Posted in Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing, UK on 26. May, 2010
Content Marketing and Social Media Should Go Hand in Hand The Social Robot (blog) Is content marketing success still possible without the use of social media marketing ? Steve Lazuka is the President of Interact Media, a company dedicated …
Posted in Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing on 26. May, 2010
PR Web (press release) Robin Leedy & Associates Hires Digital Content Producer, Taking Social Media … PR Web (press release) ChatteRL&A is RL&A's digital and social media marketing division, providing a range of services, including viral marketing, social media, … and more
Posted in Marketing, Social media, Twitter, World on 26. May, 2010
Dancer Universe (blog) Turn Free Social Media Accounts into Higher Traffic and Profits with New … PR Web (press release) In just 30 minutes a day, see how to rapidly expand profits and traffic using free sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This 2-week course is taught … Combine Social Media and E-Mail Marketing Entrepreneur World Cup 2010 Social Media Marketing Strategy Winning Brackets To Be Revealed Online PR News (press release) Colleges click the 'like' button on social media classes eSchool News (subscription) Small Business Trends
Posted in Marketing, SEO, Social media on 26. May, 2010
openPR (press release) Oxford SEO Consultants, Momentum, Partner with Surefire Digital to Provide … openPR (press release) It's a great partnership, as digital marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand. In fact, we've just conducted a series of interviews with Rob about social media and …
Posted in Marketing, Social media, Twitter, USA, World on 26. May, 2010
OK marketer, put yourself in these shoes (they’re more like boots actually). Your state government is facing massive budget shortfalls. Teachers are being laid off. Draconian cuts to vital public services are being announced left and right. And amid this tumult, you are the one tasked with using your marketing prowess to stave off disaster itself. The above paragraph probably makes you feel better about your own challenges, but think for a second…given the above situation…and very little resources…what would you do? Social media marketing for a social cause At the end of May 2009, the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) found itself in this very position after learning about massive cuts in state funding that threatened to close 220 California state parks. In response, this nonprofit organization quickly launched a multichannel effort with its agency, Adams Hussey & Associates, that included direct mail, telemarketing, email, and social networking. I want to focus on that last part for this blog post. Because what amazed (and impressed) me the most was that CSPF used Facebook to shape the larger conversation about this topic. Before I get to that, let’s look at how CSPF used Facebook. They optimized their existing Facebook fan page to promote awareness, discussion, and (hopefully) attract new activists and members. “Find us on Facebook” language and graphics were featured in every email and all over the site. The “Friend Get a Friend” campaign launched on Tuesday, May 26, on Facebook via an update to 517 fans – “This year’s cuts are ten times as bad, so we need ten times the fans on Facebook.” The update explained to recipients the imminent threat parks were facing and set a deadline and a goal – 5,000 fans by Friday (May 29). The second Facebook update was sent on Monday, June 1 at 12:12 p.m. PST, stressing a 24-hour deadline and asking for fans and petition signatures. The California budget committee was scheduled to meet on June 2, so media coverage was at its height. The Facebook factor shapes the conversation “The California State Parks Foundation, the lead public organization advocating keeping the parks open, had its fan base on Facebook increase from 500 to 33,000 in the past two weeks, reports Jerry Emory of the Foundation.” – Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle , Sunday, June 21, 2009 Now this next part is truly impressive. With just two updates on Facebook (and in all fairness very smart cross-promotion through other channels), CSPF created a proof point for keeping the parks open, helping them meet their “promote awareness” goal. That’s right, the Facebook campaign itself actually entered the public debate. The massive growth of this fan page caught the media’s attention and was mentioned on several TV news spots and in national news articles. They took advantage of a timely and newsworthy story (the California budget cuts were all over the news on- and offline) and created a talking point to meet their communications goals (several news oulets mentioned the Facebook growth as evidence of a grassroots swell). As mentioned in the beginning of this post, raising awareness wasn’t their only goal. So let’s take a look at some of the other success metrics. Those two simple Facebook updates (aided by the cross-channel campaign) have helped raise several hundred thousand dollars in nonmember, one-time gifts. In addition, CSPF more than tripled the size of its email list and acquired many new activists that are being converted to donors online and via the telephone. CSPF is routinely using social media now. A subsequent Facebook and Twitter promotion gained 285 new members in four days, and their Facebook page has now grown to 54,000 fans. Other success metrics were a little harder to meet. While California’s budget that was passed at the end of July 2009 did not close the originally proposed 220 parks, budget cuts forced nearly 150 to partially close or reduce services. What you can learn from this case study Nonprofit organizations are a natural fit for social media campaigns. People (who believe in your cause) want to help, often don’t want to expend much time or money, and want to look good to their friends, family, and social network. A social media campaign lies at the nexus of these three motivations. And, most importantly, it gives your fans an easy way to