Sales Tips and Marketing Strategies » Social Networking

New Swedish Study Finds Content Marketing?

morgan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:47:48 +0000

A new Swedish study just released has found that content marketing and custom publishing donâ€™t really work!

This exhaustive study conducted by the Royal Institute of Technology has found that content marketing and custom publishing are methodologies which are not valid and should not be considered as a part of any advertising or marketing plan, project or program.

For the last three years, using the worldâ€™s largest Cray SuperComputer, The Royal Institute of Technology found that content marketing has not been working. Reference – Study >>Doktorand Yt – Och Korroslonsvetenskap >> Published 2009-12-10. The results are not pretty, especially if you happen to be in the content marketing industry using this methodology to deliver advertising, marketing or branding messages to a core audience. The study uses extensive data mining, double blind statistical data drumming, data appending with reverse metrics and fourth level search data from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and InfoUSA to better understand the true long term results of content marketing.

Hereâ€™s what they found in brief:

RIT studied 15,114 Content Marketing and Custom Publishing campaigns
98.7% of those campaigns â€œhad not and could notâ€ deliver any measurable level of success
There was also â€œnoâ€ measurable – Return On Investment for all 15,114 marketing campaigns studied over this three year period
Only .02% of all end users engaged in these campaigns or had any further conversation with the provider
Custom publishing provided only 1.7% message penetration to any core audience – what so ever

Wow, weâ€™re in real trouble here. All those years of hard work down the drain – in one big scientific FLUSH!

And weâ€™ve spent the last four months creating, developing and weâ€™re about to launch an incredible video content marketing project. Man, thatâ€™s a bummer.

Sorry for the bad news. I guess all you content marketers are going to have to dust off those old resume and get cracking with the job searching. You know what? Maybe Iâ€™ll send my new video content marketing project to The Royal Institute of Technology and let them put that in their supercomputer and smoke it! What do you think?

Hey – weâ€™re here anyway. Want to hear about our little project? Itâ€™s for a charity and Stella Pop is donating our time.
Cool here it isâ€¦ a tidbit of Stella Pop and Goodwillâ€™s new and not yet released video content marketing project.

DC Goodwill Fashionistaâ€™s â€œReUse.ReCycle.ReFashion with Miss DC â€œ

Itâ€™s a viral video project all about Goodwill and Recycling starring Miss DC 2009 and the Goodwill Fashionista which was conceptualized by Stella Pop and developed in partnership with Goodwill of Greater Washington. The rap-opera song was written by Kokayi (Grammy nominated rapper from DC) and performed by both Jen Corey (Miss DC 2009 and Kokayi as a fresh musical hook for the video series launching in late December. It was recorded and mixed at Sweet Spot Studio under the creative direction of Nicolas Laget and Kokayi. Having never been in a recording studio before, I can say â€œin the sweet spotâ€ is exactly right for this musical team lead by Kokayi. I canâ€™t dance but I was secretly in my mind getting on a seriously disturbing and scary groove. Enough said about my dancing.

The complete song will be available at iTunes and if you buy the song thereâ€™s good news, Goodwill receives the benefits of your purchase as a donation. All the money raised by Goodwill is used for enhancing the dignity and quality of life of individuals, families and communities by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping people in need reach their fullest potential through the power of work. Goodwillâ€™s vision is that every person has the opportunity to achieve his/her fullest potential and participate in and contribute to all aspects of life. So get over to iTunes and purchase the song. Maybe even give away a few downloads to friends and family.

This viral video series was filmed over a four month period and documents the interior and design rejuvenation of Jenâ€™s (Miss DC) new apartment with items purchased at Goodwill stores throughout the Washington DC area. And when I say purchased, I mean we spent almost nothing for an apartment full of â€ household bling.â€ The great thing about all these items is that they were lovingly donated by good people from all over the DC community. That is sweet!

By the way, recycling is Jenâ€™s platform for the Miss America Pageant which is taking place at the end of January in Las Vegas. Make sure you vote for her, sheâ€™s talented and very down to earth.

