Web analytics provider, Omniture has further secured their partnership with Facebook by announcing today that customers can now purchase, automate and more thoroughly track their Facebook ad buys.

The announcement is targeted towards marketers who are looking to get a better understanding of the performance of their Facebook media buys. The custom report options will offer a complete look at the analytics, effectiveness and customer engagement generated by campaigns.

In the past year, the Adobe-owned company has supported Twitter analytics and the Facebook application measurement, making the addition of Facebook ad measurement the next logical step.

With the majority of Facebook’s projected revenue for 2010 coming from ad buys, it’s clear to see why both Omniture and Facebook would want to help marketers better analyse, optimise and spend more on their campaigns.

Today’s news also included the addition of display ad optimisation, more mobile analytics and an expansion to the company’s partnership with Experian.

As social networking becomes the ‘in’ thing, people are beginning to question where that leaves the use of email. You’ve heard the saying, ‘video killed the radio star,’ so is this a case of history repeating itself? Is email about to fall victim to social networking?

Well, no we don’t think so. From a Ph. point of view, we just don’t buy this theory that “email is dead,” and there are plenty of reasons why:

• People still send hand-written letters
• Nearly all websites that require registration request an email address
• Email notifies you of updates from your social networks
• Email is universal, social networks are not
• Many people have no interest in joining social networks but will use email
• Email is still improving
• Even social networks recognise the importance of email
• More social media use means more email use
• As far as marketing is concerned, email is doing pretty well

Businesses should be merging social aspects with their email programs to not only expand the reach of their offers, but to maintain customer loyalty and ultimately grow their database. So if you’ve been questioning the life expectancy of email, stop now. Keep in mind that about 50% of content is shared through email and social media is a great way to get subscribers.

In case you’re STILL not convinced, here are some final thoughts for you;

• Mobile apps will continue to keep email relevant in the mobile world.
• Google recently released its own social media product, Buzz, which the company decided would fit best with Gmail.
• Microsoft Outlook only recently started integrating social networks into the inbox.
• The social networks themselves are creating email services - Facebook is said to be working on its own...and we know how popular Facebook is.
  

Google has just announced that public status updates from Facebook will now be included in their real-time search. This means that the largest social network is finally getting to play in Google’s real-time search alongside the likes of Twitter.  These real-time results feature prominently on the first page of Google’s search results for relevant queries – so don’t miss out.

This is good news for businesses, which should be getting a good amount of Facebook appearances in Google's real-time search results, and possibly in the real-time search results in general (due to Facebook's huge user-base). Right now, Facebook isn't dominating the results, but that is bound to change with it being the largest social networking site.

A lot of brands who don't have Facebook pages in place should be considering this news as the perfect reason to go and create one. Due to the increased exposure, your site will be looking at gaining more fans than ever before.

The use of social media has grown significantly over the past two years but new research from E-Consultancy indicates that most businesses are still in the experimental stage when it comes to their efforts.

61% say they have experimented with social media, but not done that much whilst 90% say they expect social media to take up more time in the next year. Only 2% expect less time to be spent on social media next year.

Whilst it seems most businesses are still only experimenting with social media, the future looks set in that direction.

Facebook is most commonly used in social media, with 85% of companies surveyed using it as part of their marketing strategy. This is followed by Twitter (surprisingly) at 77%, LinkedIn at 58% and YouTube at 49%.

Over 60% of respondents say that the amount of money spent on social media has increased since last year and 81% of companies expect social media budgets to increase over the next year. So whilst the majority of companies are experimenting for now, they must be seeing results otherwise why would they forecast such increases?

Do you agree with these results? How important is social media to your business?

Let us know…

A growing number of resort and spa destinations are spreading their wings and reaching a wider customer base via social media. With the help of social networking platforms they are broadening their branding efforts and connecting with potential customers that they might not have reached through traditional advertising.

