Social media is one of the best tools modern marketers and business owners have to connect with their demographic and build their brand. But, social media can also be a bit fickle or harsh. You can spend months or even years creating your brand’s online presence and building up an audience, only to create a massive PR problem with a single post.
As the saying goes, the bigger they are the harder they fall. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+, having a big audience only means you have more eyes scrutinizing your every Tweet and Pin for a potential scandal or brand breakdown.
You don’t have to get too worried though. Nearly every big social media mistake can be avoided by following some simple rules. Search Engine Journal shared a list of 30 ways you can make a mistake on social media. While the list may seem long, it provides a complete guide to social media – from building an audience to avoiding any meltdowns or missteps in the future.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-06-16 14:03:392014-06-16 14:03:3930 Big Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
All week we try to keep you up to date with the most important SEM news across the web, but inevitably there are smaller stories that fall through the cracks. That’s why we compile all the most important news we missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. After a quiet week before, nearly all of the major platforms have made announcements this week. Let’s start with Google and work our way down.
Google Starts Warning Searchers About Mobile URL Redirects
Google has been warning webmasters about faulty mobile redirects for months, including suggesting they may one day start receiving penalties for sending mobile searchers to the front page of a site rather than the content relevant to their search. It appears Google has opted for another solution, which allows mobile searchers to decide if they want to proceed.
Google alerted webmasters this week that smartphone searchers will begin seeing warnings for sites with redirects that don’t take them where they want to go. An example of how these warnings will appear is above. On a Webmaster Central blog post, Google stated:
We’d like to spare users the frustration of landing on irrelevant pages and help webmasters fix the faulty redirects. Starting today in our English search results in the US, whenever we detect that smartphone users are redirected to a homepage instead of the page they asked for, we may note it below the result. If you wish to proceed to the page, you can click ‘Try Anyway.’
Google Adds World Cup Street View Tours and a Loch Ness Easter Egg
Just a week before the World Cup kicks off, Google has added street view images that will allow users to tour all 12 stadiums that will be used for the tournament. Whether you want to stand in the middle of the field and do a little spin, or preview the view from the stands, you’ll be able to give a look from anywhere within the stadiums.
Google has also added significantly more images from Brazil’s painted streets and other sites across the country, but perhaps one of the most popular finds on Google Maps this week is an Easter Egg found far away from Brazil.
If you’d rather hunt legendary monsters than watch soccer, Google Maps is able to give you directions to Loch Ness. If that isn’t enough for you however, Google says you can always catch a ride on Nessy.
If you get directions from Fort Augustus to Urquhart Castle in Google Maps, you will get the option to travel via Loch Ness Monster. You just have to click on ‘Route Options’ and then choose ‘Fewer Transfers’ or ‘Less Walking.’ Though you have to wonder how no one has managed to get a picture of Nessy while hopping a ride down the Loch.
Bing Celebrates Its 5th Birthday With Some Memories
Bing turned five earlier this week, and to celebrate it has posted a retrospective of the last five years. Bing is also offering Bing Reward credit perks to any user who searches on the site before June 9th.
The retrospective covers all of the ways Bing’s appearance has changed over the past five years, but it also covers how it has worked to achieving its initial goals of leveraging semantic search, introducing new verticals, and generally expanding how search could function in our lives.
Bing Shows Off New Dynamic Carousel For Music Video Searches
Bing has prided itself on being ahead of the curve in respect to music and music video searching and discovery, and its latest feature continues to expand on the functionality it previously offered for music video searches.
Bing has recognized that people search for music videos very differently than they do other video content. By exploring these changes in user behavior, Bing was able to determine that music video watchers wer significantly more likely to hang around and check out other content instead of moving on once they found the video they were looking for.
To give users easier access to all the music videos they may be interested, Bing has implemented instant access to an artist’s top hits as soon as you search only the artists name. Bing describe this as a dynamic carousel, because it allows you to open up songs and videos from teh carousel and play it within the same window. You will never have to keep going back and forth between choosing the video you want to watch and actually watching it.
The carousel also allows you to view all of an artist’s albums and watch the videos for those songs as well.
Pinterest Continues To Work Towards An Actual Ad Platform
Pinterest has made its intention to establish an ad platform for their social network very clear ever since it unveiled Promoted Pins. However, Pinterest is working slowly to guarantee that the ads shown on their platform won’t stick out or detract from the experience, and as such it has been very hands on and selective about who it allows to run ads.
