As Social Media is being integrated more and more in companies marketing and communications plan, needed strategies are rising to utmost importance.
Questions like – What do I need?, How do I begin?, What do I say?…Who to put in charge? Are screaming in marketing departments everywhere. Some companies are just ready to jump on the bandwagon without any long-term commitment. WRONG! Read the following prerequisites and strategies from several great strategists.
First things first – Make sure your upper-management team believes in social media and that the first goal is not to sell, sell, sell. In other words, if your business is jumping into social media because “everyone else is doing it” or because you want to sell product rather than to build relationships then forget it, it WILL NOT GO ANYWHERE!
Great lineup of strategies from Raz Chorev read the following excerpts:
#1: Determine Your Goals and Objectives
Keep it Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, and Timely (aka be SMART!).
#2: Research, Research, and Research Some More
Rather than jumping into social media, prepare yourself so you know what to expect.
#3: Create a Digital Rolodex of Contacts and Content
When social media is done correctly, relationships will build naturally.
#4: Join the Conversation to Develop Relationships
You can start joining the conversation by posting comments on blogs and forums, answering questions on Yahoo! and LinkedIn, joining groups related to your industry and joining Twitter chats.
#5: Strengthen Relationships
It’s easy to hide behind your avatar or profile picture, but face-to-face is incredibly powerful.
#6: Measure Results
Goals and objectives of your social media strategy.
Measuring social media is a never-ending debate. What metrics do you use to measure social media? What objective are you measuring those metrics for?
#7: Analyze, Adapt, and Improve
Your social media strategy doesn’t end with measurement; it goes beyond that. You need to analyze your social media campaigns, adapt any new findings into your current processes, and improve your efforts.
Testing and experimentation will perfect your social media efforts.
For a detailed look at these strategies visit http://www.razchorev.com/2010/07/28/creating-a-social-media-strategy/
Social media is social—your strategy is an attempt to create and shape the social environment to support your business goals. But the communities and their members are the ultimate owners. Social Media strategies must be flexible and dynamic. Plan to review, update, and adjust your strategy regularly during the course of its execution.
Use a table as the core of a social media strategy document. The core table defines three main elements:
Social media goals—It all starts with your business goals. The goals are first point the client needs to establish, and they drive everything else.
High-level strategy—Each goal has a high-level strategy describing the general plan for accomplishing that goal.
Success criteria—Success criteria are the lynchpin of my social media strategy. The success criteria crystalize the goal and drive the tactical plan, the tools requirements, and even the processes.
Interim measures—Data to track and evaluate during the execution of the strategy, in order to ensure you’re on track and make necessary adjustments.
LISTENING TOOLS, CONVERSATIONS AND MICRO-BLOGGING: Tools to help you listen to what’s happening around the world in your niche along with help you manage searches and other platforms and also networking your SM platforms updating several at once.
Apple’s new iPhone changes the way we communicate, giving us “FaceTime”.
Wikipedia’s definition - “Face time is interaction or contact between two or more people at the same time and physical location. Face time therefore occurs in “real life” or “meatspace” and contrasts primarily with interaction or contact which occurs over distance (eg. via telephone) and/or electronically (eg. via email, instant messaging, e-commerce, or computer simulations).
The term was originally a colloquialism but has entered the vernacular with the increasing number of people throughout the world who commonly and extensively rely on telecommunications and the internet for personal and business communication.”
FaceTime calling is video calling.
This bridges distance, gives us realtime connections, updates and current happening, all in one small handheld. Apple states that video calling has been dreamed about for decades…
PC Magazine states that Video Calling isn’t a first with FaceTime, but has been real for years now. They never took off though due to carriers charging by the minute and many of the early 3G phones had very bad battery life. In PC Magazine’s article, it also states that even though FaceTime is not the first video calling, it is known that Apple takes existing technology and makes it smoother, consumer friendly and easy to use. Examples of that are the iPod, and the iPhone.
Wired Magazine has moved to cutting edge technology with flashy publishing by integrating it’s magazine with the interactive iPad.