World-famous mountain resort company Vail Resorts now pours 80% of their marketing budget into a social media strategy. With this, the company has launched three new websites each with their own Twitter account. Each website targets a slightly different audience but the one thing everyone shares is a love for skiing and snowboarding and now Vail Resorts has provided an outlet to keep everyone updated with their news and events.

‘The Canyons’ began using social media two years ago by launching an employee-run blog in conjunction with Twitter and Facebook accounts. They began to understand the power of social media when they held a contest giveaway on Facebook. Overnight their number of fans grew so quickly that they started to think about more social media strategies.

Vail Resorts, ‘The Canyons’ and many other resorts are now realising that social media is the only realm where anyone can do effective branding. With advertising space, you’re limited by size and cost whereas with social media you can actually talk about all things relevant to you, as much as you want and for very little cost.

The click of a mouse may now be just as powerful, if not more so, than word of mouth but just don’t forget that successful social media strategies do require dedication and consistency.

When it comes to quality versus quantity, quality should always take precedence. ‘The Canyons’ take on social media was growing with substance and that’s more important than growing in numbers, because numbers don’t guarantee staying power. Whilst you want a lot of online followers, you only really want to communicate with people who are genuinely interested in using your service.

Above all, know your audience. Like with any individual or company leveraging social media, resort owners must accept that they’re no longer in complete control of their brand. However, research and attention to detail goes a long way in monitoring how a business is perceived.

A Facebook Page can be a great way to build your fan-base, engage with your customers and generally build upon your brand. However, if you want to run a promotion on Facebook, that’s going to cost you.

Facebook's policy says that you must get written approval from a Facebook account representative and in order to get one, you’ll have to spend about £6,000 advertising with the company.

So basically, without violating any guidelines, you’ll only be able to advertise by paying for Facebook ads. The guidelines state: "You may not administer any promotion through Facebook, except that you may administer a promotion through the Facebook Platform with our prior written approval."

"The business model, with pages, is to try to get as many people using them as possible, then make a little money from each person if they want to do paid advertising — the preview fee goes against this model to try to keep Facebook legally safe," writes Eldon. "The problem, as many people trying to build promotions for Facebook have been discovering on their own, is that the fee requirement is never clearly spelled out. And, neither is the rationale for the fee. The result is confusion among marketers and developers trying to build promotions for Facebook, especially for small-business clients."

You’ve probably noticed us talking about Facebook being a great way for your business to engage with your customers and increase your conversion rates. So this post probably may not be particularly encouraging. The thing is many businesses are still trying to figure Facebook out so it’s important for you not to miss guidelines like this.

A new study has revealed that the majority of consumers react positively when companies respond to postings on social media sites. The response indicates the value of social media as a new way to engage people and build your company’s image, reputation and brand.

The study found 55% of consumers felt positively when companies responded to a social media posting, with only 5 percent reacting negatively and 40 percent remaining neutral.

The study included feedback from 27,000 consumers about their use and impressions of social media whilst 22 companies provided information on their social media policies to see how it compared.

Whilst the results reinforce the value of monitoring social media sites, companies should also be aware of the fine line between using social media to connect with customers and constantly selling to them.

Other highlights of the survey included:

•    60% of consumers engage in social media sites (62% women, 57% men).
•    The percentages by age closely mirrored the general population with 35 year olds and younger using social media 80% of the time or more and 36 to 50 year olds using it an average of 60% of the time. Of those consumers in their 70's and 80's, 21% are visiting social media sites.
•    Slightly more than 85% consumers utilise on Facebook, where all the participating companies have a presence, 38% on YouTube, 19% on MySpace, and almost 13% on Twitter.
•    One in ten consumers who did contact consumer affairs departments from the 22 companies polled posted dialogue to a social media site. 58% percent of the women posted a positive comment, compared to 49% for men. 35% of the males posted a negative comment versus 26% of women.

