Are you thinking about what your strategy should be for 2009?

While your competition is sweating bullets deciding how they will participate in the “recession”, take a proactive step and do what they don’t and probably won’t do… implement a strategy to benefit from Social Media.

Here’s our first article we liked entitled: “What Is Your Company’s Social Media Marketing Strategy?” -  Social media websites have become some of the most profitable and powerful locations on the Web. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others are keeping internet users linked by age, preferences, interests and many other qualifiers - and our SEO company has certainly benefited from using social media as part of our overall online marketing plan.  If your business is not tapping into that market by now, what are you waiting for?

You can develop a strategy to interact with your customer base on the social media websites they use most often, or you can reach out to prospective customer on niche networks that suit your brand.  You can also use the functions of social media to enhance your customer service by responding to and remedying problems as soon as they arise.  This can help nip potential problems in the bud, and your customers may feel better served and more connected when this is an option. Read more of this article at:  http://seogroup.com/blog/what-is-your-companys-social-media-marketing-strategy/370/

(Make sure to download the PDF available in this article.) Our next post we liked is entitled: “The 7 Must-Haves In Your Social Media Strategy.”
It’s fantastic that interest in social media is so high, but I’m alarmed at the number of brands and agencies that are ready to jump into social media to take “advantage” of audience concentration in Facebook, Twitter, and other fast-growth outposts. What’s lacking in most social media programs is an actual strategy.

If you don’t know precisely why you’re in social media, with whom you want to engage, and how you’re going to measure success, you’re not ready to start.

I use a 7-step Social Media Strategy Worksheet to create a framework that governs what the initiative aims to accomplish.  (Click link to download.)

Read more of this article at: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2008/12/its_fantastic_that_interest_in.html

SocialMarketingExpert browsing and came upon a panel discussion in the article by Pete Blackshaw entitled “Ad-Tech “Master Class” Panel: If You Had $5 to Spend Online? ” In it a panel made up of the NY Times, Kraft, Intuit, Zappos.com, and 1800Flowers.com were asked, “If your goal is to sell management on the value of investing online, and you only had $5 to spend, where would you start?”

To summarize:
1) Invest the money in nailing key consumer insights around online behavior.
2) Invest it in customer service, call support, or even employee training.
3) invested it in product (his definition of “product” encompassed their user online communities.) Thought being it would act as a de-facto customer support labor force.
4) Efficiently spend it on online advertising on “participatory platforms” such as the New York Times. Why?  Because if you invest in areas rich with influencers, it can increase your odds of success since consumers look to their peers on how and what to buy.
5) Test and measure user-interaction, feedback, and even spending patterns.

Take some time and digest the information found in the article. Pay particular attention to the bottom of the article where they discuss “Lessons from Obama’s Digital Effort.”

Also check out the link for Paul’s post “10 Interactive Marketing Tips from Barack and Hillary” at
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3628604

I read with interest a post recently sent from a Facebook group asking whether ads on Facebook would still qualify it to be referred to as Social Media Marketing? 

Recently Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, opened up advertising on Facebook  taking the approach of ‘social actions’ of its users. (1) 

Zuckerberg stated “The core of every user’s experience on Facebook is their page and that’s where (all) businesses are going to start as well. Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people. It’s no longer just about messages that are broadcasted out by companies, but increasingly about information that is shared between friends. Social Ads can appear either within a user’s News Feed as sponsored content or in the ad space along the left side of the site.”

Some people say taking this next step is evolutionary. It first started with banner ads, then online giants like Craigslist used classifieds, and the third was Google ( & most search engines ) with the use of search advertising. 

These same people will say that ads do not make the cut as “social media marketing.” An ad is still an ad…as has been said its “brand speak versus being consumer speak.” Since social media is conversations WITH the community, this somehow disqualifies Facebook’s ads. Somewhere in the conversation we supposedly loose the sanctity of the conversation economy. As David Armano wrote about recently in Business Week, “Conversation leads to relationships and relationships lead to affinity,” Armano continues. Affinity, in turn, results in communities. “This is why anyone who plays a role in growing brands needs to become a conversation architect.”

