Case Studies (examples) Strength of Community Supersedes Influence. Image by Annie Siegal With the current overfocus on influence metrics, companies and nonprofits are left to wonder at the digeratti’s navel gazing via participation scores. While influencers play a role in social media, for a company or nonprofit that role is ultimately very small. After the influencer “graces” everyone with their presence, the organization’s community remains. After a sales or advocacy campaign winds up, the community remains. When those initiatives are needed again, they require a strong community in place, openly receptive of such overtures. That’s why the most important metric should always be Strength of Community. Direct ROI — i.e. sales, donations, tonality and other key performance indicators (KPIs) — also represents a critical measurement set. Strength of community measures the health of an organization’s core social network.
Yet, there’s no real focus on developing social media based strength of community metrics. (Image from AllFacebook) Why Your Social Media Strategy Sucks. Social media is crap. Social media is a waste of money and time. Social media can’t be measured so we’re just wasting energy. Social media doesn’t offer lead generation. Blah blah blah. I’ve seen a ton of criticism about social media and what it can and can’t do. Most times the biggest complaint is that “social media isn’t working for us”, and because of that, social media is automatically a crap shoot.
But maybe those doing the loudest complaining should take a long hard look in the mirror and ask why it’s not working. And here’s why. Blogs and Books Are Your Education You read a ton of blogs. And then get all upset because the advice in A-List Blogger’s latest masterpiece didn’t work for you. A blog post isn’t a strategy. A blog post isn’t specifically written for you, either – it’s a generic cover-all that can apply to thousands of other readers, some of whom will be your competitors. Forget generic – start thinking specific. It’s Not Strategy If There’s No End Goal Brand awareness?
Twitter Adder ? Professional Twitter Marketing Tools ? Automatic Twitter Software ? Automate Twitter Posts, Auto Twitter Follow, Automate Unfollow, Mass Tweets, Twitter Search, more .. Social Media How-Tos. How to start a link building campaign? What does the future of corporate social-media strategy look like? | SmartBlog on Social Media. Facebook trends. Social Media-Community. Can the NY Times write about mom blogs without snark?
Business Uses for Twitter. This past week, Chris Brogan wrote a very concise and useful post on how to use Twitter for business. In it, you will find ideas on creating an account, topics to consider for the medium, a check on Twittetiquette, and an assessment of both the minuses and the pluses of having a Twitter presence. Whenever I write up ideas for execution, I tend to sell the concept up front by addressing why you should consider this idea. If you are interested in listening in and interacting with individuals who may give you ideas on uses for products and services - yours or those of others - as well as catching a glimpse of what early adopters are working on and talking about, do sign up.
The "why" can also be a "why not". A brief aside for eager marketers - Twitter is not another channel for pushing messages or ads. Please go back and reread this line, twice. The conversation at Chris' blog got into a lot of different tactics, with many useful comments. 1. 2. 3. Four Ways to Deal With Inactives on Your Email List : MarketingProfs. On any email list, there will be subscribers who signed up and never again showed signs of life. They may have opted in to a specific offer, then disengaged once they obtained the coupon, free content, or other benefit you promised.
Or they joined your list while in the market for your product or service but soon afterward their needs were met and they never bothered to unsubscribe. In email lingo, we call such list members "inactives. " The reality is that unless inactive subscribers specifically tell you why they haven't responded, you really never know for sure. Is it because they... Are not the right fit for your product or service? Any of those could be the reason. You'll likely never really know on an individual basis, but it's safe to assume that at least some inactive subscribers would like to re-engage. Because of that, here's my recommended four-step course of action for dealing with inactives. 1.
Identify inactives on your list according to agreed-upon criteria (Never purchased? The 8 Success Criteria For Facebook Page Marketing. 5 Huge Trends in Social Media Right Now. What's the first thing young women do when they wake up? Check Facebook. How do enterprise employees pass the time at work? With social media. With so many studies highlighting ever-accelerating social media usage rates, the conclusion is obvious — social media is everywhere. What follows are five of the hottest social media trends right now. Entertainment checkin services are changing the way we watch television. 1. Smartphone owners have the world at their fingertips. What this means is that at any given moment, any smartphone owner can pull out their device, fire up a barcode scanning application, scan a code and complete activities or gain access to a wealth of immediately relevant information.
The consumer's scanning behavior is so significant that location-sharing checkin services such as SCVNGR are giving away QR code decals to retailers free of charge. As scanning becomes a more socially acceptable practice, the barcode scan will only become more social in nature. 2. 3. 4. 5. Foursquare.
Marketing & Facebook. Elgan: Why bookmarking is obsolete. Opinion June 19, 2010 07:00 AM ET Computerworld - Since the Web first came online in 1991, it has grown and improved beyond anyone's predictions. Unlike the gray background, mono-spaced text and ugly graphics on the Web in those early years, today's Web is rich with video, interactive applications and other useful and distracting goodies. But even after all these years, the way we find, navigate and save content on the Web works pretty much like it always did. But now there's a conspicuously innovative new option. The service is functionally similar in some ways to social bookmarking sites, but its core function is "curation," which Wikipedia defines as the "selection, preservation, maintenance, and collection and archiving of digital assets. " Described by one blogger as a social bookmarking tool based on "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," Pearltrees looks a bit like Google's "Wonder Wheel," but it isn't used the same way.
The Pearltrees interface is appealing and intuitive to use. 15 Informative Social Media Monitoring Tools. Matrix: Challenges of the Social Technology Industry, July 2010. While the opportunities for social technologies to change the world, business, and our individual lives continue to unveil, it’s also key to focus in on the challenges that impact the industry.
For many folks who have decided to invest in social technologies to improve their careers and business, it’s even more important to pay attention to these challenges. First of all, have the right mindset. The savvy person will realize this isn’t a list of gripes, but instead an opportunity list. Leaders at vendors, agencies, or brands will see these list of challenges of problems to fix and monetize. Matrix: Challenges of the Social Technology Industry, July 2010 Edition How to Overcome These Challenges Taking on issues head on is a powerful way to take control over your own destiny.
Top 10 Questions Businesses Asked Us About Facebook Marketing. Despite the technical difficulties we experienced at our biggest webinar— The Science of Facebook Marketing —many of our attendees' questions didn’t revolve only around sound issues. We received a bunch of thoughtful inquiries about marketing on Facebook and wanted to share those with you! Here are our answers to the top 10 questions companies asked us about Facebook marketing: 1.What is the best way to drive interactions on your Facebook page? Takeaway: Think Content.
The most effective way to drive interactions on your Facebook page is by creating fresh and unique content . Your followers can start a discussion when they have an interesting topic to tackle. Don’t blast your network with self-promotional materials, but post content valuable to the community. 2. Takeaway: Stay in Touch Constantly. 3. Takeaway: Graphics Matter. 4.How often should you post your website content on your Facebook page? Takeaway: Don’t Be Sales-ey. 5. Takeaway: Build Your Reputation. 6. 7. 5 Social Media Trends to Watch Right Now. This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. With social media itself an exponentially growing trend that's here to stay, many companies both small and large are keeping tabs on new social technologies as they emerge.
With new sites, services, apps and practices that help businesses connect more directly with customers coming online at a rapid pace, it's often helpful to zoom out a bit and keep an eye on upcoming trends on the cusp or just over the horizon. Whether or not particular individual services succeed, the following trends are likely to stick around in the near-term future. Some may not be immediately relevant to your company or industry, but being aware of oncoming movements in the social media landscape can help keep you and your business out ahead of the curve when a new trend holds promise for your organization's growth. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.