Tumblr defines itself to be a platform that “let’s you effortlessly share anything.” Users are able to create original content or reblog posts that include text, photos, videos and music. The site may not be fully understood by brands, but its massive community can become a large asset to them. Business 2 Community reports that Tumblr consists of more than 107.5 million blogs and 50.5 billion user-generated posts, including more than 70 million news posts that appear every day. This isn’t surprising since Tumblr users are known for their fandoms. They constantly perpetuate a love for television shows, fashion brands, and other consumer products–a jackpot for brands.

Fashion brands and media outlets have found success on the blogging site. Luxury brands such as Oscar de la Renta have found a home in Tumblr. In fact, 20% of posts on Tumblr are concern with fashion on a daily basis. Mass market brands like J. Crew are also taking advantage of the site.  Fashion brands typically post photos of their latest collections, while media outlets often post more accessible content such as cartoons according to AdAge.  Tumblr is comprised of strong visuals that entice users to click the re-blog button. The re-blogging of posts creates a certain virality that can be compared to wildfire. If a post is visually strong, it can reach thousands in a matter of minutes. Each re-blog results in an expansion of a brand’s audience and awareness.

Users re-blog things that personify them. The connection with a brand leads to engagement and interaction with a follower, who is effectively saying to peers “I identify with this brand.” According to AdAge, some believe that Tumblr’s core value for a brand is the ability to connect with its audience on a more intimate level. Digital director for All Day Every Day Philip Leif Bjerknes states,”I think you can communicate in a very rich way for your audience — in a way that seems much more in brand and in character than a Twitter or a Facebook. I’d also say the content feels a little less disposable.” Brands can be more “tongue-in-cheek” on Tumblr than other platforms. The ability to have a  strong brand personality shine through on a more intimate level fosters stronger connections with consumers and leads to sales.

According to Digiday, a brand that excels at Tumblr is actually financial giant American Express. AmEx has an online community for business owners called OPEN Forum, which is on Tumblr. Posts directly from OPEN Forum share the space with others from around the web that blog curators believe will appeal to followers. The content is organized into categories with searchable tags. Whether scrolling through the main page or the different categories, the information is presented to followers in a flowing format. All content is easily accessible and made relevant for its audience. AmEx also seems to make sure that an image accompanies each post to draw attention and present relevant information. On the left, the dog sitting at the computer creates the initial attraction to a post on steps to start your own business. AmEx may not be the most visually-driven brand, but they’ve managed to become that on Tumblr and procured a spot in Digiday’s top 5 brands on the site.

A wise move for brands to look into Tumblr, Yahoo already has. Buying the site for $1.1 billion this week, Yahoo is seeking to shift its appeal to a younger demographic. So, does Yahoo’s acquisition make Tumblr even more appealing to brands? AdAge speculates that it will. ”What makes Tumblr such an attractive acquisition is it has so much credibility among this audience that Yahoo and others are seeking — this 18-to-24 sweet spot,” said Ming Linsley, MEC‘s senior director of social media.

Tumblr can be a valuable asset to a brand. It has the ability to open new pathways to consumers in an increasingly visual world. Tumblr is out there, waiting for your  brand to harness its marketing power.

Aliza Licht, SVP of Global Communications at Donna Karen, humanizes the brand brilliantly. She is the woman behind DKNY PR GIRL on Twitter and has managed to make the DKNY brand feel like an actual person. I found myself wanting to buy every piece of DKNY clothing, even though she sometimes talks more about ABC’s Scandal than the actual brand. Still, she has cultivated a loyal DKNY online community of close to 500,000 followers. In a recent TEDxTalk, Licht addresses “The Power of Being Real.” She says that the people she interacts with on Twitter are not followers, but friends. These friends embraced her when she revealed her true self on Twitter, despite her fears of being rejected. The fact that she was a real and not just a brand resonated with her followers. 

Being real doesn’t just apply to us, it applies to all businesses. The human touch is more powerful and compelling than most ads you will find out there. First off, we know consumers look and listen more to their peers when it comes to making a purchase decision than the brand itself. By humanizing your brand, you become more of a peer among your consumers, thus more influential.

So you’re on Facebok, but every brand belongs on Twitter. Twitter is your new BFF, no matter what industry you’re in.  Turn up the romance and start getting cozy with this social network. Once you’ve lit the fires of love, develop a set personality for your brand. After all, every human has one and so should you. Social Media Today poses these questions: Who are you? What are you? Are you serious? Are you funny? Are you a combination of both? What is the tone of your conversations? The tone of your educational material? Social media is not for those who want to remain hidden in the shadows like an over-hyped vampire. It welcomes every person on the social network to come on it and see you at face value. You are exposed to the online world and you cannot hide. A set personality that best reflects your brand is your ultimate asset and weapon.

