 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Not to take away from the amazing results that can be achieve by reaching a large and highly targeted audience with your blog content, but not every benefit of maintaining a business blog is dependent on having huge readership. The reality for most business blogs, at least when they’re first starting out, is that readership can be low… very low. It can be discouraging to those who are contributing content, and working like crazy to keep a blog afloat to not see unique visitors, page views and subscribers come in droves from the get-go. Additionally, it can be tough to justify the ROI of your business’ blog to supervisors, management or ownership without having incredible reach. If this feels familiar, don’t sweat it. There is huge value to be had in maintaining a business blog, even if your readership is low....
The New York Times offers an interesting story about Google and the competitive landscape of mobile. The headline is “As Web Search Goes Mobile, Competitors Chip at Google’s Lead.” The central idea of the article is that while Google is used on the PC equally to discover information and to navigate to specific sites, on smartphones people go directly to apps such as Amazon, Kayak or Yelp. As a basic matter, that’s accurate. However, quoting Danny Sullivan, the story also acknowledges that there’s still a great deal of mobile search activity, which is dominated by Google. Indeed, according to StatCounter, Google’s global mobile search market share is roughly 95 percent. Yet, we also know that “four out of five minutes” spent on mobile devices are spent with apps (per comScore). And, Nielsen said previously that roughly 80 percent of mobile time is with apps rather than the browser....
Being social is not something every company can do well. In fact, according to a new report from the research firm Altimeter Group, there are companies that fit along one of six stages ... ...With a social media strategy, a company lays out the channels, platforms, and tactics that are used to support publishing, listening and engagement. On the other hand, in using a social business strategy, relevant technologies and processes are integrated into business values and practices in order to build relationships and cause conversations to happen both in the organization and outside. Both Li and Solis say it will create value and optimizing impact for customers and the business....
I am frequently seeing articles explaining how to do social media marketing in 30 minutes or an hour each day and decided it was time to deliver a reality check.... Our goal is to change the message of the industry that is dominated by the folks outlined in the above paragraph into that of real effective use of social media by people who have and actually do it. It’s one thing to consult Starbucks or most other major brands on social media because you sold a ton of books about the subject. It’s another thing to actually create and execute a strategy for the majority that make up social media marketers like small and medium brands or individual marketers and get results. Heck, my 14-year-old daughter could consult Starbucks or most other major brands on their social media marketing. They do it wrong and don’t have to do it right. They have billions in media and marketing dollars that drive their brand on and offline. While articles that tell you that you can get results with minimal time and effort in social media are incredibly appealing to the masses, I am here to tell you that it takes work.... In an effort to both deliver a reality check as well as a real guide of activity, following is a list of SOME daily activities that are required to get results with any social media marketing program....
In this series, we’re going to look critically at the ways PR has traditionally been measured and the ways we’re measuring PR today. Measuring PR and earned media has always been something of a challenge in the past, but thanks to digital marketing and metrics tools, it’s easier today to find the impact of PR, even with businesses that have significant offline components. - Sales/business goals - Marketing metrics - Social media - Search marketing - Paid advertising - Primary research - Standard media metrics In this post, we’re going to look at social media as a proxy for measuring public relations. Social media itself can be measured in three broad categories, from audience growth to engagement to conversion....
We placed ads on AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon. Which service provided the best ROI? The results will surprise you. Social media sites already offer free advertising in the form of tweets and Facebook posts, but these tools can only take your brand so far. The next step involves paying for social media ads, and if you're considering this option, you're probably most concerned with one big question: What will my return actually be? Will spending money on an ad on Twitter or Facebook bring more customers to my business than the same amount spent on Google AdWords? I put that question to the test by setting up experimental ads across five services: Google AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon. I wanted to see exactly how these tools benefited my own content-creation and corporate blogging business. Indeed, Null Media is exactly the kind of small business that could benefit from social media ads—in theory....
