Ads on Facebook To Offer 22% More ROI

Here is an interesting piece of news that is sure to please online marketers to no end – As you display ads over Facebook, your ROI is likely to increase by 22%. This is not just an assumption but a fact that was shared by Brad Smallwood, Facebook's head of measurement and insights, at the Advertising Research Foundation's conference in New York. Mr. Smallwood said that his company had increased the return on investment on 22 recent campaigns comprising data from 70 million users by 22%. The official shared figures and news from his company's own database as well as that of Datalogix, which keeps a tab on the conversions from Facebook ads.

While Facebook itself has enough data that allows it to come to grips with the purchasing habits of its users, Datalogix, a company that specializes in digital media and integrated database marketing, too endeavors to increase online and offline sales through the purchasing information that it has access to.

Mr. Smallwood further added that Facebook would now help different brands to tailor their advertising campaigns as per the behavior of their buyers, from casual to hardcore. Here is what he said:

"As we dig further and further into the data, we’re able to get a segment-level understanding of what’s working — so understanding for heavy product purchasers that you should have a different frequency (of advertising messages for) the low product purchasers."

Small Businesses Likely To Benefit From New Strategy

So, now that you know what Facebook is up to, you should not for once think that your account on the social networking site will be taken advantage of. Facebook will not be identifying any name to different corporations. Instead, it will simply connect its data with that of Datalogix in a 'double-blind' method.

An official from Facebook itself has claimed that the ads on networking site will now offer 22% more ROI than before. So, SynapseIndia believes that it will be interesting to see how small business owners react to this latest bit of information. As advertisers are provided with the data pertaining to purchasers, they could start targeting buyers who are likely to bring them the maximum amount of profit. The data provided by Facebook could also let an organization know of the customers that its competitors are catering to.

It has been discovered that 50% of the TV commercials and digital ads fail to come to the notice of their target audience. SynapseIndia is of the view that with the initiative taken by Facebook, it is possible that at least the statistics concerning digital ads could show an improvement.

What Marketers Need To Do

There are several factors that marketers who are keen on realizing their online goals need to take cognizance of. To begin with, a business must know when and how people are purchasing its products. In addition to this, an organization must also try to learn what else its customers are buying and who its competitors are. As marketers combine their findings with the new advertising strategy, it is possible that they could achieve stronger results.   

SynapseIndia @ Foursquare

Your Facebook Like Speaks Aloud About You

SynapseIndia has been aggressively tracking the recent studies at the University of Cambridge about the `like` feature on Facebook that can reveal a lot about the end user. One can know more about the personality of an individual, their sexual orientation, IQ level, religious beliefs, and several other traits by studying through their likes and dislikes. "This study demonstrates the degree to which relatively basic digital records of human behavior can be used to automatically and accurately estimate a wide range of personal attributes that people would typically assume to be private," researchers said in the study, which was published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

If you tend to like something and have posted a comment on the same, the recorded data can be calibrated by machines in such a manner that it can reveal several traits with utmost accuracy. Several predictors can also speak of whether the parents of the user were divorced when young or whether they hadn't.  Every result provided is first corroborated with the information that is provided on the profiles of each user. "Each person, on average, liked 170 things," says psychologist Michal Kosinski, the study's lead author. "Some liked only one thing and there were people who liked thousands of things. We removed those. We looked at people who liked between one and 700 different things."

The precision of this study has be confirmed at SynapseIndia through the results that were provided. According to which they were able to correctly classify 95% users on the basis of ethnic origin and gender. Similarly 93% of the users were correctly classified as males and females. Even sexual orientation was easy to determine, with 88% of males and 75% of females being judged correctly. "This is not unique to Facebook and is not even unique to social networking in general," says David Jacobs, consumer privacy counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research center in Washington. "It's one of the implications of Big Data and in this case Big Data in a social networking context. Lots of information makes for certain inferences and sensitive predictions."

SynapseIndia @ Google+

Redefining The Job Of A Social Media Strategist At Synapse Communication

 By Now, it is crystal clear that the platform for social media interaction by organizations including businesses, is here to stay. As per surveys, more than 70% of establishments have started to utilize  considerable aspects of social media, initiating a new age in the relationship between consumers and businesses. At the same time, we must not also forget that social media, though very powerful, is just another tool and never a strategy.

