Marketing is defined as the business of promoting and selling of products or services. Many marketers over the years have come up with many ways to accomplish this such as the use of flyers, newspaper ads and billboards. But today, many marketers are going online and using the internet as a powerful marketing tool. This has given rise to internet marketing and its many forms. Internet marketing can come in the form of affiliate marketing, SEO and Email marketing. But one of its more popular forms is social media marketing.
Social media marketing is defined as the process of gaining traffic or attention through the use of websites such as Facebook and Twitter. These websites have become a very effective marketing tool for businesses because of their popularity and ability to create a fast ripple effect.
Research has shown that people who use these websites log in more frequently than any other website in the world. So this means that people who use these websites use them a lot. Businesses have seen this as a very important marketing strategy because of the availability of people to interact with. This has given rise to social media marketing because of the amount of exposure it gives websites or companies. For example, if they use a social networking site such as Facebook, they can create their own page and load it with the company's information and other data. They can update the company's page with products, services and promos that they might have as well as any upcoming events. They may also use the site as a company page rather than creating their own web page.
Another example would be the use of Twitter. Twitter is a social networking site that is primarily created for people to post their thoughts and ideas on their own page or account within 140 characters or less. This website has also become a very popular social media marketing tool because of its design and functionality. The site is designed to be a website where people can say anything they want and at the same time follow anyone they want. This has provided businesses and companies with a marketing environment where they, like Facebook, create their own Twitter account and post or "tweet" about the latest updates of the company's services, promos, events and products. Many businesses and companies have benefited from these two sites alone because of the number of users that it generates and the number of people that use it every day.
Social media marketing is not limited to just Facebook and Twitter. There are many other sites such as MySpace and LinkedIn, and they all provide businesses with the same type of exposure. Social media marketing boils down to how many people can the business attract and what website has the ability to generate a massive amount of users. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter are on the top of any company's list because of the amount of people that are on it every day. Other social media marketing sites such as MySpace and Friendster are still a bit behind because of functionality problems and the limitations of their site. The importance of social media marketing is its ability to appeal to a mass market rather than a constricted one and this has proven to be a valuable asset that companies would put a high value on.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6992916
Thursday 19 April 2012
Tuesday 17 April 2012
Twitter Wanted to Buy Instagram
Facebook snapped up photo-sharing app Instagram last week for $1 billion, but the social network wasn’t the only one interested in purchasing the photo-filtering wonder app.
Twitter “expressed interest” in purchasing Instagram just a few months ago, according to the New York Times.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was one of the early backers of Instagram, investing in the service in February 2011. Dorsey was also a part of the beta of Instagram and tweeted pictures using the service before it was available to the public, adding buzz around the app’s release.
While Dorsey has posted quite a few Instagram photos over the past year, his Instagram stream has gone silent since the Facebook acquisition of the service.
Facebook’s purchase of Instagram included not only the app but also the Instagram staff. In the Timeline post announcing the acquisition Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the company plans to continue to develop Instagram as an independent service and will continue to support sharing Instagram photos on other social networks — including Twitter.
“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family.” Zuckerberg said in the announcement. “Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”
What do you think Facebook has planned for Instagram? Do you think the fate of the photo-sharing service would be better or worse in the hands of Twitter. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Twitter “expressed interest” in purchasing Instagram just a few months ago, according to the New York Times.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was one of the early backers of Instagram, investing in the service in February 2011. Dorsey was also a part of the beta of Instagram and tweeted pictures using the service before it was available to the public, adding buzz around the app’s release.
While Dorsey has posted quite a few Instagram photos over the past year, his Instagram stream has gone silent since the Facebook acquisition of the service.
Facebook’s purchase of Instagram included not only the app but also the Instagram staff. In the Timeline post announcing the acquisition Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the company plans to continue to develop Instagram as an independent service and will continue to support sharing Instagram photos on other social networks — including Twitter.