Now, businesses of all types have been given access to a do-it-yourself Promoted Pins tool that allows them to promote their own pins to more people and increase visibility. Similar to most other social ad platforms, these will work on a cost-per-click basis through ads.pinterest.com.
Pinterest also announced they would be expanding the analytics tools offered to users, giving them more insight into who is clicking and re-Pinning your content. You can get more information from their announcement.
LinkedIn Joins The “Large Cover and Profile Photo” Club
LinkedIn announced earlier this week it would be making a major design update to user profiles, which will feel very familiar to anyone who uses Facebook, Google+, or Twitter. Currently, the layout is only available to premium users, but LinkedIn says it will be available for all users after a short period. It isn’t entirely clear why LinkedIn would stagger the rollout of this layout change, but you can add it to the list of social media sites that are beginning to look very, very similar.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-06-06 12:20:272014-06-06 12:20:27Quick SEM News of the Week – June 6, 2014
We are quickly reaching the point where every social media platform has their own advertising platform specific to their brand. Facebook has Facebook Ads, Google+ has +Post ads which display all across Google’s network, and of course Twitter has their own advertising platform, Twitter Ads.
As to be expected, each platform has its own upsides and drawbacks. But, if you can make it adjust your approach to the platform, advertising on the one of the largest social media sites of the moment is certainly an effective way to increase your reach and generate leads.
If you are thinking about expanding your advertising strategy to include Twitter Ads, Melissa Mackey recently explained some of the most important good and bad aspects to the platform you need to know before you get started.
Marketers have overwhelmingly confirmed that social media is a highly valuable target for campaigns of all shapes and sizes, but you have to be able to effectively aim your message. If your social marketing strategy is out-dated or unfocused, then it will never gain traction on any of the major social platforms.
Social Media Examiner recently released its annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report, based on surveying more than 2,800 marketers. If you want to make sure you are up to date with the state of social media and guarantee you are sending out the right message to the right people, you’ll want to know these important trends highlighted by this year’s report.
1. Blogging is Back – It should be obvious by the widespread cries of “Content is King!” over the past year, but blogging is all the rage yet again. The report shows this blogging is only going to get more popular looking forward as 68 percent of marketers said they would be increasing their blogging efforts. That is the most attention blogging has received since 2010 according to the report.
2. Facebook is Showing Its Age – Compared to the relatively short lifespans of popular social media platforms like Myspace, Facebook’s reign at the heights of social media has been extremely long. But, the report supports numerous claims over the past year that Facebook is beginning to lose users and marketers alike. Despite still being the most important social network overall, by a significant amount, only 43 percent of marketers feel their efforts are effective and 7 percent intend to decrease their use of Facebook this year.
3. Google+ is Finally Getting Some Attention – Despite still being the source of plenty of derisive jokes, Google+ is finally seeing some light on the horizon. The report explains, “While 54 percent of marketers are using Google+, 65 percent want to learn more about it and 61 percent plan on increasing Google+ activities in 2014.”
4. Is Podcasting the Next Big Thing? – Only 6 percent of marketers are currently involved in podcasting, but expect to see efforts skyrocketing soon. The report says 21 percent of marketers are planning on increasing their podcasting activities this year. Many also showed heightened interest in podcasting, with 28 percent saying they wanted to learn more.
Are you trying to stay on the cutting edge of social media? It is hard to stay ahead of the curve, but with enough effort you can corner all the new emerging platforms while keeping up with the content trends.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-06-02 12:48:512014-06-02 12:48:514 Important Changes in Social Media Happening Right Now
Twitter continues to grow and draw in new users, but a new report from eMarketer suggests the boom may be coming to an end. Year after year Twitter’s growth is slowing down, and it looks like the trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
As eMarketer reports in their first-ever forecast of global Twitter users, Twitter’s user base will increase by 24.4% in 2014. If this is proven true at the end of the year, it will continue the pattern that has already been taking place for the past few years. In 2015, it is predicted Twitter’s growth rate could drop to just 9%.
In 2013, Twitter grew by 30%, and 2012 saw a 50% rate of growth. The majority of recent growth has come from overseas.
If eMarketer’s estimates are correct, it would put Twitter at a total of 227.5 million users this year, and 269.9 million in 2015.
