3. What I told that they needed to do, before being able to collect the social media currency they coveted: Build a website that is conversion friendly and sticky (e.g. is intuitive and makes it easy for users to interact with it and share with friends) Begin engaging within relevant Facebook groups & posting on relevant Facebook pages (not with promotional messaging, but instead with content that adds value to the community) Begin following relevant Twitter users and retweet the content of said Twitter users Begin commenting on influential blogs and forums (not with promotional messaging, but with content that adds value to the community) Begin linking to said blogs and forums from within their own site’s content Begin attending industry events and mingling with influential peers (don’t just promote yourself or your brand. Add value to the conversation) Begin to gradually connecting with these influencers via email and other online communication channels (not to promote yourself, but to genuinely connect and add value to their efforts) If they have a substantial email database, start thinking about innovative ways to encourage email subscribers to engage with your social profiles and social content (some of your subscribers might be influencers) Think about the proportion of your perspective consumers that prefer to consume contact via mobile devices (including tablets) and then figure out what you’re going to do to accommodate them (some of your niche’s influencers might prefer mobile formats)
4. So the main question to ask is… what answers and solutions can I provide today to prospective clients that will ease their pain?Some of the specific questions that you should be asking yourself are Who are you selling to? What are their goals and aspirations? What are their problems? What media do they rely upon for answers to their problems? How can we reach them? What things are important to them? What words and phrases do they use? What are they really buying from you? What images and multi-media appeal to each persona?
5. 73 percent of Fortune 100 companies registered a total of 540 Twitter accounts. About three-quarters (76 percent) of those accounts did not post tweets very often. More than half (52 percent) were not actively engaged (This was measured by engagement metrics such as numbers of links, hashtags, references and retweets.) 50 percent of the Fortune 100 accounts had fewer than 500 followers, a small number in relation to the size and reach of a major corporation. 15 percent were inactive; of those,11 percent were merely placeholder accounts — unused accounts to protect corporate names against so-called brand-jacking on Twitter — and 4 percent were abandoned after being used for a specific event. 26 percent of their Twitter accounts were primarily used as a one-way flow of information (either by RSSnews feeds or manual tweets) that offered no engagement with followers. Tweets did not provide opinions or encourage discussions.This contradicts the value of Twitter as a two-way dialogue to build relationships with customers and advocates. A sizeable 24 percent of the Twitter accounts were primarily used for brand awareness. Many appeared to be on Twitter simply to have an online presence. They did not use the platform to reach out to the community and demonstrate that their brand is a trusted source of valuable information, a business that not only talks but also listens to customers. Surprisingly, only 16 percent of the Fortune 100 accounts were used mainly as sales vehicles for company products and services.Other companies did not appear to understand that sales growth can be achieved by posting special Twitter offers, coupons, limited bargains and sales prices, or by searching for customers who mention a company product and reaching out to them to build a relationship. Customer service was the focus of only 9 percent of the accounts; it is highly likely that these companies are worried about corporate reputation — posts that might be damaging to a brand.In addition, success requires a commitment to respond “quickly to customer queries, suggestions or complaints. Note: According to Twitter’s own best practices, “your reply should come within a day, if not within hours”. “Thought leadership appeared to be the least prominent Twitter strategy by Fortune 100 companies, with only 8 percent focused on it. Corporate reputation and authority can be extended onto Twitter, but are most effective only after thought leadership is demonstrated in newspapers, trade publications or recognized by analysts and bloggers. This I think demonstrates the blog and website as your “home base” and Twitter as your one of your “Outposts” Finally, another 14 percent of accounts were used for other reasons such as recruitment or employee-specific information, or their accounts were locked and not visible.These companies were unable to build relationships with interested communities.
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8. Word of mouth is generated by surprise and delight or anger. This is a function of the difference between what you promise and what you deliver
9. You don't win because you did a good job, you win because you so dramatically exceeded expectations.
10. The customer is always wrong, says Web retailer http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
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13. 75% of all searches involve organic SEO, Paid SEO (PPC, Pay Per Click) makes up the other 25% . So Organic SEO is 300% more effective.. makes you think, doesn’t it?
