A new year is just around the corner and for small business owners that means a new opportunity to focus on brand building.
1. Monitor conversations about your brand online to attract customers — what are your potential and existing customers saying about you online? Are they blogging about your world-class customer service? Are they on Facebook posting about the great money-saving sales you’re having? Or are they venting about a bad product they received, an unresolved customer service issue or an e-mail request that went unanswered? No matter what the conversation is, you need to know about it. Commit to using just one of the many free online monitoring tools featured in BizBytes this year like Social Mention, Google Alerts or Trackur to get started.
“You can’t engage your customers if you don’t know that they’re talking about you,” said Christine Bucan, executive vice president of Coral Gables-based Pantin/Beber Silverstein Group. “The moment you know a conversation is happening about your brand is the moment you can address it and turn it into an opportunity to engage with your customers and possibly make a sale.”
2. Join the online conversation to woo customers — in cyberspace conversations are going on around the clock about brands, businesses, people and places. Answer customer questions, offer advice and assistance.
“Some people think it’s not really important to talk to your customers online,” said Tadd Schwartz, principal of Miami-based Schwartz Media. “But it’s actually quite the opposite. Today, customers expect you to engage with them online and off about your product or service. Joining the online conversation demonstrates how much you care about your brand and that you’re willing to do what it takes to make your customers happy, resulting in a better customer experience.”
3. Build your online communities comprised of customers, not followers. You may have a Facebook page for your business with thousands of followers, but how many of them actually buy your product or service? Having followers who aren’t really customers who use your product doesn’t do you as a small business owner much good. Instead, take a look at how many of your followers bought something from you in 2010 and use targeted outreach strategies to engage them. In 2011, focus on turning your followers who didn’t buy from you into paying customers.
4. Continue using the marketing strategies that worked for you in 2010. You’ve invested a significant amount of time in 2010 in finding and testing marketing strategies that work for your firm. Now that you’ve identified the ones that are working well, don’t stop. Keep using those sale-generating strategies to boost your bottom line.
5. Use search engine optimization (SEO) to get exposure on the Internet. Remember that keywords are like currency on the Internet. When potential customers type the product or service you’re selling into a search engine, you want your small business to rank on the first page.
“Focus on getting the most targeted keywords for your business and writing content for your website that speaks to those particular keywords,” said Sissy DeMaria, president of Kreps DeMaria PR.. “Most people don’t understand that having a text-rich page with words that relate to your industry and that have inbound and outbound links are key for SEO. Doing this will result in increased exposure for your product or service.”
6. Get a new website. If your site is more than six years old, chances are you need a new one. Make sure your landing page has lots of SEO-rich words.
“Your website is key to a successful online presence,” said DeMaria. “Color and graphics are great but they won’t drive business to your site. You need to optimize your content to make that happen.”
7.Claim your business listing on Google. If you don’t already have a Google Places business for your company, stop what you’re doing right now and create one.
“There are no excuses,” Bucan said. “It’s something that should be part of every business owners marketing mix in 2011 — regardless of size. It doesn’t cost anything, and it definitely helps your search results. Plus, your business will appear on Google Maps and on Google Earth.” Get it here: http://www.places.google.com/business.
8. Let 2011 be the year you utilize social media in your business. Social media isn’t just a fad that will fade away in a few years. It’s here to stay and as a small business owner you need to embrace it and make it an integral part of your marketing mix in 2011.
“If your professional service firm is not on Facebook, it’s not too late,” said DeMaria. “Lawyers, accountants, investment advisors and many other professionals are using it to find and connect with others who they know, and they are often surprised by how many of their contacts and acquaintances will find and reconnect with them through the site. Plus, because of the nature of Facebook and the ability to post updates, photos, links and other items, professionals are able to use it to let their contacts know more about their work, community involvement, interests and other aspects of their professional and personal lives that reflect positively on them.”
9. Focus on building relationships with your clients and prospects. .
“This could be as simple as a phone call to thank them for their business, a unique direct marketing piece that gets their attention and/or networking with local business organizations,” Bucan said. “Remember, it’s not enough to simply join a business organization. You must work it: Attend meetings, serve on a committee, host networking events at your place of business. The increased exposure will lead to increased sales.”
10. Focus on converting customer conversations into sales. When you make contact with a customer, whether it’s on Facebook, via e-mail or on a blog, follow up. Respondto a customer in a timely manner, offerfree advice and makesure you are there every step of the way to answer questions.
“It’s great to engage with your customers,” Schwartz said. “But it has to be a two-way street. You’ve got to provide superior customer service and follow up until your customer is happy.”
11. Fine tune your marketing messages. Companies large and small are constantly vying for the attention of the customer. To help your small business stand out, make your marketing message impactful.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Ten Search Marketing Hot Spots To Watch In 2011
As you shift your focus from frantically optimizing holiday campaigns to methodically (hah!) executing 2011 plans, here are ten areas worth thinking about:
1. Local. With all the buzz over Google’s near-acquisition of Groupon, it’s clear the Big G is ready to make a big move in the local space. While it may not be a pure SEM play, finding ways to customize offers to niche audiences and tap the long tail should be on every marketer’s to-do list.
