Many businesses find it hard to see value in their social media campaigns, when in fact they do not realize the impact of this free advertising tool. Even one campaign can affect a business in a positive manner. Before beginning your social media efforts be sure that you have an analytics program in place to track the progress and impact over time.

It is important to note that social media campaigns affect a business both directly and indirectly. Directly, it increases brand awareness, traffic, leads, sales, etc., can increase brand “followers.” Indirectly search engine rankings are affected. A successful campaign can attract backlinks to your website which in turn can lead to higher search engine rankings. Very successful viral social media campaigns have attracted hundreds and even thousands of backlinks.

Gathering followers is not always an easy task. First, placing a Facebook, Twitter or other social media link on your current website draws in current customers or users to your social media accounts. Next, to gather new users, a special offer or incentive may be helpful to grow your user base.
 
Once “followers” are obtained, it is important to retain them. Customers join because they are interested in receiving quality information, coupons, sales, new products and other news. Businesses must update their “content” on their social media pages on a regular basis. There is a mix between what is too much and what is not enough. If a follower/potential customer feels bombarded, they may remove themselves from the connection they established with you.

Businesses will be able to directly see the effect of a successful marketing campaign through the interaction within the channels as well as through their analytics program. Below is an example of data showing how Facebook can contribute to quality traffic.

It is important for a business to keep current and positive information about themselves on the internet. Social media should be utilized by businesses to keep brand awareness fresh in the minds of the consumer and to keep the business growing positively for the future.

Social media has made the world seem like a very small place despite geographical boundaries and distance between populations.

When a nation needed help these past few weeks they turned to social media for aid. Social media tools have become a lifeline in the wake of the earthquake devastation in Haiti. Platforms likes Facebook and Twitter have once again proven that they are effective tools for spreading information and connecting with people across the globe.

According to CNN, social media’s instant communication has had a significant impact on Haiti relief. The viral spread of charity text message campaigns that were posted on profiles and tweeted nationally have raised more than $11 million for Haiti victim relief. Thousands of tweets, re-tweets, TwitPics and status updates were shared and viewed as this devastating disaster unfolded. Both celebrities and civilians helped to spread the word and raise awareness. Within hours of the disaster, mass viral communication was well underway. Social media has made it easy for people to find out valuable information and respond to the news quickly.

Haiti is one of several major world events that Social Media has become the stage for. In the past few weeks social media has also had an impact on world news in places like China and Iran. Both Twitter and Facebook have allowed us to encounter real-time communication and information as the courses of these events have evolved globally.

Businesses are now finding successful ways to capitalize on social media’s global reach and impact. We have worked with several clients who have been able to achieve great results through both Twitter and Facebook. Businesses are now able to offer their serves as either a relief to a global crisis or as a source for a solution internationally. Companies like Unites Airlines, Spirit Airlines, FedEx, Office Max, Cisco and Texas Instruments have seen success in using social media to build a relationship and brand awareness with clients all around the world.

Social media allows businesses to spread information quickly and in real-time. These free platforms allow businesses to connect with customers from different sides of the globe, discuss ideas, generate buzz, establish a brand, spread awareness and even raise millions of dollars in relief funds. Social media is and will continue to be an impactful tool in an ever-growing number of ways.

I have worked in sales and marketing since I graduated college.  I am a fan of marketing and take pleasure in seeing creative ads on TV, radio, and online.  I love the “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign from Dos Equis.  I crack up every time I see that commercial for Heineken where the couple is showing off their new house and the woman takes her girlfriends to a huge walk-in closet and the men get a tour of a huge walk-in cooler filled with beer (Heineken, of course).  I don’t mind watching the 15-30 second commercial before the videos I watch on Comcast.net.  I didn’t ask for the commercial, but I know its coming and I am fine with it.

