Posts tagged ‘Facebook’

December 3rd, 2009

Top Search Terms Tell All: You’d Better Be Using Social Networking for Marketing

In case you are still skeptical whether social networking sites are really catching on or not, check out the top search terms from the month ending 11/28/09, provided by Experian Hitwise. Note that these are the top terms from All Categories, including the Shopping and Classified category during the holiday shopping rush during Thanksgiving week.  Seven of the top 10 are social networking sites. That’s amazing. Only two are classified ads sites, and one is a search engine. Craigslist, which ranked number 4 in the Overall Search Terms, was the top search in the Shopping and Classifieds category. This tells us social networking sites were searched more than retailers in the last month.

top search terms

top retail terms

What does it mean?

1. Social networking is hot: Even when shoppers in the US are going hog-wild looking for “Black Friday” shopping deals on the internet, social networking site searches still outranked searches for “black Friday,” “Amazon,” and the ubiquitous “Wal-Mart.”

2. Is there a place for your products on eBay? It would appear the internet savvy shopper is doing their business on-line with craigslist and eBay.

3. Your business better be using social networking: If you’re not on Facebook or MySpace, you might be missing opportunities to market.

It will be interesting to see how this season’s searches change by the end of December, especially in light of “Black Monday,” when American shoppers took to the internet following Thanksgiving week. We’ll keep you informed.

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Thanks to Experian Hitwise for permission to reprint their statistics.

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CategoryFacebook, Social Marketing, Social Media, Walmart | CommentView Comments

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November 16th, 2009

Be a Social Media Whiz: Secrets of a Successful Online Campaign

elearning desktopYes, you can be a whiz at using social media successfully.

Here’s the secret: You wouldn’t start a new billboard campaign without careful planning, would you? Of course not. Yet many companies seem to jump right in to a social media campaign without giving this type of marketing the careful consideration that other types get. Why? It is a new medium to many, and we’re still learning the ropes. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and others can be very effective – if done with a little planning.

Here’s a 10 point road map to help you plan to make the most effective use of a social media campaign, taken from a recent webinar presented by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer. Already using social media? Review to see if there’s a new idea for you.

1. Competitive Assessment: What are your competitors doing in this space already? What can you borrow from them?

2. Internal Situation Analysis: How much awareness is there of social media within your company? Is there an understanding that it can be measured and create a positive ROI?

3. Major Objectives: What are you trying to accomplish with your social media campaign?

4. Consumer Thought Process: What is the typical sales cycle for your product? How much trust do you need to build before you can make a sale? (Hint: The more expensive the product, the more trust needs to be built.)

5. Key Strategies: What approach are you going to take in order to have a successful program?

6. Brand Essence: What is your brand essence and how are you going to communicate that using social media?

7. Positioning: How is your brand currently positioned in the marketplace? Where do you want it to be positioned as a result of your social media campaign?

8. Essential Message: What is the essential take-away you want consumers and prospects to have after engaging with your brand via social media?

9. Tactical Plan Overview: Which social media platforms are you going to use for your program? Which tools are you going to use to measure the success of your program?

10. Executional Roadmap: What are your SMART Goals for this plan? How are you going to be held accountable for them?

Careful planning will make the time spent well worth it, and make you look like the whiz that you are. Just don’t forget to have fun and be creative with your campaign. You may be the next trend setter, with competitors following your example!

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CategoryFacebook, LinkedIn, Marketing Techniques, Social Media, Twitter | CommentView Comments

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October 18th, 2008

Twitter Influence Spreads Around the Globe

Make no mistake about it — Twitter is a global phenomenon and it’s spreading fast.

This chart highlights the global spread of Twitter. The U.S. is the most Twitter-ific (sorry, very corny) nation on the planet followed closely by Japan, Spain (Spain? Really?), and the U.K.

What makes Twitter such a hot application? It’s the next step in the democratization of the web. By leveraging the power of social communities everywhere, Twitter has grown in influence and authority.

Will it become the next YouTube or Facebook success story? Well, yeah, it kind of already is.

Will it be monetizable? That remains to be seen. YouTube, Facebook and MySpace continue to struggle with the monetization of their sites. That’s not to say they aren’t hugely successful, it’s just to say that they’re still in that early growth curve (just like Amazon was) where they haven’t started generating all of the profits they have the potential of generating.

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