22. "Branding Only Works on Cattle," http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Pages/Marketing%20Matters/MarketingMattersNewsletter101308/Brands_are_Dead_Transitioning_From_Brands_to_Behaviors.aspx
28. It is no longer a one-way broadcast medium, everyone now has access to an online printing press that can potentially reach tens of millions of people.
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30. Engagement is a sense of personal relevance. It’s not about how many @ replies on Twitter you get, how many Likes you get on Facebook. It’s about how personally relevant is what you are doing to the community you’re doing it for.
31. Social Objects can take the form of a myriad of other conversation catalysts including… Earned media is the result of our owned, paid, and participatory media programs and is reflected in the blog posts, tweets, status updates, comments, and ultimately actions of our consumers, peers, and influencers. Earned media is ideally linked to owned media campaigns as well as proactive initiatives that attempt to incite viral and word of mouth activity. Owned Media – media that is essentially, controlled by the brand. Owned objects are social objects produced by the company and introduced to each network in a variety of formats, text, video, audio, experiences, etc. Paid Media represents the visibility we purchase, such as display ads, paid search, and sponsorships. When paired with owned and earned media programs, paid media serves as a hub for complementing, reinforcing, and polishing brand voice, directives, mission, and stature. While many argue over the future and fate of advertising, what’s clear is that online paid presences can benefit initiatives where action and experiences are defined and promoted through the click path. Participatory Media – Representing an extension of earned and owned media, participatory media takes the shape of a hosted hub where brand representatives and our communities can interact and collaborate. Go-to examples usually include Dell’s IdeaStorm and Starbuck’s “My Idea” network which resemble branded wikis designed to elicit responses, dictate direction, establish community-focused governances, etc. Participatory media equalizes the balance of power, providing a dedicated platform the gives voice to the consumer and a channel for their ideas to trigger transformation or change. Sponsored Media - This new category fuses owned, paid, and earned media. Sponsored media is one that is championed by companies such as Izea, MyLikes, Ad.ly, Twittad, among others and is creating a new medium for packaging messages through trusted voices within highly visible and social channels. Sponsored media can take the form of paid tweets, blog posts, appearances, and featured objects on targeted profiles. And, whether you agree or disagree with the idea, the reality is that they work and they seem to benefit all parties involved, from brand to paid affiliates to their communities Businesses are presented with a unique moment in time through interactive technologies to directly capture the attention of their audiences and ultimately stakeholders, through the creation, propagation, and connection of these social objects. However, access to new, expansive, and dynamic platforms does not guarantee our ability to earn and captivate audiences. Our ability to connect and reconnect is driven by our understanding of the unique needs and requirements of those consumers defining our markets and our mastery of the tools and services that form parallel contextual networks.
32. The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage http://www.amazon.com/Experience-Economy-Theater-Every-Business/dp/0875848192/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271705894&sr=8-3
33. The Customer experience The sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods or services, over the duration of their relationship with that supplier.
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40. Using social media without a strategy is like writing your message on a paper airplane and aiming it out a window. Before you start engaging with customers you need to be prepared with what your goals are. Determine who your audience is, plus where and how to reach them. Most importantly you need a plan for how you will monitor the converation, respond to feedback and funnel it back into the company so you can be continuously improving.Jennifer Cisney – 1000 WordsChief Blogger and Social Media ManagerKodak
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46. Most companies will put up a giant megaphone to the internet and “listen” to the conversations, spending time finding out where people are talking about the things they care about first – for 6 months and longer. This allows you to determine where people are talking about the things you care about (your brand assets and relevant topics), what they are saying, who’s saying it, and how they feel about it. With that type of insight, you can more effectively determine a social networking strategy, engaging targeted networks and people with a specific message or goal.Laura Lippay - Lip ServiceFounder, Online VisibilityEx-Yahoo Marketing Director & Ringling performer
47. Would you pick up a phone and randomly dial 10-digits? Unless you’re prank calling, probably not. (Darn you, caller ID). The phone is a tool for communication, just like social media is a tool. Before making a phone call, sending a tweet or launching a blog, strategy is essential. It will guide the decisions you make, the platforms you use and how you interact.Sarah EvansFounder, Sevans Strategy
