With the economy in the dumps and everyone tightening up the grip on their wallet, everyone is looking for cheaper alternatives of everything from gas, to food, to day-to-day luxuries.  But what impact will the slumping economy have on the online marketing arena?  Your initial thought may be to cut your marketing costs and spend less online..  Ah…but what you may not realize is that with everyone scrambling to search for alternatives, consumers have been and will continue to dig deeper into search engines to find the best option.  So my first point, do not pull away from search (both organic and paid).  I firmly believe that you will see the number of searches continue to rise over the coming months as the economic situation becomes more of an issue. 

That being said you must also consider the fact that Google now employ an algorithm that will index blogs, videos, images, maps, books, and websites known as Universal Search.  Simply put this means that while natural search listing from SEO will continue to have high visibility within search engines (when executed properly of course) listing from social media have been and will continue to have short-lived bursts into the page 1 results.

Now then, I know not everyone has either the skill set or the budget to optimize their website…so what’s the alternative??  Well since you asked so nicely…why not consider the possibilities of social media?  I have only written a few posts so far and you may be catching on to the notion that I love social media!  There are several reasons for this, it’s an economically viable marketing tool, it allows businesses to connect to their end user in a meaningful way, it offers immediate and unfiltered feedback, and above all….it’s interesting!  You can learn more about your consumers from one successfully executed social media campaign, than from a full year of analytics and metrics based on just your site activity.  Let’s look more closely at some of the reasons to invest in social media in some more detail shall we.

1)    Economically Viable ( Less Cash! )

To answer the obvious question, NO, running a social media campaign will not be free.  Social media campaigns can cost less when compared to more traditional online marketing methods, but keep in mind social media takes an increased level of participation and maintenance (someone has to continue the conversation!).  The vast majority of social media sites (whether they are video syndication, communities, news, etc.) are free of charge to sign up and participate, but it is very important not to spread yourself too thin.  Fewer targeted social media avenues will show more benefit as opposed to trying to create a presence on every social media site on the web (unless of course you have a team that is large and dedicated enough…but again….this will increase cost).

2)    Connecting to Your End User

With most online marketing strategies, the idea is to create an effective message that will grab someone’s attention and hope that it keeps them coming back.  For example, when creating a PPC campaign, you rely on the effectiveness of selected keywords and the wording of your ads to draw in visitors and then your website must finish the job by delivering on what the user was looking for.  Now I am not saying that this system does not work because when done correctly, PPC is extremely effective….however it can become very costly.  With social media you have much more control of how your message is perceived because you are given a direct line of contact to your target market.  Whether you are using Twitter, participating in communities like Facebook or MySpace, or posting the latest updates to your company blog…YOU have complete control over the message and are able to participate in a conversation of sorts with those members who are active.  Again, from a cost perspective, it will take more hours of labor to participate properly with social media but if you have suitable system in place it will become extremely efficient.

3)    Immediate and Unfiltered Feedback

Because of the conversational aspect of social media you are able to receive immediate and unfiltered feedback.  This may be one of the most beneficial reasons to use social media.  With other forms of marketing and advertising you may spend weeks or months (or sometimes even longer!) gathering data to analyze so that you can figure out just what your users think about your company and your services/offerings.  Interpreting and responding to feedback can sometimes be one of the more difficult tasks for firms as it is not always positive.  Naturally a positive comment or post in one of your social media platforms will always be the most beneficial, but do not just ignore negative feedback as this is a perfect opportunity to dispel misconceptions and show them that you care about their opinion.  From a financial aspect, think about how much you would save if you were able to make strategic decisions based on actual conversations and feedback you received from your target market over the course of a month as opposed to gathering site metrics over the same time frame where you will then have to organize, analyze, and discuss the results before any decisions can be made.  As an internet marketer I will NEVER tell you to discard site metrics however they may be able to play more of a supplemental role with an effective social media campaign.

To summarize, do not abandon SEO as it should still be looked at as the building blocks of a fundamentally sound website.  Social media, while it can more time and effort to be done correctly can offer benefits above and beyond those of typical online marketing methods.  Financially, social media is an attractive option if you are able to strategize properly.  If you were to just jump in the social media ocean with no direction you could easily over spend without seeing results.  For more information on social media feel free to contact us here at info@propelmedia.com (shameless plug).  More to come!

I figured today it would be good to pick up where we left off with my last post…social media.  If you have not heard the term over a million times by now you may want to check your surroundings…because you may be living under a rock (and I’ll refer you here).  So social media, for many of us it has become second nature as we participate in our social communities, send out a new twitter every other minute, post our latest vacation pictures to Flickr, or read our favorite blogs.   But what about the business world, how are they using social media? 