This partnership between Stella Pop, Jen Corey – Miss DC 2009 and Goodwill of Greater Washington is an excellent example of content marketing in the form of an independent viral video project. Donâ€™t tell Goodwill all this nice stuff Iâ€™m about to say, it just might go to their heads but they have an incredible marketing team and have created a highly successful content marketing program highlighted by their blog – DC Goodwill Fashionista.

The blog is a true collaboration but the main writing talent behind it is Gillain Kirkpatrick who also stars in the video as Jenâ€™s partner in crime and shopping buddy. Stella Pop has been honored to work with this amazing non-for-profit organization and it has been a truly educational and an uplifting experience so you can understand our excitement about the upcoming video launch.

Can I can tell something? The song and video are awesome and fun, if I do say so myself. And, the video turned out to be extremely cool, heart warming and was filled with lots of goodwill from everyone involved. Stay tuned for the first video installment which is coming soon! Around the end of December.

Stella says, create content that connects with your audience. It doesnâ€™t always have to be so literal and direct to get involvement and illustrate your brand message. Want the perfect example, check out DC Goodwill Fashionista. You can find this article at www.YoStella.com

PS – The scientific study is not for real but you probably already figured that out – hope youâ€™re not mad and enjoy the ringtone download provided below.

Weâ€™ve included a free ringtone for you to download that is a tiny taste of the rap-opera song â€œA Dream Without Boundariesâ€ coming with our video series.

Thanks again and click here for the download.

Stella’s Pop Factory is a creative service company located in metro Washington DC, our friends just call us Stella Pop.

Stella Pop is a soda brew crew that between mixing up handcrafted concepts flavors, serves up high-fizz design and outside-the-pop-bottle thinking for our clients. Our firm is styled after a creative soda factory, we have consistently won high praise for exceptional service and expertise in advertising & marketing including content and concept development, creative services and brand optimization.

“We don’t make the Pop, We make the Fizz!”

Let us mix up a fresh new flavor for your brand today.

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New Swedish Study Finds Content Marketing?

morgan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:49:18 +0000

A new Swedish study just released has found that content marketing and custom publishing donâ€™t really work!

Hereâ€™s what they found in brief:

RIT studied 15,114 Content Marketing and Custom Publishing campaigns
98.7% of those campaigns â€œhad not and could notâ€ deliver any measurable level of success
There was also â€œnoâ€ measurable – Return On Investment for all 15,114 marketing campaigns studied over this three year period
Only .02% of all end users engaged in these campaigns or had any further conversation with the provider
Custom publishing provided only 1.7% message penetration to any core audience – what so ever

Wow, weâ€™re in real trouble here. All those years of hard work down the drain – in one big scientific FLUSH!

And weâ€™ve spent the last four months creating, developing and weâ€™re about to launch an incredible video content marketing project. Man, thatâ€™s a bummer.

DC Goodwill Fashionistaâ€™s â€œReUse.ReCycle.ReFashion with Miss DC â€œ

PS – The scientific study is not for real but you probably already figured that out – hope youâ€™re not mad and enjoy the ringtone download provided below.

Weâ€™ve included a free ringtone for you to download that is a tiny taste of the rap-opera song â€œA Dream Without Boundariesâ€ coming with our video series.

Thanks again and click here for the download.

Stella’s Pop Factory is a creative service company located in metro Washington DC, our friends just call us Stella Pop.

“We don’t make the Pop, We make the Fizz!”

Let us mix up a fresh new flavor for your brand today.

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Using Social Networking Websites to Promote Your Blog

morgan — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:47:10 +0000

Do you know what the main purpose of a social networking website is? If you are an avid internet user, you likely do. Social networking websites are online communities that make it easier for internet users to meet and communicate with each other. If you are an internet user who enjoys using the internet to meet new people, there is a good chance that you already belong to a social networking website. What about an online blog? Do you have one of them? If you do, do you know that you could use your social networking website to promote your blog?

