The 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing Blog

Google+ Trends Upward January 9, 2012 – 6:24 pm				Aurélien Uster

As reported by Hitwise, December 2011 has been a pretty busy month for Google+. US traffic stats stands at 49 million unique visitors, a rise of 55% compared to November 2011.

After several months of doubt if Google + could have a positive impact on the world of social media, this growth chart confirms that more and more people have become interested in the network since its launch in June. Google+ is said to currently have around 62 million members.

These figures are only estimations, as Google did not officially release numbers. Nevertheless, with at least 50 millions unique visitors a month in the US alone, this shows that Google+ may have a longer life than expected by some.

In comparison, Techcrunch reported on Comscore figures for the month of November (worldwide):

• MySpace – 61 million visitors
• Google+ – 67 million visitors
• LinkedIn – 95 million visitors
• Twitter – 168 million visitors

And obviously on top, the gigantic Facebook, with a whopping 793 million unique visitors for the month of November.

Google+ is now part of the Big 5, but has still a long way to go before reaching the level of Facebook, the market leader. Stay tuned!

Posted by Aurélien Uster
Posted in blog | No Comments »

Quick Look: SOPA January 6, 2012 – 4:01 pm				Riyaad

Ever since its introduction last year, Lamar Smith’s Stop Online Piracy Act (better known as SOPA) has created quite the stir on the internet, setting the stage for the battle of large media companies who aim to protect their assets and the tech industry who oppose the bill on claims that it overreaches and fails to solve the problem. As many are confused as to the nature of this bill or to why it is significant, let’s take a look at SOPA from both perspectives.

SOPA’s stated intent is to protect copyrighted property from being pirated online. The media industry claims that piracy leads to a loss of profits and comes back to haunt the consumer in the end. Many that pirate media justify their actions with qualms of excessive pricing and the disbelief that their indiscretion could have any affect on a fiscally successful company.

Media, be it music, movies, games, etc will feel the burden in different areas, concurrent with their industry model of fiscal responsibilities. Across all boards, piracy widens the gap between the reach and influence of a product to the profits gained by said product. Companies can have a popular title without seeing the financial compensation to cover their costs of that production. With lower expected returns for their investment, companies are forced to raise the cost of that product to the consumer. The raise in cost allows profit margins to retain original or close to original percentages on a particular title. Going further down the chain, retail outlets cannot compete with pirated pricing, thus selling less of that product, and see a decrease in business which results in them hiring less people (fewer jobs).

It’s hard not to understand why companies want to crack down on piracy, regardless of your stance on it. Among the bill’s top proponents are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and media giants, the Motion Pictures Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). SOPA aims to protect industry products and industry jobs by allowing the government and private companies to shut down websites that hold copyright infringements.

Criticism of SOPA has been heard loud and strong from the tech industry, particularly in New York City where several tech startups have thrived. Among the bill’s top opponents are LinkedIn, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and Reddit. These companies have voiced concerned about 1^st Amendment rights and censorship, among others.

What do all these sites have in common and what are they seeing that Congress is not? It requires us to dig into SOPA just a little more. The websites that oppose SOPA are those that are run on user-generated material. Under SOPA, user generated content would become to responsibility of the website itself. Let’s use the example of Pirate Bay. If someone were to post directions on Reddit or Facebook on how to log into Pirate Bay and how to download their favorite movies, Reddit would be accountable for the transgression and held responsible for enabling copyright infringement. The fear is that user generated websites could legally tampered with or worst case scenario, shut down within a few weeks of the bill’s passing.

Sites that rely on user generated content simply cannot exist in their current state under these laws. They are currently not responsible for information uploaded by a user. SOPA changes that. Users fear is that these websites will be replaced with commercialized versions of themselves or be removed/blocked all together.

With millions of pieces of content synchronously being made available, content has become hard to manage in real time. With existing laws in place (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998), an ISP must remove material from web sites that appear to constitute copyright infringement. This can be requested or flagged by the copyright owner or their representative. Under SOPA, websites could be shut down or blocked by simply being accused of enabling copyright infringement.

