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Social Media: 5 Trends to Consider

Article by Renard Smith

Does the concept of starting a social media marketing campaign scare you? Don’t let it. While social media sites are quickly growing, they’re also becoming easier to use and are welcoming not only social butterflies but businesses as well. Social media marketing is slowly but surely finding its way into the standard marketing campaign

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Is Social Media Worth Your Time?

Article by Meredith Liepelt

Copyright (c) 2009 Meredith Liepelt

Everyone – from politicians, businesses, musicians, celebrities and many other groups of people – use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking outlets to spread their message, build their businesses and connect with others.

Do they know something we don’t?

Networking, whether online or offline, is a great use of time when done properly. As with anywhere you spend your time, knowing why you are doing it, how you will measure success and having a plan is the best approach.

With that said, I jumped in with both feet last year with the guidance of a social media expert, and I have found clients, joint venture partners, speaking engagements and other great connections through various social media outlets. I am a member of more social media outlets than I can count, but I currently focus on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. While I am not an expert in social media, here are five reasons to take some time to learn the benefits of social media.

1. There Is No Cost

There is no direct cost unless you opt for an upgrade, if one is offered. I haven’t paid for an upgrade and have steadily increased my list to include over 1000 followers between just three social media outlets, and without much effort.

2. Build Your Business by Connecting With Peers

Are you interested in finding joint ventures, affiliates, guest experts or other peers you can bounce ideas off of? In the last few weeks alone, I have located one large joint venture partner and have had several other partnership opportunities cross my desk. Business owners just like you are using social media to connect with others who are interested in using your articles, hosting you as a guest expert on teleseminars, webinars and live events, and even creating projects together!

3. Build Your Business by Following Reporters You Are Targeting

Would an article written by a certain reporter make your year? Follow them on Twitter or Facebook and see what is of interest to them and what they are writing about. You never know what golden nugget you’ll find by following them online that may open the door at the right time. Follow them and invite them to follow you as well! Or with LinkedIn you can find out how many degrees you are from them. You may surprise yourself by being only one or two degrees away from your target!

4. Showcase Your Expertise, Build Your Platform and Attract New Clients

Social media is an interesting animal. While many people use it to increase their businesses, you must be mindful about outright promotions. Generally speaking, heavy marketing of your products and services on these sites is a big no-no. Here’s how I do it. I’ll post something like this: “Just got off the phone with social networking guru Nancy Marmolejo. Now I’m off to finish writing my sales page for the Business Breakthrough Series.” People who are intrigued will check you out and may end up deciding to follow you and… bingo! They have just entered your world!

5. Reach Large Audiences

The world is your oyster in social media. There are only a few businesses that are truly limited by geographic boundaries, especially if you are in the information marketing business. Being active on social networking sites eliminates geographic boundaries and allows you to reach a vast number of people from all over the world. If you have products and services that can be purchased by anyone in the world, being active in social media is an absolute must for you. I recently held a teleseminar with people from over 10 countries in attendance, all from the comfort of my home office! And my sweat pants!

So, is social media worth the time? It depends. Social media is absolutely the wave of the future, and you will need to know something about it as some point. However, whether you work it into your plan for 2009 depends on your goals. If you have a goal of increasing your reach to prospects either locally or internationally, you can do that quite effectively through social media. However, if you can cannot and will not commit to learning how to “tweet” on Twitter or communicate on Facebook or use your connections on LinkedIn, it will not be worth your time.

My advice to clients when they are just starting out is to select one social media outlet, whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, and master it before jumping into every outlet possible. You obviously need to schedule time for connecting, so select the social networking outlets that will benefit you the most.

Now that I am experiencing the financial results of my online efforts, I understand why this is such a great use of my time and I’m hooked!

About the Author

© 2009 Meredith Liepelt, Rich Life MarketingMeredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, offers a free report called “101 Ways to Attract Ideal Clients, Build Your List and Raise Your Profile,” which can be downloaded immediately at http://www.RichLifeMarketing.com.

Why Your Business Needs Social Media – Now

Article by Castle Communication Systems

Are you holding your breath and waiting for this Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp and Google Places “thing” to fade away from the business scene so that you can return to the serene, good ol’ days where yellow pages and word of mouth were the only marketing tools you needed? If so, then you’d better exhale before you pass out.

