Facebook's Plans For Android Could Be Brilliant

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Why Facebook Home Is Potentially Brilliant (TechCrunch)
Facebook isn’t building a Facebook Phone. They’re letting HTC do it for them. But that’s seemingly not the end goal, here. Facebook doesn’t want an Android phone. They want all of the Android phones, including the ones already out there. And they can get a whole bunch of them, too. Facebook doesn’t seem to be forking Android (creating its own version of Google's mobile operating system). Instead, most of the magic will come in a launcher. A launcher that can, like the dozens of launchers already on the Google Play store, be installed on any Android phone once Facebook flips the switch. That means Facebook would become the main interface on a user's phone. Facebook isn’t reinventing the wheel. It’s more like they’re getting ready to sneak up in the middle of the night and strap shiny blue rims onto everyone else’s wheels. Read >>

Facebook's Future Is In Mobile (Forbes)
The currency for those in charge of an ecosystem is to get you using their system as quickly as possible, or associate the new device with your existing personal graph as quickly as possible. Which is why Facebook is going to get themselves even more involved in the game with their ‘Facebook/Phone’ project. No matter if it is hardware (which many rumors are pointing to), a replacement UI for existing devices (which makes sense from a data capture point of view), an enhanced app (after all they are constantly iterating their mobile code base), or a mixture of all three, the key factor for Facebook here is to capture as much data as possible on Facebook users’ mobile habits. Read >>

Social Media For Business: Are Executives Convinced? (SAP)
At this point, it pains me to say that some executives are still not convinced of the value that social media brings to the table. Reasons being:

• There is still a major lack of understanding
• There is no data provided to truly convince
• There is no process or infrastructure for creating value

While being creative is a good base for being a successful marketer, it’s the analytical side that propels your career. If you can take complex ideas and break them down into measurable outcomes, you will win every time, granted your ideas actually move those metrics. Read >>

Don't Let The Bosses Ruin Twitter (Slate)
Twitter has two wonderful attributes. One is that it's full of fun and entertaining snark and nonsense. The other is that it's absolutely essential to my job. Everyone knows that the modern online journalist needs a robust social media presence. So if I'm sitting at my desk joking and kibbitzing on Twitter then I'm "working" whereas joking and kibbitzing in real life doesn't necessarily count. And leisure activities that count as work are valuable for two reasons. One is that you get paid to work, and money is good. The other is that life is full of dreary obligations that are neither work nor leisure. Read >>

Why You’ll Get Nowhere Without Measurement (Social Times)
Real-time marketing has become the hot new trend. But brands have identified some of the challenges that they face in getting a better handle on social measurement. To no great surprise, top of the list was a lack of tracking capabilities and analytics. Some have developed integrated measurement systems that inform marketing decisions – especially those made in real-time. If you haven’t yet taken this step, you are not alone but you will be soon. If you have developed a measurement system, we applaud you, because you are amongst the enlightened new generation of digital marketers who understand that the proper use of analytics is fundamental to future success. Read >>

The Tipping Point In Social Media ROI (Influence Marketing)
There seems to be a growing sentiment that influence marketing might be the tipping point where marketers and business leaders finally connect the dots between social media engagement and that elusive return on investment. Instead of identifying influencers with the biggest reach and activity on specific themes, imagine an influence marketing model that identifies how consumers make purchase decisions and then reacts in such a way as to favorably impact those decisions. Properly executed, an influence marketing strategy supports both brand marketing and performance marketing by monitoring and measuring both social media engagement and the resulting activity to a single customer profile. Read >>

Rock Social Media In 30 Minutes Per Day (Pardot via ExactTarget)
A marketer’s day is filled to the brim with responsibilities and projects that take a lot of time. A winning social media strategy is all about working smarter to reach your audience wherever they are. So from Pinterest, to Google+, to Twitter, make sure you’re allocating your time smartly. Read >>