In the age of constantly evolving technology the biggest social network (Facebook) is always releasing brand new apps, ad formats and features. As with any successful business, it is important to be ahead of the curve and be on top of the latest innovations in the online world. Adept at delivering quantitative metrics The Social Media People are experts in utilizing online medium to meet your business objectives .

While there are number of tools that can be used to fulfill various objectives, we here at The Social Media People focus mainly on developing brand awareness . Facebook offers a global reach of over 700 MILLION active users-all potential customers with the ability to give instant feedback for your products or services. This in turn leaves a huge opportunity to oust your competition through specialized targeting which gives you the ability to start your campaign with in just a few minutes.

Below we have listed the tools you would need to utilize in order to accomplish your specific objective..

●    BUSINESS PAGE. It offers a platform for you to engage with and establish customer relationships within facebook. We recommend posting relevant, fresh interesting content such articles, press releases, picture and videos and even any new products currently in development. This can also serve as a landing page with a call to action.;

●    FACEBOOK PLACES. This is a great chance to leverage your Fan Page by linking it to your Facebook Place . Customers can ‘check in’ to your physical location too giving you free word of mouth recommendation.

●    EVENTS. Out of all the tools available on Facebook, this is the most underused It can be used more as a pre-launch tool to an actual event/product release date. The embedded allows you give any update/changes to the event created.

●    APPS. Here is another way to take your customers into raving fans of your products/services. Everyone loves apps, so if you have an idea for your business. You can utilize this feature to only give discounts/coupons to users who like your page or install your app. The possibilities are endless

●    SOCIAL PLUGINS. These are basically extensions of Facebook but embedded on different sites. The big advantage of this is it allows your site visitors the chance to interact and spread free awareness about your. We here at The Social Media People recommend install “like” buttons, comment boxes, activity feeds and “share” button.

OK so what do I do now?

Our objective here at The Social Media People are to improve your presence on Facebook, guarantee increased exposure, drive sales and overall brand awareness. As a business one of the most important aspects of commercial success is having a solid reputation. The added advantage of instant feedback allows you to save time and money in development costs as well advertising campaigns.

- The Social Media People

Have you ever wondered how to attract more followers on Twitter? Well, The Social Media People are here to help. Here at The Social Media People, we are often asked by our clients how to attract more followers on the social media site. Therefore, we have devised a fool proof list of tips!

1)      Customise your Twitter page. Our experts here at The Social Media People believe that this is one, if not the most important tip. This is because an un-customised Twitter page sends out the impression that you are not really here to use the social media network. It also allows people to quickly identify your brand, and creates that impression that you are here to stay. Start by adding a profile picture, creating a descriptive biography and an attractive background image. You can also customise the design of the page, the colour of the fonts and the menu.

2)      Next, The Social Media People suggest that you add your existing contacts. To do this, use your other social media channels to connect with people you know, and let them know that you now have Twitter. Remember to add your Twitter URL so they can easily find you.

3)      Follow people, follow lots of people, then follow some more people. When doing this, try to identify people that have the same interests as you, or people in your industry. The Social Media People suggest that you re-tweet, or comment on one of their latest tweets to increase the chance that they will follow you back.

4)      If you or your company is a significant public figure or business, try to get verified by Twitter. This will increase your reputation on the social media network and should result in more followers.

5)      Remember to spread your Twitter ID around! Use other social media channels to promote your Twitter page, put it on your stationary, in your email signature, blog about it and include the ID (or a Twitter feed) on your website. Make sure it is clear to see, and watch the followers rush in.

6)      Be active and be interesting. Share links, blogs, websites, videos and pictures related to your niche. Make sure that your content is a good mix of unique tweets, re-tweets and links. Also, remember to stick to your niche. Sure, it can be interesting to learn a little more about a public figure, but if you are a company try to keep it professional.

7)      Join in! Tweet to and re-tweet to both people you are following, and those who are following you. After all, it is a social media site; be social and network with your followers.

8)      Once you have built a following, ask to be re-tweeted and recommended. If you are sharing good, quality content, people will want to recommend you naturally. A word of warning, no one wants to see “Please RT” at the end of every post, use it sparingly for really good tweets. The idea is to post good content that will get you re-tweeted, not to beg for them.

9)      The Social Media People’s next tip is to use Hash Tags (#). These make it easier to see what your tweet is about and easier to find in the Twitter search engine.

10)   Follow all those that follow you. This is for two reasons; firstly, it will increase your network (that is why you are using a social media network after all) and, secondly, some people un-follow those who do not follow back.

11)   Un-follow those who do not follow you back. This will enable you to avoid reaching the follow limits (the first of which is at 2,000 followers – after that, you will need to wait until you amass a certain amount of followers before you can follow more people). Be cautious with this, wait at least a week before un-following someone. People tend to be busy; they may have just missed you following them.

12)   The final tip from our experts here at The Social Media People: Aim to follow people who have an auto-follow system set up. This is rather self-explanatory.

– The Social Media People

Here at The Social Media People, we are truly excited by the prospect of a competitor to Facebook. For many years now, Facebook has dominated the social media scene, with millions of people being drawn to the network.

While Google + has been around for some months now, and has attracted a good number of users, the amount of people actually using the social media network has dwindled. However, with the launch of Google + Business pages, the flailing social media network could receive a much needed shot in the arm.

Our experts at The Social Media People believe that this introduction could, effectively, force business users to populate the social media network. Many multi-national corporations are already collecting their business pages and this could, simultaneously, generate a renewed interest in the network leading to an influx of people and active users.

Therefore, The Social Media People suggest your business does the same, and collects it’s page; here’s why.