Here’s is what I don’t like about marketing: disingenuous product endorsements.  Celebrities get paid big money to endorse a product, but rarely do I believe they use the product of their own choosing.  Call me cynical, but I don’t think Tiger Woods (maybe a bad example here given his current decline in sponsorship deals) drives a Buick.  But I understand that is part of the game, Buick pays (or paid) Tiger big money to participate in commercials promoting the Buick brand.  I know he is being paid and if I choose to buy a Buick based on Tiger’s endorsement, I do so with full knowledge Tiger is paid to say good things about Buick. 

This same strategy should also be applied by businesses using Twitter to promote their brand, product, or service.  There needs to be transparency with how you deliver the message as well as the message itself.  When you use Twitter to promote your company, be clear with your followers.  You can be creative with coupons or discounts to reward your followers.  Running contests and “tweeting” about it can be a great way to get additional word of mouth and increase your base.  Social media users are very savvy these days and can see through a veiled attempt to promote a product, service, or brand if you are not fully disclosing why you are reaching out to them.

There have been some high profile stories lately where companies have used celebrities to promote their brand without disclosing that the celebrity is being paid to tweet about the product.  Once the stories broke, there was an understandable backlash as social media users felt somewhat betrayed by the message.  This type of revelation can lead to bad press and direct people to consider your company as dishonest.  This is easily avoided by keeping your message clear and transparent.  It is perfectly acceptable to promote that you want to increase your followers, and you are willing to reward them for their loyalty.  There is no need to trick people into providing that loyalty.  Creative and honest promotions can accomplish the main goal of growing your base without the risk of turning off potential customers and losing credibility.

Have you ever bought an item and made a tweet about it or placed it under your Facebook status? If you have and you like sharing your current shopping trends, there is a social media site available which provides that opportunity for you.

Blippy allows visitors to view its users current shopping expenses, encouraging visitors to buy something that a user from Blippy has bought. In a way this site is advertising the companies and products where users have recently bought their items. This site can also help study the shopping trends of people and help companies in many ways by providing information regarding the purchases made at their store and other stores.  Even though this site has only started providing this service since December, its goal is to continue to expand by creating a mobile version in the future, as well as creating an API to allow its data to be shown in other applications.

Blippy also brings a very interesting topic to mind, and that is how much personal information people are willing to share on the Internet. This can be in some cases a reason for people to stay away from the site since it contains sensitive information, but it also provides them the ability to view other user’s trends/expenses.

It would be very interesting to see this site considered in the future on Google product search results, as it provides current information regarding shopping trends, similarly to how Google results are being affected by Twitter and Facebook.

Reference:
http://blippy.com/terms

Social media is changing the way individuals communicate with one another.  It is how many of us stay up-to-date with news near our homes and around the world, keep in touch with those who we went to school with years ago, are notified of class reunions, seek advice from peers, and much more.  Social media has also changed the way companies are doing business.  Within social media channels in particular, businesses have the opportunity to push content, news, promotions, and more out to a targeted audience.  As an individual, to be connected with a company through your social network of choice, you need to fan their page, follow them, or opt-in in some way or another.  Therefore, as a company, while you may not have thousands of followers or fans, you know that those who are connected with you are already interested in your products or services and want to know when and what content you share.

One of the most powerful parts of social media, in my opinion, is how consumers can have an affect on brands and products.  Consumers contribute to a brand’s presence within social media from the very beginning when they fan or follow the company’s page or profile.  Within Facebook, for example, typically those individual’s friends are then notified that they are now a Fan of X company’s page.  In Twitter, that person’s news feed will then include the company’s tweets, enabling the individual to retweet that message instantaneously.  This is very powerful because as a business you are now a part of your fans’ communities and they can help to spread your message for you. 

SheSpeaks Annual Social Media Study shared data about social networking that I thought was pretty profound.  Although those surveyed were women, the information still shows how powerful consumers are within social networks.