Promote your blog? Why would you want to do that? Honestly, if you have to ask yourself that question you probably shouldn’t even have one. The whole purpose of a blog is to document your thoughts, views, and opinions on a particular topic, issue, or subject. What good will your blog do if no one reads it. In addition to sharing your thoughts with the rest of the world, did you know that you could also make money from your blog? You can signup for affiliate programs or other programs like Google Adsense. If you are using your blog to make money then you will defiantly want to promote it.

When it comes to promoting blogs, there are many blog owners who decide to let the search engine do the work for them. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN use special techniques that reads the content on your website. That content is then used to rank your website with particular keywords. This means that you run a blog on graduating from high school in New York, there is a good chance that your blog will appear in searches done on New York high schools. Although many blogs are successfully ranked in search engines, not all are. That is why you are advised against relying solely on search engines, when it comes to promoting your blog.

As previously mentioned, if you love meeting with or talking to people online, there is a good chance that you belong to a social networking website or community. The individuals that you talk to and that are in your community are likely the individuals that you wish to target. Since most social networking websites work to connect internet users who have the same goals and common interests, there is a good chance that your online friends will enjoy reading your blog. But, before they can read your blog, you have to let them know that it exists.

When it comes to promoting your blog on social networking websites, you have a number of different options. Your first option is to include a link to your blog in your community profile or profile page. This will allow other community members to checkout your blog, only if they wish to do so. The other way is to inform your online friends of your blog through private messages. Once you join a social networking website and create or join a network of friends, you should easily be able to communicate with those friends. Sending each of your friends a private message with information and a link to your blog tends to be more effective than just placing a link in your profile or on your profile page.

Although there is a good chance that you are already a member of a popular social networking website, you may not be. If you are not already a member, but would like to become one, you will need to find a social networking website to join. This can easily be done with a standard internet search. In your search, you will likely find a number of popular network sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, FriendFinder, Yahoo! 360, and Orkut. Before becoming a community member at one of these networking sites, you may want to first examine the website to ensure that it is everything that you want it to be.

As you can easily see, there are a number of different ways that you can go about promoting your blog on online social networking websites. You never known, but, in addition to promoting your blog, you may also make new friends along the way.

Home business coach, Khyl Ng wants to help entrepreneurs find the best online businesses available today. The businesses come with professional support and training resources that can guide even those with no experience making money online toward success. Kindly check out the website, http://www.K-HillzOnline.com lists only those businesses that gone through a thorough screening process to ensure they are legitimate, money-making ventures.

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How Can Twitter Help Your Business?

morgan — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:47:32 +0000

Although Twitter continues to gain acceptance in the business community as a business communication and marketing tool, Iâ€™m still amazed at the number of small businesses that donâ€™t see the value of using this micro-blogging service as a marketing tool for business.

Just in case you need a refresher, Twitter (www.twitter.com) is a unique micro-blogging tool that lets users communicate with their â€œfollowersâ€ in quick text messages of 140 characters or less called â€œtweets.â€

Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube are typically most effective when they are appropriately integrated with each other and with a companyâ€™s existing marketing efforts, since each one provides distinct benefits and advantages in an integrated social marketing plan. But Twitter â€“ even when used as a stand-alone social networking strategy â€“ can be a powerful tool in any small business marketing toolbox.

Some of the benefits of using Twitter in your marketing mix include:

