Earn social media badges by reading Google News
If you were a brownie, cub scout, girl or boy scout, or play organized sports, this innovative social rewards idea will resonate. Now you can get badges for reading Google News. The company is offering a variety of 500 different emblems, each one for a particular topic. As you become more well-read, Google News awards a star to the badge for that topic. There are five different levels of the stars, starting with a bronze star. As you read more articles, you receive a silver, gold, platinum and, ultimately, the coveted blue star.
According to the Google Blog, you can keep all this badge mania to yourself by default, or share with others how well read you are. As your Google+ communities grow, badges may be a great way to start discussions and social interaction between you and others with shared interests.
The price of a Facebook fan – post reprinted from Ellie Behling's Blog, Vital Business Media
How much do you have to pay to get people to “like” you?
A new report from digital marketing firm Webtrends examined Facebook ad campaigns and the “cost per fan,” or the ad spend required to acquire fans, among different industries.
The good news for media companies is that they typically spend less acquiring Facebook fans than companies in most other industry sectors. That shouldn’t be a big surprise, considering media and entertainment-based companies have built-in fan bases, unlike a sector like healthcare that is just beginning to interact directly with customers.
The study also found that media and entertainment companies advertising on Facebook get better click-throughs than other industries.
The report analyzed 4.5 billion Facebook ad impressions across 1,529 campaigns. Across all industries, the study revealed that Facebook ads perform half as well as traditional banner ads. It also found some differences in how geographic and demographic groups interact with Facebook ads (“the older we get, the more we click”). Continue reading “The price of a Facebook fan – post reprinted from Ellie Behling's Blog, Vital Business Media”
5 ways to monitor your competition with social media
There are more ways than ever to find out what is working and not working for your competitors. Tools available to all businesses include monitoring websites for popularity using Alexa Rankings or compete.com. MSN and Google link-domain services allow you to find out who is linking to their site. Set Google alerts to industry topics, product names or anything you want to keep track of. Thinking about buying Google ads? See who is buying Google Adwords with Googspy.
Brick and mortar businesses have observed the competition for years. Tried-and-true techniques include tracking their approaches to marketing and advertising, understanding their resources and profiling employees that might be a good fit as a future hire. A walk down any business-to-business or consumer trade show aisle offers a look at their employees, their culture and how they interact with customers.
Media competitors swim, if not almost drown, keeping on top of their competition’s output every day. Continue reading “5 ways to monitor your competition with social media”
Publishing pros cite 5 benefits for establishing a Facebook presence now.
Five tangible benefits to consider as you are weighing your Facebook investment:<a
1. Content syndication
2. CRM/customer support
3. Story development/R&D
4. Subscription revenue
5. Sponsorship revenue
Read the entire article from emedia vitals last newsletter of 2010:
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