Digital Magazines
Adobe now has a digital publishing platform that will allow ANY magazine publisher to have this snazzy, flashy interactive application. They have introduced “a rich, immersive digital magazine experience available on the iPad, and created in collaboration with Adobe using Creative Suite 5 and new Adobe Digital Publishing technologies.” (courtesy of Adobe TV)
PCWorld states the following in their blog – “Adobe’s work with Wired has resulted in a digital magazine format that creates an immersive experience, allowing a publication’s unique content, look and feel, and advertising to stand out in the digital realm,” said David Burkett, Adobe’s vice president and general manager of Creative Solutions. “We aim to make our digital viewer software available to all publishers soon and plan to deliver versions that work across multiple hardware platforms.“
Readers can flip through articles with the flick of a finger, scroll through a timeline view of stories, rotate and zoom in on images, and more. For any publisher whose content involves a lot of imagery — and who wants to appeal to advertisers — these kinds of features are great eye candy taking magazines and newspapers to a completely different level. Imagine your magazine or newpaper coming to life with articles full of live content – reader’s can be reading along following your hot news right off the press with a video or slideshow inserted. The object is to give readers the design fidelity of a print magazine and the dynamic interactivity of digital media, Adobe says. Realtime magazine with realtime content can it get any better than that? Yes it does…
Consumer Interaction At Your Fingertips
According to PCWorld – What the viewer technology does for editorial content also applies to advertising. Looking at the Wired project, advertisers used the program’s interactive features to deliver more innovative ad campaigns. Creating a more personal look and feel (consumer control), it encourages readers to interact with the products and the content. While giving the consumer this control to interact at their own interest, it also maintains the magazine experience. This new digital magazine medium can give publishers the opportunity to expand advertising, reach readers in new ways, increase circulation, and deliver incremental digital revenue. Florida Today brings up the fact that companies are paying newspapers AND magazines up to five times as much to place ads in their iPad apps. Lou Cona executive vice president of Conde Nast Media Group states ” I think it will redefine publishing and also redefine how advertisers connect with our audience.
With these changes continuing to evolve, advertisers and publishers are on the watch for consumer interest and demand. Are you digitally prepared?
If you’ve never written a post, blog or tweeted… then this is for you.
1. Market For Free -
Internet marketing is powerful due to the fact that there are so many ways to market for free(or very little) out-of-pocket costs. Here’s a few places to look into: Get involved on social websites (Facebook, Ping, Digg, Stumble Upon, Squidoo), Use video marketing (Youtube, Vimeo, Ustream, Vpype on Facebook), article marketing on places like Ezine articles, post ads on online classifieds sites like Craigslist, all these and more are great ways to market yourself and your business for free. All you need is some time, some effort and a little guidance, and your on your way.
2. Tap Into The Worldwide Market -
The Internet has become the vehicle to connect you with people from all over the world. With online tools, webinar’s, Skype, Social Media – Twitter, LinkedIn, you can learn, network, have video-conversations/webinar’s, build relationships with people from every part of the globe. Your market can be GLOBAL!No more limits on neighborhood only or constricted to your town and it’s competition.
3. The Internet NEVER closes -
Dream of your business being open 24/7? Dream no more, the internet has made that possible. Having an online business with your website available 24/7 makes you visible and available at all times of the day and night even when your sleeping.Cost to you?Price of a website that represents YOU. Do you have to pay for commercials?NO. Realize that ANY content that you post once, can market for you for WEEKS and/or MONTHS to come. That is AMAZING leverage to help you build your business.
4. Optimize Your Website – SEO & SMO
Want to increase traffic to your website? Get ranked by search engines. This can be achieved by making sure keywords/phrases that you’re trying to get ranked for are placed in the html tags and in the content of your site along with your domain name.Many people think their websites are optimized for search engines, in reality most are not. Keep in mind, that getting organically ranked takes some time but is well worth the wait. You also need to place your website information on a Facebook fan page along with submitting to other SM sites to make sure you have traffic from ALL potential search engines. (Google can not search Facebook)
5. No Time restraints -
You have the ability to work from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. You can be visiting family and friends and just drop a line on Twitter, post an update on Facebook, add an informative post to your blog/website and Voila!…you can continue visiting or learning or shopping for better items from ANY city in the world! Now that’s AWESOME!
