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Online electrical retailer, Appliances Online (simply known as AO), has seen impressive growth on its Facebook page, recently hitting one million likes. According to AO, it is also making Facebook sell, something not all retailers have managed to do. It has seen a 60% in branded search traffic, which has led to a 58% uplift in sales driven by brand terms.

To find out the secrets behind this growth, here is AO Social Media Manager Yossi Erdman’s answer:

Q: What’s the secret of a great Facebook page for an e-commerce site?

A: Find the content on your site that people will connect to. Whether (in our case) it’s strange things about what you have in your fridge, the food that you like to cook in your new oven, or anything else related to your area of expertise that you think people will want to engage with. We are lucky that we sell products that everybody needs (sometimes more than you can imagine).
Q: The growth in Facebook fans is pretty impressive. What’s the secret?

A: A mix of good content with smart advertising. There is no shame in using Facebook advertising and it’s something we are very proud of doing well. But Advertising itself doesn’t work, you need to create really good content. We chose to have competitions for products we sell (this way we can talk about/advertise our products simultaneously), and created engaging content around them. We answer personally to every customer or fan talking to us, and we believe that level of engagement is what makes people come back to us. If you browse our page you will see faces first (it is FACEbook after all) and then you might see products. We believe that’s what people want to see, some behind the scenes, some funny things and our social media team embarrassing themselves.

Q: How have Facebook ads and sponsored stories worked for you? What has / hasn’t worked?

A: We invest a lot into Facebook advertising. The most useful method is page post sponsored stories for desktop and mobile. But in order for that to work you have to create very good content on your page posts. That’s why we have a great graphic designer working on our social content, and we have a video studio that we can use when we want to create pictures with our products.

Q: How has Facebook boosted brand search traffic? How have you measured this?

A: As mentioned on our Facebook case study, we saw 60% uplift on branded searches. We believe Facebook has driven most of this change. More people are now searching for ‘Appliances Online’ instead of just ‘washing machine’, but it’s not because they are just our Facebook fans (click ‘like’ once and that’s it), but because we focus a lot on our engagement with them and make sure our fans see some quality content from us at least once a week. If we don’t have good content we don’t bother our fans.

Q: You promote Facebook and other social profiles prominently on the site. What was the thinking behind this and how has it performed?

A: As we are relatively unknown brand, we thought it could have a really positive effect on potential buyers to see their friend’s faces on our site, if they have recommended us on Facebook.

We get really good feedback from customers almost on a daily basis, so we decided to show it on our website header as well. Now when a potential customer comes to our website, they can see our latest feedback directly from Facebook and if they’re connected to Facebook at the time they might see some of their friends. With more than a million fans on Facebook there is a really good chance one of this visitor’s friends already recommended us. We see 10% uplift in conversion when people visit our site when they are connected to Facebook (and can see their friend’s name).

Q: How many people are in the AO social team? How often are you posting on Facebook? How have you found the best frequency?

A: We now have four people on our social team, but we also have a designer who works with us on a daily basis, and all of our customer service queries are handled by our correspondence team which has 10 people. So lots of people in the business are involved in managing the Facebook page and the social media, but that’s the only way you can respond to every customer personally and make sure people get an answer as fast as possible. Every week we post things on a different frequency. In general we really don’t  like to spam our fans, so we will never post once or twice a day, always less than that.

Q: Many retailers have struggled to make Facebook ‘sell’. What have you done differently, and how do you measure sales/conversions from the site?

A: As an online retailer, we decided we have to invest in this platform and make it right, that’s why there are so many people in the business involved in the process of creating content and talking to customers, and that’s why we have decided we need to advertise on Facebook and make it run properly. We measure direct sales from Facebook, but we mostly focus on branded searches. We don’t believe people see our ad on Facebook and then come and buy a washing machine immediately, as it’s a purchase you need some time to consider. However, we do see more people search for Appliances Online than ever before and believe Facebook has a lot to do with it. Using Facebook for our brand is definitely the right thing to do. Measuring by the great feedback we get there from our customers (or customer to be), and the amount of interaction we have, we’re definitely doing the right thing.

Some consumers are noticing brands’ attempts to promote their social presences in advertising, with some media channels more likely to elicit a response than others. Respondents reported being most likely to notice brand-related social accounts in online banner ads (27.2%), but a relatively high number also notice them in TV (24.1%) and print (21.1%). Among those who recall brands promoting their social assets in digital ads, about 6 in 10 say the efforts are very (29.4%) or somewhat (31.6%) effective in prompting social interaction with those brands. A similar percentage (58.7%) feel the same way about social cues in TV ads.

