The "power user" has come to be the Holy Grail of engagement for businesses looking to boost their social media marketing. According to a report from Pew Internet Research, power users typically account for about one-quarter of all Facebook accounts and are ideal targets for businesses since they are the fans most likely to share content. The report suggests there are ample opportunities ... [more]

A study from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth's Center for Marketing Research found that social media marketing campaigns have improved lead generation and web traffic for a majority of the businesses using the channel and investments are rising, accordingly. Eighty-eight percent of businesses said they have increased their web traffic as a direct result of social media ... [more]

Media companies were among the earliest adopters of social media marketing, using the platforms to share content with readers and establish a firm web presence. According to Erica Anderson, Twitter's manager for news and journalism, the company will launch new analytics tools for journalists and publishers to help them understand their social reach. According to Read Write Web, ... [more]

A report from Sophos Security found that 51.29 percent of 4,110 Facebook users included in a recent poll said Timeline "worries" them. This contrasts starkly with the 7.96 percent that said they genuinely like the new default profile setting, and social media marketers will have to wait and see whether Timeline concerns drive social users away from the site. Facebook Timeline was ... [more]

Marketers might like the potential for their Google+ pages to be promoted on SERPs thanks to Google's recent social search updates, but some think this gives Google+ too much dominance over other social marketing efforts. "Focus on the User," a service from engineers from Facebook and Twitter along with other social networks, is a project aimed at forcing Google to integrate social ... [more]

On its company blog, Facebook updated a post today informing all users that they will have Timeline within the next seven days. On Dec. 15, the date of the post's original publication, Brafton reported that Facebook announced Timeline was available to all, but users did not have to update if they chose not to. This move toward a more visual Facebook experience for all may inspire ... [more]

The Hockey East Association, a conference within NCAA Division I men's ice hockey, recently announced a new multi-channel campaign that highlights outstanding efforts from players of its 10 member institutions. The conference demonstrates how audience engagement via integrated social and content marketing can help build a brand. The Moves of the Week campaign features a YouTube ... [more]

A report from Awareness found that social media marketing has become a multi-platform concept for many businesses using the channel. The study shows that 70 percent of companies began 2012 by focusing on creating a stronger presence on all major platforms, namely Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Aside from a multi-channel presence, 59 percent of businesses said they plan to increase ... [more]

A new report Dan Zarrella indicates that businesses see different levels engagement in their web marketing campaigns based on which day the content is posted, shared or sent. Dan Zarrella of Hubspot analyzed email, social media and content marketing campaigns. In terms of Facebook engagement, Like activity spiked to 40 percent engagement rates on Saturdays, when users spend more ... [more]

Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is expanding its investigation of Google to include Google+ after the launch of Search, plus Your World last week. The FTC has been looking into Google for months, as the institution wonders if Google's search engine favors the company's products, such as Gmail, Picasa and now Google+, on its SERPs. Search, plus Your World ... [more]