Marketing Pilgrim Published: “Facebook Upgrades Insights for the SMB Crowd” plus 2 more

Facebook Upgrades Insights for the SMB Crowd
Today’s Deal: Google Buys Groupon for $2.5B?
Online Spending Up on Turkey Day and Black Friday

Facebook Upgrades Insights for the SMB Crowd

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 07:06 AM PST

Usually I find myself talking about the deficiencies in available services and information to the SMB crowd. I have grown accustomed to it but it's not how it should be.

It looks like Facebook is realizing this fact and is doing something about it. Why wouldn't they since there are so many SMB's using the service to promote their brands? These SMB's, while not having the deep pockets of the big boys, can turn into real money for the social networking giant as they learn more about how the people who Like them act on the site. The new look Insights section does just that as ClickZ reports.

Small businesses can now obtain the same Facebook data that the big boys have been analyzing since January. While the Palo Alto, CA-based social site had been offering page analytics only to brands with more than 10,000 likes, all companies are now privy to the same information.

Such data includes the number of impressions each post generates, as well as what percentage of fans either “liked” or otherwise interacted with a post. It also involves monthly active users (MAUs). Page administrators for small businesses will be able to view such information retroactively to June 25, 2010, according to a Facebook blog post on Nov. 23.

Now, if you would like a little Internet entertainment go to the above mentioned Facebook blog post and read the comments. You won't see mention of just how great this option is but rather the complaints of many Facebook users regarding other services and options that they would like to see or would like to see brought back. It's interesting reading.

As for SMB's who see the benefit, the following quote gives the general feeling that most SMB's have regarding their ability to leverage most any Internet offering as compared to the bigger players.

“If I can see what posts are going to generate the most interest, I am going to keep posting those kinds of messages,” said Jenny Cheifetz, owner of confectionary brand The Sugar Mommy, which has 280 Facebook “likers” and is based in Bedford, NH. “Whatever feedback we can get is great.”

Whatever feedback we can get, huh? Isn't it interesting that many SMB's are hungry for this kind of offering but the Facebooks and Googles of the world always seem to finally get around to them in an almost afterthought kind of manner. When they finally understand just how much money they are leaving on the table then these services will court the SMB like never before.

Fortunately, there are plenty of savvy SMB's out there to know just how disingenuous these efforts will look so they will be able to see through the spin. Unfortunately, there are many, many more SMB's who are not involved at all and will be at the will of these big players as well.

Oh well. That's the way the Internet cookie crumbles, at least for the SMB crowd.

Today’s Deal: Google Buys Groupon for $2.5B?

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 06:40 AM PST

I think someone at Google might have had a little too much spiked apple cider over Thanksgiving, because rumors are heating up that the search giant just acquired online coupon service Groupon for $2.5 billion!

According to VatorNews…

Google has just purchased Groupon for $2.5 billion, according to an unnamed insider who spoke with VatorNews. Neither Google nor Groupon could be reached for comment to confirm the report, but Vator's source is reliable and the report falls in line with the recent string of Groupon acquisition rumors.

If that is true, then Groupon might just be a bigger acquisition than the monstrous purchase of YouTube back in 2006. Not only is the purchase price about $1B more, but unlike YouTube at the time, Groupon is said to be raking in as much as $50 million a month!

With such a whopping price tag, Google should have enough of an investment to turn Groupon into a massive part of our daily lives. It’s that price tag that might just prevent Groupon from becoming another Dodgeball.

The big questions is: did they get a discount on the price with a coupon?

Online Spending Up on Turkey Day and Black Friday

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 05:08 AM PST

It appears as if turkey isn't the only thing consumed on Thanksgiving Day as the online purchase number reported by comScore shows a 28% increase in online commerce for the holiday.

That increase was also reported for the Black Friday online event. We await, of course, data from CyberMonday but until it actually happens we'll refrain from giving numbers .

As has been the case for the past few years, year over year numbers need to be considered in the context of what the previous year has been like. We are still slogging through the worst recession in a long time (oh wait that's right, the recession is over according to Washington's latest Fantasy Economist League report). As a result, when you see large increases year over year it's not always a sign of huge growth. It's more like a sign of the hope of recovery.

So however you look at it, it is improvement. Also an improvement is the apparent shift from concentrating so much on one day (Black Friday) and seeing how offline sales for the holiday weekend were up. Whenever we get too myopic and concentrate on one thing too much we tend to make bad assumptions which will be followed by bad decisions. That’s bad policy.

People are getting smarter. The need to be in line at 4 am on one day for the year to get a deal is getting less and less important. I think this is great because it is bad for pricing in general. When people hold off for one day to get a 'deal' they forfeit other shopping days while waiting. This ends up setting the pricing bar so low that retailers are essentially cutting their noses off to spite their face.

Lastly, no matter how well the holiday season goes we need to exercise extreme caution in the 'we are out of the economic woods' talk. Marketers of consumer goods and services always tout this season as the predictor of whether the economy is on the mend. Maybe you should reconsider this level of importance which may be more hype than reality (What? Marketers stretching the truth? No way!)

So here's to a healthy Cyber Monday and healthy dose of realism moving forward.

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