According to Social Media Today, Jon Iwata, Senior Vice President (Marketing and Communications) at IBM, stated, “We don’t try to manage the IBM brand. We try to manage our character as a business. And we’ve never defined IBM by what we’re selling.” Being human yourself, do you only talk about your business? Probably not. You shouldn’t do this with your brand either. For example, JonO is the epitome of a BzzAgent- chatty, informative and influential.

On Twitter and Facebook, JonO is an actual person but he still represents our brand. He mostly posts quirky and unique tidbits of information, but that’s exactly how we are here! With 90,000 “Likes ” on the BzzAgent Facebook page, JonO has 8,300 people talking about BzzAgent right now.  That’s over 9%, and that’s often up around 15%.  It’s an amazing level of engagement considering AdAge reports that brands only see about 1.3% engagement on Facebook. Obviously, you will need to talk about your business on social media, but adding those off topic pieces allows you to be more human and connect to your audience in a different way like JonO has.

The relationships that result from humanizing your brand are one of the most important products from this process. Cultivating relationships with your consumer base can lead to long-term loyalty and sales. Social Media Today wants you to remember that real people are behind those Facebook posts and Twitter handles. Engage with your consumers everyday. Respond to tweets inquiring about something or just to thank the person for showing their loyalty. The connections you make with your consumers now will be a valuable asset for the future.

Humanizing your brand is the next step you need to take in social media. Become not only a brand to your consumers, but a friend.

Forbes reports that nearly 70% of moms think technology makes them better. Marketers have begun to focus on moms specifically because they make up a large and influential demographic group. In fact, 90% of mothers use social media on a daily basis, a 20% increase since 2010 according to MediaPost. Moms are not just using social media because it is a fad. They enjoy a high level of engagement from family and friends. Mike Fogarty, the senior vice president and global publisher at BabyCenter, stated “Today’s mom is the most influential and social consumer you’ll meet.” They actually make up 32% of all online profits despite only being 18% of online users. Moms enjoy being active online, spending 6.1 hours per day surfing the web and shopping.

Even when it comes to the busiest of moms, they are still connected through their mobile devices. Social Media Today reports that 77% of moms follow 1 or more brands on social media, redeeming offers as they go. According to Marketing Charts, 83% of women in general are willing to give up their location on their mobile devices for $25 worth of in-store credit. Mobile moms can snag that credit too. With moms 28% more likely to use a tablet and 38% more likely to own a smartphone, mobile opportunities are endless for them and convenient, and that goes a long way. Now, 58% of them are more likely to make a purchase through a mobile device. Instead of pushing a screaming baby through a store, moms can make a purchase from the comfort of their couch as their child’s baby swing rocks away the tears.

Moms are embracing the digital age, so lend them a hand this Mother’s Day and go digital.

35 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube per minute, according to Social Media Examiner. With so much competition, marketers need to focus on how to stand out from the crowd and draw in an audience. The best way to go about creating content for your brand’s videos is to focus on your customers’ needs. Focusing on your customers’ needs allows you to create content that is most relevant and valuable to them. Business 2 Community reports that customers who view videos are 174% more likely to make a purchase than those who don’t. Relevancy can lead to larger profits.

Chances are slim you will make a video as viral as “Charlie Bit Me,” but you can expand your videos’ reach. First off, always include your brand’s URL in the description of your videos to drive traffic, and also include several tags on your video if using YouTube. These tags will make your video more likely to turn up in a local search. Google’s purchase of YouTube also cannot be overlooked. Now, videos appear at the top of search results. In order to secure a featured spot for your videos, include keywords in the title. These keywords will link your content to the search engine.

Social Media Today states that marketers need to “utilize the social media infrastructure,” meaning connecting your content to other social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr all support YouTube videos and offer different paths to consumers. Three out of five consumers will watch a video for a product to educate them about it so they make a more informed decision. The more social networks featuring the video, the more ways to persuade your customer base.

Consumers watch videos to gain greater insight into a product or a brand. The shorter and more concise a video, the better. The end of a video should include a call to action. Give your customers a direction instead of leaving them hanging on what to do next. A specific direction will increase the likelihood of a customer following through on a purchase.

Videos are more important than ever in your marketing strategy. Compose a plan that is most relevant to your audience and put it into motion.

Think about it like this: BzzAgent’s word of mouth marketing powerhouse is the marshmallow of retail. It’s sticky, delicious, and fulfilling. Everybody loves marshmallows. Tesco, on the other hand, owns a business called dunnhumby – a.k.a. the chocolate. It’s data and analytical capabilities are rich, addictive, jaw-dropping. Layer on open access to the rich datasets powering these companies, and what do you get? The best s’mores of your life, or…the dunnhumby Hack/Reduce hackathon (limited spots, so sign up only if you’re a developer/analyst!).