2. Social ads. As Facebook beefs up its Marketplace Ads offering and ads API, social advertising campaigns will begin to look an awful lot like search. From precise audience segmentation to dynamic creative customization to real-time bidding, social ads are taking on core attributes of SEM. Keep in mind, however, that social ads will not perform as well as search from a pure dollar-in, dollar-out standpoint as social networkers are not in the same commercial mindset that searchers are. Be sure to measure the impact social ads have on search activity to capture the full return on your investment.
3. The social graph. With Bing incorporating Facebook connections into its algorithm, it becomes imperative for SEO practitioners to generate likes along with links. While it’s unclear just how much emphasis likes will have as a ranking factor, what is clear is that, to paraphrase Lou Kerner of Wedbush, it’s cheaper to get likes today than it will be tomorrow.
4. Mobile. More and more search queries are originating from mobile devices. And more and more content providers and app developers are creating rich, engaging experiences for mobile consumption. It remains to be see if the core navigation for mobile will be search and, if so, via text or voice. However, you can be sure Google will do what it can to bake search throughout the mobile experience and, the more penetration Google gets with Android, the more likely search will prevail. But don’t treat mobile search like the desktop variety. Consider different keywords, copy, landing pages, and bids to capture the opportunity presented by searchers on the go.
5. Attribution. As consumers continue to multitask across screens and companies like Apple continue to create more screens and activate more portable content, it’s becoming more important than ever for marketers to track interaction across channels. The days of managing search in a silo are over. Search is a net for demand generated by other marketing activities. As much as you’d like to take credit for all those conversions coming from the last click, you’re doing a disservice to your brand… and your customers. Reward each marketing touch-point appropriately to match the consumer experience and influence of each channel on bottom-line sales. Oh, and if you come up with the magic formula for this, will you please let me know?
7. Display. Display, as we’ve known it, is dead. Taking its place is a format that looks like display but smells like search. I’m referring to image and rich media ads that are bought and sold via real-time bid auctions with creative messages that are customized on the fly and targeting options that are granular down to the individual and placement level. No-one is better equipped to handle this new flavor of display than search marketers. Fluid campaign optimization is in our blood so go tell whoever is currently handling your display to take a flying leap (much like their clickthrough rates have) and make way for search-ification.
8. Video. While I’m declaring things dead, let’s add TV to the list. It’s time to start referring to the format rather than the screen. Yes, TV sets will live on but the format or channel that matters is video. Companies like Apple and Google are delivering video content seamlessly through TV sets. And Google, in particular, is bringing everything we know and love about search (read: self-expressed intent and one-to-one addressability) to video. When it comes to branding and engagement, nothing packs a stronger punch than video (certainly not those piddly text ads) so it’s essential to develop a video strategy for 2011 that’s inclusive of all screens.
9. Search. You didn’t think I’d include this one, right? Despite the trends pushing search marketers to consider other channels and marketing tactics, we must still remain focused on maximizing SEM itself. What will 2011 bring for search? Expect continued market share gains for Bing (already up 40% since launch) but mostly at the expense of Yahoo, making the Search Alliance a wash (although still a critical venue for SEM ads). Expect Google to continue to tweak search results pages to increase advertising revenue—um, I mean, user experience. And expect SEM technology platforms to come up with more innovative ways to automate campaign management and give savvy search marketers a leg up.
10. Apps. In the coming year, look for apps like Siri (recently bought by Apple) to emerge as bona fide alternatives to search engines. Bing was on the right track when it launched with its “decision engine” positioning but hasn’t yet lived up to that promise. What we need are true “virtual personal assistants” (a term coined by Siri) that can help accomplish tasks like planning trips or outings without strings of search queries but, rather, one single instruction. Apps like Siri boast algorithms that learn personal preferences and have API connections with a variety of merchants to execute transactions. Imagine telling an app to plan you a trip to New York for business and then having a full itinerary come back with airfare, hotel, dinner reservations and taxi transportation. Now stop imagining. And start thinking about how you can get your brands into the considered set of these “app-assistants.”
Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2011. I can’t help you with health and happiness but focus on these ten areas and give yourself the best chance to prosper, indeed.
1. Local. With all the buzz over Google’s near-acquisition of Groupon, it’s clear the Big G is ready to make a big move in the local space. While it may not be a pure SEM play, finding ways to customize offers to niche audiences and tap the long tail should be on every marketer’s to-do list.
2. Social ads. As Facebook beefs up its Marketplace Ads offering and ads API, social advertising campaigns will begin to look an awful lot like search. From precise audience segmentation to dynamic creative customization to real-time bidding, social ads are taking on core attributes of SEM. Keep in mind, however, that social ads will not perform as well as search from a pure dollar-in, dollar-out standpoint as social networkers are not in the same commercial mindset that searchers are. Be sure to measure the impact social ads have on search activity to capture the full return on your investment.
3. The social graph. With Bing incorporating Facebook connections into its algorithm, it becomes imperative for SEO practitioners to generate likes along with links. While it’s unclear just how much emphasis likes will have as a ranking factor, what is clear is that, to paraphrase Lou Kerner of Wedbush, it’s cheaper to get likes today than it will be tomorrow.
