Last week, Facebook standardized its Timeline platform for Brand Pages.  The new Timeline layout premiered last fall for profile users marking the social network’s most drastic layout change.

While the change to the Timeline format may have caught some online traditionalists off guard, as PR and marketing professionals, we think there are advantages to the new display.

The Timeline Brand Page has opportunities for businesses to engage visitors. For example, the layout offers a "cover photo" display at the top of the page which functions as a billboard for the brand.  Additionally, Brand Pages have the advantage of pinning the most important content so it appears first on its Timeline.

But what social media managers may find most useful from all of the new features is the Timeline’s archival function which chronicles the brand’s history into a compelling story. Companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and McDonald's are using this feature to create a more personal experience between its brand and consumers.

What do you think about the layout of the Facebook Timeline? Is it good for brands?

It’s hard to believe that Facebook has only been around for eight years. However, last Wednesday the Harvard-dorm-room-start-up filed preliminary paperwork for its hugely anticipated IPO. An IPO, or initial public offering, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. The company plans to release its shares in May.

By the time of the sale, The New York Times says the internet giant could be worth as much as $100 billion. That’s excluding the $5 billion in capital the IPO sale is expected to generate. That means, if successful, Facebook will hold the record for the largest internet IPO.

Without question, the most interesting part of this deal is the staggering figures revealed in Facebook’s SEC filings. Figures, the company has kept virtually secret until now, such as:

·        Facebook currently reports an active user base of 845 million. In September, that number was estimated at 800 million users.

·         Every day, Facebook users upload more than 250 million photos and contribute more than 2.5 billion ‘Likes’ and comments.

·         Currently, the company estimates that there are 100 billion Facebook friendships on its site.

·         And in 2011, Facebook earned a whopping $1 billion on $3.7 billion in sales.

We can't help but wonder, do the numbers revealed in Facebook’s SEC filings surprise you? Is going public the right move for the company? And, when the shares do become available, will you be buying stock? 

“What is that actor's name again? You know, the one from that movie?” More often than not, our response is, "I’ll Google it."

Today, we can find the answer to almost any question with only a few keystrokes. But, is this expediency helping or hurting us? A new study out of Columbia argues that, in the long-run, it may actually be a disabling convenience. 

According to the neuroscientist-led study, the world’s largest search engine has transformed the way we remember information – because we don’t. After four experiments testing participants’ memory of searchable information, the study found that we remember where to search for information but have forgotten the information itself.

“People actively do not make the effort to remember when they think they can look up information later,” the study’s authors write.

So how dependent on the internet are we really? The study went so far as to compare losing a SmartPhone and hence, our ability to easily access the internet, to the experience of losing a friend.

Do you suffer from the “Google effect?” Leave your comments below.

In last week’s post we discussed how social media is finding its way into every part of our lives. Facebook is predicted to reach 1 billion users by August of this year while Twitter and Google+ are gaining in popularity around the world.

Despite its global acclimation, the London Organizing Committee recently announced a limited social media ban for its 2012 Olympic Games. London volunteers from its 70,000 person volunteer crew, Games Makers, will be prohibited from posting roles, locations or details about the athletes and other events online during the Games’ July 27-August 12 run.

“We understand that many of our Games Makers will want to use social media to share their exciting experiences at London 2012 with their friends and family,” a spokesman told Reuters. “As is standard in most organizations, we have provided some practical guidelines to give basic advice on interacting in a social media environment with the aim of protecting the interests of our workforce and operation.”

Athletes will still be permitted to tweet or post Facebook updates. 

In this day and age, snapping a quick photo and uploading it to Facebook is common practice. Now, volunteers will have to exercise social media restraint. Many people are criticizing the committee for the decision, stating that volunteers could provide one-of-a-kind accounts of the famed event.

Will this restriction set the precedent? Flash back to the 2008 Beijing Games. While social media was certainly on the rise, no policy was put into place as Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites are banned in China.

Do you think the social media ban will limit the public’s discussion of the 2012 London Olympics? Did the London Olympic Committee make the right decision? Leave your comments below. 

To strengthen its relationship with advertisers, today Twitter joined the ranks of its social media siblings – Facebook and Google – by launching brand pages. We recently wrote about Google+ extending its functionality for brand and business pages in this post.

