others, like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. An October 10th survey of 8,650 teens by Piper Jaffray, looked at the popularity of the two mega-platforms in relation to purchasing influence.

Unlike most studies we see, this one focused solely on how each platform influences teens on what hey buy. Although friends still take the top spot as most influential, the internet is gaining ground as number two. More than half of the teens studied admitted that social media plays a part in their purchases. The social media platform that proved most influential was Twitter, followed by Facebook, with Instagram coming in third. With their looming IPO, this seems to be some promising information for Twitter.

Of course, Facebook still takes top honors as most dominate platform. Facebook boasts 94% of teens having an account, however, that number seems to have plateaued. Although the user base is smaller, Twitter is on the rise with teen users doubling since 2011 at 26%.

We are very interested to see what happens with the fast approaching Twitter IPO. Will it get over-hyped like Facebook and crash right out of the gate?  Or has Twitter learned from Facebook's mistake and planned a more conservative launch. Let us know what you think.

-Mike & Samantha

#TooMuch?

After reading our last post on how to take advantage of hashtags, we are sure you are eager to implement your new knowledge. While hashtags are an important tool in social media, beware of becoming the dreaded over-hashtagger. Remember, hashtags are great, but use only in moderation. Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon demonstrate the aforementioned overuse below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

-Mike & Samantha

How to Use a #Hashtag, for Beginners

Hashtags (links with the pound sign -- # -- in front) are everywhere. From Twitter to Google+, to Instagram and most recently Facebook, the proper use of hashtags can be somewhat confusing! Having said this, they're an important part of social media and should not be taken lightly when applying them to your brand's digital strategy.

To start, a # will make any word or phrase directly behind it into a completely searchable link. In essence, hashtags help aggregate content across many platforms and allows for better organization around a topic or conversation.

• Text following a hashtag should not (and cannot) include spaces, periods, commas, question marks, apostrophes, exclamation points or any special characters.
• Numbers are allowed.
• There are no limits to hashtags, so feel free to make up your own -- or better yet, enter in on a current conversation to stay extra relevant!

As mentioned above, hashtags can be used on a number of social platforms.

• Twitter: This is where hashtags first started. Be sure to check out the Trends section on the side of your Twitter feed to see the current list of hashtags that you may find interesting, typically based on your tweets.
• Instagram: Hashtags on this image-focused platform help you obtain new followers and also provide great sources of finding new users and interesting content.
• Tumblr: On here, there is a specific Tag area where you can input certain terms, which basically act as hashtags and organizes content around conversations.
• Google+: Similar to a Google search, clicking on a hashtag will show results relating to the topic at hand and will also give you the option of searching the # on Facebook or Twitter.
• Facebook: Although only introduced a few months ago, hashtags on this popular site have not done as well as originally expected. Although hashtags on Facebook serve a similar function as Twitter or Instagram, many digital marketers question the actual benefits of including hashtags in posts.

In addition to helping your company create or join a conversation online, hashtags often better help define a brand's personality. With a tone that may include sarcasm or humor, etc. hashtags can create a unique brand voice, which will ultimately keep your company top of mind for users. Note that you should not add too many hashtags to your posts/tweets, as more than 3-4 can often be seen as spam.

Lastly, creating a hashtag that your company or brand can own is crucial. Whether or not you decide to create your own or simply take over an existing one is up to you, as both have great benefits. Keep in mind the following:

• Creating a #: Be sure to do research before you choose. If you decide to join a conversation, make sure you pick a hashtag that has many users already using it. If you decide to make up your own, make sure that it's unique by checking to see if anyone has used it previously.
• Be consistent: After you decide on a hashtag(s), be sure to use them consistently across all of your brand's social platforms and marketing materials. Teaching your audience to expect certain messaging that will (hopefully) get them to tweet or post with your hashtag in the future!
• Make it short & to the point: Keep your hashtags short so they are clear to users and are easy to use by others. Also, be sure that the hashtag isn't too generic to keep it as effective as possible.
• Stay relevant: Be sure to follow current trending hashtags and be sure to use hashtags that relate to your business. If they're not relevant to you, don't use them as it'll end up looking like spam.
• Utilize your hashtag: A great way to kick off a new hashtag is by introducing it via a contest or promotion which will get the attention of your fan base. Do so in a creative way that will immediately make your fans think of your brand when they see it!