• 72% of those surveyed learned about a new product or brand, or joined a group around one.
• 86% of women had social media profiles in 2009, compared to 58% in 2008.
• 72% of women log into their social networking site at least once per day.
• 80% of female Internet users said they had become a fan of a product or brand on a social network.
• 50% of women with social network profiles have purchased products because of information from friends or companies on social networking sites.
• 40% have used coupon codes found on social networking sites.

The largest new media purchase driver is email, but purchases based on information within blog posts increased dramatically from the prior year.

It is quite obvious that participation in social media facilitates brand awareness and purchases. It’s important to note that direct sales are not always made immediately from a link placed on a Facebook page or within a tweet.  Instead, someone may share an experience that they had with a brand or product within their social network and that information is then spread to their connections, potentially influencing their friends’ perception of that brand or product.

If your company is not in social media today, and particularly if you have a consumer-oriented brand, it’s something that should be seriously considered in 2010.  Now more people are able log into their social networks instantaneously from almost anywhere, including from their phones, which will leads to a continued growth of these social networks and their marketing potential.

Many of us have used LinkedIn as a way to maintain a professional profile within the social networks. LinkedIn is a great platform to communicate with business professionals and it can also be used to open communications with businesses. By direct communication or joining a group, it is easier than ever to reach important members of any business.

Can businesses use LinkedIn as a way to market to other businesses? LinkedIn DirectAds is an additional channel for business-to-business advertisers to capture qualified visitors. It offers advertisers many targeting options to help qualify the audience. With 7 top level categories, businesses can choose up to 3 of the categories to target, including industry, company size, job function, seniority, age, gender, and geography. LinkedIn is a good option for businesses, because they can target the exact industry, company size and even job function of their potential clients.

Most business to business companies know exactly who they want to target in a company. For example, advertisers may want to specifically reach a marketing manager in an enterprise level company. Creating very custom ad messaging to capture these people can turn them into customers.

LinkedIn DirectAds have no minimum spend requirements and can also be paid via a CPC (cost per click) or CPM (cost per thousand impressions) platform. Similar to Facebook ads, LinkedIn DirectAds can also have images in the body, which helps to brand the message as well as help to gain user attention.

With LinkedIn DirectAds, businesses are able to target qualified decision makers in their industry.

It seems that everywhere you go, someone is talking about Facebook.  Many business professionals have asked themselves ‘how can I have a business Facebook profile but separate it from my personal life?’   While some professionals have created multiple Facebook profiles, others have turned to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the crème de la crème of virtual business networking.  This revolutionary professional social network lets organizations create pages which give specific company information such as geographic location, type of industry, company size, median age, male to female employee ratio and much more.  Each company page also includes relevant news articles as well as the recent New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) information.

However, one of the most unique features is the ability for individuals to post their own previous career experiences.   Each LinkedIn user can offer as much or as little information as they would like within their profile.  Contact Settings allow users to designate the type of connections they are looking to make.  Profiles can be used to reconnect with old business colleagues as well as receive reference and expertise requests.

More importantly users can also choose to receive information on job inquiries.  Viewing current or past employment experience via LinkedIn is becoming a new trend among recruiters and human resources personnel.  Could LinkedIn’s virtual resume eventually replace traditional resumes?  While LinkedIn is clearly the greener solution for employers, the future is anyone’s guess.

Worried about just anyone viewing your information?  Privacy settings allow you to select who is allowed to see profile information.  So what are you waiting for?  Create your LinkedIn today and be part of this ever-growing professional social network.

With over 321 million users (and growing) Facebook has become the most visited social networking site. People all over the world are sending friend requests, rekindling with bunkmates from summer camp and classmates from high school/ college. They are sharing pictures and videos of their children, sending out party invites, taking quizzes; the list goes on.

As fun as Facebook can be for many people, the notion that Facebook is just for fun and personal use could not be farther from the truth. Facebook can help your business in a variety of ways. Think of it like this: Your potential shoppers/clients/ leads are spending a considerable amount of time on Facebook. Therefore, you should be there, too. If your company does not have a Facebook profile, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to find new business.