David Armano continues, (the) “Conversation architects move marketing beyond the idea of one-way messaging. Traditional marketing efforts were founded on this tried-and-true format and are still prevalent within the industry. Consider the example of a typical creative brief template, which usually says something like, “What are we trying to communicate?” Can you see the old-world residue in the word “communicate”? It lacks the dimensions of experiencing something and having an ongoing two-way dialogue. “What are we trying to communicate?” implies a one-way conversation. Maybe we should ask ourselves: “How can we facilitate?” (2)

Others such as Brian Solis do a nice comparison in Conversational Marketing Vs Market Conversations.(3)

So I ask, after all this conversation about conversation, does it really matter if ads qualify as social media marketing? No. It’s about as silly as the Soup Nazi yelling to keep people in line. Keeping the “purity” of social media marketing just for the sake of purity truly won’t amount to “a hill of beans” if you can’t pay your bills. Business is in business to make a profit. Ads help make a business profitable. Trying to hold out and avoid ads is like being the last one on the Titanic and refusing a life vest because you’re a good swimmer. In the end, as a matter of survival, it really doesn’t matter does it…only surviving does.

I like what Celine Ruffet Directeur France at Qype added,  “Indeed I think you can use Facebook to promote a brand in many different ways including social media marketing but which is the most difficult part of the job!

Many brands are doing a page + ads on Facebook without any “social” way of thinking. This is usually the social part of their marketing plan.

As an example, some brands are using their logo on their page which is absolutely not a social way to act ! A basic recommendation is to create a “real profile” with of photo. To do social marketing, people need to be involve in the process (an artistic director, a boss, a beautiful PR girl…)

In order to discuss & create an exchange with the community, you need to personalise your communication on Facebook and live like a “human being” not a brand! Invite people to take a drink, create micro events in an apartment, put some photos, videos, say personal stuff on your life… People absolutely need to feel it is “real” and “exclusive”. ” (4)

As Matthew Ray of http://www.ourdrivetoalaska.com says “you need to reach your audience at a social level! Discuss, learn from them as they learn from you.”
 
(1)  http://www.facebook.com/press/releases.php?p=9176
(2)  http://www.briansolis.com/2007/09/conversational-marketing-versus-market.html
(3)  http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2007/09/19/can-marketing-be-conversational/
(4)  http://www.linkedin.com/newsArticle?viewDiscussion=&articleID=18141582&gid=66275&trk=add-news-lnk-cThOon0JumNFomgJt7dBpSBA

Twitter has attempted to pull a fast one by introducing the next level of Twitter in Japan. It’s called Twicco.  

A new and improved version of Twitter, dubbed Twicco, rolled out with the highlight being the group and community feature that allows users to create and follow the tweets of a group rather than an individual account.

Groups are important for many reasons.

Clay Shirkyon states on What businesses need to know about social media… “What do businesses need to know: Businesses need to know that the old simplicities of dealing with their customers are disappearing, because customers are now able to coordinate their actions in groups. The old model of engaging with your customers involved two modes — en masse and personal. Messages were sent out over mass media, in hopes of affecting the behavior of individuals.

Now, thanks to social media, customers are part of active groups, groups that form and dissolve quickly in response to people’s interests or needs — most messages in this media flow within social groups, rather than from businesses to individuals.” 

Twicco fits that space very comfortably. Try it out sometime.