Gather ‘round the campfire to hear how its all gone down—less than two years after being acquired, BzzAgent is nearly fully integrated into dunnhumby, the big data and customer science outfit of parent company, Tesco. When word of mouth, the voice of the customer, meets actual shopper activities, the possibilities are endless. Already, the impact of tying together this data together has been nothing short of stupendous – now in its 11^th year of business, BzzAgent grew nearly 50% last year alone.

While all this was brewing, Boston was building heat, quickly becoming a hub for innovation in big data and a hotspot for startup activity around retail and data innovation. Combine that with dunnhumby’s new integrated presence in the city, and you get ooey, gooey, goodness.

Retail? You think Boston’s a hub for retail startups?! Ya, sure. You betcha. On the innovation front, there are countless transformative models all around the region. Here’s a handful:

• Aisle Buyer (sold to Intuit): Allow(ed) shoppers to skip checkout lines by paying with their credit card directly on their mobile phone
• Alignable: (in stealth – and it’s awesome)
• Card Star (acquired by Constant Contact): Puts all of your membership and rewards cards on a single free app
• Green Tape:  Provides real time reviews for the in-store shopping experience.
• Level Up:  Mobile payments for smaller retailers, with amazing analytics ta boot.
• Locately: Analyzes local data to determine shopper activities
• Plastiq:  Enables payments via credit card for very high ticket items
• Privy: Connects online promotions to in-store activities
• Promoboxx: Connects brands with multiple retailers for co-promotion programs.
• SavingStar: Saves you money on your groceries without printing or clipping anything.
• Swipely: Utilizes point of sale terminals to provide transaction analytics to retailers
• Swirl: Hilmi Olzug’s outfit augments the in-store experience with personalized shopping delivered via mobile phone.
• True Lens: Appends social data to customer lists to help retailers grow loyalty and improve ROI.
• Unbound Commerce: Develops mobile commerce for retailers
• (I’m sure I missed a ton – put in the comments, please!)

And the reason so many retail startups are calling Boston home? Well that gets back to big data. With the development of Hack/Reduce in Kendall Square, there’s a centralized location for hacking big data. And did I mention that MIT, Harvard, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Atlas, Bain Capital, Matrix Partners, Goodwin Proctor, and others are founding sponsors?

All of this is why dunnhumby has decided to throw an all-out, over-the-top, never-before-attempted, retailer hackathon at Hack/Reduce on May 11^th, from 9 AM – 9 PM. We’ll provide an actual transaction data set (real customer purchases, anonymized) for analysis, manipulation, introspection, and all sorts of coding madness – with a goal of helping forecast the success of new product launches more effectively.

Winning teams get cold hard cash ($2,500 for first place winner) and there are all sorts of goodies to be had (not to mention food and all that).  But the real gold is the fact that you’ll be working side by side with dunnhumby executives and data scientists, getting exposure to their world and how they have created a Big Data and Customer Science juggernaut.

If you want to hack in person, sign up now or miss out.   Especially if you are working in one of the amazing retail startups in our region — this will be an eye-opening, retail-bending experience that won’t soon be forgotten.

See you there!

Ranging from 18 to 34 years of age, USA TODAY reported that the University of Southern California’s Center for the Digital Future in conjunction with Bovotiz Inc. found that Millennials are the most willing of any generation to divulge their personal information online, even more so when there is a reward for them as a result. This is not to say that Millennials don’t enjoy their right to privacy. 70% of them believe no one should have direct access to their information or web behavior, but they do like the benefits they receive from giving it out.

Engaging with companies has become an instinct with this generation. They know the more they engage, the greater the benefits they receive. For example, there can be a 20% discount on a brands site, but if you follow them on Twitter you receive 30% off. Elaine Coleman, managing director of media and emerging technology at Bovitz Inc., stated, ”Millennials are all about exchange of information. [They say], ‘Sure, if you send me a relevant ad, I’ll tell you where I am.’ ” Growing up with technology has fostered this way of thinking because it has always been the path for these young users to connect globally.

Millennials are a significant portion of today’s marketing audience and they have a lot of influence on each other. In Marketing Charts coverage of the report, they noted that at least 48% of Millennials access social media sites several times a day, compared to only 20% of those 35 years old and above. This means Millennials have a greater potential to influence peers than those of an older generation. Millennials also reportedly contact at least 18 people via social networking sites. Since 70% of consumers trust a stranger’s recommendation, marketers need to attract this generation with special offers in exchange for their information to gain better insight into their behaviors and offer a better user experience. This can result in an increase of sales for a brand as well as greater loyalty.

