General

25 Must Read Social Media Marketing Tips

by LeeOdden

The benefit from a firm grasp of social media for companies is impossible to ignore. Whether you work in marketing, advertising, public relations or interactive, there are distinct competitive advantages for both individuals and businesses from a better understanding of the social web.

This post provides specific advice from in-house social media marketers including: Dell, Comcast, HP, Wells Fargo, Intel, Best Buy, General Mills, Ford, UPS, Home Depot, Cirque du Soleil and a mix of SMM consultants/agencies: Altimeter Group, Crayon, Ogilvy 360, Future Works, Doe Anderson, New Marketing Labs and others. Advice includes justifying investment in social media, strategy, how to decide on tactics and measuring success. (read more)

2010: The Year Brands Embrace Social Commerce

by Dave Jackson

Last week, social shopping site ThisNext announced plans to buy smaller rival StyleHive; that announcement came after news from Time Inc. last month that it would buy social recommendation engine StyleFeeder as a way to incorporate ecommerce into its online fashion magazine properties.

This recent rush of consolidation points to a trend that’s evident no matter where you look: Consumers have flocked to social networks as an easier way of communicating with friends and peers, getting information, building relationships and participating in community. Activities that used to take place in the physical world — in shopping malls, over the phone, at restaurants and at neighborhood events — have rapidly moved to places like Facebook, Twitter and countless other third-party networks like StyleHive, ThisNext and StyleFeeder.

Most brand marketers have realized this shift and have stepped into these new “common spaces” of the 21st century. They’ve created fan pages on Facebook, accounts on Twitter and channels on YouTube, and have replicated offline marketing tactics, like advertising, coupons and promotions to engage online fans and gain new customers.

With the exception of a few innovative brands like Mattel and Charlotte Russe, however, the majority of online businesses have yet to take the next logical step and allow this social interaction to take place at their own online stores. To continue the common-spaces analogy, imagine if a downtown store only let one customer come into the shop at a time, while the customer’s friends waited on the street. The shopper could go outside every few minutes to get opinions on the outfit or finish a conversation, but had to return to the store alone to browse or make a purchase. (read more)

The Maturation of Social Media in 2010

1. Companies will expect ROI from their Social Media efforts.

2. The Social Media Specialist (Community Manager) position will become mainstream.

– As a Social Media Specialist you will be responsible for link building and socialization of our client’s online content. Familiarity with the internet, social media sites, search engines, discussion boards, blogs, video sharing sites and podcasting is an asset but a willingness to learn is essential. You must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to write and edit high quality content. A background in interactive marketing or public relations is considered a plus. The ability to find solutions in order to generate measurable results for clients is necessary as well as the generation of reports on those efforts.

Job Accountabilities:
• Contribute strategy and solutions to new business efforts
• Proactively introduce new ideas for client initiatives
• Develop online outreach strategy
• Work with clients to identify the most appropriate blogs
• Establish relationship with key bloggers
• Monitor social networks for potential threats or opportunities
• Leverage social networks to build affinity with either a company, product or issue position
• Leverage video sharing sites like YouTube to advance a client’s message or image
• Conduct online research to identify Web sites and online influencers for outreach
• Conduct one-to-one outreach to site editors, writers, and other influencers
• Develop and manage online strategic partnerships for client projects
• Concept and manage paid placement opportunities, including sponsorships and search engine                  and banner advertising (organic search engine marketing)

3. Cultural shift inside of companies.

4. Social Media Monitoring will be a necessary component

5. Agencies and companies will hire data analysts:
Detailed Description of Role
Ownership/Responsibility
* Campaign set-up
* Structuring, maintaining and evolving accounts across all search engines
* Keyword Research: using a variety of research tools and own initiative
* Ensuring efficient bid management strategies to maximize campaign potential
* Testing & Optimisation – regular testing on different aspects of PPC campaigns
* Performance monitoring – keeping a check on all key performance parameters
* Identifying opportunities for improvement/growing revenue and sales

Reporting
* Daily Logging of Client Stats and Supplier Spend
* Ensuring budgets and targets are met
* Preparing weekly reports and analysis

Troubleshooting
* Ensuring campaigns are functioning correctly
* Addressing poor performing campaigns
* Ensuring visibility of key terms on the engines
* Identifying/spotting irregular behavior on the adspace/performance data

Person Specification
A highly analytical and motivated individual to join the existing Search / Social Media team. The ideal candidate must be able to perform well under pressure within in a fast-paced environment.

Skills / Experience
* Degree educated, ideally in a scientific/technical discipline
* Knowledge/experience of PPC desirable
* 1 or 2 years professional experience within a technical/analytical field is desirable
* Highly Analytical – able to absorb large amounts of data quickly to make quick decisions/provide solutions and ideas
* Exceptional attention to detail
* Driven & Motivated; we are looking for someone who is very performance driven
* Fast learner; able to quickly grasp all key tools/technology
* Innovative & creative; able to think outside the box, this role will require someone able to carry out testing and optimization across our client accounts
* Hungry to learn & enjoys a challenge
* Able to take ownership/responsibility
* Well organized, efficient and ability to meet strict deadlines
* Advanced Excel skills
* Passionate about online marketing

6. Integration of platforms and processes will be critical.

Marian Salzman: 'Local will be the new global'

Marian Salzman travels the world spotting media trends. The top futurologist gives her predictions on how we’ll live and work in 2010.

By Ian Burrell

You have to hand it to Marian Salzman. For someone known internationally as a media futurist it takes some self-confidence to confess that you thought Facebook was just a pointless student fad, and that your initial reaction to Twitter was that it was “a ridiculous thing”.

But Salzman, writer, advertising executive, global public relations guru, has every faith in her judgement, having spent her career spotting trends invisible to most of us until she gave them a name. She is the author of books with titles such as Next, Now and Buzz and The Future of Men and has championed such new breeds as the “Wigger” (suburban whites infatuated with black urban culture) and the “Metrosexual” (the sensitive, city-dwelling modern male).

(read more)