Sales, Social and Tech

Have you seen the new Notes on Facebook? Notes was part of Facebook to provide for longer updates, however, the old Facebook Notes was kind of boring and stale. Say goodbye to the old Facebook Notes The new Facebook Notes now allows you to add a cover photo, similar to Medium,  and even allows you to select Bold, Italics, Mono, and even add links just be simply highlighting the words and the option appears above the words. In comparison, the old Facebook Notes required you to know a little html that you have to enter before and after the text. So far, the new Facebook Notes only allows you to add photos, but hopefully, it could allow adding of videos and even let users put HTML for more advance users. Maybe Facebook should even allow users to add advertising in the post and earn from it, something similar to Google’s Adsense program. The new Facebook Notes will give the various online blogging publishers, eg Medium, Blogger, a run for the money. Google’s Blog...

Started a Facebook Page? Singapore Courts had ruled that that Facebook Page does not belong to you and Facebook has full ownership of it. This issue was raised when Mr Lee Kien Meng, who owns Senatus , sued one of its previous clients, Mr Frank Cintamini, after Mr Cintami removed Senatus' administrator rights. Mr Cintamini removed Senatus after a fall out and suspecting the company of two hacking incidents. Wrote AsiaOne , He asked the court to declare him the owner and sole administrator of the two pages and to order Mr Cintamani to give up all rights to the pages to him. - See more at: http://digital.asiaone.com/digital/news/who-owns-facebook-page#sthash.xgx6V2uc.dpuf He asked the court to declare him the owner and sole administrator of the two pages and to order Mr Cintamani to give up all rights to the pages to him. Justice Chan Seng Onn on Tuesday upheld the lower court's decision, pointing out there are no terms in Facebook's service agreement which...

The social media news of the day was of a security officer who got fired from his job for posting vulgarities on the Singapore Prime Minister's Facebook Page. It may be news or shocking to some but getting fired from a job for posting vulgarities on social media can also cause one their job in the US, the land of the free. Image source: http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/singaporean-sacked-job-after-posting-vulgar-fb-remarks-against-lee-hsien-loong Wrote The Straits Times ,  A Facebook user who posted vulgar abuse in response to Mother's Day wishes by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been sacked from his job.   Mr Ridhuan Abdullah, 30, had identified himself as a security officer at "Keith Morton" on the post, which triggered the move.   The security firm's owner, Mr William Morton Jr, said yesterday that such conduct cannot be condoned, particularly from security officers who are expected to uphold basic standards of decorum.   "He c...

(Contributed By John Gower, a writer for NerdWallet .) Creating a Facebook brand page is a popular way to reach out to users, especially because so many people already use Facebook. However, just setting up your brand page isn’t enough to fan the flames of user engagement. You need to find ways to stoke your brand’s fire and light up your user base. There are lots of ways to build your brand using Facebook — and many of them are actually quite simple. Check out these five ways to spread your brand using Facebook. #1 Know your audience . You can’t spread your brand if you don’t know whom you’re trying to spread to, so do a little research. Facebook is informal, so posts like “Tell us about yourself,” “What is your favorite product of ours?” or “What kind of things do you want to see on our Facebook page?” are an appropriate way to find out who is following your brand. Once you have a baseline idea of who your users are, make some posts and see how they do. If you don’t get t...

Phewtick, the mobile app that lets users earn money by scanning generated QR codes, have been shut down by Facebook since 2013 April 19. However, it is only today (2013 May 13), that Phewtick email out to users that they have decided to close the old app and build a new one with a new Facebook developer's account. Wrote Phewtick, "We have finally decided to close Phewtick once and rebuild it as a new app. To solve the connection error issue, we need to create a new facebook developer account and recreate an app with the account. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. In a new app, of course, you will be able to make money by meeting new people. Our vision is still to create a new behavior of greeting your friends and meeting new people. Also, we are trying to transfer your meet-up points in Phewtick to your new accounts in the new app. It will take 8-10 weeks to release the new one. We will contact you again before the app is launched." So why did Fac...

All digital photos have a hidden watermark embedded in it called the EXIF data. This EXIF data would usually details of how the photo was taken and with what camera. Samsung, or rather their agency, posted a photo claiming to be theirs and taken with a Samsung camera. However, the photographer came across his photo and showed that this photo was taken with, not a Samsung camera, but with a Nikon. Image from EDMW Facebook Page Wrote CNET Asia,   Samsung claimed that the image was taken by one of its photographers and was using the image to promote a contest to win its latest NX300 ILC. However, the EXIF data of the original image found on Santos' Web site showed that it was taken with a Nikon D700, refuting the implication that the image posted on the Facebook page was taken with a Samsung camera (presumably the NX300). Samsung has since apologised to the photographer before generating 180 comments about Samsung's unauthorise use of the photo. If Sams...

