I’ve heard of many people pulling their hair out because they don’t know where to focus their energies: paid searches or social media? But why do you have to pick just one? They both have different benefits that can strengthen your campaign.

Paid searches are mostly for driving leads, conversions, and sales. Unless the person that clicks on your ad takes the time to search through your site to see what you’re about, you probably won’t be doing much brand-building with your pay-per-click campaigns.

Social media, on the other hand, is where a lot of the brand-building can take place. It’s a great supplement to any campaign for nearly any brand that can promote discussion and interaction as a primary goal, and ideally, generate sales as a secondary goal. However, social media has a bit more to it than people let on.

The more interaction a potential customer has with your brand through social media, the more likely they are to make more specific searches that are related to your brand. In turn, your paid search positions come up more consistently, and this high click-through rate helps your page gain ground on the organic searches. A win-win, if you ask me.  Also, social media helps you generate keywords that are more effective for your paid searches, because you can dig out words and phrases that are used heavily by your followers/fans anyway.

In conclusion, don’t focus all of your attention at one point of marketing. Here’s a video that shows you some fun facts about social media. You know, just for the fun of learning:

Did You Know: Social Media – Watch more Funny Videos

It’s not the tool but how you use it.

You can have a group on Facebook, an account on Twitter, a photo collection on Flickr, and a channel on YouTube, but what does that mean to your brand?

Online marketing is more than just creating accounts online and hoping the search engines lead potential customers to them. You have to be active with your fans, followers, and subscribers. Social media is an important part of Internet marketing that allows you to build a more solid brand by having a human connection. Current customers are more likely to suggest your product to friends if they have a good experience.

However, if you leave your accounts idle, you are missing out on communication opportunities. Even if your potential customers don’t need your product or service right now, keeping them posted with fun facts, transfixing trivia, and pensive pictures will keep you at the forefront of their mind when your product/service becomes a need.

Not only that, but the more relevant information you post, the more searchable your brand becomes to potential customers. And with Google as today’s #1 search source, pleasing the Google Search Engine Gods could lead you down a path of Internet sainthood.

Ready? Set? Rock!

Studies are proving that TV advertising is becoming less and less reliable. According to an article on MarketingProfs.com, “in 2010, most advertisers plan to move budget dollars away from traditional media to social media (77%), online advertising (73%), and search engine marketing (59%).”

There is talk that allowing fewer commercials per pod may be more effective, but with the population turning to search engines to find a resource to fulfill their needs, having a strong online presence is a must.

Social marketing tops the charts as the number one source advertisers and marketers will turn to for brand building. Through various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others, a strong brand strategy and marketing plan can have a huge effect on brand awareness. With these vehicles, you can build brand loyalty and an overall solid presence in today’s competitive market. By having a strong presence in social media, you allow your product/service users, fans, and, on occasion, addicts to feel like they belong have a place in the world of your brand.

But what good is being searchable when your web content is weak? That’s where web development and brand identity design come into play. Once your product or service reaches your target, the images they see need to tell them how you fulfill their need.

So give into the online tidal wave. Swim with the social media current. Develop a strong online marketing plan and you too can have a brand with substance.

Ready? Set? Rock!

Bloggers, YouTubers, Tweeters, and Facebookers!

Tomorrow is December 1st, and in the midst of all the pre-holiday craziness have you remembered that the new FTC guidelines go into effect tomorrow? Don’t worry, it’s not that scary. Some important clarification has been made that makes the whole thing much easier.

The thought process behind these guidelines is to add more transparency to the internet reviews and endorsements we see almost everywhere. Have you ever seen a magazine ad with “paid advertisement” at the bottom? What about those endorsement ads with the “paid for by…” blurb at the end? That’s exactly the sort of transparency the FTC is aiming for us to have here on the internet.

The “$11,000 fine” that was talked about? Does not exist. The FTC guidelines are guidelines, not laws. They do however enable the FTC to pursue charges against someone and get a court order so that someone can be fined. Don’t fret, the FTC is much more likely to go after advertisers than bloggers. Think about it from their standpoint. The internet is saturated with bloggers. It is much simpler to just make sure advertisers understand the rules and expect them to communicate them to the bloggers they work with. Since without advertisers sending things to bloggers this would be a non-issue, I feel this is the much smarter way to go. The FTC does not have the time or resources to go after everyone in the blogosphere. This is not to say that you shouldn’t make an effort to comply! Just that you should not be freaked out that the FTC is going to come knocking on your door.

What needs to be disclosed:

1. Paid posts (that includes videos). If someone gave you money to post something, you need to disclose it.
2. Free services/product. If a company or its PR representative sent you something for the purpose of using it and then sharing it on your blog/YouTube, etc. you need to disclose it.
3. Affiliate links. If you use affiliate marketing (ie LinkShare, Commission Junction, or are partnered with one of the many companies that do their own affiliate marketing), you need to disclose it.

What does not need to be disclosed:

1. Free samples anyone can receive. If you bought a shampoo that had a sample size goodie taped to it and you want to review that free sample, you do not need to disclose anything.
2. Things you bought yourself. Likewise, if you want to review the shampoo itself.  Since you bought it, you do not have to disclose anything.
3. Gifts. If you bought the shampoo for your sister who wants to review it on her YouTube channel, she does not have to disclose anything.

I have also seen many ask if these guidelines are just for U.S. bloggers. Yes, they only apply to bloggers in the U.S. since the FTC is a U.S. entity and has no jurisdiction over bloggers from other countries. However, don’t go moving your servers to an underground bunker in the Ukraine any time soon – you are considered a U.S. blogger if your physical body is blogging from the United States. It is not determined by where your server is.

