The Vantage View

Noticing an overwhelming number of businesses touting their social media pages lately? Well, you’re not the only one. You can now find just about anyone and any biz on Facebook including corporate big boys like Starbucks or your local loves including that restaurant a couple blocks away or that cool winery in Temecula – hello @SCWinery (yes, I have beverages on the brain).

Social media popularity is spreading at an alarming rate – Facebook being the most popular. Just last February, InsideFacebook.com reported more than 3 million active pages on Facebook, nearly double the 1.6 million just a few months prior. Local businesses comprised of half the overall increase in active pages.

Was your Facebook page one of them?

We’ve spotted a few Vantage customers on Facebook (shout out to Armstrong McCall, Tim Taylor, RMS Laser to name a few)! Glad to see you all there and thriving in the ever so popular social media space.

Is your business on Facebook? Share your company’s page with us by posting it in a comment below.

About the Author: Jennifer Villalobos
Online Marketing Manager/Ringmaster

I enjoy long walks on the beach, the full imitation cheddar flavor that are Cheez-Its, Gonzaga basketball, Budweiser commercials and managing web campaigns for both consumer and business to business clients. Follow me on Twitter @vantagejennifer.

Need help getting started on your social media campaigns? Feel free to give me a call at 800.921.0687 x718 or drop me a line at jennifer@vanageinternet.com.

“But I Don’t Have Time for Social Media”
Ah yes, the time objection; one of the many popular myths and common client excuses for not integrating social media into their every day business affairs. Typically the reason behind this objection is due to the client’s unfamiliarity with social media and how to interact on their Facebook, Twitter page and more.

Surprisingly enough, interacting on social networks is quite simple and much like any offline conversation you may have with a customer. But unlike a phone call where you are limited to conversing with a single individual, social media interactions allow you share your thoughts and company news with an audience of many.

A social media interaction can be as simple as posting engaging content, a link to an article that may interest your customer or even showcasing some of the great work your business does. The return on the little time you spend using social media should be enough to make you realize social media interaction is worthwhile.

Here are a couple tools designed to help you make your social media experience a snap:

Consider using social media managing tools to streamline and simply your social media interaction and reduce the time you spend on your many social media profiles. Some of the most popular social media management services include Hootsuite and TweetDeck. Both Hootsuite and TweetDeck are free and allow you to monitor and manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts in a single interface.

Another popular free tool is Ping.fm. Much like the social media clients just mentioned, Ping.fm allows you to post updates to multiple profiles from a single interface with the click of a button.  Voilà! – quick social media success.

“We don’t have time for social media,” is no longer an excuse. Approach social media just like another conversation you’d have with a customer on the phone or face-to -face.

What are you waiting for? Start schmoozing with your current and potential customers in the social media space.

Need help getting started on your social media campaigns? Feel free to give me a call at 800.921.0687 x718 or drop me a line at jennifer@vanageinternet.com.

About the Author: Jennifer Villalobos
Online Marketing Manager/Ringmaster

I enjoy long walks on the beach, the full imitation cheddar flavor that are Cheez-Its, Gonzaga basketball, Budweiser commercials and managing web campaigns for both consumer and business to business clients. Follow me on Twitter @vantagejennifer.

I’ll bet you a 1,000 Farmville bucks you had no idea that Homer Simpson’s page is the second most popular page on Facebook. Gotcha didn’t I?  Now that everyone knows of this hot social networking site, we thought we’d shed some light on some of the more obscure Facebook facts in cool infographic form. Enjoy!

[Source: Online PhD Programs for Mashable]

Like what you see? If so, “Like” Vantage Internet on Facebook!

About the Author: Jennifer Villalobos
Online Marketing Manager/Ringmaster
I enjoy long walks on the beach, the full imitation cheddar flavor that are Cheez-Its, Gonzaga basketball, Budweiser commercials and managing web campaigns for both consumer and business to business clients.

Drop me a line at jennifer@vantageinternet.com, or follow me on Twitter @vantagejennifer.

Spring has sprung in San Diego! Wishing you and yours a happy Easter, or happy Passover. Shabbat Shalom!

Facebook knocked search engine juggernaut Google from its top spot for a full week this month as it claimed title as the most visited Web site in the United States.

According to web analytics from Hitwise, Facebook has been the most visited site in the U.S. in the past, but has never managed to sustain such a lead over Google.

With more than 400 million active users world wide, Facebook is a rapidly growing social network, with half of it’s users visiting  the site daily to post pictures, photos and play games including Facebook’s most popular game, FarmVille.

You may ask, “Who has time to play these games and waste time on Facebook?” Well, surprisingly a whopping 83 million users play FarmVille, a game where Facebook gamers tend to their virtual farm by paying for seeds, livestock and farm upkeep with virtual money.

Besides all that fun stuff, many businesses are ensuring they claim their Fan Page on Facebook in order to connect with consumers and boost brand awareness in this ever so popular space. Some of the largest fan pages include those for popular public figures including Barack Obama and Vin Diesel, while others are for well known brands including Starbucks and YouTube.

We only predict this visitor trend to continue as Facebook users increase and members continue to connect and interact on this hip social network. What are your predictions?

Photo credit Mark Alan Stamaty

About the Author: Jennifer Villalobos
Online Marketing Manager/Ringmaster
I enjoy long walks on the beach, the full imitation cheddar flavor that are Cheez-Its, Gonzaga basketball, Budweiser commercials and managing web campaigns for both consumer and business to business clients.

Drop me a line at jennifer@vantageinternet.com, or follow me on Twitter @vantagejennifer.