Last week's social media news was about the Facebook Home, a launcher which sits on top of the Android app, which will show you your Facebook updates, without the need to go the Facebook app. When I saw the video above, it reminded me of a scene in Minority Report where a newspaper updates itself to give the reader the latest story. We are already seeing newspapers using Facebook to update readers on the latest news via their Facebook Page. With Facebook Home, will we start seeing the newspapers that updates itself?

(Thanks to Daphne Maia for posting this on her Instagram which inspired this post.) So you are tasked to do a Facebook campaign with lots of advertising budget to buy media space. What do you do? Definitely not how Woh Hup Food does it. Source: From Daphne Maia Instagram. Woh Hup Food had the budget to print rail hangers and to hang it on MRT trains. This would cost such a substantial sum of money. Unfortunately, the mechanics of the campaign wasn't well thought through that it has lead to problems for both customers and, I believe, for Woh Hup Food marketing team too.  First of all, this Facebook campaign highlights the lack of understanding of Facebook and how Facebook works on mobile devices.  Running such a campaign runs a foul of Facebook guidelines on promotions. From Facebook . iii.    You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, ...

With the Chinese New Year around the corner and the Malaysia election approaching, Teresa Kok,  Malaysian Member of Parliament from the Democratic Action Party, has launched two Chinese New Year (CNY) videos to wish Malaysians a Happy CNY and approach the new year with a new attitude of "Dare to try, Dare to Change". Dare to Try - From Teresa Kok's Facebook Page . Dare to Change - From Teresa Kok's  Facebook Page . The two videos are filled with political innuendos to highlight to Malaysians why it is time to try and change for new "things" this coming Chinese New Year. Will these videos make an impact on the upcoming Malaysian elections?

A Singtel user, frustrated with the telco's slow mobile data network, shared his disappointment on Singtel's Facebook Page which saw close to 10,000+ likes and 800+ comments in less than 24 hours. Wrote John Lee on Singtel Facebook Page, "Dear singtel all my friends are complaining about your network. How could you setup a 4G network where your 3G suck big time and you want to lower our data plan but still charge us the same price and yet we still get many drop call and slow network. You guys are taking our money but not giving us the service so here I'm complaining right at your face and wait for your feedback.. ." Singtel Facebook administrators have been trying to cool the angry Facebook mob, but to no avail. Wrote one of Singtel Facebook administrators, "We hear you. We would like to assure you that SingTel is committed to providing high-quality and consistent 3G and 4G mobile coverage to its customers. There are various factors that affect co...

In the chase to increase the number of likes for their Facebook Pages, many merchants forget that the love-like relationship with their customers is a two-way street. At Rocky’s Pizza, Fan Club members get 15% off when they pay with NETS, Singapore’s national debit card brand. The simple incentive turns the pizza eatery’s existing Facebook fan page into a loyalty program Fan Club, with no need for membership forms, cards or coupons, whether paper or digital. “The Fan Club has increased business from both dine-in customers and deliveries,” said Mr Marcus Lew, Operations Manager for Rocky’s Pizza. “We have also seen a 10% increase in walk-in customers since the launch of the Fan Club.” A simple registration site “JoinFanClub.com/rockypizza.sg” makes it very easy for customers to join the Fan Club in the restaurant, as they dine. “The registration process is so simple and easy to understand that most of our customers were able to join the Fan Club without any assistance from ...

A photo of a Samsung Galaxy SIII appeared on the Samsung Pakistan Facebook Page which resulted in comments that the photo didn't look like a Samsung Galaxy SII. Samsung Pakistan was indeed honest about making the mistake but the reason given shown why administrating a Facebook Page is not as simple as it seems.  Wrote Pro Pakistani ,  History repeated itself yesterday, when Samsung Pakistan uploaded an image on its official Facebook page with caption: “Picture perfect view made even more perfect with Samsung Galaxy S3”. Soon after the upload, comments started to come-in, with shouts that its not Galaxy S3, rather it appears more like a cousin of Galaxy Note. Complying with the commentators (apparently without researching), the page admin edited the caption and changed Title to “Galaxy Note”. So Samsung Pakistan accidentally released a photo of the new Galaxy Note 2? Not exactly. Image from  http://propakistani.pk/2012/08/10/samsung-pakistan-...