The tech industry – specifically those sites running on user generated content have created thousands of jobs in the past few years. Slowing down on innovation is not something the country can afford to do, and not something these young companies want to see happen. They claim Congress will seek to end piracy and hurt the tech industry as collateral damage.

For many, it’s hard to garner support for the RIAA. They’re known for being ruthless in their pursuit of those that illegally download music. SOPA however, is not just about piracy, it’s about property. Including intellectual property.

Aside from tangible products and goods that are protected under SOPA, the bill also addresses the issue of intellectual property. A foreign website selling knock-off purses would be covered under the bill. This is considered intellectual property theft.

This is important for companies, specifically those that pride themselves on providing high quality often high price point goods. Buying bad quality, imposter goods presents a bad image of that company to the buyer, in opposition to the image they have developed and portray and in many cases, in direct opposition to the goods they manufacture.  Associating a supposed ‘high end’ brand with bad quality will damage a company’s image, in turn; damage their brand and their profits.

As the United States cannot do anything to shut down a foreign site, the most they can do is block access to it, under the moniker of protecting Americans into not paying for fake goods. This raises all kinds of questions on censorship, government interference and has even drawn the ire of those that claim this violates the principles of a free market.

Amongst the loudest of SOPA opponents, the Reddit community has displayed the true power of the internet and has collectively raised their voices in protest. They’ve managed to raise awareness to the general population, and have made their feeling felt in the pockets of supporting corporations.

Among the top proponents of SOPA was GoDaddy.com. Having faced public backlash for their involvement, they have since backed off. The backlash? A Reddit user called for a national, ‘Change your Provider Day’ in opposition to GoDaddy’s stance. Within 5 days, GoDaddy lost 74,000 domains due to the Reddit-driven campaign.

As GoDaddy hasn’t been getting a break about this lately, let’s give them one and look at why they’ve supported this. The company was being sued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which produces the Oscars each year) for facilitating trademark infringement by allowing domains to be registered by individuals that used it to promote the Oscars (ie. 2011oscars.com), without the consent of the Academy. If SOPA passes, GoDaddy is alleviated of responsibility and those sites can just be taken down or blocked.

Another major concern with the bill is that it does very little to actually target piracy. Taking a closer look, SOPA only targets http, or the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (one of many internet protocols) and does nothing to target the BitTorrent protocol. This protocol which uses neither http nor DNS accounts for approximately 95% of piracy. Thus, the bill does nothing to actually stop piracy where it thrives and only has a negative impact on the structure of the internet which has prospered in the past two decades under the free exchange of information.

In the game of combating piracy, companies are left to wonder to who to blame. Several tech companies have expressed their desire to see the private sector tackle piracy on their own and resist the idea of government regulation of the internet. The comedian, Louis CK is an example of the private sector taking on this issue. The comedian abstained from the production assistance of a larger corporation and opted to film a comedy special, set up his website, and produce the event by himself.

He promoted the special to his fans and admitted that they could pirate it if they want to, but asked for their support and spend $5 to download the special. The low price countered any claims that it would be too expensive for fans to manage. This honest and genuine request resonated with his fan base and others seeking to support the cause. People forewent on downloading a pirated copy of the event, and opted to pay the $5. All profits went to him and covered his production costs. This social test was a stellar success, and Louis CK made over $1 million dollars in sales off the comedy special.

The question becomes if the private sector can tackle this problem on their own by restructuring their own businesses that have seen financial success in the past, or if a heavy handed government ruling that threatens to ‘break’ the internet is necessary. SOPA draws ire from what it fails to do. Fear of SOPA comes from not what it threatens to take away, but from what is can be used to do. As a law is only as good as its interpretation of those regulating it, SOPA can be used to not only protect the intellectual and tangible property of business owners, but to limit free speech and the free flow of information to and from American citizens.

Like the VCR recorder upon its launch, the mp3 player when introduced, and YouTube even today – the answer of large corporations has always been to stifle innovations that can potentially interfere with their business models and profits by trying to get them banned/blocked. Their latest attempt to censor the internet is no different. Think what the world would be like if it weren’t for those tech innovations. SOPA goes beyond protecting the right of copyright owners and takes a dangerous step into government intervention in the flow of information and freedom of speech guaranteed to American citizens.

