Gaining competitive intelligence on social media is perhaps the single best way for brands to gauge the industry landscape and cull insights about consumer sentiments, needs and behaviors.

The information you can get from social is instantaneous; you can gain the most up-to-date data and findings. Indeed, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like are treasure troves of valuable competitive insights, so how can businesses use them to their fullest extent?

For starters, Facebook is making competitive intelligence on social a little easier by allowing users to view the ads being run by a page. The move is meant to provide transparency into the social network's ad platform, but it also provides a whole new window for marketers to view ads other businesses are running.

Cox Media Group Local Solutions announced today the company earned a Facebook Marketing Partner badge for its long-standing history of success in social media campaign management. The Facebook Marketing Partner’s Small Business Solution badge is awarded to companies that meet and exceed Facebook’s high standards for capability and performance. Cox Media Group is one of the first broadcast and publishing companies to receive the Small Business Solution badge.

“The entire Cox Media Group Local Solutions team is excited to receive this recognition from Facebook,” said CMG Digital Vice President Joe Weir. “Receiving this designation speaks to the level of commitment and dedication delivered by our teams to achieve successful results for our clients.”

Every industry has superstars. When it comes to online ad revenue, Facebook and Google are on the red carpet. The digital marketing world often refers to the two as a "digital duopoly" due to their massive success over other social platforms, and the title is warranted.

You've developed a hot product and the compelling creative assets to promote it. Now you turn to Facebook to tell the world. But your post only gets seen by 15 people. You put some of the campaign's advertising budget into a Facebook ad, and still, crickets. What went wrong?

The way you're using the Facebook ads feature or the way you're creating social media content — or both — could be to blame.

Using Facebook Ads More Effectively

If you comb through the advice at the Facebook Help Center, you'll discover that using the platform's ad feature isn't an automated process. Parameters for each post should be carefully considered based on the post content and intended audience.

Twitter is urging its 330 million users to change their passwords after a bug exposed them in plain text. Chief technology officer Parag Agrawal issued a statement Thursday explaining the problem:

After two days and hundreds of questions, Facebook's chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg survived 10 hours of questioning by Congress.

Facebook's data practices were the official topic of the hearing, prompted by its issues with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that improperly accessed 87 million Facebook users' names, "likes" and other personal information.

Even after all the testimony, however, many Facebook users and businesses still have questions about what the data scandal means, from what to do if an account is affected to what data Facebook has collected about them. Here are answers to some of the Facebook data breach questions below:

Starting a social account for your business, auto-posting links from your company blog and waiting to be found is not a social media strategy, but it is how public accounts get lost in the shuffle. Be proactive in putting your message in front of your audience by exploring all the features of the platform.

Frequent social media updates can help you build a loyal following, leading to an uptick in word-of-mouth marketing via online reviews and ratings. Your new social posse could also foster more conversations among readers, developing your brand reputation and bolstering a positive image among current customers, according to Social Media Today.

Facebook and Instagram are constantly implementing new features to help businesses connect with fans and customers. But are you taking full advantage of these new avenues to engagement?

The top social media platforms have experienced explosive growth over the past decade, and most show no signs of slowing down. According to projections by Statista, there will be nearly 2.8 billion social media users by 2019 — representing a 211 percent jump from 2010.

But as social platforms grow in popularity and sophistication, so does the challenge for marketers. Not only do you now have to keep up with ever-changing trends and features, you're expected to build a social media marketing strategy that performs successfully across a wide range of channels and consistently engages users — all while retaining your brand's originality and authenticity.

This herculean task often seems impossible, but here's the good news: brands of all sizes are enjoying wild success with a multi-platform social media marketing strategy. Here are three ways you can do the same:

Contracting can be a very hard business to market. For roofing specialists, it can be especially difficult to reach out to customers throughout the year, as roofing isn't something many people have on their minds on a regular basis.

However, with some tried and true techniques, it is possible to see real results from marketing on social media. A simple strategy can help build your business no matter the season! Here are three tips to follow.

1. Post Quality & Valuable Content

Content is key to any online marketing plan, but it's particularly important for those in specialty niches — you need to market yourself in a way that appeals to people who haven't even thought about the need for roof maintenance, repair or replacement. The best way to do this is by creating highly shareable articles, videos and even infographics that can inform customers about different aspects of roofing.

As you may have heard, Facebook made a big splash in the news last week with Mark Zuckerberg’s announced changes (post, newsroom) to how their algorithm surfaces posts from businesses, brands, and media in their news feed.  

If the news didn’t make it to the top of your feed, Facebook has decided that it will prioritize posts in the News Feed that spark conversations and inspire meaningful interactions between people. These interactions can be any form of engagement, but interactions between people like comments, shares, and messages in addition to posts from friends will be weighted most heavily.

So as you develop your 2018 social strategies here are 3 tips to ensure success for your business on social media.