act. Of course, the benefit isn’t limited to for-profit corporations. To wit, the Pepsi Refresh Project uses social media to leverage those same motivations. And this isn’t just a side project for Pepsi. They made a strategic decision to use a social media activism campaign as their main 2010 marketing push…instead of the Super Bowl. This is the first time in 23 years that Pepsi has not advertising during the Super Bowl. So what can you learn from CSPF? When creating a social media campaign, keep a few important principles in mind: A tight deadline always spurs action online. When supporters can get instant feedback on the effects of their efforts (seeing fan numbers grow) it makes them even more motivated. The best campaigns cross pollinate. CSPF didn’t just use Facebook. It also used direct mail, telemarketing, and email in a tightly integrated fashion, including a custom URL for the Facebook fan page. Even better, add other social networking platforms to the mix, such as Twitter. Be clear. While social media has grown explosively, not everyone you reach will be clear on every convention of every social media platform (which are constantly subject to change). As opposed to showing first-time Facebook fan page visitors the default “Wall” tab (which has no clear call to action), CSPF created a pseudo “New Fan” landing page that included three simple buttons: “Click ‘Become a Fan’ above to join the conversion!” (Please note, as of last month, Facebook replaced its “Become a fan” terminology with the “Like” button) “Join CSPF” “Take Action” Institute back-end tracking on clicks and conversions to determine where supporters are coming from (this is one thing CSPF would do differently next time). Mapping an effective media strategy I found this case study while perusing an early draft of an upcoming book from MarketingSherpa. To read the entire case study, along with ten other case studies from leading companies and 27 real-world examples of what works, order your copy of the soon-to-be released Social Marketing ROAD Map Handbook: A method for mapping an effective social media strategy . If you do so by May 28th, you’ll save $100 and get a free bonus gift. I want to thank Lead Author Sergio Balegno for letting me take an early look at his research, even though he was still editing it as I poked around. And full disclosure: While Sergio and I are not related, MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa are sister companies. Related Resources The MarketingExperiments Quarterly Research Journal, Q1 2010 (Social Media Marketing begins on page 51) Social Media Marketing in Four Steps Facebook and Omniture: A welcome step in social media measurement Please Be My Friend: Taking the first step beyond just being on Facebook Develop Your Social Marketing ROAD Map Strategy
Posted in Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing on 26. May, 2010
Top Tech News: Microsoft Gets Creative with Social – Media Marketing NewsFactor Network Microsoft Corp. is combining social media and detective work to market its new Kin cell phone by throwing surprise concerts with bands such as Passion Pit …
Posted in Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing on 26. May, 2010
The Four Pillars of Social Media Marketing ClickZ News That can be pretty tough to do with social media marketing , especially when overnight successes have been touted on the latest business channels. …
Posted in Marketing, Social media, Twitter, World on 26. May, 2010
PC World Combine Social Media and E-Mail Marketing Entrepreneur Whether they're tweeting on Twitter , posting on Facebook, forwarding YouTube videos or commenting on blogs, they're out there engaging in conversations and … World Cup 2010 Social Media Marketing Strategy Winning Brackets To Be Revealed Online PR News (press release) Colleges click the 'like' button on social media classes eSchool News (subscription) Small Business News: Forget Social Media? Small Business Trends Dancer Universe (blog)
Posted in B2B, Marketing, Social media, Social media marketing on 26. May, 2010
Survey: B2B businesses are beginning to embrace social media KoMarketing Associates The survey, conducted by White Horse, says that 86 percent of B2B firms are using social media for B2B online marketing . However, they still aren't engaging …
Posted in Social media, Technology, Twitter, World on 25. May, 2010
New stats we’ve just been shown by video measurement company TubeMogul show that Twitter is quickly growing as a top referrer for web video traffic, far outpacing Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Bing. Further, when it comes to getting users to watch videos, users who discovered a video via Twitter tend to stay around longer, too. In fact, these users will view a video for an average of just over two minutes. In a quick Twitter poll, we tried to ascertain the reasons for Twitter’s emergence as a video-sharing tool. From what we can tell, people are using Twitter to connect not just to their real-world friends, but also to specific interests. Hence, they’re finding content that’s directly related to those interests, content that is more personally relevant and, for the individual, more watchable. Simply put, for video discovery, Twitter is “more tuned to my tastes,” in the words of one user. It might also have something to do with the sheer volume of content and the ease of spreading that content around via retweets. One user said most of his video recommendations were via Twitter, and another said he was less likely to tune out a video if multiple friends retweeted it. However you want to slice it, though, Twitter is a huge referral source for online video. Video blogging pioneer Steve Garfield , who literally wrote the book on web video, told us, “Twitter is my #1 recomendation engine for finding videos.” Do you tend to find good videos from your Twitter stream? Are they more interesting or more relevant to you than the videos you’d find on Facebook or from random browsing elsewhere online? For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Tags: ONLINE VIDEO , twitter , youtube
