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

It’s as if a PR tipping point is near – one created by a bolder mindset among a super-connected consumer group. Think: Occupy Wall Street, and how to do business with a technologically astute and “share”-happy consumer group.

PR departments and PR agencies will certainly feel the effects of more smartphone and tablet users, more voices and activists with power tools. It’ll require more resources to monitoring and managing everything from blogs and social networks to podcasts, Web TV, and wikis. Making the cacophony tougher to manage this year:

• The proliferation of easily affordable tablets;
• Further developments like the voice-activated Siri app for Apple iPhone 4S, which chips away at the need for search engine marketing;
• The anticipated growth in market share of Google’s Android operating system; and
• The cloud, online storage capability that can pose security issues for business users.

PR at a Tech-fueled Tipping Point

What follows are some predictions for 2012, each of which is powered to a large extent by advancements in mobile and wireless devices, and their increased usage by more owners with agendas: (more…)

Technorati Tags: pr trends, public relations, social media

Video marketing may be redefining the concept of spending face time with customers and prospects. How deeply into video marketing PR should your brand or small business venture? For a clue, consider this…

According to a Cisco Internet forecasting report from June 2011:

• An Internet video destination currently represents a hefty 40 percent of consumer traffic.
• By 2015, video is expected to claim about 62 percent of online traffic. Video Marketing PR Continues, read on

Technorati Tags: social media, video, video marketing

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