seobridges.com

Traditional and social media marketing require brands to identify their audience and a common denominator within that audience.  Unlike television and other traditional forms of advertisements that are targeted to a specified group of people, blogs and articles are available to almost anyone, anywhere, at any time.  For that reason, the social media marketer must identify and identify with an active audience through social media monitoring.

The social media marketer must write and distribute authoritative information in order to attract an audience, and then they must continue to write and distribute authoritative information that is useful to their audience’s common denominator. The traditional marketer goes into an established culture, identifies an established common denominator, and integrates their message to appeal to those establishments.  The social media marketer must identify their attracted audience through social media monitoring and set themselves up as being the most useful brand by writing and distributing the most authoritative information.

Since the investment of traditional marketing is to identify with an established audience and appeal to the common denominator of that audience, the return on their investment is that they will become part of that audience.  Since social media marketing requires a social media marketer to attract an audience that can and does change, they must adapt their message to their audience’s whims.  So, what’s the difference in the returns?  Just as the investment of one is established and the other is changing, the return of one is established and the return of the other is changing.

In quantifiable terms, since the traditional marketer identifies an established audience and an established common denominator, the return eventually levels off into a predictable pattern within a set of measurable parameters.  The quantifiable measurement of social media marketing is that just as social media marketing must attract an audience and determine ever-changing common denominators, the return on the investment of social media marketing must be measured according to the whims of people, using social media monitoring.

Of course, there are exceptions to these rules, but in social media marketing the exception to the rule is the rule.

Here’s a few more social media monitoring services.

Infegy

• See who your brand influencers are
• Measure real-time results of any given topic or trend
• Experienced analysts will notify you via e-mail of changes in your brand’s message

Collective Intellect

• snippet-level analysis enables you to determine who your brands key influencers are
• Receive customizable alerts according to predetermined dimensions
• Receive reports that highlight key findings through social media metrics and qualitative analysis

Note: There are videos on their products page.

LogicBowl

• Logicbuzz tracks consumer generated content
• Logicbeep is a real-time online reputation management alert system that is available to any authorized person anywhere
• Logictrends monitors Web trends by monitoring search engines queries across various channels

Stay social,

Erick

Over the next three days, I’ll talk about using social media to listen to your audience, adjust your brand message, and stop crises from adversely affecting your brand.  Each day I’ll list a few services to help you in that process.

ViralHeat

• Discover new Twitter leads and potential Facebook fans
• Follow conversations about your brand or product as they happen
• Set up alerts that allow you to monitor your brand, topic, or product

Crimson Hexagon

• Measures statistical patterns in words used in blogs, forums, Tweets, etc.
• Monitor real-time, global conversations that affect your brand
• Monitor the ROI of online marketing and PR investment

There’s also a video on their site.

Visible Intelligence

• Monitor wikis, video sharing, and custom RSS feeds
• Monitor what people are saying in over 50 languages
• Monitor historical trends going back to 2005

Imagine paying thousands of dollars for an advertisement during the David Letterman Show. You can use a service like Nielsen Rating to conduct a study of your potential and actual audience based on demographics. The problem is that just because a certain population set’s televisions are on doesn’t mean they’re watching or paying attention to the commercial. Web analytics gets a little more personal, in that it not only allows you to monitor the segment of a given population that comes to your website, but you can also monitor things like bounce and click rate. Therein lies the problem that people Web surf like they channel surf. Social media monitoring allows you to identify specific people within a given population who engage with your message, how they engage with your message, whether or not they engage with your competitor’s message, and much more.

Traditional marketing measures potential ROI according to what has and has not worked. Web marketing measures potential ROI according to the Web statistics of anonymous users’ computers. Social media marketing monitors actual ROI according to the ability to engage with one’s audience through the social Web. While all three forms of marketing require financial and time investments, traditional marketing and Web marketing require greater financial investments, whereas social media marketing requires a greater time investment.

In many cases, people are so used to the greater financial investment of traditional and Web marketing that they can’t imagine that free or low-cost social media marketing would have long-term ROI.  Those who are skeptical of the value of using social media marketing must understand that since the values of the investments are different, the returns on those investments are also different.

Come back tomorrow, and I’ll tell you more about those differences.

Stay social,

Erick

So, first thing’s first.  I owe TweetDeck an apology.  I said in yesterday’s blog they don’t allow users to schedule Tweets.  Their latest version, which was never updated on my computer, does allow users to schedule Tweets.  So, I apologize for the misinformation; though, if my computer did not automatically update TweetDeck, there are probably millions of other computers operating outdated versions.

Moving on . . . . If you want to drive traffic to your website, try writing a blog.  It doesn’t have to be everyday, but write one at least once a week.  Don’t just let it sit there.  Tell the world.  If you just write your blog and expect search engines to do all the work for you, you won’t get many views.

Various social bookmarking sites and niche social networking sites integrate with sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  That makes it easier for social media gurus, ninjas, and connoisseurs to let the world know about their blogs and other pertinent information.  Also, those Twitter clients I mentioned yesterday integrate with larger social networking sites.

Think of it like standing on a stage in the center of an NFL football stadium filled with tens of thousands of people.  The football stadium represents Twitter, Facebook, and whatever other social networking sites you use to attract your audience.  The audience . . . well, they represent your audience.  You can shout your message and a few hundred people may hear you, but several thousand won’t.  You’d have a much easier time getting your message out to those tens of thousands of people if you set up microphones and speakers.  Social bookmarking is like those microphones and speakers that allow you to get your message out to a wider audience.

