Small Business | Forum « What’s trending in social media?

What’s trending in social media? (17 posts)

Topic tags: Facebook, linkedin, pinterest, social media trends, Twitter

Rachel Agheyisi said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
I know there is a lot of anecdotal information about what’s what in social media and what’s the best platform. Practically everyone has an opinion, most of which is self-serving and not verifiable. This is why I look for reputable third-party survey reports when I need info on trends and what works.
According to the INC magazine, Nielson just released a report on how each of the major social media platforms is trending.
Go here for a snapshot of the findings (Warning: you may encounter an intro flash; just click to skip it)
http://www.inc.com/flash-steinbeiser/social-media-winners-and-losers.html
p.s.
The other reason I’m sharing this link is to encourage club members to sign up for a free subscription to the INC magazine. I’ve found the publication to be very informative. You have the option of getting the print or electronic copy or both!
@rachelagheyisi | # | Top
Rich Brooks said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rachelagheyisi
Thanks for sharing, and I love Inc. magazine.
I’d worry less about which one is trending, and focus more on which ones my clients and prospects are using.
G+ is a good example; it’s either the world’s fastest growing social network ever, or a ghost town.
If your ideal customers are on G+ it doesn’t matter how many other people are ignoring it.
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rachelagheyisi I use Inc (and Entrepeneur) content all the time in my Twitter feed. I agree with @rich-brooks about being where your customers and prospects are.
p.s. I learned yesterday from Maddie Grant that the main reason to be on Google+ is the boost it gives you in SEO.
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Rachel Agheyisi said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks I completely agree.
It often surprises me that, sometimes, the availability of multiple options confuses rather than enlighten. Even here on our wonderfully informative and current SME clubs, I sense the confusion in many of the questions posted by members.
Bottom line remains: it is vital that our business decisions be inward-driven (what helps us serve our clients/grow our businesses meaningfully and efficiently). Knowledge of trends is good; aimlessly chasing trends is bad (to paraphrase George Orwell)!
@rachelagheyisi | # | Top
Rachel Agheyisi said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@kc_kreative Me too, I read Entrepreneur regularly; good resource for business owners — well worth a subscription!
@rachelagheyisi | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
Hello @rachelagheyisi
I found it a bit odd that the Nielsen study was done between July 2011 and July 2012 but the Inc. report came out Dec 5, 2012. A little bit of a gap there. This news is so old as to be not useful for today. A lot can change in a six month span on the web.
The Nielsen study actually says that mobile is the most used gadget in growth and if you look at page 5 of the actual study you’ll see the real numbers. I sort of think that Inc. took away what they wanted to report on and left out some pretty important factors.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@kc_kreative
Hi KC – You said “p.s. I learned yesterday from Maddie Grant that the main reason to be on Google+ is the boost it gives you in SEO.”

Really? Last year (July 2011) SEO-Hacker had this to say about the appearance of Google+ on the SM scene and how the Big Goo will be able to handle SM in the future :

1 - It’s easier to measure social signals from Google Plus because they own it.
2 – It’s easier to tweak stuff in Google Plus in order for them to get better social signals to integrate into their ranking factors.
3 - People would be driven to use Google Plus due to the fact that it will have more bearing in search engine social signals factor.

That article is here — How Does Google+ Affect SEO? Yes, it is 18 months old – so someone (even then) could unequivocally state that G+ will help to boost SEO. And of course that has proven to be correct information.

Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@supereb There is also the rise of AuthorRank that I have seen in a couple of articles so far that affect your SEO as well. Here is a link to the Social Media Today article: http://socialmediatoday.com/mac-ocampo/1050246/4-ways-authorrank-will-enhance-social-search
“With AuthorRank, content quality will not be measured by the authority of a domain alone. The online relevance and clout of a person that authored the content will now be the basis in getting it ranked. With this in mind, an author’s online reputation will grade them and use that when users search for relevant content.”
I would think that your Google+ page would be an important component of this algorithm. Guess I need to start posting there more!
@kc_kreative | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
Hi @kc_kreative
Quote — ”People now own the SERPs and not the spiders.”

No true yet, by any means. We’ll see what happens in the coming year.

Right now, social media conversions come in at around (overall) one percent of actual sales figures (based on big box and medium size company sales). Not a great number. However, when you consider the cross channel factors you find that lead generation costs are lower, so you have a catch in even that number.

The SERPs value is garnered first by the website itself and that will not change. AuthorRank sounds to me more like “bombing” than any other thing. A very old tactic.

I do see AuthorRank as a personal branding tool though (as the article states) and possibly for the endorsement factor but beyond that it can only enhance the SERP’s to a certain percentage. How much will that be? We can only guess until the numbers can be crunched at some later date.

Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Rachel Agheyisi said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@supereb Thanks for your input.
Frankly, your comments actually confirm the point that there’s a lot of confusion out there from how surveys are conceptualized to how the findings are reported — a whole lot of “tweaking” going on. I doubt the experts have a handle on it.
@rachelagheyisi | # | Top
Kristy C. Cartier said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@supereb Good stuff Eileen!
@kc_kreative | # | Top
Geoffrey Gordon said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rachelagheyisi I have to say that social media networks seem to rise and fall, but for me the community you build around your blog seems to be the most consistent social media network that doesn’t change with time.
@geoffrey-gordon | # | Top
Ann at greenoak said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
my view is   right in line with inc….tops in my world [retail] is still facebook and   (for many including me] pinterest…… blogs are going down but were never very big and   im not seeing many stores using twitter …instagram is too young for our business.[we sell to a little older group, homeowners]…..
im sticking with facebook for sure…as long as my customers are on there and they definitely are…. getting to   be seen by hundreds of them everyday is   just   hard to underestimate when you compare it to anything else….like newspapers or snail mail…im very thankful ..i know several small stores personally with over 2000 fans…. im sure no one would open 2 emails from me a day….but many see us on facebook   that much…
the worry about facebook   fading is not bothering me….its still huge and working…and frustrating!!!lol.
@annfurnivall | # | Top
Milan Steskal said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rich-brooks It’s interesting what you said that G+ is the fastest growing social network for someone. Who is it? I don’t know anyone around, who keeps using it. But I’d love to start if it makes sense for me and is not going to be a waste of time.
@milan-steskal | # | Top
Rachel Agheyisi said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@milan-steskal I think @rich-brooks was being facetious (in that statement) to make the point about trend reporting.
@rachelagheyisi | # | Top
Rich Brooks said
5 months, 2 weeks ago:
@rachelagheyisi
Not at all; there are statistics about G+ being the fastest growing social network ever.
However, as you know, there are “lies, damn lies, and statistics.”
@rich-brooks | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months, 1 week ago:
Hi @milan-steskal —
Being on Google+ is a smart move now for everyone. It affects SEO more than other social networks, and in a positive way. So, the growth factor will be like a shooting star, fast and furious at this point with no burn out — period.
I also don’t see that other SM areas will have the meaning for SEO that Google+ will in the future — so if you are not on that bandwagon yet, it’s time to get your guitar in hand and join in.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top