Facebook unveils Timeline for Brands

Image via CrunchBase

Timeline for regular Facebook users have been loved by some and hated by others. Bloggers have went on to write several posts, some even got out with a global study on whether Timeline should be there or not. Not minding the much negative attention Facebook has gone ahead and unveiled Timeline for brands.

Citing brand consistency requirements, Facebook Timeline will be mandatory for all pages from March 30, 201o2. For those brands which have been actively producing content this would be a great visual treat to decorate their pages with their company history and important milestones. While for the others who have got loads of fan but no content flowing through their pages, it would be sad!

Brands will be able to add a cover photo to their page. Mind it, no commercial messages, product prices or call to action will be allowed. This is what shouldn’t go in the Cover photo:

Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”.
- Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section.
- References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features.
- Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

Another important feature that will come is the ability to exchange private messages with your fans. Another step towards the social economy and enabling SCRM through Facebook. If you remember Google+ allows targeted conversations through circles too.

Brands will also be able to  pin selected posts on the top of their feed for a maximum period of one week. Isn’t Twitter doing the same with its enhanced profile pages aimed at brand? Okie, so Facebook is  catching up  and some love for brands never hurt.

What is going to be most criticized about Pages Timeline would be the lack of ability to set an app as a default landing page. This means you won’t be able to direct your incoming traffic to your widgets or contests. It’s going to hurt the ones who believe a fancy app is a substitute to quality engagement time on Pages.

With this  new social wave just wait and watch for colorful and visually engaging Pages from brands. Especially the ones who have a long history and more milestones to showcase. Its time to get those images out of the closet and showcase the best branding content you got. But don’t forget to engage!

Watch this interesting video from Facebook on Timeline on the ways it can be used. Here is the product guide from Facebook that you can download to learn more about its features in detail.

Related articles

• Facebook Timeline Brand Pages Are Here [PICS] (mashable.com)
• Facebook Opens Timeline To All Biz Pages, Mandatory After 30 Days Of Curation (techcrunch.com)

Where The Ladies At? Pinterest. 2 Million Daily Facebook Users, 97% Of Fans Are Women

Reblogged from TechCrunch:

• 
• 

OMG. Pinterest now has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connected users, and 2 million daily Facebook users, according to Inside Network's AppData tracking service. With gorgeous photography, and links to shopping sites, Pinterest is becoming an obsession for flocks of women. And they're not afraid to show it, I mean, Like it. AppData and Facebook's advertising tool show that over 97% of Pinterest's Facebook fans are women.

Read more… 239 more words

Have you Pinned something lately?

All that buzz about Pinterest being more than just the new kid on the block is getting more eyeballs than anything else in the social media circle these days. Some reports suggest that it is has more members than Google+ and perhaps is getting more traffic everyday than Twitter.

Well, you can be the judge of that. However, pinning things on a board is not bad and guess what, brands like Adidas are already pinning their stuff on it. For retailers this is another opportunity to share their content and connect with their community.

Though I have been one of the early adopters of Pinterest, it only recently that I started using it actively. You can find my two boards Social Media in Pics, and My First Month in Delhi. I plan to start more boards and keep pinning on a variety of social media and online marketing topics in general.

You can follow my Pinterest profile here: http://pinterest.com/vishalsharrma

Related articles

• Is Pinterest significant for your business? [Lucas Wyrsch] (ecademy.com)
• 10 Pinterest ‘Pinboards’ You Absolutely Need To Follow (businessinsider.com)
• It’s Possible That Over 95% Of Pinterest Users Are Female (businessinsider.com)

LinkedIn touches 150 million members

Image via CrunchBase

This was announced by LinkedIn through a press release issued on Thursday. The mentioned figure of 150 million is an increase of 20 million over November, 2011.

Financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending December 31, 2011 was also announced.  For those of you interested in numbers here are the highlights:

1)       Revenue for the fourth quarter was $167.7 million, an increase of 105% compared to $81.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2010

2)       Net income for the fourth quarter was $6.9 million, compared to net income of $5.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2010; Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $13.3 million, compared to $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. Non-GAAP measures exclude tax-affected stock-based compensation expense and tax-affected amortization of acquired intangible assets

3)       Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $34.4 million, or 21% of revenue, compared to $16.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, or 20% of revenue

4)       GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.06; Non-GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.12

5)       For the full year 2011, revenue increased 115% to $522.2 million from $243.1 million. GAAP EPS increased to $0.11 from $0.07 and Non-GAAP EPS increased to $0.35 from $0.24. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $98.7 million from $48.0 million

The official press release can be accessed here.

Related articles

• LinkedIn revenue up 105% in fourth quarter 2011 (venturebeat.com)
• LinkedIn Profit Jumps 30 Percent as Revenue More Than Doubles (allthingsd.com)
• LinkedIn Beats The Street, Q4 Revenue Up 105 Percent To $167.7M (techcrunch.com)

Missing your fans on Facebook? Want to know why?

Image via CrunchBase

So, you have been on Facebook for quite some time and even got a business page setup for your brand in one proud moment. You expected people to like your jokes, share your photos and comment on your posts, as they have been doing on your competitors Facebook page.

However, nothing seems to be working and the loneliness if starting to hurt your brand. Well, failure at community management is the most common mistake committed by brands. This hurts their chances to make any breakthrough in lead generation, client servicing, and becoming a brand that is social and connected.

Why this happens?

1. Lack of Objectives: Facebook is a great marketing platform or that’s what you heard from someone. However, don’t forget that the rules of marketing still uphold for the social network. Start by defining your social media objectives. What do you plan to do with your Facebook page and the SM identity in general? What are the end objectives? Thinking about these questions would help you define your branding and content strategy.

2. Push Strategy: Give your fans what they want and not what you are. Post what you core community is interested in and not just what you are good at. Bottom line is do not hard sell trying to make a traditional sales pitch. Be social and become part of the conversation!

3. Know your community: Make use of range of free analytic tools like Facebook Insights,  SocialMention and Google Alerts to know where your community resides and what they are talking about. Start listening to their conversations on social networks, blogs, forums and jump in where ever you can without being too nosey.

4. Have a content strategy: Develop a social media calendar for your  content strategy that could deliver high engagement levels i.e. where users willingly choose to embrace you brand. You can do that by developing Facebook apps, coupons, contests, videos, cartoons etc. Your fans or their friends will always trace back the links to your online identity getting you more traffic and viral engagement. Never abandon your Facebook page and always keep it updated.

Remember social networks like Facebook helps you embrace social i.e. relying on users recommendations and likes to give thumbs up to your products and services, so that even their friends become positively disposed towards your brand. Can you choose to ignore it?

The above post was first published on oDigMa’s blog

Related articles

• Avoid These Facebook Fan Page Mistakes (apartmentguide.com)
• Research Finds That Facebook Users Are More Likely to Purchase From Brands They Have “Liked” (prweb.com)
• Five steps to creating a social community for your business…and why you should be doing them now (b2bsocialmediaguide.com)
• Good Luck Finding Your Brand on Facebook (adweek.com)