COMPETE BLOG — Compete recently reported that Facebook.com moved up the rankings into the #2 most popular site in the U.S, surpassing Yahoo.com. With Facebook continuing to grow, the importance of social networking sites to companies is higher than ever.  As we have discovered previously, the percentage of wireless shoppers also visiting Facebook.com has increased dramatically over the past year, which means wireless carriers have a huge opportunity to reach their current and potential customers using Facebook. Over the past year, the Big 4 wireless carriers have begun to embace Facebook as a marketing tool by creating fan pages...

COMPETE BLOG — In recent months, I’ve noticed the term "groupon" creeping into conversations with increasing regularity. The term comes from groupon.com, a website devoted to offering a new deal each day and built around the tagline of "collective buying power." The site is targeted to various cities across the country, and each day features a steep discount at a local establishment. In order for the groupon to be activated for that day, a certain number of people must join the deal. Once that number is reached, the deal is on and everyone who signed up receives the Groupon coupon by email...

COMPETE BLOG — According to a 2008 Rosetta study, in April of 2008, less than 1/3 of US e-retailers had a Facebook page. By November 2008, that number had doubled. Last quarter, Softpedia reported that 86 percent of US online retailers have a Facebook page, and they expect that number to reach 99 percent soon. With the vast majority of online retailers flocking to Facebook and other social media sites, the question I have to ask is: are consumers paying attention?...

COMPETE BLOG — If you are an advertiser who wants to drive large volumes of traffic to your site, there are two important things you are probably looking for: reach and ease of implementing your campaign. Facebook meets these qualifications. It is currently the third largest site online with 125MM visitors in September and it is quickly approaching parity with the #1 and #2 publishers, Google and Yahoo...

COMPETE BLOG — Let’s face it. At this point, if you’re not somehow plugged into Twitter, you’re either asleep at the wheel, in complete denial, or my mother. For most people, the allure of real time news, spicy celebrity gossip, and an endless flow of whimsical trivialities from the Twitter pipe is simply irresistible. For marketers, however, Twitter is not all fun and games – especially when dollars, customer relationships, and brand credibility are on the line...