Nested Comments are currently a "work-in-progress"
Facebook rolled out yet another change in the last couple of weeks which enables nested replies.
My understanding was that the new feature was only being rolled out to pages with over 10,000 fans, however I was offered it last week so clicked the "like" button. Beware that it doesn't really work on mobile but on the desktop version it is potentially a useful feature for posts with multiple comments and responses.
If you haven't seen the above notification then go to Edit Page and Manage Permissions. From there tick "Replies".
Now I can totally see the sense of nested replies in that people can easily respond directly to comments without the need for an @name before the comment and the resultant scroll up the page to read the original…
Google Analytics adds Data Hub and Trackbacks to the Activity Stream Reports
Value/Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Google Analytics post: the Activity Stream in Social Reports
In March 2012, we highlighted Google’s new Social Analytics as they were then described in the Beta we were reviewing. In August 2012 the Social Analytics feature became part of the Social Reports we now see in Google Analytics as a standard feature.
This latest update to Social Report has two new additions:
1. Data hub activity - This feature, shown below, was originally available through a drilldown, so isn’t entirely new, but is now highlighted in the menu as Data hub activity.
It's an interesting reminder from an SEO perspective that Google is able to track comment activity on a blog. If you're setting up a blog it's worth using a Google Data Hub partner. I recommend using Disqus which we use, or Livefyre.
…
New study shows that social media sacrifices vary by gender
This is a thought-provoking infographic based on a summary of a study commissioned using an independent research company for Browser Media.
The survey investigated the UK usage of social networking sites and their sacrifices for the ‘social fix’. The Infographic illustrates key findings from the survey, the takeaways for us were:
Women are more active on social networking sites; 60 minutes per day vs 48 minutes.
Social media users are sacrificing socialising (14%), sleep (10%) and even sex (8%).
Location is one factor determining social usage; respondents in Sheffield spend twice as long as those in Edinburgh. Can you conclude that from a survey? We're not sure about the accuracy of this comment:
"if you're young, female and live in Sheffield, it's highly likely that you spend a substantial part of your day on social networking sites"
…
From business case to budgets: How to choose the best email marketing tool
Email marketing automation has had such a significant impact in sectors such as financial services, hospitality and retail, that when Forrester outlined the mega-trends that were shaping the market, the growth of automation tools was one of the top contributors.
'If you want to launch a sophisticated acquisition and retention email marketing campaign, you have to have good trigger-based programmes to keep engaging the users - and that has given rise to the entire field of email marketing automation,' says Forrester analyst JitenderMiglani.
But with well over 100 different email marketing vendors in the UK alone, finding a vendor isn’t the challenge – it’s choosing the right one.
Where to begin with choosing an email marketing vendor?
'Before you even start your search for the perfect vendor, it’s essential to assess where your current…
By
26 Mar 2013
Tips and examples for creating effective Facebook brand apps
Facebook applications can be a great way to increase a company’s fans’ tie to their social presence, while simultaneously delivering valuable user and customer data. For a large number of brands, apps can be essential to their healthy Facebook presence in order to add value to their growing fan base through online sales, personalisation mechanisms, incentives and competitions and more.
For the majority of brands though, producing their own apps is not essential, nor should they be. If you are perhaps thinking of a Facebook app for your brand I am not trying to convince you otherwise. If your current of future Apps work by definition because they have a function and output for the user that supports the brand, aids user discovery and interest and adds value to them as a consumer, then it's going to be a good investment of time.…
Tips to create an effective email template... from header to footer
Here's a useful infographic for Email marketers from Email template designers Email Monks. My favourite infographics prompt us to think "how can we do this better"?
While this covers the obvious such as Subject lines and blocked images, I like the way it covers some of the less well known details that we cover in our Email guides and course such as pre-headers, Johnson boxes and an ideal email template width of 500 to 650 pixels.
If you found this useful, you may also want to check out our hub page on email creative and copywriting for more advice. …
What Email Marketers need to learn from Retailers
How email marketers can use behavioural email to increase customer loyalty and drive more purchases
I believe email marketers have major lessons to learn from how the world’s leading offline retailers market to customers before, during and after their purchases. These companies serve as great examples of why email marketers need to go beyond the basic newsletter.
One of the best ways to frame email marketing is to focus on one key event; the purchase and then break it into three phases:
3 Phases of behavioural email marketing related to purchase
1. Before: The customer isn’t necessarily ready to make the purchase, but your goal is to stay top of mind and nurture the relationship until they are.
2. During: The customer is in the process of making a purchase, and your goal is to ensure they have…
Tips on keeping your online customers active
One of the most fundamental lessons that every marketer learns during the first day on the job is that it costs around six to seven times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.
So says Daniel Binns of Epsilon. In today’s ultra-competitive market, where revenues are under pressure every quarter and margins are continuously squeezed, this lesson is more relevant than ever.
The problem is that we now live in an omnichannel world. The brave new realm of always-on communications means consumers are presented with more choice through more channels than ever before. Brands have more opportunities to connect with customers than in the past, but also have to fight harder to win a share of attention in a fiercely competitive market.
Winning customers is only half the battle though. Once a brand has connected with a consumer, it needs to devote…
Examples showing the benefits of a multi-page social network communications approach
There is no doubt that social should be an important factor in digital marketing strategies going forward. Whether you are trying to improve brand awareness, build customer relationships or stay on top of the search rankings, social media should not be omitted from your digital marketing campaigns.
There are a few big brands that don’t invest in multiple pages, or can get away with minimal investment in social media. For example Apple, who according to Branddirectory.com were the No1 global brand last year don’t have an official Twitter page and although they are on Facebook they have obviously made the decision that updating it is not on their to do list for now. With a reported $1billion marketing budget in 2012, they most definitely have a vast array of other options than most marketers…
Better mobile support and a richer use of imagery
Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Facebook 7th March announcement
Our commentary on Facebook’s latest update
At Smart Insights we aim to only cover the major updates to Facebook that are likely to have a big impact on marketers using Facebook. It’s now around around a year since we covered the marketing implications of the new Timeline - still worth checking to see whether you are using all of the 9 features we cover to the maximum.
We weren’t expecting this update to be as significant since it doesn't directly relate to company pages, with rumours suggested it would cover the Newsfeed, so would have an impact on advertising and visibility of updates from company pages.
As always Facebook’s design team faced a delicate balance between increasing average ad revenue per user against improvement to usability and experience.…
