Tag Archives: Facebook

Bye-Bye Social Media; Hello e-Mail

Economy, Lifestyle, , , , ,

According to Chris R. Keller of Profitworks, all this fuss about the importance of social media and how this is the way forward, just may turn out to be somewhat inaccurate. Everyone whose anyone has been making such a fuss about how social media is the way forward for marketing purposes, but now this theory is being questioned in a recent article by Keller, who claims that “email marketing is currently superior to social media at attracting and getting new customers.”

Boast Marketing Efforts

So in an effort to really boost your marketing efforts, the message seems to be, stop trying so hard. Send an email as that “directly” reaches the consumer. The Inbox is the first place people look at. Social media is great, but more as a browser than an information collector. Keller points out that this is why Facebook developed its message center as Zuckerberg understood that people first go to check out messages. Further, delivery is better with e-mail as it can use an HTML code so provides more flexibility. Keller concludes thus, “given the flexibility and tracking features of email marketing it has a far more superior delivery method than social media.”

More Likely to Read

Keller’s study also found that the “average email marketing open rates are anywhere from 10-20%,” whereas with FB or Twitter this is around 2-4%. Where social media is good however, is that users spend more time on such activities, around 22%, as opposed to 8% for e-mail. Keller also commented, “I do not have any figures but my estimate is that the amount of time spent on marketing related pages when on social media sites is low compared to the amount of time spent reading marketing emails.” Further, “58% of internet users check their email when first going online versus only 14% checking social media sites first says something about which gets the higher amount and level of attention.” Bottom line? Email is still the main source of Internet communication and is thus still “given the most attention.” This may not be the case forever as more and more tools are developed and tactics learned for how increase interaction rate, but right now, Keller believes, “email wins hands down.”

Success of Social Media Marketing

Economy, , , , ,

It seems like today, if you want your business to succeed and you are looking for good marketing tips, it seems like everyone is in agreement on one area – social media. This would be great – and good for their businesses – if they understood how to use it to their advantage but apparently in that area, they are lacking.

Most people are looking for quality content which is probably why all types of newsletters (print and digital) are still popular. Ultimately it’s all about making a connection. The advice thus given by InformationWeek employee Michele Pepe-Warren is to “discuss topics that are relevant and interesting to your readers. If they know they’re getting useful information, they’ll continue to subscribe.” It’s also a good idea to keep it simple and ensure the design is clean-cut and not complicated since “poor design…can deter readers from any publication.”

According to statistics from iPressroom, Twitter is most popular with PR and marketing professionals, attracting a staggering 85.5 percent of users. But even with that there are 65 percent of users who believe Facebook will replace Twitter for media use.

So why is Twitter so popular? Apparently it is the “circulatory system of the news cycle,” which provides a “constant stream of valuable information and perspectives for PR and marketing professionals to watch in real-time.”

Social Media and Customer Service

Companies and organizations are starting to understand very quickly that potential clients are increasingly sharing more about their lives on social networks. Thus it is their role as a potentially successful business to “not just listen, but to understand what’s being said in order to act accordingly.” To jump on the bandwagon, companies thus need to assess the “combination of social tools” and work out how a “solid CRM strategy” can set up strategies between “customers, partners and other stakeholders.”

So there is much to be done and lots to learn for companies who want to stay one step ahead of what is going on social media today. While it may initially seem a bit daunting, once you’ve gotten the hang of these new social media tools they can help your business no end.

Business Teachers Kate and William?

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Learn Marketing From Upcoming Royal Wedding 

For sure the royals know how to get publicity.  So maybe business and marketing gurus can take a lesson or two from Prince William and his royal-wife-to-be’s upcoming wedding. There are certainly going to be tons of celebrations to mark the upcoming April 29th wedding, set to attract “a worldwide TV audience of 1 billion, while royalty enthusiasts pump a whopping US$!-billion into the UK economy.”  But is there anything in particular that regular marketers can learn from the exciting event?

Big-Time Sales and Tricks

There have definitely been some notable marketing sales for the wedding, and even the engagement, which reached a staggering estimated cost of $19.5-29 million and the wedding stuff up to $42 million.  Further, approximately $351 is estimated for travel and tourism.

There has of course been a Kate Middleton engagement ring replica (that’s perhaps not surprising) but is there anything that IS a surprise and what does it teach those who want to glean marketing lessons from this?  Apparently quire a few.  First, be a class act; royal aprons, tea-towels and t-shirts have been banned (seen as “not in good taste”) in favor of mugs, plates and commemorative coins which are way less tacky.

