Category: Online Marketing

Guest Post by Brian Rice

For the last decade, I have associated summer with seeing DMB live. Below are 8 social media tips that we can learn from Dave Matthews Band lyrics:

“If you hold on tight to what you think is your thing, you may find you’re missing all the rest.” Consumers have become savvier in their ability to filter out advertisements so as marketers we must find comfort outside of our comfort zones. In order to be successful, it is important to constantly test and experiment with tactics outside of our current mix.

“I will go in this way and find my own way out.” While experts have created numerous tips and best practices for participating in social media, ultimately the journey begins with you. You are responsible for defining how you will use it and measure success.

“She could change everything about her using colors bold and bright but all the colors mix together – to grey.” Social media involves the interaction of people, with the goal of creating quality relationships. The only way to achieve this is to be yourself. In the long run, if you try to be all things to all people your campaigns will fail.

“Wondering what the other is thinking, but we never say a thing. These crimes between us grow deeper.” One of the most powerful tools in social media marketing is the ability to listen to the conversations consumers are having about your brand, products and competitors. However, individuals are looking to have real conversations so in order to be successful you must humanize your brand and participate in the discussions.

“Hello again, it’s been too long, too long too long, hello again.” According to a recent study, individuals are exposed to roughly 13,000 marketing messages a day and on Twitter, alone, there are over 50 million discussions (tweets) a day. Social media requires a consistent presence so before launching a campaign, make sure you have the resources to maintain an active profile.

“Pay your dues, and your debts. Pay your respects, everybody tells you. You pay for what you get.” As mentioned above, social media success does not happen overnight. It requires that you connect, follow, watch, listen, learn and engage. It is important to add value to the communities that you participate in because you must nurture relationships before you can create brand advocates.

“Pay no mind to taunts or advances.” If you find yourself in a situation where the conversation turns negative it is important to acknowledge their rights to complain, apologize or assert yourself if warranted, assess what will help them feel better, act accordingly and abdicate if necessary. If you have done a great job of cultivating a strong following and the complaint is unwarranted, the best case scenario is that you your connections will come to the defense of your brand.

“So why would you care to get out of this place, you and me and all our friends.” Social media is a fantastic tool and it is imperative that your campaigns (online and offline) help your audience connect with your brand via these social media channels. However, it is also critical that you do not find yourself “living” solely in these channels. Social media will never replace the value of face-to-face interactions so in order to develop deeper relationships plan for live events such as “TweetUps” to help put a face on your social media profiles.

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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About Brian Rice: B2C Marketing Insider aims to provide a balanced view of the current marketing landscape based on industry news and trends, as well as real-life experiences. http://www.b2cmarketinginsider.com

Guest Post by George Torok

Use these powerful yet simple tips from the national best-seller, “Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You” – the first guide to personal marketing for non-marketers.

• Create and grant an annual award.
• Send hand written congratulations and thank you notes.
• Send greeting cards for some occasion other than Christmas.
• Send postcards when you travel and even when you are at home.
• Give a good book to special clients. Always sign it with a positive message.
• Build relationships with the media before you need them.
• Associate with winners – attend awards functions.
• Build and maintain a database of clients, prospects, and key influencers.
• Earn certifications and win awards from your associations – and tell everyone.
• Ask happy customers to write testimonial letters for you.
• Recruit your suppliers as marketing agents. They work for free.
• Join and be active in your chamber of commerce.
• Write tips sheets for your customers.
• Write and send articles to magazines and newspapers.
• Send a news release to the media every three months.
• Do something crazy and newsworthy at least once a year.
• Send photocopies of your news coverage to your clients.
• Build and maintain an informative and interesting web site.
• Sponsor a cause, event, charity or community group.
• Volunteer for your association, charity or community group.

Have you had powerful experiences using any of these? Tell us about it!

What powerful marketing tactics work for you?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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© George Torok is co-author of “Secrets of Power Marketing: Promote Brand You”. To arrange your keynote speech or training program call 905-335-1997 or email [email protected]. To receive a free copy of 50 Power Marketing Ideas® and your free subscription to monthly marketing tips visit www.PowerMarketing.ca

Great Marketing Advice – Simplify Your Message

I get a lot of newsletters and emails that promote interesting new brands and their products and services. They seem to pour into my inbox so fast that I have a tough time deciding which ones are worth even a few seconds of my time.

