Surveys are a good way to determine trends. The eMarketer organization helps Digital Marketing advertisers, agencies, and publishers keep up with what’s up via publishing digital intelligence reports from various respected sources.
Here is a March 12, 2010 article about the 2010 trend of Return On Investment (ROI) being the top marketing parameter in 2010.
What I got out of the article is that advertisers are simultaneously enthusiastic about, but tired of the hype about Social Media Marketing. It doesn’t say why some fatigue is setting in with advertisers so I am left to speculate.
- Resistance to change?
- More work – one more marketing channel to deal with?
- Confusion about the fragmented nature of Social Media and how to pick the ‘right’ things to do?
- Conflicted over how to split their marketing budgets?
- Worries about one more thing to be accountable for?
- Fear? – Companies are not in control of information within Social Media, the customer is in control.
Whatever is causing some advertisers to consider Social Media a “necessary evil”, the bottom line is that Social Media has risen to the top of the list of must do marketing activities!
Need help with your Digital Media decisions and implementation? We are a Digital Media adoption agency. Contact me for information
Tags: Digital Marketing, Digital Media, Digital Media Marketing, Socail Networks, Social Media, Social Media Marketing
Small businesses are warming to Social Media Marketing - it is now a mainstream, broadly accepted marketing venue.
Here is a link to real world experiences of the small business world with Social Media provided by eMarketer.
And ‘Marketing Budgets Spiral Towards Social’ - Nearly one fifth of marketing budgets will go to social in 5 years!
Getting confirmation that Social Media is effective for business purposes is one thing; knowing how to do it effectively is another. You can piece together how-to info from this blog or other online sources. Or you can seek advice from friends and associates.
Or… you can obtain a comprehensive Social Media Strategy guide from professionals. We offer a Social Media Strategy Kit for $99.95 that offers 60+ pages that will jump start your Social Media Marketing voyage. The full purchase price will be refunded if you engage WSI for a website or Internet marketing project. Contact me to order your kit.
What will you learn from your Social Media Strategy Kit?
Though the majority of companies are aware of the benefits associated with social media, many have not established a social media strategy. Why? It could be due to limited resources or simply because they do not know where to begin. To help your company get started with social media, WSI has created this Social Media Strategy Kit which contains best practices, checklists, templates, tools and resources so your company can:
- Educate yourself and your staff on social media
- Ensure social media policies and guidelines are established
- Ensure your brand is protected and consistent
- Engage your customers and stake-holders
- Create a social presence and community
- Generate leads via your networks
- Utilize social media in your PR endeavours
- Measure your social activities
- Monitor your online brand reputation
- Establish a digital crisis management strategy for social damage control
It’s vital that your company stay up-to-speed with today’s evolving digital media technologies. This way, you can monitor what customers are saying about your brand online, but more importantly, leverage these new media tools to create and foster positive conversations around your brand.
Don’t miss this limited time offer for a comprehensive Social Media Marketing Kit for only $99.95 (fully refundable if you engage WSI in a website or Internet marketing campaign). Contact me to obtain your kit. WSI is a social media adoption agency.
Tags: Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, social networks
I installed a new bird feeder to help the neighborhood birds make it through the winter.
I eagerly watched to see which birds would show up. Before long, a single chickadee dashed in, grabbed a seed and flew off. Soon there was a steady stream of chickadees making an appearance. Chickadees are early adopters, networking, brave birds.
Some seeds spilled on the ground which drew the attention of Juncos. These birds ignored the bountiful supply of seeds in the feeder and stuck to their nature of foraging on the ground for the scraps. Juncos are set in their ways and will avoid leaving their comfort zone no matter the advantages offered by the feeder.
I put more seeds on the ground for the Juncos. The chickadees adapted. They took seeds from the ground & feeder, whichever offered the best opportunity.
Before long, Cardinals showed up, but stayed in the near by bushes for a long time studying the activities of the other birds around the feeder. The Cardinals eventually nervously joined in the feast alternating between the feeder and ground foraging. Cardinals are mainstream types joining only after other birds proved the safety of the areas around the feeder.
These bird behaviors simulate human behavior. Some people bravely jump on new ideas and products but use a mix of old & new methods as it makes sense – the chickadees. Some people sit back and observe before adopting new things – the Cardinals. And some folks reluctantly, if ever, try ideas that challenge their comfort zone no matter how beneficial – the Juncos.
Conventional Media Media Marketing (Yellow Pages, Newspapers, Magazines, TV, Radio, etc) still provide a source of leads (like foraging on the ground for seeds). Digital Internet Marketing (Search, Social, Mobile, etc) offers a new, bountiful source of leads (like going to the mother load in a bird feeder).
Smart businesses quickly experiment with new ideas and integrate the best mix of old and new methods. The Chickadees do that and the Cardinals eventaully do the same. Juncos resist ever changing.
What type of bird are you: Chickadee or Cardinal or Junco?
If you are ready for leads from bird feeder like bounty instead of foraging for your leads, contact me. We provide Digital Internet Marketing Adoption Options for all types of birds.
Tags: Digital Marketing, Digital Media Marketing, Internet Marketing
This blog now has 100 Digital Marketing posts archived since it started 5 months ago. It’s time for a ‘keep it simple’ review of Digital Marketing principles.
The Internet provides the opportunity for everyone, everywhere to become a publisher to a world audience. The Internet is an information distribution network and marketing engine that surpasses the capabilities of any other mass publication system and offers the lowest cost for delivery.
Internet Publication Methods and Marketing Tactics Include:
Websites – Modern websites are built with an administration friendly Content Management System (CMS) wrapped inside a graphics design – the technical and design elements. But a business website’s value is determined by its targeted traffic volume and content effectiveness – does it attract sufficient visitors and convert visitors into some form of customer? A website without traffic is useless and traffic is useless without conversions.
Search Marketing – There are millions of web pages competing within each online marketplace. Getting your share of targeted traffic requires the use of Search Marketing (SEO & PPC) – SEO is the elephant of Internet Marketing.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) – Networking, WOM, display ads, publications, and SEO enhancement make SMM the new must-do.
- Social Networks = personal & business brand building via value added activities leading to WOM leads & referrals + display advertising opportunities
- Content Sharing = examples include: YouTube, Photobucket, Squidoo, Articles & News Release portals, WIKIs, and Flickr among many other similar websites. It’s like having your own globally broadcast newspapers, scrap books, and TV stations – for free.
- Blogs = a global publication system for a personal diary, editorial page, and article & news postings.
- Syndication = includes things like: RSS feeds, Social Bookmarking, and the occasional spontaneous Viral affect
- Real Time Communications = includes things like Twitter, a Facebook wall, text messaging, chat rooms, and web-conferencing
Display Ads - Graphic and/or text ads with links to your website in high traffic single websites or syndicated across a spectrum of high traffic sites frequented by your target customers.
Email – Ubiquitous email is still the lowest cost business mass communication tool with applications for nurturing existing clients or lead generation – just don’t engage in spamming.
Conversion Architecture – AKA Persuasion Architecture = The art and science of getting visitors to your online properties to actually do something of value for your business: buy, subscribe: contact you, provide endorsements & referrals, etc
Mobile – Do all of the above in miniature in the palm of your customer’s hand.
Analytics – Nearly everything in the digital world is measurable. Monitoring what is actually happening allows determination of your ROI and where to engage in continuous improvement activity.
To be successful online, some mix of the above is necessary. If you need help or don’t have the time to deal with the details, contact me for professional Digital Marketing services
Tags: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing
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