By adaptive - June 13th, 2012

Hi all, Hope everyone is well? Our pick of the latest news this week includes... Low engagement on Facebook [D]eveloping a metric for your business’ Facebook page is still proving problem...

Hi all,

Hope everyone is well?

Our pick of the latest news this week includes...

Low engagement on Facebook

Developing a metric for your business’ Facebook page is still proving problematic for many corporations. How much engagement actually goes on between brands and their customers? A new report from Admap may have the answer, and if their data is correct, the level of engagement is very low at just 0.5%

Of the 200 brands studied, only one showed a level of engagement over 2%, and only 10% of brands reached the 1% mark. What is clear is that the current trend to grab as many ‘likes’ as possible isn’t enough to also develop high levels of engagement and brand advocacy. It seems in the social space there is still a lot of work to be done by brands before they can really claim to have high levels of engagement with their fans.

Region specific pages on Facebook at last

Until now if your corporation had a presence in several regions of the world, you had to create separate pages on Facebook. If the rumoured rollout is correct, Facebook may soon offer the ability to manage region-specific pages off a central page. The new service is being trialled on the Facebook marketing page where you can switch regions via a drop-down menu.

Ads and comments don’t result in sales on Facebook

A new poll from Reuters/ipsos has revealed that 4 out of 5 Facebook users have never bought a product or service as a result of advertising or comments on the social network site. The survey was a very small sample, but adds to the social networks worries that monetising the site after its IPO is not going to be as easy as once thought.

In addition the survey also found that over a third of users were actually spending less time on the site than they were six months ago. The main reasons given for their lack of interest is that the site is ‘boring’ and that the content was not that useful to them. However, Facebook did generate $3.7 billion in ad revenue last year, which although small compared to Google’s $38 billion, is still a significant amount.

Auto Trader to use social media in new campaign

Launching on June 14, Auto Trader will use the passion that owners feel towards their vehicles as the basis for a new marketing campaign. The campaign will feature short films about how Auto Trader has helped buyers and sellers over the 35 year history of the magazine and website.

The video content it is hoped will drive (no pun intended) to the Auto Trader website, via the company’s YouTube and MSN pages. And the company’s existing Twitter and Facebook pages will also be used to expand engagement. In January Auto Trader launched its own Facebook app that allowed its fans to show their friends the cars they would like to own.

Jonathan Williams, Director of Consumer Marketing, said: "With this campaign, we hope to strengthen the relationship we have with our customers and shift the consumer perception of Auto Trader as being just an online marketplace for buying and selling used and new cars.”

In Brief…

Salesforce acquires Buddy Media

Salesforce the leader in customer relationship management applications has spent $745m on Buddy Media that allows brands to more efficiently manage their presences across multiple social media platforms. The company has some big name brands including Mattel, Ford and L’Oreal. Integrating their prowess with customer relationship applications with a social media element is a logical progression for Salesforce. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, with Buddy Media now in its stable, "Salesforce.com now has the number one players in social listening and marketing."

More Facebook ads via mobile platforms

With its main ad platform not yet seeing the return that Facebook has hoped for, the company is now pushing its mobile offerings. Until now brands would have to buy a sponsored story on the main site, but now brands can target just mobile users. With around 400 million account holders accessing Facebook on smartphones, this group of users could mean significant revenue.

Search and social media come together

Consumers use search and social media in very different ways, but these two channels have plenty of overlap that all corporations should be aware of. A new infographic from Milo give an insight into pre-purchase behaviour. Clearly social media is now a vital component in the purchasing funnel, as consumers increasingly use these platforms to locate and then validate their purchasing decisions.

Brands adopt social networks in Middle East

The recruitment service Bayt.com recently released the results of its survey via an infographic that shows that brands in the Middle East are increasingly using social media networks. The survey found that Facebook was the most widely embraced platform present, employed by 65.5% of active enterprises, ahead of Google+ on 10.7%, LinkedIn with 9.7%, Twitter with 3.4% and YouTube on 2.8%.

Lama Ataya, CMO of Bayt.com said: “When asked what they consider to be most important in a successful corporate social media page, more than a quarter of respondents said that they want content that is ‘informative and educational’. Companies looking to implement a successful social media strategy should bear this in mind when launching a new page.”

Until next time….

The Useful Social Media team.