The true challenge faced by most social media experts is the integration of such platforms with other mediums and without a communication strategy, we can never expect a miracle. After all, a tool with no plans is similar to a road trip without a map. It will lead us nowhere, and we must ensure that in order to steer an organization in the desired direction, there must always be a social media strategist to enhance better communication skills. And, the qualities that this person must possess are:

• Should be able to influence and not act like an authority.
• Must always be passionate about the brand.
• Is always be eager to learn more.

Having said that, there is always some amount of counseling required  for a newly hired social media strategist.  At SynapseIndia, a renowned web solutions firm, every new employee in this field is always provided with an outline of the duties. There is also a social media policy in place, so that they are aware of the language that is to be practiced. Periodic feedbacks are provided to keep a track on their activities, and to confirm that they are not just broadcasting but also engaging with the users. The primary responsibilities of a social media strategist at SynapseIndia include:

• Development and implementation of social media strategies.
• Discovering online target audience for the brand.
• Engaging with individuals and communities to build a closely integrated community.
• Analyzing the market competitiveness.
• Administering brand citations, including answering inquiries, providing customer support, and dispelling any form of brand myths.
• Tracking monthly alterations in social media statistics and creating strategies accordingly.

A skilled social media strategist is someone who can co-ordinate with the different departments of an organization and tactfully integrate them all.

SynapseIndia @ Twitter

Is There Really A Co-Relation Between Ad Words and Organic Rankings?

Can an organization improve its search engine rankings by buying Google AdWords? Does Google penalize websites that do not buy its ads by lowering their rankings? The answer to both these questions is – 'No'. This has been the case all throughout and in the future too, buying Google AdWords shall not have a bearing on one's SEO rankings because if it does, the organic rankings of  Google will start to lose their relevance. When this happens, it will be a big blow for Google as  Yahoo or Bing could usurp its position as the leading search engine over the Internet.

Many online users refrain from clicking on PPC ads while doing a search as they are aware that the links may not lead them to what they are actually looking for. A PPC ad can make a skeptic user feel that the advertiser, who is ready to pay more than others, is using a ploy to grab user attention. Recently, a WSI blog post offered a very plausible explanation. It clearly said that doing AdWords did not affect SEO rankings. The blog talked about Google's business ethics and the consequences that the company would face if it started to give co-relate search engine rankings with PPC. Thereby, experts from SynapseIndia want to make it more evident once again that Google itself has said time and again that it will not affect rankings, the blog said.

The blogger revealed that he had been managing PPC campaigns and doing search engine optimization for his clients for years. He had dealt with all types of clients; both those who had started as well as those who had stopped doing paid advertisements, the blogger added and he was convinced that he had never seen anything that indicated that it affected rankings. The blogger further said that there were many SEO firms that had studied the issue and that all of them had arrived at the same conclusion that AdWords did not affect rankings.

SynapseIndia, a software development company based in India that offers SEO services to its clients, is completely in agreement with the WSI blog post. The company acknowledges the importance of paid advertising and believes that high search engine and PPC results are valuable for an organization. However, we too are of the opinion that there exists no co-relation between paid and organic results. The former in no way has any kind of impact on the latter.

However, the assessment done thus far does not imply that AdWords are not important. AdWords, today, play a major role in improving the visibility of a website. Someone who is planning to launch a new website or has launched one only recently can make use of it to popularize their site amongst the vast online audience. When the rankings of a website drop on account of the intense competition over the Internet, PPC can once again regenerate the required amount of traffic.     

SynapseIndia @ Google+

Brighten Your SEO Prospects by Following the Right Procedures

It is always a challenging task for an organization to draw the attention of online users. The task becomes tougher as leading search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing make algorithmic changes on a regular basis. On following the right SEO procedures that do not need to be changed drastically in times of crisis, an organization can keep its online campaign on the right track. SynapseIndia would now like to apprise its readers of some key guidelines pertaining to search engine optimization. Readers are, hereby, informed that along with other things, SynapseIndia Services comprise SEO support too.

The following SEO tips shall come in handy in achieving online success:

1. Think From Users' Point of View

It is advisable for an organization to be mindful of its target audience while formulating its keyword strategy. There is no harm in preparing keywords that comprise solutions to a specific problem. While formulating such keywords, you normally begin with 'how to' or 'what to'. A problem-oriented keyword is likely to yield better results than a generic one.

