Facebook Fall-Out Continues as the #DeleteFacebook Movement Grows

The Facebook fall-out continues as Mark Zuckerberg addressed questions about the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica Scandal in a joint-Senate hearing Monday.

The media has questioned how effective the hearing may have been. CNN suggested that the hearing was simply a “light roasting” because many Senators did not have a good understanding of what exactly Facebook does. The Verge also questioned the validity of the two-day-hearing by pointing out exactly how much money Facebook has donated to the lawmakers who were questioning him—it’s $641,685, by the way.

 

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook: Scandals, Falling Stocks and Algorithm-Hacks

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you must’ve heard that the big social media news of the past two weeks is the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal. Cambridge Analytica says they took data from Facebook users to target voters and influence votes. Facebook claims to have been tricked by the company as they were supposed to delete that data in 2015.

 

Social Media—New Facts, a Throwback and the Future of Tech

The Pew Research Center released their latest social-media use findings early this month. Facebook still holds to strong to the #1 spot—nearly 2/3 of U.S. adults report they are users and just about 75% visit the site daily. YouTube also holds a top spot with 73% of adults using the platform. As marketers already know, young adults heavily skew towards Snapchat and Instagram.

The New York Times reported this week on the growing number of firms that investigate and identify bots--fake accounts that follow Instagram celebrity personalities. The services have sprung up on the heels of another report that revealed the number of people buying fake followers to increase the amount they could charge marketers.

 

Brand Loyalty is Out—Engagement is In

According to Fast Company, marketers can stop worrying about brand loyalty and instead focus on engaging with their customers. The article blames the rise of technology on an increasingly disconnected society. Brands should be building spaces, products and experiences that bring people together—that is the future of marketing. At least for now.

Fast Company uses the example of Rapha Cycle Club (RCC), a membership organization that started as-a-way-to promote Rapha apparel is changing the way companies engage with their customers. Their customers are “members” and they are invited to Rapha clubhouses and on rides with employees and other members.

 

Times They Are Changing—The Olympics and Social Media Marketing

Before, the Olympics were only available through our televisions, but with the rise of social media, the Olympics are accessible in a way they have never been before. Every two years, we enter a magical hiatus, ignoring everything else to pump 24-7 competitions into our homes, featuring the best and brightest young athletes from around the world

 

It looks like 2018 is already shaping up to be the biggest year yet for digital marketing. And the market is shifting. Advertiser Perceptions forecasts that nearly 60% of the largest advertisers will be putting their advertising firms up for review this year. Mobile searches are up and digital content is king--that means that marketing firms are more able to measure and track results, upping the ante across the board.

Learn how to implement inbound marketing methodology to generate leads and increase student applications.

Today’s consumers—including prospective students and their parents—don’t sit back and wait for information to come to them.

Think about it: are you more likely to hang on to and browse through fistfuls of brochures and direct-mail glossies that may or may not be offering anything of interest—or are you more likely to search online for the answers to your questions and the solution to your needs?

There are some persistent myths out there about using inbound marketing for student recruitment. Here’s why they’re wrong.

Misconception #1: “Inbound marketing takes way too much time!”

Here’s why that’s wrong:

Yes, it takes time to create and maintain content for a mobile-optimized website and distribute that content on well-designed and responsive social media platforms.

Setting up a successful inbound strategy for enrollment takes a significant investment of time—but it’s just that: an investment. And the return on investment (ROI) of inbound is very high. According to HubSpot data, an inbound campaign was a remarkable 95x more effective in terms of ROI than a direct mail campaign!

The vast majority of today’s prospective students -- a whopping 97%! -- are reaching out to the college or university they’re interested in first -- and do much of their own research about the school online and on their own time.

Just 3% of students in this study said that they waited for a college to contact them before getting in touch for more information or to apply.

This means that your institution’s strategy for student recruitment has got to be nimble -- you can’t rely exclusively on old strategies, such as cold-calling and direct mailing. And your admissions team needs to be up-to-the-minute on how today’s college-bound students use the Internet.

The stakes for being out of touch are high. If you’re not up on how rising juniors and seniors are using the web…

“Hey mom,” my young son said. “When can we go back to that store with the cool seats and the iPads?”

Just weeks before a huge project was due, my MacBook wouldn’t turn on.

Even though it was starting to snow, I packed my kids and my seemingly broken MacBook into the car and headed for the nearest Genius Bar. The kids happily played with the newest iPads while I chatted with the friendly young man who explained what might have gone wrong -- something rather insignificant, happily -- and quickly got my computer going again.

 After running a few diagnostic checks, he said my (rather old) computer was still running strong, and that everything should be fine.