So Redbox may not be the first company to bribe their customer base into fanning their Facebook page. And they definitely won’t be last. But hey, it works.
I’m going to get my free movie tonight.
Tag: social media marketing
Is Twitter Down?
Twitter has apparently been down since about 04:53:18 US Eastern Time, and it’s amazing how riled people can get about a FREE service being down.
Some people are calling their service providers to make sure that Twitter hasn’t been inadvertently blocked! Hey, I love Twitter, but I’m not ready to deal with an hour on tech support with my Internet provider, until I’m sure it’s not a Twitter problem first.
In any case, if anyone still thinks that Twitter can be ignored, I’d think again.
The search term “is twitter down” has rocketed to the 21st most popular google search in last few hours.
So, if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, you may want to come see what all the fuss is about. Follow us at @writers4hire. I’m not as big a junkie as some, but I do have to admit, it’s kind of a bummer twitter is down. 🙁
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Update: Twitter is back up! But not before “twitter down” made it to #17 on the most searched for topics on Google. Wowsers…
Astroturfing: The Icky Side of Social Media Marketing
It’s disingenuous. It’s dishonest. And, it’s everywhere.
It’s called “astroturfing”. Chances are, you’ve been exposed to it. And, if the folks behind it have done their jobs right, the chances are pretty good that you didn’t even know it.
Social media is powerful stuff. In its most basic form, it’s the high-tech equivalent of your best friend recommending Gap jeans or your next-door neighbor telling you that she never shops at XYZ grocery store anymore because the cashiers are rude.
The truth is, we’re all influenced by what our friends think. Most of us buy books or see films based on the recommendations of friends we trust. We’re probably more likely to try a new restaurant if a few people from work say the food’s good. And yes, if everybody jumped off a bridge . . .
Well, we’d probably at least think about it for a second.
But imagine if your friend was getting kickbacks from the Gap. If every time she plugged her favorite jeans, she got fifty bucks. Or if your neighbor was getting free groceries from XYZ grocery store’s competitors whenever she badmouthed the competition.
Ick, right?
Continue reading “Astroturfing: The Icky Side of Social Media Marketing”
Coolest Uses of Social Media
So, we all know that social media is here to stay. Chances are, your company has a blog, a LinkedIn profile, and at least one employee whose day-to-day responsibilities include tweeting.
It wasn’t long ago that companies that leveraged Twitter and the like were viewed as cutting-edge. But today, social media marketing is a given. Now, it’s all about how you use social media – a blog just doesn’t cut it anymore. But, you also have to get creative and find the right balance: Savvy consumers will run screaming from your efforts if you come off as too salesy. For a successful social media campaign, you have to give them something – a nifty application, a contest, a way to connect, share opinions, and create content. And, most importantly, it has to be fun.
Need some inspiration? Here are four of my favorite creative social media ideas:
1. Mad Men Yourself. Love Mad Men as much as I do? AMC’s fun new application lets you create your own Mad Men-inspired avatar – use it on Facebook, Twitter, and more. I love the swingin’ retro graphics and nifty wardrobe choices.
Become a Pitchman: Marketing the Billy Mays Way
You’re all aware of the mega success that the Pitchmen star and TV sales guru Billy Mays achieved in his lifetime. I recently came across a post from Big Wave Blog that analyzes exactly how Billy Mays was able to get people to buy his products over and over and over again.
Marketing Lessons From Billy Mays: How to Be Your Own Pitchman explores the three secrets that Billy Mays used to sell his products every time – whether it was OxiClean or Mighty Putty or the Hercules Hook. Anyone involved in sales – whether you’re a business owner or a marketer or a copywriter – should read this blog. It’s got lessons that we can all use, no matter what industry we’re in.
For the copywriters out there, this blog reminds us of four key lessons straight from Billy Mays that can all be incorporated into sales copy. These rules can apply Continue reading “Become a Pitchman: Marketing the Billy Mays Way”
Why Businesses Should Use Myspace
Principles that have traditionally been used for search engine optimization are now being applied to a new wave of internet marketing techniques – social media optimization, or SMO. That’s using things like Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
But aren’t networks like Myspace only for the Generation Nexters? The typical Myspace encompasses a broad demographic, since Myspace is still currently the big kahuna of social networks. Should businesses use this Myspace thing after all, or just forget it?
The answer is definitely yes, especially if you already have a social media marketing campaign underway and you have a little time to dedicate to updating your profiles. Companies who feel that they don’t have enough time for Myspace, or that there isn’t a need for a business profile on Myspace should consider the following:
1. Word of Mouth
Any business revolves around one thing: relations. Today, most companies operate using traditional modes of communication, mainly telephones and email. And Myspace can be used as just another mode of communication to link with current, past, and potential customers. With Myspace, you build your community by adding friends. And then their friends can link to your profile as well. Features like bulletins are used in the same way as email – only it blankets your entire “friend” base at once. For instance, you can post a bulletin about a current promotion and have it appear on your entire community’s homepage as soon as they log in. By providing content that is entertaining and useful, you can start connecting and building relationships with clients using new, internet-based communication tools.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Search engines pick up Myspace pages – what better way to multiply your internet presence by having an page, in addition to your website, where users can go and check out your business.