True, the labels may change — today’s Twitter is tomorrow’s…whatever – but the idea of social media, the enormous impact it has on marketing and communication, and the new categories of expectations that it has unleashed in the minds of your current and future customers is not going to change. In fact, it’s just going to get more intense.

Add that all up, and it leads to this bottom-line fact:

If you want your business to thrive and out-pace your competitors – a.k.a. the people who are actively trying to capture your customers and their networks – then you need to get things in gear and make social media work for you right now. Not next year. Not “in the future when you have time.” NOW. (In fact, yesterday would be even better.)

The Consequences of Ignoring this Warning

We can start with this: the longer you wait to get your social media strategy in gear, the more vulnerable you become to the roving army of dime-a-dozen Internet Marketing Gurus “out there” who have no idea what they’re doing. Sure, they talk a good game…but that’s about it.

And if these scam artists get their claws into your business and your budget, then here’s what will likely happen:

• You’ll keep ignoring social media. That’s because nobody likes being told what to do without being told WHY, and you aren’t going to be swayed by some Internet Marketing charlatan with a shell game. So you’ll sit on the sidelines, refuse to engage in social media, and watch your competitors use social media to race ahead of you, steal your customers, grab your market share, and eventually put you out of business.

• You’ll “authorize” unwise decisions. If you don’t know why you need social media but feel pressed into doing something – anything! — you’ll probably authorize these flaky Internet Marketing fakers to do all kinds of things with YOUR MONEY – things that you don’t need, things that won’t work, and things that will probably even sent you backwards.

• You’ll waste tons of time (that you can’t afford to waste). You need to know enough about social media in order to make wise business decisions. But you don’t need to be an expert, and besides, why would you want to be? You’re an expert in YOUR business, and that’s enough. If you don’t partner with the right Social Media Expert, you’ll waste hours of your time trying to figure out what’s going on. And as you know, that’s not what you’re paid to do or where your profit comes from. And it’s also not what your employees need you to do, either.

Okay, let’s pause for a moment. This is all pretty scary stuff! But there’s really no way to sugar coat this. We’re not talking about the mere success of your business. We’re talking about its very existence!

However, don’t panic….yet. There’s a way to solve this. Let’s deal with that now, before we send your blood pressure even higher.

The Benefits of Social Media in your Business

Start with this: social media is not about being social. It’s not merely about having informal conversations with friends. It’s not the conversation your have over the back fence with your neighbour, the chit-chat you enjoy (or endure) at a cocktail party, or the pleasant and friendly small talk you exchange with your customers.

Rather, in a business context, social media is all about:

• Engaging the profitable, high margin customers that you want to serve now and in the future, and staying on their “radar screen”• Reaching out to your target market and influencing the conversations that take place in those spaces through the power of your brand and the presentation of your marketing message• Positioning your business to be found in all of the spaces where your current and future customers might venture• Proactively establishing your “virtual territory” so that a competitor cannot come in and knock you out of your leadership position (from which you may never be able to recover)• Protecting your online reputation so that misinformation or negative reviews are nipped in the bud and positive stories are spread as widely as possible• Generating new customers through videos, digital assets, and inbound marketing channels• Enhancing your overall marketing mix, which includes in-store/office and offline (print, other media) strategies

Show Me the Money

And of course, no discussion of social media’s business benefits would be complete without the most compelling reason of them all:

When your business’ customized social media plan and system is designed, executed, controlled and refined by an expert Marketing Partner- one that specializes in helping leaders like you use social media to take their business to the next level of profitability, performance and results – then the entire effort is REMARKABLY cost effective and profitable.

In fact, connecting with a credible and trustworthy Marketing Partner, and building a customized and carefully controlled marketing plan that makes sense, is probably the smartest business investment a business can make in 2012.

