Decoding Social Media Marketing

Over the last week, some very smart people have been unsuccessfully trying to define "social business strategy" and "social business design" However, instead of bringing clarity to the discussion, all these attempts have added more confusion.

The problem is that a lot of people are decoding "social business strategy" and "social business design" as "social business + strategy" and "social business + design" and trying to define what a "social business" is. This has, not unexpectedly, led to a pointless discussion about cause-based and non-profit "social business" organizations.

I would want to clarify that at least our version of "social business strategy" has nothing to do with the idea of businesses giving back to the society. It's a worthy ideal, and businesses don't think about it as much as they should, but when we use the term "social business strategy", we are not talking about it.

I would urge everyone to decode "social business strategy" and "social business design" as "social + business strategy" and "social + business design". When you do that, the cloud of confusion lifts up. The terms "business strategy" and "business design" have a specific, widely accepted meaning. The term "social" here refers to "social technologies" and the four norms embedded in them: user-generated content, collaboration, community, and collective intelligence.

"Social business strategy" is different from "social media marketing" ("social media + marketing") in two important ways. First, when you stop looking at "social technologies" through the "media" lens, you realize that content is only the first level in what these technologies enable: collaboration, community and collective intelligence are the other, higher levels. Second, when you stop looking at "social technologies" through the "marketing" lens, you realize that their impact goes beyond merely reaching out to customers, to connecting customers, partners and employees.

"Social business strategy" is a good label for what "some" of us do because it enables us to talk about social technologies and business value, without limiting ourselves to the "media" and the "marketing" lenses. Therefore, the social business strategy label can potentially become the rallying point of a movement for "using emerging social technologies for transforming businesses, instead of merely reaching out to customers."

Source: 20:20 Social

Tweeting all the Way to the Bank

Over at VentureBeat, Matt Marshall is reporting that Twitter will introduce its first revenue-generating series of premium services.

In an interview with co-founder Biz Stone, it was revealed that Twitter is in the initial phases of introducing commercial accounts to businesses seeking detailed analysis of activity in and around the brand on the popular network as well as other data not available to Twitter users directly.

In the next phase, Stone indicated that Twitter may also debut a new set of corporate-specific API’s that would allow the company to insert a customer layer over the profile and other aspects of the network to more effectively engage with the community, while increasing strategic visibility.

Stone revealed to Marshall, “Twitter will still be free for everybody and we’ll still tell them to go crazy with it. But, we’ve identified a selection of things that businesses say are helping to make them more profit.”

He further elucidated, “We want to build statistics or analytics that let users know — ‘How am I doing on Twitter?”

This news is the latest in a short series of information bursts following the company’s announcement that it is rolling out a new set of APIs to integrate geo-location into Tweets, mostly likely to contend with rising competition of geo-location networks such as Loopt and FourSquare and also as a potential generator of hyper-local advertising revenue.

Source: VentureBeat

Companies Continue to Invest in SEO

Good news for Google - according to a report published earlier this month by Guava and Econsultancy, companies are continuing to invest in search engine optimization with over half expecting an increase in their budgets this year. At a time when marketers are going back to basics and trying to increase ROI in today's touch economic climate, search marketing provides solid performance and dependable results—both which can be measured to the T.

The Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report 2009 found that 55% of the 800 responding companies plan to increase SEO budgets this year, and 45% plan to increase spending on paid search.

This research demonstrates companies commitment to internet marketing and digital channels that provide better return on investment than traditional channels. As companies get smarter at measuring the performance and results, increases in spending for online marketing ad services will follow.

The study also highlighted that around half (48%) of the companies surveyed reported better results on organic optimization campaigns during 2008, with just 6% reporting a decrease in effectiveness.

Meanwhile, 43% claimed to have had more success and better ROI from paid search campaigns and just 15% reported declines in ROI. Another recent study, this time from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), found that some 70% of European advertisers have increased the amount allocated to online advertising for the coming year, cannibalizing traditional media budgets.

Authentic Greening of Your Business

Have you heard your fill on companies, facilities, homes, buildings and everything in between going green? Well don't expect it to go away anytime soon. With the shocking and 'inconvenient' truths coming out everyday about the dire need to address global warming, I welcome this shift in social responsibility and only hope our efforts manifest a solution before we reach an unstoppable tipping point.

The reasons for businesses going green are many: to gain competitive advantage, reduce operation costs, and increase efficiency and customer loyalty to name a few. But, like with any highly publicized trend, there are those who are in it more for the notoriety than the soul. The green movement is nothing new. The 60s, 70s and 80s all saw it fair share of products and organizations promoting themselves as green. Yet, what lacked during these times was honest regulation of what green really meant. Today, consumers are much more savvy when it comes to companies claiming eco-friendly operations and/or products. Thanks to the informational superhighway - anyone thinking of this eco-strategy best ensure that all aspects of their business plan meet present day expectations and requirements for such recognition.

To avoid false claims or 'greenwashing', companies should devote sufficient internal resources or seek out specialized assistance to properly adhere to industry guidelines and best practices. A qualified eco-consultant can perform a thorough audit of your business or product based on credibility, relevance, and messaging. But instead of just promoting your business as green, determine new cost savings, reduction in environmental impact or carbon footprint so your consumers can hold on to something more substantial and tangible. People want facts and figures to be convinced.

The Golden Egg of Internet Marketing

Understanding how the Internet alters the rules of marketing is a never ending process. New technology, changes in consumer behavior and savvy marketers continue to push the barriers in effort to connect with their customers in the most meaningful, memorable and measurable way possible.Traditional marketing’s monologue approach at delivering messages pushes customers through the ‘consideration’ process through one-way mass media.

The goal of Internet marketing isn’t just consideration or brand awareness. It’s engagement! You want your customers to get to know your organization, get involved with your products and understand its values and services. When customers like what they see and experience, the relationship deepens, leading to affinity. That’s engagement!

5 Web trends that will change Hotel Internet Marketing

5 Web trends that will change Hotel Internet Marketing

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Inbound Marketing

If you have any responsibility over your company's marketing efforts or better marketing expenses, then you most likely are living in a new world where budgets have been slashed and customers have gone scarce. Over the last decade, outbound marketing (advertising, TV, radio, online sponsorships, cold calling, trade shows, even email blast) has been the common approach for targeting audiences. But with a tidal wave of media being forced on customers and their attention spans, inbound marketing has taken root as consumer preference and continues to shift the way we seek information and decide on purchases.

Inbound marketing consists of media and mediums that consumers use and in turn, chose which messages and companies they wish to know more about. For example, instead of interrupting people with TV ads, videos are created and spread virally to only those engaged and willing to participate with the social media. Other examples of Inbound Marketing are: blogs, white papers, SEO, webinars, and RSS feeds.

Although inbound marketing should not necessarily replace outbound marketing, if not practiced as part of an overall marketing strategy, companies will lose out to competitors that embrace it. Social media is here to stay and with lower costs and better targeting than outbound, even the smallest player can compete with the biggest bully in the market.