It’s impossible not to draw parallels between Facebook and the other network that could have been Facebook…

That network is, of course, MySpace, or my_____, or whatever catchy spelling that schizophrenic company is going by these days.

According to a study published last week, Facebook is on its way to a billion users worldwide in August. We’ll say that again, one BILLION!

MySpace, on the other hand, is on its way to zero… The once mighty network has watched its users leave gradually, then suddenly, then in droves.

Currently, MySpace is hanging out at around 20M unique visitors per month. While that’s nothing to scoff at — for a startup — it’s fewer unique visitors than a site like Reddit gets, a tenth of the visitors that Twitter gets. Here’s the real kicker, that’s half as much traffic as MySpace got a year ago!

Only four months after its official launch, Google+ has already surpassed MySpace.

So what did MySpace do wrong, so horribly offensive, that it caused their users to pack up and leave? And how did Facebook manage to steal tens of millions of recovering MySpace addicts?

Obviously, design was a big part — Facebook’s was much better. But it wasn’t the visual design that really made the difference… it was how Facebook designed its information.

The key is RELEVANCE.

We all know why people log in to their social media accounts: To see messages, photos, and updates from the PEOPLE in their network.

MySpace didn’t create or impose any of the firewalls necessary to keep annoying promoters from spamming your account. As a result, it became a lot harder to find relevant content, posted by actual friends.

Remember how, by 2007, your MySpace account was a big ugly mess of irrelevant, automated spam?

In contrast, Facebook was slow to allow its network up to non-college students, and even slower to open it to brands. Zuckerberg was wary of marketers, because he understood that relevance and genuine human interaction was the engine that drives social media.

It’s a lesson that has impacted all social networks since Facebook. And it’s a lesson that all marketers should drill into their brains.

Users have become much more sophisticated. They can tell the difference between real content and automated gibberish.

That’s why it’s so important to not rely too heavily on automated content distribution. By all means, have a human write your Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ posts.

The second that we suspect that a piece of software is generating messages, and not an actual person, it cheapens the user experience and destroys the perceived value.

When most people watch a football game on TV, what are they looking at? The ball, right?

It’s like that old saying, “Keep your eye on the ball.”

The next time you watch a football game (and considering the staggering ratings numbers the NFL is putting up these days, most of you do), I want you to try something new — spend at least an entire quarter watching anything BUT the ball.

You’ll be surprised at how much more you’ll actually learn about the teams… about the match-ups, the coaching, and the play calling.

At Digital Marketer, we have a saying (ironically, one that we stole from a superstar of an entirely different sport); “Go where the puck is going to be.”

Sometimes the ball (or puck) is just a distraction. It represents the past… What really matters is everything else.

Not that the current play is irrelevant. BUT isn’t the current play really designed to set up the next?

I mean you wouldn’t be much of a football coach if you couldn’t think a couple of downs ahead of the current play.

I’ve said all of that to say this: Most people are watching the ball. You want to be watching THE GAME.

For example, while most people are wondering how successfully Google+ can compete with Facebook — HubSpot understands that’s not what Google+ is about. Instead, Google+ is really about generating social media ratings and recommendations to enhance Google’s search capabilities.

Ebay, Microsoft, Best Buy, Yahoo… these guys are losing their spot on the starting roster. They may make a big play on special teams now and then, but their missing out on the bigger picture.

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google are the 4 bigs, and they created even more separation from the rest of the pack at the end of 2011.

For example, as of right now Apple’s iOS owns 52% of the mobile web market share. That’s more than just a competitive edge.

To take our sports metaphor a step further, we should all be watching film on these guys. These guys are where 2012 is going. Why?

Because the “Big 4″ were the first to realize a truly “big picture” strategy. You won’t find these guys on the field. Or on the sidelines with a clipboard in hand. They’re in the skybox. They own the teams AND the stadiums.

In other words, they own the platforms — iOS, Android, Facebook, Amazon.com, etc. As an entrepreneur, or a marketer, you can either compete against these owners — or you can bet on their teams.

Clearly, the easiest way to profit in this type of game is to place educated bets. That means it’s time to get well-educated. Right?

With Amazon’s killer holiday sales and its Kindle Fire competing fiercely the tablet war, Amazon is a fine place to start studying up. We’ve got an excellent $7 report at Digital Marketer, “Partnering With Amazon,” that help you do just that.