Ads

Combining the percentage who recall social cues in ads with the percentage who find them effective yields a relative assessment of the effectiveness of different advertising media in prompting social interaction with brands. In descending order of effectiveness, the media are ranked as follows:

• Digital ads – with 16.6% of respondents overall noticing cues in these ads and finding them effective in prompting social interaction with brands (27.2% noticing * 60.9% finding them very or somewhat effective)
• TV ads – with 14.1% of respondents noticing the social cues and finding them effective (24.1% * 58.7%)
• Print ads – with 11.1% noticing the cues and finding them effective (21.2% * 52.4%)
• Radio ads – with 4.7% noticing cues and believing them to be effective (11.4% * 41.5%)
• Outdoor ads – with 3.7% recalling cues and finding them effective (9.5% * 39.4%).

Overall, 54.2% of female respondents and 48.6% of male respondents have performed some sort of brand-related social sharing activity as a result of seeing something on or in an ad. The study notes that such activity could include “liking a brand’s Facebook page, using a brand’s Twitter hashtag and/or posting a brand-related picture to Instagram.” Some demographic segments are more active than others in response to social cues in ads. They are women aged 35-44 (65.3%), respondents aged 18-34 (56.9%), and men aged 18-24 (59.8%).

Other Findings

Respondents are more likely to see online ads (67.6%) than TV ads (60.6%) as effective in driving social interactions (among those who recall seeing brands’ social cues in those ads). On the other hand, women aged 18-34 are most likely to see online ads as effective in this regard (73.9%), with fewer finding TV ads to be effective (59.1%). Take a look at the complete chart below:

There are many business owners that hesitate to put their maximum efforts on the content promotion via Facebook or Twitter. The fact is, Facebook and Twitter are great ways to spread the word about new and existing content, and the only relevant social media platform available.

However, with the arrival of Google+ on the social media war, business owners have more options to  broadcast themselves, give more opportunity for them to promote their brand and products. Here are five benefits that we have found from using Google+ on business.

1. SEO

Setting up a Google+ page automatically gives you a little more search engine juice. This is simply Google+ is Google’s product, so the platform is designed to be more easily found by the Google search engines. Through the simple stages of page set up, you can choose to incorporate title tags, meta tags, and keywords through Google+’s step by step process. No extensive knowledge of coding needed.

2. Ownership Claims

One of the best features of Google+ is the ability to claim ownership of your own content as well as other blogs and sites. Whether your contents gain fame or simply something people find important, you can claim ownership of it. By claiming ownership of a specific post, your name will be seen, along with your blog post’s title, every time the piece shows up in the Google results pages. You can claim authorship by using the rel author tag, which helps Google link an author with their piece of work and, in turn, allows users to discover quality content.

The more often your name gets seen, the more likely you will be seen as an authority, and authorities are the ones who are more likely to have trusted content that readers share.

3. Create Circles

With Google+ Circles, users are able to place their followers within certain groups. While this may seem unnecessary, being able to place key influencers into a special Circle can be highly beneficial. There’s a little check mark box before you share a G+ post that says “Also send email to this circle?” While you certainly don’t want to check that box every post and spam your key influencers circle, using it sparingly can mean more key influencers will see your blog post. They will get an alert in their inboxes that you shared a post with them.

Creating specific Circles will make sure that all of your followers aren’t feeling spammed by constant information that may not interest them. You can tailor what they see in your news feed.

4. Communities

Don’t be afraid to join as many communities as you deem relevant to your business. You can also share your individual blog post with different communities just as you can share it with different Circles.

5. Multimedia

Reading your content is great but seeing the person behind the content is even better. Don’t be afraid to also utilize Google+ Hangouts in addition to the other features the platform offers. Companies can host Q & A’s through Google Hangouts, attend real time video chats with its followers, and post tutorials that can help further establish themselves in their specific field. Since Google+ Hangouts on air stream live on YouTube and automatically record to your YouTube channel, you will have multimedia content ready to go when you click ‘End Broadcast.’ Another tip is to use free YouTube editor to add enhancements to your video. All you need to host or join a Hangout is an internet connection and a webcam.

While people are raving about Facebook and Twitter dominate the text based social landscape and the importance to have a solid presence there, try to consider the benefits of Google+. It might be the best option for your business.

Although Facebook marketing involved hits and misses, the fact that its one billion users like to comment or share on discounts or promotional offers. It is not surprising when DealDash,an auctions-based Web player focusing on heavily discounted items. beating out Coca-Cola and Walmart on People Talking About This (PTAT) metric.