6. Drive Traffic to Your WebSite.
Most people think that all they have to do is put up a website, sit back and watch their income increase.Nothing could be further from the truth. Realize that having an attractive website is important, but it means NOTHING without traffic. In other words, what good is an attractive website if no one to sees it? One of the biggest reasons that internet-based businesses fail is lack of quality traffic.No traffic, no income, no business. Successful business, regardless if it’s a network marketing business or a “traditional” business rely on TRAFFIC!
7. Video Marketing -
Video Marketing is a another great way to drive traffic to your site for several reasons. Why? Videos allow you to connect with your audience in a closer more personal way than you would in an article. Besides that, IT”S FREE and video is UBIQUITOUS – everywhere ALL the TIME.(Not like some commercial that is scheduled to run every 2 hours and costs you thousands of dollars without a guarantee of any ROI.) In a video, your audience can hear your voice, your excitement and they start identifying with you. (Make sure you’re posting valuable content and information.) While doing this simple marketing, you’ll brand yourself as an expert and drive targeted traffic, 24/7 and 365 days a year.
8. Article Marketing -
Article Marketing is one of the most common method people use to drive traffic to their site. Article Marketing allows you to put a link to your site in your resource box that people can click to get to your site. Writing and publishing articles also brands you as an authority in your target niche, it also allows your articles to be republished by other’s which results in your link being all over the internet. Republished Article = Traffic. Traffic = Potential Income. Ezine Artlcles is a great place for that! Don’t forget to submit to StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Delicious, and post on your Blog.
First we have Apple announce the long awaited tablet… iPad.
Lots of controversy on that one. From questions to jokes to reality thoughts and ideas. For Marketing and Social Media this will be a winner. Very simple and straight forward, yet mobile and large enough to portray great visuals. No small screen, no clumsy laptop, but a very simple and straight forward tablet to use for presentations, shows, sales pitches, venues and networking. Stepping forward into space age.
Next, we have Facebook updating and changing it’s look…
Again, questions, complaints, jokes, comments, all because technology is evolving and moving forward. Facebooks changes are more organized, user friendly and “aero-dymanic” setting the stage for more business use and versatility. On it’s “heels” so to speak, we have Google launch it’s newest attempt at Social Media….“GoogleBuzz”.
Google buzz is suppose to be a handy tool..
“Buzz lets you share updates, photos, links, and pretty much anything else you’d like with your Gmail contacts; it’s an easy way to follow your friends, too. When you click Buzz in your Gmail account, you’ll see the stream of posts from people you’re following, and a box for you to post your updates,” courtesy of googlesystem. But what Google didn’t review was privacy issue’s. Anonymous Comment on Google Buzz: Basically any one you connect with via Buzz gets a full list and access to everyone you ever email or connect with using any of Google services, Facebook or Twitter if you have a public Google profile!!!
2 days later… we have additional updates concerning Google’s tweak on Buzz privacy settings.. Google announced some changes to Google Buzz late Thursday that show it has belatedly recognized the backlash over privacy concerns with the new service.
Summary so far? Jeremiah Owyang states it very well:
Executive Summary:
Brands Must Stay Focused On Where Customers Already Are
Google’s entrance causes media havoc but web strategists should stay focused. Find out where customers already are through developing data around consumer behavior called socialgraphics. Facebook continues to demonstrate a sophisticated marketplace for consumers and brands to mix about, however don’t discount MySpace’s active consumer base –but only if your customers are already there. Continue to monitor Twitter and respond if customers are tweeting –but they’ve yet to indicate sophistication to help marketers, instead rely on third party tools and agencies to respond.
Bottom line…Are you focused? Are your strategies in place?
Traditional marketing just can’t reach the size of targeted audience that digital can. More and more marketers are pulling away from these methods and investing into digital. For 2010, expect an accelerated move of ad dollars from traditional media to digital media.
