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

As consumers, we’re constantly asking, “So, what’s in it for me? What’s the trade off?” Basically: Why should I be spending my money on that?

Consumers make it a lot more complicated for advertisers because they can be a lot more discerning in this day and age. Often, there isn’t even a need to see a product in person. In this hi-techy time, any consumer has the ability to become a “savvy shopper.” When we use a smartphone, we have valuable information just. like. that!

And the numbers … Continue Reading

I have to say I am a bit perplexed when I read blog posts that gush about Google+.

Marketers are urging companies to hurry up and set up a Google+ page for their businesses.

One marketer writes, “Wow, the new Google+ Company Pages are very cool!”

They are not.

They are dull, even by comparison to Facebook company pages, which, because they must live within the confines of Facebook, are relatively dull.

“We have, since its inception, been huge Google Plus fans, even though its [sic] been a bit of a ghost-town compared … Continue Reading

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with over 120 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

In other words, LinkedIn is Facebook for business people.

Like its cool cousin Facebook, LinkedIn is growing at an astounding rate:

• LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members
• Its corporate hiring solutions are used by 75 of the Fortune 100 companies.
• More than 2 million companies have LinkedIn Company … Continue Reading
  
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I believe some of my blogs have become a mix of confessionals and interesting advertising tidbits. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to confess again. And with this one, I’m more abashed to admit.

Here it is…I take part in geosocial networking!

Alright, it’s not all that horrible. But as someone who firmly opposed all of that trendy geosocial mumbo-jumbo, it saddens me to own up to it because, gosh darn it, I was proudly geo anti-social!

You see, once upon a time, I did not own what I call a “fancy phone” or … Continue Reading

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, there is more substance to the world of online videos than the following:

Online videos also have the ability to educate and inform consumers, and more importantly, they can motivate these consumers to work with your company.

People spend a considerable amount of time watching videos, probably more than they’d like to admit. According to Arbitron and Edison Research, the weekly audience for online video has tripled in the past five years. Research also showed that the typical respondent spends 3 hours … Continue Reading

Facebook marketers were thrown into a tizzy last week by the suggestion that using 3rd party apps can be detrimental to your post’s EdgeRank.  If that sounds indecipherable, you are not alone.  There’s a lot to know when it comes to making your brand voice heard on Facebook.

Let’s look into the brouhaha more deeply.

Last week, EdgeRank Checker released a study outlining the influence of 3rd party application programming interfaces (“APIs”, more commonly referred to as “3rd Party Apps”) on Facebook engagement.  These apps are commonly used to schedule … Continue Reading