About the Author

Roger W. Graham, PhD is the President and CEO of Castle Communication Systems, a Vancouver Integrated Marketing firm and Advertising Agency that specializes in managing Reputation Marketing and creating High Performance Environments (HPE) for dental and other professionals. An HPE is where plans, strategies, programs and staff all work together to create ongoing, elite-level excellence and profitability. Click here to learn more today about Castle’s Marketing Plans, Marketing Strategy, Internet Marketing and more.

www.gerekallen.com Hootsuite Pro is a phenomenal tool for serious social media experts who want to manage all their social media sites on 1 platform. www.hootsuite.com hootsuite.com www.blog.hootsuite.com www.thenextweb.com www.businessontwitter.co.uk www.famousbloggers.net www.twittercism.com www.joesgonesocial.com www.mwd.com

What to Expect in Social Media: The Road Ahead

Article by Maanasi RK

The Age of Web 3.0

The last few years have seen social media evolve in more ways than one can imagine. The rapid growth of major social media players (in size, shape, and reach) and their increasing use by marketers and businesses makes us wonder “where is this heading and what will it look like in the years ahead?”. With the close of H12011, it is time now to take a look at some of the future trends in social media and see what industry experts have predicted for the age of web 3.0:

Customers will no longer spend precious minutes searching for information. The vast amount of data collected by marketers will ensure the information finds the right customers at the right time. Social Network Users GrowthAccording to Gartner, by 2016, 40% of all new Fortune 500 contacts will be sourced from social media. The Forrester Research Interactive Marketing Forecast (2009-2014) estimates social media marketing spend to grow up to 3.1 billion in 2014. Brian Solis (Altimeter Group) calls 2011-2012 as the ‘Era of Social Commerce’. According to Solis, during this phase, social networks will eclipse corporate websites and CRM systems. eMarketer’s studies show that, by 2014, approximately 2/3rd of all internet users (or 164.9 million people) will be regular users of social networks. Tablets will lose their ‘niche’ status. A study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and Frank N. Magid Associates expects 54 million Americans to own or use tablets every day by 2012. This means more people will be accessing social media via iPad like devices. Mobile social networks are likely to make between to billion dollars in ad revenue by 2012. With more and more users preferring smartphones to PCs, this is an area that is likely to see exponential growth. Privacy Expectations will Change: Freddie Laker, the director of digital strategy at Sapient, foresees a cultural shift in privacy expectations, whereby people will be more open to the idea of sharing their personal details, likes, etc, online.

What Does this Mean for Marketers? Keeping up with current trends and knowing what to expect in the future will open up endless opportunities for marketers and brands. As a marketer, having an awareness of how social media will evolve will not just help tweak your marketing strategies accordingly, but will also keep you informed of your target markets’ needs and expectations.

Facebook:

FacebookWith nearly 750 million active users, Facebook currently occupies the position of the most popular network in 119 out of 134 countries. Statistics such as these indicate that Facebook has a promising future ahead and is not likely to give up its title of ‘social networking king’ anytime soon. Among the top predictions for Facebook is that the networking giant is likely to go public in 2012. Here are some more: eMarketer expects 62% of web users and almost half (47.6%) of the overall US population to be on Facebook by 2013. However, after 2013, the dramatic growth will slow down and the networking giant’s growth rate is likely to be in single-digits, says the study. Facebook – US Users StatsResearch by eMarketer also estimates significant increase in Facebook’s US display revenues (by another 80.9% to .19 billion) by the end of 2011; so much that it will oust Yahoo! to take on the position of No. 1 display ad-selling company in the country. Predictions for 2012 indicate that Facebook’s display ad market will rise to 19.4%. F-commerce is set to grow; we expect Facebook to become one of the major channels of online shopping in the future with more businesses setting up storefronts on the site itself. According to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2011, 75% of marketers are planning to increase their activities on Facebook in the future. The growth of the ‘Why Don’t You Facebook Me’ phenomenon shows that Facebook is likely to dominate the future web. In addition to fans and friends, millions of brands and business who are not in customers’ ‘friends’ list will nevertheless establish a strong relationship with them. Facebook’s recent growth spurt suggests that it is looking to position itself, not just as a website, but as an essential piece of the internet; Facebook-led social web will make online browsing more convenient. Following its partnership with Bing, it will not come as a surprise if Facebook becomes a much bigger part of the search market picture. Twitter:

TwitterIf 2011 has been a good year (so far) for Twitter, then 2012 will be even better, says eMarketer in a recent study. According to eMarketer’s forecasts, Twitter’s revenues will reach 0 million by 2012. Although this may not be as much as Facebook, it is still a healthy figure. We can also expect: To see a shift from ‘tweeting’ to ‘searching’. The Twitter search tool will function as an easy way to find useful information. Twitter ActivityTo witness the transformation of Twitter from a microblogging site to a news powerhouse. With Twitterians being the first ones to report breaking events, the concept of citizen journalism will add to Twitter’s value as a news source in the future. To see an increase in users: As Twitter usage gains traction, eMarketer expects to see almost 28 million Americans tweeting by 2013. 73% of marketers to increase their activities on Twitter in the years ahead. The future of Twitter to be mobile: With an upsurge in smartphone users, the future of Twitter may gradually shift from the web to mobile devices. What is that? Mobile is fast and simple, and so is Twitter (its 140 character limit makes sharing effortless). An increase in Twitter’s role as a customer-service channel: Companies such as JetBlue and Whole Foods are already serving their customers successfully via Twitter. We expect more brands to follow their footsteps in becoming more ‘customer-centric’.

