Social Media - Use It Wisely

There's no doubt that social media has reached an ultimate high in building relationships between businesses and consumers. Social media has moved from an optional marketing tool to a must-have for all businesses. But it takes a bit of work to make it effective in your plan for success. There's a few things businesses need to understand when integrating social media into their marketing strategy. 

Clear Objectives Knowing which direction you want the brand to take in regards to targeting groups is a key step. With so many available social media sites nowadays, consumers are smarter than ever. Different sites, attract different kinds of people. But there's no need to limit your choices, as long as there's a content strategy of what will be used to engage consumers. 


Consistency There has to be a commonness shared with all media channels chosen for a business. If using print or video ads, there should be an indication to a social media site that will elaborate more on the brand. Driving traffic to a business's Facebook fan page or acquiring followers on Twitter, helps the consumer get a better understanding of the type of industry that's being marketed and what other consumers trust this brand. Consumers need to be constantly reminded of that brand, getting your name out there by being all over the internet in as many ways as possible is the most beneficial to the business, while of course keeping the message consistent.


Building Hype By using the power of social media to promote brand launches, you're able to build a lasting  hype about the brand. Inviting consumers to take part of virtual contests, or inviting them to special events creates excitement about the brand before and after the launch.


Investing Although social media is perceived as being "free", there's still a good amount of investing that has to take place. First with time and in some cases money, depending on the individual business need. For social media marketing to be successful, there's usually a team that dedicates all of their time to monitoring social media. While in smaller businesses, they should dedicate anywhere from 5-10 hours a week.


Measuring ROI How else would you know if your social media marketing tactics are working? In terms of consumer engagement, brand loyalty and profits there should be a measuring system to determine what works and what doesn't. 


These keys concepts are a good start to integrating social media into a brand's marketing strategy. In today's digital world we have to stay on top of the latest trends to make brands stand out among others and increase profits. Marketing is essential to a booming, successful business and social media is marketing's gem in our generation. It must be used wisely. 




http://www.hellobloggerz.com/business/social-media-integration-into-marketing-plan


http://www.toponeseo.com/how-to-integrate-social-media-into-your-marketing-plan/

How E-marketing Charms Its Way Into Your Buying Decisions

E-marketing has become a major movement among many businesses and industries, and has had a huge impact on how consumers go through the buying decision process. Buyers are influenced by social media sites, search engines, and basically anywhere on the internet that allows you to make a purchase of some kind. In my personal experience, iTunes gets me every time. I usually plan on buying about a couple of albums or so, but then they have this entire section where there's recommendations just for me. They even list about 10 songs that they think I'll want to buy based on my purchases in the past. Suddenly, I'm back in the problem recognition stage and I want more music. This kind of e-marketing influences more than just the first stage of the buying process. There's also the alternative evaluation and purchase decision. When you're presented with so many options, you then have to decide which item you want to buy right away. You can save some choices for later, or eliminate them altogether. Once you've come to a decision, you proceed with your actual purchase. iTunes is an example of how online stores make the best use of e-marketing to influence the buying decision process.

Facebook and Twitter contribute to the major breakthrough of e-marketing, by allowing businesses to connect directly with consumers (B2C). It builds relationships, by getting more and more consumers to visit their fan pages and spread the word of their business. But what about business to business (B2B) companies, can they still use social media as a marketing support? According to the Top Rank Marketing Blog there's a few tips that will help B2B corps succeed with e-marketing. The tip that I found most interesting is "Cross Promote Content". It encourages B2B corps to re-use promotional content that's been created elsewhere by posting it on Facebook. Not all audiences engage with every marketing effort, so the more it's put out there the greater the chances of boosting their business relationships. With Facebook fan pages and gaining followers on Twitter, industries give consumers more options in the information search stage and the alternative evaluation stage. Social media has become a huge part of the decision buying process. 

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5438201_consumer-buying-decision-process.html

http://www.toprankblog.com/2011/02/5-b2b-facebook-marketing/

https://fiu.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2718_1%26url%3D

Advertisers Reaching Consumers Through Music Interests

Did you know that 44% of Coldplay fans are more likely than average to be in the market for travel services? I didn't. Well I guess that explains why I'm so passionate about both; Coldplay (my absolute favorite band in this world) and traveling. This summer I spent three days in Chicago, where I went specifically for the music festival Lollapalooza. Coldplay was headlining the first night, I took this picture while enjoying the show side stage.

There's a new way that marketers are targeting consumers, and it's through their music interests. As a huge music fan, the statistic about Coldplay and traveling blew my mind! ToneFuse is using the latest technology software - ToneTargeting to estimate consumer ages, buying habits, genders, and hobbies. Millions of consumers search daily for song lyrics, artists bios, and other facts pertaining to their favorite music and artists. This software is found in about 100 music sites, where it matches the consumer's music interests to advertising brands who are interested targeting that specific group of consumers. It combines the musical data with behavior data, which they purchase. 

Most Internet advertisers use cookies to target the interests of consumers. ToneTargeting actually cross referenced all of their music data with third-party behavioral data, which gave them plenty of info on each and every music interest. Rather than analyzing cookie data, they base their information on what consumers are checking like Justin Beiber song lyrics (not that you need google to know what he's talking about - no offense to him, he's a cute kid). 

ToneFuse's technology is definitely unique among internet behavioral data search. I believe the president of EGC Group (ad agency) said it best: "This takes behavioral targeting to the next level". AGREED!

http://www.tonefuse.com/press/2011-08-10_newsday_article_using_music_to_reach_new_consumers.php

http://www.facebook.com/notes/adotas/answers-served-tonefuse-talks-using-music-interests-for-targeting/10150169913853067

Musicians: Who needs a Record Label when you have the Internet?

For years now, The Recording Industry Association of America has been trying to track down music lovers everywhere, who insist on obtaining free downloads. Making examples out of people with lawsuits involving hefty fines and shutting down file-sharing sites like Napster. Piracy through the use of the internet, has taken so much blame on declining sales in the music industry. But in reality who is all of this affecting? Is the big problem illegal downloads? Seems like the real suffers are actually the record labels who have not been doing much to change their outdated business models. Many artists and bands have chosen not to re-new contracts with record labels and others have opted out to do things on their own. One example is Radiohead, their last two albums were released independently after their contact with EMI finished in 2004. In 2008, they released the album "In Rainbows" as a downloadable version directly to fans allowing them to name their price for the album. Their latest album released this year "The King of Limbs" was also independent of any label. Another big name that decided to go solo is Madonna. After 25 years being with Warner Bros., she signed a touring and recording deal with LiveNation (concert promotor) estimated at $120 Mil. I believe big music names are paving the way for future business models in the music industry. By using the many facets such as the internet in this digital world, they're connecting directly with fans and cutting out the middle man record label that serves them no purpose. What could this mean for new upcoming artists? Well using the internet to increase their popularity among social media sites and music sites can possibly open their doors to new means of making it big without a label. What is means for record labels? Coming up with new strategies for acquiring new talent and holding on to recognized big names. Moral of the story: must maintain relevancy in the evolving digital world if you want to stay in the game.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/60050.html?wlc=1315680724
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/60159.html