Highly targeted audience: The people who choose to â€œfollowâ€ you on Twitter are already interested in hearing what you have to say, or they would not have followed you to begin with. This provides you with an audience of folks who have specifically opted-in to receive your messages and want to listen to what you have to say.
Instantly reach your â€œfollowersâ€: When you post something to your Twitter account (referred to as â€œtweetsâ€), the message is instantly sent to your followers in the way they have chosen to be contacted. This could be a text message sent to their cell phone, posted to their Twitter page on the web, RSS-fed to a Facebook page or profile, etc. Regardless of the method your followers have selected, your tweets appear within a few seconds.
Generate traffic to your web site: By adding links in your tweets, you provide followers with direct access to your web site, to other social networking profiles, to your blog, etc. Again, if your social marketing has been properly integrated, all of this will lead back to your web site, generating more traffic and new visitors.
Improve your search engine rankings: By optimizing your Twitter profile (and integrating your social marketing efforts), you can build valuable inbound links to your web site, which is key in improving your siteâ€™s position in the search engine rankings.
Increase brand awareness and online visibility: Being active on Twitter gets your business name in front of customers as well as the general public everyday, which in turn helps build name recognition and improves brand awareness for your business.
Enhance customer service: Many businesses have found that by using Twitter, they can respond to customer needs (or complaints) very quickly and efficiently, allowing them to improve their level of service while publicly demonstrating their responsiveness and commitment to customers.
Manage your online reputation in real time: By monitoring Twitter for mentions of your business name, key personnel, product names, etc., you can keep track of what people are saying about your business and to respond or intervene quickly if necessary. There are also free tools available to help you monitor your reputation in Twitter (like Twilerts and Tweetdeck), which can make it very easy to monitor your reputation online.

These are just some of the ways in which Twitter can benefit your business, and as social networking continues to grow in popularity, there will surely be even more features, new uses, and business benefits to be gained by using Twitter.

Whether you are just thinking about using social marketing or have already started to use it, Twitter can be a great tool to integrate into your social marketing strategy as you go forward. And for small businesses that are serious about marketing, the value of Twitter is pretty clear.

Lauren Hobson, President of Five Sparrows, LLC, has more than 16 years of experience in small business technology writing, marketing, and web site design and development. Five Sparrows provides professional website, marketing, and social networking services to small businesses and non-profits at affordable prices, giving clients access to customized services that meet both their needs and their budgets. More at www.fivesparrows.com

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4 things we can learn from social media

morgan — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:47:35 +0000

Social media has taught me many things. Like how most #blackouts in Australia are caused by #zombies. Or that sometimes it’s more amusing to watch a reaction to a clip instead of the clip itself. But more importantly it has taught me that no matter how technologically evolved we become, some things never change. Here are 4 truths that I believe social media has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt.

It’s all about relationships

Sex might sell but don’t be fooled – most customers are looking for more than a one night stand. We’ve spent years introducing technology to cut out the middle man only to find that the customer still wants to talk about their feelings. Businesses who choose to nurture an ongoing relationship reap the benefits with higher $$ sales, repeat business and free advertising in the form of word of mouth. Too many businesses are content with just playing the numbers game, safe in the knowledge that their flashy and slick approach will still dazzle enough customers to keep them warm through winter. Those customers quickly move on once they realise they’re not much more than a statistic, worthy only of bland, generic marketing campaigns with little thought to their actual wants or needs.

Who’s doing it right: Kudos to the Bigpond team on Twitter (@bigpondteam ). They know you’ve been screwed over in the past and they just want you to know that they are listening.

Who’s doing it wrong: Companies AND individuals who have an account in every social media port and use the same tired, old lines on all of them. Broadcasting the same message through such a diverse range of applications does not a strategy make.

Shortcuts aren’t just for keyboards

Despite the fact that many aspects of our lives continue to be made inexplicably easier with each passing year, there will always be a special group of people looking for a shortcut. 10,000 followers on Twitter in 3 days; a popular blog with scrapings of everyone else’s brilliant content; instant You Tube fame complete with sponsor interest and meme infamy. It alienates those willing to invest time and effort and irritates almost everyone who has to put up with the result. And yet it continues because unfortunately it works. Those who succeed (and even those who don’t) then get to take it to a new level – selling the secret shortcuts to finding the shortcuts.

Who’s doing it right: Stephen Fry deserves his resurgence in popularity for all the effort he is investing in his personal and professional brand. He blogs, he tweets, he’s available on iTunes. While consistent, his interaction is intermittent enough to be genuine. And all of this in between filming prime time television and celebrity hob nobbing.

Who’s doing it wrong: You’ve got 10 examples sitting in your inbox right now.