“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family.” Zuckerberg said in the announcement. “Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”
What do you think Facebook has planned for Instagram? Do you think the fate of the photo-sharing service would be better or worse in the hands of Twitter. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Thursday 12 April 2012
Social Marketing: 3 Ways Your Brand Can Benefit From Pinterest
Pinterest is beautiful. That's not a word that typically describes a social media site, but this platform is seriously gorgeous in terms of online presence, web traffic, and interaction. This triple threat has made Pinterest a firm second in terms of referral traffic, and it's about time marketers recognize the boundless benefits the site has to offer. Here are 3 ways your brand can benefit from the growing platform:
Consumer Interest
Pinterest has grown significantly in popularity and versatility among usership since the beginning days of its female-dominant stereotype. The platform now has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connected users, and 2 million daily Facebook users, according to Inside Network's AppData tracking service. Even stronger, as of February 2012, Pinterest is the second social media site under Facebook for increased referral traffic for brands. People love pinning and your brand can only benefit from the heavy weight of consumers that participate on the platform each day.
User-Friendly
There are no bells and whistles with Pinterest; it is simple and hassle-free! It's straightforward with two basic elements: pins and boards. Even more user-friendly is the ability to create traction and interaction with consumers. People "follow" and "repin" brands more readily, as users are engaging with the themes and ideals of your company, rather than your brand as a whole. The platform is also less focused on the "when" of pins, so the pressure to be constantly involved is not currently a "best practice." Creating your account is easy too.
Offline Content Can Now Go Online
Pinterest also creates a venue to house aspects of your brand that may have been left offline. For instance, you can highlight company style, inspirations, or the city your office is in. We took advantage of this aspect of Pinterest by creating boards like, "We Love L.A." and "What's For Lunch," as culture and food are hugely popular on the platform.
Pinterest in a nutshell: Strip away your marketing department, your business initiatives, and salesy content. Think color, tone, design, and themes. Imagining Pinterest as your company's magazine/lookbook/catalog is a strong strategy. Think of your boards as the "hub" for users to peruse and discover aspects of your brand that they find interesting or useful. Successful boards are generally food-related, fashion-forward, innovation-focused, creative and, most importantly, visual.
Find a way to showcase these elements, while emanating your brand's overall tone and mission, and you'll be on your way to become 'pinteresting' in no time.
The floor's all yours: How is your brand using Pinterest?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6970877
Consumer Interest
Pinterest has grown significantly in popularity and versatility among usership since the beginning days of its female-dominant stereotype. The platform now has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connected users, and 2 million daily Facebook users, according to Inside Network's AppData tracking service. Even stronger, as of February 2012, Pinterest is the second social media site under Facebook for increased referral traffic for brands. People love pinning and your brand can only benefit from the heavy weight of consumers that participate on the platform each day.
User-Friendly
There are no bells and whistles with Pinterest; it is simple and hassle-free! It's straightforward with two basic elements: pins and boards. Even more user-friendly is the ability to create traction and interaction with consumers. People "follow" and "repin" brands more readily, as users are engaging with the themes and ideals of your company, rather than your brand as a whole. The platform is also less focused on the "when" of pins, so the pressure to be constantly involved is not currently a "best practice." Creating your account is easy too.
Offline Content Can Now Go Online
Pinterest also creates a venue to house aspects of your brand that may have been left offline. For instance, you can highlight company style, inspirations, or the city your office is in. We took advantage of this aspect of Pinterest by creating boards like, "We Love L.A." and "What's For Lunch," as culture and food are hugely popular on the platform.
Pinterest in a nutshell: Strip away your marketing department, your business initiatives, and salesy content. Think color, tone, design, and themes. Imagining Pinterest as your company's magazine/lookbook/catalog is a strong strategy. Think of your boards as the "hub" for users to peruse and discover aspects of your brand that they find interesting or useful. Successful boards are generally food-related, fashion-forward, innovation-focused, creative and, most importantly, visual.
Find a way to showcase these elements, while emanating your brand's overall tone and mission, and you'll be on your way to become 'pinteresting' in no time.
The floor's all yours: How is your brand using Pinterest?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6970877
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion
Facebook snapped up the hugely popular photo-sharing app Instagram Monday, for roughly $1 billion in a combination of cash and stock.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the acquisition in a post on his Facebook Timeline Monday.
