Social Media Value = Thinking Beyond the Campaign

Posted on August 6, 2012 by DJ

In looking at the way most agencies are handling social, it’s obvious that they’re still stuck in “campaign land” when it comes to working within social platforms. This misses the whole idea of what social is all about in terms of engagement and long-term interaction when it comes to branding.

In fact, Max Kalehoff, VP of product marketing at Syncapse illustrated this perfectly in a blog post on OnlineSpin. He talked about how agencies have leaped at creating social apps that mirror television campaigns as part of their approach to incorporating social in the media mix.

Given that the idea of creating relationships other than with their brand clients is something completely foreign to agencies (they can only think as far as the campaign—it’s in their DNA), that’s not too surprising. It’s just unfortunate. Agencies just can’t seem to get the idea that the traditional model of “pitch—complete creative—launch—done—next” just doesn’t leverage the true value in the social landscape. You have to think beyond the short campaign and reach out into the future as well as across the entire marketing landscape.

The goal of any overall marketing strategy should be to think of ways to develop relationships by creating value, however, we’ve been trained to think in terms of campaigns. Email campaigns—television campaigns—direct mail campaigns—contest campaigns. But campaigns are just a tool for getting us there. If they’re just screams for attention to feed the shiny new toy syndrome, they won’t stand the test of time as far as branding, relationship building, trust and loyalty is concerned—especially not now. People are more distracted and stressed for time than ever—but they still want to engage with brands that consistently provide value over the long haul; a brand they know they can depend on when they need them. I’m not telling you anything new here, it’s just the way we’re built as people.

In today’s age, there’s an app for just about everything; however, the trick is not to reach for bells and whistles, but to offer staying power. If what your offering doesn’t add meaning to what your audience is doing right now—if it’s just a pretty distraction and doesn’t help make their lives easier, then it’s forgotten in a flash. And so are you.

Social gives us the opportunity to converse with people in a way that can truly help us be that dependable brand that meets our audience’s long-term desires, if we just listen to that audience. Believe me, when you think in terms of how you can make their lives easier, more enjoyable, and less stressful rather than in terms of the “next initiative,” you’ll be so much better off.

So rather than viewing social as just another media, look for ways to use it to its fullest. Create more and better content that truly engages people and creates lasting value. Be helpful. Be useful. Be available. Think of ways to increase conversation rather than affect conversion, and you’ll be surprised at the results.

Originally posted at IBM Smarter Commerce

Ted Rubin

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass… it’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Website: http://tedrubin.com

Twitter: TedRubin

How to Develop Products that your Target Markets Want

Posted on August 6, 2012 by DJ

Target market: a group of customers that a business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise towards. A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy.

Your target market: they’re your right people.

They’re the people most likely to embrace your vision, support your efforts, and buy from your fantastic group of offerings. But before you can begin developing products and services that appeal to your right people most, you have to get in their heads, understand how they live, and find out what they really want.

Three ways to discover what your right people want

1. Ask them—if you already have a list with subscribers, or social media followers who fit your target market, ask them what their challenges are as it relates to your business. Create a poll on Facebook, a survey using free providers like Survey Monkey, or simply tweet or post a question on your Facebook wall.

2. Read your competitor’s blog comments—Does this sound sneaky? It’s not. Perhaps your business doesn’t have a blog (which, by the way, you totally need to add blogging to your marketing), or the blog you do have doesn’t score a ton of comments. Reading through your competitor’s comments gives you insight to what your target market needs help with and what’s on their minds.

3. Participate in a chat—Twitter chats are a great way to meet and spend some time with your right people. During chats, people often speak freely about their challenges. They may not say ‘this is my challenge’ but pay attention to hurdles they might mention like time, organization, and money to name a few.

What are some other ways you get into your target market’s heads to find out what they really want?

Photo Credit

Additional Resource: Here’s a great article on defining your target market

Jim Dougherty

Husband to one and Dad to two. Here to engage, and to help businesses to market better through social media. Unsolicited hellos are welcome and encouraged!

