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Every new social media platform that comes along...Instagram, Google+, Ello...you name it... is invariably the next big thing—the one that’s going to take down Facebook. Hasn’t happened yet!

A Pew Research Center survey, conducted in September 2014, found that: 

• Facebook remains by far the most popular social media site. While its growth has slowed, the level of user engagement with the platform has increased. 
• For the first time, more than half of all online adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31% of all seniors. 
• Overall, 71% of internet users are on Facebook, a proportion that represents no change from August 2013. 
• 52% of online adults use multiple social media sites. Facebook acts as “home base”—it remains the most popular site for those who only use one, and has significant overlap with other platforms. 

It’s important to note that, according to the survey, “every other social media platform measured saw significant growth between 2013 and 2014.” Click here to read Social Media Update and then get to work on your social media campaigns. Call us if you need help. 

In 2009, Google reached a deal with Twitter to include tweets in search results. That deal expired in 2011, right about the time that Google launched its social network, Google+.

Since then, Google+ has pretty much failed as a social network (but it is important for local SEO). And now, Twitter is often first to announce big breaking news stories.

Reportedly, Google will once again have access to Twitter’s firehose—the stream of data generated by Twitter’s 284 million users. Click here to read “Who wins, Who Loses in the Twitter/Google Deal.”

Twitter content indexed in Google search results: Just one more reason for every small business to be active on Twitter. All social media activity helps build your brand and because Google places a premium on authenticity, branding is a factor in rankings.

The sign on your business is in disrepair. Packages delivered to your business are blocking your doorway. What do you do? You repair the sign and you move the boxes. You make sure your business is easy to find.

The same care is required for your local online presence. You won’t rank well if you have conflicting information on any one of the thousands of sites where Google and other search engines gather local listings data. And, consumers are confused when they see discrepancies—they’re likely to go to a competitor whose listings are clean and consistent.

Give us a call and we’ll tell you more about local listings management.

Imagine you're just going about your working day a cashier at Target and next thing you know, you're on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. You're widely recognized! Because of social media, all.

That's what happened to #alexfromtarget. The account of how Alex became famous illustrates the mind-blowing power of social media.

Every interaction and communication you have on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social networking sites builds your business and your brand. You probably won't be a sensation like Alex, but you will be where consumers spend huge amounts of time and share huge amounts of content. The amount of information that is shared every day on Facebook is astounding! Facebook has more than one billion users and every 20 minutes, those users share one million links. Twitter is also remarkable in terms of marketing potential.

If you're not on social networking sites, or you're neglecting what you started, get it going today!

Social media is a great way for a small business to attract interest in its products and services. Once you build your social media community, you can get your prospects and customers excited about whatever it is you’re selling. 

For many customers, there’s a big gap between thinking about buying and actually taking the steps to place the order. Some social media platforms are attempting to close that gap by adding a BUY button. 

This month, Twitter announced plans to “publicly test a BUY button that can be embedded in posts to allow users to buy a product with a couple of clicks.” In July, Facebook started a similar test. 

This is a good time to ramp up your social media marketing campaigns so you’re ready when Twitter, Facebook and others open up these selling opportunities to all businesses. 

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Social media can be the perfect spot for small business owners to communicate with customers and attract the attention of prospective customers. Click here to read “Nine Small Business Social Media Success Stories.” 

Many small business owners have neither the time nor the inclination to become fluent in the language and etiquette of social media. Even those who do attempt to figure it all out will struggle to design, implement and fine-tune the campaign. 

Outsourcing is certainly a good option, but no one knows your company like you do. When you hire an individual or a firm to manage your social media, keep in mind that you’re an important part of the team—the one who ensures that social media interactions are authentic and represent the essence of your company. 

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Every March, millions of people fill out a NCAA tournament bracket (or two, or three...), join the office pool, watch the games and track who’s in and who’s out. Workplace productivity takes a big hit during the three weeks of March Madness.

Social media, where people go to get updates on games, celebrate wins and grumble about losses, is now a huge part of the phenomenon that is March Madness.

Twitter reported that during the championship game, there were more than two million Tweets around the world containing terms related to the telecast. And on Facebook, from early buzz and bracket building after Selection Sunday, through the Final Four and championship games, more than 15.3 million U.S. users posted, commented on or “liked” tournament-related content 46 million times.

Consumers are all over social media and every business should be there with them. It’s never too late to get started on a social media marketing campaign!

Twitter’s IPO price was set at $26 per share, valuing the company at $18.34 billion. Trading began on November 7th with the price rising to a high of $50, then closing at $44.90. At the end of the first day of trading, Twitter was valued at $25 billion! Keep in mind, this is a company that has never turned a profit and posted a loss of nearly $65 million for its most recent quarter.

Twitter has become part of the global culture with 230 million users tweeting, retweeting, following and lurking. How often do you hear a respected news anchor report on a tweet from a politician, celebrity, or even the Pope? And the hashtags—some people actually write and speak in hashtags! Whether we actively use the service or not, Twitter affects us.

Mark Mahaney, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets said, “When people use Twitter they are following certain people, they’re searching for specific information. There are powerful marketing signals that are almost Google-esque, something that Facebook doesn’t really have.” Google-esque?? We’ll see if Twitter joins the ranks of Google, in terms of profitability. In an interview with CNBC, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said, “There’s nothing structural about Twitter that prevents us from having the kind of margin profiles of our peer group.” Read the interview for more on Twitter’s plans for the future.

Click here to learn how to use Twitter’s new custom-timeline feature and click here to read about advertising opportunities on Twitter.

There's ALWAYS something new in social media!

Due to Twitter's new restrictions on how third-party developers are permitted to use its API, the LinkedIn/Twitter partnership that began in 2009 is over. In a blog post, Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn head of content wrote, 'If you had previously synced your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, and selected the option to share Tweets on LinkedIn, those Tweets generated from Twitter will no longer appear on LinkedIn.'

The ongoing patent dispute between Facebook and Yahoo has been resolved and the former enemies are now working toward an advertising and content partnership. Read Facebook Newsroom for more details.

Facebook is reportedly planning to sell mobile ads that will target users based on the apps they've downloaded through its Facebook Connect feature. Read more about the controversial advertising strategy here.