Posted by Riyaad
Posted in blog, In The News | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner, digital marketing nyc, internet censorship, internet piracy, sopa

Tesco: A Study in the Possibilities of M-Commerce December 5, 2011 – 3:44 pm				Cristiana

M-Commerce, or mobile commerce is an ever emerging trend and promises to change the way consumers interact with brands and products before and when they purchase. The possibilities for the use of mobile devices and mobile shopping have only grown with mobile connectivity, as its bridges the gap between a handheld entertainment/communication device and the familiar E-Commerce environment; presenting a unique shopping experience.

Rather than relying on advertising to drive consumers to a mobile shopping experience, Tesco has taken a creative approach to bring M-Commerce directly to consumers. Tesco is global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom. With stores in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and North America, Tesco honed in on South Korea to launch its M-Commerce solution. Tesco was ranked #2 in sales in South Korea, second to E-Mart. Their mission was to become #1 without increasing the amount of store locations.

Tesco’s initial research found that the population of South Korea was the 2^nd most hard-working worldwide, deeming many too busy to make time to go shopping. This presented the perfect opportunity.

Tesco adapted the moniker of Home Plus and created virtual stores in South Korean subway stations. Users would use their smart phones to shop. By scanning a product’s QR code, users were able to automatically add the item into their mobile shopping carts.

When the user has added all the items they wish to purchase in their mobile shopping cart, the items would be delivered to their home with the press of a button. Tesco managed to successfully replace down time or idle time – with shopping time. Users could do their grocery shopping while on their way to work and have the food waiting for them when they arrived home. This convenient shopping method is quick, easy, and eliminates the need to lug bags of groceries on the train. The displays were able to act as virtual stores; present in locations to remind consumers that they had items to buy, rather than relying on their ability to remember to purchase, and to remember they should purchase from Tesco.

The campaign was a huge success. Online sales increased 130% and over 10,000 people started using their smart phones to buy food online from Home Plus. They are currently ranked #1 in the online market.

Posted by Cristiana
Posted in blog | 3 Comments »
Tags: 7 pillars of digital marketing, grocery, m-commerce, mobile shopping, mobile shopping cart, online sales, smart phone, Tesco, virtual stores

Daily Deals will Die by 2016, says Forrester’s report November 21, 2011 – 7:47 pm				Damjan Arsovski

By 2016, advertisers will be spending $77 billion on interactive marketing, as much as they do on TV nowadays, the interactive marketing components (SEM, display ads, mobile, e-mail marketing and social media) will grow to 35% of all advertising spend as they get highly involved in the marketing mix, and the daily deals will switch from winners to losers… these are some of the interesting predictions in the latest US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2011 to 2016 published by the Forrester Research Group.

The forecast, free to download, explains that in the upcoming years, advertisers will spend more money on interactive marketing because of the excitement about emerging media, the effectiveness of the interactive marketing and the overall customer obsession with online media and mobile devices.

The report contains many interesting predictions, some of them a bit controversial and very doubtful, but still worth taking them in consideration when working on your next strategies and business spending.

Beside concentrating on the mobile and social media expansions, one part of the report that I really was surprised to see was the prediction that the daily deals would die.

The reason for this statement, Forrester is putting in these words:

“Standing out above the clutter becomes harder for marketers as ad exposures grow. So some marketers unable to differentiate will rely on spontaneous coupons through more and more urgent Groupon-like “daily deals” as one way to drive notice. Consumers will grow so conditioned to micro-impulse offers that they’ll lose practice at considered decisions — in all walks of life, not just when buying spa treatments. Facing a cultural descent into maladroit judgment, employers (and spouses) will blacklist impulse deals to keep people intentional.”

Controversal, but yet very interesting forecast. What do you think?

Posted by Damjan Arsovski
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, Business News, Digital Media, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, web 2.0 | 2 Comments »
Tags: daily deals, forrester, forrester research, Interactive Marketing, marketers, marketing agency, marketing company, moble marketing

Brooklyn Museum: A New Path for Art November 9, 2011 – 12:33 pm				Cristiana

Social Media is a great tool for companies to keep a base of fans and followers active in the triumphs of their business. Companies create a buzz to garner some attention in hopes of stimulating sales, influencing visitors, etc. This technique has spread across several industries. Museums have embraced the digital age of advertising with open arms and use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more to promote their newest features and attract visitors.