Focus on the individual approach:  today, marketers need to focus specifically on each customer to ensure that they feel special and unique.  For example, some restaurants are not establishing “special events, from themed menus and free cake to special decorations and big screen TV coverage,” with Dunkin Donuts having added the ‘Royal Wedding Donut’ to its delicious donut choices.

Ensure your social media is in top shape.  Schwepps jumped on the bandwagon with the creation of a “wedding card for people to sign on Facebook – in addition to its selection of limited edition wedding bottles.”  Be charitable.  William and Kate have set up a charity gift website so that their guests are easily able to donate to their selected charities.  Clearly the royals aren’t exactly going to require a new set of towels or contributions to a bedroom suite.  Look beyond your goal.  There will no doubt be continued hype on April 30th and beyond and that is what marketers have to ensure as well, guarding against an anti-climax.

So while it may just look like a lot of silly hype, the upcoming royal wedding might really be able to provide some great lessons for those looking to step up their marketing efforts.

 

 

SEO Takes a Ride

Consumerism, Economy, Japan, , , ,

Suzuki Seeks Google Guidance

You wouldn’t necessarily put the two together – Suzuki and Google – just in the same way you might have gone “hmmm” the first time you were told to put peanut butter and jelly together (especially if you’re British). But somehow, just as the latter works supremely well in combination, the former might have a thing or two going for it as well.

It seems that Maruti Suzuki is going to be doing more than Googling for guidance on marketing techniques. In fact it is looking to “tie up” with the company in order to acquiesce a “more focused foray into the digital marketing space.” It won’t be restricting itself just to Google though since Suzuki is also looking into working with other “specialists” in the digital marketing field.
Suzuki is not stupid, fast recognizing that it has to respond to an eternally changing digital media world. Thus it understands the need to bring in specialist help, said the company’s marketing chief general manager, Shashank Srivastava.

Team Effort

Suzuki has thus already been working closely with Google on “search engine optimization and online reputation management initiatives,” which basically means Google is assisting the auto company in traffic keyword tracking. This enables Suzuki to thereafter respond as needed. For example if there has been a media posting (on say Facebook or Twitter) regarding the company’s services, it will be alerted and given an immediate opportunity to respond.

Marketing Surge for Suzuki

In general Maruti Suzuki has been surging forth in its marketing effort. Indeed the budget allocated to its promotion, doubled this year. It has “created social networking profiles of all its products,” with its prime hits being A-Star and Ritz since they attract the younger customers as well as netting in the most Facebook fans.

Suzuki Sells on its Own

The argument could also be made however, that the company’s cars speak for themselves. The new Suzuki Swift is even better than the one it replaced if that was possible since you probably would be hard pressed to find any complaints on that one. It is a great price and is truly able to “offer something that stands out from the comparatively bland and boring cookie-cutter crowd.” It boasts additional windscreen rake, a cool new front bumper, better angular headlights and some brand new tail light clusters.

Still, as the saying goes, you can never be too rich or too thin. Perhaps in today’s Facebook and Twitter world, you can never have too much SEO work on your product or service either.

The Talent War in Silicon Valley

Tech News, , , ,

The battle between Internet giants Google and Facebook has been heating up in recent weeks.  The social networking titan Facebook recently announced plans to upgrade their users’ email to a full-fledged Web-based email system, a change that could impact significantly on the Google’s popular Gmail system. With the rise in popularity of social networking – Facebook has acquired 500 million members since it was launched in 2004 – the question in the industry now is whether Google, for its part, will try to create a social network to directly compete with their Facebook rival.

“We’re not working on a social network platform that’s just going to be another social network platform,” Google’s head of mobile product development, Hugo Barra, insisted at last week’s Monaco Media Forum. Despite the protests to the contrary, however, the questions abound.

Meanwhile, the rivalry has gone beyond the corporation’s programs and into their offices, as Google now faces a threat from Facebook for its employees’ talents. Recently, several high-level Google “techies” have moved over to Facebook, attracted by the opportunity to work at a smaller company and to receive stock options.  Google engineer Lars Rasmussen, one of the creators of Google Maps, was the latest switch-over, joining current Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook head of mobile Erick Tseng and Facebook vice president of advertising and global operations David Fischer.

In an attempt to stem the tide of top people “jumping ship” to their fiercest competitor, Google apparently plans to initiate a 10% salary increase for all employees, as well as to give a $1,000 holiday bonus to each one.