Fan Appz launched a platform yesterday to help Facebook page administrators create and distribute brand-specific polls, quizzes and promotions that fans can share with friends to extend brand awareness and drive traffic.
The platform, called Professional, provides built-in social marketing tools for businesses at a monthly subscription fee of about $50. Each time a fan takes a quiz or participates in a poll, responses can publish to their Facebook stream.
Just how much of a game changer are the recent FTC Guidelines to mommy bloggers? The answer: not so much.
Today Mediapost’sEngage Moms blog posted the results of a survey of 130 mommy bloggers, questioning how their blogging practices have changed since the guidelines were introduced. Most bloggers stated that they were already incorporating disclosures and that the number of brands pitching them has remained the same.
A few notable statistics from the survey include:
78% of mom bloggers said they rely on general disclosures for product reviews
68% disclose the value of giveaways when applicable
Half of those surveyed believe that the guidelines seem to single out mom bloggers while outlining fewer disclosure guidelines for journalists (68%) or celebrities (82%)
Nearly all believe it is ethical for mom bloggers to receive samples, giveaways and compensation
However, mom bloggers expressed anxiety about vulnerability to IRS audits, with 75% believing that they may be at risk for an audit if they disclose specific dollar amounts of the product value or compensation
Who’s really getting the most benefit out of Facebook? Divorce lawyers.
Because of fresh connections created with old flames and introductions to new people, it makes sense that social media, specifically Facebook, is conducive to “e-philandering,” the term for online cheating.
According to the article on DailyFinance.com, one lawyer stated that almost one in every five divorce petitions his company processes involves a mention of Facebook.
Even better (for the lawyers) is that much of the inappropriate information shared by guilty parties is traceable and public (make sure you set those privacy settings!).
Whether you love him or you hate him, Gary Vaynerchuck is obviously engaging. His web marketing book called Crush It is actually crushing the bestseller lists.
Anyway, here’s a clip of him being a lunatic on Fox and Friends.
Volkswagen has created a new iPhone application for the launch of its 2010 GTI model. The free app, called “Real Racing GTI,” allows users to compete by racing others and posting their scores on an online leaderboard. Users can also post their racing videos on YouTube if they wish.
How will Volkswagen’s app compete with other brands using mobile, you ask? By offering free cars!
“Players who download the app will be eligible for the 2010 GTI sweepstakes, which gives away a 2010 GTI Limited Edition Model every week for six weeks beginning Nov. 2nd. Each day that a player finishes a lap in the Real Racing GTI game he or she can enter into the sweepstakes.”
Incentives are important, especially in the oversaturated mobile app space.
“The costumes took 3 weeks to build, with each weighing 85lbs and requiring a car battery to be worn between the wearer’s legs. An iPhone 3GS is attached to a 42″ LCD screen (not touch screen, alas), turning the wearer into a human-sized iPhone.”
I must be a sucker for good branding, because I love Google and Virgin (despite my terrible fear of flying).
Knowing that Google has offered to foot the WiFi bill for everybody on board Virgin America flights between November 10 and January 15 makes me love the li’l old monopoly even more.
What does Google get out of this partnership, you ask? As one commenter put it:
“It’s safe to assume that passengers will land on a Google-sponsored landing page (or the Google homepage itself) when they begin their “free” inflight Web experience. This is a great way to feature the Google brand, create buzz around a small marketing spend (compared to TV, etc.), and increase the chance that passengers will perform their searches via Google.”
Whatever Google’s rationale, I’m sure these flights will book up fast!
It all started yesterday, when rumors circulated via Twitter and Facebook that Braff was dead, based on a fake webpage put up by prankster Chris Laganella in 2007.
Braff took charge by posting a video on YouTube to let everyone know that he is very much alive.
This is the kind of “viral” that every company dreams of.
“Social media is about forming relationships and having conversations with customers, not constant promotion.” That’s the motto of Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks’s vice president of brand, content and online, which should hold true in any marketing program these days.
Speaking of Starbucks, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote a fantastic article about how the coffee chain’s social media initiatives have made it the poster child (along with Microsoft) for companies engaging consumers in real relationship-building online. A great read if you have a second.
There was an interesting article in the New York Post this week about the rise and fall of Zagat. It seems that back in the day, the Zagats would not accept a $100 million offer to sell the company and are now regretting the decision, because they cannot keep up with up with the technology and crowdsourcing models of competitors. It also doesn’t help that Zagat charges subscribers $25 to use the site.
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? My mom says that.
Most people don’t realize that old tweets fade into oblivion after only a few days (depending on how often you tweet). There have been several occasions where I’ve wanted to find old tweets and could simply not search far back enough to find them, thanks to TweetSaver I will hopefully never have that problem again.
The searchable subscription-based database ($5/month or $20/year) allows users to pull in their last 3,200 tweets along with all mentions, and direct messages.
Also fantastic, is TweetSaver’s ability to export and reshare tweets with other social sites allowing you to view stats on your saved tweets.
I would highly recommend this service to users who are running a company or brand page because you never know when the need for recorded data will arise.
Our very own Maria Rinklin, M Booth’s Digital Media Strategist and Queen of the Digisquad, was featured in Mom Central’s newsletter today! Maria shares some of her social media knowledge and talks about the work M Booth has recently been doing in the digital sphere. And, of course, mentions her killer matchmaking skills!
Despite a Wall Street Journal article last week stating that younger demographics are not hugely active on Twitter, new data from comScore (via Mashable) suggests that younger users (specifically, ages 12-24) are now Twitter’s fastest-growing audience segment. What are we supposed to believe?!
Mashable makes a great point, stating that unlike other social media sites, Twitter is actually “aging in reverse.”
Is anyone out there looking for love in the online dating world? If so, you should be excited about Thread.com, the new dating site that relies on Facebook Connect to match you up with friends and family of “friends” and other people in networks close to yours. The service is free and you can initiate contact with your match or ask your friend to introduce you. Because of its Facebook interface, people are buzzing that the site is going to revolutionize the way we use online dating services. I’m hoping for some M Booth success stories!
