Marketing: Why You Must Continue To Change
5 years ago, marketing through online branding was considered far fetched at best. The concept was raw, and the number of companies using it scarce. Today though, blogs, social networking profiles and online advertisements have become almost standard practice when it comes to marketing. The question now becomes “what brought about the change?”
The answer to this lies within the question: Change.
We must always remember that although ‘change’ can be a frightening concept, ‘change’ has helped us improve our quality of living, helped us make new discoveries and in some cases, been a beacon for hope.
When it comes to marketing, change can be scary, exciting and rewarding. What’s important is that we always remember that change is inevitable. (more…)
AOL Instant Messenger: On The Outside Looking In
When AOL Instant Messenger, better known as AIM, first hit the online world in 1997, it took off like wildfire. While AIM wasn’t the first instant messaging application, it was by far one of the most popular and widely used. Whether you used it to stay in touch with friends or as a way to meet new people, AIM not only impacted our culture at the time, but it also laid the groundwork for future social media powerhouses, Facebook and Twitter.
With features like file transfer, emoticons, and the always amusing/irritating ‘warn’ button, AIM attracted groups by the masses. Still, that was then, and this is now. The reality is that AIM can no longer compete with the Facebook and Twitter’s of the world. The once teacher, has now become the student. AOL’s inability to monetize off AIM consistently has continuously been put to question and it seems like its now or never for AOL’s once popular application. (more…)
Why You Can’t ‘Dislike’ Facebook
When Facebook first started, Mark Zuckerberg intended it to be used as an online simulation of real-life relationships. To his credit, Facebook has become just that. From relationships to catching up with friends, Facebook has taken networking to new levels. Still, Facebook has a ways to go if it intends on being a true online representation of real-life.
The biggest complaint of which is the ability to dislike content on Facebook. Although Facebook allows you to ‘like’ content from your friends, they don’t have an option to ‘dislike’ something. The question then becomes what do you do if you find something so offensive that ‘hide content’ just doesn’t work for you?
Facebook Isn’t MySpace
No matter what the public says, in the end, Facebook will have the final say on how they want their social network to function. With that said, one of the most important things that Facebook considers when they introduce new features, such as their new Facebook privacy policy, is not only how it will affect users, but also their brand. (more…)
How Do You Measure ROI In Social Media?
In the first 24 hours upon its’ release, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” smashed U.S. sales records by selling 6.9 million copies in the United States alone. It took J.K. Rowling over a year to write, but took only an hour to make millions. With any task or campaign one engages in, the ROI on the project is at the top of the list. Whether it be selling a book or a new TV commercial for your product, the ROI is how success is judged. With the explosion of social media marketing, companies often find themselves going through the motions of creating Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages, but without any true understanding of “why.” This is due in part to the difficulty in measuring ROI for social media.
The Conflict of Push Marketing and Social Media
The biggest reason why it is difficult to measure the ROI of social media campaigns stems from the premise of social media itself. When sites like Twitter and Facebook were started, the immediate goal wasn’t to monetize it, but rather to create a platform that allowed users to interact, share, and network with one another in a seamless and simplistic manner. As these platforms gained popularity, it also began to attract marketers and companies that were exploring new ways to ‘push’ their product out there.
Here in lies the problem. The concept of ‘push’ marketing is one that is used by most if not all companies, and involves creating a product and actively reaching out to consumers in hopes that they will buy it. Traditionally, this involved an assortment of strategies including cold-calling, advertisements, and extensive marketing campaigns all of which were geared toward and increase in sales. Here, a successful campaign involves an ROI where money was made. Plain and simple. (more…)
The Social Media Superhero
Answer the following questions with a simple Yes or No:
-
The only way you can fly is in an airplane.
-
You know where and what everyone is doing thanks to Facebook.
-
Your leather belt is the closest you’ll ever be to having a utility belt.
-
The Fail Whale cowers in your presence.
-
The only way you will look like Wolverine is if you don’t shave.
How Will You Engage Your Community?
An important part of a companies brand is how they engage their community. Your community can help you climb to new heights, but can also bring you back down to earth. With consumers becoming less receptive to brands that market themselves through traditional forms of marketing such as television and print, companies have begun to embrace social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook as powerful tools for engagement. As the number of companies using social media continue to rise, companies must be prepared to answer the question “how will you engage your community?”
This past week I was able to listen and interact with some of the great minds in social media at the Social Media Marketing Strategies Conference. Some of the big names included keynote speakers MC Hammer and Ian Schafer, as well as Rohit Bhargava [Digital Strategy & Marketing, Ogilvy], Michael Bissell [President, Conquent ], Jun Loayza [President, SocialMediaMarketing.com], Brian Solis [Principal, PR2.0 & FutureWorks], and Shiv Singh [VP & Global Social Media Lead, Razorfish]. From the event I was able to learn about the direction of social media and more importantly, the growing role it will play in a companies success. (more…)
Life Without Lag: The Social Media Effect
Google maps says it takes 10 minutes to get from point A to point B. Unfortunately, 10 minutes ends up being more like 13 minutes. Although it’s just 3 minutes off, that’s 3 minutes lost. As the day continues, the minutes add up. How many minutes have you wasted? Whether it’s the time wasted in traffic or the time spent waiting in lines, it makes one wonder what life without lag would be like.
While no one would say they enjoy waiting in long lines or sitting in traffic, it has become a part of life. Just how brushing your teeth and tying your shoelaces have become second nature, so has living with ‘lag.’ We complain about it, but with no solution. The delays that we experience every day in our lives also occur because of uncontrollable events. From the snow storm that delays a flight home on the holidays to the rain that makes traffic seem twice as slow, we have accepted delay and lag as part of our lives. (more…)
Your Career And Social Voyeurism
When you apply for a job, one of the first things that employers will do is take a look at your resume. Traditionally, this along with a face to face interviews were the steps to getting a job. With the ability to now get information within seconds, traditional steps to getting a job are being substituted by other methods. What it says on paper is no longer enough information for employers. With information becoming easier to gather, employers want to get as much information as they can on possible candidates. Using sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, employers can now find out when you first started a job, who you know, as well as other information you may not want them to know like where you went last night or that ‘one crazy night’ during college.
Mind If I Stalk You?
Launched in early 2004, Facebook is now the 3rd most visited website according to Compete.com and has not only helped users reconnect with old friends and make new ones, but sparked a new culture that can be described as “social voyeurism.” Another word that I have heard used to describe it is “social network stalking.” While many argue that it is unfair for employers to use your Facebook account as basis for being qualified for a job, what people need to realize is that whatever you put online becomes part of the world wide web. Privacy is a myth. No matter how much privacy you put on your Facebook account, there are ways for employers to get that information. From companies having current employees already in your network to ‘dummy’ accounts that friend potential candidates, for one to believe their Facebook accounts are private is wrong.
(more…)