…on social media.

In fact, that’s probably more true than any us of care to know.

This morning while scanning the headlines on Reeder (great app, BTW), I came across a post on Mashable titled “Need a Kidney? More Are Turning to Facebook [VIDEO]“

Literally, the story is about a guy in Seattle who found a kidney donor via a Facebook page named “My husband needs a new kidney.”

Right away, this story brought two super important things to my mind:

1. Adding “[VIDEO]” to any blog headline or email subject line significantly increases clicks (a little tip for success in 2012)
2. We’ve been seeing news stories like this since 2010, but in reality… these tales are no longer newsworthy.

Why? Because the only people who would consider Facebook an secondary or unusual place to search for a vital organ are those living in an outmoded fairytale land called “local TV news.”

Don’t get me wrong, the story is cool. And I’m very happy this man was able to find a donor on Facebook — that’s excellent…

…But is it AMAZING?

If you’ve been on Facebook for even a week, you’ve probably seen a page dedicated to raising money for a dog’s hip-replacement surgery. You’ve probably also seen people trying to sublet their apartments.

So let me ask you this: Why wouldn’t you use Facebook to locate any legitimate, legal product or service that you may be searching for?

To take it a step further: Why wouldn’t you use it to find prospects or customers for the products or services you may be marketing? Not doing so is borderline negligent.

I mean, it’s 2012… not that you need a reminder.

BUT frankly, if you run an organ donor service and you don’t use social media to find matches — you must be understaffed. Or else grossly out of touch.

Either way, you’re neglecting an incredibly powerful tool.

If you haven’t watched the video Gary Vaynerchuk’s keynote speech at this year’s Inc 500, you SHOULD (be advised, the guy really likes profanity).

In the speech, he lays out some amazing predictions for the the future of marketing. In specific, he explains how social media is flipping the marketing model.

What I really like about Gary’s approach is that he’s clearly not a social butterfly. I mean, he’s funny and engaging…

…but he makes it perfectly clear that he doesn’t ENJOY obsessing over social media. He only obsesses over social media interaction because that’s how you sell stuff in today’s marketplace.

It’s an important distinction to make really. One of the challenges that I hear about constantly from marketers I meet is “I’m just not a very social person. I don’t like sharing my personal life on Facebook.”

Fair enough, but let me ask you this: Do you like cold calling? Do you like direct mail? Do you like spending money on ad buys that produce less and less ROI?

You don’t have to LIKE social media in your personal life. However, you do need to understand how to use it to connect with leads and customers though… It’s ONLY the future of marketing, folks. No big deal.

Think about it. Every time a new technology emerges, most of us say, “No thanks, Twitter’s not for me. I think I’ll sit this one out.” It’s human nature.

Of course, most of us have eat our words. Just imagine how ridiculous it would be if you decided to “sit this one out” when it comes to the internet, or cell phones, or texting.

I think you get my point.

As Vaynerchuk points out, social media is rapidly replacing the old “push” model. Email, banner ads… all that stuff is losing value.

Will it die out completely? Probably not, but marketing today is becoming more and more about the “pull.” Rewards marketing, thanking you gifts, and offering customers special deals based on their unique interests, that’s the future of selling.

Here’s the beauty of it though, with social media your customers actually tell you all kinds of information about themselves automatically.

Forget surveys, follow your customers on social media. You’ll learn a lot more about them — what foods they like, where they shop, what football teams they like, etc.

It’s always been a marketer’s job to study and connect with customers. Now, social media is taking the guesswork out of the equation.

Consider Facebook’s new Timeline feature. A marketer can go on timeline and learn all about a FB user’s life. It’s like peeking into their scrapbook.

Scratch that, it IS peeking into their scrapbook… and they’re inviting you to do it.

In a weird way, Facebook and Twitter are helping to create the most valuable and complete customer profiles that any marketer could ever hope to buy. Use those profiles to turn your customers into your friends.

[Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy this awesome guest post by Facebook guru James Grandstaff]

The whole point of creating a Facebook Page for your business is to build a fan base of people interested in your product or service, right?

Facebook Pages are a great tool for interacting with your fans on a regular basis and for them to discover  whether or not your product or service is right for them.

But to build a HUGE fan base you need people clicking  the all mighty “LIKE” button. Yep, the tiny little button sitting at the top of your page.

