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We're in the process of moving our blog so please check out this post here.

We're in the process of moving our blog so please check out this post here.

We're in the process of moving our blog so please check out this post here.

We're in the process of moving our blog so please check out this post here.

While marketing yourself, it’s easy to get lost in the fray when you have about 200 odd well-known social networking websites at your fingertips. Luckily, only a handful of them are at the top or are estimated to get even bigger over the course of the next few months. However, social media marketing is not just about using social networking websites - it pays to keep an eye on the top trends. Here are the top social media marketing trends for 2012.

1. Social Networking Websites: Facebook & Google +

Facebook remains the social media king for the year 2011. However, its growth is expected to increase to about 1 billion users by the end of 2012. Over the course of the past year, even countries where it did not previously have great market penetration like Japan, Brazil, Russia, India & South Korea have shown a 196% increase in the number of users. While access to Facebook remains blocked in China, about 650,000 users are still able to use it. The ban on Facebook is expected to be lifted soon.

Google Plus may be seen as a serious competitor to the popularity of Facebook. It’s easy to forget it only went online roughly 6 months ago, since it has already gained more than twice the number of users that Orkut, another of Google’s social media adventures has. Despite the number of G+ users being only a fraction of those of Facebook, here’s a look at the growth of Google Plus compared with that of Facebook.

While it took Facebook almost two and a half years to get to 10 million users, this is a milestone G+ was able to achieve in a mere couple of weeks since its launch on June 28^th, 2011 despite the fact that only people with invitations were allowed to use it.

The numbers have it.

2. Social Media As A Customer Service Tool

Social media is an efficient, cost-effective way of communicating with thousands of users. It’s also a great way to provide customer service and regular updates about your business that may be of some concern to these users. It allows your consumer base to get in touch with you about problems over a friendly and convenient platform where they feel at home. Travelocity claims to have closed about 70 customer service cases in the first half of 2011 over social media.

3. Using Social Media For Market Research

With interactive features on Facebook (Polls & the ‘Like’ button), Twitter (Favorite & ReTweet) and G+ (+1 button), it’s easy to track how many people like what you’ve got to say or sell. These features make it easy to quantify all sorts of responses and cater to the needs of the consumer. Having a page on a social media website makes it easy for consumers to interact with you and tell you what they want. It’s a great way to get feedback and improve upon both, potential products and services as well as those that you already have out there.

4. Using Social Media To Organize Online Competitions

Hosting online competitions facilitated by social media really makes ones company stand out from the rest. Not only are you able to publicize your brand and its products, having a competition greatly increases the probability of luring in new customers as well as getting your old customers talking about your brand and, in effect, creating more publicity for you. 
Allowing users to get involved with a brand is a unique way of connecting with them and fostering a sense that they have a say in where the brand is going, a sense of ownership- and in an era where the consumer is king, that is precisely what audiences like to hear. Nokia used their Push N8 blog to organize a competition where users would come up with a reactive way to use the Push KAPing and Push Skating prototypes created a year earlier. It was a great way to generate hype about the release of the N8 in late 2010, a flagship Nokia phone.

5. Integration of Mobile Platforms

It’s no surprise, what with every other person carrying a smartphone or a touch tablet like the iPad that businesses must quickly adapt to the needs of mobile users. This can be achieved through optimizing your company’s pages for mobile viewing or creating an app for popular platforms that allows users to receive regular updates or interact with the services you provide.

6. Social Media & SEO

The greater your presence on the web, the higher the likelihood of your company appearing in the top few results returned by searches. Search engines not only pick up content from your website, but also from your pages on social media platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn. 
Search engines are also optimized to root out content that users have been sharing a lot of. The more your content is shared, the more relevance it is believed to have. Add social bookmarks to your websites and get involved on your preferred social media websites. Remember, you’re nobody till you’re talked about.

7. Location Based Marketing

Targeting users based on their location can be an effective way to rope potential customers into your consumer base. However, these customers are generally mobile phone users and the technologies used to track their locations include Phone Tracking, WIFI and RIFD. The demands of consumers will be made that much clearer based on their location. As Gareth Case says: “Imagine getting a push message from Starbucks as you walk past one of their stores offering you a free muffin with your coffee.”
Is it possible to be any more efficient?