Several people have noted that these numbers are quite different from Twitter’s own reported 225 million monthly active users, which the service said it reachedlast month. The difference in the figures can be explained however by eMarketer’s decision notto include business accounts and instances of multiple accounts. As they explained:
Our figures differ from Twitter’s reported figure of 255 million monthly active users in 2013 because we rely heavily on consumer data to weed out business accounts, multiple accounts for individual users, and other sources of potential double-counting.
These numbers paint a grim picture for Twitter, who has already admitted its trouble with retaining users, especially as Wall Street becomes increasingly disappointed in Twitter’s slow user growth.
With the constant stream of information coming out of the online marketing industry, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest updates without missing some important news. That’s why we compile all the biggest stories you may have missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. This week was short on big announcements from most of the major platforms (aside from Panda 4.0), but there are still plenty of small updates you might not have heard yet.
Facebook Gives Restaurants Easy Way To Display Menus
Restaurants who are taking advantage of their Facebook profiles may have noticed a new feature yesterday, which will make it easier than ever to make their menus available to the general public. Facebook pages associated with restaurants can now upload PDF versions of their menus and display them directly in their page tabs. The feature is available worldwide within page settings.
Facebook Introduces New Default Privacy Settings and Privacy Checkup Tool
Yesterday, Facebook announced some changes to their privacy systems that are intended to raise the ease of controlling how secretive you are with what you share to their site. The most notable change is that posts are now set to only be shown to friends for new users. Previously, the default setting was Public.
Facebook is also working on rolling out a new and improved privacy checkup tool for users over the next few weeks. The tool will walk users through a series of steps to review their privacy settings ranging from who can see their posts to what apps they’ve given permissions to.
Facebook has been making efforts to improve the privacy and security of users in the past few months, including introducing Anonymous Login and making it easier for smartphone users to see which audience they are sharing with.
Google Brings Okay Google Voice Detection To Chrome on Desktops
Google announced via Google+ that Chrome, the popular web browser made by Google, that they have added the crowd-pleasing ability to say “Okay Google” to activate voice search by default from the Google search page. To set up the ability, you may have to click n advanced settings and check off “Enable ‘Ok Google’ to start a voice search.”
DuckDuckGo Relaunches With a New Look
DuckDuckGo made its name as the search engine for those want user privacy in the wake of the NSA scandal that broke open last year, but it always suffered from a rough layout that didn’t favor public usage. All that has changed as the engine relaunched earlier this week with a new look and feel, as well as tons of other new features like maps, local search, and image search.
The new layout resembles a traditional search engine much more, while still championing users privacy, and improving on existing features while they’re at it.
DuckDuckGo is using OpenStreetMap for its map system.
Image search results are shown in a carousel-style presentation by default, but you can also switch to a more familiar full-screen grid with the click of a mouse.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-23 12:08:082014-05-23 12:08:08Quick SEM News of the Week – May 23, 2014
Any business with a successful marketing system knows the importance of keeping up with the latest trends. If you don’t stay up to date, you can struggle with staying relevant or finding ways to connect with potential customers, which can quickly become a spiral into further irrelevancy.
But, it isn’t always easy to stay tuned in with the constant ebb and flow of new trends and competing interests. This has always been the biggest struggle for marketing teams. In the past it took enormous resources to track consumer trends, while now we have so much information on hand it can often be overwhelming.
In today’s constantly connected world, marketers and business owners have all the most up-to-date data on the rising trends all available with a simple click of the mouse. Instead of conducting public surveys to see what people are talking about, you can gain a significant amount of insight from checking out Twitter’s trending topics.
At the end of the day though, being completely connected with the hottest trending topics of the moment is wasted if you can’t convert that information into an opportunity to connect with your audience. The trends present an opening that you have to take advantage of.
Eric Sornoso’s recent article from Search Engine Journal teaches business owners how to spot their opportunity and strike when the right trends appear. With a little bit of trial and error, you’ll learn Twitter’s constantly changing trends present endless chances to get your name recognized.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-19 12:44:452014-05-19 12:44:45Turning Twitter Trends Into Opportunities For Your Own Business
With the constant stream of information coming out of the online marketing industry, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest updates without missing some important news. That’s why we compile all the biggest stories you may have missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. This week, Pinterest dominates headlines. Let’s get started:
Pinterest Finally Starts Paid Test of Promoted Pins
Last fall, Pinterest announced they would be making their first foray into paid ads on the social media platform under the title of “Promoted Pins”. They ran some tests shortly after the announcement to gauge how their users responded to the ads. Now, Pinterest declared they have officially begun a small paid test of the Promoted Pins while working with a small group of brands from the U.S. The test will only be shown in Pinterest’s search and category fields.
