Titleist, Nike Golf Compete for Facebook Relevance with the Masters

Fun and interesting screenshot below from my Facebook newsfeed just a few minutes ago. These two posts appeared beside one another and were not clustered under a topic (ie 'Masters' or 'Golf') by Facebook. Titleist posted 19 minutes ago that champion Bubba Watson used their ProvV1x ball. That came 10 minutes ahead of Nike Golf, whose icon is Tiger Woods (had a very poor outing). They posted a generic comment about the tournament.

Also worth noting - Titelist's Facebook Timeline is great!

Both brands are posting about the same topic - trying to take advantage of the current interest - and both brands are doing so at the exact same time. Titelist is doing it far more effectively from an engagement number (250k fans vs. 1.1m) and are leveraging the person (Bubba) to do so.

Facebook "Use App Now" Prompt is Really Interesting, Potentially Important

When Facebook for iPad launched over a year ago, I surmised that the "Apps" section would be its most disruptive move. The Apps section essentially highlighted Facebook Connected mobile applications and allowed you to quickly access / search them. While not a prominent feature of the iPhone / iPad experience - I still believe this is a big opportunity... particularly should Facebook decide to own their own mobile experience / platform. It is worth noting that a similar experience exists - and is being promoted - on the web. Here is an example from a Facebook post I crafted about Wantful and 'tagged' it using @Wantful.

That of course hyperlinks Wantful - but Facebook allows you to choose whether you prefer to link to the page, the app or other content (ie location). I am not entirely sure why Facebook chooses to default to different formats at different times... but they do. And that alone is interesting because in this example, the @Wantful link goes directly to Wantful.com as a Facebook Connected App ("Use Now") rather than the fanpage. Big shift. The word "Use" is alone a big idea and shift.

Separately - if you have not yet tried Wantful, give it a spin. It is a better way to give gifts - it's social, fun, personal and thoughtful. I have given a couple dozen of them and, without fail, people love receiving them... the reaction and response is really enjoyable. I am excited to be involved!

Learn more here: Wantful, Gift-Giving Start-Up, Announces Funding (New York Times)

Facebook Linking to "Find More Pages" As Part of Sponsored Like Stories

Interesting move by Facebook here. Basic Feed post about a user liking a fan page... in this example, Labatt Blue US. It is a "Sponsored" post (as you can tell in the bottom right after the timestamp).

But there is also now a "Find More Pages" link. When clicked, it takes users to a page full of other brands / pages that can be liked with a single click. Think of it has Pinterest for fanpages.

Obviously the implication here is: can Facebook drive secondary likes beyond the ad unit? Can they charge for that? And does this Find More Pages concept (which launched a year and half ago) be a more meaningful finding / search experience?

Facebook Anchoring Social Ads Atop the Ticker

In January I noted that Facebook was experimenting with ad placements above the ticker. This is obviously prime real estate for the ad - and inversely devalues the ticker's prominence. Over the last week, I have been seeing more and more of this treatment. A couple things to note:

1. Yes, the ad unit is above the ticker.

2. As I have written before - this is much more than an ad - it's a mini Facebook page: friends, likes, comments, shares, etc.

3. When you scroll down the page, something new and interesting happens: the ad drops off the page and the ticker anchors to the top op the browser. It's a slick animation (shown in screenshot two). Ultimately, this could also anchor for the ad unit - which would make the ad unmissable.

Google Takes to ESPN to Promote Google Plus, Group / Event Followings

If you've been watching any television recently, you've surely seen the barrage of ad spots for Google Chrome, Google Plus, and Internet Explorer 9. I understand Google's effort but am generally confused by advertising specifically for IE9... which can't be as effective / meaningful as focusing on Windows Mobile. Anyhow... the point is that Google took to ESPN.com yesterday to cleverly promote Google Plus alongside the NCAA Tournament. It's well done because it's relevant, good looking and ties into the product very well (circles!). Most interesting is how it ties directly into the product - each NCAA team is "followable" on Google+ and there are scheduled Hangouts with analysts, teams, etc.

Really well done and an interesting twist as they try to differentiate from Facebook and Twitter... and the two areas where they can stand out:

Hangouts (the star of the product) and Media / Lists (something Twitter hasn't nailed yet)

Social, Mobile Web as highlighted by Salesforce

Below are three charts from a longer SalesForce presentation that recently appeared on Business Insider. I wanted to quickly highlight these three charts because they highlight three (very high level) themes I regularly think about and talk about: 1. The future of the web is social (social eats the web)

2. The future web is mobile - not browser-based (next generation devices)

3. Communication is changing: from email to social and mobile - sms, notifications, etc (social networking surpasses email)

Do More Than Display Tweets, Facebook Posts - Drive Engagement.

I nitpick design... and it's certainly not because I am a designer or artistically talented; rather, it's because I often struggle with the balance of aesthetics and functionality / efficacy. Great example here from The New Inquiry. Gorgeous page header with an integrated tweet directly below. It is visually very clean and looks as though it is part of the core site / design. Even the right sidebar is good looking: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and email icons all integrated and locked into the sidebar (and a nice hover-state animation).

So my nitpick: that tweet is great, but: what's the point? It's more than displaying dynamic content... it's to build an audience and engage. Therefore, the most important part is a having a follow button - or an in-line reply / retweet function. So while this looks beautiful - it's a reminder that functionality is ultimately at least equally important... and every pixel should work for you - in this case, drive engagement.