Tag: social media

Many people have given up or limited their use of Facebook and Twitter for forty days.

Now that Lent has begun, many Facebook and Twitter users have revealed that they are reducing, limiting, or even eliminating their use of the services, which could cause the effectiveness of social media marketing to temporarily dip.

Until Easter, the ads on these networks may not be seen and used by those making their individual sacrifice.

Lent is a period of personal sacrifice that occurs over a period of forty days that starts on Ash Wednesday (this year, it was February 13). This year, social media marketing experts have discovered that many of those who observe this time are choosing to give up their participation in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other platforms, until the forty days is complete.

This social media marketing trend has illustrated the growing importance of this technology in our daily lives.

According to the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church webmaster, Lisa Hendey, “In the past, it might have been giving up the extras, like chocolate or TV, but Facebook has become such a big part of people’s daily lives they’re contemplating giving it up, praying about it and discussing it.” That church has the largest Roman Catholic congregation in Fresno, California.

The Redeemer Lutheran Church associate pastor, Dan Hues, said that “Facebook is huge”, and that “It’s blown up to be almost ubiquitous. It’s almost compulsive; that’s why it makes sense to give it up for Lent.” He stated that he feels that its popularity represents the ideal opportunity for the sacrifice of an activity of self indulgence.

Social media marketing analysts have been closely examining the patterns of use and traffic over the forty days of lent in order to be able to observe whether there is a perceptible dip in the use and effectiveness, or whether the impact is truly negligible. Due to the popularity of the use of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other platforms, it is being predicted that this will become an increasingly common sacrifice over the period of Lent this year and in coming years.

Funding will help company expand interests in mobile commerce

Getonic, an Israeli startup that develops solutions for small businesses that are interested in selling products through social networks, has announced the completion of its latest round of funding. The company has received $1.3 million in total funding, which it plans to use to expand business globally. Because of the growing interest surrounding mobile marketing and mobile commerce, Getonic expects to see very promising results in 2013 as more businesses seek to engage consumers through social media.g

Social media plays a big role in the evolution of commerce

There are a wide variety of startups that are trying to help companies engage mobile consumers. Many of these companies adopt a very specific focus on mobile commerce services, enabling businesses to facilitate mobile payments in an efficient and comprehensive manner. There are few platforms that take social media into account, despite how important sites like Facebook and Twitter are to consumers today. Getonic has not had a singular focus on the mobile space, but the funding it has received will help it expand its mobile business more aggressively.

Getonic adopts stronger stance on mobile

Getonic offers companies a way to monetize their business through social channels. The company’s social shops, as they are called, act as small virtual stores that sell individual products to consumers on social networking sites. As Getonic begins to focus more on the mobile space, these social stores will become more accommodating of mobile commerce, allowing consumers to make purchases using nothing more than their smart phones or tablets.

Company looks to expand beyond Facebook

Getonic is able to process payments through its use of PayPal. PayPal itself offers mobile commerce services to businesses, allowing them to accept transactions from a mobile device. Since 2010, Getonic has had a strong focus on Facebook, but the company is beginning to expand its focus to other social networks, such as Twitter. Whether such networks will be conducive of mobile commerce has yet to be seen.