Website: http://www.leaderswest.com

Twitter: leaderswest

10 Reasons Why Social Media Is Wicked Cool

Posted on August 5, 2012 by DJ

Growing up in Massachusetts everything was “wicked” cool. Why not social media?

Here are the 10 Reasons Why Social Media Is Wicked Cool:

1. Meet New People

This reason alone is one of the major reasons why I love social media. There are just millions upon millions of interesting people out there. People much smarter and funnier than I am (hard to believe I know ). I learn and laugh from these people every single day. You can as well.

Here are some great people I’ve met through social media (mostly Twitter and Triberr). They either deliver incredible content, or they’re great conversationists, or wonderfully helpful, check them out.

Clicking on their picture will take you to their Twitter page so you can follow them as well.

2. Stay Connected With Friends & Family

Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have made it extremely easy to keep up to date with friends and family around the world. I’m constantly uploading pictures of my daughter on Facebook and Instagram so that my family across the country can watch her grow up.

3. Reconnect With Old Friends

Social media has made it incredibly easy to reconnect with old friends. Whether it be high school, college, co-workers, or even those unforgettable kids you met for one week at summer camp you have no excuse not to catch up and say hi.

4. Find Groups That Love What You Love and Chat Away!

Almost everyone loves to find other people who have similar interests. Social media makes it real easy to do this. Trust me you’re not the only other person in the world who obsesses over mayonnaise, go find your mayo soulmate.

Image via Mindful Construct

5. Share Your Passion With The World

Social media gives you the tools to voice your passions. Anyone can become a thought leader if they know what they’re talking about and work hard enough at it. The world wants to hear what you have to say. Give it a try.

6. It’s Easy To Get Advice

There are a tremendous amount of people that I’ve met on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ that are willing to go out of their way to help people. They enjoy giving advice even if you’re new to all of this. Take a chance and say to hi to someone. I bet you’ll be surprised at how willing they are to guide you in the right direction.

7. Brand Yourself

There are not many opportunities for the average person to brand themselves. Social media allows you to get your name out there and build up a reputation where even people on the other side of the world will trust you. Amazing, simply amazing.

8. Share Your Knowledge

If you’re brilliant there is a home for you on social media. The social media world has a billion questions that need to be answered, help us out.

9. Opportunities

If you take the time to network, especially on Twitter and LinkedIn, there are an unlimited amount of opportunities out there for you. Whether it be a new job, meeting a business partner, making a sale, or even meeting your spouse (thank you match.com!) the world is open for you to take advantage of.

10. Community

It’s a great feeling when you’re part of a group that cares about you and what you have to say. It might take a bit of time but when you’ve met your “peeps” you’ll finally understand how great social media can be.

Remember to be kind, be honest, and most importantly be yourself. Enjoy the world of social media. I know I do.

Time to Buy Facebook Stock

Posted on August 3, 2012 by DJ

Is it time to buy Facebook Stock?

Facebook stock has been dropping like a rock lately. It’s now trading at $20.03 a share, down from its high a few months ago of $45.

When Facebook had it’s IPO it was extremely overvalued. Valuing this company at over $100 Billion dollars back in May was insane. Now that the stock has dropped by more than half there is some serious potential here. There are a lot of what ifs with this company but they’re the type of what ifs that scare investors away but not the type that this company can’t handle.

1. Mobile – Mark Zuckerberg swears his company is focused on their Mobile App. They absolutely need to be because right now their app on the iPhone is absolutely horrible.

”We’re investing heavily in improving our mobile apps,” Zuckerberg said.

“You should expect to see a frequency of improvement in mobile experiences,” he added.

With the talent they have at Facebook I believe Zuckerberg and crew will figure out how to make the Facebook mobile experience a lot better and at the same time figure out how to monetize efficiently.