The sale is expected to close later this quarter, and will bring the nine-person staff of Instagram to the social network.
“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family,” Zuckerberg said in the post. “Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”
Zuckerberg went on to say that the company will be building on Instagram’s strengths and features and growing the app independently rather than “just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.”
Facebook plans on keeping features within the app that allow photos to be published on other social networks, and the ability to have followers and follow people who are not necessarily your Facebook friends.
“We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products,” Zuckerberg said. “At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.”
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom echoed Zuckerberg’s statements on the Instagram company blog adding “We’re psyched to be joining Facebook and are excited to build a better Instagram for everyone.”
Instagram launched its iOS app in October 2010, and came to Android for the first time last week.
This is the first time Facebook has acquired a company or product with so many users. “We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all.” Zuckerberg said. “But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”
What do you think this means for the photo-sharing app — and how will it boost the social network? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the acquisition in a post on his Facebook Timeline Monday.
The sale is expected to close later this quarter, and will bring the nine-person staff of Instagram to the social network.
“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family,” Zuckerberg said in the post. “Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”
Zuckerberg went on to say that the company will be building on Instagram’s strengths and features and growing the app independently rather than “just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.”
Facebook plans on keeping features within the app that allow photos to be published on other social networks, and the ability to have followers and follow people who are not necessarily your Facebook friends.
“We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products,” Zuckerberg said. “At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.”
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom echoed Zuckerberg’s statements on the Instagram company blog adding “We’re psyched to be joining Facebook and are excited to build a better Instagram for everyone.”
Instagram launched its iOS app in October 2010, and came to Android for the first time last week.
This is the first time Facebook has acquired a company or product with so many users. “We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all.” Zuckerberg said. “But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”
What do you think this means for the photo-sharing app — and how will it boost the social network? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Thursday 5 April 2012
How Google+ Can Succeed at Business Without Really Trying
Google+ arrived last summer armed and ready to compete with Facebook. Yet despite more than 100 million users, the network has failed to slow Facebook’s growth or diminish its market share.
Many have already dismissed Google+ as a failed venture, but it would be premature to write off the network as a social experiment gone awry. Just as Gmail was key to Google’s enterprise play, Google+ is fast becoming the enterprise social networking tool of choice for savvy office workers.
The consumerization of IT certainly plays a role in this. In fact, a Forrester study found that the market for enterprise social collaboration is projected to increase tenfold in the next four years as more traditional services like video conferencing decline. Tools that succeed in this new era will combine communication and collaboration services with social features in much the way G+ does.
This is why G+ truly is Google’s enterprise Trojan horse. As Microsoft Office 365 becomes a viable competitor to Google Apps, G+ is what separates the two cloud-based services. The following are some of the features that make G+ a great tool for social enterprise collaboration.
Circles
If you’re familiar with G+, you’re aware of the Circles feature, which allows users to easily segment followers into different groups. That’s a particularly powerful concept in enterprise because a company can create Circles for various departments, clients, partners, and more.
Circles compartmentalize relationships, help save time, and provide a company with a targeted approach to content sharing. By the way, Circles can be shared, so if you just hired a new sales exec, he or she can gain instant and personalized access to your client base.
In the IT department, admins can create custom organizational units and then add users to the appropriate units, depending on what a company wants a given user to have access to. To make it even more useful Google should consider adding the ability to sync organizational units with G+ Circles, which would save time and effort for admins and end users.
Hangouts
As a whole, Google Apps is cutting costs for enterprise IT. Hangouts further reduces those costs because it can be used for anything from an impromptu meeting with your satellite office to a customer demo.
Admins should consider eliminating pricey web conferencing services and implement a company-wide Hangout policy for web meetings. For this to happen on a large scale, Google should consider Hangouts integration with Google Voice and the ability to dial into a Hangout via a phone line, much like with traditional web conferencing services.
Google Docs
Google Docs is an amazing Google Apps feature. The tool not only provides word processing and editing capabilities, but allows you to share your work and collaborate in real-time with co-workers and other business colleagues.
This March, Google integrated Google Docs into Hangouts, making word processing truly social. Users can now update documents with co-workers who may be on the other side of the world, all while feeling like everyone is working in the same room.
