Getting in Gear with Social Media News

How about a round-up of social news stories making the rounds on the Web today? There are some important landmarks for social media watchers to be aware of in the journey toward social media success.

A quick view of the roadmap first:

• There’s a social media traffic jam in the B2B lane.
• Google still drives more trust than social media channels.
• Users beware stranger danger! Don’t fall for social media candy.
• There’s a powerful new competitor in the race. Keep up!

Now buckle your seat belts and away we go!

Social Media Marketing Breaks Down on B2B Lead Generation

Social media marketing is a weak method of B2B lead generation, according to a study by LeadForce1. Product pages and contact pages were among the least-visited page types from social sources, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. From Facebook, visitors check out about pages and blogs most, and product pages least. From Twitter, blogs take the top spot, with product pages trailing behind in third place. And visitors from Facebook and Twitter visit just one page of a B2B site more than 63 percent of the time. Though, while social media traffic can’t be counted on for driving instant sales, this study doesn’t negate the community building, engagement generating and branding powers of social media marketing. Just be sure SMM goals line up with social media’s strengths.

Social Media Companies Still Have a Lot of Ground to Gain in User Trust

While Twitter and Facebook are the life of the party on the Web, Google, Apple and Microsoft are still far and away more trusted by the American public. Apple, Microsoft and Google were found to be trusted by 49 percent of adult respondents, while Facebook and Twitter were trusted by 13 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Among a younger crowd (18- to 29-year-olds), the established tech giants still had higher trust ratings than the social media companies, although Facebook and Twitter were viewed more trustworthy by the younger group at 20 percent and 15 percent, respectively. (It’s interesting to note that none of the above faired as poorly on the trust meter as traditional media.) The trust level of Internet marketing channels including search engines, computing device manufacturers and social media sites is worth consideration when deciding the strengths and best use of such channels.

Avoid Stranger Danger on Social Media’s Mean Streets

I knew my fears of broadcasting your whereabouts to the world were well founded. David Harry is shining a light on the trouble with services like Foursquare that encourage users to post their current locations online. The exploitable personal detail that Dave was able to find in a few short search sessions is shocking. I’m sure you can understand how sharing your home location and then sharing your current location is enough info for a would-be thief to know the coast is clear and for how long. Teens are among the most vulnerable to predation as they often share personal information without a clear understanding of potential consequences. The old saying “don’t talk to strangers” is just as relevant online today as ever before.

There’s a New Car on the Track — BlueGlass Interactive

Search & Social, 10e20 and Brent Csutoras, Inc. were always forces to be reckoned with in the Internet marketing industry, but now that they’ve teamed up, you better be ready for a challenge to your SERP space. Luckily for us, the individual members of the new BlueGlass Interactive team are all incredibly active in the community. They frequently speak at search conferences, publish news, tactics and strategies on Search Engine Journal, and organize their own educational conference series, with the next soon taking place in L.A. Recognize the challenge of a new Internet marketing force on the field and use their offerings to your advantage to push your pedal to the metal.

Virginia Nussey is the director of content marketing at MobileMonkey. Prior to joining this startup in 2018, Virginia was the operations and content manager at Bruce Clay Inc., having joined the company in 2008 as a writer and blogger.

See Virginia's author page for links to connect on social media.