Gone are the days of “Become a fan.” Today, it’s all  about the “LIKES” and YOU WANT THEM (a lot of them!)

Because without them… you have ZERO reach. If you have zero reach, you make ZERO dollars.

And this is where most Page Admins fall flat on their face.

Let me explain…

Have you ever visited a Facebook Page for a business, only to land on their “Wall” where you see the comments and status updates?

If so, did it make you want to “LIKE” the page?

Probably not.

Allowing your visitors to land on your “Wall” is the #1  mistake Page Admins are making all across Facebook.

But it doesn’t have to be this way…

As a Page Admin, you have the ability to create a custom landing page AND set this page as your “Default Landing Tab” for your Page.

You’ll first need to install an iFrame application on your page (which is beyond the scope of this post unfortunately.) This will allow you to create a custom tab on your Page.

Once you have your custom tab, you will want to create some type of “offer” along with a “call to action” to entice people to “LIKE” your page.

An example offer would be something like this:

“Click Like Above To Get Access To _______”

It’s proven that you will get more “Likes” just by making this one small change to your Facebook Page.

Good luck!

- James Grandstaff

James Grandstaff is an Internet Entrepreneur and all
around good guy. To find out how he got 52.94% more
“Likes” to his Facebook page, check out his amazing
FREE presentation at:

=> http://DoubleYourLikes.com/recommends/likes.html

Facebook advertisers are about to get some new real estate to play with. “Sponsored Stories” – the ads that allow advertisers to glom onto the posts, “likes,” and check-ins of your Facebook friends – were launched last August. Starting on Monday, these context ads will break out of the greyish “Sponsored Story” box and into the fast-moving and slightly obnoxious Ticker section.

So, say your friend decides to “like” a burger joint. If that fine dining burger establishment advertises on Facebook and has selected the proper options, you may see your friend’s profile pic and comment alongside that restaurant’s logo… in the Ticker section.

Why is this potentially better than having the same ad in the “Sponsored Story” area?

That’s easy – Facebook users are likely to develop “banner blindness” (the unconscious ability to ignore advertising) when it comes to the “sponsored” area.

In fact, some of you reading this are probably so good at ignoring ads that you didn’t even notice Facebook had a sponsored section – a fact that Facebook HATES and is looking to change.

By placing these “sponsored stories” in a real-time, moving Ticker feed, users are more likely to notice the ads…

…maybe even mistaking the ads for something that more closely resembles a friend’s straightforward recommendation or endorsement.

Sure, it may be a little sneaky. But the best marketing usually is. Right?

In all of our research at Digital Marketer, we’ve found that banners with animation, obnoxious colors, etc., get more clicks. That’s why you’ll see those in my banner ads. Hey, as long as being obnoxious sells, marketers will keep doing it.

By this logic, making sponsored stories a little more noticeable, and a little more obnoxious, there’s a good chance they’ll get more clicks. This should definitely make sponsored stories a more attractive feature for advertisers.

I’ll stop short of endorsing the new feature until we’ve been able to test it out and track the results. Still, as a marketer, I’d be surprised if this development didn’t boost CTRs.

**Note From Ryan: I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about Google + and its role in digital marketing…

“Is it a Facebook Killer?”, “Is it a Twitter Killer?”, “Is it going to be useful for business?” (to the second question, I happen to agree with Shoemoney, and I think Google + is a big reason why…)

For most of these questions, it’s still too soon to tell.  BUT… I asked my social media manager Shane Stearns to write a quick post about how we’re using it and here is what he had to say: P.S. My comments are at the bottom of the article…

You’ve no doubt heard at least a few things about Google Plus, Google’s new Social Network.  If you’re one of the lucky 20 million, you have already have your account setup and you’re beginning to explore Google Plus wondering if it’s something that will become part of your daily life.

I’m not going to bother venturing into the discussion of ‘Will Google Plus Kill Facebook?” Why would I waste my time wondering that when I could be getting ahead of the game and start using it for what it’s going to be good at?

Here’s the good stuff I’ll be using Google+ for.

1) Circles: Circles is how Google+ allows me to accurately group my followers so that I can be more targeted about the information I share and the information I receive. This isn’t a power trip, just a simple recognition that not all of my followers have the same interest. So I’ll be that much more effective when it comes to truly engaging with like minded people.

