News on Google Marketing, according to Google: Google+ hits a new milestone by surpassing 400 million registered users and 100 million monthly active users. This figure was announced by Google’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, Vic Gundotra. This is part of Google’s announcement to acquire Nik software, the maker of Snapseed.
“This week we also hit an important milestone–over 400,000,000 people have upgraded to Google+. It was only a year ago that we opened public sign-up, and we couldn’t have imagined that so many people would join in just 12 months. While Google+ is all about creating a better experience across Google, it’s also a destination. We have just crossed 100,000,000 monthly active users on Google+ (plus.google.com and mobile app),” Gundotra reported.
This achievement has been anticipated by Google+’s Paul Allen in January noting that the success of the social network will be achieved before the year ends with the help of Android, Chrome, YouTube, as well as Google+ APIs and developers.
However, Facebook, Google+’s main rival knows that the number of registered users is not a gauge for success, as what matters most is the number of its monthly active users which has reached the 955 million mark as of June 30.
Read more at As predicted, Google+ passes 400M registered users, now has 100M monthly active users
News on Social Marketing, according to Brafton: Engaging new prospects and driving them to a website will help boost the value of a company’s social media marketing, reported by Forrester Research. Businesses will have a better overall web presence with the inclusion of links and by making a presence more engaging.
The study reveals that conversions on the web will increase with organic search accounting for 20% of sales and direct site visits at 16%. Still, stronger position in organic search and helping brand awareness is developed with a businesses’ social presence.
Customer retention is also an important element for social marketing, Forrester added. Consumers purchasing a brand are more likely to reach out to that company on Facebook, Twitter or another platform and with a strong presence; encouraging customers repeat visits and boost their sales in the future.
For companies, negative social engagement has been an increasingly difficult issue. Brafton recently reported that an Ethical Corp survey showed that 28% of respondents are not ready to deal with criticism through social. However, marketers can make social a more effective channel by using this engagement to deal with issues and develop perception of a brand.
Read more at Consumers use social as discovery method, sales come from content
News on Social Marketing, according to Technology Review: Apple’s new mapping system, installed to replace Google Maps, doesn’t work quite right. Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology that was published online:
“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”
Cook, in a letter to customer, did say that “The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.”
However, experts say that because of the scale of the problem, Apple is going to need far more than user feedback as it requires new data sources and easier ways to contribute fixes, as well as enough willing map-fixers in geographically dispersed regions.
Of the several problems with Apple’s Maps, the most serious has to do with points of interest as reports of missing or misplaced labels on Apple Maps have cropped up around the world. People often want to search for a point of interest by name, not address and this could cause a real problem.
While Apple provides users with an interface for reporting problems, it has nothing as good as Google’s Map Maker where users are allowed to edit map features on Google Maps.
Read more at Hey, Apple: Mapping Takes More Work than You Think
Other Social Marketing Articles of Interest
7 Ways to Get More Out Of Your Content Marketing Strategy
If You Got Lost Using Apple Maps, Tim Cook is Sorry