Putting the "Social" back into "Social Media"

 I have been reflecting lately about just how important it is to understand what makes social media work for online businesses.

Social media may mean different things depending on which site you utilize.. For example, Twitter is  designed  basically for  “updates” with others. Facebook has a far broader program,  allowing news articles,  photos,  events organization and joining,  along with status updates.

One main strength of social media is that it supports SEO campaigns,  allowing your company name or profile to pop up when linked to activity on the web.

Dynamic Business has an article about how social media is thriving these days as a branding and marketing tool.

  Expanding the client base,  increasing sales,  and upping SEO power are what most online business owners have in mind when they decide to get into Facebook and Twitter accounts.

But exactly how and why does this work?

From their piece:

No one really knows whether getting Facebook likes or re-tweets equates to new customers.  Most presume that eventually it does, otherwise why bother participating? Whatever the end result, simply being part of the conversation is fundamentally important. Here are the simple facts why:

• All combined social media networks have in excess of a billion members.
• More people get their news online.
• Social media is increasingly integrating itself into our lives as a routine and not as an activity.

What this means is that more and more people are using, connecting and sharing information on social media and other online platforms. This is now a valid communication channel that is culturally shifting the way we connect and communicate, and businesses need to grasp this.

Here are three key points every business must consider:

Community management

It takes more than likes, followers or views to be successful on social media. To begin with, it takes development, planning, effort, and an engaging environment. Businesses must listen, create conversation and interaction while at the same time producing a valuable and interesting experience for customers and reinforcing the brand positioning and unique selling point of the business.

Content development

Content generation and a publisher mind set is no longer enough when it comes to content. A business must be able to create valid content in multiple, shareable formats. The aim is to build a connection between the brand and its community that is authentic, creative and motivating.

Burberry’s activity in 2011 made it a stand out brand for social media interaction. Its Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter shows were streamed live through a video feed. In addition to this, its fragrance ‘Body’ wasn’t unveiled on TV, but on Burberry.com and YouTuberewarding individuals who liked Burberry on Facebook.

Social media tools

Investing in social media applications is beneficial. It doesn’t require a huge financial outlay, often just paying a little extra will give you a raft of more features than you’d get with the free version. This means that you’re able to do more with the platform, such as monitor engagement, manage mailing lists and so on. It’s important you choose the right tools for your business, along with the appropriate strategies to ensure you stay on top of evolving technologies.

It’s essential SMEs embrace social media and see it as an opportunity to engage and encourage consumers. Social media is constantly changing, so being ready to change with it is vital. Those that don’t attempt to understand are choosing to ignore one of the most significant developments in technology, media and marketing.

Leading Brands to Speak at Social Media World Forum and Apps World New York. - MarketWatch

Leading Brands to Speak at Social Media World Forum and Apps World New York. - MarketWatch:

'via Blog this'

SEO - Is your company executing the job?

 

On SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  SEO is an action that makes your product or services website more visible in the search engines.  The higher the ranking, the more likely the potential consumer will go with your product or service because they have found you first due to SEO.

 

It really depends on where you are looking to have your company found, and what key words, meta-tags and phrases you would prefer people are looking up to find your company. To answer your questions in a general sense:

 

 

Q: How long should it take to optimize a website for SEO? Is 6 months really a stretch, or is that standard?

A: It usually takes at least two months for a websites SEO to become effective. Depending upon how much you have spent, and if you have paid for strictly organic SEO, or PPC ad campaigns, I would say that you should re-evaluate your contract with the company or firm that you hired to do SEO for you.

Q. Many people seem to promise "#1" or first page ranking. Who really is effective in doing this? Wouldn't this smell a little of scam?

A. You are absolutely right, I would say that at least 90% of the SEO companies that you come across promise #1 on the first page ranking. But the company's that are actually effective in doing this are the ones that a great track record, and are willing to show you a portfolio of at least 5 previous (recent) SEO projects that were actually executed in a timely fashion.

