Harnessing Facebook for marketing is one of the greatest online opportunities – and challenges – in brand marketing and for small businesses. With over 800 million users, the top social network continues to be the best potential online lead generator. At least it can be, if you learn about EdgeRank . . .

Most people are unaware of this, but the Facebook News Feed doesn’t display everything your friends and fans post – and vice versa. To gain more exposure on Facebook, get to know how its “brain” works. That “brain” being Facebook’s algorithm aka EdgeRank. (more…)

Technorati Tags: edgerank, facebook, social media

Orabrush Spokesman

Orabrush, a little-known company in Utah, makes a $5 tongue cleaning devise that has small business tongues wagging these days. Orabrush recently sealed a 3,500 store distribution deal with Walmart. The company credits its success to a series of wildly successful YouTube videos and a little $28 Facebook ad.

Orabrush is likely the first small business brand ever that used social media to land such a lucrative deal. It’s a fascinating business story, a social media case study worth learning from.

The Challenge:

Dr. Bob Wagstaff, the 75-year-old inventor of Orabrush, tried for nearly a decade to create sales momentum for his tongue cleaners via infomercials. After spending $40,000 in advertising, the he’d only filled 100 orders.
Continue reading Orabrush Case Study

Technorati Tags: facebook, orabrush, retail distribution, social media, walmart

Time will tell if Timelines.com, a small Web company out of Chicago, will defeat their Goliath – i.e., social networking giant Facebook. The dot-com’s parent company, Timelines Inc, is the latest to launch a trademark infringement lawsuit against the social media titan.

The legal action, filed with a federal court on September 29, 2011, is in response to Facebook’s new Timeline feature. If you’re not familiar, Timeline allows users to revamp their profile page, turning it into a fresh-faced multi-media scrapbook.
Continue reading Timelines Sues Facebook

Technorati Tags: facebook, social media, timelines

A new study just released shows just how powerful the PR benefits of social media can be. Performics, a search marketing division of Rublicis Groupe, conducted a study of 3,000 U.S. consumers who regularly access at least one social network. The study looked at how different groups of consumers related to social networks each day, with a special emphasis on their purchasing behaviors around various types of products, and in comparison to other types of media channels. The study was compared to a previous study performed in October 2009.

More than 80% of the study participants had an active Facebook account, up from 71% in the previous study. Nearly a fourth of the people who don’t have one said they planned to join within a month. Almost 40% of the respondents who use Twitter said (more…)

Technorati Tags: consumer pr firm, consumer public relations, facebook, social media