There has been lots of social media buzz lately, especially with the release of Google+ and Facebook’s redesigned layout announcement. But, let’s not forget about good old email. We’re sure a good number of you reading this blog post got here through our e-newsletter. Believe it or not, it’s still effective and your marketing efforts will be more well-rounded if you integrate it with social media.

In a survey from StrongMail, email and social media were the top two areas marketers planned to increase spending in 2011. This being their harmonious relationship of direct response and organic communities. Social media’s power lies in creating awareness and reaching out to new customers, while email strengthens those relationships giving that extra personal touch to drive a sale.

When consumers subscribe, they’ve given you permission to leverage them because they’re truly interested in your brand. In addition, email can hold more content and sits in the inbox. As opposed to social media, the posts are brief and a user’s newsfeed is constantly updated.
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On October 5, 2011, we trickled in from lunch and launched our web browsers to find that apple.com had drastically changed. We found not sleek iPads or shiny iPhones, but an image of a man we’ve come to know and love, and the subtle announcement of his passing. After the initial shock, our iPhones and iPads were in hand to read more and share the devastating news of one of our biggest influencers. Steve Jobs was a brilliant man who changed the world through his passion for innovation, which ultimately connected people and paved the way for others to become innovators as well.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and in honor of him, we would like to dedicate this blog post to thank Steve for everything.
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Facebook has grown to be the thousand pound gorilla in the social networking world with statistics to prove it, but even with that success they decided to make some big changes. These are the biggest changes they have made since their launch and there are big implications for businesses involved both in the short and long term.

Some claim that these new changes will transform social media forever. On the other side, PC Magazine reports that 86% of Facebook users don’t like the redesign. If Facebook’s new changes fail, it won’t be because of a lack of effort. Zuckerberg said in his keynote presentation at the F8 conference that they have been working on these new changes for the past year.

Summary of the Main Changes

There is already much discussion in the blogosphere detailing the specific features that have been changed. Below is a quick summary:

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