Facebook | Internet Marketing Blog

Social media measurement: focus on the big picture

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about some of the problems I’ve encountered when trying to gauge accurate traffic from our social media channels, particularly Twitter.

Based on the overwhelming response in the comments section, and feedback from our own recent social media measurement roundtables, it appears this is a very common problem.

Lots of you took the time to offer up ideas and recommendations, so I thought it would be useful to recap (and test) some of the suggested solutions here...

by Matt Owen 28 February 2013 12:02pm 6 comments

How Ikea uses Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google+

In the latest instalment of our blog series looking at how different brands use the main social networks, I’ve decided to shine the spotlight on Ikea.

The Swedish furniture manufacturer is probably one of the most recognisable brands on the planet, and its catalogues are full of striking visuals that are perfect for sharing via social.

Ikea has also just found itself caught up in the horsemeat scandal, so it’s the perfect time to see how it is using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ for customer engagement.

For comparison, I’ve previously looked at how Walmart, Tesco, Red Bull, John Lewis and ASOS use the four main social networks.

by David Moth 27 February 2013 13:20pm 7 comments

As investors pour $200m more into Pinterest, is a business model in the offing?

The internet economy may be one of the brightest spots in today's global economy, but the hits taken by shares of publicly-traded prominent internet brands like Facebook, Zynga and Groupon has definitely had an impact on venture backed companies, many of which have had and will have a more difficult time convincing investors that they're worth as much as they might have been able to convince them they're worth a couple of years ago.

You wouldn't know that, however, looking at Pinterest's latest funding round, which made headlines last week. The image-based social network is on the verge of becoming the second most popular social media site in the United States, and despite the fact that it hasn't figured out how to make money, investors poured $200m into the young company at a $2.5bn valuation.

by Patricio Robles 25 February 2013 15:51pm 0 comments

The key to Facebook's ad targeting may not be Facebook data

If Facebook is to ever rival Google's dominance in the online advertising market, many believe that the world's largest social network will need to figure out how to take advantage of its treasure trove of user data.

That treasure trove includes significant amounts of personal information that users have provide about themselves, and it grows by the day as users upload and tag photos, share content with their friends and 'Like' brand Facebook Pages.

by Patricio Robles 25 February 2013 14:15pm 0 comments

Pinterest proves to be a fruitful network for Topman

Despite its reputation for having a predominately female audience, Pinterest is proving to be a successful hunting ground for menswear brands.

New research shows that Topman has more than double the follower count of any other UK retailer and is also adding to its community faster than its competitors.

The eDigitalResearch Social Media Benchmark found that Topman has 87,959 followers, compared to 26,594 for Net-A-Porter and 24,847 for ASOS.

Pinterest has developed from a niche social network into an important marketing tool in little more than 12 months, with its focus on striking visuals and imagery making it the perfect platform for retailers and lifestyle brands.

To help brands take advantage of this opportunity, Econsultancy has published a new Pinterest for Business Guide aimed at companies and individuals who are thinking of joining Pinterest and want to find out more about the social platform, as well as people who are currently using Pinterest and want a deeper understanding of best practice.

by David Moth 25 February 2013 09:45am 0 comments

Dealing with a Twitter hack: Lessons from @BurgerKing

Fast food giant Burger King experienced a social media meltdown earlier this week, as the brand’s Twitter feed was hacked, its profile picture and name changed to that of industry rival McDonalds, and a series of unusual tweets were fired out to the brand’s followers.

Things first went amiss around noon EST, and followers were treated to over an hour of links to YouTube videos, pictures of dirty kitchens, tweets about percolate and a few reminders that comms managers can’t afford to take public holidays off...

by Matt Owen 21 February 2013 11:12am 0 comments

How Red Bull uses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Red Bull is a great example of a brand built almost entirely on social media, with some mind-blowing PR stunts thrown in for good measure.

Therefore it’s a great case study for our series looking at how different brands use the big four social networks.

We’ve previously examined how Walmart, ASOS and John Lewis use social, with Google+ generally proving to be the weak relation compared to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

But does the same prove to be true for Red Bull?

by David Moth 21 February 2013 10:24am 3 comments

Companies struggle to use social for marketing and customer service: report

With countless consumers around the world using social media, it's no surprise that companies have flocked to services like Facebook and Twitter.

In many cases, companies are using these services to market to consumers, but in the past couple of years, a growing number of them have started using social as a customer service channel too.

by Patricio Robles 20 February 2013 14:47pm 5 comments

Facebook's Graph Search explained for a five-year-old

Here at Econsultancy, we are big fans of the Reddit AMA, where a notable business person, politician, or often a celebrity sit down to answer point blank questions from the community. Recently, Lars Rasmussen, Facebook’s Director of Engineering, did an AMA and explained Graph Search in as simple a way as possible.

The thread, which reveals that Graph Search has been in development since Summer 2011, includes many elements a marketer can skip (including Rasmussen's experience on one of Zuckerberg's famous walks, and the "best and worst things about working at Facebook") but also the most straightforward "tech in non tech speak" explanation of Graph Search since Rasmussen was asked to explain it like he was talking to a five-year-old.

by Ryan Sommer 19 February 2013 19:00pm 3 comments

Nutella gets us out of bed through Facebook

Valentine's gets a brief mention in the midst of chocolate, watches and shoes in our weekly showcase of The Dachis Group's Social Business Index.

Our focus is on three companies – The Swatch Group, Foot Locker and Ferrero International known for the popular chocolate spread, Nutella - as analyzed by the team at the Dachis Group.

We'll also take a glimpse at the top twenty brands on the Social Business Index, a real-time ranking of more than 30,000 global brands based on their performance in the social space, to see how the biggest brands in social are faring.

by Heather Taylor 15 February 2013 16:57pm 1 comment