When I do glance at them, I am continually amazed at how much wisdom and experience people are willing to share with the masses … and I often save these valuable articles and whitepapers. Such is the case with Infusionsoft’s email marketing case example.

This tip is especially important in our age of explosive digital information, when we are inundated and often a bit overwhelmed:

Looking for Email Marketing

“Here at Infusionsoft we pride ourselves on the comprehensiveness of our product. Our marketing message has typically been that our software is an “all-in-one small business solution”, and it is. But that message doesn’t seem to resonate very well. People don’t want an all-in-one solution, especially small business owners and entrepreneurs. The majority of them are looking for email marketing.”

“So, late this year we started testing the idea of leading our message with email marketing only, and why our email marketing solution is superior to what people are used to. This is a big change for us and we were reluctant to go this route because our product is so much more than just email marketing.”

Increase Your Conversion Rate

“We’ve learned that by focusing our message on only one aspect of our product, people are much more likely to listen to the rest of the message. Conversions have increased and the new customers that have come in the door under our new message seem to be much better customers. So the lesson learned is: Even if your product is amazing and does a million wonderful things, it’s crucial to only talk about one thing at a time and start with the most relevant one.” -Tyler Garns, Infusionsoft (Thanks to Marketing Sherpa for the quote.)

Free Trial Offer!

I’m passing on their great offer – Free Trial on InfusionSoft at the link below!

Infusionsoft Free Trial

Have you simplified your message? Do you have tips for how to do it effectively?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Meet the “Idea Lady”

I invite you to meet a creative and energetic woman who helps the blogging community prosper in a unique way. Her name is Cathy Stucker, the “Idea Lady”!

Among her many innovative online entrepreneurial programs (see her site for details), Cathy brilliantly conceived of a much-needed online community – a sort of “match-making” service for bloggers. We all know how valuable guest blog posting can be, with links to your online properties, enhanced credibility as a subject matter expert (SME), and great PR all around. Cathy has taken all that to new heights!

A New Marketing Tool Emerges

A little more than a year ago, Cathy realized that the internet did not offer a platform for bloggers to find, or offer their services for, guest blogging. So she made it happen. I’ve personally subscribed to her BloggerLinkup newsletter, and enjoy scanning it for opportunities (wishing for 40 hours in each day in order to do more writing). Take a look, if you need a guest blogger, or you’d like to offer your services as a guest blogger.

Cathy uses the service herself, and sites one particularly notable experience. A certain post, written by a guest blogger for Cathy’s blog, included a couple of affiliate links. One of the links was Cathy’s affiliate program, and the other was her guest’s affiliate program. Not only did they both make money from the affiliate links in that post, but Blogger Linkup received a coveted link from The Huffington Post. Also known as “HuffPo” or “HuffPost”, The Huffington Post is ranked the most powerful blog in the world by The Observer. What a coup, Cathy!

FREE Social Media Marketing Tool

Cathy also asked me to make sure you know that everything – EVERYTHING – about BloggerLinkup is FREE:

• FREE newsletter subscription
• FREE offers to guest post
• FREE requests for guest posters
• No charging allowed for any services

Thanks, Cathy, for all your fun and helpful advice. I especially loved your webinar last night (also FREE, I might add!)

Have you found a new or unique online marketing tool lately?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

Big brands, small brands, EVERY brand that is building a community of targeted traffic on a social media platform is also building intrinsic value for their company. Hooray! Their efforts actually equate to marketing power and real dollars.

Why? Because this community is comprised of potential customers, and reaching them has an equivalent offline media price.

Social Media Marketing Traffic Equals Value

Attracting eyeballs has historically cost advertisers hard-earned dollars in the traditional media world.

Now, these same advertisers capture the attention of their target market through social media platforms. I would go so far as to argue that social media platforms, if used wisely and strategically, can be more valuable than traditional media vehicles.

Social Media Marketing Traffic is Niche-Specific

Social media traffic can be highly niche-targeted, and those potential customers are usually eager to be heard, and want to engage in meaningful discussion. When a two-way interaction is initiated, the company begins to develop a very real relationship.

