Almost every social story this week has to have been eclipsed by the roll out of Facebook Timeline for business pages. Google must have been delighted to have the focus taken off their new privacy policy or was that just clever timing on their behalf? I’m not going to dwell on the Google thing either, we’ve covered it a past social 7. Here are the best things I’ve read this week. If I’ve missed anything good do leave your links in the comments below.
Facebook Timeline For Business Pages
It all happened so suddenly on Wednesday, yes we were expecting the announcement of Timeline but I wasn’t sure it would be available immediately. As soon as it was announced you could see bloggers clambering to be the first to write about it. I found it really exciting, it’s like having a new toy and finding my way around and discovering how stuff works is still keeping me entertained.
By far the best guide I’ve read on the new pages comes from HyperArts. A great step by step guide. I’ll be covering some stuff on my video cast over the next few weeks so do keep an eye on the podcast page above.
Are Facebook Reading Your Text Messages?
It seems that every week there is a new privacy issue involving a social network and mobile applications. This week was Facebook’s turn. The Sunday Times reported that Facebook was reading users SMS (text) messages. However it seems this is probably not the truth. Facebook have responded explaining how their application accesses data but with the initial article being so widely reported is it possible that no one will hear their side of the story? Read more on Silicon Republic.
Getting engagement on Facebook
You’re possibly getting a bit tired of me harping on about engagement but it is becoming more and more important. Maintaining a Facebook page is not the easy ride it has been in the past and we constantly need to be finding new ways to engage with our community. This post from Wchingya is one of my top reads of the week and is packed with ideas and examples that will help keep you on your toes.
Pimp your business blog
Blogging can be the most important part of your social media strategy. I’m passionate about it and have been delighted to see some of the newbie bloggers from the KLCK Bloggers Network blossom. But it can be disheartening if you struggle to write a post and feel that no one is reading or responding. This post on Bloggertone by Niall Devitt is a good guide for starters or for those who need to refresh their blogging skills. It takes you through several tips and tricks that will supercharge a blog post.
Responding to reviews online
Customer reviews integrated into your website, or on third part sites such as Yelp or Trip Advisor are here to stay. With so many social consumers admitting they are influenced by reviews in their purchasing decisions it’s important that you embrace them. Of course no matter how good you are there is always the chance you will get a negative review. This post on Social Media Today by Charity Hisle shows you how to deal with both positive and negative feedback.
Sesame Street comes alive with augmented reality
This video made me so happy when I happened upon it earlier this week. If you wanted to know what augmented reality was you really couldn’t find a better example.
Twitter for business case studies
Case studies are fantastic, they inspire new ideas and encourage me to be more creative in everything we do. I love this collection of Twitter business case studies from Jeff Bullas’s blog. It can often be a hard sell to convince companies they need to be on Twitter but these really show the benefits of using it. It also shows how use of social tools can evolve with customer needs. I love the story of Coffee Groundz and how they started accepting customer orders.
And from Spiderworking.com this week
How to add a Facebook Like Box to your website
A Facebook Like Box allows people to ‘Like’ your Facebook page without leaving your website. On this weeks video cast I show you how to create one and how to work around a bug in the system.
How influential are you on Pinterest?
I found this cool tool that measures how influential you are on Pinterest. PinClout measures a number of your statistics and aggregates them into a score.
Book Review ‘The End Of Business Of Usual” by Brian Solis
I thoroughly enjoy reading Brian’s blog and the book pumped me full of new ideas. Read my full review and take aways here.
As always I’m interested in hearing about the stories you’ve read this week so please do leave your links in the comments section.