The Brooklyn Museum in particular embraces these platforms and integrates them into their website. These interactive features compliment their rather ‘typical’ website, which is used to provide basic information on exhibitions, operating hours, etc. for a cost effective interactive experience.

A prime example of their willingness to interact with a younger, social media savvy audience is none more evident
than on Twitter. With over 320,000 followers, the Brooklyn Museum updates their account on an almost daily basis, using it to interact with potential visitors, as well as promote their new exhibitions. Unlike some companies, interaction is not only based on their ability of the business to directly relate to the tweet by nature of organization, but on a personal level. The Brooklyn Museum takes on the role of a friend as much as it takes on the job of promoting their institution.

The Museum’s Facebook Page takes a similar approach, and effort that has gained them over 45,800 ‘Likes’. The account is primarily used to inform the public of their featured events and to answer questions. There is less direct interaction than on Twitter, but they manage to still interact with their base. The comments and answers received on both ends create a nurtured community of museum fans.

The Brooklyn Museum treats their YouTube account like educational television. It provides a look behind the scenes for those that want more information on the features they’ve seen or were thinking of seeing.

This behind the scenes access is reinforced in the Brooklyn Museum blog updated once to twice per week. With several contributing authors, the museum’s employees share their intimate relationship with their work with the public.

The blog allows readers to access animated podcasts, stories, and pictures of how employees set up their public art experiences. It also shows their dedication to the museum and their efforts to constantly improve and bring life-long memories to its visitors; inspiring readers to visit.

The museum has used social media to reach out to potential and repeat visitors by making it an operational tool in its business. By more than just having a presence, they have been able to attract thousands of new visitors. Art will always be art, but the museum as a corporation with employees, expenses, assets, and liabilities have used social media to sustain and improve its business model. They are a prime example of a business that has been willing to change as people and the way they interact with brands/activities has changed.

Posted by Cristiana
Posted in blog, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: 7 pillars of digital marketing, art, brooklyn museum, digital marketing agency, facebook, flickr, interactive content, nyc, Social Media Marketing, twitter, videos, viral, YouTube

5 Reasons Why Archive.org is a Great SEO Tool October 19, 2011 – 11:10 am				Asif Anwar

Archive.org maintains historical versions of sites that allow archiving. You can see how a website looked last year or in 2001. The wayback machine keeps almost all historical versions of your site in its archive.

To many people, Archive.org is just another repository like Google’s index that stores historical data in their timeline. Many Webmasters and Search Engine Optimizers (SEOs) fail to recognize this free feature as an effective SEO Tool. Well, for those non-believers, here are 5 compelling reasons for them to admit that the Wayback Machine is a very useful SEO Tool:

Reason-1: Powerful Tool for SEO Diagnosis

Archive.org’s Wayback machine can be used as a great tool for SEO diagnosis. Have you experienced a recent fall in traffic after updating a site? You and your webmaster can’t tell what happened to the site, and what codes you may have changed, since they were not tracked.

With the Wayback Machine, you can go back and have a look at the code in previous versions of the site, before you made the update. Using a simple code comparison tool like WinMerge will allow you to see the changes in codes side by side. By looking at the changes in code, you can easily diagnose SEO for your site.

Reason-2: Site and Link Aging

Old links are like a fine aged wine in SEO, and helpful in obtaining Search Engine rankings. After changing a site to new Content Management System (CMS), you might create a lot of new links, but forget about the old links. I have seen many webmasters forget about the old links and suddenly web sales start dropping.

You can search for old links through the Wayback Machine and manage the aging of the links in the current site through 301 Permanent Redirects, which is very Search Engine Friendly. Here is a nice article on how you can improve SEO from old links.

Reason-3: Fixing Old Broken Links

As you site evolve, you throw away old links. But, there may be many sites and bookmarks out there that had a link to your old link. Not having the link there or having a 404 page instead, is a very disappointing thing for both visitors and search engines.

