Greg Finn is the Director of Marketing for Cypress North, a company that provides world-class social media and search marketing services and web & application development. He has been in the Internet marketing industry for 10+ years and specializes in Digital Marketing. You can also find Greg on Twitter (@gregfinn) or LinkedIn.
Yesterday, there was a bit of a hullabaloo around the fact that a user was shown a “Get Notifications” prompt after a page was liked. The text stated “Don’t miss updates from PageName” and had a button that allows users to get all notifications. While it appeared that the prompt may be a new feature […]
As Facebook’s News Feed has evolved, personalization and customization have been paramount. A new feature will be coming to Facebook that will allow users to state why they chose to hide a specific post, giving more context to the action, helping Facebook understand why the photo/post/link was hidden. According to ABC News, this feature will […]
LinkedIn Company Pages have seen quite a surge in popularity since inception, but have been lacking significant functionality for brands. One of the biggest negatives is being abolished today as LinkedIn Page Admins will now be able to comment & like appearing as their brand. This new option will allow Page admins to interact in […]
Ever feel like you are seeing the same Facebook ad that you “hid” previously? Well, you aren’t crazy. You did choose to hide that ad and it is still showing up. Or, at least a near copy is. Facebook is hiding ads on a URI basis. AllThingsD reported that the hide functionality on the ad […]
Facebook users have had the ability to comment with photos for just about one month now. Now Pages will have the same ability to comment with imagery. Facebook Pages will now see a camera icon to the right when entering a comment. The camera icon will prompt that the user uploads an image file from […]
What was once a weak spot in Facebook’s strategy is quickly becoming a strength. Mobile had been a soft spot with new and improved apps, the overwhelming usage of Instagram and added mobile revenue, but this is no longer the case. The focus has been mobile, and the focus is now paying off. Reuters reported […]
A slick new tool has been released to help users navigate the treacherous waters of Reddit. The simple looking social site has long been notorious for confusing visitors and being too streamlined. A new tool, Reddit Insight, has been created by Hack Reactor that helps visualize and analyze Reddit accounts, posts, keywords and subreddits. Users can breakdown […]
As the arms race between Instagram and Vine wages on, one clear cut winner has emerged. Users. A new Android update brings all the features from the large iOS update earlier this month. Also new (and unique!) to Android: capture widget. Launch the camera and start recording right from your home screen. pic.twitter.com/P9zhucLkwm — Vine […]
IFTTT (if this then that) is a well-known automation tool that helps services communicate with each other. For example, users who snap an Instagram shot can have it saved directly to Dropbox or any of the other 66 channels that IFTTT supports. Today, IFTTT is becoming more than just a web app as it has […]
The beauty of your favorite filtered photo can now easily make its way to a website near you. Today, Instagram announced the release of Web embeds for all Instagram posts. The functionality will work for all Web and video content that is publicly available on Instagram. In order to embed the picture/video, simply head to […]
Keeping up with all of the required social tags across the various social media platforms can be grueling. Luckily KnowEm, the popular username reservation service, has created a new tool dubbed “Social Media Optimizer” that helps you keep your tags in line and your markup fresh. The tool is free and features four social networks to […]
If you are one of the many Tumblr users that love getting lost among the popular tags, you’ll want to download the new official mobile applications. The new apps bring trending tags into the search tab for easy browsing across a specific tag. A nice feature with the trending tags is the incorporation of movement. […]
Odds are that if you liked a specific post on Google+, your friends may like it as well. A new Google+ feature will now help make that sharing possible. Over the “next few days” users will begin seeing highlighted posts that others have +1ed, not that they have specifically chosen to share on their own. […]
For all of those Facebook Page administrators who thrive on competition, this newest test seen in the wild is for you. Some Page admins are now seeing a new “Pages to Watch” module that shows competitive pages that they can watch. The functionality of this element looks to add pages to the specific watch section […]
Once one of the most promising link shortners, su.pr, is now shutting its doors to the world. The StumbleUpon-based service was released in 2009 and had some of the most in-depth social stats among shortners of that era. The shutdown was announced last year that su.pr was being sunsetted and shutdown in 2013. Today that […]
It’s a new chapter for Facebook Page Administrators. Gone are the days of furiously tweaking image sizes, open graph tags and image ratios. Today, Facebook Page Admins will have the ability to upload their own image for any link posts. Article images have been a troubling issue for many brands as an improper image would […]
A longstanding anti-text-heavy term has been lifted from the Facebook Page terms. Dubbed the 20% rule, Pages were forbidden from using more than 20% text across their Facebook Page covers. This was one of the only changes that were maintained in the large Page cover shifts that occurred this March. New Page Terms of Service were […]
Welcome to this quarter’s report on Fake Social followers. BarracudaLabs dove headfirst into the world of paying for perceived social popularity. Verdict: The fake follower economy is still flourishing and is still the scourge of social media. The study showed that not only is the fake follower economy flourishing, but it is in fact growing. Compared […]
Providing metrics to users is something that Twitter has really pushed this last year. From individual analytics to downloadable archives more data than ever is being provided. A new test shows that even more data may be coming. Mikko Hypponen recently discovered a new Twitter experiment that displays “embedded on these websites” underneath a Tweet: This is […]
It’s now been two full weeks since Facebook jumped into the hashtag market. A recent survey from SimplyMeasured found that so far, hashtags have been a hit with the top brands on Facebook. From June 12th to June 24th, 56% of the top 100 brands have posted a Facebook update that contained a hashtag. Nearly […]