CEO Speak: During the CES 2011, Twitter CEO – Dick Costolo, spoke about the company’s business plans for the future and said that Twitter will neither go public, nor will it be up for sale. What he hopes is that Twitter will become a successful independent company soon. LinkedIn:

LinkedInA leader in professional networking, we can expect LinkedIn to become more influential in this space. With +100 million users (as of March 2011), the future for this networking site looks promising. However, LinkedIn’s rapid ascend has prompted skeptics to ask if the company can maintain its growth rate. This is what LinkedIn’s future is likely to have in store: A popular site for recruitment, LinkedIn is expected to give other job portals a reason to worry. LinkedIn’s growth in the future is likely to depend on the hiring solution segment. The launch of the ‘Apply with LinkedIn’ plug-in for employers’ websites is something to look forward to. We expect this to be introduced sometime in the near future. The company claims that that this app will allow job seekers to apply for various positions using their LinkedIn profiles as resumes. Experts project a 20% annual growth rate, with LinkedIn likely to become a 0 million company by 2015. Analysts at JP Morgan are of the opinion that LinkedIn, with its current 16% penetration of the professional network market worldwide, is just at the beginning of its growth curve; the company is projecting the site’s member base to reach more than 250 million by the end of 2015, which would suggest a 42% penetration rate off the current professional market. What distinguishes LinkedIn from other networking sites is that it currently owns the professional networking space; while imitators will come and go, we don’t expect LinkedIn to face major competition anytime soon. So far, 2011 has been a successful year for LinkedIn; however, the company does have the task of keeping shareholders happy. This means we can expect to see the introduction of new services in the future.

The CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, is optimistic about the company’s future. Investments in hiring solutions will continue, he said. Meanwhile, the company does have acquisition plans in the pipeline, especially after ‘ringing the bell on the New York Stock Exchange’ earlier in May.

While the road ahead for the ‘big three’ (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) shows great potential, the smaller players in this space have lately been ‘in the news’ for various reasons. Let’s sneak a quick look into the future of the other players in social media: Social Media Today recently chalked out a list of social networks that are on the rise and those witnessing a decline. Tumbler, Weibo, Reddit, StumbleUpon are poised for growth, while Friendster, Ning and Hi5 may have some difficult years in store. The initial few months of the year saw skeptics predicting the decline of MySpace; however, recent developments including its acquisition by Specific Media and the entry of Justin Timberlake as MySpace’s de facto creative consultant has made the social media world sit up and take notice. The networking community seems to be closely watching for further developments. Foursquare recently become the first location-based network to surpass the 10 million user mark. In addition to this, the social location startup raised a million funding round with the solid backing from its existing investors. What does this growth spurt mean? Company founders said that they will ‘try a ton of new things’ including expanding globally and adding more features for businesses and venues that are using Foursquare. The New Entrant: Google+

Google+Although Google’s Buzz and Wave were not as well received, the unveiling of Google+ shows that the search giant latest attempt to go social is not only bold and ambitious, but is also set to redefine the future of social media. Despite invoking mixed reactions, Google’s latest project has definitely created considerable buzz among the big players. While there is a lot of speculation on how it will evolve, let us look at what is facing Google+: Following the launch of Google+, one of its main competitors, Facebook announced something ‘awesome’. Facebook, in a deal with Skype, launched a video chat service in early July. The networking community is eager to see how this move, which is expected to strengthen Facebook’s position in the social networking market, will impact Google+. Now that Google has made its big move, the big question is if it can convince loyalists to make the switch from existing social networks. Google’s efforts to become more ‘people-centric’ may finally pay-off. In addition to innovative features such as ‘Circles’, ‘Handouts’ and ‘Video Chats’, the company’s mobile application for Android devices shows its futuristic approach to social media. Though Google+ has a long way to go, many industry specialists are calling this the ‘next generation social network’. According to popular venture capitalist Fred Wilson, there’s space for Google+ to sit alongside its competitors as an alternative for those who don’t want a Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr style experience.