3. Pictures and Video
Engage your target audience by uploading pictures of yourself, your offices, your products, your logo, and even printable coupons or whatever you feel is relevant – it will give your audience a better understanding of who you are and what you can offer. There’s also an option for you to upload video to your page. Myspace videos can become viral, meaning that if one user likes it, they recommend it to their friends, and then their friends’ friends, and so on.
4. Company Overview
Your Myspace profile is an extension of your business. You can customize your profile to match your company’s colors, and give users a detailed overview of your company and your product offerings. Having your business on Myspace allows you to market your brand to over 100 million current users.
Ultimately, the decision is yours: Only you know your business’ specific needs and your specific client demographic. Myspace may or may not be the right fit. For more reading about Social Media Optimization and to determine if Myspace is right for your business, check out Associate Content’s article, Using Myspace to Promote a Company’s Visibility.
How to measure the results of your SMM campaign.
With all the push for businesses to invest in and create social media marketing campaigns, more and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon. And this is definitely a good thing. But there is a common misconception that a social media marketing campaign can yield highly scalable results in a short period of time. Yet this is something that needs major clarification.
The fact is, it’s just not feasible to completely quantify the results of your social media marketing campaign.
It’s an issue that www.doshdosh.com draws attention to in this blog about ROI and social media. The blog explores the benefits of social media marketing, and how to use it to your advantage. But most importantly, it says that the results of your SMM efforts are “not direct and immediate.”
What does this mean? Social media marketing is a great tool when used properly – it just takes a little time and TLC before the results can be seen. To some degree, results can be measured by paying attention to the number of hits to your websites from social profiles, social bookmarking sites, forums, and other sites where you are connecting to your audience through SMM.
However, the difficult part to measure is the “general PR effect” of your campaign – meaning you have no way of knowing who passes your information around or who remembered your brand name weeks later after reading a cool article on Digg. Unfortunately, without personally tracking each customer down and insisting they tell you exactly how your social media marketing campaign has affected them, it’s hard to get true tracking on your campaign.
So what do you do?
Even though collecting complete stats for your SMM campaign can be tricky, you can still get a good feel for what’s working. First, you need dedicate yourself to giving each SMM tactic a good run. Keep at it. Since your campaign typically won’t start a buzz overnight, push your campaign hard for six months to a year. Keep your social profiles updated, post blogs often, respond to any feedback you get, and build as many relationships as you can. The longer you push, the more of a presence you will create in the industry. Establish your brand in every way you can then “measure” which of your techniques are working best.
After a year, you should be able to concentrate on the areas that are drawing the most attention. If your online articles are getting tons of feedback, devote your time to writing more of them. If people are swarming to your LinkedIn profile, keep on connecting with them. Maximize your time and campaign by focusing on the marketing outlets that are specifically working for you, and you’re likely to watch your clientele grow immensely.
Blog 2.0
Continuing my theme from a previous post about professional blogs, I want to talk a little bit about using your blog as a networking tool. So you’ve started your blog – now what? Learning how to navigate through the blogosphere is essential to building a solid readership and increasing your web visibility.
First, enroll in a blog search engine. These search engines are basically large indexes that encompass the blogging world, making it easy for readers to search for useful blogs in any given category. There are a lot of search engines out there, and most are free, so be sure to put your blog’s url in as many directories as possible. To get you started, some of the more popular blog search engines include www.technorati.com, www.blogsearchengine.com, www.blogsearch.google.com, www.icerocket.com, and www.blogdigger.com.
Start frequenting other blogs and leaving comments. Get your face out there – read other blogs (preferably in the same or similar genre as your own) and comment! Starting a rapport with other bloggers is essential to your blog’s health. Once you increase your visibility with these bloggers, you can start a relationship by asking them to link to your site, and vice-versa. Remember, just like a new friendship, these relationships take time to build.
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While you’re at it, start a blogroll, a list of other blogs and websites that you find interesting. The links in your blogroll should direct readers to useful or similar blogs to your own – think of it as your blog’s “Recommended Reading” list. Check your specific blogging system to find out how to start a blogroll.
Once you start networking among other bloggers, use trackbacks frequently. Now, what’s a trackback? A trackback sends a message from your server to another blogger’s server every time you reference one of their posts on your site. Trackbacks are great tools to use because, if that blogger supports trackbacks, they’ll know you’ve linked to them in your post — and that’s a great way to start connecting with bloggers in your industry. Once they know you’ve linked to them, they’ll be likely to start visiting your blog, and they may even decide to link back. Every blogging system has different rules and requirements for trackbacks, so a little research may be required before getting started. For more information on trackbacks check out the trackback tutorial at http://www.optiniche.com/blog/117/wordpress-trackback-tutorial/.
For extra points, install buttons to social bookmarking sites on your blog. This encourages readers to recommend their favorite posts to others. Make it easy for your readers to recommend your particularly interesting articles by installing del.icio.us, digg, reddit, and furl buttons directly on your site. These social bookmarking sites can increase traffic to your blog exponentially if you get a large enough following.
In order to have an effective blog, someone out there needs to be reading it! Increasing your web visibility may take a little time and some savvy research skills, but once you get the hang of the new web 2.0, the benefits will be invaluable to the life of your blog.
After you’ve established a rapport with some of your fellow bloggers, it may be time to approach them about checking out your product or service (and possibly dropping a mention of it on their blog). This has to be done pretty carefully. Check out some tips on email pitching bloggers here: www.searchenginehelp.org/social-media/suh-wing-and-a-miss/.