You can use the Wayback Machine to track back the old links and hunt down the broken links though Xenu’s Link Sleuth software. This will ensure visitor friendly, smooth browsing from other sites or bookmarks. And the Search Engines will love your site for that.

Reason-4: Source of Unique Contents

Previously, Content was King. However, after the Duplicate Content Filter update by Google, Unique Content became King. As you have probably had different content over the existence of the site, chances are you have created unique content most of the time. Moreover, to keep the site always fresh with content, many webmasters and site owners do this to get the SEO benefits.

If you are doing that, then you can use your old content elsewhere and build inbound links for your site. The best way to find your old content is through Archive.org’s Wayback Machine.

Reasong-5: Evidence for Claiming Copyright

Many people believe that you need to apply for copyright. But, the fact is you don’t need it. Rather, you need a good and strong evidence to claim for your rights. Your archived page in the Wayback Machine may not be a very strong evidence, but it is really a good one.

Posted by Asif Anwar
Posted in Search Engine Optimization | 1 Comment »

Blueliner Takes Home the Silver! October 14, 2011 – 1:00 pm				Riyaad

Blueliner is proud to announce that they are the recipients of two 2011 W3 Awards. Blueliner and Senior Creative Designer Adam Mustafa were awarded the Silvers in Business Blogs and Travel and Tourism Websites for their work with Chaa Creek.

The W3 Awards are judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts. The awards honor creative excellence on the web. Blueliner is happy to be acknowledged for its work on the Chaa Creek Travel Blog.

Chaa Creek is a top eco resort in Central America. With Blueliner’s SEO and redevelopment work, Chaa Creek saw an increase in reservations by 60% and a 200% increase in web traffic.

Here at Blueliner, we strongly believe in our team and the 7 Pillars framework. Although we are happy to receive the a W3 award , we are as a team are happier with positive, high-ROI yielding client results. We will continue to set the bar high and for ourselves, and all the clients we represent.

Posted by Riyaad
Posted in blog | No Comments »

Bringing Ideas to Life: Batelco October 13, 2011 – 11:43 am				Cristiana

Creating a sophisticated and well integrated marketing campaign can be costly at times. Mobile devices have increased the sharing capabilities of media, allowing videos in particular to go viral. Based on ‘sharing’ or word of mouth promotion, viral videos can be an inexpensive way to promote a business or product.

Batelco is a telecom company from Bahrain. Batelco wanted to create global brand awareness and push their new tag line, “Bringing Ideas to Life”. To do this on a budget, they made an imaginative corporate film just over three minutes long. The budget alone was not suffice for the mass media exposure they desired, so they decided to leverage the power of social media. The video was promoted on Facebook via an app that activated a user’s webcam. This allowed those viewing the video to actually become a part of it. Snapshots were then  uploaded onto Facebook to be shared with friends.

To drive user’s to Facebook to participate in and watch the videos, Batelco opted for both traditional and digital marketing methods. They played two trailers in cinemas throughout Bahrain. The company followed through by running ads on Facebook and posting the trailers on non-affiliated websites.

Batelco chose to promote this campaign to large, non-targeted audiences in hope that the buzz surrounding the ‘wow’ factor of the video would be enough to hold its own. They were right. In additon to social media marketing, video promotion, and buying cinema spots, Batelco took their video to malls and airports for guaranteed foot traffic and video views.

Interactive kiosks at the International airport in Bahrain helped to further spread the message to its international audience. Reaching over 800,000 passangers every month, the film created a huge buzz.

The video experience was also offered to those that don’t have webcams and/or don’t use social media by hosting the interactive video in shopping malls and electronic stores, reaching another 300,000 people per day.

The campaign had a stellar performance. Over 3,500 blogs had posted about “Bringing Ideas to Life” in over 80 languages. Facebook saw over 235,000 people from over 100 different countries introduced to the company. With over 2,430,000 wall impressions, 2,200 new ‘Likes’ each day, and 83,000 post views per day, the campaign is still going strong. Batelco’s ‘Infinity’ as it has been titled earned it’s spot as the 8^th most successful viral video in the world.