Twitter launches groups in Japan

Can you generate enough traffic to make it worth your while in terms of sales? Look over what Starbucks did with Facebook as reported in The Election, Starbucks and Social Media Marketing by DrakeCooper 

“Starbucks set up a straightforward Facebook event that looks to be created and administrated by someone inside the company. I am betting this is about an hour investment of their time – max. And…they have garnered 423,792 invitations from people on Facebook just forwarding it around to their friends. Also, 164,883 people have said they will attend with most of the rest still awaiting response. There is also 13,187 wall posts and tons of pictures, etc. That is pretty heavy duty work for a social media campaign - driving a ton of traffic to them on FB – which also has other things for people to do, like see the commercial, participate in the “My Starbucks Idea” section and more. I would love to see their web stats today. If you are on Facebook check it out here. ”

You can read the whole article at http://www.drakecooper.com/news/2008/11/electiion-starbucks-and-social-media.html

There are times when you do this type of Social Media Marketing work…in fact many times, you feel alone. Dependent upon the size of your company (and budget) you work hours on end doing the needed “grunt work” that must be done to achieve success in Social Media. You do this not only for your clients, but also for yourself.

So it’s nice to get a nod from your peers…some type of recognition. I have received some recognition that I am very honored to have. Ron Hudson came out with the companion to his 50 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women in Social Media with the …wait for it… 50 Most Powerful and Influential Men in Social Media list.

I snuck in and made spot number 50. I will be the first to say that there are a number of people that should’ve been on that list that aren’t…but hey, Ron went throught he same “Monday Morning Quarterbacking” on the womens list.

So I will just say THANK YOU Ron and those who nominated me and voted for me. I will continue to strive to learn and grow and help others. It’s an industry tha is filled with many amazing people. ANd frankly I’m glad to be in the group.

So here’s the list of the 50 Most Powerful & Influential Men in Social Media:

1. Michael Arrington | www.techcrunch.com
Rank: 4076 | Linking in: 26,705

2. Pete Cashmore | www.mashable.com
Rank: 6,977 | Linking in: 15,105

3. Darren Rowse | www.problogger.net
Rank: 45,859 | Linking in: 8,734

4. John Dvorak | dvorak.org/blog
Rank: 46,169 | Linking in: 2,009

5. Frank Kern | www.masscontrolsite.com
Rank: 69,096 | Linking in: 180

6. Aaron Brazell | technosailor.com
Rank: 78,019 | Linking in: 1,123

7. Jason Calacanis | calacanis.com
Rank: 87,831 | Linking in: 2,813

8. Steve Rubel | www.micropersuasion.com
Rank: 87,428 | Linking in: 4,232

9. Willie Crawford | williecrawford.com/blog2/
Rank: 90,848 | Linking in: 387

10. Jeremy Schoemaker | www.shoemoney.com
Rank: 101,291 | Linking in: 3,153

and 50. G. Wayne Clayton | socialmarketingexpert.org/

To see number 11-49 visit 50 Most Powerful and Influential Men in Social Media list.

Someone who I recently became aware of on Twitter.com is Ron Hudson. His recent survey results prove just how brave of a man he truly is…On Hudson’s Immediate Influence Blog, he created a list of the top 50 Women in Social Media. So just how did Hudson determine the “winners?” Let’s quote Ron’s site:

“…we used Alexa to evaluate each person nominated for this list. While you will undoubtedly notice that some of the ladies have a large amount of sites linked to their blogs or websites, the determining factor was ranking. Why? Ranking depicts how much traffic their blogs/websites receive over a certain period. Although Google ranking is impacted by sites linking in, Alexa appears to care much more about traffic generated by the links…”

Not happy with his ;ist or wish your name was on it? Feel free to comment at his site: 50 OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Ron Hudson’s List:

1. Ann Handley | www.marketingprofs.com
Rank 43,936 | Linking in 1,841

2. Michelle MacPhearson | www.michellemacphearson.com
Rank 73,176 | Linking in 151

3. Liz Strauss | www.successful-blog.com
Rank 73,704 | Linking in 1,332

4. Lynn Terry | www.clicknewz.com
Rank 74,477 | Linking in 351

5. Justine Ezarik | tastyblogsnack.com
Rank: 82,875 | Linking in: 616

6. Shannon Hutton | sparkplugging.com/believer-in-balance
Rank: 83,378 | Linking in: 54

7. Maria Reyes-Mcdavis | www.websuccessdiva.com
Rank 119,917 | Linking in 165

8. Amy Clark | www.momadvice.com
Rank: 127,367 | Linking in: 398

9. Deborah Micek | www.tribalseduction.com
Rank 127,859 | Linking in 109

10. Shama Hyder | www.afterthelaunch.com
Rank: 128,441 | Linking in: 337

11. Veronica Belmont | www.veronicabelmont.com
Rank 133,278 | Linking in 494

12. Mari Smith | www.whyfacebook.com
Rank 148,408 | Linking in 91

13. Jackie Huba | www.churchofthecustomer.com
Rank 160,983 | Linking in 778

14. Carrie Wilkerson | www.barefoot-executive.com
Rank 162,116 | Linking in 34

15. Cathy Perkins | www.thewordpresswizard.com
Rank: 183,260 | Linking in: 27

16. Erin Kotecki Vest | www.queenofspainblog.com
Rank 203,533 | Linking in 337

17. Alli Worthington | fussypants.typepad.com
Rank: 215,331 | Linking in: 264

18. Denise Wakeman | www.buildabetterblog.com
Rank 219,482 | Linking in 322

19. Laura Fitton | www.pistachioconsulting.com
Rank 229,456 | Linking in 371

20. Debbie Weil | www.debbieweil.com
Rank 250,366 | Linking in 267

21. Lisa Hartwell | audiblemarketing.com
Rank: 266,602 | Linking in: 25

22. Sally Strebel | bestpartyever.com
Rank: 272,898 | Linking in: 119

23. Jessica Smith | jessicaknows.com
Rank: 291,558 | Linking in: 3

24. Roxanne Darling | www.barefeetstudios.com
327,171 | Linking in: 116

25. Connie Reece | www.everydotconnects.com
Rank 350,407 | Linking in 444

26. Pat Marcello | blogging4boomers.com
Rank: 351,903 | Linking in: 20

27. Kelby Carr | www.kelbycarr.com
Rank: 352,343 | Linking in: 51

28. Gwen Bell | www.gwenbell.com
Rank 409,627 | Linking in 69

29. Nancy Marmolejo | www.vivavisibilityblog.com
Rank 420,626 | Linking in 12

30. Dixie Brown | www.layoffyourboss2.com
Rank 490,176 | Linking in 12

31. Melody Campbell | thesmallbusinessguru.com
Rank: 666,214 | Linking in: 50

32. Francine Hardaway | blog.stealthmode.com
Rank: 736,990 | Linking in: 194

33. Dr. Letitia Wright | www.wrightplacetv.com
Rank: 751,575 | Linking in: 122

34. Jamila White | www.ecommercediva.com
Rank: 823,524 | Linking in: 35

35. Leesa Barnes | www.marketingfit.com
Rank 864,242 | Linking 0

36. Lisa Weinberger | pearlywrites.com
Rank: 903,362 | Linking in: 44

37. Katja Presnal | www.skimbacolifestyle.com
Rank: 900,620 | Linking in: 0

38. Charlene | theblackbusinesscafe.ning.com
Rank: 948,235 | Linking in: 6

39. Jan Tallent | www.jantallent.com
Rank: 1,066,578 | Linking in: 2

40. Alyssa Gregory | www.avertua.com
Rank: 1,087,893 | Linking in: 7

41. Nikki S | chaosinthecountry.com
Rank: 1,260,040 | Linking in: 20

42. Jean Ann Van Krevelen | www.edgyentrepreneur.com
Rank: 1,306,435 | Linking in: 2

43. Nancy Arroyo-Perez | www.nancyarroyo-perez.com
Rank 1,410,793 | Linking in: 4

44. Kristie Wells | www.kirstiewells.com
Rank: 1,454,100 | Linking in: 41

45. Sharon Mcpherson | www.sharonbraymcpherson.com
Rank 1,538,355 | Linking in 4

46. Tracey Tarrant | www.yourvirtualroundtoit.com
Rank 1,802,502 | Linking in: 5

47. Jenna Lloyd | appliedforcemarketing.com
Rank: 2,372,947 | Linking in: 2

48. Amy Lupold Bair | resourcefulmommy.com
Rank: 2,869,975 | Linking in: 0

49. Joanne Mason | www.masoninternetconsulting.com
Rank: 3,358,916 | Linking in: 0

50. Therese Prentice | socialnetworkingqueen.com
Rank: 3,531,975 | Linking in: 0

SocialMarketingExpert research shows some recent findings in the Boston Globe study entitled “Most Americans Want to See Companies on Social Sites” indicate that many, if not most Americans (93%) want to see companies on social sites to help them better understand their brands. Here’s an excerpt from that study:

According to the 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, 93 percent of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media, while an overwhelming 85 percent believe a company should not only be present, but also interact with its consumers via social media. In fact, 56 percent of American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.

“The news here is that Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media,” explains Mike Hollywood, director of new media for Cone. “It isn’t an intrusion into their lives, but rather a welcome channel for discussion.”

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/09/study_most_amer.html

The death knell was rung for e-mail a year or so ago. Too much…much of it bad.

Then along came this thing called Social Media - Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. A funny thing happened while this phenom continues to grow right before our eyes, e-mail has all of the sudden become “better.” To prove the point, please read this post by Nicholas Einstein with Datran Media.

As Social Media Grows, Effective E-mail Thrives
Over the past two years, the rapid adoption of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace has transformed the way many consumers interact on the Web.

Some customer segments, especially younger ones, now spend an increasingly large percentage of their online time on these sites and primarily use them to communicate with their peers. These same consumers, according to a recent report from JupiterResearch, are apparently spending less time in their e-mail inbox and may be paying

less attention to the messages they receive there. This shift is causing some to question, perhaps prematurely, the future of e-mail as the dominant social networking tool.

In his report, The Social and Portable Inbox, David Daniels quantifies this shift in alarming detail and, according to Jupiter, it may not be isolated to younger segments. Nearly one-quarter of e-mail users reported using social networking sites in this way. Fifty-three percent of respondents age 18 to 24 reported doing so, and 42% of those 25 to 34 also reported using social sites instead of e-mail for personal communications. The reason for doing so was consistent across segments: Too much irrelevant messaging in the e-mail inbox.

I believe that e-mail marketers who ignore social media, especially those that target younger audiences, may be missing a real opportunity. As it turns out, the social sites are excellent places to share information with friends, family, customers and prospects — the trick is to communicate with them openly, honestly and in a human voice. If relevance is the key to e-mail marketing, authenticity is the key to marketing in social media. Social initiatives that leverage messaging interpreted by audiences as fake or overly promotional will never get off the ground and, worse, may negatively impact brand equity.

Marketers who are able to add value to the conversations within the social sites and who can forge honest, genuine communication streams that empower users to interact with a brand on their terms, however, will be well positioned to benefit from the social shift.

Is e-mail dead? Far from it. The future of e-mail looks quite bright. Daniels acknowledges that e-mail specifically remains the primary reason that consumers connect to the Internet. For many customer segments, e-mail is still the social networking vehicle of choice, and it shows few signs of abating. Publishers who deliver highly relevant communications through the e-mail inbox increasingly command premium CPMs from advertisers who realize excellent returns from their investments.

The recent sale of Daily Candy to Comcast for a whopping $125 million is just one of a myriad of signs that e-mail is alive and well. The social networks are helping to foster new conversations online, for sure, and I believe they can be extended and enhanced through e-mail - a ton of transactional e-mail messaging is already coming from the social networks in the form of updates and such things.