48. Strategy before tactics means, essentially, think before you talk. In other words, in any social-media effort for marketing or other business purposes, it’s important to do a gut check. What is your corporate culture? Who are you? This leads to other key questions: What do you want to say? What do you seek to accomplish using social media? what are the ground rules, the map to follow? This doesn’t have to be a 500-page manual or anything, but do look before you leap.Julio Ojeda-Zapata – Your Tech WeblogTechnology writer and columnist at St. Paul Pioneer PressAuthor, Twitter Means Business
49. You must know the “why” part first, before you build anything, and use a listening strategy to determine early on what tactics will actually be successful with the people you want to reach. The strategy first approach saves time and doesn’t waste valuable resources.Deirdre Breakenridge – Juicy Bits BlogPresident, Executive Director of CommunicationsMango! Creative JuiceCo-Author, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations & PR 2.0
50. “As a venture capitalist, I have to listen to hundreds of entrepreneurs pitch their companies. Most of these pitches are crap!!! Guy Kawasaki
51. The Art of Pitching Ideas Problem Your solution Business model Underlying magic/technology Marketing and sales Competition Team Projections and milestones Status and timeline Summary and call to action
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54. Get in their HEADS TALK TO THE MARKET http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4118856 2535 2806-28.29
66. How important is it to be on the first page or ideally ranking number one on the first page? How important is ranking to get people to click through to your site when there are thousands of other companies competing to be on page one?
67. 93% of buying decisions start with an online Google search.
68. The first ranking position in the search results receives 42.25% of all click-through traffic The second position receives 11.94% Third position on the first page obtains 8.47% The fourth placed position on page one receives 6.05% The others on the first page are under 5% of click through traffic The first ten results (page one ) received 89.71% of all click-through traffic, The next 10 results (normally listed on the second page of results) received 4.37% Third page receives a total of 2.42 % The fifth page receives a total of only 1.07% All other pages of results received less than 1% of total search traffic clicks.
72. Off-page elements eat the biggest slice of SEO pie Take a look at the pie chart below, generously provided by Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz: A quick review of the chart reveals that when it comes to SEO, what people do in response to your site on other sites is way more than half the battle: 23.87% – The general trust and authority that your domain has due to quality incoming links is the largest indicator of SEO success. Google treats links that flow into your site steadily over time as an indication that other people trust your site, find value in it, and reference your content as an authoritative citation. Therefore, Google trusts your site too. 22.33% – The number of links to a specific page on your site matters a lot too. That’s why the engagement and quality of the content of the page is directly related to the probability of attracting natural incoming links. 20.26% – The anchor text of links from other sites (anchor text is the words used in the clickable portion of a link) matters because this is Google’s way of finding out what your page is about according to other people, not just the keywords you choose to use.
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74. 10 Things I Wish All Bloggers I Read Would Do http://www.dailyblogtips.com/10-things-as-a-reader-i-wanna-see-in-your-blog-content/
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81. 93% of buying decisions start with an online Google search.
82. There’s an “old” saying in the SEO industry that “content is king.” This is not necessarily true. In my experience, good content is king. Study after study has shown that when people use search engines, they are primarily seeking one thing: information. They are not seeking to be impressed by fancy flash sites. They are not looking for a virtual piece of art.
83. Four Ways to Use Content to Massively Amp Your Social Media ROI 1) Write really good stuff 2) Find really good stuff You know that friend of yours that knows the best places to eat, shop and hangout – what’s new and what’s now? They’re your go to person when you need to know.
84. 3) Filter really good stuff Using combinations of tools like Feedburner, delicious, Twitter search, backtype, Yahoo Pipes, Google Reader and Google Alerts even non techie types can create automated individualized RSS feeds to serve to specific clients and industries.
85. 4) Make exclusive offers Hey, people get engaged by a deal. A special offer is content in my mind.
110. the Internet isn't connecting us as much as we think it is. It's largely home to weak, artificial connections, what I call thin relationships. Nominally, you have a lot more relationships — but in reality, few, if any, are actually valuable.
111. Everyone is trying to assign a dollar value to a Facebook fan or Twitter follower instead of addressing the fact that the engagement and interaction that takes place in these mediums are incredibly important to a brand.
112. Building a relationship with existing and future customers is the true value and strength of social media/marketing and what will and has allowed brands to survive and flourish for the long-term.
