Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’
Use Your Tools
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
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!
No Comments | Tags: advertising, blog, Facebook, Google, Internet marketing, marketing blog, search engine, social marketing, social media, social media marketing, Twitter, YouTube
Posted by Paulina in Online Marketing
A Shift in the Forces of Media
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
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!
No Comments | Tags: brand development, brand value, Facebook, Internet marketing, online advertising, Online Marketing, social marketing, social media, Twitter, website development
Posted by Paulina in Online Marketing
Bloggers, Are You Ready?
Monday, November 30th, 2009
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:
- Paid posts (that includes videos). If someone gave you money to post something, you need to disclose it.
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- Things you bought yourself. Likewise, if you want to review the shampoo itself. Since you bought it, you do not have to disclose anything.
- 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.
No Comments | Tags: blog, Online Marketing, social media, social media marketing, Twitter, YouTube
Posted by Alyson in News, Online Marketing
New (Media) Workout Plan
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
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.
No Comments | Tags: Facebook, Google, Twitter
Posted by Jessica in Entertainment, Online Marketing
Why You Should Use a Twitter Client
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
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
No Comments | Tags: tools, Twitter
Posted by Alyson in Online Marketing
Quick Tip on Hashtags
Monday, September 28th, 2009
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!
No Comments | Tags: Facebook, hashtags, social networking, tips, Twitter
Posted by Stephanie in Online Marketing
Twitter Directories
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Here are some Twitter directories that will help you acquire targeted followers:
http://www.twellow.com
http://justtweetit.com/directory
http://wefollow.com
http://www.loadedweb.com/twitter
http://www.tweetfind.com
http://mrtweet.com
http://mytwitterdirectory.com
http://tweeplepages.com
Taking a few minutes to add yourself to these directories will get you permanent, free exposure on each of them.
No Comments | Tags: marketing mix, optimization, social networking, Twitter
Posted by Jessica in Online Marketing
Is Twitter living up to the hype?
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
A surprising poll result from LinkedIn and Harris Interactive shows a lack of faith in Twitter from the business community. Only 8% of respondents consider Twitter to be “very effective”, while half considered it only to be “somewhat effective.”
Some would say that either businesses don’t fully understand the potential and are using the tool incorrectly or that Twitter is over-hyped and will eventually fizzle out.
I think Twitter will change it’s business model and use all the attention and data to introduce a more relevant tool for businesses. They have a ton of brand recognition and a large user base, now they just have to figure out how to make a tool that businesses can’t live without.
No Comments | Tags: brand value, social media, Twitter
Posted by Nathan in Online Marketing, Opinion
5 DON’TS of Social Marketing
Monday, August 24th, 2009
- Overdoing it – One of the most common ways to abuse sites like Twitter is by overdoing it. Too many useless posts can be obnoxious and drive customers away.
- Putting all your eggs in one basket – Some businesses are too wrapped up in Twittering for a few minutes a day, they have now ignored doing SEO or writing useful articles for their site. Don’t forget about the other important online marketing tools. A well-balanced online marketing campaign including SEO, PPC, SEM, and Social Media are all vital.
- Spamming – Do not fill up people’s social networking pages with unsolicited ads promoting everything ever created. Its doing more harm than good posting bogus information about how consumers can “Get Rich Fast.”
- Irrelevant information – They say that 40% of all Twitter posts are “useless babble.” I think that is much lower than the actual amount of useless information. They say that 10% of your social media should be used for sales and 90% should be used for posting relevant, usable information.
- Repetitive Posts – Some people use programs to help them post tweets throughout the day. But using this can be to your demise if misused. Posts that are the same day to day or week to week are obnoxious and people notice. Instead of people deeming your posts as relevant and constructive information, they will delete you.
Click here to read article.
No Comments | Tags: pay per click, SEO, social marketing, Twitter
Posted by Jessica in Online Marketing
Kids These Days – Teenagers and Media
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
I don’t think kids these days realize how spoiled they really are. They want what they want when they want it. I myself am pretty spoiled when it comes to media. I want instant updates for news, to fast forward commercials, record my TV shows, and my Internet to move super fast.
I like this report done by a FIFTEEN year old intern, Matthew Roboson about how teens view media.
Here are a few passages:
- “No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarized on the internet or on TV.
- “Teenagers never use real directories (hard copy catalogues such as yellow pages). This is because real directories contain listings for builders and florists, which are services that teenagers do not require”.
- “Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio. They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free, and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses.”
- “Every teenager has some access to the internet, be it at school or home. Home use is mainly used for fun (such as social networking) whilst school (or library) use is for work. Most teenagers are heavily active on a combination of social networking sites. Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an internet connection registered and visiting >4 times a week. Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale. On the other hand, teenagers do not use Twitter.”
How have you become spoiled with your media?
View the full report here.
No Comments | Tags: media, social media, Twitter
Posted by Jessica in Opinion
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