Millenials’ value their privacy, but they are more willing to hand over their information if there’s a reward involved. The more information they give to brands, the more a brand can reward them, gain consumer insight and spur a series of word-of-mouth interactions. Give Millennials special benefits, and you will receive them in return.

The authors Patrick Spenner and Karen Freeman stated:

Businesses broadly misjudge what consumers want from them online. In particular, marketers often believe that consumers interact with them on social media to join a community and feel connected to the brand. But consumers have little interest in having a relationship beyond the merely transactional.

The image to the right ranks the reasons why customers engage with brands on social media, with the right column showing what businesses perceived that to be. They ranked learning about new products and general information as top on customers’ lists, when only 52% and 51% of customers agreed respectively. Perhaps the starkest difference between brands’ and consumers’ reasons is being part of a community. Only 22% of consumers surveyed responded that they follow brands for that reason, contrasting 61% of businesses.

Customers actually follow brands because of the potential discounts and purchases, which businesses ranked the lowest in terms of reasons. Discounts and purchases are the most relevant to a customer, as they directly benefit from it. Relevancy and value are what draw in a customer’s interest. They don’t rank learning about new products very high because we know that customers prefer and are more receptive to a recommendation for a product by their peers. Instead, they look for information that allows them to gain something.

Businesses need to take a closer look at what resonates most with their customers because that is the path to greater engagement with them.

In an increasingly visual world, Instagram is a powerful brand marketing tool. We aren’t saying that you need to go out and create a photo campaign of images that look like they could be used on billboards.  The power and beauty of Instagram is the casual air it gives off. According to MarketingProfs, consumers are looking for a more relaxed approach on this social media site, and in turn are more receptive. Instagram should not be used solely for advertisements since consumers can find that anywhere. Instead, brands need to utilize the app to cultivate relationships with their customers.

Brands can still show off their products on Instagram, but in a more natural and beautiful setting. For instance, a restaurant chain can post a photo of a customer eating a meal outside on a spring day. With a wide array of filters to enhance the image, posting a photo that is made beautiful and depicting people enjoying the services can elicit a higher level of engagement.

Aside from showcasing products and services, Instagram is a great way to bring your consumers behind the scenes of the brand. Images posted can pull away the corporate mask to show your employees as everyday people having fun with their jobs. You can show your followers the beginning stages of production, meetings, products being used around the office and employees helping people just like them. Adrienne Erin of MarketingProfs states, “Instagram is a great platform for highlighting what is unique or special about your company—like show-and-tell for grownups.”

Speaking of highlighting, Social Media Examiner suggests that you also highlight consumers. These consumers are the people who keep your brand going, and we already know how powerful peer influence is. We also know about the importance of brand advocates, so why not highlight them in a new way? Showcase your top advocates by posting photos of them. Brand advocates are crucial and their levels of engagement have been growing on Instagram. By showing them off, they’ll show you off by liking, sharing and re-tweeting your photos to their peers and offering a glimpse into your brand experience.

Another advantage of Instagram for brands is that it can be linked to Facebook and Twitter. Cross promotion is extremely important in this social media dominated society. An astounding 98% of photos on Instagram are posted to Facebook with an estimated 274 people engaging with the photo in some capacity. ”Integration between Facebook and Instagram has allowed users to have photos they ‘like’ appear in their Facebook feeds,” Simply Measured says. “The result has been a continued increase in per post engagement and a greater share of brand photos posted to Facebook.”  Twitter sees a lower share rate at 59% with 22 tweets per photo. Still, cross promoting images allows your brand’s visibility to increase along with its reach.

Instagram offers a new path to consumers for brands. By engaging with Instagram, you can engage with your consumers.

In March, Facebook announced that it was working on incorporating the hashtag into its site. A long-term, larger rival to Twitter, both sites compete for the same advertisers and mobile users. The Wall Street Journal points out a stark difference between the two: “While Facebook was the home of close friends and family, Twitter was the real-time broadcasting device for the rest of the world.” It appears that Facebook’s goal of incorporating hashtags is to “prod” users to make their posts more open to the public. Posts will be more searchable and can compiled into one central location. Since Twitter has become more aggressive in acquiring advertisers, it has pushed Facebook to make changes. The hashtag seems to be the most logical for the social networking site because of the power and multitude of opportunities that it can offer.

Hashtags have proven their use over time. Forbes stated that a study recently performed by RadiumOne found 58% of respondents use hashtags on a daily basis. Promotions, unification, conversations, targeting and innovation are 5 reasons why Forbes believes businesses need to get wise and start utilizing hashtags. 51% of survery respondents claimed they would use hashtags more if there was a promotion or reward involved. Hashtags also make it easier to track a promotion, enabling unification. There are now media boards that track the use of a hashtag across multiple platforms while keeping it all in one place. Hashtags pool conversations together and make it easier for brands to begin conversations and track their activity. By tracking conversations, brands can see trends among their consumers and target them accordingly while also innovating products based off of feedback from consumers.