Here are some tips on how to effectively manage your Facebook business profile:

• Create a separate business account, which has different functionality than a personal account.
• Completely and accurately fill out your profile; this will help to add creditability, as well as earn trust.
• Post professional pictures of your business and employees. Ensure that all photos are “business appropriate”. This means no happy hour pictures!
• Customize your tabs with relevant options for your business (Free White Paper, Events, Newsletters, etc.).
• Don’t get lazy! Update your business profile on a regular basis with current industry news and events. If your site has a blog (and it very well should) you can repurpose content directly from your blog or your other social networks to your Facebook profile. This can be done through an RSS Feed or a widget. In addition, Facebook has a plethora of applications that can be utilized.

Employing the above tips can help get you on your way to a better business profile. Make 2010 your year to get social!

So I might be a little late, but recently I created a Facebook account. As a previous Myspace user, it is easy to become comfortable with a particular social media network; because it is so easy to stay in touch with friends and family. The problem develops when your “friends” switch social networks or start to use multiple networks, as is the case with Myspace and Facebook.

The first thing I noticed within the Facebook platform were the similarities in features made the switch easier for me. Status updates, picture albums, and connecting with new friend’s remains the same between both Myspace and Facebook, however Facebook’s method of advertising puts them a step ahead from a marketer’s standpoint.

Facebook embeds their advertisements within the different pages of profiles and change as the user browses. One particularly unique function is that Facebook allows the user to “Like” or “Dislike” an ad and select the reason why the ad was unappealing. This type of information is invaluable to advertisers and can play a major role in allocating marketing dollars to the right audience or to target different demographics. Once you “Dislike” an ad, Facebook will serve you a new one but never the one that was marked disliked.

Social media sites are known for giving social media users a plethora of options. YouTube allows social media users to view videos based on their search. Twitter allows social media users to follow whoever they choose. Last, but not least Facebook allows users to hide comments and even friends from their Facebook home page. However, Facebook has given social media users an option that may not be in the best interest of advertisers. Facebook allows users to delete Facebook advertisements as long as they choose a reason.

That’s right, social media users can delete Facebook ads. How do I know? I’ve done it myself. Recently, I was on Facebook and kept getting and ad for modeling. I noticed that there was an “x” in the top right hand corner of the ad. So I clicked on it. To my surprise Facebook asked why I didn’t want to see the ad, and gave me several options to choose. I chose irrelevant and the ad disappeared. As a Facebook user this is exciting, but as an advertiser this raises a red flag. There are two ways to view this Facebook feature, either as a negative or a positive.

The negative side of this feature is quite obvious. There are people out there who can basically block your ad from being shown to them. Like most engines the change probably takes a while to get kick in. For example, I’ve deleted ads, stating that they were irrelevant and a few minutes later the same ad reappeared. The real concern is that there is no report in Facebook with these results. It would be nice if Facebook created an alert or report that said your ad has been deleted by 30 users who stated that it was irrelevant. This would help advertisers refine their audience, as well as tweak their message. Let’s get to some good news.

The positive of this feature is that a user viewed your ad and that your ad stands out among the clutter. When a social media user chooses to delete an ad it means that there is one less lost impression. Now your ad can be shown to a more relevant social media user. Think about it, it’s almost like negative keywords. A social media user is saying, “I’m not the right audience, send your ad to a more qualified user.” This is a positive especially when an advertiser has a limited budget. However, there is a work around to this feature. Facebook only allows users to delete ads created in Facebook. If an advertiser chooses to do placement targeting with Google, and target Facebook, the ads can’t be deleted.

Facebook is a great option for advertisers who want to target a specific audience. However, Facebook allows social media users to delete Facebook ads, which acts as a double edged sword. Advertisers have to be wise in the way that they use Facebook. If an advertiser feels their ad may be getting deleted, they should adjust the target audience settings or use placement targeting through Google.