113. Plain and simple Engagement is all about maximizing the value of your audience – increasing the frequency they return to the site, the tendency to tell their friends and the probability of them making a purchase.
121. A new study shows that those who are fans or followers of a brand on Facebook or Twitter, respectively, are significantly more likely to buy products and services or recommend the brand to a friend.
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124. How to Engage and what to use http://www.slideshare.net/101ayman/a-cmos-guide-to-the-social-media-landscape
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129. No less than 5% of your payroll should go toward data analysis. Who is your customer? What is she buying? How often? After what event(s)? Which version of the product sells better? At which price point? Which version of the packaging is more appealing? Which salesperson is more effective with which customer cohort? What zip code is responding most to your ad? How quickly/reliably/effectively does your product accomplish its stated goal, or your vision for it? How satisfied are your customers? Your analysts should be setting up systems to collect these data streams and then chugging through the numbers to help you drive the company.
130. Five Social Media Trends for 2011 Consumer Content Curation Consumers are realizing that following eleventy-hundred brands on Twitter and Facebook is getting them some good coupons and deals, but it’s also turning their walls into malls, which is getting overwhelming. Therefore, what’s happening in Facebook is that consumers are turning off brands posting to their walls, using Friends lists to pay close attention only to their “real” friends, and commenting on or sharing only when something is really juicy. In Twitter, a company called Cadmus aims to change the way we view our streams by determining what content is most relevant to you based on your Twitter usage patterns.
131. Niche Location 2010 may have been the year of location, but 2011 will be the year of Niche Location. While true that only 4% of the Internet population is using location based services (LBS), there’s no question that Foursquare and Gowalla were media darlings this year. Services like shopkick appeal to in-store shoppers who love bargains – and who only want their location to be known to the store they want to shop at. New platforms like Foodspotting appeal to the foodie niche;
132. Aps Five important mobile app findings for news orgs A new report out today gives news organizations reasons to start thinking mobile apps (if they haven’t already). The Pew Internet and American Life Project partnered with Nielsen to survey cellphone users on their app habits, finding that about 43 percent of cellphone users have an app on their device, though only about 29 percent actually use them. With smartphone market share expected to accelerate its rapid growth, app usage is also sure to increase. Here are five data points from the Pew-Nielsen report that stood out to me as noteworthy for news organizations: Young people like apps Struggling to get those young consumers? They’re the single most app-friendly bunch. About 47 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they’ve downloaded an app, compared to 39 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds and just 14 percent of 50-plus. That’s important, particularly when paired with a previous Pew finding that showed that young people have taken to giving mobile donations. That’s a good mix for nonprofit news organizations. (Though even with Apple’s newly explained rules, in-app donations aren’t allowed on the iPhone.) People who use apps consume news online Apps could be a good way to hang onto your audience, letting them follow you onto another platform. The report surveyed app users about their online activities, revealing that they are more likely to be online news consumers than are non-app users: 90 percent of app users consume news online, compared to 75 percent of non-app users. Also, they are more likely to visit a video sharing site, 80 percent versus 66 percent. News apps do relatively well As part of the study, Pew used Nielsen numbers that asked active app users (those who had downloaded at least one app in the previous 30 days) what apps they’ve used in the past month. Sure, news apps aren’t at the same level as puzzles and strategy games (36 percent), Facebook (42 percent), or Google Maps (35 percent), but look down the list and the news apps start to appear. Nine percent of users said they’d used a CNN app in the past month, 8 percent USA Today, 7 percent New York Times, and 7 percent Fox. Other local apps for food and entertainment pull in similar percentages, perhaps a good indicator for local news organizations. The king of the news/weather category, unsurprisingly: The Weather Channel’s app, used by a whopping 32 percent. People digest apps in small doses The study found that most users who use their apps daily do so for less than 30 minutes. Asked for context, 71 percent said they use their apps when they’re alone, 53 percent while waiting for someone or something, and 36 percent while commuting. (Hopefully they’re not driving.) It seems like people want a few moments here and there with their apps, a use case where a good headline or a snappy lede is particularly important. People will pay Free apps are still most popular; of Nielsen’s recent downloaders, only 37 percent had downloaded even a single paid app in the previous 30 days. But among paid apps, the majority were $2 or more, belying the common idea that 99 cents is the price point with the best chance for success. The dollar amounts are small — only 23 percent of paid apps cost more than $5. But they’re still greater than zero — the amount many have proven willing to pay for content on the web. [Editor's note: Originally, we accidentally published this post too early and jumped the gun on an embargo. Our sincere apologies to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, who have since lifted the embargo.] Laura McGann | today | 11 a.m. Tags: Apple, apps, CNN, Facebook, Fox, Google, iPhone, mobile, New York Times, Nielsen, paid apps, paid content, Pew Internet and American LIfe Project, smart phones, Sudoku, USA Today, young people http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/09/five-important-mobile-app-findings-for-news-orgs/
133. Square Now Processing Millions Of Dollars In Mobile Transactions Every Week http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/09/square-now-processing-millions-of-dollars-in-mobile-transactions-every-week/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
134. Proximity-Based Marketing: Mobile Devices Untether Advertising from Media” “examines state of affairs for this emerging form of marketing in a 15-page industry paper that includes eight charts and graphs and an appendix gauging proximity marketing activities in 210 U.S. markets. It gauges mobile proximity-based advertising at $200 million this year, swelling to $760 million in 2011 and springing to $6 billion by 2015.
