Social Media Latest

Start your own TV station!

Great news from Google last week with the announcement that Hangouts on Air are now available for all Google+ users following a trial with selected partners. Hangouts are an amazing feature of Google+ which enable you to hold a video conference with up to nine other people. More about Hangouts and why you should be using them in this previous post – Have you tried Google+ Hangouts?

The two key benefits of Hangouts On Air are:

Ability to broadcast live - you can now broadcast your live Hangout from your Google+ stream, your YouTube channel or your website to anyone with an internet connection.

Automatic recording and sharing – your Hangout is recorded automatically on Google+ and on YouTube and of course you can embed on your website and share across your social networks.

It really is like having your own internet TV station and there are no setup costs! There are numerous uses for Hangouts On Air – great for training, conferences, sharing of ideas and concerts.

The next #wearesocialclub featuring a Social Media Q and A with me and music from Juey will be broadcast live from 6.30pm on Thursday 31 May at www.wearesocialclub.co.uk, on my YouTube channel and on Google+.

To learn more about Hangouts and other features of Google+ come along to my workshop next Wednesday in Maxet House, Cheltenham. It’s £87 including lunch.

Foursquare launch history page

History has been the fashion in social media this past six months led the the launch of Facebook’s Timeline. Foursquare are now getting in on the act by adding a new history page. It’s fully searchable so you can view all your past check-ins from any month or year. You can also filters by who you were checked-in with, what type of venue you were in, and which town or country.

From a users’s point of view there are lots of potential benefits. For example, it’s handy to remember all the cool places you visited when on holiday. Useful if you want to make recommendations to friends visiting the same place. From a venue owner’s perspective it will provide additional visibility as users search their past check-ins.

6 Google+ changes

Google+ has undergone a radical overhaul and now has a fresher and cleaner look. It’s the first big change for the network since it’s launch in June last year. I find it way more easy to use than Facebook and LinkedIn and particularly like the ability to edit posts after they’ve been published…because I’m always making typos! With 6 of the latest changes outlined below it’s even more easy to use.

1) Profile picture changes – The profile pic has been moved from left hand side to a more prominent position on the right hand side. It should be a minimum of 250 pixels x 250 pixels but you can upload a larger photo which Google+ allows you to crop to display the right size image.

2) Cover photo is now an option – you can now replace the photo strip (which is now larger) with a Facebook style cover photo. Hover over the existing photo strip and select the ‘landscape photo’ option. The cover image needs to be 940 pixels x 180 pixels but like the profile picture you can upload a larger photo which G+ allows you to crop to display the right size image.

3) Main Circles on new nav bar – You now can now add two Circles to a top navigation bar which allows you to select them quickly for when you want to send posts to different audiences. Circles are at the centre of Google+ and allow you to communicate to different audiences – a major improvement on Facebook’s untargetted approach for Pages. To decide which Circles appear at the top go to Circles on the left hand side then drag the two Circles towards to the left hand side.

4) Hangouts are now more accessible – You can now fire up a Hangout via a menu icon on the new vertical navigation bar on the left hand side. Select the button to view Hangouts that are currently live – another nice new feature. Hangouts are a unique and great feature of Google+ – you can read more about how you can use Hangouts in a previous article.

5) Activity – It’s now easier for you to see who has +1′d or shared your content. Simply click on the +1 or Share icons on the bottom right of a post and the ‘activity’ for each post will be displayed. This includes thumbnails and names of each person who has engaged with your post. Select their thumbnail or name to view a profile.

6) New share button – There’s a new style Share button (see left hand side of any of my blog posts) that you can add to your blog or news articles to encourage Google+ users to share to their profiles. There is great SEO value in this – read Improve your SEO by sharing to Google+.

To learn more about Google+ and how it can benefit your business you can attend my next Google+ Masterclass in Cheltenham on Wednesday 23 May.

Facebook’s IPO – facts, stats and speculation

With Facebook’s IPO (Initial Public Offering) looming on the horizon here are some facts, stats and speculation. We know that Facebook will join the NASDAQ this month and the most likely date is 17 May although 14 May has also been suggested.

• This will be the largest internet IPO to date; larger than Google’s in 2004. Google raised less than $2 billion whereas Facebook are looking to raise around $5 billion which values the company as a whole at a staggering $100 billion. Not bad for a website started by students 8 years ago.
• There are now 901 million active users on Facebook up from 845 million reported on 31 December 2011.
• 500 million of those 901 active users access Facebook via mobile.
• Facebook now generates 45% more revenue than it did a year ago (mainly from selling advertising) amounting to $1,058 billion.
• The first quarter of 2012 showed a 6% decline on revenue compared with the last quarter of 2011.

