Image Courtesy of Robert Scoble: http://bit.ly/zA3mdT

Everyone has heard about Facebook’s formal IPO by now, and if not… then that’s why you’re probably here. Long story short, Facebook wants to sell its shares to the public. They want to raise $5 billion, which in time could be worth a whopping $100 billion.  That’s a whole lot of Facebook Ads. To put it in perspective, the search engine king, GOOGLE, only raised about $1.2 billion and is now worth more than $190 billion. Now, the question you’re probably asking yourself is: What does it mean for me?

That’s a good question, and I’ve compiled a few thoughts about the matter.  First and foremost, let’s start where you’re more likely to see the first biggest impact.

Boost in Ads

For users:  Facebook’s S-1 filing revealed that 425 MILLION active members access their Facebook profiles through their smartphones. Currently, users don’t receive ads on their mobile devices, and with Sponsored Stories being rolled out again, users are going to begin to get a few more posts in their newsfeeds from brands they like.

For brands: Brands have “mobile” imprinted in their marketing plans for 2012, so having Facebook rollout a mobile marketing capability falls nicely within marketer’s overall strategies. Not to mention, there are more than 350 million active monthly mobile users across 475 wireless operators worldwide (44% of total active users), where 300 million are using Facebook’s mobile app. People who engage with Facebook on mobile devices are TWICE as active as people who only use it on their computers. With 91% of US citizens have their mobile phone within reach 24/7, it goes without saying that being able to market on mobile will allow brands the opportunity to connect with their fans anytime and anywhere, eliminating geographic limitations. Keep in mind, marketers will now be challenged to deliver highly engaging and relevant copy, as these ads will be shown mostly to people who already “Like” their pages, so if messages seem intrusive or irrelevant, they may opt-out of your messaging by un-liking brand pages.

Virtual Currency/E-Commerce

For users: Nearly a sixth of the world is active on Facebook and they expect to reach the 1bn user mark by the end of this year. As Facebook’s active members grows ever nearer to the billion users mark, Facebook is becoming a social staple in people’s every day schedule. So much in fact, that users have become more comfortable sharing their personal information with the service, and have even begun to make purchases through the site. Users have already started to use Facebook’s Credits for social gaming, accounting for 15% of Facebook’s revenue in 2011. It will be no surprise that brands and Facebook will become more integrated and combine debit/credit transactions into Facebook credits, which will be a lot more convenient and portable throughout the Facebook site.

For brands: Having Virtual Currency may have the potential to enhance e-commerce solutions for some businesses, and will help create a marketing hub that will not only be used to share news and market products, but will lead to direct purchases within the same environment. Additionally, leveraging the social aspect of Facebook newsfeeds and “Like” button will actually help add monetization to the technology, including the new Social Apps.

These Social Apps will continue to build on the hundreds of thousands of businesses and their social products within the platform.  These products will help contribute to Facebooks’s revenue, and with this new investment opportunity, expect Facebook to continue developing ways to better enhance the technologies and user experience. This not only helps build Facebook’s revenue, but also helps breathe life into great commercial potential for brands around the world.

Power Influencers

Users: As power users and bloggers become mini celebrities within the social space, they can expect to be targeted for their social power. Brands will become less reliant on traditional media, and rely a lot more on social discovery.  This goes without saying, that practically any user with the commitment and talent can become a potential power user. This is the driving principle that helps power Pinterest, Twitter, and Youtube.

For brands: We’re already seeing instances of companies build products around big influencers , such as Nikon, ShoeDazzle, and BeachMint. Targeted key influencers will prove to be a cheaper alternative than traditional media, and may prove to gain more authentic organic growth for communities, as well as a great way to drive awareness for new products.

In Conclusion

With Facebook’s IPO, the social network giant is going to experience the pressure to increase revenue for investors, so expect to see a few of these changes:

• An increase in Facebook Ad spending and costs, so be sure to allow a budget for these.
• Increased focus on their Social Applications platform, so look into getting a good development team that will best utilize Facebook apps for your brand using the new technologies like the latest Open Graph to help get your brand’s name and applications on your fan’s timelines for their networks to see.
• An expansion in Facebook e-commerce with a focus on Facebook Credits to become the official currency within the platform.  Early adopers should look into migrating parts of their sites to see if Facebook ecommerce would work for their brands. If you don’t have the budget for a custin application build, you might look into a storefront application solution such as Payvement and/or Highwire.

In the long run, Facebook will put a lot more emphasis on engagement within Facebook, which will have to benefit users’ experiences, as well as make it worthwhile for marketers to continue to invest time and money into the platform.  Do not get too caught up on building the quantity of fans, but more building on the quality of the relationships between your consumers by providing them useful, relevant, and engaging content.

By: Tyler Starrine, VP Campaign Development

It looks like Facebook is taking the plight of users who often find themselves frantically untagging photos, very seriously.