Forrester Research says that 59% of US marketers plan to increase their budgets towards digital by pulling funds from traditional outlets. eMarketer currently is forecasting 5.5% growth with banner ads and online video. Geoff Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer states:“media dollars have imploded, media consumption will continue to explode. Due to increasingly empowered consumers and further advances in technology”.
With this being a consumer’s market that can skip or fast-forward through commercials, block out emails they don’t want, use cell phones to tweet, text, bank, shop, get directions…using ratings and reviews to make smart purchases…you can bettcha that video marketing is on the rise where businesses need to use creative, quick moments to entertain and sell their wares or services at the convenience of the consumer. This is very important as wherever the consumer pauses…stop lights, traffic jams, train stations, subway stations, airports…digital media can reach them right where they’re at. This is where Traditional media runs into trouble because traditional ad outlets can’t do that. Most consumer’s are now engaged in their mobile media vehicle whether it’s an iPhone, or one of the other numerous phones available.
Video Marketing is a BIG part of search marketing because people are very likely to watch a video that is part of search results over text results. Also…video’s often show up near the TOP of those search results depending on the number of views they have received.
Video’s are also fun and easy to understand.
Consumer’s are more likely to share fun and easy to understand video’s. Viral videos can and have climbed vertically through out the internet world as people have viewed and shared content that they viewed as compelling. YouTube has rocked the online community with it’s versatility and phenomenal growth along with incorporating comments and ratings thus creating an engaging environment. Another statement made by Geoff Ramsey states that consumers in this digital age simply have too much control over their media environments these days for marketers to be pushing unwanted banners, buttons or video’s.
Marketers and agencies need to develop new forms of messages that are welcomed.
Businesses need: “tocreate communications that are so compelling, entertaining, informative or useful that the consumer is not only happy to receive them, but also motivated to share them with others.” Geoff Ramsey
As the consumer is empowered to: accept, view, delete, block, share, rate, comment, in an amazing amount of Social vehiclesthen businesses need to capture this audience in 2010 with VIDEO MARKETING. As video canbe viewed in a greater arena then the home… remember that your online audience has a very short attention span to start off with. This actually works in your favor because it allows you to save on production time and costs. Some great video guidelines are offered at ReelSEO.
Have you noticed how fast word gets around? How there’s no waiting for the news…it seems like everyone knows? Have you noticed how your buying habits have changed? Yet it doesn’t seem so different…
The marketing landscape has been flipped upside down. Retailers, companies, businesses, buying and selling are all scramblingbecause of YOUR WORD.
Didn’t know you had that much power did you?
Looking at 2007, 2008, 2009 and getting ready to head into 2010, we’ve seen the shift changing right before our very eyes. We’ve watched the housing industry drop into an almost endless abyss, we’ve watch gigantic car companies plummet right behind them. We’ve also watched and heard retailers groaning from the east coast to the west.But in the middle of all that earthquake shattering chaos…we’ve watched other companies rise and increase. What do they have that you don’t?
The Power of Your Word.
What? I don’t get it you say? Well let’s look at some amazing short stories.
Amazon…very large company. Offers alot of great deals and value. But here’s the secret. They also offer “the power of your word” – RATiNGS & REViEWS.What a consumer says about a product or service.
Netflix – Simple yet straight forward. Great movies all the time at your convenience with GREAT customer service and RATiNGS. Seriously how likely are you to watch something with a 1 star rating?
Overstock.com – GREAT values, great selections, Great shipping, and GREAT REViEWS. What the customer thinks about the item.WOW…the Power of Your Word!Will you buy an item with a negative review? More than likely the answer is NO!
This all started back when EBay made sure to inform people about sellers and buyers. If you wanted to make sure you bought from a reputable dealer….you checked his or her feedback/ratings for any negative feedback or problems other customers might have experienced. Before all this rating and review…most of us relied on the “commercials”, “ads”, “salesperson” and before that…it was “word of mouth” what our “friends”, or “friends friend” had to say about something. Today, it’s similar – “old world values” but “New World technology”. Just visit Facebook or Twitter ask and see what your “friends” say about an item or service. We could go on and on but you get the idea.
Advertising and sales has reached a crossroad.