4. Mobile. More and more search queries are originating from mobile devices. And more and more content providers and app developers are creating rich, engaging experiences for mobile consumption. It remains to be see if the core navigation for mobile will be search and, if so, via text or voice. However, you can be sure Google will do what it can to bake search throughout the mobile experience and, the more penetration Google gets with Android, the more likely search will prevail. But don’t treat mobile search like the desktop variety. Consider different keywords, copy, landing pages, and bids to capture the opportunity presented by searchers on the go.
5. Attribution. As consumers continue to multitask across screens and companies like Apple continue to create more screens and activate more portable content, it’s becoming more important than ever for marketers to track interaction across channels. The days of managing search in a silo are over. Search is a net for demand generated by other marketing activities. As much as you’d like to take credit for all those conversions coming from the last click, you’re doing a disservice to your brand… and your customers. Reward each marketing touch-point appropriately to match the consumer experience and influence of each channel on bottom-line sales. Oh, and if you come up with the magic formula for this, will you please let me know?
7. Display. Display, as we’ve known it, is dead. Taking its place is a format that looks like display but smells like search. I’m referring to image and rich media ads that are bought and sold via real-time bid auctions with creative messages that are customized on the fly and targeting options that are granular down to the individual and placement level. No-one is better equipped to handle this new flavor of display than search marketers. Fluid campaign optimization is in our blood so go tell whoever is currently handling your display to take a flying leap (much like their clickthrough rates have) and make way for search-ification.
8. Video. While I’m declaring things dead, let’s add TV to the list. It’s time to start referring to the format rather than the screen. Yes, TV sets will live on but the format or channel that matters is video. Companies like Apple and Google are delivering video content seamlessly through TV sets. And Google, in particular, is bringing everything we know and love about search (read: self-expressed intent and one-to-one addressability) to video. When it comes to branding and engagement, nothing packs a stronger punch than video (certainly not those piddly text ads) so it’s essential to develop a video strategy for 2011 that’s inclusive of all screens.
9. Search. You didn’t think I’d include this one, right? Despite the trends pushing search marketers to consider other channels and marketing tactics, we must still remain focused on maximizing SEM itself. What will 2011 bring for search? Expect continued market share gains for Bing (already up 40% since launch) but mostly at the expense of Yahoo, making the Search Alliance a wash (although still a critical venue for SEM ads). Expect Google to continue to tweak search results pages to increase advertising revenue—um, I mean, user experience. And expect SEM technology platforms to come up with more innovative ways to automate campaign management and give savvy search marketers a leg up.
10. Apps. In the coming year, look for apps like Siri (recently bought by Apple) to emerge as bona fide alternatives to search engines. Bing was on the right track when it launched with its “decision engine” positioning but hasn’t yet lived up to that promise. What we need are true “virtual personal assistants” (a term coined by Siri) that can help accomplish tasks like planning trips or outings without strings of search queries but, rather, one single instruction. Apps like Siri boast algorithms that learn personal preferences and have API connections with a variety of merchants to execute transactions. Imagine telling an app to plan you a trip to New York for business and then having a full itinerary come back with airfare, hotel, dinner reservations and taxi transportation. Now stop imagining. And start thinking about how you can get your brands into the considered set of these “app-assistants.”
Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2011. I can’t help you with health and happiness but focus on these ten areas and give yourself the best chance to prosper, indeed.
Widgets - An essential part of the marketing mix
What are widgets?
Widgets are small, highly-portable Web applications that can run on a variety of platforms, such as start pages, desktops and mobile devices like the iPhone. Furthermore, ComScore estimated that in November, 2007 alone, widgets already reached more than 80% of U.S. Internet users.
Widgets build long-term, direct relationships with audiences.
Unlike online ads or websites, widgets are chosen by users as a convenient way of accessing your Web service or content from within their favorite personal environment—such as a start page, desktop or phone—making your brand an essential part of their daily life. Widgets cut through the chatter and form a direct communication path to your audience where new brand messages and content can be “pushed” to the user instantly.
Widgets boost brand recognition, recurring Web traffic and viral word-of-mouth.
According to SevenOne Interactive (2), the average Web user regularly visits only eight websites, making it incredibly difficult for online brands to insert themselves into the daily lives of the user. However, Universal McCann reports that people who use widgets also spend more time on that brand’s website (3). This is because widgets, by their nature, are installed as a permanent part of the user’s daily personal environment, making them a constant reminder to visit your site or share your services or content with friends.
Widgets are small, highly-portable Web applications that can run on a variety of platforms, such as start pages, desktops and mobile devices like the iPhone. Furthermore, ComScore estimated that in November, 2007 alone, widgets already reached more than 80% of U.S. Internet users.
Widgets build long-term, direct relationships with audiences.
Unlike online ads or websites, widgets are chosen by users as a convenient way of accessing your Web service or content from within their favorite personal environment—such as a start page, desktop or phone—making your brand an essential part of their daily life. Widgets cut through the chatter and form a direct communication path to your audience where new brand messages and content can be “pushed” to the user instantly.
Widgets boost brand recognition, recurring Web traffic and viral word-of-mouth.
