Seeing as this blog has primarily focused on social media and networks, why change that now. This year I have expanded my social networking horizons, adding Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr to my arsenal. This summer, Google released a new social networking platform, Google+ and quickly gained 1 million followers. I still have not even seen a Google+ page and don’t know anyone who uses it. Google+ launched in a very competitive social networking environment and did it’s best to compete for some valuable space. The social network is still struggling to compete with the giants like Twitter and Facebook but they do have a plan to continue to remain relevant and take some space from these popular social networking sites. A study has found that the average Google+ user spends less than 5 minutes per month on the site and because of this, people have called it a “ghost town.” However, the Senior VP of social business still believes that the site has capabilities the other competitors do not and the number of users will grow once these have been realized.

The main advantage cited by Google is that Google+ is the most integrated of all the social networks. The site allows you to integrate all of Google’s services into one page which can be accessed by your friends. Google+ is able to cater to users wants and needs based on their searches, but this has brought up some privacy issues. The page is built around people’s behaviour and demographics rather than technology. Because of this, and the privacy issues, the platform has been used by people who understand how social media can be used for networking. Rather than the tweens, soccer moms and grandparents that primarily use Facebook, Google+ is popular amongst the “techie” generation.

Although the launch of Google+ was less than anticipated and is only seeing small growth, Google will not abandon their baby. They still believe that is users can realize the advantages of their integrated networking site over sites like Facebook and Twitter, they will realize the growth they expected. They are currently trying to develop a way to integrate Google services into other areas of the users web experience and believe that this is the key to attaining numbers similiar to their competitors like Facebook and Twitter.

Check out the article of Google+ and the long game here:

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74610.html

The holiday’s are a time where everyone spends more time at the malls looking for those perfect gifts to get the people in their lives. For marketers, it is a crucial time to ensure that your product is that special gift that everyone wants while ensuring that you can meet the demand.

After the 2011 holiday shopping season, marketers have taken a couple of key insights that need to be kept in mind when planning for the 2012 holiday season.

First and foremost, mobile commerce is huge and it is here to stay, at least until 2012. This December in the US alone, 11% of total sales were made through a mobile device, up over 100% from 2010. As the phones get smarter and more and more people get their hands on them, the simplicity and reach of these devices will only cause this figure to go up in 2012. The Ecommerce Times believe that by 2012, 20% of all sales will be made on a mobile device. Because of this, Marketers should ensure that they are familiar with this form of commerce and have a nice, easy to use design for customers to make purchases and see content when on their mobiles. This is a relatively new thing and if you do not have mobile applications already on your website, now is the time to take advantage of this growing trend.

Another thing that did come as a surprise for me, is the importance of social media marketing, especially during the holiday season. Many companies found that their Facebook pages and Twitter account really helped drive sales and let users see information such as special deals or promotions. It is essential to update these pages and even give your page a festive look to really get users in the mood to spend. As new technologies for social media platforms are popping up, companies and marketers can really see some detailed analytics of their site visitors and should use this to their advantage year-round. Information like what is the busiest time of day for users, where they are shopping and on what devices are they using are all key pieces of information to know for your 2012 holiday marketing strategy.

Although the holidays seem like an eternity right now, especially for me as the workload keeps piling up, now is the time to start planning. It is key to have a fool-proof action plan on how you will market your product come the holiday shopping buzz. An integrated social marketing campaign can do wonders for you and your brand.

Check out the article from the Ecommerce Times which highlights a couple more key tools to remember when creating your 2012 Holiday marketing plan:

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74612.html

Staying on a social media note, I have just discovered that MySpace has had 1,000,000 new members in the last month and a sign-up rate currently at 40,000 members per day. This was startling news for me as I thought that the once great site was long dead. I was never a MySpace user but I remember when I first got Facebook, all of my friends began to switch over from their trusted Myspace, to the new waters of Facebook.

How did this happen? Well Justin Timberlake recently became the majority stake holder and found a new niche for MySpace in the social networking world. Justin brought a new music player to the site, allowing for free downloads, unlimited listens and easy integration with Facebook, and this is what sparked the resurgence of MySpace. Currently, MySpace has 42 million songs that upcoming bands and artists have uploaded. It is also a fantastic place for these artists to meet, network and organize shows.

Time will tell if this amazing sign-up rate continues. I still wonder if it is just the JT fan club who signed up to support their main man, or if the music player and its perfect integration with Facebook have kickstarted MySpace and kept it here to stay, only time will tell. For now, check out the new MySpace and find some awesome new bands and listen to some free, downloadable music.

Check out the article here:

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74421.html

As many of you have probably found out, Facebook has switched to Facebook Timeline, completely changing the display of one’s Facebook page. Personally, I have not made the switch over, but by March 30, 2012 all Facebook profiles will switch over to the new Timeline look, where users can see their Facebook activity from the first post, to the most recent. There are many changes that are being made compared to the old Facebook page and I was very interested into what this would mean for marketers.

The first major change is the cover picture located at the top of the screen. This is a great place for marketers to enhance brand image and create a brand identity which all visitors of the page will see. Marketers are able to “humanize” the brand and remove the feeling of corporate anonymity. Secondly, the tabs that are currently shown at the side of the page will be removed for the most part. Pages can still have multiple tabs, but need to be aware of the most important ones to display as this tells the user a lot about the brand they are looking at. Another important note for marketers is that companies can pin some relevant, important posts to be at the top of their timeline at all times. It is essential that brands use new and interesting content that tells the user a little about the brand pinned at the top of their page at all times. This will be extremely important in engaging the user and ensuring that they will come back to see newly uploaded, exciting content. Finally, and what I think is most important, users will now be able to send and receive private messages with the brand and their Timeline page. Customers can make detailed enquiries about the brand and the brand needs to ensure they have timely and well-thought out responses. This new type of webPR is essential in creating a positive customer-brand relationship and will determine whether or not a customer becomes a brand advocate.

To conclude, the changes caused by Facebook Timeline are very important and relevant to marketers. They need to ensure to have a uncluttered, clean timeline filled with interesting, new and relevant content. Second of all, companies should ensure to provide good feedback from direct messages from users to ensure that customers like the brand and continue to visit their Facebook Timeline.

Check out an article here about what Facebook Timeline means for marketers:

http://mashable.com/2012/02/29/facebook-brand-timelines-changes-marketing/