Archive for January, 2012
Emerging Marketing Trends to Consider in 2012
As we head into February, hopefully you’re starting to see how the changes you’ve made to your marketing strategy for this year are manifesting. However, trends are hardly static, and as soon as you start implementing one set of tactics, new developments emerge that can help you decide how to fine-tune your efforts.
Mobile is major! More and more people are browsing on their mobile devices, so it’s imperative that your sites are mobile compatible. Additionally, it is often worthwhile for companies to consider creating their own mobile app. This is generally important for sites that lend themselves to being accessed on-the-go. Businesses that offer location-based components, ecommerce stores, and easily-digestible mobile content like articles or blog posts would likely do well to offer a native app. Many companies can simply ensure that their mobile site provides a good browsing experience, without incurring the additional cost of developing an app.
Another thing that is growing by leaps and bounds in the first quarter of 2012 is video advertising . Consumers are responding both to the rapport that can be established over video, and also the comfortable familiarity and resemblance to television ads. Online video advertising can be done for a fraction of the cost of TV ads, so there’s no reason not to branch out and connect with a bigger audience in this way.
Exclusivity is another feature that consumers seem to love. Having trouble getting your customers to “like” your Facebook page? Offer special, exclusive content or offers to those who do, and watch those numbers soar. Many businesses have even found success with offering a tiered paid subscription service that lets subscribers in on special deals or offers. Keep in mind, though, if you’re going to charge money, the reward customers get will have to be worth it.
On the flip side of the exclusivity issue is loyalty. Getting customers is one part of your goal, but keeping them is even more important. Establishing a loyalty program with rewards is a great way to make sure customers stick around, but you should also create a series of perpetual action opportunities that give your customers incentive to try various products or services.
Social gaming is a huge deal right now. If your business has an actual bricks-and-mortar premises, location-based services like Foursquare can help you take advantage of all that social gameplay has to offer, by creating deals and offers for people who prove their loyalty with frequent visits. You can even create points-based social games on your Facebook page, giving your fans and followers some friendly competition, and keeping them interacting with you the whole time.
Probably the most important thing you can focus on right now is using transparency to increase your online integrity perception. Being completely open and honest with your audience about who you are, what you stand for, and how you feel about things like privacy can make potential customers more confident about trusting your company with things like personal data. That sort of connection is essential in this age of online purchasing.
Are You in the Right Place for Effective Marketing?
First, you need to determine how wide you can cast your net in practical terms. If you have a team of people whose only job is to monitor social media activity and respond to tweets and Facebook comments, then obviously you can cover a bigger range of social networks than if it’s just you on your own. There is a benefit to being able to do less, however: it forces you to narrow down and prioritize.
As you know, you can often have better success with concentrating your efforts on reaching a lower number of people whom you know to be in your target market, than just marketing to the general public and hoping for the best. You may automatically think that Facebook is the place to be, and there’s certainly an argument for the benefit of Facebook for most businesses, but if there were a fairly well populated niche social network that caters to the same market as your company, then it would make sense for you to at least do some test marketing in that network. It doesn’t matter if “everyone” is on Facebook – if your target customers are elsewhere, then that’s where you need to be.
It’s important not to overlook the power of Twitter – not only as a social network in its own right, but also as a way of getting people to visit your other social media accounts. Done in the right way, Twitter marketing can drive people to your blog, your Facebook page, or any other place you want them to be. However, don’t fall into the trap of using Twitter only as a way to bait your audience into clicking on links. Today’s Twitter user is much smarter than that, so make sure you’re focusing on engagement first. It’s okay to post links in that context.
Whatever social network ends up working best for you, make sure you implement a system of perpetual testing, and keep an eye on the numbers. If there was a time when MySpace was working for you as a marketing tool that probably isn’t the case anymore. In the same way, today’s social networks will evolve, and some will eventually give way to newcomers. Be prepared pick up and move from one social network to another when the appropriate time comes.
Seven Tips to Generate Leads from Your Social Media Accounts in 2012
Self-Promotion: Finding the Balance
For most of us, social media benefits our businesses for two reasons. One, it gives us a way to engage and interact with both customers and potential customers on a personal level. Two, it gives us a platform from which we can market our products and services in a way that will help us connect with the largest audience possible.
Often these two aspects of social media for business overlap quite a bit, and that’s where it’s important to be careful with just how much self-promotion you’re doing in the scope of your everyday social media efforts. While self-promotion is certainly a big part of having a social media presence, being social is the key factor in making your marketing efforts work in your favor.
We’ve all run across that person on Twitter or Facebook, the one who never shuts up about how great their product is, or how their service can help you. How long did it take you to unfollow them? No one wants to listen to a stream of repetitive marketing speak 24/7, so it’s important not to be that person if you want to build a responsive social media following.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with talking about your product on your business social media accounts – that’s what you’re there for, after all. But you have to know where to draw the line between tasteful marketing and obnoxious marketing. If someone on a social network asks you a business-related question and there’s an opportunity to get your marketing message out there, go for it. But if someone asks you how your weekend went, chances are they just want to know how your weekend went.
For some of us, the concept of choosing when not to market is quite foreign. Marketing used to be a one-way conversation – you sent the message, and your target market either got it or they didn’t. These days, marketing is much more give-and-take – your customers ask what they want to know, and you can respond in the context of an actual, one-on-one conversation. Keeping that conversation flowing naturally is essential to keeping their attention.
Today’s social media users are intelligent people. They can smell over-marketing a mile away. If you put the emphasis on being approachable and informative instead, people will want to talk to you more often, which puts you in a great position in terms of building up an audience of potential customers.
Developing a Social Media Strategy for 2012
2012 is finally here, which means you have a clean slate to build an improved social media strategy that will better benefit your business in the coming months. Here are some things to keep in mind when constructing your strategy for this year:
Don’t only promote your own stuff. No one wants to listen to you talk about your product or service incessantly. Remember that social media issocial before all else – you can talk normally and share other content while still being informative and helpful about your business, and it will make you seem more like a real person.
Do answer people who message you. Communication is important. People remember when they are ignored, and they also remember when they get a prompt response. Which way do you want to be remembered?
Do train your employees on the company culture before giving them social media access. There’s no better medicine than prevention, so to avoid embarrassing social media disasters in your business, make sure each employee fully understands your social media guidelines, and what image the company is trying to convey.
Don’t send auto-DMs. Nothing says “we don’t really care about you” like sending the same automatic message out to everyone. Take the time to write your direct messages personally, and avoid sounding like you’re quoting from a form letter.
Do follow people with whom you’re engaged in conversation online. If you’re talking to someone online, you can assume they talk to others, as well. Use this to your advantage – follow people you’re engaged with and watch your own network grow.
If you need help developing a strategy, please call me at 703-885-8406 or email us at: info@cogoresults.com.
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