According to SevenOne Interactive (2), the average Web user regularly visits only eight websites, making it incredibly difficult for online brands to insert themselves into the daily lives of the user. However, Universal McCann reports that people who use widgets also spend more time on that brand’s website (3). This is because widgets, by their nature, are installed as a permanent part of the user’s daily personal environment, making them a constant reminder to visit your site or share your services or content with friends.
Predicting social media marketing trends for 2011
“The crossover between Social and Search is undeniable – both help people be found, and heard online, and the Social Media Marketing Trends outlined here reinforce that fact,” said Newton. Trends expected in 2011 are as follows:
1. Increased Social Media Integration on Websites
Social search has become an importance part of a holistic Internet Marketing campaign – how easily can your social profiles be found online, and how can they be used to help secure additional SERPs shelf space by exploiting the power of social network domains.
For that reason, a number of companies with limited web development budgets or capabilities have spent the last 12 months throwing their energies into building their social media profiles and communities.
Now, as budget freezes start to thaw, it’s time for them to consider how to integrate social media functionality (for example, incorporating the power of Facebook comment boxes onsite to provide a feedback loop for consumers) onto their main site. Sites will become a hub to aggregate and explain activity on social networks, and add long-form value.
2. Email and Social Become More Integrated
Some etailers and affiliates have made developing their email database their top priority, and to date it’s been a strong strategy. However, as email open rates continue to decline some marketers are left watching this powerful resource diminish, wondering how they can reignite this audience.
Thankfully, social platforms such as Facebook offer a way to create a more regular and sustainable dialogue with consumers than email – the trick is understanding how to migrate consumers across from your email database to these platforms.
We have developed a range of techniques inhouse here at ClickThrough to help with this process, but there are also publically available tools such as Flowtown which help you find the social profiles linked to email addresses within your database.
Once marketers see considerable overlap between their social and email audiences, expect to see more cross-platform campaigns that use the unique qualities of social + email to create campaigns that are more than the sum of the parts.
3. Internet Tablets Mean Even More Social “On Time”
This Christmas has been an explosion of inexpensive Android powered Internet tablets hit the UK, stocked by retailers as diverse as the fashion retailer Next and the toy superstore Toys R Us – and starting from £85.
These quick-loading, use-anywhere tablets bridge the gap between the immediacy of mobile and the size and power of laptops and netbooks – increasing the amount of time consumers are active on social network, or “on time”. Most come pre-loaded with apps for the major social networks. Cheap Internet Tablets will undoubtedly lead to a measurable increase in social media use in 2011, especially around the major networks around which the largest number of apps are built.
4. The Social Platform War Continues
One thing we always advise clients to do is secure social profile names now, so that you can avoid social cybersquatting. However, that task has become so arduous that tools such as Namechk and Knowem have sprung up to help consumers and businesses secure names across nearly 500 social networks.
However, 2011 might just be the year that the number of social platform plateaus, and consolidation begins – and by that we mean victors … and casualties. Consumers have definitely begun to tire of certain non-vertical platforms and have congregated around a few key networks and in particular Facebook – I don’t see this trend ending.
5. For Some Marketers, Social Will Mean Just Facebook
The massive worldwide user base of Facebook, powerful FMBL development tools, integrated PPC marketing program and array of tools for offsite integration mean that in 2011, some marketers may decide to double-down on their Facebook strategy to the exclusion of all other social platforms. Risky? Well, there are some things that other sites do better (document sharing, video) but for sheer scale and engagement, Facebook is a better bet than any other platform. However, we’d always advise conducting a full marketplace and consumer evaluation to get your strategy right.
6. Businesses Continue to Unlock Existing Collateral, Socially
How many businesses have fantastic, product-led or educational materials (e.g. PDF brochures, PowerPoints, offline videos) hidden on their corporate file server? Tools such as Scribd, Issuu and Slideshare allow marketers to get their materials online quickly and fast, passing bandwidth costs over to the social platform, and use tags and descriptions to help consumers find your content quickly. The number of visitors to these sites have doubled over the past year, and they will start to become a very viable way for businesses to reinvigorate existing materials in 2011.
7. Social Commerce Grows
Money followers audiences – this is true in advertising planning, and is also true with ecommerce. In 2011 more marketers will start to harness the growing ecommerce integration opportunities within social platforms, and especially within Facebook.
Retailers will seek to replicate their stores from within their social profiles. For an example, take a look at the shop developed for Roman Originals, which empowers their Facebook fans to browse their top products, and elect to buy from within their Facebook profile.
8. Marketers Will Wake Up to Location
If 2010 was FINALLY the year of mobile, then mobile will make 2011 the year of location. Proximity marketing through mobile tools such as Facebook Places, Foursquare and Gowalla will allow offline businesses to finally give staff at individual locations (think stores, branches, depos, salons, hotels, restaurants etc) the power to use social media legitimately in their working lives, by offering hyper-targeted offers and promotions to consumers using location based social media.
9. Measurement Will NOT Get ‘Solved’ in 2011
Alas, we don’t believe there will be a consensus on what marketers should measure when performing a social campaign. Why? Because every campaign is different! For marketers who are just starting with social they will focus on followers and fans.