The problem with social media ROI... While Social Media treats ROI as a mostly mythical creature that people like to read about in hypothetical scenarios, real-life companies are struggling to actually track the ROI of their social media marketing efforts. Consider these statistics that NectarOm (Nectar Online Media) published in a recent study in collaboration with the Socia Media Clubs: Out of 400 people surveyed, 73% do not even track the ROI of their social media efforts. Of the people who do attempt to track the ROI of their social media marketing efforts, 46% said it was not a major driver of revenue. Let’s think about this in the context of the InfiniGraph e-book. They suggest that a single campaign may involve a company spending $5,000 in Facebook ads. Based on the NectarOM study, most companies would not even make an effort to track the return on that $5,000. The companies that would track the investment would, for the most part, find that their ROI was poor return....
Recently released research by LoyaltyOne and two leading North American academic institutions provides the long-awaited proof that social media interaction between a customer and a brand drives immediate and long-term sales increases. The findings are based on a two-year analysis of brand-customer social media engagement and transaction data with the more than 10-million member AIR MILES Reward Program. AIR MILES collectors were encouraged to engage with the AIR MILES-hosted social community website by sharing thoughts about the brand or participating in promotions; they were rewarded either with a small number of bonus miles or entry to a lottery for large prizes. By analysing their unique collector data, researchers were able to show that these participants increased their purchases from program partners by 15-30 per cent over non-participants. It’s proof that smart social media marketing can deliver a significant, lasting and measurable increase in customer engagement and transactions....
...Metrics are critical indicators of performance and progress yes, but when new media enters the fray, more questions than answers cloud the ability to see beyond the horizon. And, as new media becomes increasingly disruptive, innovation and a bit of clairvoyance are required to serve up new hypotheses that help leaders make decisions in the absence of history or precedence. It is in these times when competitive threat is equal to, or in some cases less than the threat of digital Darwinism. When technology and consumer behavior cause change faster than your ability to recognize and adapt (and lead), we surface the first and potentially dangerous series of slipping points that like the game of Chutes and Ladders, cause us to fall further away from our position or intention....
|
Friday fun. This app can get you free bacon..? Rashers, "North America's Only Bacon Sandwich Shop," is a small business based in Toronto, with one location and a no-frills, bacon-only menu. Founders John Clark and Richard Mulleny have adopted all the usual social media gimmicks: daily Twitter and Facebook updates from the store advertise promotions in which customers can answer trivia questions for in-store discounts. And they have a knowing logo (that's the helvetica typeface, much favored by hipsters, in case you didn't know). It's Rashers' mobile strategy, however, that really brings home the bacon....
... To become an empowered social business is to inject the advantages of social media directly into the heart of your corporate DNA. That means recognizing it’s not only about having a fantastic Facebook page or a high profile Twitter account (though that might be part of the plan!). It’s about implementing the benefits social technology offers through the fabric of your business- not just the consumer facing ones. What social networking tools provide is a way to break the divides that separate your employees and their expertise from customers and one another, fostering a climate of knowledge sharing and collaboration. Instead of isolated knowledge hives, you build engaged communities who relate and share with one another naturally. It’s about building a social corporate culture where innovative solutions naturally arise by a foundation built on trust and a love of sharing, a business of conversation and mass participation....
I don’t know about you, but when I started trying to figure out how to work for myself, the idea of a “business plan” sort of made me gag.... ... Last year, I put together something I called the Remarkably Simple Business Plan, which answered those questions for me in the early days, and for my consulting clients as I moved forward. I’d like to go ahead and share it with you today. In the spirit of the whole “Remarkably Simple” thing, just cut and paste what’s below into the word processor of your choice and get rolling. Replace the “blah blah blah” sections with your own answers.... Sometimes simple is best!
