Whether you are looking to build your own brand equity as a domain expert, your business identity as whole, or promote a specific product/ service in the social realm, your basic approach will remain the same. This holds true for each company or individual irrespective of their current standing. Social media is democratic in a sense that it offers equal opportunity to all to develop a strong and niche presence. It’s a powerful and cost effective avenue for increasing conversions, and further boosting sales as well as profits. Read the rest of this entry »

The issue of fake profiles has become disconcerting and discomforting for Facebook after a BBC investigation that suggests many companies might be wasting their precious resources on adverts, to draw ‘likes’ from the site members with no apparent interest in their services or products. It seems many of the account holders who happen to click on the links have even lied about their personal data. The social networking site claimed it had ‘no evidence of any significant problem’.  Read the rest of this entry »

Opinion makers and influencers in the social Web realm play a significant role in marketing as well as branding, just like the countless Facebook ‘Likes’ do. You cannot operate in isolation and expect to be successful on the social Web. Remember, social media marketing is not solely about you, your business and your needs. So you cannot and should not ignore what the people expect from you as a brand owner, even while taking into account your own business priorities. Let us fathom why a company must listen with intent to its customers. Read the rest of this entry »

A vast number of Facebook ‘Likes’ generated on your profile page will be of little consequence, unless you are able to initiate meaningful interaction with your prospects. In fact, broader purpose of your social media interactions should be to involve users, understand their aspirations and work towards fulfilling their needs instead of simply indulging in self-promotion and boosting your online presence. We shall discuss a few ideas to impart more depth to them and enhance their intrinsic value. Read the rest of this entry »

In the US, Facebook faces official audits for the next two decades about how it gathers and shares personal data of user, not less than 845 million of them, along with a slew of lawsuits, which accuse the social site of tracking online users across the world. The White House also stepped into the fray recently, demanding that top Web companies let users have greater say in how their personal information is used. Read the rest of this entry »

A report just released about Facebook and its users, provides some interesting insights. Instead of focusing on the social site’s financials, as most analysts are currently doing, it tries to explains how social interactions on the platform tend to mirror those in the real world.  This insightful study, entitled ‘Why Most Facebook Users Get More Than They Give’ tries to shed light on how Facebook users tend to engage and connect with each other and what they really get out of it. Read the rest of this entry »

As has already been reported, Facebook is gradually taking the Timeline to all its users. The new enhanced Timeline profile format also makes the popular social networking channel much more job-search friendly. It’s a resume, after all, when you pause and carefully look at it. From the cover image right at the top to the subsequent chronological organization, your Facebook profile effectively is a professional image booster, making it extremely relevant from your career point of view. So what does this really mean for prospective job seekers? Let us try to find out! Read the rest of this entry »

How much indeed is an innocuous tweet worth it? How much exactly does a follower on Twitter cost? The value of those isolated individual updates on the popular social network appear to be rather negligible in context of base economic terms; after all, a quick take on it is nothing but a few bits of harmless data sent via the Internet? Well, that’s not always the case! Read the rest of this entry »

Social media has truly come of age, as its adoption by businesses around the world attests. Smaller corporate entities need to realize that smart usage of networking platforms can create massive scope for growth among existing as well as new markets and customers. However, those wading into the vast social media terrain unprepared sans advice and support of expert will likely find themselves overwhelmed by the speed and complexity they encounter. Read the rest of this entry »

There has been a wide coverage of Facebook’s new features in the media. As already reported, developers can now build a Facebook commerce-driven experience, which is more relevant to avid shoppers and offer more effective social discovery also for sellers. They can get insights into user preferences and use the data to promote their products better. All these new opportunities are going to make shopping experience on the popular networking site more social and richer. Here are a few ways the changes are likely to fuel social commerce. Read the rest of this entry »