Facebook PTAT metric rates Facebook Pages’ posts according to how many interactions they generate, such as likes, shares, comments, mentions, check-ins, etc. It measures on “how active” a Page is. Facebook introduced the metric in late 2011, attempting to give marketers a clearer view of the effectiveness of their messaging on the social site. Most brands, especially the big ones have said they pay close attention to the stat.

The metric reveals that DealDash is reigning supreme. It seems remarkable that a New York based company with about 1.2 million Facebook fans creates more interaction than Coke (65 million fans) and Walmart (29 million). Also, 45 Minute Skinny is doing a superb job creating Facebook chatter.

Take a look at the full top ten PTAT lists for U.S. and global brands:

The founder of Likeable, Dave Kerpen, responds to thousands of Tweets, emails, and messages every day by himself.

A social media genius? Or just a crazy guy?

Mr. Kerpen always stated that social media are not freebies. They will not bring you immediate results,  cannot make up for a bad product or service.

If you are OK with all of these conditions, you’re ready to learn how Mr. Kerpen get his social media strategy right:

1. Listen Before Talk

A couple of years ago, when Kerpen went to Vegas, the check-in line at the Aria hotel where he was staying “took forever,” he said.

So Kerpen did what he does best–took to Twitter, and quickly posted: Waiting on line for 45 minutes at the Aria. Not worth it.

Did he hear anything from the Aria? No. But he did hear from the Rio, a hotel down the street. Within two minutes, the Rio Tweeted back to Kerpen: Sorry you’re having a bad experience, Dave. Hope the rest of your time in Vegas goes well.

Kerpen didn’t switch hotels on that trip, but where do you think he stayed the next time he went to Vegas? The Rio. And he “liked” the Rio on Facebook. And sometime later, a friend going to Vegas saw that Kerpen had “liked” the Rio, so asked if Kerpen would recommend the hotel. His response? “I don’t think it’s the fanciest, but I know that they listen,” Kerpen recalls telling that Facebook friend.

Kerpen pointed out that all the Rio did was pay attention to Twitter, and respond with empathy.

Kerpen recommends you do the same thing, regardless of the business you’re in. “If you’re an accountant, go to Twitter and search ‘need an accountant’,” he said. “Your customers are asking for you.”

2. Respond

Kerpen said most of the big brands do not answer customers or prospects on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media. As a result, “you have a huge competitive advantage if you respond to your customers, and theirs as well,” he said, in this case, the Rio hotel in Vegas.

If a customer complains, don’t delete. Instead, you have an opportunity to respond publicly that you’re working to solve the problem, and will send a private message to the individual so it can be fixed.

“We all know that companies are going to make mistakes,” said Kerpen. “The problem isn’t when companies make mistakes, it’s when companies don’t say, ‘I’m sorry.’”

Instead, if you delete a complaint, you’re sending a message that the person who wrote it doesn’t matter, and you’re, in essence, “inviting him to go tell someone else, to start a petition,” warned Kerpen. “Only delete obscene or bigoted posts,” he added.

3. Tell, Don’t Sell

Social media is most powerful when you use it to tell personal stories, not to sell your products, Kerpen said.

Kerpen likes to tell the story of how, when he and his then fiancé couldn’t afford a lavish wedding, they raised $100,000 from sponsors and got married at Brooklyn Cyclones park. That personal story, he says, helped propel Likeable into a $7 million business.

If yours is a business-to-business company, tell a story on social media using webinars, e-books, and white papers.

“The only thing better than telling your story on social media is to inspire your customers to tell your story,” said Kerpen.

4. Just Be You

Oprah Winfrey once said: “I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as rich as I’ve become. If I had I’d have done it a lot earlier.”

As Kerpen puts it: “When I am authentic, when I am vulnerable, when I am me, customers want to do business with me.”

5. Better Advertising Strategy

Social media is not just touchy-feely, said Kerpen. It can drive leads, and sales.

On Facebook, rather than just get your ad in front of huge a swath of people, you can target the right people–based on job title, interest, age, location. “Every single piece of data that Facebook’s got on people you can target based on that,” Kerpen said. “What’s cooler than reaching a billion people on Facebook? Reaching the right 1,000, the right 100, the right 10, or the right one.”

Another perk of advertising on Facebook? Word-of-mouth endorsements. You can target ads against just the friends of people who have “liked” your brand on Facebook, and when those people see your ad, they will see listed the names of their friends who like your brand, too.