 The hashtag seems to only being growing in usage. Facebook’s pending implementation of the symbol is sure to add quite a large amount of fuel to this social media fire.

More people are purchasing a tablet from some company, whether it be Apple or Microsoft. In a report by Marketing Charts, Adfonic found tablets have higher click-through rates than smartphones in direct response campaigns and even more so in branding campaigns.  CTR’s are actually 250% greater than those of smartphones. For every 2 clicks on a smartphone, an additional 5 clicks occur on a tablet. Greater response can equate to more sales.

The younger generation may be more mobile than others, but tablets could also be changing that. The devices appeal to those over the age of 50, according to MediaPost. They are more likely to consider purchasing a tablet than they are a smartphone due to the larger screen size, opening a pathways to that demographic for marketers.

Tablets also see more action during the evening. Starting around 2pm, usage of tablets increase and maintains that state for several hours. It’s only in the wee late hours after midnight that smartphone usage outranks the tablet. Tablets also only trail behind smartphones in 2 other areas according to Marketing Charts: fast-moving consumer goods and retail by -61% and social and dating by -65%. Despite following in the tiny devices’ footsteps, tablets dominate smartphones in style and fashion by 100%, lifestyle and health by 99%, and entertainment and media by 81%. As tablets continue to rise in popularity, marketers are beginning to take action.

Tablet owners are more than twice as likely to use their devices to shop online than those of the smartphone. On top of that, 55% of tablet users are more likely to purchase on their device than simply review, research or compare items. In response to the flurry of activity stemming from tablets, retailers have begun creating apps for consumers as part of their marketing approach. Consumers are almost just as likely to make a purchase using an app as they would in a browser (60% v. 69%). And what about those who do not use apps? It’s predicted that 25% of smartphone and tablet users will make the switch to shopping through apps this year. Through a brand’s app, there is a custom experience created for the user focusing solely on the brand and no other browser tabs to distract them.

With a larger screen size at their fingertips, consumers are looking for a better experience in order to fill their carts and marketers will need to deliver.

This is big news because “Try-It” is the first grocery retailer to offer its customers an online advocacy platform to enhance its loyalty program.

This is something we are very excited about, and so is Raley’s:

“Something Extra™ Try-It is truly groundbreaking. Social marketing is important for Raley’s and this program helps us identify our best customers online and reward them with experiences they’ll want to share with their friends in social media and in person,”  – David Palmer, Vice-President, Marketing and Consumer Relationships, Raley’s

It’s backed by BzzAgent, so it provides Raley’s customers with the same quality advocacy experience.  In BzzAgent fashion, members will have the opportunity to try new products and share their honest opinions with others in-person, through online reviews, tweets and Facebook posts.  Like BzzAgent, members will get a score based on their participation so active and quality participation is encouraged.

Only Something Extra loyalty program members are allowed to participate, but signing up is easy and can be done online. Once you’ve joined the Try-It program, you’ll receive opportunities to try great products and services for free or at a radical discount with Try-It Kits.

BzzAgent is proud to support Raley’s in providing their customers with a more personal experience. It’s a new approach for retailers to cultivate advocacy and it represents a significant competitive advantage for Raley’s.

Read more about the program in this interview with DM News: Raley’s Launches Social Brand Consumer Advocacy Program and with Progressive Grocer: Raley’s Launches Social Brand Consumer Advocacy Program

There’s something for everyone in Something Extra Try-it, so if there’s a Raley’s in your area, go ahead and Try-It today and let us know what you think!

As we reported in Put a Pin In It, Pinterest offers special business accounts with exclusive opportunities. The new analytic system is only available to verified business accounts, make Pinterest more measurable for brands. Users will be able to track how many times images have been pinned, the number of visitors and how many impressions their content has created. The system will also showcase the most popular pins from their site. With these insights, marketers will be able to gain a more native view of what content is most valuable.

Pinterest’s system will not just measure the number of actions performed, but also the number of people that perform them according to Marketing Land. Along with this, Pinterest offers default views of 7, 14 or 30 days of statistics. Users can also view stats for specific boards as well as clicking on a pin to view its own data. All of this can be exported in a .cvs file for businesses’ convenience.

Pinterest’s product manager for platform Cat Lee expressed that the idea for the analytic platform was to aid brand’s in their content strategies. The insights could lead to a much different approach for brands to the social media site. “There will continue to be a need for the companies that provide an even deeper level of services for businesses,” Lee said.

Instead of outsourcing to companies like Pinfluencer, brands can now collect their coveted data for free. Outside companies have to scrape to collect the data Pinterest’s analytics will have so readily available. Startups specializing in compiling Pinterest data for brands will have to reevaluate their approach. Ad Age spoke with Hearst Digital’s director of audience development and social media Ross Geisel who tested Pinterest’s new analytic system. Geisel stated that “there’s something to be said” for acquiring data directly from a source such as Pinterest.