8. Go Visual

Cisco predicts that by 2015, 80% of internet traffic will be video. When I say ‘video’ you probably are thinking of YouTube. Think of video as a mode of communication. Most mobile phones are now shipped with video call cameras. Many employers prefer initiating Skype interviews with prospective employees since they are easier to negotiate and much cheaper than flying job candidates out for interviews. Recent trends in video include broadcasting happening events to an audience, much like YouTube broadcast the royal wedding as well as the premier for the final installation of the Harry Potter film series earlier this year, live for users all over the world to watch. Here’s an idea: get creative with a video newsletter. Since they’re generally so boring to read through, you may get to connect with more people over the medium of video than you would through text.

9. Get Your QR On

This is a fairly new medium that many people may not know about. A QR code is a barcode that may be scanned by a smartphone’s camera. What it does depends on the type of code it is. It could, for instance, redirect the user to a website, make a phone call or even make a transaction. 
Before you start using them, make sure they are a good fit for your audiences.
Most businesses use QR codes on their business cards instead of text to lead users directly to all their contact information online. However, there are many ways to get creative with QR codes. Don’t limit yourself, the possibilities are endless.

10. Marketing Optimization By Using Analytics

If you don’t already, you should probably start using analytics to track session-level consumer behavior and their interaction with your web presence. Analytics engines can offer information like demographics, consumer segmentation, IP address and activities of visitors to a company’s website which in turn can help you improve your overall marketing strategy, the content you keep on your website or the information architecture. Google Analytics is a convenient and easy-to-use solution for those who want to keep track of things.

Sources:

https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
http://www.dreamgrow.com/statistics-facebook-is-taking-over-the-world/
http://www.dreamgrow.com/social-media-trends-2012-more-than-1-billion-people-using-facebook/
http://www.buzzom.com/2011/07/growth-of-google-plus-vs-twitter-vs-facebook-stat/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/idUS361331041320110927
http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites
http://blogs.nokia.com/pushn8/
http://ashleyuporter.com/social-media-trends-prediction/
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/europe/social-media-trends-watch-2012
http://socialmediatoday.com/gareth-case/363115/marketing-trends-2013-and-beyond
http://garethcase.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/top-5-marketing-trends-for-2012/
http://www.fastcompany.com/1720193/13-creative-ways-to-use-qr-codes-for-marketing

Author: Hufsa

Everyone has been talking about the much awaited Facebook Timeline though Facebook hasn’t rolled it out yet. Facebook was said to launch it in October but for some reason, they still haven’t. We have a post featuring a closer look to the Timeline but we are aware that many folks are still not able to activate their own Timelines. Yes, that’s right! You don’t really have to wait for Facebook to activate it for you and you can actually do it by simply following these steps:

Visit the Facebook Developers page. You will need to be logged in to Facebook from this initial step. If it’s your first time to visit this page, you will be asked if you would permit the Developer app to access your basic information. Simply click on the “Allow” button to proceed.

Click on the “+Create New App” button. It may appear to be a bit of some techie stuff but don’t worry, you won’t break or mess up anything on your Facebook account.

Create a display name and namespace. No idea what’s going on? Chill. You’re just a few steps away from unveiling your Timeline. Whatever you input here doesn’t really matter. You can just put anything and whichever is available. Once you’ve come up with just anything that works, tick the box if you agree to the “Facebook Platform Policies” then hit on “Continue”. Check what I just used:

Click on Open Graph. After clicking “Open Graph” on the left hand sidebar, you will come across the page below. You will be required to enter an action on the first box and an object on the second one. Again, whatever you put in here doesn’t really matter. You can actually stick with examples of putting “watch” on first box and “movie” on the second one. Click on “Get Started” once you’ve filled them out.

Click on the “Save Changes and Next” button. After clicking the green “Get Started” button, you will be taken to “Action Type” page. Don’t change anything, scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Save Changes and Next” button.  Right after doing do, you will get to the page that says “Open Graph” which summarizes settings you just entered.

Go to your Facebook homepage. Upon visiting your homepage, you will be invited to get the new Timeline. You’re almost there, go ahead and hit that “Get It Now” button!

Voila! You’ve made it. You just turned your Facebook profile to the all-new Facebook Timeline that everyone has been talking about. In the meantime while Facebook hasn’t formally launched it, only your friends who have activated their Timelines are the ones who can also view your Timeline. Meaning, if your friend hasn’t activated his or hers, then he or she will see your profile on its old look. It would definitely be fun if everyone has their Timelines activated so spread the news on how to do it!

Excited about your new Timeline? How about giving it some pimp to show some creativity? Click here for our previous post on how to tweak your Timeline cover without the need of any photoshop skill. Yes, no need to sweat about it and you can actually do it in a few clicks.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/how-to-facebook-timeline/

Author: Joana