Another thing to factor in; Local SEO as opposed to whether it be national, or international. This is also a big difference. Usually, local SEO is much easier to execute getting a company on the first page, and sometimes the first slot of a search engine. National page rankings would depend on what your competition is in your target market. Maybe your product is not like the others? But do you offer the same service of product? This is when it can come complicated. And the same goes with international SEO. The more area that needs to be covered, the more competition there usually is.

Press Release - Hip Hop Artist Pays Homage to Drake and Yields Over 5 Million Views

Press Release - Hip Hop Artist Pays Homage to Drake and Yields Over 5 Million Views:

Hip Hop Artist Pays Homage to Drake and Yields Over 5 Million Views

October 7, 2011
19-year-old hot new artist Nick Carter Green debuted his remix to Drake's "Headlines" to explosive views on the highly trafficked www.worldstarhiphop.com, on Sunday, October 2nd.

CHICAGO, IL, October 07, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As a tribute to one of the most influential hip hop artists today, 19-year-old, hot new artist, Nick Carter Green, debuted his remix to Drake's "Headlines" to explosive views on the highly trafficked http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/, on Sunday, October 2nd.

The two minute, black and white video, utilizes mirror image technique set against a Chicago Skyline backdrop to show a brief, introspective look into the budding talent of this hardworking young artist. Released at 1:30pm CT, Nick Carter Green's video exploded in viewership, garnering 1 million hits within the first few hours. Less than forty-eight hours later, Nick Carter Green's remix of "Headlines" reached a surprising 5.3 million views.

Nick Carter Green recently released his mixtape, XIX, a creative blend of pop, hip hop, and R&B, which serves to show the diverse range of talent and broadness in his music ability. A hungry young artist with an appetite for success, Nick Carter Green recorded and mixed XIX. "Don't Wanna Lose," a single from XIX, was released to radio prior to the official mixtape release. As a featured song on Chicago's WGCI's Download or Delete segment, "Don't Wanna Lose" received a 98% download request from area listeners.

Backed by hard hitting tracks and an infectious lyrical style, Nick Carter Green is set to carve out his own niche in hip hop as previous Chicago rappers, Common, Kanye West, and Lupe Fiasco have successfully done.

As a thank you to the millions of viewers who watched the "Headlines" remix video on World Star Hip Hop, Nick Carter Green will be releasing a video for "Ghost," a single from XIX, on http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/. XIX is currently available for download at http://www.nickcartergreen.com/.

Contact:

Roosevelt Allen, III
Zuma Entertainment Corporation
688 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60642
Phone 312-733-3630 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              312-733-3630      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax 312-733-3631
rallen@zumarecords.com

Social Media Strategic Tactics: Which are the most effective?

It is always great to have something to refer to when confronted with the difficult task of gauging the effectiveness of social media strategies,  and ranking overall expediency.  I found this really enlightening piece which does just this,   and the chart and the points the author makes are illuminating and great to keep on hand,  and in mind:

From Marketingsherpa Blog:

Hard work pays off

For those of you who have not brushed up on your statistics lately (as I just brushed up a moment ago) I will note that a positive correlation between two factors means that as one factor increases, the second factor increases. For example, there is a positive correlation between my consumption of ice cream and the temperature outside.

Looking at this chart, it’s clear that the most effective social marketing tactics are also the most difficult, and vice-versa. Blogger relations — the most effective tactic reported — is also the only tactic to break into the 70%-range in terms of marketers reporting it as “very” or “somewhat” difficult.

You’ll also see that the three most-effective tactics — blogging, SEO for social sites, and blogger relations — are known to require significant amounts of time and effort before results are shown.

Every tactic is somewhat effective

Take a look at the scale on this chart’s Y-axis (level of effectiveness). Those listed percentages correspond to the number of marketers who reported a tactic as “very” effective. What they do not include are the marketers who reported a tactic as “somewhat effective.”

Looking at the chart, you might guess that adding social sharing buttons to emails is a waste of time — but don’t be too quick to write this tactic off completely. Only 10% of social marketers reported it as “very effective,” but 55% rated it as “somewhat effective” (found deeper in the report). With a total of 65% of social marketers reporting at least some effectiveness, these buttons might be worth the small investment they require.