Pinterest lists the entire list of brands taking part in the test, including ABC Family, Banana Republic, GAP, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. If you do happen to catch one of the Promoted Pins being tested, Pinterest would like users to give feedback via a form found here.
Pinterest Reveals the Most Popular Categories On Each Day of the Week
Just about every social media platform has their own mini-trends that influence what type of content gets shared the most at a certain time. Facebook users follow predictable patterns of usage times and the success of content on Reddit is partially decided by the “prime sharing times” when users are more likely to see new content. Similarly, Pinterest recently shared a post on their blog detailing the most popular categories for each day of the week.
4 Statistics About Pinterest You Need to Know
On the topic of Pinterest trends and data, RJMetrics recently ran a study of 50,000 random pinners and their pins to analyze how people are using Pinterest. At first glance, the data may seem like old news, however the details found in the study give strong insight into what pinners are interested in, what they are likely to share, and when they are most likely to Pin. For example, it is no secret that the majority of Pinterest’s users are female, but it may come as a surprise that around 80 percent of pinners are female, and an whopping 92 percent of all pins on the site come from women.
You can get all the details from the study in RJMetrics’ report on their site.
Google Maps Adds Location Based Quick Facts
Yesterday, Google announced via Google+ that they have added a new section on map results for location searches named “Quick Facts.” As many have pointed out, the section looks quite similar to the Knowledge Graph that appears on some Google searches, and has the same type of very quick information about the area you are searching for. The Quick Facts are pulled from Wikipedia and other data sources typically used in the Google Knowledge Graph.
You can get an idea how the Quick Facts operate thanks to the example Google released of the results for Angkor Wat in Cambodia below.
Twitter Introduces a Mute Button To Quiet Individual Users
Earlier this week, Twitter revealed they will be adding a new feature for its iPhone and Android apps, as well as Twitter.com, which allows users to mute specific people and forbid their tweets from appearing in your timeline. You can mute users two different ways. You can either mute a user from a Tweet by clicking on ‘more’ followed by ‘mute @username’ or you can mute users from their profile page.
When a user is muted, their Tweets and Retweets will be no longer visible in your home timeline and you won’t receive push notifications if you previously set up that feature for the user. However, the muted user will still be able to see, face, reply to, and retweet anything you share. From the muted users perspective nothing will have changed.
You will be able to unmute users at any time and the new feature is expected to be rolled out in the next few weeks.
Facebook and Twitter See Slightly Less Global Usage While Instagram and Tumblr See Big Increases
Facebook and Twitter still hold a strong hand on the social media landscape/ However their grasp may not be safe forever as new survey data from GlobalWebIndex shows a slight reduction in usage for both networks over the past six months. They Facebook may not be too nervous yet. The survey of more than 40,000 internet users in 32 global markets, excluding China, found that as much as 82% of users worldwide have Facebook accounts.
However, several reports suggest the small dip in usage may be an indicator of a growing trend within Facebook, opening the door of opportunity for smaller and more focused social platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr.
The survey also found a significant growth in the use of mobile apps. Out of all apps, Snapchat saw the biggest rise in use as it is accepted by more and more teens worldwide. You can download the full report from GlobalWebIndexhere, but Martin Beck also summarizes the findings over on Marketing Land.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-16 12:08:202014-05-16 12:08:20Quick SEM News of the Week – May 16, 2014
Search engines and social media are battling for the top spot as the leading source of referral traffic to publishers on the web. Recent accounts suggested that social media may be taking the lead.
However new data from Parse.ly, a content analytics platform that counts Reuters, Mashable, Slate, and The Next Web among its many clients, shows that search has retaken the lead from social media as the top source of referral traffic in March of this year.
Parse.ly’s publishers saw 32.8 percent of its traffic coming from search in March, compared to 31.2 percent from social media. That is the exact reverse of results from data, when data showed social traffic outdid search 32 to 30 percent.