Comments, questions? Feel free to add them below and we'll get back to you!

-- Samantha

5 Ways to Make Successful Social Content

Let us break it down for you: Here are 5 ways to make successful content on social media. Although we could come up with a handful more, we think these will help your company get on track -- fast. 1. Create reasonable social goals. Goals are important for any marketing strategy to be able to measure success -- and discover areas for improvement. Coming up with goals that are attainable is a totally different story, so make sure yours are possible to reach!

We suggest coming up with goals (regarding analytical data) for each piece of content created. Start with X number of Likes on Facebook, increase number of RTs on Twitter by X amount, have X number of people share your piece of content per day/week, increase engagement on social platforms by X amount over the next month, etc.

2. Get to know your audience. Fully knowing who you're talking to is key to creating the best content to promote your brand. Start by completing research on your target audience and determining what they find interesting and sharable.

As we've mentioned in previous posts, enter the conversation that your fan base is already having. Track hashtags, search keywords and truly practice "social listening." With this data, you can more appropriately create content that will inherently fall into place with what your audience is currently interested in. Therefore, your brand will be pushing creative that feels natural and approachable.

3. Make valuable content. After you determine what makes your audience passionate, come up with content that is useful and/or taps into people's emotions. By providing content that adds to a fans life, such as helpful tip or funny joke, your fan will not only share it, but they will most likely come back for more. Don't forget to switch it up! Try images, videos, true or false questions, fill in the blank, etc. to keep your audience engaged.

Manage a restaurant? Try sharing an easy, delicious recipe that your fans will want to try. Run a cleaning business? Try giving your fans a useful, unique tip for picking up around the house. Own a baby clothing company? Tap into the funny moments when raising a child to evoke emotions that most parents may feel.

4. Be consistent. You'll hear us talking about consistency a lot. Why? Because creating consistent content better defines who you are as a brand within the social space and keeps your fans loyal and interested (versus disloyal and confused).

If you use Instagram to create your imagery, make sure that you stick with similar filters for each post or tweet. Do you speak to your fans with a specific tone of voice? Make sure that you define it completely and continue to use it across all platforms.

5. Keep your content easy to share. We all want our content to go "viral," but the first step is making sure that content is easily sharable. Make sure social buttons are visible on your website, blog, etc. -- especially above the page break on a website. If posting or tweeting, your copy should be short and concise so people are more inclined to share on their wall or with a friend.

Lastly, remember to brand your images. When your logo is on your creative, your brand will be shared when your content is shared. Note: keep your logo/branding small, so people are more inclined to share the piece of content and don't feel as if they're simply promoting your brand.

Got more tips? Share them with us below!

-- Samantha

Teens on Facebook Can Now Post Publicly

Before, teens with Facebook accounts could only share content with friends, friends of friends and specific custom groups. As of Wednesday, teens 13-17 years old will be able to post publicly and gain 'followers' on their profiles, just as anyone over 18 years old has the ability to do so.

Facebook recently blogged saying, "Teens are among the savviest people using of social media, and whether it comes to civic engagement, activism, or their thoughts on a new movie, they want to be heard. While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the choice to share more broadly, just like on other social media services."

To post publicly, teens will need to manually change their audience preferences on each post to 'public' before sharing. Note that the platform's audience settings will remain the same for all posts for all users, including the newly added teens. Having said that, a secondary reminder will pop up for teens after they choose to post publicly a following time.

Although we agree that younger generations are incredibly tech-savvy, we are curious to see how the recent changes will impact the current Facebook base. Teens naturally gravitate toward social platforms, but with the increase of the ability to share, will this simply add more noise to our already full newsfeeds, or will it simply mean that our community is better connected?

Tellus: How do you think this new freedom for teens will impact Facebook?

-- Samantha