Social Media Can be Effective

So you recommended using Social Media to a Client (or your boss) as a way of reaching that great cloud of prospective customers. Of course you were the right choice to implement the campaign since it was your idea in the first place.

But now the pressure is on to succeed.

That’s when Todd Malicoat’s StuntDubl blog comes in handy.

Today’s entry, 7 Reasons Your Social Media Marketing Failed (and how to fix it!) highlights some of the most common mistakes made by novice Social Media marketers.

My personal favorites are:

Your Content Sucked

It doesn’t matter what medium you use for your marketing if your content sucks. We see this daily on web sites throughout the internet and blogosphere. What’s important to you as an author is only as important as it is relevant to your audience.

Identify your target audience before you start creating the content. Then write directly to them in a conversational tone. Write like you speak. It adds a touch of credibility to you and your work.

You Chose the Wrong Channel

Posting great content is very fulfilling to an author. Having it read is a different matter. Using Facebook may be good for your personal image, and even promoting a consumer product. But is it really the best place for pitching a business-to-business product or service?

Carefully consider where your target audience congregates in social medial circles before you take the leap into a potential abyss.

You can read Todd’s post at Stuntdubl.com.

Getting back to the fundamentals

Over at The Marketing Maven Blog we’re reminded that our success sometimes depends on learning lessons from past failures. History frequently has a habit of repeating itself.

The Top Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2009 gives us a concise set of typical errors new marketers and seasoned veterans tend to repeat. Sometimes we forget to return to the basics of our craft.

Here’s the list:
1. Not measuring your current marketing program
2. Staying on the same path
3. Forgetting to “fish where the fish are”
4. Ignoring frequency
5. Working separately from your sales team [ my note – or Clients ]
6. Focusing on lead quantity verses quality
7. Failing to make the most of your media partner relationships
8. Overlooking timing
9. Abandoning brand exposure
10. Moving into the year ahead without a plan.

Head over to The Marketing Maven blog for more details.

Stuff . . .

A recent post on Digital Nomads by Jay White had me taking a step back to see exactly what I bring with me when I’m on the road. The basics include my BlackBerry (of course) with a wall charger that uses a USB cable, digital camera (since the 8830 lacks one of its own) with its charger and cable, sunglasses, an assortment of writing implements, passport, driver’s license, credit cards and the inevitable laptop with a USB mouse.

I leave behind the multi-purpose pocket knife, but include a small whistle, small Maglite, Advil and business cards. Of course there are always the ‘extras’ that find their way into my laptop backpack – highlighter, Sharpie, check book, etc.
Back when I used a ‘real briefcase’ and not a backpack, my travel kit included a few other items that I really don’t remember nor miss. I wonder what they were and why they were in my bag in the first place.

What accoutrements do you travel with regularly?

My List for 2009

This year I will do my best to:

Increase my tenacity in uncovering opportunities for my Clients
Learn at least one new thing each week
Become better at planning my day’s tasks and activities
Spend more quality time with my family
Reinvest in my community through my volunteer work

Seasons Greeting

This is the time of year when we spend the quality time with our families that we strive to have daily. I guess it really takes a global holiday to ensure that it happens.

No mater what you celebrate the end of December brings us together with our thoughts and allows us to plan to do better next year.

Reach out and offer a helping hand to those whose struggle is more difficult that ours.

Have a safe,
happy holiday season and
a healthy, prosperous New Year!

What a home run!

Movies and television shows are the usual places we expect to see successful product placements. Occasionally we’ll actually notice the product. Yet most of the time it seems to just blend in as if it were meant to be part of the set, not a paid placement.

But today I noticed a real home run of product placements on a blog.

Bruce Eric Anderson managed to include not one, not two, not even three product placements in his latest Digital Nomads blog but eleven (that’s right 11) active links in a single post. We’re talking about 3 computers models from 2 companies, a telephone, a digital camera, HD video camera, a city guide, GPS/Navigation system, a resort and a snowcat. Oh, I almost forgot he also mentions Twitter early on in the post.

And he manages all this in under 500 words.

As far as product placements go, this is a home run in anyone book.

How visible are you to your customers and prospects?

It’s important to remain in front of your customers and prospects in difficult times. Concentrating on maintaining a strong brand becomes critical as your competitors struggle to stay in the game financially.

One of the best methods of keeping your brand visible is to position yourself as the expert in your field. Collaborate with existing customers to build a series of solutions to common problems that plague your industry.

Publish the results of your collaborative efforts on your web site, your customer’s web site and pitch the story to editors for inclusion in their online library.

Keeping you and your brand positioned as experts and leaders in your field during lean times increases your credibility, recognition and puts you in a position of strength when we enter the next phase of economic recovery.