Those with more mature social media campaigns will be looking at how they can work with that user base as a reliable source of feedback, drive repeat sales and keep both existing and potential customers satisfied. Brand owners will want to track sentiment and mentions on social networks. Measurement won’t get ’solved’ as it isn’t a single problem, and it needn’t be a problem at all if you first determine what the goals of any activity are upfront, then decide on metrics.
There are countless other trends, and these represent some of a few of the trends that ’stick out’ at the time of writing.
1. Increased Social Media Integration on Websites
Social search has become an importance part of a holistic Internet Marketing campaign – how easily can your social profiles be found online, and how can they be used to help secure additional SERPs shelf space by exploiting the power of social network domains.
For that reason, a number of companies with limited web development budgets or capabilities have spent the last 12 months throwing their energies into building their social media profiles and communities.
Now, as budget freezes start to thaw, it’s time for them to consider how to integrate social media functionality (for example, incorporating the power of Facebook comment boxes onsite to provide a feedback loop for consumers) onto their main site. Sites will become a hub to aggregate and explain activity on social networks, and add long-form value.
2. Email and Social Become More Integrated
Some etailers and affiliates have made developing their email database their top priority, and to date it’s been a strong strategy. However, as email open rates continue to decline some marketers are left watching this powerful resource diminish, wondering how they can reignite this audience.
Thankfully, social platforms such as Facebook offer a way to create a more regular and sustainable dialogue with consumers than email – the trick is understanding how to migrate consumers across from your email database to these platforms.
We have developed a range of techniques inhouse here at ClickThrough to help with this process, but there are also publically available tools such as Flowtown which help you find the social profiles linked to email addresses within your database.
Once marketers see considerable overlap between their social and email audiences, expect to see more cross-platform campaigns that use the unique qualities of social + email to create campaigns that are more than the sum of the parts.
3. Internet Tablets Mean Even More Social “On Time”
This Christmas has been an explosion of inexpensive Android powered Internet tablets hit the UK, stocked by retailers as diverse as the fashion retailer Next and the toy superstore Toys R Us – and starting from £85.
These quick-loading, use-anywhere tablets bridge the gap between the immediacy of mobile and the size and power of laptops and netbooks – increasing the amount of time consumers are active on social network, or “on time”. Most come pre-loaded with apps for the major social networks. Cheap Internet Tablets will undoubtedly lead to a measurable increase in social media use in 2011, especially around the major networks around which the largest number of apps are built.
4. The Social Platform War Continues
One thing we always advise clients to do is secure social profile names now, so that you can avoid social cybersquatting. However, that task has become so arduous that tools such as Namechk and Knowem have sprung up to help consumers and businesses secure names across nearly 500 social networks.
However, 2011 might just be the year that the number of social platform plateaus, and consolidation begins – and by that we mean victors … and casualties. Consumers have definitely begun to tire of certain non-vertical platforms and have congregated around a few key networks and in particular Facebook – I don’t see this trend ending.
5. For Some Marketers, Social Will Mean Just Facebook
The massive worldwide user base of Facebook, powerful FMBL development tools, integrated PPC marketing program and array of tools for offsite integration mean that in 2011, some marketers may decide to double-down on their Facebook strategy to the exclusion of all other social platforms. Risky? Well, there are some things that other sites do better (document sharing, video) but for sheer scale and engagement, Facebook is a better bet than any other platform. However, we’d always advise conducting a full marketplace and consumer evaluation to get your strategy right.
6. Businesses Continue to Unlock Existing Collateral, Socially
How many businesses have fantastic, product-led or educational materials (e.g. PDF brochures, PowerPoints, offline videos) hidden on their corporate file server? Tools such as Scribd, Issuu and Slideshare allow marketers to get their materials online quickly and fast, passing bandwidth costs over to the social platform, and use tags and descriptions to help consumers find your content quickly. The number of visitors to these sites have doubled over the past year, and they will start to become a very viable way for businesses to reinvigorate existing materials in 2011.
7. Social Commerce Grows
Money followers audiences – this is true in advertising planning, and is also true with ecommerce. In 2011 more marketers will start to harness the growing ecommerce integration opportunities within social platforms, and especially within Facebook.
Retailers will seek to replicate their stores from within their social profiles. For an example, take a look at the shop developed for Roman Originals, which empowers their Facebook fans to browse their top products, and elect to buy from within their Facebook profile.
8. Marketers Will Wake Up to Location
If 2010 was FINALLY the year of mobile, then mobile will make 2011 the year of location. Proximity marketing through mobile tools such as Facebook Places, Foursquare and Gowalla will allow offline businesses to finally give staff at individual locations (think stores, branches, depos, salons, hotels, restaurants etc) the power to use social media legitimately in their working lives, by offering hyper-targeted offers and promotions to consumers using location based social media.
9. Measurement Will NOT Get ‘Solved’ in 2011
Alas, we don’t believe there will be a consensus on what marketers should measure when performing a social campaign. Why? Because every campaign is different! For marketers who are just starting with social they will focus on followers and fans.
Those with more mature social media campaigns will be looking at how they can work with that user base as a reliable source of feedback, drive repeat sales and keep both existing and potential customers satisfied. Brand owners will want to track sentiment and mentions on social networks. Measurement won’t get ’solved’ as it isn’t a single problem, and it needn’t be a problem at all if you first determine what the goals of any activity are upfront, then decide on metrics.