Overall the trends still favor social media, despite the good month for search in March. If you look at reports from further back, it becomes clear that search has been steadily losing ground. In October 2013, Parse.ly reported search was by far the dominant source of traffic at 36 percent, compared to only 22 percent for social.
Google sites were still the No. 1 overall source of traffic for the analytics platform’s clients during the most recent reporting period, with Facebook coming in second. Those two net giants were significantly higher sources than any other individual sites.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-13 12:26:062014-05-13 12:26:06Report Shows Search Overtakes Social as Referral Source for Major Publishers
With the constant stream of news coming out of the online marketing industry, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest updates without missing some important information. That’s why we compile all the biggest stories you may have missed this week all in one convenient place every Friday. Let’s get started:
Facebook’s Premium Video Ads Could Cost $1 Million a Day
Facebook is attempting to walk the tight rope between monetizing through ads and not overwhelming users with constant advertisements in the news feed. But, as Facebook keeps introducing new ways to advertise on their platform, the ad space is quickly becoming crowded. New reports indicate Facebook may be attempting to manage the shifting balance between ads and user content by pricing “premium” advertising features well out of reach for smaller businesses.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the upcoming “Premium Video Ads”, set to launch in the next few months, will likely cost around $1 million per day, and will initially be limited to a small group of advertisers. If you have a subscription, you can read the full story from Wall Street Journal, but Martin Beck also summarizes the rumors at Marketing Land.
Facebook Announces New Upcoming Video Metrics
On the topic of Facebook’s method of handling video content on their platform, the social media giant also announced new metrics within Page Insights and Ads Reporting will be coming soon. This way, Page owners will be more able to analyze how users are responding to their videos, and how they may be able to improve their content.
The new metrics include more detailed view counts that will show the total number of video views, as well as the number of individual people who have watched, measurements of audience retention through the length of the video, and a breakdown of the demographics engaging with video content. Facebook’s announcement says the metrics will be available for all paid and organic videos uploaded directly to Facebook Pages, and they will be gradually rolling out in the next few weeks.
Bing is Testing Search Results Without Underlined Links
Usually Bing tries to distinguish themselves from Google as much as possible, but several people have reported that Microsoft is testing search results without underlining hyperlinks. This comes just weeks after Google officially redesigned their own search results pages around larger links without underlining.
Bing is constantly testing small changes such as this to see what users respond to, but it is hard to not feel like this test is particularly inspired by Google’s recent moves. However, it is important to remember that Bing’s non-underlined links are just a test for the moment, and not a final widespread change. You can see the version of the search results without underlines being tested below.
Google Says New Parents Perform Twice as Many Searches as Non-Parents
A recent survey from Google’s Think Insights says that new and expecting parents perform 2.7 times the number of online searches as non-parents. The survey also says that 56 percent of maternity-related searches come from a mobile device.
According to Google’s analysis of the survey and their own data, they claim parents are trusting the internet more and more for child advice, as baby- and parent-related searches are on an upward trajectory. For a detailed breakdown of what Google says parents are searching for, head over to Think Insights’ report.
Google Maps Now Shows Uber Ride Options, Lane Navigation, and More
Google Maps is in the process of rolling out several new features for the iPhone and Android app, including more detailed driving directions such as lane navigation which tells you if it is important to switch lanes to stay on the right path. Google Maps also announced integration with Uber, the burgeoning ride service which connects people in need of transportation with available drivers.
According to the announcement, those who already have the Uber app downloaded will be able to compare ride times against walking directions within Google Maps, so you always know what the most efficient transportation option is. Those are just two of several new features Google is unveiling, which are all further explained here.
00Taylor Ballhttps://www.tulsamarketingonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TMO-Logo.pngTaylor Ball2014-05-09 12:54:072014-05-09 12:54:07Quick News of the Week – May 9, 2014
Social media is one of the best tools modern marketers and business owners have to connect with their demographic and build their brand. But, social media can also be a bit fickle or harsh. You can spend months or even years creating your brand’s online presence and building up an audience, only to create a massive PR problem with a single post.
We are quickly reaching the point where every social media platform has their own advertising platform specific to their brand. Facebook has Facebook Ads, Google+ has +Post ads which display all across Google’s network, and of course Twitter has their own advertising platform, Twitter Ads.