Losing control can be fun

Those hippies were on to something! By loosening the grip on their brand, some companies have been able to experience something out of this world. Whether it is the integration of user generated content into a campaign or refusing to censor the dissedent voice in forums, brands have been communicated in the voice of the customer in a bold new way. Unfortunately sometimes the experience can be a disaster, sure to cause painful flashbacks for decades to come. You can play it safe and minimise the risk, you just need to know what you’re getting into, do it with people you trust and, of course, everything in moderation.

Who’s doing it right: I love this example of SUNY New Paltz and left it strategically under the noses of my previous employer’s management team. It’s a great reminder that if you’re doing things right you have no need to fear the odd negative comment.

Who’s doing it wrong: Nothing sticks out more than the Chevrolet Chevy Tahoe campaign which turned into an anti-SUV broadcast faster than you can say “Canyonero”. It shouldn’t be a deterrant to UGC though, merely a mistake to learn from and improve on.

Play by the rules or else

As I’ve posted previously, I get frustrated at the way red cards go flying up whenever someone doesn’t conform to the rules of play of social media. For such a collaborative, scalable, unique, innovative concept it sure has a lot of rules and penalties. The world wide web should be big enough for all of us to play nice and if it isn’t then at least show a little appreciation for the diversity of the game. It’s a bit like that new AFL ad, where they show you all the decent sports you could be watching instead of AFL.

Who’s doing it right: In its simplest form, I think the blogging community is getting this right. It amazes me how a few widgets and a different perspective can create such a unique user experience. Even the stock standard templates allow anyone’s personality to shine through if they choose.

Who’s doing it wrong: Me. The fact that I have just listed 4 examples of who’s doing it right and wrong by my opinion clearly demonstrates that I don’t practise what I preach. So piss off.

I’m a Sydney based Digital Planning Director with a serious interest in social media and technology, fascinated by the way they are evolving, clashing and collaborating. My blog is based on both my previous experience and the experiences I am yet to have.

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10 Easy Ways to Use Social Networking Sites

morgan — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:49:13 +0000

Are you looking for a few ways to use Social Networking to your advantage? The following are some of the ways in which others are using this social media website, with its 140 character maximum display. What will you update about your status? It may depend on how you plan to use Twitter Facebook or any other social Networking Sites.

1. Use Twitter Facebook and so on to find friends, family and those who you look up to. Celebrities, pop icons, politicians or even news personalities are all online, easily accessible to anyone who has a Twitter account.

2. Use Social Networking to stay up to date on the news. A variety of news organizations using Social Networking as a way of displaying the latest and most “breaking” news stories they have. It is fastand simple.

3. Use Social Networking to hire people. You can get to know them and their services easily. More so, it is very easy to find people to handle those freelance jobs you need just as hiring someone to design a logo for your business or someone to write content for your blog.

4. Use Social Networking to meet new people, locally or internationally. It is a worldwide service to connect you to just about anyone you want to be connected with.

5. Use Twitter Facekbook and MySpace as a way of networking, to building up the followers you have so that you can always have someone to chat with or even promote.

6. Use Social Networking as a way of socializing when you are sitting at home, working your work at home businesses and feeling lonely doing so. Of course, you may find that you can easily use Social Networking too much and fill up your day with Tweets instead of work.

7. Use Social Networking as a way to alert the public of upcoming events, promotions or discounts you may be having. You may find it very easy to use Twitter to promote specials within the online community or even on the larger scale.

8. Use Social Networking as a way of learning something new. If you have a programming question, for example, you can easily throw it out there and most often, there will be an easy to reach answer within your grasp.

9. Use Social Networking as a tool to manage your thoughts and ideas. If you have a new idea,bounce it off your followers.

10. Use Social Networking to be yourself even when you have an unpopular opinion. Social Networking can be used for many more reasons too. You are unlimited here.

Des Green – http://www.socialnetworkingcashsecrets.com/ Des has been involved in Social networking for several years. If you sign up for our 5 day ecourse right now!! We will give you Twitter – A How to Tips and Tricks Guide ebook. By going to: http://www.socialnetworkingcashsecrets.com/

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Are You Scared of Social Marketing?

morgan — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:46:51 +0000

it seems that a lot of big companies today (with big marketing budgets) have managed to jump right into social marketing and successfully use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in their everyday marketing activities. However, it also seems that small businesses are lagging behind the social marketing trend, even though it is a very low cost marketing channel that almost any small business can afford (the sites are free to use; all it typically costs is time!).

