Google Launches Groupon Rival

Back in December, S2EO reported on Groupon's decision to reject an offer by Google to acquire the start-up for an estimated $5 to $6 billion. 

Well, it looks like Google is fighting back by launching its own daily deals service, Google Offers. Much like Groupon and other competitors like LivingSocial, Google Offers will send daily alerts to consumers about deals at local businesses such as restaurants, fitness centers, and stores. People can begin signing up for the alerts this Thursday on the Google homepage.

Meanwhile, Groupon apparently has plans to make its shares open to the public, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) for Groupon is expected to be between $15 and $20 billion.

Do you plan to sign up for Google Offers? What do you think of Groupon's plans to go public? Let us know below.  

Want to Get the Most Traction on Your Social Media Efforts? Try Fridays

Maybe it's because it's the end of the work week and people are already slipping into weekend mode or maybe it's the fact that there are fewer posts for users to comment on overall at the end of the week, but two independent studies confirm: Engagement on social networks is higher on Thursdays and Fridays than other days of the week.

In fact, engagement on Facebook pages is 18 percent higher on Thursdays and Fridays than the rest of the week, with Thursdays being the slightly better day to post. Conversely, Fridays seem to be the best day to engage users on Twitter, according to Twitter Chief Revenue Officer Adam Bain.

Although there are likely many factors at work, one reason for the spike in engagement at the end of the week seems to be that fewer people are posting during this time—which means that there are fewer posts to compete for users' attention.

Regardless, the research is certainly important for marketers to keep in mind as they try to get the most out of their social media campaigns.

What do you think of the research? What days of the week do you see the most response for your posts? Do you tend to engage more on social media networks at the end of the week? Let us know below. 

Facebook Lets Users Convert Profiles to Pages—Finally

For all the businesses out there that created a Facebook profile to publicize your brand before there was such a thing as a Facebook "page," your day of reckoning is finally here.

Facebook recently launched a tool that enables users to convert their Facebook profiles into pages. People who opt to make the switch will find that their profile pictures and friends (now categorized as "likes") will move from their personal profile to a business page.

Unfortunately, this is the only content that will transfer over, and the "migration," as Facebook is calling it, is not reversible. So, users should make sure to download and save any other content that they do not want to be lost, including their photos, messages, or other personal information from their profiles.

Of course, for many businesses, the move may not even be an option anymore. In fact, we at S2EO cannot help but to be a little bit bitter at Facebook over the new feature. As some of you might remember, S2EO's parent company, Shakespeare Squared, had their Facebook account disabled a few months back because it was discovered that we had created a profile for the business rather than a page.

Still, the feature does hold a lot of perks, especially for executives or other public figures that have muddled the line on Facebook between their personal connections and brand followers. The tool allows an easy transition for many users to create a page for their business that is separate from their personal profile.

What do you think of the tool? Do you plan to use it? Let us know below. 

New Subscription Plan for Apple Apps

Apple recently announced its plans for a new subscription service for apps delivering content, including newspapers, magazines, videos, and music. Under the plan, publishers will be able to keep 100 percent of the revenue from app subscriptions sold on their own site; however, Apple will get 30 percent of the revenue from any subscriptions purchased from them directly.

Steve Jobs commented on the new service, saying:

"Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing. All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers."

While it remains to be seen how publishers will react to the plan, Apple has also made it clear that it will allow publishers to control privacy features.

What do you think of Apple's subscription plan? Let us know below. 

Why Every Company Needs to be a Media Company

This morning, I read an interesting blog post by Joe Pulizzi, author, speaker, and content marketing strategist and the founder of Junta42. The post, "Starting a News Service for Your Industry," asserts the notion that every company must be a media company, and I have to say, I could not agree with him more.

Here at S2EO, we spurt the importance of content all the time. Not just any content, but quality content. Content that engages your customers, makes them smarter, and helps them to lead better lives. Why is this so important?

In the first wave of web development, experts touted the importance of having a website. People likened it to having an address—if a company did not have a website, they might as well not exist, at least as far as their potential customers were concerned. Well, today, it is not just about having a website. With the endless amount of information available on the Internet via various websites, social networks, blogs, and other online publications, businesses need a way to engage their customers to distinguish their message from the messages of others and to separate their brand from their competitors.

By becoming a media company, businesses essentially become a news source for their customers, offering them the latest industry news, information, and advice. Take, for example, a company that sells cars. While the company’s website might be a good resource for people interested in buying a car, customers are unlikely to revisit the website once they have made their purchase. But if the website offers other resources—articles on car safety, a video about what to look for in a used car, and blogs on the latest car regulations—customers will begin to value the company as a trusted industry expert and come back to the site over and over again.

Developing a content marketing strategy does not mean throwing all of your other marketing initiatives out the window. However, it does mean that companies should consider their content as a reflection of their brand and as an important part of their overall business and marketing goals.

To read Joe Pulizzi's full post, click here. You can also check out S2EO's own Resource Center for more information on content, social media, and marketing here.  

What do you think? Join the discussion below. 

Real-Time Social Media Use on the Rise

Participation in real-time social media networks is on the rise, according to the Global Web Index, a new study by social media consultancy Trendstream. While participation in static online conversations like blogs and forums decreased in 2010, real-time social networks and microblogging sites like Twitter and Facebook have increased by 20 percent in the last year.

Interestingly, the study also revealed that social media has become more about sharing professional content than personal content. The sharing of news stories links, videos, and other informational content went up 10 percent in 2010, while posts about personal photos went down 5 percent.

In fact, this new data can be seen in the site design changes of the big social media players—Twitter asks users, "What's happening?" instead of "How are you doing?" Similarly, Facebook removed the "Username is…" from status updates, encouraging users to post a wide variety of information.

The study is big news for businesses who utilize social media as part of their overall marketing strategy. Companies that focus on creating engaging, meaningful content for their customers and that distribute it through various social media channels have the potential to connect with a huge userbase of customers and potential customers who can then share that content with others.

What do you think of the findings? What social media networks does your company use? What type of content do you share? Let us know in the comments below.

New Facebook Newsfeed Options

A couple of days ago, Facebook began rolling out some additional filtering options for users' newsfeeds. Previously, users were given only two sorting options—Top News and Most Recent. While Top News was an algorithmic assortment of users' most interesting stories, Most Recent was simply a list of the most current updates from friends.

However, now users have a wide variety of options for sorting through their newsfeeds. They can choose to view stories involving Status Updates, Games, Pages, or Photos, as well as select to see posts from just one of their Groups.

Another new option allows users to control the number of posts they see from a specific user in their newsfeed.

Not everyone has access to the new filtering options yet, but they seem to be another attempt by Facebook to synthesize information for users and to make the site as user-friendly as possible.

Are you seeing the changes? What do you think?