Paco Lee's Blog

Image from Inneractive 

Both Google and Microsoft have decided to come up new algorithms that help prevent users to search for images that contain along the line of child abuse. When the new algorithms were launched, it blocked results for over 100,000 queries which are related to sexual abuse of kids.

As we all know, child sexual abuse is illegal. Both companies have claimed that they are extremely against child sexual abuse content and have been coming up with different methods to prevent users from accessing to these inappropriate images. They will provide technological support to the National Crime Agency and other related corporations to assist in finding the people who are posting and sharing these child abuse images.

Google search engine and Bing search engine is widely used among internet users. I am pretty sure that users who have a strong desire to post these illegal picture can find loop holes through improving their SEO. Hopefully, these two companies can clearly identify these abuse images and completely band these websites from appearing on different search engines.

On Nov 11th, Red Cross has posted an image regarding to the size of the Typhoon Haiyan which estimated that the devastation can killed up to 10,000 people in the Philippines. Red Cross has tweeted a photo which the size of the typhoon would nearly cover the entire US. Users were retweeting the photo after it was posted and apparently it was retweeted more than 700 times after it was issued.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/11/red-cross-typhoon-haiyan-photo/

Couple hours later, Red Cross issued a correction on the organization’s blog to apologize the mistake of the photo.

The post was :

Earlier today, we posted a map of Typhoon Haiyan comparing the size of the storm to geography of the United States. In the process of making the rest of our maps for our operations in the Philippines, we made a mistake with this one and it was not to scale. We always strive to provide the most accurate information possible and we missed the mark with this one-literally. We would like to apologize for this mistake and thank the people who kindly pointed this out to us.

Based on Social Media “triage”, I believe Red Cross has handled this situation in a suitable manner. They have quickly assessed the post and acknowledge the fact that the image is not to scale. Within couple of hours, they have taken a reasonable action to fix the issue through gently responding about their mistake on the organization blog in order to let online users know they have dealt with the problem.

As of November 13th, Facebook decided to purchase Snapchat, yet Snapchat has turned down the $3 billion offer.

Based on data collection, Instagram consists of 150 million users and Snapchat has approximately 30 million users. Both companies appear to be growing with Instagram growing 2.5% a month and Snapchat by 4% a month.. Following this rend, Snapchat will no doubt surpass Instagram in the near future. In addition, on average, Instagram users post 55 million images a day, while Snapchat users share 350 million pictures a day. That’s 6 times more images being shared!

When Instagram was acquired by Facebook, the sold price was at $1 billion. With Snapchat’s current status, I believe Facebook has definitely undervalued Instagram. Since the number images being shared on Snapchat is 6 times of Instagrams, Snapchat should at least be worth $6 billion. Evidently, Snapchat has made the correct decision in terms of turning down Facebook’s offer.

In the long run, Snapchat still has lots of potential to grow and succeed. If Snapchat can correctly build its business through targeting the right target market and provide more features for users such as able to edit the contrast and other effects of the taken photo, it can surely capture more new users!

Social media platforms are widely used across the world for numerous purposes. Facebook now provides the option of paying $7 which allows a given post to appear more high in your friends’ newsfeed. This new revenue model from Facebook can no doubt assist new small companies to increase the brand recognition. They can simply pay at a low price and can easily help promote their company. Other than, increasing a company’s recognition, it can also be used for promoting other events such as a chariy event which requires more public recognition. Facebook users can help their friend by paying the $7 to promote this post to all their friends.

Facebook announces that this new feature will not be available for an individual with more than 5000 friends or followers with more as technical issues will come into play for promoting a post on that many users’ newsfeed.

Is it actually worth to pay the $7 to promote a post or help your friend to promote a post? How much more increase of awareness is there through paying the $7? Normally when we post something on our own wall or share something, I am guessing it would not appear on everyone’s newsfeed. If it does, then why do Facebook users need to pay the $7 to help promote certain events.

