The Next Web has a great article on the domination of Facebook on all social network
An impressive number is the growth in Asia. Asia with its 278 million users beats Europe (251 million).
The top 5 social networks worldwide are: Facebook, QZone, V Kontakte, Odnoklassniki, and Cloob.
Link to the original article: http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2013/01/02/world-map-of-top-social-networks-shows-just-five-left-facebook-dominates-127-out-of-137-countries/
MIT did an amazing study on 8 ways to increase engagement on your Facebook wall. Here are the 8 key ideas:
1. Express yourself through photos.
2. Be topical. Keep up with the times.
3. Don’t hesitate to be in your face.
4. Share the validation.
5. Educate the fans.
6. Humanize the brand.
7. Humor is the best social medicine.
8. Ask to be “liked.”
Original article: How to Create Brand Engagement on Facebook.
Facebook launched a website specific for their “Preferred Marketing Developer” program.
I remember looking for information about the certification and found it hard to understand what the program was all about. The website lists +260 partners and allows you look for specific companies and/or countries.
Link to the site: http://www.facebook-pmdcenter.com/browse
Article on VentureBeat: Facebook announces new ‘Preferred Marketing Developer’ center | VentureBeat.
Facebook has released two blueprints for helping businesses become more social.
The company also commissioned a study that says firms want to be more social, but are having trouble executing. The study was conducted with 101 VP- and C-level marketing professionals and by interviewing 12 CEOs, CMOs, and VPs of marketing.
– 76% of marketing professionals surveyed agreed that social media is important for brand building
– 72 % agreed that it is important for customer loyalty.
– 59 % believed that companies that don’t fully embrace social media will not survive in the future.
– 71 % of marketing leaders surveyed believe companies can gain a competitive advantage through social media
– Only 33 percent currently have a long-term strategy for becoming a social business.
Interesting article about the tests being realized by Facebook to build a pay model.
Facebook testing paid status update highlights | Econsultancy.
I was quite surprised that Facebook made a new acquisition in less than 4 days. This time Facebook acquired Tagtile, a startup that has developed an application and solution for loyalty card.
Loyalty cards applications are a very promising and exciting business. As most people, I love to get rewarded for purchasing stuff. But the problem is that I almost never use them. There are many reasons including the most obvious one that you end up with 30 different cards in your wallet making it look like a pocket bible. Another reason, or the honest one that I forget to use it.
It is clear that Facebook has a lot of cash. I wonder what their new acquisitions will be…
Facebook acquires mobile loyalty reward startup Tagtile | ZDNet.
A great article by Tech Guru, Om Malik. He explains the reasons behind the purchase of Instagram by Facebook. The deal valued at 1 billion $ is one of the largest acquisitions of the last years.
Here is why Facebook bought Instagram — Tech News and Analysis.