For the past two weeks, Peyton Manning’s release from the Indianapolis Colts has been the biggest story in the football world.  However it wasn’t a football story that landed the star quarterback’s face on the front page of Yahoo! last week.  Strangely enough, it was a story about the generous tip that Manning left his waiter after dining at a North Carolina steak house.  In less than 48 hours, a photo of the tab went from seemingly innocent Facebook posting by a delighted waiter who just wanted to let … Continue Reading

Facebook Timeline for brand pages is coming, and there’s not a thing you can do to stop it.

This transition to Timeline will create numerous hassles for all involved. We’ll all need new artwork, new strategies and a new history.  Yes, I said new history.  I’ll get to that later.

Facebook Timeline provides more room for visual displays.  The super-sized Timeline cover photo is only the most obvious example. Facebook will NOT allow those pictures to be used for advertising purposes. (I can’t wait to see how they are going to police that!) Photos will be displayed in larger formats … Continue Reading

With the king of the roost, Facebook, successfully launching timeline for brands this week—Twitter is ready to ruffle some feathers of its own with the announcement of dramatic changes coming to their site’s ‘Brand Pages’.

Twitter rolled out Brand Pages back in December, allowing brands to pin specific posts and display large banners on their landing page. But now, in an effort to make their site more of an internet layover, Twitter is looking to construct a Facebook style experience for both its brands and users.

Birds of a feather flock … Continue Reading

Facebook is almost ready to tackle what pretty much everyone else has already done – advertise on mobile devices.

From Fat Booth and Auto-Tune to Peep and Pandora – every dumb app that’s on my phone forces advertising down my throat. Whether I’m tweeting or playing a word, I skip through a handful of meaningless, irrelevant ads about creating an online zoo or what’s on Lifetime tonight, etc. Do I care? No. But that’s the price I pay for…well…not paying for any of the apps on my phone.

Facebook mobile, on the other hand, has been a breath of fresh, ad free … Continue Reading

In recent months, Pinterest has gained significant traffic, raising questions about its long-term viability for advertisers. I don’t have a crystal ball in front of me—in fact, it’s packed away with all my other prognostication devices, but according to my recently downloaded ‘Magic 8 Ball App’, I should “Ask again later.”

For now, I’ll tell you a little about the service, and the potential behind it. Pinterest is a collaborative photo sharing network that allows users to create, share, and manage … Continue Reading

Since 2007, Tumblr has been rocking the world of online media. After all, with over 15 billion posts by its 40+ million bloggers, it has earned the right to brag.

It’s served as a mecca for internet creativity, housing such famous memes as Foul Bachelor Frog, Paula Deen Riding Things, and the troll face. Tumblr has also been the birthplace for blockbuster blogs (and now books) including Texts from Last Night and FML.

Conjured up by then 20-year-old homeschooler David Karp, Tumblr … Continue Reading

Is this the future of online dating?

Hitch.me is the first and only dating platform for LinkedIn users. The founder of Hitch.Me, Naveed Nadir, has banked on the assumption that single people professionals will deem LinkedIn as a credible source for acceptable partners. You’ll find none of that shady business like you would on some of those other dating sites because, of course, everyone on LinkedIn has got to be a nice and decent individual. And since everyone on LinkedIn is a super-smart business guy or gal … Continue Reading

Facebook Storefronts now have the same sales conversion rates as e-commerce websites.

Webtrends latest white paper, conducted with Adgregate Markets (a company who makes Facebook storefronts) revealed data on Facebook e-commerce pages and brand commerce websites.

The key findings were as follows…

• Facebook commerce conversion rates ranging from 2% to 4% are on par with Commerce websites.
• Websites that do not engage in e-commerce are losing traffic to their Facebook pages at an alarming rate.
• Facebook stores are very efficient at traffic acquisition ac­quiring visitors at no cost through wall posts and establishing a store monthly user base equal to 1-10% of the retailer’s fan base

Companies are faced … Continue Reading

Google search integrates elements from Twitter, Flickr, and Quora

Back in 2009 Google launched Social Search which utilized an individual’s Google account to integrate search results from friends.

Recent changes have been made to Google’s Social Search to make the social experience more prominent.

The social results will now been seen throughout the page rather than only at the bottom of the search page. Twitter, Flickr, and Quora are now also a large part of the social experience on Google search; … Continue Reading

Facebook is now third most important marketing tactic

Small businesses are placing more importance on social media marketing, according to a fall 2010 survey from small-business marketing firm Constant Contact.

The businesses surveyed overwhelmingly considered word-of-mouth the most important marketing tactic for finding new customers, but that figure includes discussions that take place both online and offline.

For business promotion, the marketing tools rated to be most important were websites and email with more than nine in 10 … Continue Reading