1001 Ways, Social Media•
on August 5th, 2011•
For a college kid any additional reading outside of the workload seems like a daunting task. When the choice between reading the newspaper, and taking a nap comes up, most tend to choose the latter. So when big news hits the stands most people flee to the Internet instead, particularly social media sites. You can almost guarantee that someone in your virtual social circle will be vocal about the news. This is very helpful especially for those who are not avid newsreaders.
It is interesting because even though I know people will post things going on in the news on their Facebook’s as soon as they hear, a lot of it still comes as a shock. I probably would not have heard about Michel Jackson’s passing until days after if my friends on Facebook did not post R.I.P. statuses every five minutes the entire day the news broke. You just don’t expect to see death updates after your friend posted what they had for breakfast.
Only after seeing such posts did I make the effort to go read about the news myself and even then I went to news websites instead of the newsstands, knowing that would give me a quicker update.
Through Facebook statuses I am able to get the headlines, and if interested can look them up myself. I can also see how others are reacting to the news thanks to the comment button just under the status. Reactions are probably the most entertaining when reading about the news. Some have good opinions, and others just want to cause trouble, which is amusing and annoying at the same time.
Facebook has turned into more than just a social scene. Mixing some educational and informative information within a popular scene helps social butterflies stay up-to-date with daily news while keeping up with friend activities.
Article by Kelly Krivicich
Marcy Design, a professional website and social media company, won the Summit International Award (SIA), for website development in the Business-to-Business category. The business website chosen was for DataMed Solutions and the website link is: www.datamedsolutions.com. SIA is a premier international awards competition, promoting excellence in over 22 countries.
Along with the normal upgrades and improvements that come with any software release, Apple’s iTunes version 10 contained an accompanying twist – the first distributed version of Ping, a combination social networking / music purchasing platform.
If you haven’t seen or tried it, the premise is pretty simple: like Facebook, you can connect with your friends, family members, and colleagues through your Ping profile; and, as with Twitter, you can see feeds and updates from celebrity artists who want to share news and thoughts.
What makes Ping different than other social networking sites, however, is that it’s all built around the iTunes store. In other words, the whole point of sharing your taste in music, the interaction with stars from different genres, and the feedback you can give and receive in moments, is set to help you make a better buying decision.
On the surface, this is a win-win for both Apple and its customers; on a deeper level, it’s a huge win for that company, and probably a sign of things to come.
The reasons are simple: first, social media marketing is growing at an astounding rate. There are hundreds of millions of people using sites like Facebook and LinkedIn right now, and hundreds of thousands more joining every month. Companies have been looking for a way to tap into these markets more effectively for quite some time, and Apple seems to have figured out a relatively seamless way to do it.
And secondly, it’s just good old branding. The more you use Ping, the more likely you are to keep buying your music, and music players, from Apple. What’s more, the more accustomed you become to using it, the more likely you are to bring your friends and family into the network, too. In that way, Apple is turning social networking into a constantly-strengthening storm of new revenue.
Besides being the case of savvy Internet marketing strategy, though, what does any of this have to do with independent auto dealers?
Well, the music and auto industries have something very particular in common: people feel very strongly about their personal tastes and preferences. It’s not just about the car, or the band, it’s about the feeling that being associated with them gives you. For that reason, it’s a smart bet that the ties between social networking and the auto industry are going to deepen in the years to come.
Of course, a lot of that growth is going to come to and from the major manufacturers. But that doesn’t mean that independent dealers like you can afford to sit the game out. To take advantage – and reach your customers more effectively – you’re going to have to not only keep an eye on what the bigger players are doing in social networking, but also what kinds of industry and location-specific social media platforms are going to pop up over the next couple of years.
The real winners in social media so far – the companies like Facebook and Apple – are doing well because they’ve anticipated the next steps and made sure to be in front of them. Even if you aren’t going to be launching your own social networking site soon, there’s no reason your dealership can’t do the same. Auto dealers and manufacturers are going to rely more and more on social networking in the years ahead, so pay attention to where tomorrow’s customers are headed and try to get there first.
Facebook continues to dominate the social media landscape. As far as photos being uploaded by members, Facebook is averaging 6 billion photo uploads per month and is on track to having over 100 billion photo uploads by the summer of 2011. 750 million photos were posted on Facebook last New Years Eve alone! See infographic provided by Pixable below.
Marcy Design, a professional marketing, website design and social media company located in Columbus, Ohio, won 4 International awards from MarCom. MarCom Awards is an international competition for marketing and communication professionals. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies and PR firms.
Marcy Design won two Platinum Awards, the top award given from MarCom, for its work on 2 business websites. The first winner was for the Deckers Nursery website. Deckers Nursery is a company that provides finished nursery stock, specialty liners and grafts located in Ohio. The second Platinum Award went to DataMed Solutions website, based in New York, DataMed Solutions is a collaborative network of small to medium sized firms specializing in health economics/outcomes research (HEOR).