2. 'Content is King' – Cliche But True       

An organization that is keen on improving its search engine ranking must first improve the quality of its content. This is the rule of thumb that precedes all other SEO techniques.

It takes as much effort to maintain one's search engine ranking as it does to acquire it. An organization that updates its online content on a regular basis shall have visitors thronging its website. The search engine that the website is appearing on too will acknowledge the effort of the site owners and see them as a valuable resource.

It is important to know that search engines are unable to read animations and images. Their appetite is satiated with informative material. Therefore, an organization must submit those web pages to search engines that talk about its products and services.

3. Position Your Links Strategically

In order to invite online users to your web pages, you must position your links strategically on other important websites. Search engines see links leading to your web pages as 'votes' and the more votes you have, the stronger your prospects will be.

4. Know the Art of Keyword Incorporation

Keywords do not just feature in the body of a content. They appear in innumerable places like  links, headings, images descriptions and titles, meta tags etc.

5. Keep a Tab on the Statistics

It is important for site owners to have full knowledge of the statistics concerning their website. There will always be web pages that are visited more than others. Similarly, of the different websites consisting of links to a given web page, one or two will always generate more traffic than the rest. Heeding these facts is important as they help in consolidating a hard-earned position.

6. Make Your Website Interactive

In order to up the inflow of traffic and thereby draw the attention of search engines, an organization can add interactive features to its website in the form of forums, blogs, polls etc.

As the aforementioned tips are followed carefully over a period of time, they will start to yield the desired results.

SynapseIndia @ Slideshare

Internet Surfing on Mobile Devices Gaining Momentum

The Internet is no longer synonymous with PCs. The desktops and laptops of today are being given a good run for their money by smartphones and tablets. SynapseIndia took cognizance of the latest search trends is hereby sharing its observations with its readers. In the United States, desktop media may still be twice as powerful as the one involving mobile phones but the scenario is changing. Compared to desktops, users are spending 14 times more time on mobile media. If the current scenario continues for the next two years, the two will probably be at par with each other. Time, however, is not the only criterion to perceive this change. There are other indicators too, which point at the upturn in mobile media.

Smartphones/Tablets vs Desktops

Source: emarketer.com

Today, smartphones and tablets are contributing significantly to the generation of Internet traffic. The results of a recent survey showed that mobile devices accounted for 10.3% of the global Internet traffic in October 2012. This was the first time that the contribution from mobile devices had exceeded 10%. In fact, on considering the data pertaining to apps, one may find that hand-held devices may have made further inroads. The people of the United States are smitten with smartphones and tablets that have together been instrumental in creating nearly one-third of the total web traffic. The result of a survey showed that as of June 2012, 7.1% traffic in North America originated from tablets whereas 20.3% owed its genesis to smartphones. Desktops, however, continued to reign supreme with a lion's share of 71.5%.

Internet Surfing Finds New Platfrom

The prerogative of desktops with regard to viewing websites was challenged by mobile devices. Experts from SynapseIndia believe that the year gone by has witnessed numerous discussions on extending the web experience on mobile devices and the clamor is likely to become louder in 2013. Today, websites that have not been optimized for smartphones are likely to be left behind by their competitors, which are fine-tuned for the new requirement.

As time passes by, consumers are likely to become more demanding than before. Mobile-based and responsive websites aside, consumers today are requesting brands that they create apps for the leading mobile platforms. Here are some plausible reasons why mobile-based websites are likely to become the future:

• Currently, more than 700 million users are surfing the Net through their mobile phone.
• Internet surfing via mobile phones is now becoming the order of the day. As different brands tap into this new phenomenon, they will grow faster.
• The easy accessibility of the Internet on mobile phones has had a bearing on consumer behavior. Today, a consumer is likely to do a research on their handset in order to inquire about a product before they finally decide to purchase it.
• The stupendous success of e-commerce has now given rise to m-commerce, which stands for mobile commerce. As the exponents of m-commerce create a mobile-friendly site, they can offer several benefits to mobile users in the form of price comparisons, product reviews, discounts, promotions etc.        

The trend is picking up and it is possible that soon every company will feel incumbent upon itself to optimize its website for mobile users.          

SynapseIndia @ Foursquare