Social media in 30 minutes a day is possible. Company's and users can both benefit by understanding exactly who to target and when to target those users.... Suggested in the past, Pardot warns customers that they need to identify their key social channels and plan tasks around those networks. The time spent on each network varies from 10 minutes per day on Facebook to 2 minutes per day on Instagram and G0ogle+ Just keep in mind that the infographic specifically focuses on social media marketing. Your company may need to spend more time if much of your customer service and other efforts are based around social media channels. The recommended actions and time spent on social network engagement doesn’t just apply to business users, it can also be effective for everyday social media lovers. Here is the 30 minutes of social a day infographic...
For any small business today, it can be a tough task to get ranking in the search engines, even for your own business name. That fact can be extremely frustrating when business owners think that they deserve to rank for their business name, yet don't own a website for their business. Or, worse yet, they own a website but it's never updated due to lack of time, skill, or loss of their webmaster. So what do you do? You know that saying, "If you can't beat them, join them"? Well, that's what small businesses need to do. Harness the power of social media and review sites and use them to their own advantage. Social, Review, and Deal Sites Are Always Generating New Content What do search engines love? New, relevant, up-to-date content! What do social networks and review sites offer? New, relevant, up-to-date content…at least for the most part they try to. If you have a tough time managing a website, utilizing social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, review sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp, more mobile-based sites like Foursquare and Urbanspoon, and deal sites like LivingSocial or Get City Dealz are ways that merchants can enhance and exert control over rankings in the search engines....
...Social media has become an important marketing tool for any business that wants to succeed in the current marketplace. It is a landscape that is constantly changing, and if you do not keep on top of your social media marketing techniques, it is easy to get left behind. No one can know for sure what 2013 will bring for social media, but the companies who thrive are the ones who are ready and quick to adapt. We cannot predict which new social networks will make an impact in 2013, or which will start to lose influence. In fact, the only thing that we can predict, is that social media will continue to be unpredictable. But whatever form it takes, social media is going to continue to be a major force in marketing. So if you do not want to get left behind, 2013 is your last chance to get social media marketing right. Is it that important? A recent study by the Princeton Review, 85 percent of people said that they expect businesses to be active in social media. Unless your target demographic happens to fall perfectly in that remaining 15 percent, a presence on social media is essential for your company. That same study said that 79 percent of companies are already either using, or planning to use social media. So you might be thinking that, because your company has an account on Twitter or Facebook, you are all set. However, the most damning statistic is this one: of that 79 percent, only 12 percent are using social media effectively....
In 2012 there was a mad rush from companies to understand the value of social in all its complexities. What could social media do? What value could it provide? How could the company engage with its users? As a result there have been numerous traditional agencies suddenly becoming digital marketing specialists and providing their clients with complete social strategies. There have been promises of guaranteed followers, likes and shares which may or may not have been achieved. There was (and still is) so much jargon that many businesses were sucked into the social media marketing black hole. Please note that many of those were successful and marketing teams breathed a sigh of relief as Directors, CEOs and other high-ranking officials nodded their heads in appreciation of the high number of followers, likes and shares. However, unlike their marketing counter parts, these high rankers have a goal that must be met – ROI. Return on investment is difficult to measure from a social media perspective. What is the value of a like, follow or share? Can it be equated to the lowest possible sale value of a single unit of product? No – because for every 10 likes only one user purchased the product! This is just an example, but remains true in essence....
We're social creatures, we tend to follow the advice of our friends and neighbors. 78 percent of us would rather buy a product or service upon the (genuine) recommendation of another person than by clicking on an ad. Even though one third of that number posts reviews online. Which is where social comes in, and why combining search and social is increasingly the best way to purchase. Already, 48 percent combine both in their buying process. Customer service is social. If you do well by customers, you can proudly play back to them the comments, reviews, and discussions they have about how well you did....
|
![30 Minutes Of Social A Day: Work Smarter, Not Harder [Infographic] | Social News Daily | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/BCyuoklEHpwcK3DOwSld_zl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
A valuable take on the value of business blogging whether you're subscription numbers are big or small. There's always a return on your time investment. Blog on.