Pinterest’s launch of its new analytic system offers brands a more accurate glimpse at its consumers’ behaviors. We’d say get on verifying your account and tap into this new feature. Pinterest has certainly shown that it has game.

BzzAgent client Boehringer Ingelheim was awarded the honor of Best OTC Marketing Campaign on a Small Budget at the OTC Marketing Awards for our Pharmaton Active Life BzzCamapaign. The award is presented by OTC Bulletin to recognize achievements of the British OTC industry, focusing exclusively on food supplements, healthcare and non-prescription medicines.

Launching in August 2012, the campaign targeted middle-aged women who have used energy supplements in the past. BzzAgents reached over 300,000 people through word of mouth during the campaign. Aside from their wide reach, Agents also promoted an active lifestyle.

We’d like to congratulate Boehringer Ingelheim and all those involved in our campaign!

MediaPost reported that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated the redesign was inspired by 3 factors: allowing for richer “stories” to be shared, a choice of feeds and a cohesive look across all media platforms. Zuckerberg said that the new design was made to reflect the ever-changing face of news feed.

As reported in the past, we well know that over half of Facebook posts are visual and that visual posts are the most engaging for users. The redesign will created a more engaging experience for users by making the focus of posts the image rather than the text. Captions for photos will no longer be shown above or below the image, but will overlay them in the top left corner. Marketers posting pictures should keep this in mind when drafting captions. The short the caption the better since the focus is now the image. In an increasingly visual world, marketers will also need to post images that tell the story without having to really write about it. The challenge presented here is to make sure each image is as engaging as the next. Perhaps the most important image for all brands will now be their cover photos. Each time a user likes a brand’s page, the cover photo will appear in their friends’ feeds. With increased visibility, it is key for marketers to feature an image that encompasses the entire brand while enticing new users to potentially engage with them.

Facebook users are also able to choose what types of feeds they want to view. For brands, there is a new Following Feed that will feature posts from all of the pages a Facebook users “likes.” Posts will appear in chronological order, a positive change. Facebook has been criticized for decreasing the visibility of organic posts in favor of showcasing paid, or “sponsored,” posts. The Following Feed could mean good news for brands as it has the potential to increase visibility and engagement with consumers. While some may worry that users will not check it, have no fear. Consumers loyal to brands will and, in turn, can share brand’s posts with their friends, increasing the post’s reach.

The final update to Facebook’s News Feed is creating a consistent look across all media platforms. From phones to tablets to the web, Facebook has designed its feed to appear in the same fashion on all screens. The design was inspired by mobile devices as they require a more minimalistic approach due to the devices’ limited screen size.

Overall, Facebook’s News Feed redesign will have an impact on brands. With the company slowing rolling out the new design, only time will tell just exactly how it will change the way marketers approach the social networking site.

In a study performed by MyBuys and the e-tailing group, most customers saw personalization providing more valuable information as well as a strong influence over their shopping habits. Specifically targeted ads serve as recommendations for online shoppers. These may appear on the side of a website’s page based off the item a customer has already picked. Suggestions of what they may like on a webpage has helped in goading consumers to purchase more. In fact, 77% purchase more when they receive personalized recommendations. Out of those surveyed, 53% believed that personalization led to a more valuable experience with a brand.

Personalizing your brand’s site can be taken further when you obtain information from consumers. Consumers hold their personal data very closely, however there is a way to make they feel more comfortable. Most consumers say they are more willing to hand over personal information to a brand they’ve been loyal to. Also, those between the ages of 18 and 45 are more willing to give a company their information than older consumers. Marketing Charts also found that those who shop online at least 4 times a year and spend $250 are also more willing to give their personal information in exchange for a personalized experience.

By creating a more personalized experience for your shoppers, you in turn cultivate spending habits. Those who receive a more personalized service demonstrate a 300% improvement rate in customer lifetime value due to the centric marketing tactic. Personalization in several channels, like online and in-store, leads to increased spending and has actually created a 25% increase in online sales. Personalization goes a long way in today’s market.

Much to our and many other social marketers’ delight, a majority of people’s time is now being spent on social media. Companies have been integrating with social media for a while now. And the benefits? Pretty great if you ask us. In a Mass Relevance survey, 59% of respondents stated that they would trust a company more if they were on social media sites. Three quarters of social media users implement those sites to find out information about a brand and its products with 91% of 18-34 year olds creating conversations about them. Retailers are getting savvy and using consumer habits to their advantage. Since 62% of consumers are more engaged with a brand on social media, companies plan on being hardcore social media users on multiple platforms this year.

