Social Networks on the Rise This Year

By the end of 2010, eMarketer estimates that the number of people using social networks monthly will reach 127 million. Social network users will account for 57 percent of all Internet users in the United States, a 16 percent increase compared to 2009. And by 2014, regular social network visitors will account for two-thirds, or 65.8 percent, of all U.S. Internet users.

With so many people visiting social networks, it is extremely important for marketers to take advantage of the endless opportunities that social media provides. A mass of consumers are readily available on social platforms, eager to engage and share their thoughts about their favorite brands.

How will you take advantage of social media opportunities?

Blogging On the Rise For Many Marketing Departments

According to a recent report by eMarketer, 43% of companies in the US will be blogging by 2012.

As social media use continues to rise across all industries, more and more companies are incorporating blogging into their marketing campaigns. eMarketer estimates that by 2012, one in three companies will have a public-facing blog in order to support their marketing efforts.

Although the use of Facebook and Twitter still surpass blogging, many marketing departments are realizing that having a company blog fills a certain personalized niche that other forms of social media do not fulfill. Many marketers are starting to view blogs as having the highest value of any other social media platform.

Does your company have an active blog?

Smart Social Networking Techniques for Multiple Purposes

It has become increasingly common for companies to search through the profiles of, for example, prospective agencies to gain more information about the company before conducting a business agreement. Companies are even paying attention to profiles of prospective employees.

Here are some tips on how to use social media to your advantage when researching companies or prospects.

• Find the brands you are working for on social media networks
  You may find helpful summaries about the company and you will see how they interact with their clients.
• Use LinkedIn to find out more about a company, especially those working there.
  Make sure your company and staff are well represented, especially those on a higher level. Encourage your employees as well as past or current clients to write recommendations.
• Be cautious about Twitter.
  It is very easy for everyone to see everything due to its extremely open nature. People within the agency should understand that anything they post can and will be connected back to their company. In order to prevent negative notions, enforce company guidelines for any Tweets that include the company name.
• Use social networking sites to present your agency as an industry leader.
  Offer value in what you share with readers, for it can be extremely found, and judgment of your company quickly developed. Use social media to your advantage by sharing content that is relevant and interesting to the user.

How will you use social media for researching?

Lessons in Social Media

1. Authenticity is key
For many marketing departments, social media is still not a top priority. They prefer to outsource social media efforts, because they claim to not have any of their own time to spend. However by outsourcing social media, marketing executives are missing an important part of connecting to their readers, the very part which often promotes and initiates the connection in the first place. This is authenticity. Although outsourcing is an undeniable way to cut costs, it does not trump the authenticity of in-house content production. For example, users will appreciate the CEO taking time to write a blog post much more than if they were to read something generic.

2. Focus on your content
No matter who your target demographic may be, too much content is never a good thing. No matter if you are posting a short Facebook status update or a larger blog post, guide your writing to be relevant and interesting. Otherwise, users are very likely to get bored of reading and will instantly navigate away from your page. Linking to other pages is another way to keep your post interesting and may be used to promote other aspects of your company’s website.

3. Share wisely
It is important for your readers not feel like they are being spammed or pitched from your posts. Being selfless when creating your social media campaigns will surely deliver positive results. Users want to see something they can relate to. Make sure you monitor your results and set goals for improvement accordingly.

What is the most important social media lesson you have learned?

7 Tips To Engage Your Target Audience Through Content

According to research from Junta42, (a content marketing research company), content marketing represents over 33 percent of a company’s marketing budget. It is essential for content to adhere to the company’s goals while engaging the target market at the same time. However, writing engaging content is the biggest challenge for many marketers.

Here are the top 5 ways to improve your content:
1. Think community: In order for your audience to find you, you have to find them first. For example, engage in social media. Make it easier for your target market to find you by being where they are, when they need you.

2. Make it memorable: Write for a specific medium and become a storyteller. Your audience is more likely to remember something with a beginning, middle and end.

3. Creatively incorporate your brand: Think “big” about the way you present your brand. Instead of using just your logo, convey your brand through sounds and visual clues.

4. Synchronize messagess: Your content should be deliverable across the four main user devices: Computers, iPads/e-readers, cell phones and televisions. Make sure you have an understanding of the different user habits of each before you attempt to deliver through all of them.

5. Measure effectiveness: The most used measure to prove content effectiveness is website traffic. Make sure you monitor traffic and revise accordingly to improve your content. Other useful metrics include audience measured in terms of reach, improved brand metrics, interactions and sales.

What will you do to improve your content writing?

Twitter Expands Sales Team And Adds New Features

As Twitter aspires to expand its sales department, they pull from two very well known social networks. Amanda Levy is Yelp’s first salesperson and will be in charge of West Coast sales at Twitter. Dan Coughlin has worked at Facebook, and will be in charge of East Coast sales.

Levy and Coughlin will be in charge of working on Promoted Suite, a system of Twitter advertising which consists of promoted tweets and trends. They plan on increasing revenue in fourth quarter by experimenting with various types of ad units.