6. Give Freebies Away

If you take 10 percent off, you’re marketing, 50 percent off, you’re giving away value, 100 percent off, you have loyal customers for life, Kerpen quipped.

Give away good content, webinars, articles, and white papers. “I’ve had two people come up to me and say, ‘Thank you for all that valuable information you gave away, I’m starting my own social media agency,’ but I also got dozens and dozens of inbound leads because of all the value we put out there,” said Kerpen.

Recently, a new client told Kerpen she had $250,000 to spend on social media marketing she’d move to Likeable because of all the free, yet useful information the company has made available.

7. Be Grateful

In your social media posts, regularly thank your customers, and partners.

According to the non-profit organization DonorsChoose.org, 38 percent of people who received a thank you note were more likely to donate again.

Kerpen writes three thank you notes every day.

“It puts me in a great mood every single time,” he said.

With more than one billion users worldwide, Facebook has became one of the most popular website and most used social media on the Internet. It means there are more people who use Facebook, even your crush or spouse. With many “romantic” features, Facebook transforms into a kind of “dating” site. While being advantageous on one side, the romantic features also bring many problems. Check out this infographic.

Social media marketing is a must for any serious business owners. The power of social media is flexible, yet strong enough to encompass many different kinds of society in the world. However, the power itself is very hard to control and estimate, especially when we talk about ROI. Take a look at this interesting infographic.

Welcome to our review of Australia’s Social Media Statistics in April 2013.

Australia has 11,489,380, which equates to 1.08% of the total global user base. According to Twitter’s Business Portal – they now have over 200,000,000 active users (monthly active user). 1.08% of this worldwide total of 200 million = 2,167,849 monthly Australian users.

Please note that the numbers below are the number of UAVs (Unique Australian Visitors) to the site over April.

1. Facebook – 11,489,380 Australian users/accounts (down approximately 220).
2. YouTube – 11,000,000 UAVs (steady)
3. Blogspot – 3,000,000 (down 200,000)
4. WordPress.com – 2,900,000 (steady)
5. Tumblr – 2,800,000 (up 200,000)
6. LinkedIn – 2,700,000 ( down 57,000)
7. Twitter – 2,167,849 Active Australian Users
8. Instagram – 1,083,924 Active Australian Users
9. Flickr – 860,000 (up 10,000)
10. TripAdvisor – 830,000
11. Pinterest – 630,000 (down 10,000)
12. MySpace – 300,000 (steady)
13. Yelp – 220,000 (steady)
14. Reddit – 180,000 (up 10,000)
15. Google Plus – approximately 100,000
16. StumbleUpon – 95,000 (steady)
17. Foursquare – 51,000 (steady)
18. Digg – 33,000 (steady)
19. Delicious – 31,000 (steady)

What Do All These Stats Mean?

Facebook is the biggest, largest and most engaging social network in Australia, and worldwide. If you are looking into Social Media Marketing then Facebook is where you should concentrate your efforts.

The secondary networks are YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Blogging sites WordPress, Blogspot and Tumblr do attract large amounts of users but have less sophisticated platforms overall. However, these sites can still drive large volumes of Australian traffic.

Google Plus usage in Australia is becoming very small. No-one really has concrete figures but it seems that no more than 100,000 Australian’s use it on a monthly basis.

In this post, we will review Social Roulette,  a Russian Roulette style game that has a one-in-six chance of deactivating your Facebook account. Yes, your social networking “life” will be “dead” if you pull the trigger at “the wrong time”.

Facebook was quick to find out about this application and claimed it didn’t mean their terms or policies, since blocking Social Roulette’s API access rendering the app unusable. “We take action against apps that violate our platform policies as laid out, in order to maintain a trustworthy experience for our users” said Facebook official.

The game itself based on a one-in-six chance with the expense of the deletion of all your posts, friends, apps, likes, photos, and games. The app would then deactivate your account.

If you missed the “bullet”, the app would simply post a message like this:

Social Roulette adds a couple rules when playing the game:

• You can only use your own Facebook account.
• You can only play once per day.

This is the official statement from the app’s website:

Everyone thinks about deleting their account at some point, it’s a completely normal reaction to the overwhelming nature of digital culture. Is it time to consider a new development in your life? Are you looking for the opportunity to start fresh? Or are you just seeking cheap thrills at the expense of your social network? Maybe it’s time for you to play Social Roulette.

In the age of digital technology, we must find our own way to cope with the digital wave. Digital marketing seems to be daunting tasks for some traditional business owners. However, managing digital media in some ways are easy enough when you know how. In today’s infographic, we want to share some key points of digital marketing and strategy.