2) New Strategies: Google+ is NOT the same as Facebook. Therefore Google+ will not and should not be used the same as a Facebook Fan Pages. So I’ll be testing, trying and tweaking new social marketing strategies, an opportunity not otherwise presented (more on that to come in the future).

3) +1: +1 is Google’s version of the ‘Like’ button and you can pretty much bet on the fact that +1 will become a factor into Google’s search algorithm. Needless to say I’ll be all over the +1 map, integrating it into my sites.

4) Business Profiles: Google+ announced that business profiles will be announced a lot sooner than the planned. With that said, keep an eye for mine.

Ryan’s observations:

My advice?  Stop wasting your time debating about Google+, pondering how it’s all going to pan out. Dive in now, get started and figure things out along the way.

Here is the BIG idea, Google+notices are posted INSIDE everyone’s Gmail inbox, this is 100% REAL-TIME Gmail deliverability. This one point alone makes Google+ a must for any email marketer.

Second, SEO! Yes, SEO. When you write about a subject on Google+ and your circle friends Google that subject, your comments and links are displayed AUTOMATICALLY on Google’s page one. This is HUGE!’

No backlinking, no on-site optimization, just TONS of free traffic.

P.S. How are you going to use Google+?  Leave a comment below?

I’ve blogged about StumbleUpon before, and here they are again making another splash by passing up Facebook as the top Social Media Traffic Generator again.  I know it can be somewhat un-targeted traffic, but in this quantity, it’s worth noting.

How can a site with 12 million users send more traffic than a site with 600 million users? When your site is specifically designed to do nothing but send traffic. StumbleUpon may be small compared to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, but it sends the most social media traffic around the web according to the latest numbers by StatCounter.

StumbleUpon CEO Garrett Camp is excited about it, announcing it to the world via Twitter at 1am EST this morning:

StumbleUpon is one of the only companies that is designed to keep you away from their own website. By its very nature, StumbleUpon takes you everywhere else based upon your interests, stumbling habits, friends, and what’s hot in the Internet. Using an installed Toolbar or a browser frame, users “stumble” websites, stories, videos, and pictures, not knowing where they’ll be going next.

What resources are you using to utilize stumble upon? comment below!

The video below is a highlight from a speech he gave about the thought behind his up and coming book ‘The Thank you Economy’.

I think Gary is right on the money when he says brands no longer have the option of being silent, and really they must become more human.

Hit play, and watch the clip below:

Social Media is still a little kid and has a lot of maturing to do, it’s not slowing down anytime soon.  Because of this, brands and businesses must be completely and totally aware of what’s happening in social media.

Heck, you’re getting to essentially tap into the convos and thoughts going on inside your customers social lives. The internet has become a giant coffee shop and if the person next to you is mentioning your brand, then you’re a fool and a jerk to ignore it and not respond.

I’m not kidding when I tell you that next year, if you’re not establishing a place in Facebook and Twitter, you’re going to LOSE.

If you feel like you’re not ready for next year with your social media, then comment below and say so!  Now is the time to reach out for help!

As Facebook continues to broaden its scope by adding features like ads, groups, fan pages, search, we leave more and more web apps behind.  Why wouldn’t we?  You can connect, share, search, explore, discover, purchase, and now you can…

Facebook just announced that it’s in the process of launching their own email platform.

“This is not an e-mail killer,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “This is a messaging system that includes e-mail as one part of it.”

The messaging platform will support email, SMS text and chat, a lot like Gmail. Kinda sounds like Zuckerberg wouldn’t mind killing Gmail, and I’d be easily convinced that he could accomplish that.

Back to my point, Facebook is making it very easy to leave other apps behind. Why have a separate email account when you can have one that’s integrated with all your Facebook contacts, making it easier for you to connect and stay connected?

Facebook book is becoming the Virtual Town Square because we’re finding that it’s a one-stop shop for our online social needs and now much more.

Why do I think this is important?

We already know that Facebook gets more traffic than any other site on the web. Facebook email will most likely broaden that gap even further, which means this is where the people are. The people you’re trying to target and engage with.

You’re not going to find a better place to start building your brand, than on Facebook. Tap into the web’s most visited site and use all the tools that make available for you with ads, fan pages, etc!

Do you think I’m right about this, how Facebook is more and more becoming the all-inclusive web app for users? And that your business needs to be using Facebook now more than ever? Comment Below!