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Study: Why Do People Use Facebook? I’ve been validated!

On January 17, 2012, in Web Marketing, by Brad

It’s so nice to be validated by scientific studies! For a very long time now, I’ve been saying that the success of Facebook is based upon the need of

people to have their existence validated. It is a central component to being successful in marketing on Facebook and why I always tell my web marketing clients in Miami to be sure they understand, that marketing in general is never about you, but rather about me – your customer. If my interests, my needs, and my ego are at the core of your marketing then if your product is worth a damn – you win!

Yay me! I’ve been validated…

Everyone just wants to belong, right? In the online aspect of our lives, Facebook offers us that virtual sense of belonging. The study claims that Facebook meets two basic social needs: 1 the need to belong and 2 the need for self-presentation. Self-esteem and self-worth are associated closely with the first basic social need, to belong.

via Study: Why Do People Use Facebook?.

Social networking’s salad days are ending, Forrester says | Deep Tech – CNET News

On December 8, 2011, in Web Marketing, by Brad

I’ve been saying that this isn’t sustainable for over a year. I guess I should become an high-paid prognosticator at Forester. I don’t care how old you are, you cannot sustain the level of data flowing in without losing your mind.

And in terms of time spent, social networking consumes more time than going to church; communicating by phone, e-mail, and snail mail; and exercising. “It’s just a little less than shopping and child care,” Colony said.

Today’s status quo won’t last, he predicted.

“We are in a bubble for social startups,” he said. When it bursts, “this is going to sweep away some of the nonsense, like FourSquare. We are going to move to a post-social world that’s a little like the Web in the year 2000. A lot of companies launched, but they did not survive.”

The next wave of social services will be “more efficient and more time-saving,” he said.

via Social networking’s salad days are ending, Forrester says | Deep Tech – CNET News.

Facebook To Launch A Subscribe Button For Websites | TechCrunch

On December 7, 2011, in Web Marketing, by Brad

Facebook subscriptions are about to blow up! At Le Web, Joanna Shields, VP and Managing Director for Facebook Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), announced that the company is planning to roll out a “Subscribe” plugin for all websites. The plugin will allow a website’s visitors a one-click way to begin following all of the news from an individual reporter, public figure, politician, celebrity, or anyone else who wants to post public updates via their Facebook user profile.

via Facebook To Launch A Subscribe Button For Websites | TechCrunch.

What I Learned Building the Apple Store – It’s The Relationship… Stupid

On November 22, 2011, in Leadership, Sales, Strategy, by Brad

: Image via Wikipedia

This is a great piece by Ron Johnson who built the Apple Stores. I don’t usually post things about retail, because it’s not my expertise, but this paragraph sums up everything that is changing about marketing, selling, relationships and more whether online or in retail. This is the future and strangely enough, it’s the past. We are returning to the days where you counted on your local merchant to help you, know you, and provide superior service. It will be the death knell of those that don’t get it.

I am an Apple Store customer on a regular basis, because they make it easy and helpful and I TRUST them. There are great lessons here that I try to impart to our Miami Internet marketing clients and the primary one is, no matter what you sell and how many you sell, you better be about the relationship and the value you can provide before, during, and after the sale. The benefit to you is huge, because it means you don’t have to work nearly as hard to get repeat sales and referrals and you gain loyalty.

But if Apple products were the key to the Stores’ success, how do you explain the fact that people flock to the stores to buy Apple products at full price when Wal-Mart, Best-Buy, and Target carry most of them, often discounted in various ways, and Amazon carries them all — and doesn’t charge sales tax!

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true. The staff is exceptionally well trained, and they’re not on commission, so it makes no difference to them if they sell you an expensive new computer or help you make your old one run better so you’re happy with it. Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them. It just makes their wallets lighter.

via What I Learned Building the Apple Store – Ron Johnson – Harvard Business Review.

Sales – the Apple Way (laf.ee)
The Apple Stores: A Playground For The Apple Geeks And So Much More (granniethegeek.com)
Apple’s grandiose retail store in Grand Central Station set to open in next few days (edibleapple.com)

Learn from Coke’s 3 Facebook Best Practices

On November 15, 2011, in Social Media, Strategy, Web Marketing, by Brad

: Image via Wikipedia

Subscribe to Ernan’s blog. He consistently posts the kinds of lessons all marketers should follow and does a great job explaining why things really work for other firms. If you want to stay on top of the best practices for marketing on the web, get on this list.

This article about Coke’s Facebook strategy is spot on for what we are always telling our web marketing clients here in Miami and that is that you have to open up to your customers and prospects, no matter what business you are in. The days of hiding behind a corporate veil are over. If you want to succeed for the long term, then let your customers into your business. Those that don’t usually don’t produce a quality product, so they fear the truth. If you fear the truth, then ask yourself if it’s really worth it to be in business.

Best Practice #3: Coke’s Driving Facebook Principle Is “Collaborate.” The page itself was founded by two Coke fans … and later embraced by the company! It is truly a shared undertaking with Coke fans who spend time on Facebook, not something imposed upon them from the outside.

The Takeaways for Marketers:

Conduct a comprehensive review of your branding and social media strategies. Develop strategies which enable you to answer “yes” to these questions:

Do you trust your brand enough to:

* trust your customers?

* give Facebook users an open forum?

* encourage and facilitate collaboration with your customers?

via Ernan’s Insights On Marketing Best Practices: Learn from Coke’s 3 Facebook Best Practices.

Does Facebook Hate Small Businesses?

On November 10, 2011, in Social Media, Strategy, Web Marketing, by Brad

: Image via CrunchBase

You wouldn’t know it from my recent posts, but I really like Facebook and respect what they have created, but in recent weeks and twice today, they’ve made it abundantly clear, that when it comes to users and small businesses they just don’t get it. Frankly though, this won’t only impact small businesses, but will also impact anyone in marketing, that is trying to keep it fresh on their Facebook page via blog posts being fed in from their site. Now Facebook is removing the ability to have your blog posts feed into your Facebook page automatically. We don’t ever advocate to our web marketing clients that they only use a feed to post content to Facebook and we help them keep their social media presence fresh and interactive, but this change just stinks for already overburdened marketers and business owners. I get it, they want to up the direct interaction and OWN the web, but it’s a strategy that disconnects them from the millions of businesses that want to also keep their content up to date in an easy way when they post something to their blog.

Here is what I saw when I logged in this morning. It might as well read – “we don’t care that you are overworked and stressed and we don’t care if this turns you off on how we feel about small businesses, because we have you and we can force you to do our bidding”. Stupid.

Changes to How You Share Content in Notes

You currently automatically import content from your website or blog into your Facebook notes. Starting November 22nd, this feature will no longer be available, although you’ll still be able to write individual notes. The best way to share content from your website is to post links on your timeline. Learn more about notes.