Facebook | Internet Marketing Blog

Facebook's next trick: become the web

Facebook isn't just a social network. By almost every reasonable standard, it is officially the winner of the social networking wars. While other popular social networks, including MySpace, may not disappear into the void completely, Facebook has left them in the dust.

But the war to become the world's dominant online social network is just one battle in a larger war that seeks to shape the future of the web. And Facebook is gearing up for battle.

by Patricio Robles 22 April 2010 09:01am 10 comments

Nielsen: Facebook ads work great — if you've already got fans on the network

Facebook advertising has been clearing its name over the last year. Increasingly, social ads are starting to gain some traction. Facebook's self-serve advertising platform is on track to bring in $1 billion in revenue this year.

And according to Nielsen, Facebook ads are very effective — if you already have a large following that is willing to help with publicity.

by Meghan Keane 20 April 2010 23:00pm 4 comments

Group shopping and the newest billion-dollar internet startup

Meet the newest billion-dollar internet startup: Groupon. Russian firm Digital Sky Technologies, which has provided big funding for other big startups in the social space, namely Facebook and Zynga, has led a $135m investment in the young but profitable Chicago-based startup. The valuation: a cool $1.2bn valuation, which some observers believe is still "cheap."

Groupon is attracting a lot of attention these days, and for good reason. The U.S.-based group shopping service has fueled a worldwide gold rush in the group shopping space.

by Patricio Robles 20 April 2010 09:01am 7 comments

Uh oh. 'Media value' makes its way to social media

Social media. ROI. They often seem like two pieces from two different puzzles. And for good reason: it can be hard to quantify the value delivered by a single 'friend' or human interaction.

But for major brands, figuring out the ROI of a social media initiative is something that realistically has to be done if social media is to prove itself worthy of larger investment.

by Patricio Robles 15 April 2010 12:18pm 5 comments

The proof that Facebook's reporting procedure is broken

Facebook has announced a new safety centre, claiming that "Safety is Facebook's top priority". But as I revealed just over a month ago, there are big problems with Facebook's procedures for reporting abusive content on groups, pages and forums.

And here's the proof. The content I complained about as part of that blog post is still live - comments which include racist language and false accusations of murder.

by Malcolm Coles 14 April 2010 09:20am 22 comments

Pepsi Zeigeist 2010: Tracking the twitterati at SXSW

Austin's music, film and tech festival SXSW came and went this year with much fanfare and documentation. One of the parties following along was Pepsi. The soft drink makers spent its second year tracking social media at SXSW with something called Pepsi Zeitgeist.

Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Flickr updates were all sent to Pepsi's tracking interface, built by Slash7. The results from the event show both the potential for listening in on social media and how much room for growth there is in this burgeoning medium.

by Meghan Keane 12 April 2010 22:28pm 0 comments

CNN's irrational fear of social media

CNN has a big problem: its ratings are dropping. Big time. A New York Times article this week pointed out that CNN's main hosts have lost almost 50% of their viewers over the past year.

And while CNN's viewership is plummeting, its competitors are gaining viewers. Several FOX News hosts have registered year-over-year viewership gains in the range of 25-50%. And lest you think the drop in CNN's viewership is primarily the result of demographics or political preferences, CNN is even being beat out at certain hours by MSNBC and CNN's lightweight news channel, HLN.

by Patricio Robles 06 April 2010 09:01am 3 comments

Fortune 50 not promoting social media on corporate homepages: report

Social media is here to stay, and despite the fact that questions still linger over the role of SM and its ROI, major corporations, many which are often slowest to adopt new technologies, are increasingly embracing a more social internet.

But that doesn't mean that the world's largest companies are ready to promote their social media efforts on their homepage. According to an AdAge article by B.L. Ochman, six in ten Fortune 50 companies aren't promoting their social media accounts on their homepages.

by Patricio Robles 04 April 2010 12:55pm 0 comments

Customer service across social media

Social media provides an ideal place for the irate consumer to let off steam. But with brands increasingly monitoring social media channels, it can feel impossible to have a moan without someone annoyingly interrupting and appearing to offer help.

When is it right to offer help and what are the best ways to do it?

by Ed Stivala 01 April 2010 09:00am 14 comments

Goodbye, e-commerce, hello f-commerce?

One of the key trends in the new Econsultancy E-commerce Platforms Guide is that of a marked integration between social media and the e-commerce environment.

Social media has long been a strategic element within online retailing, long before the marketing term for this activity became fashionable. But which is best: using social media to help you sell, or solely relying on selling through social media?

A recent article on AdAge caught my eye which explores this, by considering the potential rise of “f-commerce”, or in other words, Facebook commerce.

by Jake Hird 29 March 2010 13:30pm 11 comments