There are countless other trends, and these represent some of a few of the trends that ’stick out’ at the time of writing.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Social Media Essential Strategies for Business
Want to promote your business in social media?
Are you having any plan for that?
Do you think its easy top promote business in social media?
You can get all the answers and useful steps here.....
It’s easy to plan a clear social media strategy for your business when it’s on paper. But executing all of the day-to-day tasks involved in that strategy can be a different story. :)
Before you launch your strategy, consider how you will manage the execution. These six steps can help get you started.
1. Define Your Content plan
Don’t start your social media process without thinking about what you’re trying to accomplish. Select your content accordingly.
2. Utilise Social Media Management Tools
There are a slew of quality tools that can help you manage your social media accounts, and many of them are free. “The biggest mistake I have seen is that people get too lazy with their content posting,” he says. “They’ll want one main tool to post on all their social media accounts, and I don’t think there is one main tool to do that.”
3. Track of Who Is Posting
Having multiple people on your corporate accounts can create a situation ripe for double posts, mistimed announcements and general confusion about who is doing what when.
4. Be a group
Even if multiple people post to your accounts, it’s important that what one person is posting doesn’t contradict or clash with what another person is posting. This has been especially important for Bizzy because it has multiple local accounts, as well as national accounts, that are run by different people.
“We have one main Twitter account that acts as a feed to our localized accounts, so we can maintain some control over when we release or link to certain things.
5. Measure Success
Tools like Tap11 and HootSuite can help you compile social media analytics. But depending on how you define success, these numbers might not be the most important factor in your strategy.This sort of information can only be gathered and measured through successful social media monitoring.
6. Report Your Results
Decide how often you will report on your social media activities and what you’ll include.
The report should include specifics — Pham compiles graphs of growth rates, summaries of the data, and explanations of why any data that stands out occurs during her weekly reports.
Are you having any plan for that?
Do you think its easy top promote business in social media?
You can get all the answers and useful steps here.....
It’s easy to plan a clear social media strategy for your business when it’s on paper. But executing all of the day-to-day tasks involved in that strategy can be a different story. :)
Before you launch your strategy, consider how you will manage the execution. These six steps can help get you started.
1. Define Your Content plan
Don’t start your social media process without thinking about what you’re trying to accomplish. Select your content accordingly.
2. Utilise Social Media Management Tools
There are a slew of quality tools that can help you manage your social media accounts, and many of them are free. “The biggest mistake I have seen is that people get too lazy with their content posting,” he says. “They’ll want one main tool to post on all their social media accounts, and I don’t think there is one main tool to do that.”
3. Track of Who Is Posting
Having multiple people on your corporate accounts can create a situation ripe for double posts, mistimed announcements and general confusion about who is doing what when.
4. Be a group
Even if multiple people post to your accounts, it’s important that what one person is posting doesn’t contradict or clash with what another person is posting. This has been especially important for Bizzy because it has multiple local accounts, as well as national accounts, that are run by different people.
“We have one main Twitter account that acts as a feed to our localized accounts, so we can maintain some control over when we release or link to certain things.
5. Measure Success
Tools like Tap11 and HootSuite can help you compile social media analytics. But depending on how you define success, these numbers might not be the most important factor in your strategy.This sort of information can only be gathered and measured through successful social media monitoring.
6. Report Your Results
Decide how often you will report on your social media activities and what you’ll include.
The report should include specifics — Pham compiles graphs of growth rates, summaries of the data, and explanations of why any data that stands out occurs during her weekly reports.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
How To Attract Twitter Traffic - Tips to get Twitter Traffic
There are a few rules you can follow to attract more Twitter traffic to your blog each day.
Now with the new Twitter design, your background image is a non issue, which makes a good profile even more important.
Write A Good Profile
Your profile is the second most important part of your twitter page, behind only the tweets you put out.
Now with the new Twitter design, your background image is a non issue, which makes a good profile even more important.
Your profile should a mix of a lil biz and a lil funny with a touch of personal. This will give you the best chance to first, get you more followers and second, send you more Twitter traffic to your blog.
Track Your Stats
Friday, November 26, 2010
Who Visited Your facebook Profile - How Do U Know?
Generally Socialmedia users are trying to expose their views and increase their community for brand promotion or any other usage ( may be personal).
On and average minimum 50 members were visited your profile and you are willing or wanted to communicate with those people then what is the process how do you know....why facebook disabled this feature.
Facebook doesn’t allow people to know who visited your profile or profile pictures etc. In the past there were few applications that did the same job. But, unfortunately facebook has banned them all. It sounds a bit disappointg but that’s the truth.
Hope this feature will come back in facebook applications.....
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Facebook Captured UK's Largest Display Ad Market Share
 |
| UK's Display Ad Market |
Recently some agencies are released advertising market shares captured by the various social media sites.
ComScore released an overview of the UK online display advertising market for Q3 2010, which not only showed strong gains for the medium as a whole but also lists Facebook as the UK's single largest display ad publisher on the Web. Facebook accounted for 68 billion display ad impression (does not include video ads or house ads), for a 31 percent market share. A distant second was Microsoft Sites (14 billion), followed by eBay (8.8 billion) and Google Sites (8.2 billion). This not only points out how large the Facebook audience is, but also the pervasiveness of advertising on the world's largest social network. And in the face of advertising, users have not abandoned the site on grounds of "intrusion." That's good news for advertisers.