Conversion paths, exits and other analytic metrics can be studied to determine if users were satisfied. Or, you could just ask them. Today, Google has released a tool that allows webmasters to query users directly — with one line of code required. The survey will display in the lower right hand side of your site, […]
So far, 2013 has been the year of expansion for Twitter, both from geographic extension and company acquisitions. Roughly 8% of the world’s population is now on Twitter, and Silicon Graphics International (SGI) along with the University of Illinois and social media vendor GNIP combined forces to map this Global Twitter usage. From this partnership, […]
Late last week, a bug caused a bit of chaos for Facebook’s privacy team. A security bug was introduced into the Facebook environment that exposed user emails and phone numbers to a limited number of people. Six million users were exposed to the bug, and in most cases, this data was likely exposed to one […]
Google+ currently has some of the strongest social sharing capabilities thanks to the robust Circles feature. this will now extend into sharing what users currently own, or would like to own. Some leaked data uncovered by Google Operating System found that Google may be working on a tool that allows users to easily control products […]
Don’t like something posted to your Facebook wall? Feel free to hide it. However, it should be known that the censorship of the post is not inherently private. A new tool from ZoomSphere is now shining a light on what was previously hidden. The tool, Hidden Posts Explorer, allows users to search for a specific Facebook […]
Google+ is turning 2 years old this month and has seen both solid growth and criticism during these first years. However, all that talk of Google+ ghost town talk could soon be moot according to a recent SearchMetrics study. Not only is Google+ projected to being thriving, but it is also projected to pass Facebook in social shares on February 2016. […]
Facebook Page managers rejoice; an updated Insights interface is coming your way. Facebook has announced updates to their Insights product that will show more information about your Facebook page. This change will show managers much more information from a broken out “People Talking About This” number to negative data and engagement stats. One of the […]
Yesterday, Facebook announced a major milestone: 1 million active advertisers. This number is comprised of global advertisers that used the service within the past 28 days. According to Reuters, the majority of these active advertisers are SMBs as over 16 million local businesses have set up active Facebook Pages. While “small” may make up the […]
Last week, there was a mini-announcement that some notable notification changes were making their way to Google+. Yesterday, many users received these more streamlined Google+ notification updates. The best part of the new notifications? They will sync cross platform. This means that users who acknowledge a notification on mobile will no longer have their desktop […]
The dive into user data that all Twitter users have been clamoring for has finally arrived. Found hidden within the Twitter Ads dropdown, the official analytics tools show data on specific Tweets and follower info – no ad spend required. To access official Twitter analytics follow these steps: Head to Ads.Twitter.com and log-in. Click on […]
Today to the delight of many marketers Facebook announced the release of hashtags. The new clickable links will pop open a new stream with public updates around each specific term. While hashtags seem like a great idea, there are quite a few obstacles in the way of #success for this new feature. Why Not Search? […]
Earlier this year, the revamped MySpace launched on the heels of a Justin Timberlake single. Today MySpace has launched a new iOS app that puts a focus on connections & music. Like the newest rebrand the design of the app is stunning. From vivid images, to tiled galleries and card based profiles, the look is solid. […]
Businesses that use Google+ and other Google products have been given the gift of simplicity in the form of a brand new Google+ Dashboard. Companies that leverage Google services like AdWords, Offers, Maps, Local, YouTube and more will now be able to see relevant stats in one Google+ based location. The Google+ Dashboard includes: Update-able […]
As of today, a new Open Graph object type will exist for local businesses on Facebook. This new object type, the Business Object, will help Facebook “better surface local business information” throughout the site, Facebook says. According to the Facebook Developers Blog, this change will help businesses surface better on: News Feed Graph Search Check-Ins […]
Today, one of the most popular social media scheduling tools, Buffer, has teamed up with the also-popular Twitter Analytics tool Followerwonk. The integration is an exciting one. Thanks to Followerwonk data, Buffer will now be able to auto-schedule posts for users at the ideal times for each specific account. Followerwonk, a tool within the large […]
Until today, LinkedIn users were able to post content to the social networking site in two formats: simple text based updates and links. New upgrades will allow users to add files in updates instead of forcing users to link off to other locations. This comes on the heels of the announcement that users could upload […]
With the overwhelming number of recent hacks, social media security has been one of the hottest topics in social. The popular social media management platform Hootsuite is looking to capitalize on this growing trend with their new Security Services feature. This new suite of services is available today for all Hootsuite Enterprise clients. Included in the package […]
A new Twitter app update has rolled out to both iOS and Android platforms, making it even easier to share photos, locations and to see how your Tweets will look before sending. By skipping a few previous steps, users can now Tweet out a photo in under six seconds: Tweet a photo in under six […]
Last night, Google released a new version of Google+ that features a heavy dose of photo features. In addition to photo upgrades, the new app will include hashtag support, ability to update profile and cover photos and the addition of Google Offers in the stream. The new app is also now sans Hangouts as the […]
A new Facebook Ad targeting feature now allows advertisers to target those who have recently interacted with Facebook. The targeting type “Action Spec” allows users to target by the recency of specific actions taken. This recency targeting is currently in beta mode. The new “Action Spec” targeting allows users to target by the recency of […]