In the recent past I had the pleasure to work on a social media venture that explored many different facets of the social media marketing spectrum.  Our client, a major tourist attraction site, was interested in boosting attendance and engaging tourists who visited in a unique way. 

In order to give this project wings we needed to leverage a few different tools.  Our team was able to take a map of the Earth and manipulate the API of Flickr to create an interactive map that allows participants from around the world to post pictures and stories of their visit to the Tourist Attraction.  We created a group for members to join and interact with each other (using the provided message board) on Flickr.  To bring in members we used both online and offline marketing to promote the project.

One of the primary methods of promotion was the use of social news sites (digg, reddit, newsvine, mixx, etc.).  Typical advertising and marketing methods should definitely not be sidelined (yet), but if you are not using social media as a marketing tool, feel free to jump on the bandwagon anytime now.  A successful social media marketing effort can return very nice results (see chart below)

After only one month of launching the project, we had over 300 members who had posted over 800 photos.  The project was also very successful in bringing new visitors to the Tourist Attraction to take their own pictures and participate in the project.

In order to track the buzz we used Google Alerts to assist us in catching blog posts written about the project so that we could participate in the conversation and dispel any misconceptions that people may have about it.  This proved to be extremely effective and offered us a level of visibility that we may not have received had we not monitored the blogoshere.  This is just a taste of what is possible with social media and I would love to hear some ideas about what you think and what you might have done differently!  Feel free to chime in and there is most definitely more to come…

Harry Gold has a great interview about a little discussed topic: social media for B2B.

HG: We all know that social media marketing is good for B2C (define), but are there any sites that are good for B2B?

BG: LinkedIn would be an obvious choice, but there are also industry-specific networking sites like ITtoolbox (where you can tap into a huge professional IT community), the Minyanville Exchange (a financial social networking site), Designer Pages (for architecture and design), and lots of others. However, keep in mind that “traditional” social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, even Twitter have B2B profiles and profiles where people often list their professions. So you can do certain kinds of B2B targeting by profession.

HG: Tell me about some of the B2B opportunities that you find interesting.

BG: You have to remember that I am a media planner and I look at online campaigns holistically, meaning I don’t just think of a social media campaign as establishing a mere presence in the social networks, but I always tie in banner ads, blog outreach, e-mail blasts, newsletter sponsorships, etc., into the media mix.

With that, I think LinkedIn offers a pretty basic but comprehensive opportunity: your company puts up a profile and connects with LinkedIn members, then you promote and supplement your profile with targeted display ads, dedicated e-mails, and sponsorships of the “Answers” category. For instance, if you are a B2B technology company, you might want to sponsor the IT category. This way you reach people who are actively seeking information about your product/industry, and you get to engage with them in a community setting.

ITtoolbox also offers great ad opportunities for enterprise IT companies. You can set up a vendor profile; have a variety of ad units, text links, dedicated e-mails, and newsletter sponsorships; and even help with lead generation through Webcast promotions and white paper programs.

And let’s not forget YouTube. Some B2B companies might dismiss YouTube as simply a youth-oriented, amateur-video site, but it is far from that. YouTube has turned into such a powerful and relevant social media tool that anyone can leverage its reach and viral effectiveness. There are thousands of education, science and technology, news, and how-to videos about and produced by various B2B brands and companies. For example, a quick search for “software as a service” on YouTube generated 1,220 videos. One video has been viewed more than 38,000 times!

A lot of sites would also be willing to work with you to set up custom content. You just need a strategic plan that details what direction you want to take, what results you are expecting and your KPIs [key performance indicators], and what you plan to do after you’ve launched your campaign. Also, a lot of these social networking sites offer fantastic targeting opportunities, so make sure your campaign will reach the right people.

HG: How much does this cost?

BG: It is usually free to set up a profile, but some sites have minimum buys for the supplementing display ads if you want the whole package or if you want a custom-branded channel (ranges from $25,000 to $250,000). It is best to support your profile page with display ads that will drive targeted users directly into your profile page. Also, it takes time and effort to create, maintain, and update these communities, and that should equate to monetary costs as well.

HG: How about blogs?

BG: There is a huge opportunity in blogs, for both bloggers and marketers. There are some very good networks, like Federated Media, where you can advertise on influential blogs, which you can cherry-pick from specific categories.

The full post can be read here

Time spent on social network sites has now surpassed time spent emailing in the UK, according to Facebook’s UK director Blake Chandlee.

Chandlee told delegates at the Eye For Travel Travel Distribution Summit this week that the average user of social networking sites spends 302 minutes a month on sites such as Facebook, TripAdvisor and Bebo where they spent only 179 minutes emailing.

He said: “If you are only planning on using traditional media to market your product you are only going to be successful some of the time. You need to think how you can add value to the customer experience using these sites.