2. Ads - This is where Facebook has the greatest potential. They could be a juggernaut in sales just like Google. They certainly have the user base to do it. It’s hard to believe that with 955 million monthly active users they wouldn’t be able to find some way to make money off of us. I’m betting they do.

3. Instagram - Facebook just spent $1 Billion acquiring Instagram. Now they need to show their shareholders why they spent so much on a photo sharing app.

4. “Want” Button - There is a rumor going around that Facebook may be adding a “want” button to accompany the famous “like” button. This want button will certainly come with a marketplace of sorts where people will actually buy items right on Facebook.

Are you thinking about making the plunge and owning a piece of the largest social network in the world? Tell me why or why not in the comments below.

At these prices how could you say no?

Disclosure: I am not a financial expert. Please do your own research before buying any stock.

Famous Websites Way Back When!

Posted on August 3, 2012 by DJ

Image via DIYBlogger.Net

Follow This One Important Rule To Build A Targeted Twitter Following

Posted on August 2, 2012 by DJ

Every business strives to build a targeted Twitter following. They go to great lenghts to achieve it.

Some even invest hundreds of dollars in software that promises to help them accomplish it. That’s how much it means to them!

Honestly, it’s not that complicated. It can be as simple as just keeping your communication focused on one topic.

In fact, that’s one of the most important things you can do. In addition to keeping your social media communication customer focused, also keep everything on topic.

In this post I aim to provide valuable advice on how to build a targeted following. I will help you to define your topic, help you define your audience, and illustrate how staying on topic can help build your targeted twitter following.

Staying on topic sounds easy doesn’t it? It really is, but you wouldn’t believe how many businesses are doing it wrong. As a result, no matter how much time they spend on Twitter, they are failing to build a targeted following.

Here are some steps you can take to start getting better results.

Define Your Topic

Defining your topic is all about positioning yourself. Think about what you want to be known for. Think about what you can share that will be valuable and unique.

If you’re a local business try to incorporate your local area into your messages as well. Your topic also has to be tailored to the audience you’re trying to attract, which leads into the next point.

Define Your Audience

After you’ve defined the topic you’re going to build your communication around, think about who is most susceptible to your message. Who are you trying to connect with, what are they interested in, how can they benefit from what you have to say?

These are all questions you need to be asking yourself every day as you communicate through social media. Here’s another important one: How can you benefit from surrounding yourself with these people?

How This Builds A Targeted Following

By now you might be wondering how the first two points I laid out will help you build that following. Sticking to a defined topic lets people know what they’re getting into when they follow you.

It’s the same reason why people subscribe to blogs and newsletters. They’re interested in a certain topic and want to hear more about it.

When you’re constantly communicating about a certain topic you’re sending out keyword-rich messages. That means if someone is doing a Twitter search about something related to your topic you’ll be showing up more often than not.

You’ll eventually develop a repuatation as being a thought leader on that topic and your following will continue to grow.

If you keep delivering value through providing your defined audience with great content related to the topic they followed you for in the first place, they’ll recommend you to others.

They’ll retweet you, give you a Follow Friday shout out, share your blog posts and so on. Your following will continue to grow even more.

Wrapping It All Up

Building an organic targeted following is as simple as knowing your audience, knowing what messages resonate with them and consistently providing value.

This will help you build a following by attracting people who are interested in what you say, and through them recommending you to others based on the great content you provide.

Be careful not to let your messages stray too far from the topic you’ve defined for yourself. Remember, people are following you on social media for a reason. Keep giving them a reason to follow you and they’ll keep listening to what you have to say.

How important is it to you that a business stays on topic? Are you turned off when accounts you follow stray too far from what you feel their message should be? Please let me know in the comments below.

photo by:
cliff1066™

Matt Southern

I’m a social media community manager who writes a blog where I sell consulting services and write about how small businesses can best use social media. I strive to provide valuable content that truly helps business owners.

Website: http://mattsouthern.com

Twitter: MattSouthern

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