Social media has fundamentally changed the way that people discover products, services and content. It's no longer simply about the old method of product, price and placement, it's about relevance, value and virality. As the effectiveness of traditional online marketing continues to decline, how can you be sure that your message is not only absorbed, but embraced, passed along and viewed as valuable?
Maximizing Social Discovery Opportunities on the Social Web |
iLike Makes Music Happen at Web 2.0 Expo NY |
The Disruption in the Music Industry session at Web 2.0 Expo NY was one I wanted to make sure I attended.
Breaking Out of the Echo Chamber - Finding the Blance Between Early Adopters and Mass Markets |
I like to take a holistic approach to marketing. Most people think that marketing is about promotion, or advertising, but that's a misconception. Marketing encompasses everything a company does to acquire customers and maintain relationships with them. It's about aligning a product with a market.
The Fastest Talking Guy in Social Media Tells Us Where All of This Might Be Going |
A guest post I contributed to Mashable, see the whole story here: http://mashable.com/2008/05/22/future-of-social-media/
I’m here at day two of the Executing Social Media conference in Pasadena, CA. Blogger, PR stuntman, and social media maven Peter Shankman gave a very energetic keynote on how the social web is changing the way we do business and make money. Peter is CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. and has recently launched Help A Reporter Out (HARO,) a service that helps journalists connect with sources.
Social Media As Automated Word of Mouth |
Studies indicate that word of mouth is the most influential and trusted source of information for North American consumers when considering a product or service.
Niche is pretty sweet |
I'm a big fan of niche marketing. I guess you could say niche is my niche. Normally, even when I work with a client who has a very broad audience, I'll start by breaking it down into smaller niche segments. Why? Niche audiences are passionate audiences. It's a bit more work up front, segmenting, analyzing, listening to the audience, taking the time to find out what each group is in to, where they spend their time, how they interact. The constant information stream generated by social networks, tools and technologies make locating, listening to and communicating with niche audiences possible on much more granular levels than ever before. If a brand can appeal to a niche audience, and authentically engage them with content that appeals to their affinities, that brand reaps the rewards and will realize a much higher ROI than traditional wide net tactics.
Marketing, Media, Technology, Content and Conversation - Connecting the Dots |
I started my career 12 years ago as a programmer. I then transitioned into design, animation and interactive presentations, followed by a bit of video editing, then creative director. For the past seven years I have run an interactive marketing firm. I feel like my professional history, combined with my lingering passion for each page in that history, gives me a unique perspective.
How Brands Can Effectively Harness the Power of Social Media Marketing |
When used correctly, social Media can be an extremely powerful way to form relationships with your audience and spread possitive word of mouth. When used incorrectly, it can really piss people off. We've all heard about failures like the Wal-Marting Across America fiasco, not to mention Target's faux pas, Rounders, oops!
So is there a secret formula for success in social media marketing? We know some things that don't work: lack of or false transparency, "invasion" of social networks, SPAM, rushing into SNs without understanding them and thereby breaking etiquette. When launching a social media campaign, there are different combinations of tactics and strategies that will work best for each combination of brand and audience.
Some tips:
Wow, it's been a long time! |
Guess I've been busy, since JANUARY!!! No excuse for that. Big news, Heavybag Media now has an office in Los Angeles, in addition to our New Haven office, which is still fully staffed and humming along wonderfully.
We have been doing a lot of work with some of our clients in the social and professional networking space. It's really an interesting space to be in. Each online community has it's own set of rules, both official and unofficial, and there are new ones popping up all the time. I personally am now on Facebook, bebo, Ning, MySpace, YouTube, Mashable, Twitter, LinkedIn, plus I run this blog. Our company is represented on Ning, MySpace and soon to be Facebook. Though all of these sites are different in their own way, one common thread is the human factor.