Also according to the comScore findings, the display market overall enjoyed a 34 precent increase in ad impressions over Q3 2009, reaching more than 221 billion display ads. Display advertising is clearly on the rise once again.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Facebook is Not a Killer its a Game Changer
A few days ago, Facebook revamped their messaging product. Before the announcement, I wrote that I was sceptical about whether Facebook’s mail feature would be a “game changer” or “Gmail killer”. After watching the event, it appears their aim is not to revamp traditional email services, but are instead gunning straight for the top: a full-on communications revolution.
It appears that Facebook has realised that email as we know it is slowly becoming irrelevant and that communication is moving away from the static email and more into real-time communication tools like Twitter, Yammer, and a myriad of other real-time services.
Notably, Facebook’s messaging service won’t have typical email features like cc and bcc, as they want to preserve that intimate conversation between two parties, similar to instant messaging. It will feature file upload functionality, and will endeavour to transfer an email conversation to their instant messaging platform if Facebook sees that if you and your friend are online at the same time.
Facebook has created a next-generation communication system that has unified the world of email, SMS and IM, so rather than actively seeking to replace email or ‘kill Gmail’, Facebook is instead showing off what is possible, and putting the “social” back in communication.
You might also be wondering what has become of the much-discussed FB.com URL? Unfortunately, that address will not be available for the public, it’s only for the use of Facebook employees.
Facebook have told press that their new messaging product will roll out to all users over the next few months, so it looks like New Zealand will be scoring the short end of the stick again in another major Facebook feature roll-out.
Don't worry about Twitter follower numbers
Why do we judge the quality of a tweeter by the number of people they have following them? And why do we pay so much attention to our follower numbers? It is such crap, and here are five reasons why.
1. Follower numbers are easily faked.
Here’s how easy:
The follow/follow-back principle (you follow me, so I’ll follow you) is nice in theory – after all, it’s polite to follow someone who follows you - but it’s also a really easy way to quickly boost your follower numbers. I’ve tried it, it works
You can hit certain keywords, hashtags or magic bio words which cause bots to follow you. That’s why I’m followed by Glee and iPhone bots. They’re essentially fake followers
I’m also followed by about 20 work accounts, which is nice, but nearly meaningless. I know a lot of people have multiple accounts, and have those multiple accounts follow them
2. Follower numbers are not engagement numbers.
Are your followers actually hitting your website, buying your products, or using your services (if that’s your goal)? Are you getting retweeted or replies? That’s what counts on social. Measuring tools like Klout are pretty helpful, but still aren’t the be all and end all. Don’t look at a tweeter’s 50,000 followers and think that automatically translates to website UBs and sales – or even intelligent tweets.
One important factor: Lists. Just because someone has a lot of followers, does not mean those followers are ‘subscribed’. You may be on private lists which means you’re being ‘subscribed to’ without actually being followed – and vice versa! Follower numbers do not equal eyeballs to your messages.
Another factor is “speciality” – I don’t know a thing about cars, so if I advised my followers to buy a Mazda, they’d probably laugh at me. Jeremy Clarkson advises you to buy a Mazda, you nod in awe and buy a fricken Mazda. Even if I had more followers than Jeremy Clarkson, which do you think matters to Mazda? It’s not about follower numbers.
3. Investment
This one is simple: The more time you spend on Twitter, and the longer you’ve been on, the more followers you’re bound to have. Some people can’t spend all day on Twitter, so naturally they’ll have fewer followers – unless they’re Carolyn3News – when is that woman going to tweet?
Sometimes it’s about quality, not quantity!
4. Maybe you’re not mainstream flavour
You’re a round peg and Twitter is a square hole. Who really cares? If you tweet heaps and that loses you followers, it’s not the end of the world. Just have fun and be yourself. You’ll never please everyone, and if you lose followers for it, then so be it.
Unless you’re publishing your Foursquare updates to your feed. No one wants to see that shit.
5. Emotional well-being
Obsession with follower numbers is nothing but damaging. Your drive for followers is probably coming from some other unmet need. Want to be famous? Respected? Well-liked? Listened to? Answer that need and you’ll find your obsession with who.unfollowed.me or friendorfollow will die off.
It is not a personal slight if someone you’ve never met thinks your 140 characters shouldn’t appear on a timeline of a social media tool they look at twice a week.
If you only have 100 followers and think that’s somehow a poor reflection on how lovely you are, think again. It’s not. There are some dipshits with thousands of followers out there.
There is nothing wrong with wanting a lot of followers. It’s human nature to want to be popular and liked. Just keep it in context.
And don’t get me started on Facebook friends.