Search Functions
The new Search Plus Your World feature added to Google’s search function has received its share of criticism. In reality, it has a lot to offer from a brand marketing perspective. With G+’s integration into Google Apps, employees were given the chance to create separate personal and work networks.
Circles may have helped separate work life from personal life, but G+ for employees actually lets workers brand their pages in the company’s image. It makes for great marketing. Every time an employee +1s or shares, it’s another impression for your business.
It would be great to see G+ give users the ability to switch back and forth between work and personal accounts from the same login. This would help speed user adoption, with professional users creating personal accounts and vice versa.
Organic Connections
As with any social network, G+ is a great way to organically build connections that can be meaningful for your career. Check out who your co-workers are following and add them to your Circles. This could lead to idea sharing, a new sale, or even a partnership. Plus, if you’re new to the company, you can quickly get the lay of the land by following important influencers in your company and industry.
That said, creating and maintaining Circles can be tedious. A nice addition by Google would be an opt-in auto-suggest service to populate and create Circles.
Many have already dismissed Google+ as a failed venture, but it would be premature to write off the network as a social experiment gone awry. Just as Gmail was key to Google’s enterprise play, Google+ is fast becoming the enterprise social networking tool of choice for savvy office workers.
The consumerization of IT certainly plays a role in this. In fact, a Forrester study found that the market for enterprise social collaboration is projected to increase tenfold in the next four years as more traditional services like video conferencing decline. Tools that succeed in this new era will combine communication and collaboration services with social features in much the way G+ does.
This is why G+ truly is Google’s enterprise Trojan horse. As Microsoft Office 365 becomes a viable competitor to Google Apps, G+ is what separates the two cloud-based services. The following are some of the features that make G+ a great tool for social enterprise collaboration.
Circles
If you’re familiar with G+, you’re aware of the Circles feature, which allows users to easily segment followers into different groups. That’s a particularly powerful concept in enterprise because a company can create Circles for various departments, clients, partners, and more.
Circles compartmentalize relationships, help save time, and provide a company with a targeted approach to content sharing. By the way, Circles can be shared, so if you just hired a new sales exec, he or she can gain instant and personalized access to your client base.
In the IT department, admins can create custom organizational units and then add users to the appropriate units, depending on what a company wants a given user to have access to. To make it even more useful Google should consider adding the ability to sync organizational units with G+ Circles, which would save time and effort for admins and end users.
Hangouts
As a whole, Google Apps is cutting costs for enterprise IT. Hangouts further reduces those costs because it can be used for anything from an impromptu meeting with your satellite office to a customer demo.
Admins should consider eliminating pricey web conferencing services and implement a company-wide Hangout policy for web meetings. For this to happen on a large scale, Google should consider Hangouts integration with Google Voice and the ability to dial into a Hangout via a phone line, much like with traditional web conferencing services.
Google Docs
Google Docs is an amazing Google Apps feature. The tool not only provides word processing and editing capabilities, but allows you to share your work and collaborate in real-time with co-workers and other business colleagues.
This March, Google integrated Google Docs into Hangouts, making word processing truly social. Users can now update documents with co-workers who may be on the other side of the world, all while feeling like everyone is working in the same room.
Search Functions
The new Search Plus Your World feature added to Google’s search function has received its share of criticism. In reality, it has a lot to offer from a brand marketing perspective. With G+’s integration into Google Apps, employees were given the chance to create separate personal and work networks.
Circles may have helped separate work life from personal life, but G+ for employees actually lets workers brand their pages in the company’s image. It makes for great marketing. Every time an employee +1s or shares, it’s another impression for your business.
It would be great to see G+ give users the ability to switch back and forth between work and personal accounts from the same login. This would help speed user adoption, with professional users creating personal accounts and vice versa.
Organic Connections
As with any social network, G+ is a great way to organically build connections that can be meaningful for your career. Check out who your co-workers are following and add them to your Circles. This could lead to idea sharing, a new sale, or even a partnership. Plus, if you’re new to the company, you can quickly get the lay of the land by following important influencers in your company and industry.