Singapore NParks came under fire for its purchase of 26 Brompton foldable bikes and they required Singapore's Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Hwa to defend the purchase as it "satisfy the criteria of ' value for money ' when public funds are involved". The official distributor for the Brompton foldable bikes has, however, made claims on its Facebook Page that the bikes were tendered by an unauthorised reseller and may not come with the warranty that buyers get when buying via official means. Wrote the Diginexx Facebook Page , A M6L retails at S$2250 per bike at Diginexx which will cover the 5-year frame warranty and 2-year warranty on parts. In comparison, buying a total of 26 M6L Bromptons at $2200 per bike is unfortunately not a fair deal for NParks especially when the bikes come from a non-authorised reseller, which do not and cannot offer the official five-year frame warranty and two-year parts warranty. NParks may have saved on $50 per...

Almost all social media team will tell you that your customers wants to have a relationship with your brand. But are customers really looking for that brand relationship? In the " From social media to Social CRM ",  a IBM Institute for Business Value sponsored white paper showed some surprising results.  This results of the white paper was summarised by David Sims of CRMsearch.com.  Wrote David ,  Here are the top three reasons customers give for interacting with businesses via social media, with the percentage of respondents giving the answer: Get a discount - 61 percent. Make a purchase - 55 percent. Read reviews and product rankings - 53 percent. Now here are the top three reasons businesses think customers interact with them via social media: Learn about new products - 73 percent. General information - 71 percent. Submit opinion on products or service - 69 percent. Surprised by the results? David was. "Huh?" businesses ask. "But I th...

Do you manage many Facebook Pages? The Facebook Page Manager iPhone app is now available on the Singapore App Store . Wrote Venture Beat , The new app will be familiar to anyone who uses the current Facebook iPhone app for their personal social networking; it lets page managers post new updates, see statistics about likes, reach, and user engagement, and respond to comments from fans. Marketers with multiple pages will be happy to see that they can manage all their pages from within this one app.

No more fumbling around with your wallet to buy new adidas gear! We've teamed up with PayPal to launch the new cashless payment system at our Suntec, Cathay and Katong Mall outlets. Just register your PayPal account with the adidas FanClub  at http://fanclub.sg/adidasSingapore Receive a free adidas water bottle and shoe bag if you purchase any footwear at the Suntec, Cathay or Katong Mall outlets and pay with PayPal! Terms and conditions apply. Whilst stocks last.

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalLifeSg Campaign Title: Digital Life Fan Club 842 check-in fans generated 1,851,231 impressions, 1,574 clickthroughs and 1,567 new fans in just four days at IT Show 2012 Launch Date: 07 March 2012 Most social media agencies will tell brands to get on the social media bandwagon to engage fans at events; they often do it with no clear way to identify fans. Some resort to using social mobile tools like Foursquare to engage fans. Such methods often do not generate the desired results. Take Lenovo for an example. At Sitex 2010, Lenovo launched a Foursquare campaign and predicted they could achieve a minimum of 30 check-ins a day. During the four day event, they only received a total of 16 check-ins ( http://socialpr.blogspot.com/2010/11/did-lenovo-singapore-foursquare.html ). At the recent IT Show 2012, Digital Life too wanted to reward their Facebook fans by launching their Facebook Fan Club.  Registered fans were reward with D...

If a customer spotted an error on your website and gave the brand a suggestion to improve the site, you would expect the brand to reply with a thank you. Citibank SG social media strategy, however, is to delete the post, fearing that it could cause negative repercussion if other customers were to know of this technical error on their site. This happened with a Facebook user found that the Citibank website does not render statements well on Macs. Instead, the administrator, deleted the post instead and told the user that the case has been resolved. Seriously, if Citibank isn't confident that its brand name can withstand one small complain about rendering issues about bank statements on their website on a Mac machine, it has wasted the millions of dollars spend on advertising and promoting its brand.  Plus, this is a suggestion, a thank you would have generated more social media goodwill.

Click on a photo on your Facebook wall today and you will see a new layout. The new photo layout puts the photo in line with the text. This is most likely to encourage more engagement with the photo, either through tagging, liking or commenting. This new layout also gives Facebook more white space to put ads. I have seen ads appearing on the bottom of the white space. As such, this makes photos more valuable and a key engagement tool for your fans and friends.

The Sunday Times today report on the teacher-student relationship highlighted that schools here are prohibiting teachers from being friends with their students to prevent any possibility of crossing the line. Yet to deny teachers using social media to reach out to students makes the school sounds draconian. The simple solution is to get the school should encourage teachers to set up Facebook Pages to communicate with their students. The Facebook Page for the teacher can be set to public so that communication between students is for all to see, even for parents. The teacher Facebook Page can also have the principle or a parent to be administrator of the Page to ensure both students and teacher do not cross the line. These Pages can also be liked by parents so the teacher can also update them on upcoming activities. For example, set up an event page for the upcoming test or exams. If the student is no longer in the teacher's class, both students and parents can simply un...