135. Social Gaming I love this topic. Not just because I’ve recently become a FarmVille addict, but because it’s such a natural. After all, we’ve been buying the large McDonald’s Coke for decades just to get the Monopoly piece.
137. Group Buying and Facebook Commerce. http://www.groupon.com/learn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYt6riOx1xQ&feature=player_embedded
138. Facebook Marketing: The Busy Person’s Cheat Sheet http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-marketing-cheat-sheet-2010-10
139. 3 Tips for Maximizing Engagement With Facebook “Likes” and Shares http://mashable.com/2010/11/08/facebook-like-share/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29
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141. These Facebook Stats Will Make You Love The Like Button http://socialfresh.com/these-facebook-stats-will-make-you-love-the-like-button/
144. The World’s 20 Most Popular Facebook Pages http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/11/03/the-worlds-20-most-popular-facebook-pages/
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146. Your own business domain name (Cost $20) Videos from YouTube (Free) Email subscription to the blog (Free) Images (Free) Content loaded as easily as using Microsoft Word Links to other content and websites Menu across the top Polls and surveys for your customers Traffic statistics for the Blog/Website Moderation of comments Plus many other free features provide by plugins at no cost Note: Cost is less than $40 and a bit of time and help from your teenage son, daughter or friend if necessary.
147. 450 Billion spent on marketing and only 50 mill on Customer Service. @MarshaCollier
148. Keywords For a simple exercise on this front, sit back and look at your page, and ask yourself honestly, “What keyword is this page good for? How good is it compared to other pages on that keyword?” Your keyword strategy will reveal itself from there. If there’s more than one keyword phrase revealed, you may be looking at two different pages that were mashed into one. Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6673/3-Search-Engine-Optimization-Mistakes-That-You-Are-Making.aspx#ixzz10q2pEQFR
150. Which is why my advice for anyone trying to succeed on the web is, make the highest-end product you can, and then target the tiny handful of people- the microaudience- who are likely to buy it. Forget the masses. Targeting the latter is too much like trying to win the lottery- though great when it happens (however unlinkely), there are just too many damn variables outside your control.
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158. Mobile Marketing: 56 MUST Have Facts [Data Included] http://heidicohen.com/mobile-marketing-must-have-facts/
159. 8 Ways Social Media Marketing Yields ROI http://heidicohen.com/how-to-measure-return-on-social-media-marketing/
160. Over the three months leading up to the tournament, we (in order of occurrence): Researched and followed Clevelanders who listed golf in their profiles (Twitter Grader) — Least Successful Researched and followed Ohioans who listed golf in their profiles (Twitter Grader) Researched and followed Ohio and Cleveland sport fans (Twitter Grader) Researched and followed golfTwitterers with the best Twitter Grades (Twitter Grader) Started following all professional golf tournaments Monitored and followed all Twitterers discussing “golf,” “PGA,” “Senior PGA,” and various player names. (search.twitter.com) — Most Successful Reviewed the followers of other professional golf tournaments and started following them We were able to attract 908 followers in a three month window.
