Posts Tagged ‘ social media ’

Social Media and ROI

Graph of internet users per 100 inhabitants be...

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Are you still trying to measure the return on investment for your social media efforts? Do yourself a favor and stop. There is no set way to measure the effects of social media on your business through analysis of numbers and sales. Counting the number of people you reach with your messages will not work either. To be sure, measuring ROI for the social media medium is a tricky business, but there is one thing most online marketing experts can agree on: using social media gets positive results for your business.

The only way to achieve success that is measurable with social media is have a very specific idea for your return. Are you after increasing the dialogue between you and potential customers? Then look at your social media campaign and see if there has been an increase in user reviews, testimonials and other forms of feedback from people interacting with your company. Want to find out if your new product is being received well by customers? Put the question out there and see what kind of responses you get. Believe me, if people can find your question and have or know about you product, they will voice an opinion. That is the real power of social media.

There is no other way to get a message out to the people who have a high probability of caring than through social media. It’s the ideal medium for reaching likely customers on a level that is conversational, friendly and purposeful.

It is 2010, almost 2011 and people are online. They are online at work, at home and everywhere in between. The social atmosphere of the Internet is the new ‘Big Thing’. If you want to get in contact with your customers, you go online. Therefore, while you may not be able to justify social media marketing with numbers, you do know that it is something that you must do. It helps increase contact with your customers. It helps you connect with the people of influence in your industry and, if you are doing it right, it gets them to talk about you. An company active in social media, by necessity, must keep with good business ethics. It is not possible anymore to hide bad or shady business when everyone can see what you are doing.

Offer a great product or service and then tell people about it. Using social media, the right people will see your message and respond. If you are still in doubt, then check out the video below. It is by far, the best compilation and testament to the success social media offers to businesses who are willing to fully disclose themselves to it.

2010
11/01
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Online Marketing
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Make Twitter Work

Have you heard about Twitter? I am sure you have, at least, heard the name. No, it is not the latest social fad. No, it is not a new way for kids to tell other kids useless things. Abandon all preconceived notions and assumptions for what you think Twitter is and what it is capable of doing. It is time to take a real look at this social media platform and realize its true potential.

First of all, for those that do not know, Twitter is a free instant messaging platform for social media. Everyone can use. Send a message and any of your followers can read it or any other Twitter users can search it out. Speaking of users, there are millions of them on Twitter; talk about an untapped market if you are not making use of this application. According to the State of the Twittersphere report (which I found using Twitter), 5 to 10 thousand people join Twitter every day. That has accumulated to over 5 million members to date. Check around your industry, I bet the leaders have Twitter accounts with plenty of followers. If, somehow, they don’t, then consider this your chance to jump out way ahead of the curve. The benefits this platform can bring to your marketing efforts and overall business cannot be denied.

The founder of Duct Tape Marketing, John Jantsch , commented on three huge advantages of Twitter: “(1) I get great insight when I ask questions, (2) let’s face it, I get traffic and (3) people on Twitter spread my thoughts to new places.”

Bestselling author David Meerman Scott said, “I have personally connected with hundreds of people I otherwise wouldn’t have, and I booked an interview on NPR and a big daily newspaper using Twitter.”

Even Business Week wrote an article that surveyed 18 CEOs and how they’re using Twitter to help their businesses.

The advantages of using it are being seen by everyone and it’s time you saw them too.

For the most part, the uses for marketing boil down to tracking and directing attention. Find out how people of influence think and feel about topics related to your business. Use this information to improve your marketing efforts on all mediums.

Twitter acts as a great traffic generating tool for your website. Make announcements and post links for to new content through it.

Connect with current and potential customers like never before. Twitter practically demands two-way customer engagement. Personal branding is a real option. Obtain customer feedback quicker and from a wider base. Have the ability to notify customers of new deals or information concerning your business.

Get creative and come up with great content to send out to your followers. It shouldn’t be too hard, you only have 140 characters to fill. The only real problem with Twitter is that once you get into it, the process may suck you in. Keep vigilant on your time management and make use of available tools that make Tweeting less of a time sink. Some of the better ones are: TweetLater , BUDurls , TwitterFox , Ping.fm and Twitter for Facebook. Track, manage and automate your Twitter efforts with these and more.

Remember to treat your Twitter profile kind of like a website: always add new, relevant content, promote your profile everywhere you can, and make sure to budget your time properly. Turn this free instant messaging platform into another super tool for your online marketing and business.

2010
10/28
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6 Reasons to use Social Media

Keeping ahead of the online marketing scene is a tough job. There are not many shortcuts left in the game and those remaining are known to everyone, eliminating the advantage they offer. The idea now, is to focus on what works and keep doing it. One of the tools that has been immeasurably successful is social media. Plenty of people and businesses alike, have crossed into the social media marketing scene. The question is: Why haven’t you?

Social media is probably the best thing to happen to online marketing since Google. Its is almost viral in its success. The number of sites that fit into this category continues to grow. Everyone wants more and more of what social media has to offer.

Here are 6 reasons why you and/or your business should break into Social Media:

  1. Social Media websites have done the hard work for you! They have brought people and ideas together all you have to do is join in.
  2. The number of potential customers you can find through social media is unlimited.
  3. It helps extend the reach of your message and presence to an unprecedented degree. If you lack millions of dollars to spend on TV commercials, this is probably the next best medium.
  4. When potential customers see you deeply involved in social media, its a validating experience for them. Social media websites have a lot of influence on what is hot and not on the internet.
  5. Since everyone else is already on the sites, its the best place on the internet to make sure you are seen, heard and known.
  6. The tool these websites provide is free. Customize your spot in the community they build and pay nothing. Make use of their resources to increase your popularity at no cost to you.

 

2010
10/12
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Online Marketing
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