Firstly, Google + offers businesses another way to interact with their client base. While this is already an option, with Twitter and Facebook being used for this purpose since the networks grew in size, Google + is somewhat different. For instance, the new social media network allows people and businesses to interact with your customers in a slightly different way. Assume, for one second, that you are a band, and have a gig in Liverpool. With Google +, you could target your followers that reside in the area, via the circles functionality, and offer discounted tickets, VIP access and free drinks. This is a much more targeted approach, and could result in a greater ROI.

Secondly, in terms of Search Engine Optimisation, Google is King. Therefore, any feature offered by Google should have serious weight in their search algorithm. Thus, much like Google Places, the social media services offered by the search giant cannot be ignored. A Google + page represent one more way for your company to be found on the search engines. Additionally, people are now able to interact with the social media network on a mass scale. The introduction of the +1 button, to the SERP will make sharing content with the right ‘circle’ exceedingly easy. So, you could engage with your customers and clients by showing them what pages you find interesting.

Thirdly, Google offers many useful services, such as Google Places. These make it effortless to find a local company, view their reviews and find out a little more about the business. One can only predict, but it seems likely that Google will integrate Google + and Google Places. This means that your potential customers can easily find out more about you.

Finally, Google + offers a way for each employee in your company to set up a profile, allowing customers and clients to find your colleagues. This can be fully utilised to network, generate business and contacts across the world, in a similar way to LinkedIn, whilst the circles feature will prevent people from sharing every post with all their followers.

In conclusion, it seems that the emerging social media network has captured the features that people valued from LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook and merged them in to one attractive package. So, can the search giant become a social media to rival Facebook? Only time will tell, but if Google can merge all of its features seamlessly it seems likely.

– The Social Media People

Here at The Social Media People, we believe that establishing yourself as an expert on LinkedIn takes more than a completed profile.  In the same way an offline networking group works, people expect more from you than just handing out nice brochures, they want to see contributions and helpful input from you.

Some strategic ways to demonstrate your expertise on LinkedIn are with Recommendations, participating in discussions in Groups, and participating in LinkedIn Answers.

Send these folks a private message on LinkedIn every once in a while. Again, stick with blog posts you’ve written or industry articles you think they might find interesting. Not to beat a dead horse, but this will prove you care and that you’re genuinely out to help them–not you.

• While creating your LinkedIn profile, customise its URL rather than use the jumble of letters generated by LinkedIn. You can create an address like http://linkedin.com/in/twenty3media which looks a lot better than http://linkedin.com/in/xnofltm
• Actively participate in LinkedIn Questions by offering valuable answers to questions and discussions, this can build trust and credibility
• Get in touch with your business prospects. Use LinkedIn’s introduction features to get introduced to others through your existing connections.
• You can head-hunt on LinkedIn to find your future employees by either finding them via search or posting jobs to attract the right set of people for your company.

ComScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of worldwide usage of social networking sites, indicating that while the growth in new users in North America is beginning to level off, it is burgeoning in other regions around the world. During the past year, the total North American audience of social networkers has grown 9 percent compared to a much larger 25 percent growth for the world at large. The Middle East-Africa region (up 66 percent), Europe (up 35 percent), and Latin America (up 33 percent) have each grown at well-above average rates.

“While the social networking trend first took off in North America, it is beginning to reach a point of maturity in the region,” said Jack Flanagan, comScore executive vice president. “However, the phenomenon is still growing rapidly in other regions around the world – especially as the established American brands turn their focus to developing markets.”

During the past year, many of the top social networking sites have demonstrated rapid growth in their global user bases. Facebook.com, which took over the global lead among social networking sites in April 2008, has made a concerted effort to become more culturally relevant in markets outside the U.S. Its introduction of natural language interfaces in several markets has helped propel the site to 153-percent growth during the past year. Meanwhile, the emphasis Hi5.com has put on its full-scale localization strategy has helped the site double its visitor base to more than 56 million. Other social networking sites, including Friendster.com (up 50 percent), Orkut (up 41 percent), and Bebo.com (up 32 percent) have demonstrated particularly strong growth on a global basis.

Facebook’s recent ascension to become the top global social networking site has been spurred by its substantial growth across worldwide regions. Though its largest visitor base is still in North America (49 million), Facebook’s growth in the region is a relatively modest 38-percent. In every other worldwide region, Facebook’s audience has more than quadrupled. Europe is quickly catching up with North America as Facebook’s largest visitor base with 35 million visitors in June, a 303-percent increase and a net addition of nearly 27 million monthly visitors versus year ago. Other worldwide regions have seen even more dramatic growth on a percentage basis.

“Facebook has done an exceptional job of leveraging its brand internationally during the past year,” added Mr. Flanagan. “By increasing the site’s relevance to local markets through local language interface translation, the site is now competing strongly or even capturing the lead in several markets where it had a relatively minor presence just a year ago.”

– The Social Media People

The latest global survey from research house Nielsen shows Australia and Brazil are the top Social Media users in the world.

Australia leads the table of most time spent, with each user spending on average 7:19:13 hours per month on Social Networks/ Blogs (SN/B).

Brazil leads the countries with the greatest reach, with 86% of their Internet population active users of SN/B.

While Brazil and Australia share some of the best weather and lifestyle in the world (which might at first seem at odds with time spent on SN/B) the two countries got to the top on the back of different Social Networks – Facebook in Australia and Orkut in Brazil.

It’s a bit odd that Nielsen only includes Japan, Switzerland, France, Germany, Brazil, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, United States and Australia in their “global” report, but you’d think that they’ve picked a good sample of countries to demonstrate the difference across territories.

Other interesting data from the study shows that

Almost a quarter of all time spent on the Internet is spent on Social Networks/Blogs
Three quarters of global consumers who go online access Social Networks /Blogs
A 66% increase in time spent on Social Networks/Blogs compared to last year.

– The Social Media People