So why are so many small businesses hesitant about social marketing, or seemingly scared of using social networking sites as part of their regular marketing activities?

It could be as simple as not having the time to take on a new marketing activity, or maybe a lack of familiarity with sites like Facebook and Twitter makes them seem hard to use. Itâ€™s also possible theyâ€™re concerned about negative comments showing up on social media web sites, or worried about employees using these tools appropriately for business. Whatever the reasons, social media marketing is here to stay, and small businesses are going to have to face their fears if they hope to leverage its value as a marketing tool and stay relevant with their customers today.

If you are one of the millions of small businesses afraid of jumping in to social marketing, here are five good reasons you should overcome your fears:

Your customers already expect it â€“ More than 86% of consumers recently surveyed by marketing agency Prodo said that they believe companies should incorporate social marketing into their regular marketing activities. Add that to the fact that Facebook now has more than 300 million users, Twitter has experienced quadruple-digit growth this year alone, and more than 50% of online Americans use social networking sites on a daily basis, and you can clearly see where your customers are spending their time. Put simply: you need to be there, too.
Social marketing has become mainstream â€“ Think back a few years to when many small businesses didnâ€™t have web sites yet. They thought â€œsure, it would be nice to have a web site, but itâ€™s not really necessary for my business.â€ Now, of course, most small businesses have at least a basic web presence, and web sites are considered a standard part of doing business. The same is happening today with social marketing, and it wonâ€™t be long until it is considered just as standard as having a web site.
It doesnâ€™t have to take a lot of time â€“ When implemented properly, social marketing can be a quick, easy marketing activity that can be seamlessly blended with your regular marketing activities. By integrating your social networking profiles with each other, with your web site, and with your existing marketing initiatives, you can minimize the time spent on social networking while maximizing the return on your investment. Itâ€™s no longer an option to just do nothing â€“ if you need help developing a social networking strategy, find a professional to help you.
Your message can reach a vastly larger audience â€“ By using social marketing, you increase your reach online to potentially thousands (or millions!) of people who may not otherwise have a chance to see your message or know your company. Rather than waiting for visitors to find your web site and discover your business, social marketing allows your message to travel further through the social channels you use, as well as through viral events where people share your information with their own networks of friends and associates.
Ignoring social marketing will not make it go away â€“ Like it or not, social marketing is quickly becoming the way in which smart businesses connect and communicate with their customers and potential customers. It not only improves a small businessâ€™ web visibility, but can also improve search engine rankings (Google already includes results from social sites, blogs, videos, and other alternative media along with regular web site results), and can help create â€œbuzzâ€ about a small business as well.

So if you have been apprehensive about adding social networking to your marketing mix, thereâ€™s no better time to face your fears and get serious about using this technology to enhance your online presence, reach new prospects, and meet your customersâ€™ expectations with social marketing. The longer you wait to jump in, the larger the gap grows between â€œoutstandingâ€ and â€œoverlookedâ€.

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Establishing a Business Brand Name and Meeting Customers' Needs

morgan — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:49:08 +0000

Marketing is a vital aspect of business growth. In fact, it is the main agenda of any business that intents to have a strong business brand name. The marketing department of any company should thus look for ways of analyzing the market trends and endeavor in meeting the expectations of its customers. This calls for staying on top of the needs of the customers.

Research has shown that customers go for brands that they are comfortable and familiar with. The way to achieve this is by reminding your clients of your products and services heritage. Also, show them the complementary relevance of your products. During anniversaries, companies should take the opportunity to recount the accomplishments of their brands, innovation and contribution towards bettering the lives of their customers. This helps create a connection with clients.

Today, points of customers accessing information are numerous, they include television, radio, posters and on the increase the many avenues provided by the internet. Websites, blogs, social networking sites and chat rooms among others are channels that a business owner needs to learn how to navigate through. This is mainly due to fact that your target market is bound to visit these sites.