According to Google, this is not the final product, but more of a constantly-evolving entity. As Google slowly rolls out the invites (Gmail style) we can’t wait to see how the new entrant impacts the networking landscape.

Meanwhile, as more and more brands leverage social media for marketing, there will be a greater need to have a deeper understanding of human conversational behavior. We expect marketers to increasingly rely on social media monitoring tools to know what is being said about them in the digital space. Our research suggests that the social media monitoring field will witness some interesting developments ahead:

An audio option as part of a social media monitoring dashboard suite could be a future trend. The use of unpaid social media monitoring tools will increase. In addition to sentiment and volume analysis, competitor monitoring will become one of the major requirements of companies.

Conclusion

As Facebook gets closer to the 1 billion mark, industry experts foresee the networking giant to witness huge growth in Asia. Until recently, Facebook had little to worry as far as competition was concerned; yet, with the recent introduction of Google+, the equation appears to have changed. Although, Google’s new social media tool is currently on trail, the networking community expects it to revolutionize the social media experience. On the other hand, Facebook’s launch of its video chat, even before people could fully familiarize themselves with Google+, shows that timing of Facebook’s announcement is more than a coincidence. Meanwhile, Google will have to keep an eye on Twitter. We expect the microblogging site to emerge as a relevant and updated source of information, besides evolving as a social search tool. For Google, this could mean less search users. We wonder if this will prompt Twitter to break the 140 character limit. While we wait for launch of the ‘Apply with LinkedIn’ app, it will be safe to assume that smaller players like MySpace will not be left behind as expected earlier. Foursquare, which until now, was in the same league as the smaller players, will be a tough competitor to Facebook Places and Google Latitude. It will be interesting to watch how the big names react to this.

That said, M-commerce has been termed as one of the biggest emerging trends in social media. The recent spurt in smartphones’ sales means marketers will leverage the tremendous potential of smartphones for M-commerce in the future. We expect M-Commerce to take consumer-engagement and user experience to the next level.

Social media is dynamic; although the above predictions are the outcome of extensive research and opinions of social media experts, it will not come as a surprise if the road ahead has some unexpected detours.

This article is also available on the Position2 Blog: http://blog.position2.com.For more information, visit http://brandmonitor.position2.com

About the Author

Brand Monitor,366 Cambridge Ave.Palo Alto, CA 94306Phone: 650-618-8900Toll-free (US): 800-725-5507http://brandmonitor.position2.com/

www.profitablesocialmarketing.com If you would like to receive our free weekly video newsletter on the latest social media strategies, tools and tips plus video marketing you can opt-in at Profitable Social Marketing website. Jeff Bullas is a highly respected social media marketer who provides information via his blog on the latest social media trends and topics globally. If you wish to connect with Jeff on twitter you can find him at http If you wish to connect with social media experts Pam and Steve Brossman you can follow them at www.twitter.com and www.twitter.com [social media] [social media marketing] [social marketing] [video marketing

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Expanding Your Social Media Mix: Why Twitter Alone Is Not Enough

Article by Position2

The need to balance your social media mix

In 2010, industry experts predicted Facebook to see exponential growth in the years to come; and rightly so. Facebook saw its active user base (outside the US) grow by over 19 million in just four months (October 2010-February 2011), signaling that the networking giant was clearly the king of social media. Predictions for Twitter indicate that it will have a steady 2011, while LinkedIn is expected to witness strong growth in the next five years. According to eMarketer, in 2012, 88% companies in the US will use social media tools for marketing purposes. This brings us to the question of what social media tools are best suited for your marketing needs.

Solely using microblogging tools like Twitter may throw your social media mix out of balance. While every tool has its strengths and restrictions, it is important to use them in an integrated manner for achieving the right balance. For instance, if you tweet more than 25 times a day, perhaps you are better off blogging. In addition to popular sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, recent entrants such as Quora and Focus are some of the options to choose from.

According to Jeremiah Owyang, sensible Twitter use involves focusing on fewer, high quality tweets instead of overloading followers with too many tweets. Here are some reasons why online marketers should incorporate other social media tools in addition to Twitter: