Cerebra

Today, a quick overview on GM pulling their Facebook ads

Here’s a very interesting read on GM pulling their advertising from Facebook:
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-worst-nightmare-with-gm-pulling-its-ads-heres-how-the-other-dominoes-may-fall-2012-5

The decision was made for two different reasons:

The quiet moments between a company’s hyped marketing and communication campaigns are overlooked and under-valued marketing opportunities. Before the rise of social media it was acceptable to ignore these moments, but we now have the tools and the techniques to convert this ”downtime” into an opportunity to build loyal communities.
Companies plan out their annual marketing campaigns with the focus of their budget spend on creating big spikes in interest and awareness. The size of the budget determines how many spikes there will be and how high they are, but regardless of the spend, there will always be quiet periods between campaigns that can be converted into customer loyalty gold.

The term social media refers to a set of web-based and mobile tools, technologies and platforms that enable connection, communication and collaboration in ways never before possible. Hopefully you’ve cottoned on to this by now.

The problem is that this definition doesn’t encompass the undeniable impact social media has had on society and business. I’ve been saying for years now that social media is not about tools, but about people. I believe that companies that grasp the ethos behind social media – and the behavioural changes resulting from the integration of these tools into daily life – will easily differentiate themselves from their competitors in years and decades to come.

Facebook unveiled the much-anticipated “Timeline” for Pages yesterday, the biggest change since February 2011. Let’s take a look at the new changes and what it means for Facebook subscribers:

Timeline

As the name suggests, Pages will now be able to add milestones, which are similar to life events on personal profiles. It provides more opportunities for brands to post historical content, while providing a new experience.

Cover photos

The first change you will notice is the cover photo. Like the timeline for personal profiles, a landscape image at the top of the Page becomes the focal point. Facebook has dictated that the cover photo may not contain the following:

1. Contact information
2. Product or service pricing

I touted Social Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) as one of the key trends in social media in South Africa for 2012, and I think it needs some explaining.

What is it?

Social CRM is the process of linking customer profiles (back-end data) with customers’ social profiles (front-end data), providing a 360 degree view of the customer when engaging.

Why is it important?

Social CRM has seen huge growth in the more established social markets overseas due to the rich data that social brings to the table. But there are some key reasons why it’s important for those companies who engage in social media.