Posts Tagged ‘social marketing’

«
»

Over a Third of Web Content Shared Via Facebook & Twitter

Posted by Myles Vives on July 21st, 2009

According to AddToAny over a third of content on the web is shared by using Facebook or Twitter.

Email surprisingly fell to third behind both the social networks individually as a means to share content.

Silicon Alley Insider provided a great pie chart below showing the share of sharing on the web.

Follow the Social Media Herd – All 14 Million of Them

Posted by Myles Vives on April 8th, 2009

 

This is a pretty telling chart showing where the social media herd is going over the past year.

It will be interesting if Google pulls the trigger to buy Twitter in the coming months and if either company can find a way to truly monetize it.

Is your business on Twitter and how are you leveraging it to help you and your customers?

twitter-dominates-unique-visitors

 

Related Blogs

Valentine’s Day 2.0

Posted by Myles Vives on February 14th, 2009

Valentine’s Day is upon us.  Everywhere you look, in your favorite TV shows, magazines, newspapers ads, movies, friends, co-workers, and yes, even social networks, the unmistakeable presence of Valentine’s Day can be seen and felt everywhere.  Fifteen or more years ago, Valentine’s Day did not really have a presence online, unless you were an uber-geek.  Nowadays, the love connection is all around us from websites catering to those seeking love, romance, a date, and yes, even a wedding.  People seek it, companies advertise it.  So how has social networking been affected by it?  If you have a facebook account, or MySpace, or any other social networking site, you can see it clearly on forums, banner ads, and by the daily postings from users and to one another.

Companies who want to become successful in the “love” bandwagon that is going on online, need to have a solid understanding what works, and how it ought to be executed.  Doing a simple email marketing campaign is not enough anymore.  People have setup countless filters to counteract the messages that companies are attempting to send out.  They view and treat these “spam” emails just like any other snail mail spam – it goes straight into the trash bin, both virtual, and physical.  If however, a person receives an email from a loved one, or a friend, or something so compelling to draw them to view the message, then you have success, and the ROI as a result will be much greater.  At OMS 09, they discussed among other things how email marketing as we know it is becoming extinct.  The results yielded are not as great as in the infant days of the Internet.  Netflix is a great example of how email marketing ought to work.  They send out emails to their members for specials, and every time someone rents a move from their online database.  The customers already have a vested interest in the messages from Netflix, and as a result, the email marketing done allows Netflix to further promote their services.

However, email marketing is not the only avenue for promoting.  Social networks are another great tool to use to get the message out.  Say you are an online flowershop, and you want to push an awareness campaign as well as receive more orders, the what you need to do is to cater to the needs of people.  The company creates a group within facebook, how to romance the lady (or gent) of their fancy, how to be romantic in different settings, where to travel, where to dine – all for free.  The money will be made from people who choose to use the company’s services.  Companies wanting to succeed in viral marketing and web 2.0, must adapt to its model.  Provide free information, tips, how to’s, and make money from the orders taken related to your product or services.  Until then, have a great Valentine’s Day with your friends, family, and loved ones.

Social Media: An Explosive Growth

Posted by Myles Vives on February 5th, 2009

Social Media continues to grow tremendously.  The growth is clearly visible with the growth spurts that MySpace, and especially facebook has had in the past year.  In fact, facebook is no longer exclusive to just college aged kids, or those recently out of college.  According to research data done iStrategyLabs, the fastest growing group within facebook has been the 35-54 year old segment.  They grew at a rate of 172.9% in 2008 alone!  The allure of facebook has been so great that the growth over six months for that age group grew at a massive 276.4%.  Social networks, (Social Media) is here to stay.  It is not going anywhere, as people of all ages are logging on to connect with friends, find old friends, and find new ones.

As Social Networks, twitter, and tumblr, which are categorically called social media sites continue to grow, it becomes more and more difficult for marketers and companies to get their branding and message to their intended target audience.  The days of passive viewers are no longer here.  Instead, the days of the engaged and informed viewers are here.  What does this mean for companies?  It means that they need to get smarter, and realize that people are not going to buy or use your products and services because of a flashy video production.  Instead, they will use it if they make the decision that it is something they want and need.

If you look towards facebook’s biggest application right now, it is “25 Random Things About Me”.  According to USA Today who did the report, “Social networks represent a paradigm shift in communicating. ‘This is the beginning of what will be a never-ending raft of social network games like this.’  This is where internet marketing can work at its best.  Users are putting in information that they themselves have chosen to share with the world.  For example, if you are an avid book reader, and have a preference for Fantasy/SciFi books, then perhaps you may put that “The Wheel of Time” series is your favorite book.  If marketers are seeking book lovers of that particular genre, they now have a perfect way of doing targeted advertising, and the end user will more than likely be more receptive than someone who has never read a book in their life, and has no fondness for anything out of this world.

For companies to be able to not only survive, but to thrive in this global market with a recession, it is imperative that they realize that people are much smarter and aware than they have ever been any other time in history.  We know more about the world though the connectedness of television, and the Internet which is now not only tied to a desk at work or at home, but available on all mobile TCP/IP devices such as the iPhone, blackberry, and much more.

Social Marketing

Posted by Myles Vives on January 29th, 2009

Social Marketing has become the latest buzz word in the internet marketing industry.  Organizations, companies, and bloggers are now using this method to convey their messages to their intended audiences effectively and quickly.  There are many tools, perhaps too many tools at their disposal to be able to create effective messages.

Some of these tools include the ever growing FaceBook, a social networking site that has grown from being exclusive to college students, to an internet marketing vehicle for companies, bloggers, and yes, even celebrities.  There are many other social networking sites besides FaceBook such as MySpace, Bebo, Xanga, and even Ning which allows you as a user to custom create your own little social network.

In addition to social networking sites there are also micro blogging sites.  These micro blogging sites such as twitter, tumblr, and Pownce (now Six Apart), have been great vehicles for launching the latest news, keeping tabs on the recent elections, and simply updating your friends and followers alike of your daily activities.  All of these tools, from social networking sites, blogging, microblogging, and doing search optimization, can become rather overwhelming for most companies, and surely so for people.  All of these tools have gotten a term coined by the marketing industry, called social marketing.  If you have a business, a blog, are a celebrity, or a large corporation, it becomes more and more important to hire professionals to do social marketing for you.

The days of getting the message out via static images in newspapers and magazines are over.  Television ads are also not as effective as before as more and more people have turned into engaged consumers, instead of passive consumers.  Consumers want to choose what to view, what to buy, and what to admire.  To become successful and get  your message out there, you need to be actively involved in all of these social marketing tools.  However, if you dedicate your time to that, you may not have the time of day to effectively run your business.  Perhaps now is the time for you to think about social media marketing by talking to people and see what they think about it, as well as do some research on your own.

«
»