Retailers are not only social, but now also mobile. In record time, consumers have adopted the habit of using their mobile devices to shop. Affinity Express states:

The technology has transferred the power into the consumers’ hands with the ability to search for product information, post reviews, look up store locations and make actual purchases.

Currently, half of all retailers have mobilized in some capacity to further reach their consumer base’s habits. With this rise in mobile optimization, more men seem to have become engaged with brands. According to facts compiled by digby.com, 68% of men will make purchases based off of mobile ads compared to 58% of women. Mobile optimization appears to have opened a more direct pathway to engaging male consumers. This year is predicted to see retailers become the driving force in mobile advertising.

Though mobile has a positive effect on shy post-recession shoppers, retailers still need to draw in consumers in mature markets. Discounts, coupons, and the ability to compare items online and offline will have a strong effect on retaining them. Globally, many new markets are opening up for retailers. Newer customers who are curious but have a high-spending power are available to brands who expand into less populated markets around the world. To maintain growth, retailers can expand and draw in new customers while cultivating loyalty and advocacy to further increase profits and growth.

Growth can also occur by invading the homes of consumers through videos. Affinity Express spoke with the creative director of Studio at Huge Matt Lawrence who stated:

Companies need to realize that video has become the primary channel for consuming content online. Quality video content balances information and entertainment that viewers can relate to their daily lives, on a visceral level. The word of the year for 2013 is story.

Videos will allow the consumer to get a 360 degree image of what their potential lifestyle and attitudes can be if they choose to purchase a brand’s product.The images used to tell the story can be extremely effective in drawing consumers to your brand.

The more social a brand in 2013, the greater its potential for success. Consumers seem to have the power this year. By focusing on their needs, retailers can simultaneously fulfill their own.

According toNielsen’s study, consumers are looking for value, variety, proof-of-concept and familiarity when it comes to product innovation. Each of these conditions resonates strongly with global consumers when they contemplate buying the newest product. They want to know it all before spending it all. BzzCampaigns allow consumers to experience a new product whilegiving feedback straight to the brand on how to make their product even better. Furthermore, Nielsen found that 59% of it’s respondents like to tell others about new products, which is the key component of our campaigns.

The word of mouth the results from BzzCampaigns allows consumers contemplating a new product to feel more comfortable purchasing it. Consumers are more likely to listen to their friends’ recommendations than the company that actually sells the product. BzzCampaigns use our Agents to deliver the familiarity and proof-of-concept potential customers are looking for.

BzzAgents also provide the relevancy that consumers are looking for. You don’t purchase a product without thinking about how it can fit into your life. Agents provide consumers with reasons for a new product’s practicality through word of mouth. They provide testimony of multiple ways to use it, allowing for not only relevancy but variety. The peer influence of our campaigns results in new products resonating greater with consumers.

Value, variety, proof-of-concept and familiarity combined to sway your consumers to try your new product. Now that’s a lunch strategy that twerks!

Pinterest uses the high levels of engagement with photographs to its advantage. Our post What’s in a Photo That’s so Engaging? states that 70% of all social media interaction contain an image and 89% of Facebook activity involves photographs. To give images an edge, Pinterest embeds links in them to connect the image to its respective origin. The links contained within the images can drive web traffic. According to Social Barrel, the average Pinterest user spends 77 minutes on the site daily, compared to 12.1 minutes on Facebook and 36 minutes on Twitter. In those 77 minutes, we can only estimate how many times a user will click an image and be driven to a website.

This past September, Pinterest passed Yahoo! in the ranks of biggest driver in organic traffic to now be the fourth largest in the world. Through the use of Pinterest, brand’s have the ability to increase traffic to their sites exponentially as it already drives more traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined.

A high quality of traffic is a key characteristic of Pinterest. Social Barrel reports that a Bottica.com study found that Pinterest users spend roughly twice as much as Facebook users. With this type of high quality traffic, a higher revenue is also generated. According to Convert CEO Jeffrey Swelling, Pinterest accounted for 17.4% of social media revenue in the first quarter of 2012 for e-commerce sites. In fact, Pinterest drives more revenue per click than Facebook or Twitter despite it being ranked behind them.

With Pinterest having the ability to be a large generator of revenue, businesses need to hop on the wagon and start pinning away. With each “repin” to a follower’s board, a web of connections will be created expanding the reach of potential consumers. When a follower repins something, their followers see it in their feed and have the ability to repin it themselves to continue the cycle. Pinterest has also connected to Facebook and Twitter harnessing even more potential to increase revenue, web traffic and even brand awareness.