The remaining awards were a MarCom Gold Award for the Paul Peterson Company website and an Honorable Mention for an Ohio association website.
Social Networking (or Social Media as it is commonly refered to) is hot right now for consmers and businesses. Companies are trying to figure out how to add Social Media to their marketing plans. Below is an Infographic from onlineschools.org that gives some historical perspective.
For all the changes that have taken place in the business world over the last 10 or 15 years because of the Internet, it sometimes gets lost that things are changing off-line, too, and not only because of technology. Regardless of whether you are clicking a mouse or climbing into your car, the way we shop and buy is constantly evolving.
One of the lessons that come from this evolution, and one that we think has a lot of merit for online marketers, is the rise of the mega-retailer or “anchor store.”
Just a few decades ago, when shopping malls were in vogue, anchor stores were the retailers that most shoppers frequented from time to time. They were the big department stores, well-known shops, and entertainment attractions that were sure to draw people and families in. They were “anchors” in the sense that they always kept money coming in, while the other retailers around them might change.
These days, the megastores are just around the corner – they’re on the web, too, separating themselves from the smaller retailers. While buyers consistently flock to sites like Amazon and eBay, it’s the specialty online stores that rise and fall, do well or go bust.
The trick, then, becomes in figuring out how to become a Web destination, rather than an online store that people simply stumbled past when looking through the search listings. Here are five tips to make your company’s website stand out:
Get specific. Since you aren’t likely to become the next mega-retailer overnight, it makes sense to focus your core business on an area you know you can effectively compete in. Think about who your best customers are, and what you want to offer them, and then make sure every part of your site reflects that.
Be easy to find. Even though you want lots of people coming straight to your site later, that’s never going to happen if some of them can’t find it now. Don’t skip the important step of search engine optimization and web promotion; they are easy, but they lay the groundwork for growth later.
Be a source of news and content. One easy way to consistently draw traffic and viewers is to be the best source of news and advice they can find. Don’t let anything happen in your industry without offering some kind of insight. Over time, people will learn to stop by your site first.
Let people do more than shop. Stores come and go, but communities endure and go on for long stretches of time. Make sure you have a blog, social media profiles, message forums, and anything else you can think of that would encourage your customers to not only provide feedback, but use your site as a place to meet and organize around their interests. The more reasons they have to “stop in” on a regular basis, the more often they are going to end up buying from you.
Marcy Design can help you come up with a Web design and online marketing plan to turn your website into an Internet destination. Talk with us today to find out how easy it is to get started.
If you think television is going away, take a look at the chart below. More Americans are watching TV than ever before. Note that 80% of younger viewers (18-24 years old) watch TV shows online. As a business, think about how your website and social media can reach your target audience.
As the social media wave continues to pick up steam, independent auto dealers are taking a closer look at sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to see whether there might be a way they can turn friends and contacts into customers. It’s a good question; with hundreds of millions of people using social networking sites, it’s clear that prospective car buyers are out there. But to find and reach them, dealers are going to have to take some cues from businesses in other industries that are already making it work.
Here are five things independent auto dealers can learn from other businesses about social media.
Social media takes some time… but not necessarily a lot of money. You would think that large, multinational corporations, with their extensive public relations teams and market research staff, would dominate social media, and some do use networking sites effectively. But in many cases, it’s the smaller players – family-owned candy companies and Main Street specialty stores – that are using the personal nature of their businesses to meet the big boys step for step. To make social network marketing work, you’ll have to be patient and invest some energy, but not necessarily a whole lot of cash.
Connect with your best customer. One of the reasons those smaller players are doing so well is that they typically don’t have any trouble finding focus. Given that there are literally hundreds of millions of social media users, trying to target them en masse is never going to be effective. Instead, think of who your very best potential client would be and then arrange a profile that speaks to them. You can’t sell to everybody online, but you can use social media to attract good customers.
Keep your marketing messages subtle. You’ll hardly ever see movie stars and musicians advertise on social media, but they’re always promoting their latest projects. You can do the same. Since social networking sites make a poor outlet for outright advertising, try to layer your sales pitch within informational articles and other “soft” forms of content. Once people are familiar with you, it’s only natural for them to take the next step and buy from you in the future.
Be fun. In the same way, take a cue from our friends in the public relations world and try to blur the lines between marketing and entertainment. Social media marketing is really about winning attention, and there’s no substitute for being fun when it comes to drawing readers and followers online.
Stick to the plan. If there is one thing you want to borrow from the corporate giants, it’s this: focus on the bottom line. The advertising departments of Fortune 500 companies don’t spend much time worrying about how many friends they have; they just want to know how social media is supporting their other online and offline marketing goals. Your thinking should go the same way. Social media is fun to use, and it can be effective, but only if it works along with everything else you’re already doing.
Need help making social media work for your dealership? Contact Marcy Design to find out why so many other businesses trust us with their online marketing plans.
