Tag: social media marketing

Facebook sets sights on mobile technology

Facebook has become one of the world’s most used social networks and has shown aptitude in adapting to the evolution of the Internet and the advent of mobile technology. Even amid scandals concerning user security and privacy, Facebook has managed to retain its position in the world of social media. In order to continue being considered a leading social network, Facebook is having to become more mobile; accessible to those that access the network solely from a smartphone or tablet. As such, Facebook has begun reaching out to mobile developers.

Social networking is becoming increasingly mobile

Over the coming months, Facebook will be hosting a series of events that are designed with mobile developers in mind. More than half of the network’s 1 billion active users access the network through mobile devices. Facebook notes that mobile advertisements made up 23% of its advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 14% over the previous quarter of the same year. Becoming more mobile friendly holds major potential for Facebook that the network is eager to take advantage of.

Events will allow Facebook to engage mobile developers

Through its upcoming series of events, which will be held around the world in major cities like New York, London, and Seoul, Facebook will reach out to mobile developers that are interested in social media. The network will help developers make use of its software development kits in order to create innovative services that are designed to promote social interaction with Facebook users, including large businesses. The events are also a good chance for developers to get face time with Facebook leaders, giving them an opportunity to find work within the company.

Social networking becoming more competitive as consumers become more mobile

In recent years, Facebook has been losing much of its clout to rival social networks, such as Twitter and Instagram, despite the fact that the company owns the latter. The current generation of consumers appears to be more interested in mobile technology, and Twitter is one of the social media networks that is best suited for the mobile space. In order to compete, Facebook is prepared to make drastic changes to its network, putting more emphasis on mobile consumers. How this will be received by the large number of people that do not access the social network from a mobile device has yet to be seen.

Brands are beginning to worry about whether or not it is safe to use the networks.

Though most of the world felt that last week’s social media marketing hacks that broke the “news” that McDonalds had purchased Burger King, Jeep had been acquired by Cadillac, and even “The Donald” had some surprising lyrics to share, these events were not as harmless as they initially appeared.

Many brands are now wondering if they are safe from hacks that are meant to be less than amusing.

After all, Burger King, Jeep, and Donald Trump certainly weren’t left laughing. Security analysts didn’t feel that the jokes were tremendously funny, either, as it is only a very clear sign that social media marketing is placing companies at an increased risk of having their accounts hacked. They are becoming increasingly common and their severity is rising. Many wonder whether this is threatening a massive closure of business accounts from leading brands who would prefer not to have to deal with that risk.

For social media marketing as a whole to succeed, higher security efforts may become very necessary.

According to the founder and chief executive of Deep Focus, Ian Schafer, “I think Twitter needs to step up its game in providing better security.” Schafer’s organization is a digital advertising firm. He recently informed his staff that the social networks such as Twitter as well as Facebook, Pinterest “and anyone else serious about having brands on their platform” will be required to “invest time in better understanding how brands operate day to day.”

Aside from last week’s hacks, NBC News and USA Today have also been successfully broken into over the last while. This has raised a serious concern about the password protection of social media marketing account and the ease of gaining access to them.

There have been a growing number of calls being made for increased security to social media marketing accounts, which has now risen to a deafening roar as brand giants have added their voices. These brands feel that they should be provided with an added security layer over that of a typical user, as the traditional user doesn’t face the same constant risk of a hacking threat that is experienced by companies.