I have a friend that founded her own Animal Rescue group and who, as many Animal Rescuers do, uses Facebook to regularly network the animals that she has recently saved. She also uses the site to request donations through those heart-wrenching images of a lonely dog in a cage with a caption telling us the number of days, and sometimes hours, this dog has left to be rescued.

I’m a sucker for most things cuddly and innocent and so I find myself opening up my wallet and making a donation. The result of my “generosity”? I get tagged in these photos, and the plea updates, on the regular. Just recently I donated to save a handicapped dog and so I’m finding myself tagged in constant updates about the dog’s condition. Today I decided to untag the latest images and when I went to click “remove tag” I was pretty surprised by the array of options that appeared:

Continue reading “Facebook Makes it Difficult to Untag Yourself from Unflattering Photos” »

Klaris Andreasian, Campaign Manager

Fashion is a lifestyle. It’s a form of language. It’s how we communicate who we are. For fashion brands on social media, it’s no different. To many loyal customers, the way brands communicate online is as important as the style or products they represent.

Here are 5 fashion brands that are embracing social media… and executing it with style: Nordstrom, H&M, Victoria’s Secret, Express and Sephora are among the most social media savvy fashion brands – positioning intriguing content for their millions of fans. Whether or not these brands are new or veterans of the space, their rapidly growing fan base doesn’t show signs of slowing down. Victoria’s Secret is the most “liked” retailer on Facebook. Never mind the strikingly beautiful models and obvious reasons why even men are fans of the page, it’s evident they must be doing something right.

These brands emerge with the latest trends on their fan pages but one thing they also do well is they give their fans what they want: style, compelling photos, videos and (maybe most importantly) exclusive offers and information. In fact, nearly 40% of Facebook users who become fans of brands do so to receive discounts and promotions (Co-Tweet/ExactTarget 2010).

Continue reading “Fashion in Social Media – Doing it with Style” »

By: Heather White-Laird, VP, Creative Strategy

It’s nothing short of meteoric. Google Plus took only 16 days to reach 10mm users. Facebook took over two years to reach that many fans. And now that G+ is open to anyone, their new user base is estimated at 43 million. Experian/Hitwise stated that last week, visits to G+ increased by almost 1300%, elevating it from no. 54 to no. 8 on the Hitwise Social Networking and Forums Category.

Worth The Wait

At the launch, brands were upset that only individuals could create pages—(except for two beta partners, Ford and Starbucks), however they will see three clear benefits from the long wait.

1. There is a very large audience already familiar with the platform, and in fact, these early adopters are a highly influential group.
2. Google has been tweaking the platform and features over the past couple of months creating a better user experience overall, with increased functionality, including the addition of games.
3. The platform is very stable and able to handle large amounts of traffic.

Content Propagation

There is no doubt that Google, which owns over 65% of all searches, will drive synergy between a brand’s content and their search results, resulting in efficiencies for content propagation. Google+ profiles as well as content entries will be appearing in search results, along side standard results. Facebook search results will continue to return only the profile link as their content is behind a “walled-garden” which is exclusively the property of Facebook.

However, G+ did borrow the ability of tagging content off of the main site in a manner similar to Facebook where users can “like” external content. G+ has added the +1 tag for interactions on external websites, thereby increasing the visibility and relevancy of the site for users outside of the network, and there has already been widespread adoption by sites and users.

Continue reading “Google + Brand Pages: Coming at the Right Time?” »

By: Olivia Duarte, Senior Campaign Manager

Recently, my team at deiworldwide was presented with the task to engage and strengthen the relationships of Latino fans on a high-profile client’s global Facebook fan page.  We definitely were up for the challenge, but had to keep a few items in mind when developing a strategy that would work for our client. First, we’d be working with a limited budget, and secondly, they did not want to cannibalize the community they already had by creating a second Facebook page for Latinos.  With these two elements to consider, our strategy was to create an inclusive environment where both Latino and non-Latino fans would feel welcomed and inspired to participate.

Tip #1 – All for One and One for All

The first step was to decide on a strategy for a single Facebook page that would resonate with Latinos, as well as the larger community. There are several brands that are doing a great job of appealing to a larger demographic without alienating their core community. Coca-Cola and Oreo Cookies are great examples of brands posting simple, yet universally appealing messages. These brands demonstrate that a single Facebook page can be effective in engaging fans that speak different languages. Their posts are written in English, but are kept simple so that they are easy to understand, even for fans that speak a different language.

Continue reading “Cuatro Tips for Engaging Latinos on Facebook” »

By Justin Delos Reyes, Social Media Community Manager

How many conversations have you had with your best friend so far this year?

Now ask yourself, “Does the strength of my friendship with _______ depend on the frequency of our conversations?” Without knowing anything about you, I’m confident that your answer is “no.”

What you talk about is more important in a friendship than how many times you speak to each other.