Batelco

Posted by Cristiana
Posted in blog | No Comments »
Tags: 7 pillars of digital marketing, Bahrain, Batelco, Bringing Ideas to Life, digital marketing, Infinity, interactive kiosks, Social Media Marketing, telecom company, traditional marketing, trailers, viral video

Tips on New Facebook Friends List Feature and Redefining Friend or Fan Types October 13, 2011 – 10:24 am				Asif Anwar

Just before the F8 Conference on 9/22/11, Facebook rolled out some great new features on defining your relationship with your friends. Previously, the relationship you had with your Facebook friends were flat. Your boss, colleagues, buddies, hangout pals, industry acquaintances, and often fans were all your friends, even though there were some privacy definitions. However, with a recent Facebook update, you can now have different types of friend lists that you can interact with accordingly.

New Facebook Friends List

The Custom Friends List Feature was already available. I am sure that many of you have custom listed many friends in categories like: Schoolmates/Classmates, Colleagues, Best Friends, Just Friends, Extended Friends, Family/Parents, Relatives/Extended Relatives, “Not so Close Friends”, “Have to Keep them as Friends”, etc. Facebook rolled out a new set of friends list standardizing and defining them into specific categories:

• Close Friends
• Acquaintances
• Smart Lists (Work, School, Family, City)
• Subscription (Following/People You Follow) and  Subscribers (Followers or Fans)
• Restricted Friends

Close Friends or Featured Friends

Close Friends are those, whose updates come to you as notification when you add them. However, you can turn off the notification from the Close Friends List Page. The updates from the people tagged as Close Friends, will also have higher priority in your homepage news feed, than others.

Who are the best candidates for Close Friends?

• Buddies that you want more updates from
• Updates from family members you don’t want to miss
• Someone you have crush on
• Who’s updates are more important than normal friends
• Friends you share common interests with, etc.

Acquaintances

Updates from your Acquaintances will be rarely shown in Facebook homepage news feed. But, you will not miss their most important updates, like: Relationship status changes or migration to a new city. Rather than un-friending, this list can be a good choice to keep your friends with the mute button pressed.

People with probable candidacy for Acquaintances:

• Your close friend who updates noting but Gaming Resource sharing (assuming, you don’t like them)
• Link spammers or self promoting friends that you have to keep
• Your high school bullies,
• Annoying family members or relatives,
• Someone you don’t want to interact with much, but want them to get your updates to them, etc.

Smart Lists

Facebook introduced many smart lists (friend lists with a lightning icon) in the friend list feature. e.g. colleagues, family members, classmates, and local friends within same city. When you mention your work place (company), education institution, and cities; you will find them as separate friend list in smart lists, like:

• Family members and relatives
• Colleagues, boss, and friends within same company you mention on your profile
• Classmates from school, college, university or other institutions
• Friends and buddies in the same locality/city that you currently live in.

When you mention multiple companies and education institution, you also get smart lists for each company and institution. Family members are filled by the various relationships defined on your profile. But, you also have the freedom to go to the Family Smart List Page and add new family members without defining any relationship. In Facebook, you can not mention more than one city. So, the list for local friends can have just one listing.

Optimizing Custom Friend List

Custom Friend Lists is an old feature. But, since you now have smart lists, it is better to merge some lists and remove the unnecessary custom friend list from Facebook. However, for getting better updates, you can still have some custom friend list to serve your purposes. With the new changes, you can optimize them to serve your needs. Some Custom Friend List optimization techniques are:

Merge Friend List

If you have already defined a list before, you can go to the close friend, acquaintances, smart list pages and merge the existing list to make a separate channel for various types of Facebook friends you have.  This will help you to utilize the predefined friend list by Facebook better.

Delete Some Custom Friend List

Since you already have some predefined friend list, it is wise to delete some of the custom friend list. This will help you to avoid duplication. But, make sure you merge the lists before you delete them.

Create Some New Custom List

For various purposes, you have the freedom to create more custom friend lists. One of the problems with the new friend list feature is that, you cannot see all colleagues and classmates together. But, you always have the freedom to create new custom friend list for them and merge them together from the previous lists.