I think any business person who understands the value of addressing the needs of his customers will impact and influence the market. As much as companies establish their brands in the market and strive to deepen customer loyalty, there is need to ensure that they provide sustainable business operational reliability. This is because the cost of disappointing a client can result to grave consequences.

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Social Marketing The Latest Rage!

morgan — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:47:59 +0000

Every day we hear about the words social and community, and itâ€™s easy to see why, given the kind of traffic headed to social networks right now! Social marketing is the newest thing going.

Do you know which site gets the most views? Would you believe Facebook. Thats right they are ranked #1, with over 1 billion visits per month. Myspace is #2 with 800,000 + visits. Twitter is #3 with only 54,000,000 visits, but it was ranked #22, just a short while before.

Thereâ€™s no doubt that social networking strategies are the hottest thing going
right now in the Internet marketing world, partly because there are so many new sites and software types and methods springing up all the time, and partly because thereâ€™s a lot of testing going on to figure out what social networking strategies work best, on different types of business.

You can use social sites to:

.Get to know your market better, including their needs and wants

.Answer questions from present and future customers

.Respond to concerns or issues before you end up with â€œbad pressâ€

.Stay in touch with what your competitors are up to

.Build a strong community of loyal, lifelong buyers

And there are many other ways and possibilities. One of the biggest challenges for many marketers is figuring out how to build a presence without making a direct pitch, something that theyâ€™ve been trained to do everywhere else, but an approach that rarely flies on social sites.

Thatâ€™s why focus on building credibility. Thatâ€™s right instead of directly promoting your business, focus on sharing valuable information that your customers and colleagues can actually use! And you become an authority in your industry and a sought after expert. The best part is people will seek out your business.

Any way this leaves them feeling at ease, and sets up a solid foundation of trust. Use this credibility and buzz-building strategy on almost any social networking site, from a blog to posts on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn, all the way to discussion hotspots like forums and Yahoo Groups and Google Groups.

Don’t mention or promote your buisness, but make sure they can clearly see the URL of your business site. Entice them to check you out, but don’t push them there.

Do have a compelling opt-in to catch their information, even if theyâ€™re not ready to buy that day. Then you can follow up with them via email, as well as on the social networking platform.

Your credibility is your calling card, but the foundation of trust and terrific reputation you are building are nothing short of priceless! Social Marketing is just getting started,so get out their and get your feet wet.

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Social Media the Trusted Adviser

morgan — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 20:48:09 +0000

If you have ever wondered how intrusive social networking has become in our daily lives, or if it just seems that people around you are obsessed with their social media network, then you might just be right. In new research from the US, social media users say that social networking is now one of their most important activities on a daily basis, both on line and off line, and you thought it was just people like me who were obsessed with it didnâ€™t you.

Only email was considered more important, with chatting and web browsing as daily activities ranking lower. When asked to compare online social networking with off line activities, social media site users only found going out with friends more important, that puts social networking ahead of real life activities such as playing games,watching TV and playing sport.

So what is the top activity on these internet social networks? 81% of site users said posting photos as their top activity with responding to others posts and posting about their own thoughts or daily activities, next in line.

Now the good news, and this is really very important news for companies who are using social media, is that over 40% of users said they linked in with a company, product or service on a social network, and 38% had actually clicked on paid advertisements.

Another very important consideration for business in this survey, is the trust factor, users of social networks place high trust in their social network, with more than 50% saying they considered information shared on their network when considering or researching products or services, and this trust factor was higher amongst the younger users, with over 65% of 18 to 24 year olds using referrals or advertising gained from their social network.

This finding is very very important for those in the business community, because the survey shows that Gen X&Y have integrated social media networks into their daily lives in such a way, that it has now become a trusted resource in their decision making process.

The inclusion of social media into your marketing plan is now vital, particularly when it comes to building brand loyalty for the future. Creating trust and having the right strategy in place for social networking is the key factor in building success with social networks, understanding how to network within in this space and becoming the trusted adviser are the key elements to a successful social media strategy.

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