The Value of a Social Media Fan

For example, Facebook Fans (now “Likes”), have committed to the relationship by associating their own profile with that of another profile, often a business. Those commitments have now been valued. According to an AdWeek article by Brian Morrissey, quoting social media specialist Vitrue, the social media value of each fan (I use the term loosely, since Facebook converted to “Likes”) is $3.60.

Starbuck’s Social Media Value on Facebook

Vitrue arrived at its $3.6 million figure by working off a $5 CPM, meaning a brand’s 1 million fans generate about $300,000 in media value each month. Using Vitrue’s calculation, Starbucks’ 6.5 million fan base — acquired in part with several big ad buys — is worth $23.4 million in media annually.

For the full AdWeek story, see Value Of a Social Media Fan

Do you think the value of a ‘Social Media Fan’ or ‘Like’ will eventually be recognized by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

What is Marketing? What is PR?

You’ve likely heard it before – in the digital world, “The lines have blurred between Marketing and PR.”

What does that mean? How have the lines blurred? In order to answer these questions, let’s take a look at the OLD versus the NEW rules of Marketing, as proposed by David Meerman Scott in his bestselling book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

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The OLD Rules of Marketing

The message was delivered ONE-WAY, and CREATIVITY was the secret sauce that commanded the audience’s attention. Among the fundamental concepts of the OLD marketing paradigm:

• Advertising was the core tool
• The advertising message was generally crafted to appeal to the masses
• Advertising INTERRUPTED the audience with a one-way message
• Advertising engaged campaigns for a defined time period
• Creators focused on creativity – and award-winning campaigns
• Advertising and PR were different specialties, run by different people

The OLD Rules of PR

The ultimate goal: Spin a press release to capture reporters’ attention, then get a clip of the story, to show that the message was viewed by the audience.

• Media comprised the toolbox, in order to get the message out
• A press release was the core tool
• Only significant news commanded the attention of the media
• It was all in “the spin” (or HYPE!)
• Quotes from third parties were an important element of a press release
• Press releases were meaningless unless a reporter decided that it was worthy of a story

The NEW Rules of Marketing and PR

Since the internet is now one huge publisher, ANYONE can learn how to create compelling messages and publish them. Getting found online is the science and art. A few of the new rules include:

• People don’t want “spin” – they want authenticity
• People don’t want to be interrupted anymore (it’s now called SPAM)
• People don’t want to be ‘told’ (push marketing), they want to be heard
• People want VALUE (content), which develops relationship and trust
• Marketing and PR can reach niche audiences online in a wider variety of ways
• Content is KING, and stays online, with no end to the campaign

The New TOOLS of Marketing and PR

It’s no longer TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, etc. Meaningful, valuable CONTENT is the vehicle that captures audiences’ attention. It is now found on:

• Websites
• Blogs
• Microblogs (Tweets)
• Social Media platforms (Facebook.com, Myspace.com, etc)
• Article Directories
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Etc, etc etc!

What new marketing rules and tools have worked for you?

For more information, see the full article, NEW RULES OF MARKETING & PR

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

It’s not only quite impressive that Wells Fargo Bank & Co is adopting social media with such open arms – but it’s IMPORTANT to watch them lead the way for other banks and financial institutions.

Online Marketing for Banks

WAY, way back – in the social media world – March 2006, Wells Fargo & Co. launched its first corporate blog.

Today, with hundreds of employees using blogs to brainstorm with each other and interact with customers, they’re LISTENING to their audience. And that’s ground-breaking significant, because Wells Fargo is the No. 4 U.S. bank.

Launch of a Virtual World

They’ve even gone much further, boldly launching Stagecoach Island, an online virtual world where you can explore the island and its hidden secrets, connect with friends and make new ones, and at the same time learn smart money management.

Targeting the hard-to-capture Gen X and Gen Y audience, Wells Fargo brilliantly created this free gaming platform to grab the attention of this coveted market and gain their loyalty by offering a fun online attraction marketing tool to engage them and keep them coming back.

Learn Money Management

Stagecoach Island is creative and fun, but also a very important learning experience in managing money.

You can earn virtual money by visiting the Learning Lounge — a virtual Wells Fargo ATM — and answering questions about money management. They’ve also introduced virtual jobs, credit cards, and home loans so that you can learn, earn, build and play more in-world!.