The social media industry has become infatuated with numbers. A high number of ‘likes’ or re-tweets can tell brands that its content was seen, shared, and possibly read by a person’s friends – and that’s powerful for measuring reach.

But does it encompass what social media is all about? Not quite.

In addition to measuring reach and frequency, go the extra mile by gauging how your fans feel about your content. More importantly, try to understand why they feel that way.

Putting this into practice means you’ll have to wear a subjective thinking cap, but don’t forget that social media is a subjective space. Emotions and attitudes are what drive consumers to interact with brands. Are you allowing these factors to drive your marketing strategy?

Stay clear of putting too much weight on factors that don’t provide your brand any insight about the emotions behind your loyalists’ comments. Make an effort to solve problems, listen to (don’t just monitor) what your followers are saying, and keep track of significant conversations so you can refer to them when it’s time to plan your next campaign.

In other words, approach social media as if you are your followers’ best friend. Not only will this help you understand them better, but it might help you create campaigns to turn them into evangelists – and that’s when your social media efforts can really take off.

2012 Republican Presidential Candidates – Twitter Share of Voice

In one of our previous blog posts (What’s In A Word?), we mentioned that social media has given people a voice.  But has it also become the voice of the people?

We used Radian6 to analyze tweets over the last 30 days to see which 2012 Republican presidential candidates are leading the pack, and which are getting left in the dust.   Not surprisingly, the current front-runner of the GOP primary race, Texas Governor Rick Perry, has the lion’s share of mentions on Twitter with a 40% share of voice amongst the candidates and three times the number of mentions of one-time front-runner Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

Whether these tweets will translate into votes remains to be seen.

There’s an anonymous quote that says  “communication is depositing a part of yourself in another person.”  Isn’t that what we ultimately strive for, a connection with another human being?  We get there by giving a piece of ourselves to that other individual.  That connection can come in many different forms and written communication is no exception.

Social media has given the gift of voice to those who didn’t think they deserved to possess this gift or didn’t have the courage to seek it.  According to Mashable, using sites like Facebook and Twitter actually increases the amount of oxytocin we produce.  Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain which stimulates feelings of trust and security.  Spikes in this hormone have also been shown to reduce stress and anxiety.   While the studies may be too few to give a conclusive result, it does seem to back up something we all try to figure out while we tweet, check in or share on Facebook:  We feel good.

Shy, introverted individuals are now “coming out of their shells,” no longer paralyzed by fear in group settings and gaining confidence in their ability to communicate not just with friends and family but with strangers as well.  People who feel that they could not give of themselves before have the strength and confidence to do so now.

Social media has given people the outlet they need to realize that they deserve to have a voice and what they say has worth.  It shouldn’t be a wonder, then, why Facebook and Twitter make us feel good and ultimately help us to forge those much needed and much deserved connections.

Last week we asked you to tweet us a photo of your creative business cards.  Here’s a socially sophisticated design that totally captured our inner tweetheart from @alanessa

Now that’s 140 characters of cuteness.

image courtesy of Twitter follower @alanessa

Does your business card make a statement?  Keep them coming! We’ll feature incoming designs on our blog and the @dei_worldwide Twitter profile.

I had been hearing a lot of buzz around Pinterest in my circle of friends since early this year, but hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon until, literally, two days ago. Part of my hesitation stemmed from not wanting to maintain yet another platform and risk abandoning it after a few days (I’m the type of person who really likes to nurture her social media presence). However, after hearing of brands using Pinterest, the site had the allure of a shiny new toy.  I requested my invite to see what Pinterest could do for me…and my clients.

What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” where members can “pin” images they find around the web that they find inspiring or visually engaging to create “moodboards” or inspiration boards (very Oprah, right?). Think of it as tacking photos you ripped out of a magazine onto a bulletin board. A sample pinboard might include inspiration photos for a home remodel or a collection of recipes that you’d like to try. Pinterest allows users to “like”, repin and comment on images.  In addition, all images can be clicked on to direct users to the site where the image originated – yet another way to drive traffic to your site.

How are brands using Pinterest? Brands are utilizing Pinterest to showcase products, tips, ideas, fashion collections, POV and trends, among other things. For example, Real Simple Magazine’s Pinterest has pinboards for Thanksgiving cranberry recipes, spring cleaning product recommendations and holiday gift guides. Nordstrom’s pinboards showcase autumn accessories, fun shoes and a fall wish-list. Meanwhile HGTV has created pinboards for gardening and home improvement inspiration as well as party and entertaining ideas.

Pinterest also has the potential for increased brand interaction advocacy.  For example, brands can hold photo contests where likes = votes. Following a board isn’t required and rules are not as strict as compared to FB.  Brands can also gain insight into popular products by looking to see what people are re-pinning.  Pretty cool, right?

photo credit courtesy of pinterest.com

It will be exciting to see what features Pinterest adds on for brands as it continues to grow. In the meantime, go grab an invite and start pinning!