Also, since adding social sharing buttons bottoms-out the Y-axis here, every other tactic listed has more than 65% of social marketers reporting at least some effectiveness. Here are some examples:

• Social sharing buttons on websites: 69% say at least “somewhat” effective
• Advertising on social sites: 73%
• Microblogging: 75%

The Importance of Website Overseeing

Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

One of the worst assumptions a company can make about their website is: “The site is up, whew, glad we have that done!” This idea stands in stark contrast to best web practices and most web savvy business people know it.

However, the more dangerous assumption is that updates and changes only need to happen once in a while, quarterly or bi-annually. Though this belief edges closer to the ideal, it falls short. In reality, your brand and user experience are tied in part to how up-to-date your content and design are.

While instructing, I use the following analogy for my students: maintaining a website is much like maintaining a home. Noticing the big things – a wall that needs repainting, a lawn that needs new seed or a kitchen you want to expand – is simple and obvious. But, what would your home look like if you failed to dust, vacuum or clean the counters? These weekly or, often, daily tasks keep a home usable and a pleasure to be in. The same is true for your website. Content often becomes outdated in a matter of weeks, time-sensitive information becomes useless overnight. So ensuring this content remains accurate and current will add credibility to your brand.

Maintenance supports other goals

The focal point for every website’s post-launch activity is maintenance. Content edits are certainly simple and easily executed tasks a company can complete. But consider other activities which expand your site and offer the visitor additional features of interaction which keep them on-site longer, thereby exposing more of your brand to them:

• Adding a “search” box – This allows your visitors to complete their missions without incident, associating the positive experience with your brand.
• Incorporating dynamic directions – Adding the ability for a visitor to map their way to your business does two things simultaneously. First, it keeps the user on your site (which is extremely important). Secondly, it enhances the experience. By keeping the visitor away from Google or Yahoo! Maps the experience remains clean and simple – two recurring words visitors use when describing sites they like.
• Start blogging – Use this as a forum for announcing business strategies, relationships and decisions. Share some industry standards and tricks alike with your visitors to help them become more knowledgeable. ( such a good idea, I think we should do that! )
• Is your clientele bi-lingual? – How about creating a version of your site for the non-English speaking audience? Providing your content in a different language may expose your brand to a new demographic that until now never considered your company for lack of comprehension.

A mental block site owners have to be conscious of is, as visitors to our own sites, we become blind to the errors or the staleness of content and imagery. Those who come to our sites to find information (especially current information) want to be there and experience the new aspects of the site. So, don’t be lackadaisical in giving it to them.http://www.bostoninteractiveblog.com/?p=39

Why a Website is a Must in the first place:

By having a web presence, you expand your market significantly. You make yourself available to people in other time zones and even across the globe rather than the limited market audience you can reach in your local geographical area. And at a fraction of the cost! With a website there is less need to send out expensive mailings to purchased mail lists that are often unreliable. Even those mailings that do make it to the target audience are thrown away without ever being looked at.

Internet advertising is more targeted to a specific audience. The clients who visit your website are there because they have a specific interest in your company’s product or service, which you can use to your advantage. You can allow customers or potential customers to sign up for a newsletter or sales flyer, which you can send to them via e-mail. By collecting e-mail addresses from willing visitors to your website you can stay in contact with them without having to pay for printing or postage. At IPWatchdog, we use GraphicMail.com to help us maintain our e-mail subscription list and to send newsletters. There are other services you can use, such asConstant Contact, which is very popular. GraphicMail.com is less expensive, but they do not offer the number of features that Constant Contact does. Another advantage of Constant Contact is they offer a free trial. If you are an computer novice, Constanct Contact would likely be a better choice because it is an all in one solution.

The morale of the story is this – whether you are a small business owner, inventor, entrepreneur, artist, author, musician or band, you need a website. In the world we live in increasingly people are turning to the Internet to find information, and if you don’t have a presence on the Internet you will not only be making it more difficult for people to find you, but you will be sending the wrong message.http://ipwatchdog.com/business/the-importance-of-having-a-website/

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