Today’s consumer has the last word about what they think. With cell phones platforms changing rapidly to interactive means of talking, shopping and doing business, it’s up to you to either listen or risk falling into that deep abyss groaning. Social Media has emerged as the conversation platform of consumers. Social sites have “listened” to the consumer and answered. Internet Marketing is continuing to climb vertically, Mobile marketing is on the rise as are video marketing sites.
It’s up to you to tune in to what’s being said….or tune out.
Companies that are widely engaged in SOCIAL MEDIA surpass their peers in both revenues and profits.
300,000+ business have a presence on Facebook
Dell sold over 3,000,000 computers over Twitter.
Blendtec quintupled sales with “Will It Blend?” YouTube videos
37% of Generation Y were aware of the Ford Fiesta via Social Media before it even launched.
What these statement speak LOUDLY is Social Media has given POSITIVE RESULTS with low overhead. THATspeaks volumes by itself. BUT marketing wants ROI’s drawn up on paper. In today’s marketing….not happening presently. Traditional marketing has lost it’s high dollar appeal, fueled by this economy, its generating a mass movement to Social Media Marketing. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI…old media was Pay to Play…do you think the majority of media dollars will reside there tomorrow?
WHAT ABOUT THE ROI’S?
Good question…but shouldn’t we be answering:
“WHY ARE WE TRYING TO MEASURE SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE A TRADITIONAL CHANNEL?”
71% of companies plan to increase investments in social media by an average of 40% because:
Low Cost Marketing
Getting Traction
We Have To Do It
Socialnomics blog states really well: Social media touches every facet of business and it should be viewed more as an extension of good business ethics. Which, if done properly, will harvest sales down the line. Enjoy this video by Socialnomics. It gives you a simple straightforward ROI explanation…
ROI’S? Most definitely Social Media is moving and keeping up with technology. Marketing – traditional marketing has just barely started moving in that direction. Realize that people have taken the power of conversations into their own hands.Most people become informed on whether a product or “brand” is worthwhile by opinions and comments from consumers via reviews, Social site, email, and twitter.
Those can’t be tracked as traditional ROI’s. So quit trying. Think OUT OF THE BOX!
Mcdonalds says it plainly: “Our head of Social Media is the customer”
It’s a new era, with old value’s…at the speed of the internet = realtime: word of mouth.
Connection, Uniqueness, Comfort and Variety. These needs vary in importance for each individual and each person’s need can also shift resulting in trading off needs. Example: Connection during holidays might be very important to some….others might need comfort, others crave uniqueness (standing out in the crowd) while others yet might like variety or choices (visiting lots of friends/family).
Marketing has only focused on the middle of the curve area…and not worked with consumer NEEDS. So the consumer navigates through the world without the influence of marketing.
How can they do that?
Consumers have shifted their spending with an awareness using online reviews, social media sites, chats and emails from friends. This puts the reins in their hands, helping them make informed decisions. Meanwhile, marketing budgets have been shrinking making it harder for marketers to create awareness let alone interest in their products.With budget cuts tight, marketers need to lean to digital as opposed to traditional. Smart Marketers will take that jump using digital to enhance the brand experience with current customers and acquire new ones through “word-of-mouth” marketing.
As 72% of consumers say prior experience has driven their brand loyalty, 58% of online adults say they trust online reviews MORE than any other medium except chat/emails from friends. For marketers to do more with less dollars, they will need to STOP focusing on gaining and spend more with current customers. Those customers will be your “word-of-mouth” marketing campaign.
Also use digital means to enhance how you connect with consumers making your brand responsive and connected to the consumers ever shifting needs.
10 Things you can do:
use online reviews
redesign your website with an interactive design or SEO friendly WordPress site allowing comments
In this Recession people have moved toward comfort and connection. Marketers and businesses MUST be reassuring and comforting to the consumer meeting their unique needs.
Questions like – What do I need?, How do I begin?, What do I say?…Who to put in charge? Are screaming in marketing departments everywhere. Some companies are just ready to jump on the bandwagon without any long-term commitment. WRONG! Read the following prerequisites and strategies from several great strategists.