Restricted Friends

The friends that you keep in Restricted Friend list will not see all your updates on their homepage, but they will get to see all your public contents that you tag them in. Otherwise, you are mostly mute to them. Unless, they define you as restricted friends, they are not mute to you. Facebook friends that you can put in this list are:

• Your boss
• Your competitors
• Friends from other companies, always trying to spy on you
• Your opponent or political contender
• Someone you don’t want to get any idea about what you are doing, etc.

Subscribers and Subscriptions

Facebook also rolled out the Subscribers and Subscription feature in the new update. This makes Facebook more like Twitter and Google Plus, where you can have followers and follow people without adding them as friends. Subscribers and Subscriptions are not actually friend lists as they are not ‘friends’.  In another word, you can define them as your personal celebrity and followers.

Subscribers: When someone subscribes on your profile, s/he becomes your fans and follower of you public posts only. In analogy with Twitter, this is the list of “Followers” you have.

Subscription: When you subscribe someone on their profile, the Subscription tab in your Timeline shows the people you are subscribed to. In analogy with Twitter, this is the list of “Following”. You will get updates on only their public feeds on your homepage.

You can activate subscription from the Subscribe Button Page. Celebrities who have large fan-base, they can use this feature to make their Facebook profile as the major media of communication or public updates. The public updates, however remains within the walled garden of Facebook. And to see them, you need to be logged into your Facebook Account. So, this is a bit different than Facebook Fan Pages for celebrities.

There can be 4 types of Subscribers:

Regular Subscribers

These are the people that hit only the “Subscribe” button on your profile. They are your followers that have interest in your public feeds. I am quite optimistic that, many marketers will come up with tips and tricks to increase your subscribers in near future.

Friend Subscribers

When you add a friend now, through friend request, you automatically subscribe to his/her public updates. But, when they add you as friend, they also subscribes to your feeds. This type of mutual subscription is called Friend Subscribers.

Unfriended Subscribers

Your friend is also subscribing to your updates. When you remove or unfriend a friend, you automatically unsubscribe from his/her updates. But, the subscription to your public feed is not changed at your unfriended friend’s end. So, s/he still remains subscribed to your feeds. So, these types of subscribers are called Unfriended Subscribers. When you plan to remove unwanted friends, you will eventually increase the number of Subscribers.

Pending Friend Subscribers

When you hit the “Add as friend” button on your new friend’s profile or somewhere else, you automatically get subscribed to his/her public updates, even if s/he  does not add you back as friend. However, you will not see his/her updates, unless you add him/her or subscribe to his/her feeds. And once s/he adds you, you don’t remain a “Pending Friend Subscriber”, you become a “Friend Subscriber” or just friends.

Other Types of Friends You Can Have on Facebook

Mute Friends

What happens when you hit the unsubscribe button on a friend’s profile? The result is a mute friend. This is will turn off all the updates from a friend. This is why it is a bit different than Acquaintances. Acquaintances are semi-mute friends whose important updates are shown to you. But, without un-friending a friend, you have the freedom to mute a friend by unsubscribing from their friend as well as public updates. However, as a friend you will have the freedom to visit their profile or timeline to see their updates.

Deaf Friends

This is the just the opposite affected party who mutes friends. These types of friends totally unsubscribe from your updates and do not respond to any. But, just like mute friends, your updates can be seen by your unsubscribed friend on your profile.

Subscription in Friend List

In case of pending friend subscribers, you have public updates of a person that is not yet your friend in Facebook. But, Can you add a subscription in Friend List so that the updates come to a specific friend list? The answer is no. I guess Facebook needs to open up this feature.

Posted by Asif Anwar
Posted in blog, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: facebook, facebook fans, facebook friend lists, facebook friends

R.I.P. Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 October 6, 2011 – 4:57 am				Damjan Arsovski

Last night, the former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, died. Not only that Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, but also the world has lost an amazing human being.

In moments like these there is no much to say… so I’ll just quote one of the old Apple ads:
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Posted by Damjan Arsovski
Posted in Business News | No Comments »
Tags: apple, apple ceo, jobs, rip steve jobs, steve jobs, steve jobs death, steve jobs rip