Traditional advertising is seen as one of Twitter’s four main revenue intakes. The other three are commerce, commercial accounts and the data feed. Commerce includes promotions through Twitter’s Earlybird Offers service and commercial accounts include data and analytics access. Twitter profits from the data feed by charging usage fees to search engines such as Google and Bing.

Twitter is currently developing a “promoted user” unit, which would allow users to pay for more followers. They are also hoping to add features to their EarlyBird service, and incorporate target segmentation, user interest and location into their new advertising initiatives.

Twitter’s new advertising platform is something to look forward to for users and advertisers. Companies should take this as an opportunity to expand their social media strategy and improve their presence on one of the largest social networks. For example, Promoted Tweets allow a marketer to present a user with brand information that is particularly relevant. The reason for this is that if users do not interact with a Promoted Tweet to indicate interest, the tweet will disappear. Although this provides greater pressure on tweet presentation, it could also be very beneficial.

What about Twitter’s new ad features interests you the most?

The Yahoo And Bing Merger: What Will Change?

The merger of Yahoo and Bing has stirred up many different questions in the internet world. One of the biggest questions is what the merge will contribute to the user search experience.

Ad inventory: The merger will develop a bigger ad inventory, which is perhaps Microsoft’s most important and beneficial asset in the deal. Running ads through the Microsoft platform and having the ability to control targeting, quality and relevance will help them gain market share. Also, a bigger inventory will greatly improve the relevancy of the ads. The more relevant the ads are, the more successful the user experience will be.

Advertiser commitment: Through the merger, Microsoft became a mandatory buy. This allows them to bring stronger relationships with advertisers and in return, acquire their commitment. For the user, more innovation, such as in offering sponsored search formats, can be expected.

Competition: The Yahoo-Bing merger will create competition that Google cannot ignore. If Microsoft brings innovation, Google must respond. Users will witness an evolving search landscape and benefit from the new competition.

How will the merger affect you and the way that you value results?

Paid Search Conversions Increasing for Small Businesses

 According to eMarketer, US search ad spending will be up 15.7% this year, totaling $12.4 billion. Search spending was up by 159% in Q2 of 2010, and is rising as small businesses shift away from Google and Yahoo!. Bing saw steady spend rates and Ask.com benefited as well.

Compared with Q2 of 2009, click rates were up across all search engines. However this year, they were slightly lower on Google and Bing and growing on Yahoo!. Conversions were up both annually and quarterly. 43.3% of clicks resulted in a website conversion and 6.9% resulted in a phone call.  

Also, conversions including video views, form fills, printing driving directions and bookmarking the site doubled since Q2 of 2009 and small companies have been increasing the number of keywords they purchase.

Conversion activity has been increasing year over year. This provides an opportunity for companies to put forth more options for their website visitor and establish a connection with each potential customer. How will you take advantage of this opportunity?

The Rise of Long-Form Content

The amount of internet users who watch videos online has been steadily increasing. More viewers are also watching full-length content as opposed to short video clips. Long-form content is now much more available, made so by websites such as Hulu, where visitors are able to watch movies and television shows.

Video advertising has been increasing as well, and according to eMarketer, is expected to continue on a strong growth trajectory. Content websites such as Hulu are also taking this growth into consideration as they begin to add subscription plans to their ad-supported programming.

UBS estimates that in 2012, 77% of US online video revenues will come from paid content and 23% from ad-support media.

 

Online video advertising spending will continue to grow to an estimated $5.5 in 2014, up from $1.5 billion in 2010. In the same year, video will make up 15.2% of total online ad spending, compared to 6% in 2010. How will you get on board with video content?

Search Engine Lessons

Searching is one of the top activities online. In April 2010, 15 billion online searches were done in the United States alone. Google and Google websites like Youtube, accounted for 60 percent of the searches. Now more than ever, users are expecting their search experience to be more rich and relevant.

So how do we create our own websites to match this criteria and stay ahead of competitors?

Here are 5 lessons to keep in mind:

1. What exactly is your keyword? Many websites fail to provide for misspelled words, phonetics and synonyms. There are many tools that can be used to help.

2. “0 Results Found” This is one of the most frustrating phrases to web users. If your search engine is unable to match the visitor’s search query, use alternatives such as a lit of the best sellers or best rated products, or provide a phone number to call for help.

3. Keep it simple: Many people are intimidated by advanced search options and often lack knowledge of search operator commands. Keep your search engine at easy with smart links and navigation.

4. Provide options: Google provides users with endless possibilities to breakdown their search. Can your users search by new arrivals? Best rated? Can they get a “quick look”?

5. Stay up to date: It is important to keep up with emerging trends in search industry. Web user behaviors will evolve, as will their expectations. Be sure to promptly adjust and accommodate.

If you keep these five short tips in mind while adjusting and improving your website, you will create a satisfying, relieving and successful search experience for your visitors.