Pinterest is also an effective tool in promoting the lifestyle of your brand. Consumers connect to a brand when they see what they could have by using the product, a depiction of their potential and coveted lifestyles. BzzAgent’s Pinterest features several boards of ideas from Agents during their BzzCampaigns that can be implemented by other Agents. Pins can depict a certain scenario while integrating your products, drawing in the consumer and creating a connection.

Creating a connection with consumers and how to optimize your Pinterest page is all explained in Pinterest’s educational guide specifically for businesses. The site now offers business accounts that appear the same as any user’s. Despite appearing similar, businesses have the advantage of the guide to give them an extra hand in marketing themselves. The educational guide describes ways to tell your brand’s story, build a community, drive traffic and, most importantly, how to learn and grow from your consumers.

Pinterest is not dead. Instead, it is a platform that, if cultivated correctly, will help grow a business in multiple key metrics. For those of you that think Pinterest is of the past, take your accounts out of hibernation and start putting a pin in it.

1. Spam is for Ham
When trying to interact with consumers, do not start tweeting like rapid fire to grab their attention. Spamming social media feeds could cause consumers to go running for the hills instead of to your doors. Spam is just plain annoying, much like Pee Wee Herman’s voice. No one has ever longed to hear that voice nor do they long to read 20 consecutive tweets about your newest product. One tweet with a link will be more effective than a barrage of posts.

The best thing to do is ensure spam only refers to canned ham when it comes to your company.

2. What Does That Have To Do With Anything?
Above, a familiar phrase you may hear when arguing with a significant other, or when a post about fish on a technology company’s Facebook page appears. The company manufactures computers, but many employees think clown fish are cute since the debut of Finding Nemo so they posted their interest to Facebook.  The post’s contents are full of irrelevant information that does not pertain to or help the potential consumer.

Consumers are not interested in irrelevant information. They follow you for a specific reason and are looking for information useful to them. Consumers do have an interest in your company, however that interest pertains to what and how you do things, not your miscellaneous interests. Post relevant information to your social media sites. It may not be about your specific product, but possibly a development that will affect all computer manufacturing companies. Just remember to keep information pertinent to your targeted audience.

3. You Aren’t the Secret Service
Transparency is key these days. Consumers want to know the truth about your products and services, not a mirage created by your marketing department. Orbiting around an issue like a satellite can spark feelings of mistrust in a company as skepticism is a major characteristic of today’s consumers. Transparency will draw more potential customers to you as your brand will appear to be one that they can trust.

Instead of poking the issue with a stick to see if it is still alive, address it directly. Your consumers will thank you and appreciate the honesty of your company.

4. What?! Let Me Get My Hearing Aids
Consumers can provide feedback and suggestions for companies. Since they are major contributors to a company’s profit, it is a wise move to take their comments into consideration. These people are actually using the product in the setting it was intended for and can provide companies with invaluable information.

If posing a question on Facebook and Twitter, be sure to acknowledge those who do respond and listen to what they have to say. They are looking to help your company because they reap the benefits of a great product.

Consumer engagement is vital to the strength of a company. It is also a great outlet to express company values and perspectives. By keeping in mind the 4 rules above, your company’s social media will be more welcoming to consumers.

Our very own BzzAgent Jon O has mastered these rules and also abides by the following set of principles: reply to everyone, be quick in your response, be empathetic, and monitor your feeds! He’s  done quite well in the world of consumer engagement and so can you.

CEOs still remain at the top, however they are now on the receiving end of information. Instead of the top-down flow of communication, information is now relayed horizontally. This information bubbles up to the top eventually reaching the CEO. However, companies can take control of the conversation in regards to what their specific work is. While this is beneficial, consumers now want to know how companies accomplish their work, their story. Since this information has reached higher management, they must act accordingly in order to maintain their consumer base and relevancy.

With the shift in the dynamics of influence, the best way for companies to maintain their consumers is to actively engage with them while following a policy of 100% transparency. Companies need to be on all major social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, so that they can engage with consumers on an equal playing field. Consumers have become more skeptic of companies than in the past, by being transparent and responsive to consumer inquiries a company can foster a stronger following.

The diamond of influence allows for consumers to have a greater overall impact on company operations thus the products they consume. Companies must adapt to consumer needs in order to thrive and make a profit. By reaching out to consumers, positive sentiments will increase as proven by each of our BzzCampaigns, as well as sales. Through our campaign with NERF FireVision Sports, we saw an overwhelming amount of positive feedback the brand was able to use in its marketing. BzzAgents reached over 2 million people and their photos, videos, reviews, and comments gave the brand some valuable content and some exciting new ideas. Not to mention a purchase intent that exceeded 90%.  By putting the product in the hands of their audience, NERF gave them a voice in how the product is promoted and demonstrated how they have been able to adapt to the ever-changing influence dynamic.

The new diamond of influence has arrived and, if implemented properly, could lead to a more successful relationship between companies and consumers.