Considering the Philippines is a developing country, and people are starting to expose more to internet. Facebook definitely has the potential to enter into this market. With a population of 96.71 million, and 30 million people have access to internet, Facebook will gain much more awareness through providing free data to access the site. Although Facebook would have to pay a huge cost for free data usage on Facebook, such method would be considered as marketing expense as they are advertising and spreading awareness of their company.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/01/facebook-philippines/

In 2010, Facebook has already launched Facebook Zero, which the main purpose is to build recognition in 45 countries, mainly in Asia and Africa. Unfortunately, users need to log in to O.Facebook.com in order to avoid data charges, which confused some users. In fact, users had to pay extra data charges when they visited links outside of Facebook as they thought having free access to Facebook would lead to free access to other sites.

In the Philippines, phone users normally have zero balance on their accounts 70% of the time, yet they have the thrilled experience using Facebook or any other websites while out on the street.

If Facebook is successful in launching this tactic, I believe more users in different part of Asia would slowly expose to Facebook, especially to countries which are developing.

Back in the days, marketers used one huge banner ad or send emails that consist of same content. Such marketing technique is no doubt costly and is unsure whether they are reaching to the correct consumers or not. 

With new tools that we can use, marketers can utilize these tools to enhance their marketing scheme and to target the appropriate target segment. A valuable tool that we can use is Google Analytic. By using Google Analytic, we can track down consumers who and where they have been to your site. In addition, it provides advertisement reports and campaign measurements that helps to test whether something is working or not.

Through acknowledging who has gone to your site during a campaign or other particular reason, it is essential for you to keep track of these data. Below is three simple steps that you can utilize to recognize who you should target

1.) Data collection

It is essential to collect user data in order to know who these people are because these are the people who are interested in your company. You should implement social login where it gives permission for you to see their current social profiles

2.) Data Categorizing

After recognizing who these people are, the data should be categorized into different bins. This helps you understand the different target segment and know who you should focus your advertising on.

3.) Data Analyzing

The next crucial step is to analyze your data. Using Google Analytic or other tools can assist you to recognize what type of advertising to do and who you should email your newsletter to.

http://mashable.com/2013/10/14/social-data-and-marketing/

Group buying is an inherently collective and social experience. A major issue about the group buying model is customer retention. A long term relationship is hardly established between these small business and Groupon due to lack of brand loyalty as consumers are just obsessed with the high discounts. Once consumers have used the coupon, they are unlikely to return to the company that offered the deal. As a result, a chain effect will

occur; where small businesses partnering with Groupon will diminish and customers would stop visiting the websites due to lack of offer.

To tackle this issue, it is recommended that group shopping services start developing and emphasizing social behaviour and the construction of an online community of group buyers, affiliated to a given brand. This should increase brand loyalty, increase traffic, improve sales and enhance user satisfaction as well as frequency of visits. This issue can be fulfilled in several ways. This includes:

• Group shopping websites could let buyers share their identity through improved, customizable and public user profiles, where group buyers could share some personal information about their personality and consumption interests.
• Set up a feedback page that allows consumers to provide comments and ratings on the business that had offered a deal or on the product that was sold.
• Group shopping websites should allow users to post comments or user reviews on specific products or product categories. This should be helpful to other users to improve the overall quality of the service as long as it is moderated and let users express themselves as it is terribly lacking on today’s group shopping platforms.

This feedback feature is useful to companies and adds value to the service. In the businesses’ perspective, companies with good ratings and comments should have a higher probability of partnering with Groupon to advertise in the future because they know their products are popular. Companies with poor ratings are expected to be eventually driven out of the market, unless they take into account customer feedback and improve their products.

As for the consumers’ perspective, this allows them to filter through companies and choose their deals more efficiently. It should also increase their trust in the intermediary and in the products offered because of past feedback. This recommendation would thus be effective for each sector involved in group shopping; therefore, leading to a long term relationship and ultimately, beneficial for all three sectors.

