brands | Internet Marketing Blog

Mark Cuban: Facebook's "search for revenue has severely devalued every brand's following"

2012 has been an interesting year for brand marketers active on Facebook. The world's social network went public and as a result, has more aggressively moved to monetize its massive audience. That in turn has introduced some new dynamics to the Facebook-brand relationship.

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz around changes Facebook has apparently made to its Edgerank algorithm. The theory: Facebook is making it more difficult for brands to reach their fans organically in an effort to promote use of its Promoted Posts ad product.

by Patricio Robles 14 November 2012 13:51pm 2 comments

Instagram warms to the web with Facebook-inspired profiles

Facebook may have justified its then-$1bn purchase of Instagram on a number of grounds, but one thing is for sure: with brand adoption of the popular mobile photo-based social network surging, Facebook is inevitably going to try to capitalize on the commercial potential of its new asset.

Ironically, that means that, despite the fact that mobile is almost certainly Facebook's future, the world's largest social network needs to make Instagram more web-friendly.

by Patricio Robles 06 November 2012 13:28pm 0 comments

Five things brands can learn from Lance Armstrong's fall from grace

The allegations that the world's most famous cyclist, Lance Armstrong, became the most accomplished athlete ever in his sport through the use of performance enhancing drugs has stunned the world.

And the scandal that has erupted has sent shockwaves through the offices of the brands associated with Armstrong.

Not surprisingly, Armstrong's sponsors are cutting ties with the now zero-time Tour de France winner as the sports world comes to grips with the tactics he allegedly employed to win.

by Patricio Robles 23 October 2012 13:13pm 5 comments

Facebook weaves tangled web with secret marketer tools

If a marketer mistakenly believes that its Facebook Page is a form of owned media, don't point the finger at Facebook. The company has reminded companies that their Facebook Pages and fans really belong to Facebook.

But marketers that still refuse to understand that their Facebook Pages don't belong to them, or don't want to think about the implications of this fact, are in for a rude awakening as Facebook weaves an increasingly tangled web with its efforts to turn marketer activity on its social network into cold hard cash.

by Patricio Robles 17 October 2012 16:00pm 1 comment

10 brands making great use of Tumblr

Tumblr may not be the most high profile social network doing the rounds, but its blogging platform offers unique opportunities to engage with new audiences that are too good to be ignored.

It hosts just over 77m blogs and 33bn blog posts, which is a very healthy community of people creating, viewing and sharing content.

So how should brands be using Tumblr, and which brands’ blogs are worth checking out?

by David Moth 16 October 2012 10:24am 2 comments

Advertising and the perils of too much testing

Numbers don't lie, or so we're told, and it's no surprise that as advertisers gain more and more tools, they are increasingly looking to see if their assumptions are backed up by the numbers.

This is particularly true when it comes to the $130bn/year television ad market, where advertisers frequently do significant amounts of market testing before rolling a campaign out at scale.

by Patricio Robles 15 October 2012 14:57pm 1 comment

Facebook to charge brands for Offers

The famed economist Milton Friedman once explained that there's no such thing as a free lunch. But for brand marketers using social media to reach consumers, it seemed like Friedman's rule was a thing of the past.

That's because many of the world's most popular social platforms offered a plethora of marketing tools for the princely sum of, well, nothing.

by Patricio Robles 20 September 2012 21:07pm 4 comments

Should brands be worried about Twitter's new iPad app?

Ask any executive at a popular consumer internet company about mobile, and chances are she will tell you largely the same thing: mobile is absolutely crucial. For many companies, upstarts and established players alike, that means one thing: getting mobile apps right.

But while some of the biggest names in social seem to be moving in the right direction vis-à-vis their mobile apps, one may be moving in the wrong direction.

by Patricio Robles 20 September 2012 14:27pm 2 comments

Five key considerations for brands considering new social sites

To join or not to join. When it comes to new social sites, that is the question brands must ask themselves.

While social networks like Facebook and Twitter continue to be dominant, services like Pinterest and Instagram are attracting more and more individuals. Even Google's social network, Google+, which many were skeptical about, has managed to grow into a respectable channel with more than 100m active monthly users.

by Patricio Robles 18 September 2012 17:14pm 3 comments