So, what are Twitter brand pages and how can you use them as part of a greater marketing strategy?

Brand pages have a few key elements:

1.  Design: Pages can now be customized with large header images. Advertisers can use this to prominently display logos, taglines and product shots.  Brands can also choose a tweet to keep at the top of their time line. Customize your “top tweet” by embedding a photo from Flickr or a YouTube video.

2.       Interaction:  Brand’s @ replies and mentions are now separated from its feed. That means companies can respond to users without “diluting” it’s messaging.

Already, top organizations like American Express, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike and Paramount Pictures have signed up.  Learn how these organizations are using Twitter brand pages to add to their marketing strategies, here.

According to Twitter insiders, the move is just one part of a more comprehensive redesign strategy. Stayed tuned, we know we will. 

A new study examined the CTR (click through rate) for links posted to the news feed by Facebook Pages. The study, performed by analytics provider EdgeRank Checker, found on average links posted by Facebook Pages receive 1 click per 1,000 fans.

Ultimately, these figures give marketers and communication specialists an idea of how many Facebook fans they’ll need to drive significant traffic to external websites.

Other interesting findings from the study include:

• ·         Most major brands have 100,000 fans.
• ·         Posts on Wednesday receive the most clicks and shares, while posts on Fridays receive the fewest.
• ·         Links posted by Pages have nearly three times the CTR of Facebook ads.

Facebook Pages can be a useful marketing channel and an important component of your online strategy. To find link click metrics of your Facebook Page, click the Insights button on the left side of your Page.

Click here to see just one of the Fan Pages executed by Res Publica Group and 36i.

Data based on 84,000 link posts by more than 5,500 Facebook Pages in October. 

This week, Google+ extended its functionality for brand and business pages. Google+ is a social network operated by Google with integrations across a number of Google products. Its new Google+ pages are Google’s answer to Facebook Fan pages. Users are able to opt in to “Circles” to receive updates. An early adopter, Mayor Emanuel’s office is already on board. Check out its Google+ page.

So, is it worth it to add a Google+ page to your plethora of social media platforms? The Huffington Post says yes.

"If Google reaches one billion unique visitors per month, the thinking goes, Google+ will also cast a wide net. Add to that the possibilities through YouTube, Maps, and Google's other services and tools."

Other Google+ functionalities include live video "Hangout" sessions and discussions. Keep in mind that Google+ pages do not allow for contests or promotions. So don't ditch those Twitter handles or Facebook pages just yet.

Ultimately, Google+ is a work in progress and its influence is yet to be seen. However, it's worth it to note that Google+ already has 40 million users, compared of course to Facebook's 800 million-plus.

Learn more about Google+ here.

Learn how to create a Google+ page in 5 easy steps. 

If you haven’t read our first post you may have missed the announcement: Res Publica Group proudly introduced a new venture – 36i, a website design and digital strategies company to help new and existing clients make an impact with their digital creative needs – but also make an impact of our own.

At Res Publica Group, we like to practice what we preach. So, after creating and executing successful social media campaigns for a variety of clients we thought what better time to rollout our own social media campaign than with the addition of 36i: Say hello to the 36i blog, cue Facebook, Twitter drumroll, please.

We hope you follow our feeds on Twitter and Facebook and contribute to our musings on everything from digital and social media strategy to Chicago news and politics. Don’t forget to continue to check the blog frequently as we will be weighing in on the most current trends and topics and opening up the floor for discussion.

So all pretenses aside, here are our top reasons for creating this blog and why you should consider it too:

     1.  SEO – Search engines love blogs. If optimized properly, your site will rank high on search engine listings. In fact, research shows sites with blogs get 55% more traffic.

     2.  Connections – Blogs enable you to connect with people who share your interests. Done properly, a blog can even establish you as a thought leader or expert of a topic and make you a go-to source for key audiences.

     3.  Convenience – Let’s face it, a blog is easier than a website to create, operate and update. Have an announcement, new product launch or simply want to respond to an issue? A blog will allow you to share your news and ideas with little or no HTML work.

Happy blogging! What are some other great reasons to blog?