There will certainly be plenty of hype and media coverage of the IPO which can only benefit Facebook and give a further boost to sign ups. There’s little doubt that total active users will exceed $1 billion by the end of July. Amazing.

To learn how to use Facebook for marketing check out my next Facebook Masterclass on Wednesday 17 June and find out more about our Facebook marketing services.

Foursquare news roundup

Yesterday, Foursquare users around the world celebrated Foursquare Day – 16 April - 4/4^2 and the occasion was marked with the announcement that the location based service now has 20 million users. Since it’s launch users have checked-in a staggering 2 billion times.

Checking-in on Foursquare has yet to hit the mainstream in the UK but with a team of three now in place in London it surely won’t be long.

Foursquare continue to add social networking features to their service. The latest is a Bio section that you can add to your profile to tell people all about yourself.

It’s similar to Twitter’s as it’s displayed underneath your name and is limited to 160 characters. In fact, if you’d linked your Twitter account to Foursquare you can import your Twitter bio with a single click. However, unlike Twitter it’s a shame it doesn’t support hyperlinks.

Obtain more newsletter subscribers with Timeline

The new Facebook Timeline for Business Page has now been rolled out to all Facebook Page. Timeline has a number of advantages including the tabs at the top of the page which are now more noticeable and provide more space to display content. A tab provides a great platform for increasing subscribers to your email newsletter.

Here are 5 tips:

1. Set up an application tab containing an email form – most newsletter provides such as Aweber which I use provide an application or code that you can use to create a email sign up form on Facebook. Check your email newsletter providers Help section for more info.
2. Place the tab next to the Photo tab – select the down arrow to the right of tabs and then the pencil edit icon on your newsletter tab where you’ll see an option to swap with another tab.
3. Use the headline to promote the key benefit of your email newsletter eg Free Tips – In your Admin Panel go to Manage/Edit Page/Apps, your email form app, then Go to application and change the Box Title to the heading you require.
4. Customise the icon with an appropriate email newsletter icon.
5. Finally to highlight your new tab, create a Facebook post linked to your app tab then Pin it to the top of your Page – select the pencil edit icon to the right of your post then Pin to top.

LinkedIn and Google+ make it easier to connect

LinkedIn has made some improvements to its People You May Know feature which provides members with personalised and relevant suggestions that make it easier to find and make new connections. LinkedIn looks at who is in your existing network, where you used to work and where you went to school to make suggestions.

When on the LinkedIn homepage three suggestions are displayed on the top right hand side. Select ‘see more’ on the bottom right of the box to display a new style  two column page with more suggestions. Not all members have been upgraded yet but here’s a preview of the new style People You May Know page with results personalised for you (make sure you’re logged in before you view).

As well as the improved design and presentation, LinkedIn has also made it easier to filter results – just select the logo of the workplace, school or college at the top of the page to view appropriate results.

Google+ have introduced a feature using exactly the same phrase as LinkedIn. Their ‘People you may know’ function suggests people that you might like to add to Circles. Potential new connections are displayed when you add people in the top right notification area, which is available whenever you are logged into any Google website, not just Google+. This new feature is in addition to the Suggestions that are posted on your Circles page.

Facebook Timeline compulsory from 30 March

Don’t forget that if you haven’t yet upgraded your Facebook Page to the the new Facebook Timeline by the 30 March, your Page will be upgraded automatically.

It’s worth taking the time before then to make sure your Facebook Page is all set for the big changes that will be in effect from the end of March. Until then you have the opportunity to try different posts and ideas and to optimise photos to the new sizes. You can then preview your Page and if you’re happy with it you can publish and make it live.

To find out more about the upcoming changes please read my Timeline for Facebook Pages is here blog post or book a place on my Facebook Masterclass on Wednesday 25 April.

Foursquare sharpens its image on Facebook

Foursquare have made improvements with how the Foursquare application on Facebook integrates with the new Timeline design. In Foursquare’s own words, “Now, the check-ins that you choose to share on Facebook look nicer, in both your Timeline and News Feed (and if you check in a bunch of times, your friends will see them as one nice story instead of separately). Your check-in photos show up full-size, too, just like photos you upload to Facebook.”

Also displayed on the right is a summary of each month’s Foursquare activity in your Timeline, which includes your total check-ins, top places plus badges you unlocked.

The most significant change here is the display of photos which perhaps will encourage more people to take snaps when they check-in; something that currently only a small percentage of people seem to do.

Future of business [INFOGRAPHIC]

Below is an Infographic with a small contribution from me. Check out the Technology path. Click the image to view.

Click above to view Infographic

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