Consumers haven’t given up on e-mail; they’ve just given up on bad, irrelevant e-mail. So, while launching engaging, authentic social media messaging programs is an excellent idea for many online marketers, the other near-term imperative is to allocate the resources required to drive truly relevant, timely email messaging based on data intelligence. Incorporating demographics, click-stream data, e-mail response history and other behavioral factors are good places to start.

The era of batch and blast is officially over. With the conversation spilling out of the inbox, it’s no longer good enough.

Nicholas Einstein is director of strategic and analytic services at Datran Media.

I received an email from someone asking my take on the latest Charles Heflin post at Charles Heflin. com. It’s entitled, “The social media bubble that wasted your time“.

In it Heflin wonders out loud if being on numerous Social Media sites is redundant and therefore a waste of time. He says,

“If 80% of the micro-blog market already uses Twitter, do you need to network with those same people on Jaiku or Plurk? … NOPE! … It’s not efficient and it widens your brush stroke, thinning out the paint. If you can reach StephenColbert on Twitter then why do you need to reach him on Plurk too?’

He goes on to accurately state that our goal should be to build relationships, versus trying to reach as many people as possible.  His take is it’s really only about

…how many “meaningful” relationships you can build and how many people are willing to give you a piece of their mind share.

Mind share. I spent a previous lifetime in the radio broadcast industry. Starting from on air, then to ad sales, and then eventually trying to get radio station ownership. Tough business…much tougher than this Internet business.
 
In radio we always talked about top-of-the-mind awareness (AKA mind share.) The rule of advertising which helps to create top-of-the-mind awareness (or TOMA) is

it’s what you say TIMES how many time you say it TIMES the quality of the people you say it to.

Does it mean after reading Heflin’s post you should heed the impending implosion caused by a supposed Social Media bubble and drop all efforts being used to promote yourself in Twitter, Jaiku, Plurk, or any dozen other type sites?

Heavens NO!

I agree you don’t have to be everywhere to make an impact, but there are tools out there readily available to leverage your time while still “getting you out there.” How? One could be using a service like PostLater.com. With Postlater.com (at an affordable $10 bucks a month) “you can write several posts when you’re experiencing that energy and inspiration boost, and then drip feed them into your blog. And, you don’t need to tie up your time by being in front of the computer at the date and time you want those posts to appear on your blog.”

But the best part of this is you can drip feed it at the same time into some 25 sites. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, Pownce, MySpace, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Identi.ca, BrightKite, FriendFeed, Jaiku, Blogger, LiveJournal, Bebo, Hi5 plus more. Keep thinking of leverage.

According to Heflin, it’s not truly a relationship building mode if you attempt to be on all these types of sites. Hmmm…don’t know if I fully agree.

Leverage…what if with a single post I could post to 10 or 20 sites so that if, and when my prospects/audience goes to one of these sites, I AM there. What if my my competition takes the advice of Heflin and stops working Jaiku or Pownce? What if I’m still working it? Don’t I dramatically diminish the gene pool from which my readers have to pick from? The part of the formula to repeat to the right audience is realized using a service like PostLater.com.

Let my competitors lay down in the effort of energy conservation while I keep staying in the faces of my prospect everywhere I can using smart tools.

I like what Sean Tiner, a Creative Brand Strategist, stated in his post The Value of Exposure

“Twitter and Facebook continue to be valuable marketing entities for companies, brands and individuals. The sites naturally encourage repetitive exposure, because of simple organization and navigation. According to Zanjonc’s Mere Exposure Theory (1968) the more a person is exposed to something, the more that item, person or profile becomes likable. …And likability translates to profitability, just ask Apple.” The Value Of Exposure http://seantiner.blogspot.com/2008/09/value-of-exposure.html

Created a strategy and track the results. Find out which one of these types of sites are getting you the maximum impact. The ones that are weaker can eventually be dropped or just maintained with services like PostLater. The strong ones can be more personally addressed so you can masterfully relate to the reader.