One last thing that came as a huge relief to me is that these guidelines are not retroactive. You do not need to go back through hundreds of blog posts and add disclosures. Thank GOODNESS.

The disclosures themselves do not have to be anything complicated. They do not have to be in legal jargon. In fact, it is best if they are not! They are meant to be read by your readers, not their attorneys. Simply putting a short blurb along the lines of “This post was paid for by _____.” at the bottom will suffice.

Bottom line, just use common sense and you will be A-O-K.

The 5-year projections are out and the forecast is clear: traditional marketing continues to dry up, while online marketing just doesn’t let up.  By now, if you haven’t taken social media, video, or search engine optimization (SEO) seriously, you’re already beginning to sink.  Have a look at the latest trends courtesy of Forrester Research:

As quoted in the New York Times recently, there is a new social media slang in town: “clogger”. Cloggers are the type of bloggers who just use their blog as a platform for receiving free goods or event invitations from PR companies and brands themselves. The term differentiates these freeloaders from the dedicated bloggers who receive press samples from those they build relationships with after having proved themselves in the blogosphere.

It’s pretty easy to identify the cloggers out there. They’ll be the ones brazenly asking for free goodies to post about on a blog that you’ve never heard of because it’s only been online for a day and has no readership. These bloggers also tend to post press releases in a copy and paste fashion without any commentary or individual voice. They’re just in it for the freebies.

Cloggers are a major thorn in the side of good bloggers out there. As Amber Katz states in the New York Times article, they are a big part of the reason the FTC now has guidelines for blogger disclosure of press samples and paid posts. These new rules for disclosure will weed out the cloggers. Unfortunately though, many bloggers who hold themselves to traditional journalistic standards feel punished and condescended to. The result is a culture of responsible internet journalists and consumer reviewers made to feel as though they are not ethical or trustworthy enough to provide unbiased reviews because of those out there that are just trying to work the system.

As both a blogger and marketing professional myself, I see both sides of the argument for and against the FTC guidelines. I think for those of us bloggers who were already doing things the right way it will just be a mild irritant, one more thing to think about. Additionally, it is important for marketing professionals to help the blogosphere remain a trusted source for consumer reviews by choosing not to work with cloggers. That’s good news for us, because the blogs that continue to do well will be of a calibre we want to work with to help promote our clients. Despite the patronizing press pieces that paint bloggers as a bunch of freeloading slackers that resulted from the FTC’s ruling, eventually the change will result in a win-win situation for us all.

Top 10 Reasons Your Brand Should Be On Facebook

1. It’s already built. No need to wait for a design team to create a community on your company website.

2. Millions of customers and potential customers are already members. You won’t need to convince them to sign up for anything, give out their personal information, etc.

3. Follow the leader. Every time someone becomes a fan of your brand on Facebook, all of their friends will be able to see that on their Facebook Wall. If they are interested or curious, they will visit your page and possibly become fans too.

4. Easy customization. In addition to the many features Facebook fan pages already have, you can easily add your own with the Boxes feature.

5. Instant interaction with customers and potential customers by writing on each other’s walls, responding to comments, etc. Build relationships with customers that will increase their brand loyalty.

6. Advertising network is built in. Facebook offers fan page owners an advertising venue complete with analytics.

7. Customers/potential customers can interact with each other via the comments, wall, and discussions forum.

8. All the content about your brand that you post to Facebook is easily shared by your fans with all of their friends.

9. Earn credibility by associating your brand with the Facebook brand. Companies that are active on Facebook have more credibility as being current, fresh, and “now”.

10. Aside from the advertisements, Facebook is FREE. No investment necessary except your time and effort.

Bonus 11 – You can access Facebook on the road from a number of mobile applications.

Designer/illustrator Patrick Moberg came up with The New (Media) Workout Plan.

Finally! I can feel better about myself for sitting in front of a computer all day.  I’d like to see a before/after picture from those of you who start the New Media Workout Plan.

Okay, so you’re on Twitter. You’re posting. You’re @replying your little heart out. Now someone asks “what client are you using?” or “what app?”. Client? App? What?! Something else new to learn?

Twitter clients are programs that allow you to access Twitter. They are more convenient because sometimes Twitter’s website can run very slowly. Many clients also have additional features that make them very convenient, such as:

- manage multiple accounts at once
- see your @replies in a column side by side with your main feed
- place people you’re following into groups to keep more organized
- post to your Facebook and Twitter account at the same time
- automatically shortening URLs into compact URLs to save space
- easily manage many different users on the same Twitter account (great for a team of Twitterers)

Those are just some of the nifty features you can get from using a Twitter client. Twitter apps are simply programs (clients) available to use on your mobile device. There is also an add-on for your iGoogle homepage, just increasing the options you have for accessing Twitter even more. So what client or app should you use? Here are some of the most popular ones.

TweetDeck
Seesmic Desktop
Twhirl
TwitterBerry (Blackberry)
UberTwitter (Blackberry)
Tweetie (iPhone)
CoTweet
HootSuite

Ever notice a pound sign and a word or acronym at the end of a tweet? These are commonly referred to as hashtags, they are used to give context to a tweet, make discussions, conference information – easily searchable, and to group tweets together.

Quick Tip for Facebook/ Twitter:

#fb – Facebook. This handy little hashtag will update your Facebook status when you send a tweet out through Twitter. First you need to install the Selective Tweets Facebook app.

Tweet and Go!