1. Follower numbers are easily faked.
Here’s how easy:
The follow/follow-back principle (you follow me, so I’ll follow you) is nice in theory – after all, it’s polite to follow someone who follows you - but it’s also a really easy way to quickly boost your follower numbers. I’ve tried it, it works
You can hit certain keywords, hashtags or magic bio words which cause bots to follow you. That’s why I’m followed by Glee and iPhone bots. They’re essentially fake followers
I’m also followed by about 20 work accounts, which is nice, but nearly meaningless. I know a lot of people have multiple accounts, and have those multiple accounts follow them
2. Follower numbers are not engagement numbers.
Are your followers actually hitting your website, buying your products, or using your services (if that’s your goal)? Are you getting retweeted or replies? That’s what counts on social. Measuring tools like Klout are pretty helpful, but still aren’t the be all and end all. Don’t look at a tweeter’s 50,000 followers and think that automatically translates to website UBs and sales – or even intelligent tweets.
One important factor: Lists. Just because someone has a lot of followers, does not mean those followers are ‘subscribed’. You may be on private lists which means you’re being ‘subscribed to’ without actually being followed – and vice versa! Follower numbers do not equal eyeballs to your messages.
Another factor is “speciality” – I don’t know a thing about cars, so if I advised my followers to buy a Mazda, they’d probably laugh at me. Jeremy Clarkson advises you to buy a Mazda, you nod in awe and buy a fricken Mazda. Even if I had more followers than Jeremy Clarkson, which do you think matters to Mazda? It’s not about follower numbers.
3. Investment
This one is simple: The more time you spend on Twitter, and the longer you’ve been on, the more followers you’re bound to have. Some people can’t spend all day on Twitter, so naturally they’ll have fewer followers – unless they’re Carolyn3News – when is that woman going to tweet?
Sometimes it’s about quality, not quantity!
4. Maybe you’re not mainstream flavour
You’re a round peg and Twitter is a square hole. Who really cares? If you tweet heaps and that loses you followers, it’s not the end of the world. Just have fun and be yourself. You’ll never please everyone, and if you lose followers for it, then so be it.
Unless you’re publishing your Foursquare updates to your feed. No one wants to see that shit.
5. Emotional well-being
Obsession with follower numbers is nothing but damaging. Your drive for followers is probably coming from some other unmet need. Want to be famous? Respected? Well-liked? Listened to? Answer that need and you’ll find your obsession with who.unfollowed.me or friendorfollow will die off.
It is not a personal slight if someone you’ve never met thinks your 140 characters shouldn’t appear on a timeline of a social media tool they look at twice a week.
If you only have 100 followers and think that’s somehow a poor reflection on how lovely you are, think again. It’s not. There are some dipshits with thousands of followers out there.
There is nothing wrong with wanting a lot of followers. It’s human nature to want to be popular and liked. Just keep it in context.
And don’t get me started on Facebook friends.
Don’t believe everything in Social Media
Social media craz is so m uch now a days and that too business promotions and sensitive topics are also prticipated and began thier race in the business angle. Youngsters or teenagers are already registered and communicate their conversations and sharing funky thnings.....
How much we can trust the socialmedia information?
Is it real?
Any harm to us?
How to use social media effectively?
Can we trust with whom we are chating?
I don’t usually like to preach about social media, but in this case I feel the issue at hands warrants something of a public service announcement.
Most social media evangelists out there describe it as a bit of a “party”. Now let me ask you: how many of your average party-goers do you immediately trust? Indeed, how many of them would you ask for advice on medication? Chris Pirillo has pointed out something quite alarming, that people have taken the idea of social media is a place of inherent trust, and if that’s true then we need to reprogram that thought. I don’t think “party” is quite the correct term.
Social media is more of an ‘open market’. Why? Well, as those who go to their local Sunday market will attest: you can see everything laid out on the table, nothing to hide. If you see a rotten apple, you move on to the next store. It might not be a cool or hip term, but it is the correct one.
So let’s go back to the medication scenario. When people respond to such questions, please make sure you know who they are, and if they are qualified to give advice. Just because they follow or friend you doesn’t mean their answers are right the right one. Just because they have the lowest prices for their apples does not mean they aren’t rotten. I am not saying don’t trust anyone just choose your stores wisely.
How much do you trust the people you are talking to on social media platforms?
How much we can trust the socialmedia information?
Is it real?
Any harm to us?
How to use social media effectively?
Can we trust with whom we are chating?
I don’t usually like to preach about social media, but in this case I feel the issue at hands warrants something of a public service announcement.
Most social media evangelists out there describe it as a bit of a “party”. Now let me ask you: how many of your average party-goers do you immediately trust? Indeed, how many of them would you ask for advice on medication? Chris Pirillo has pointed out something quite alarming, that people have taken the idea of social media is a place of inherent trust, and if that’s true then we need to reprogram that thought. I don’t think “party” is quite the correct term.
Social media is more of an ‘open market’. Why? Well, as those who go to their local Sunday market will attest: you can see everything laid out on the table, nothing to hide. If you see a rotten apple, you move on to the next store. It might not be a cool or hip term, but it is the correct one.
So let’s go back to the medication scenario. When people respond to such questions, please make sure you know who they are, and if they are qualified to give advice. Just because they follow or friend you doesn’t mean their answers are right the right one. Just because they have the lowest prices for their apples does not mean they aren’t rotten. I am not saying don’t trust anyone just choose your stores wisely.
How much do you trust the people you are talking to on social media platforms?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)