Online coupon could mean different things: A small clickable banner on a homepage, an email offer which is redeemable online, over the phone, or in-store; or a printable coupon consumer’s use in a shop or office. You can even an offer a limited-time deal to your company’s Twitter followers or Facebook fans.

Whether or not you’ve used online coupons before now is the time to test the waters. If your visitors need that final push to buy, then this could be the deciding factor. Try online coupons and see if your conversion rates increase.

First of all, you need to decide how much discount you want to offer and how long you wan the promotion to run. When you’ve decided, write it up clearly and directly, for example, “20% off this week” or “Buy one get one free today only.”

Next, you’ll need to create your online coupon. Smaller businesses will need to reach a targeted, local audience with their promotions so it’s best to create a coupon on a site like Craigslist or Local.com. This will allow you to create and distribute coupons with just a few clicks. You can also create a “coupon” by simply coming up with an offer to send out via e-mail.

Once you’ve created your coupon, you need to think about distribution. Here are some ways for you to distribute your online coupons.

1. Email a coupon to your client list. Allow recipients to print out your coupon and bring it into your store.
2. Blog about it. Even if you only have a few followers, posting deals may encourage recommendations and new subscribers.
3. Post your coupon on a social networking site that automatically distributes coupons to targeted audiences, such as Facebook.
4. Use your Twitter and Facebook accounts to offer friends and followers a special discount. Make sure the promotions you offer are compelling and make your followers feel special.
5. Film a short video clip showcasing your business and post it on YouTube. Add text to the video offering a discount to customers who mention they saw the clip.

Make your coupons shareable, allowing people to pass the deal along to friends. Each coupon you send out via e-mail, on Twitter or Facebook, or post online should include a link to “Share this coupon with a friend” so people can easily forward the discount.

Remember, always put an expiration date on your coupon and then, once your coupon promotion is over, don’t forget to measure how well it performed. If you have a transactional website, you can do this using Google Analytics.

Finally, don’t think that coupons have to be a one-off. This is your opportunity to create ongoing customer loyalty. Therefore each time a customer redeems a coupon, why not ask them for their email address, or encourage them to write a review of your products or services on local directory listing sites. Ask them to follow you on Twitter or join your Facebook Fan Page, and always follow-up with further promotions down the road.

I don't have to tell you that Facebook can be a tremendous source of web traffic and there's a good chance that most of the people you know, or want to know, are on it.

With over 400 million users, the social network is consuming more and more of people's time, and thanks to mobile devices, it’s always accessible. The average Facebook user spends 55 minutes per day on Facebook and nearly 80,000 sites use Facebook Connect.

If you don't have a Facebook Page, not only are you missing out on traffic to your site, but a chance to engage with your customers and ultimately improving your brand's reputation.

Maybe you already have a Facebook page but you’ve found that it’s not performing how you’d like? If your fan page is emptier than a Rick Astley concert, you need to start focusing your Facebook strategy on interesting the fans you do have instead of trying to collect more.

Don’t think Facebook pages are a waste of time - only 4% of pages have 10,000 or more fans and only 0.76% has 100,000 or more – so don’t be offended.

Studies have found there to be a strong correlation between the amount of other content your page has (notes, links, photos, videos) and your number of fans. Therefore if you want to grow your Facebook fan base, try and move beyond simple Wall posts by adding photos, videos, links and other content. Test content types and see what works best for you.

Let us know what you think. Does your Facebook Page drive traffic to your site? Does it engage customers? What’s your strategy?

By now every Facebook user should have noticed the new redesign that has come into effect. To celebrate their 6th birthday and a milestone, 400 million users, Facebook decided to make the necessary changes to make your experience even easier.

But what do you think?

The company also decided to celebrate the redesign by giving certain members of the press the chance to chat with the Facebook team. In the private meeting, Product Manager, Peter Deng, took the time to explain the new Facebook redesign and all of its new features in-depth.

Check out what he had to say by clicking here

You never know, maybe you'll learn a thing or two about making your users experience easier and more enjoyable.