The primary reason why I chose marketing as my major is due to the freedom of creativity. As long as the ideas are attractive and provides a positive impression to the audience, the marketing technique has succeeded.

Image from : http://blackriverfc.co.za/blog/dumb-ways-die-and-great-ways-advertise

Recently I downloaded an Application on my phone called “Dumb Ways to Die”. The game consists of various cute characters where they engage in dangerous activities which gets them killed in an unpleasant way. For example

•  Using a fork to pull out a piece of toast while the toaster is still plugged. The character gets electrocuted.
•  Playing with a bee hive. The character gets stung to death.
•  Swimming in a pool with piranhas. The characters are eaten by piranhas.

The purpose of the game is to follow the instructions for each scenarios in order to save their life.

• Carefully pulling out the fork without touching the toaster.
• Smack all the bees.
• Flick away all the piranhas.

A video is unlocked when a certain point is achieved. As for the video, it uses a great sense of humour to showcase  how these characters die in a dumb way. The video is presented with a pleasant melody and the lyrics are very innovative. This mini game and video was created by Metro Trains which the company is located in Melbourne and the purpose of this campaign was to promote rail safety. In the game, players can also pledge to “not do dumb stuff around train”

This marketing campaign was certainly effective as it became viral through sharing in social media.

As of  now, the video has already reached 59 million views.

Who doesn’t want to acquire more customers and establish a long term relationship with them?

According to an article, by utilizing 4 simple ways to enhance your social media updates, it will bring more sales to your company.

http://www.insightmarketingsolutions.net/your-marketing/social-media/

1.) Establish a clear and concise message for customers

Customers and fans will visit your site page for various reasons. Some may engage in online product or service searching. As for others, they might look for special deals and vouchers. It is essential to update status when there a promotion is going on so that customers will recognize the deal.

By using Twitter, your company can tweet about the promotion. By using Facebook, you can update your status. One key thing while promoting is to link the website on  your post.

2.) Capture audience attention

By using words such as “For a limited time” or “On sale this week”, such phrases will catch the audience attention.

Through changing the Facebook Cover page can also catch the eye of your visitors. By offering limited deals for customers, it provides them the incentive to make a booking or buy the product or service immediately.

3.) Tell them to hare

Asking your fans or followers to share will raise the brand recognition of your company. Since, social media is real time, fans who share your page or site will allows other potential customers to recognize your company.

Letting followers know that if they share a post about your company’s contest, they will get an extra chance of winning the contest.

Telling your customers to check in on Facebook while eating at your restaurant or cafe, they will receive a discount.

4.) Always update your profile

When interested customers see your Facebook page or website, it is critical to let them realize your current business information. Always update Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or any other social profiles.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-updates-for-more-sales/

What would the world be if the Facebook website is down for one week?

Facebook plays a huge role in everyone’s life and most of us constantly update our current status and share photos. Statistics from Facebook have shown that each day, 350 million photos are uploaded online. This means

• 14.58 million photo uploads per hour.
• 243,000 photo uploads per minute.
• 4,000 photo uploads per second.

http://mashable.com/2013/09/16/facebook-photo-uploads/

As of now, Facebook has introduced a new feature known as “Share Albums” that allows multiple users to upload photos into one album. Each album allows a maximum of 50 users to upload and each user can upload 200 photos. In addition, this feature has three privacy settings, public, friends of contributors and contributors only.

This new feature no doubt will be very useful for users

• allows family members those post family photos into one single album 
• students can easily share homework or assignments
• users can upload wedding photos
• share vacation photos with new friends that users have met on a trip
• provides employees to share company photos

http://www.derbyshireyfc.org.uk/album.html

I believe this new application will definitely assist users in many diverse aspects. However, users should always consider the photos that they upload as these photos might play a threat to them in the future.