That said, creating and maintaining Circles can be tedious. A nice addition by Google would be an opt-in auto-suggest service to populate and create Circles.
Tuesday 3 April 2012
Getting Started on Twitter - Five Steps to Success
Building a presence on micro-blogging site Twitter may seem easy, but for those who have tried it and come up against a follower brick wall this article is for you. If you want to build a genuine, meaningful and lasting Twitter presence then follow these five steps to success:
Perfect Profile
Let's start right at the beginning; profile creation. When you begin using Twitter you will be prompted to create a profile. Don't rush through this step - it is your shop window and gives other users a chance to learn about you and what you are all about. Choose a profile photo to reflect you in the appropriate light; of you are a brand then your business logo is often a good place to start. Remember that Twitter is public and your profile can be viewed by the world, so don't portray yourself or your business in an inappropriate light.
Brilliant Bio
As part of your profile you will be prompted to create a bio. You have 140 characters at your disposal; use them wisely. Trying to describe yourself or business in 140 characters is an art form and can be tricky to master, but keep it to the point, snappy and welcoming and you will be on the right track. Businesses should always include a link to their website within the bio and this is also true for bloggers.
Spread the Word
Only when you have created your profile should you start to alert family and friends to your presence on the site. Search for people you know and follow them. Try not to over-fill your follower list with too many celebs to start with, instead opt for genuine friends or businesses that interest you. Retweets and @ mentions are always helpful, so ask those who you know if they will give you a shout out to get you started.
Understand the Hashtag
The hashtag, or # symbol, is widely used on Twitter but many people fail to understand its significance. Placing a # before a key word in your tweet makes it easier for people to find in searches, so if you want to talk about something going on at home and you live in Manchester type #Manchester instead. People searching for the word "Manchester" will be shown your tweet and may engage with you through a retweet (RT) or even a follow.
Tweet Often (but be sensible!)
Tweet often but don't spam. People want to read what you have got to say, but will quickly unfollow you if you clog up their timeline with irrelevant or uninteresting tweets. Make your tweets original and don't always simply retweet or tweet links from other sources on line or you will start to look like a robot. Be human, be kind, be interesting and engaging and before you know it your Twitter account will be an exciting community of friends, strangers and "tweeps".
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6949032
Perfect Profile
Let's start right at the beginning; profile creation. When you begin using Twitter you will be prompted to create a profile. Don't rush through this step - it is your shop window and gives other users a chance to learn about you and what you are all about. Choose a profile photo to reflect you in the appropriate light; of you are a brand then your business logo is often a good place to start. Remember that Twitter is public and your profile can be viewed by the world, so don't portray yourself or your business in an inappropriate light.
Brilliant Bio
As part of your profile you will be prompted to create a bio. You have 140 characters at your disposal; use them wisely. Trying to describe yourself or business in 140 characters is an art form and can be tricky to master, but keep it to the point, snappy and welcoming and you will be on the right track. Businesses should always include a link to their website within the bio and this is also true for bloggers.
Spread the Word
Only when you have created your profile should you start to alert family and friends to your presence on the site. Search for people you know and follow them. Try not to over-fill your follower list with too many celebs to start with, instead opt for genuine friends or businesses that interest you. Retweets and @ mentions are always helpful, so ask those who you know if they will give you a shout out to get you started.
Understand the Hashtag
The hashtag, or # symbol, is widely used on Twitter but many people fail to understand its significance. Placing a # before a key word in your tweet makes it easier for people to find in searches, so if you want to talk about something going on at home and you live in Manchester type #Manchester instead. People searching for the word "Manchester" will be shown your tweet and may engage with you through a retweet (RT) or even a follow.
Tweet Often (but be sensible!)
Tweet often but don't spam. People want to read what you have got to say, but will quickly unfollow you if you clog up their timeline with irrelevant or uninteresting tweets. Make your tweets original and don't always simply retweet or tweet links from other sources on line or you will start to look like a robot. Be human, be kind, be interesting and engaging and before you know it your Twitter account will be an exciting community of friends, strangers and "tweeps".
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6949032
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