Now that the Gen X and Gen Y audience is playing on Stagecoach Island, guess where they’ll do their banking?

Additional Social Media ‘Firsts’ by Wells Fargo Bank

Wells Fargo now claims a variety of banking-industry social media firsts – among them:

• First bank with 2, 3, and 4 blogs
• First bank in the world with a Second Life presence
• First bank on MySpace
• First bank with an avatar persona on MySpace
• First bank with a VP Social Media

The bank has also branched out to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

It’s all about online strategy and goals – move forward and realize tangible, meaningful returns – profits – increased customer value that leads to loyalty & retention.

See Well’s Fargo Bank’s full social media story.

Online marketing for banks – has it touched you yet? What does your bank do in social media?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

You’re trying to keep up with the times and build a meaningful marketing email list. After all, email newsletters and email blasts are (almost) free. And they can be segmented to accommodate a wide variety of target marketing messages. Beautiful!

Is it fair to add contacts from business cards you collect at a business or social function?

I’ve followed a group discussion on this topic for a few weeks now, and the feedback is quite divided. If there is a tie on this subject, I’m going to break it.

The pros and cons of “business cards and email list building”

Some say “YES” – Some business people and feel that it IS fair, that the person who gave their card should expect some follow up. Business cards have been the source of the traditional list-build for hard copy newsletters for years, so it’s only natural to extend that to email lists.

Some say “NO” – The flip side of the coin is that the person who gave the card did not give it with the expectation that they would become a subscriber.

We get so many newsletters, emails and spam that it’s very time-consuming (and potentially irritating) to be forced to open emails and sort through them – to scan and delete those that don’t interest you, and to be sure to keep those that do.

How many emails are sent and received every day?

Statistics, extrapolations and counting by Radicati Group estimate the number of emails sent per day at around 247 billion – more than 2.8 million every second. Around 80% of these are spam and viruses!

Average number of corporate emails sent and received per person, per day:
2008: 156
2010: 199

Percent of work day spent managing email for the average corporate email user:
2003: 17%
2006: 26%
2009: 41%

What’s the answer – add them or not?

In my opinion, it’s a clear NO. You run a very high risk of creating ill will if you add those business card contacts to your email database without asking permission. Many business people simply drop your email into their spam and block folder – thereby banishing you forever. Horrors!

Ideally, a “double opt-in” method to build your marketing email list organically is the best and most positive way to create and nurture important relationships that last.

Do you ask permission first, and if so, how?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

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Blogs, comments and social network postings are very important in businesses’ marketing tactics. They attract audiences and begin to build relationships of trust and engagement. But employee posts can also inadvertently cause PR nightmares for business, if even ONE errant post goes viral and causes negative word of mouth.

Legal Risks of Employees’ Social Media Use

When using social media, companies are exposed to many serious risks from multiple angles, including:

• Defamation
• Copyright
• Anti-trust issues
• Inappropriate use by staff
• Intellectual property rights
• User generated content
• Employment practices

It’s Time to Plan Your Policies and Guidelines

Don’t let your marketing and communications teams run ahead without due diligence and risk management controls.

EXAMPLE Social Media Policies

Let’s take a quick look at a few companies’ policies and guidelines on employee use of social networking. The policy excerpts below offer highlights of their own in-house guidelines:

Yahoo’s Blog Policies – Belief Statement

“Yahoo! believes in fostering a thriving online community and supports blogging as a valuable component of shared media.”

For more information, see excerpts fromYahoo’s Policies

Mayo Clinic’s Employee Social Media Policy

“The main thing Mayo employees need to remember about blogs and social networking sites is that the same basic policies apply in these spaces as in other areas of their lives. The purpose of these guidelines is to help employees understand how Mayo policies apply to these newer technologies for communication, so you can participate with confidence not only on this blog, but in other social media platforms.”

City of Seattle

“To address the fast-changing landscape of the Internet and the way residents communicate and obtain information online, City of Seattle departments may consider using social media tools to reach a broader audience. The City encourages the use of social media to further the goals of the City and the missions of its departments, where appropriate.”

Many companies are quite explicit, with well-defined, formal rules. Others adopt a more open, lenient culture.

Could this be inviting a future legal battle?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

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