An example showing recommended changes for cover image, tabs and apps

As previously notified on Smart Insights, in March Facebook announced there would be a major update to its Facebook brand pages. It has now confirmed that by 6 June all Facebook brand Pages (note brand Pages, not personal Profiles which changed a while ago now) will have a new look. A number of Pages have already been invited to switch on the new timeline design and I've been having a good poke around to share what I've found. As always I'm using the Musicademy Page to illustrate the changes.

Overview of changes

Firstly, whilst it does look quite different, there isn't any majorly different functionality. Facebook has simply moved things around a bit. But inevitably there are some implications for things such as cover image, tabs and apps. The first thing you'll notice is that there is now a single column for posts and that…

6 mistakes that will doom your social media strategy

Sure, you can be active in social media without a plan, but a company that uses social media marketing without a clear idea of what they want to achieve, and the steps they need to take to get there, is usually going to waste a lot of time and money, without seeing a return. I think that a written strategy document is crucial for online success. But of course, not all social media strategies are created equal! Many times, the factors that make the difference between success and failure do not just concern what is in the document. Equally important are the steps companies take before and after compiling it. Here are some of the mistakes I've seen with social media planning which I look to make businesses aware…

Research from LinkedIn showing how SMBs use social media marketing

This year LinkedIn conducted their own research to understand how SMBs are using social media and the benefits assessed across the goals of Credibility, Connection, Context, Community.  The top-level findings are that 94% of the respondents use social media for marketing and 3 in 5 found it to solve a business problem. 'The main problem for SMBs is lead generation and 63% believe social media is helping them solve this..' Find out more from the infographic below and LinkedIn's small business microsite which has best practice tips and examples specifically for smaller businesses and ideas on personal branding. We have more detailed advice and examples in our Smarter Guide to LinkedIn marketing and we have a free webinar with the author Danny Bermant covering the Latest 2014 LinkedIn marketing techniques.

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Which LinkedIn features are best for lead generation?

In B2B marketing, we know that lead generation is key and it's about generating good quality, targeted leads, which can be qualified as much as possible rather than focussing on the volume of leads. To assess which social networks is best at B2B lead generation across B2B sectors. Oktopost has analysed over 100,000 posts across LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and LinkedIn ranked the highest for lead generation for B2B companies. The findings covered in the Infographic below included highlights that: 96% of posts, in discussion groups, generated leads which resulted in up to 86% conversion rates. 1 out of 3 converted posts, included a ? in the subject line of the post.

To learn more about LinkedIn, access our Smartinsights LinkedIn Guide which we have recently updated.…

How Twitter is killing '2 birds with 1 stone' with its new mobile app promotions

One of the biggest names in social media has finally joined the mobile marketing revolution. After Facebook announced that almost half of its revenue now comes from mobile ad sales, Twitter made the wise decision to revamp their mobile app to increase their revenue opportunities from advertisers. In April, the company announced an app install suite which takes advantage of their previous acquisition of MoPub in order to allow advertisers to reach their audience both on and off site. The new interface will allow for the marketing of other apps, giving users the opportunity to initiate an app download on their phone from within a tweet.

Meeting industry demands

By creating the ability to promote apps within their app, Twitter has given advertisers everything they need to capitalize on an ever growing market.  Now more than ever, people are connecting…

Plus a great Facebook UGC idea

I wrote previously about a useful tool that enables you to link up social conversations from Facebook and Twitter with a blog post that then turns your blog into the engagement hub pulling in comments made on the other platforms. As I explained before, our usual strategy is to post a nice meaty article on the blog and then create a link to it on Facebook. Now I'd rather have people on the blog than our Facebook Page any day (it's owned rather than earned media and means we stand a better chance of monetising the content too) but the majority of users really like Facebook as the conversation platform so inevitably that's where most of the comments surface. We also create a lot of content that tends to be "Facebook only". Some of the meme-type content, quick pictures and status updates just wouldn't sit properly…

Improved targeting of Company LinkedIn Company pages and posts

Importance: [rating=3] > Recommended link: LinkedIn announcement of new International features This week, LinkedIn have introduced two new features to allow companies to target their content better to LinkedIn members in different countries by improved geotargeting by country location and language preference. Given that 2/3 of LinkedIn members live outside of the US, and the network is available in 21 different languages, LinkedIn are following Facebook and Twitter (also announced this week), to allow members to connect social updates and ads with local audiences. For LinkedIn, this will be particularly useful for larger B2B brands who tailor content for different international markets. For full details of the options to tailor company updates, company names,  descriptions by country see this Help Page: For companies using LinkedIn for marketing purposes such as lead generation…

Lookalikes can now include site visitors tracked with Facebook Conversion or Custom audiences for website pixels

Targeted advertising on Facebook through 'Lookalikes has been available for some time as Marie Page explained  in her blog in March 2013. This alert is to let you know that Facebook have recently been announcing more enhancements to this advertising technique so that it allows companies to connect with Facebook members who fit the profile of their website visitors.

So what's new this time? Facebook have taken this one step further, to connect advertisers to 'lookalike Facebook members' who visit their website, use their mobile apps or are connected to their Facebook page.

How does it work?

To target in this way can now embed the conversion pixel tool in your website which sends data back to Facebook about your visitors, and this only works with Facebook. The advertiser can…

A guide to process, tools and examples for social media listening

What I’ve leant from social media listening Two recent reports highlight the fact the business are not taking social media listening seriously and it’s still in its infancy. A study by the Altimeter group showed that only 42% of businesses are using social media listening to learn from their customers, this was a study whose respondents’ main discipline was social media, personally I would have expected it to be higher. The second report from Amiando (a study of event marketers) showed that only 20% of marketers are listening in social for the benefit of the business. I know I’m a big social media advocate, but I’m shocked that businesses are not using listening not only to benefit social media activity but the overall business, I guess it’s not been 'sold' in to the…

3 big changes to your Twitter profile are now live

Importance: [rating=5]

Recommended link: Twitter blog post announcing Profile Changes

23rd April update. We first alerted about this change to Twitter profiles on 10th April, when the rollout was promised "over the next few weeks". Well, a fortnight later and the rollout appears complete since this banner prompting users to update their profile has now been reported at the top of many profiles including ours.

If you take a look at the requirements for imagery, they are:

Brand ident (on left) of 400px by 400 pxMain pic of 1500px by 500px

Background and examples of the new Twitter profile

Over the next few weeks, Twitter will be making a big change to the layout of each profile page. These will be available…