“Some 52% of all 25 to 34-year-olds in the UK are on Facebook now and in the last 30 days in the UK, 28m events (people making arrangements to meet up) have been created on Facebook.

“There are 10.5 million people in the UK with a profile on Facebook and 100,000 of them have a travel profile. They can be targeted and a whole new level of marketing opens up.”

But Lastminute.com’s CEO Ian McCaig warned that caution should be taken before companies jump into the social networking environment in an attempt to market their product.

He explained: “There must be a level of sophistication and consideration because interruptive marketing in this environment does not work and alienates the customer as well as potentially damaging your brand.

“You need to check that your marketing is not popping up in an environment where a transaction is not taking place and people are just talking to each other. Intruding on social networking with your brand in an irrelevant situation is not welcomed.”

‘Today in the Sky’ is a new flight flight community launched by USATODAY.com. This site is loaded with great content written by long time veteran USATODAY.com aviation blogger Ben Mutzabaugh. You can find up-to-date aviation news, surveillance, and “Flightdex” a which tracks the latest buzz about airlines.

‘Today in the Sky’  can be used to search for airfare, frequent flier promotions, mileage calculator, and flight tracking tools as well. Other travelers and frequent fliers members can communicate with each other to discuss trips, aviation news and more.

This is a great tool for those traveling weekly , monthly, and even yearly to catch up on all the aviation industry buzz. (which seems to be quite active right now)

‘Today in the Sky’ can be found at http://flights.usatoday.com.

John Battelle’s blog post - Twitter. Oh God. echoes sentiments by a lot of folks in the C Suite. It’s true that a lot of the tweets are nonsense, what I’m eating, what I’m watching on TV, etc that might be interesting to your friends but are less welcome to others.

However the power of Twitter and social media in general shouldn’t be discounted. Take this story for one example:

Twitter Post Rescues Jailed Journalist in Egypt

James Karl Buck was bailed out of jail by a ‘tweet’ post on Twitter, a social networking site. The message “arr ested” was seen by Buck’s friends and bloggers in Egypt and the United States via the Internet.

Buck, a journalism graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley, was in Egypt for a school research project, ironically focused on bloggers and journalists who use tools like Twitter to keep in step with news, when Egyptian authorities arrested him. The authorities claimed that Buck may have been inciting a riot; although, Buck was merely photographing a labor rally near a textile mill in Mahalla, Egypt.

Buck reached Twitter through his cell phone, allowing him to make the post without being detected by authorities. Twitter allows its users to post 140 character or less messages, providing a place on the Web for people to be constantly updated in brief, to- the-point blogposts.

Thanks to the ‘tweet’ relaying his arrest, Buck was able to reach his friends via the Web, who contacted the U.S. Embassy and UC Berkeley, eventually sending a lawyer to bail him out of jail.

Buck says keeping in contact with the rest of the world via the Web and his Twitter posts kept him sane, curbed the fear that he would, “fall into a black whole” and potentially saved his life. Buck said that he “came to realize how important a tool like Twitter is.”

We all have overcrowded lives however Twitter is a pretty amazing resource. Choose who you follow carefully, weed out those who don’t tweet items of interest and watch your followers grow based on what you post.

MyGreatWorld is a free, alternative photo community that organizes photos by where they were taken, essentially creating a photographic map of the world, country-by-country, city-by-city. Residents and travelers alike upload their best pictures of a location to the site, and along with identifying each photo with a place on the map, you can add a date and classify pictures into categories, like art, nature, gastronomy, hotels etc. Optional written comments and descriptions can accompany each photo creating human generated content , and will be indexed for keyword searches. Visitors browse the site by map location, recently added photos, or top-rated photos, and can search by any combination of parameters including keyword, date, category, and location. There is also in internal private instant messaging system that will allow private members to communicate with each other.

This site in my opinion is far from perfect. There are way to many pages to filter through to get to where you need to go, it has a horrible home page, and it’s picture inventory is limited because they are still in infant stages.

This is a very interesting concept that I believe could become the “go to” place to access images of people at the same vacation destination that you and your family is planning. Another huge piece to this is the fact that not only can you look at images but you can read about what people say. This site can be extremely viral. Go help them out and upload your images of your vacation. The more content they have the faster it will grow.

YouTube recently announced a major policy change:

STRIKES THAT EXPIRE

It didn’t seem fair that a user who uploads three videos that violate the Community Guidelines over the span of a year was being treated the same as someone who uploads those same videos over the course of a week. To change this, we’ve made it so that violations are now rescinded after six months. Accounts that had one or two warnings (as of April 16, 2008) for Community Guidelines (or Terms of Use) violations have been given a clean slate and are going forward under the new system, too!

Note that this does not apply to copyright claims, which don’t expire and are not being cleared.