Any thoughts?  How do you use social bookmarking?

Stay social,

Erick

For several months we tested three Twitter clients: Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite.  Here are some brief thoughts on those three Twitter clients.

TweetDeck

While you can manage multiple accounts, the incessant number of columns we had to create to do so drove us mad.  We sent them several direct Tweets, but they continually ignored us.  Ignoring one’s audience is never good for any person’s or company’s social media marketing campaign. We don’t recommend them unless you want to waste time.

Seesmic

We found it easier to manage multiple accounts on Seesmic, but we could only manage one Facebook account.  We didn’t like this, so we didn’t stick with them for long.  Though they recently announced integration with Google Buzz and Ping.fm.  They have some useful features, but we don’t recommend them as a primary Twitter client.

Hootsuite

Just like TweetDeck and Seesmic, Hootsuite allows users to manage multiple accounts.  We also found it more convenient to switch client tabs instead of setting up client columns, and users can schedule Tweets with Hootsuite.

So, as I said, we’re not ready to give up on Seesmic, but Hootsuite offers more of what we want in a Twitter client.  Do you have any thoughts?  BTW, here’s a chart that compares Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite.  All three have come out with updates since this chart was created, but it will give you an idea of what they do and don’t offer.

Nate Bal: The Difference Between TweetDeck, HootSuite And Seesmic

Every company wants to listen to their customer base, and Squidoo allows them to do that. When you create a lens, you have a plethora of options of modules.

Among those modules is a poll module to ask your customer base what they do or don’t want. This module only allows users to ask multiple choice questions, but it’s a good way to listen to your audience in a fun environment.

Another popular module is the Amazon module, which allows you to become a virtual distributor of Amazon products. Let Amazon suggest products to sell or pick products out from a list. Either way, when someone buys an Amazon product through your Squidoo page, you receive a commission.

Also, you can pull from various Twitter feeds. Use Twitter Search to search for tweets by keyword, Twitter Follow to follow particular people, Twitter Storm to follow a debate, or Twitter List to follow your Tweets. There are many other feeds you can pull from, including Deli.cio.us, your blog, Yelp, Youtube, and more.

There’re so many other ways you can use Squidoo, but the purpose is to allow you and your audience to engage with one other in a fun environment. People may not want to sign up for various social networking services, find you on those websites, and follow you and everyone else. Squidoo allows them to engage with you on many of those sites without signing up for or logging into all those sites.

We’re busy creating lenses, so keep watching.

Stay social,

Erick

All week I’ve been thinking about what I could blog about on Fridays that would set this blog apart, and I have nothing.  I came across a hilarious Stephen Colbert video on Social Media Marketing, but I can’t find the code to embed it.  So, I looked through Google to see if I could find another funny video on social media marketing or SEO content, but I couldn’t find anything.

On Fridays I’m just going to post blogs about the week in social media and/or SEO content.  Whether it be articles, videos, or other, every Friday I will publish a blog about whatever’s happened that week in social media or SEO content.

For this week, here is a video on how to suggest a Facebook fanpage to your friends.  I know it seems like such a simple thing, but Facebook keeps changing the look and feel of their site.

Also, you’ll notice I added a ShareThis button to the bottom all my blogs.  Thank you to those who took the time copy my URL and Tweet it yesterday.  Now, you just need to click the ShareThis button, choose which social networking platform you want to share my blog on, type a message, and let the Internet do the rest.

If you have a WordPress site, you can add a ShareThis button.  Feel free to comment and please come back next week for more on social media marketing and SEO content.  I appreciate all of you.

Stay social,

Erick

The best way to integrate your Web content with your social media marketing campaign is to write a blog at least once a week and use social media to promote it. The more you write and promote your writing, the more people will become familiar with your name and your site.

Blog about whatever your site’s about.  If your site’s about politics, blog about politics and use political keywords.  But use language that allows your writing to remain accessible to anyone who might read your blog.

Let others know about your blog by posting it to social networking sites.  But don’t stop with Twitter and Facebook.  Set up accounts on social bookmarking sites like Deli.cio.us, Digg, and Reddit.  Web browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox have apps that automatically fill in content for you on those and many other social bookmarking sites.  You can even integrate many of those sites with larger ones like Twitter and Facebook, so they automatically update when you update your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

The Internet allows people to do faster for free what it took several weeks and dollars to do less than ten years ago.  It takes time to setup and update those accounts, but the return on the investment is worth it.

Stay social,

Erick

This last weekend, I went to a small café. I walked through the doors of the once 19th century home, ordered a coffee, and found a seat. Moments later the barista brought my coffee to me and asked me if I’d like a menu.

All I wanted to do was sit, drink a cup of coffee, and catch up on some work. All he wanted to do was capitalize on me sitting at one of his tables and make money.  I ordered a bagel with cream cheese, caught up on some work, and left when the lunch crowd started pouring in.

I recognized and respected their business model was not for people to order one cup of coffee and sit with books open for hours. Though, they made room in their business model to make customers like me feel comfortable.

Leverage your website and social media marketing so your customer base feels comfortable with who you are and what you offer. Their purpose for interacting with you or your website may not align with your business model, but your business model should always align with the reason they interact with you.

At SEO Bridges, we understand our customer base may not understand what SEO (Web) content and social media marketing are, why they’re important, or how to best use them. That’s why our content focuses on educating people who come to our website.

Speaking of which, we’re working on an e-book. I’d love to read your comments.

Erick

Let’s face it!  social media marketing is fun.  The success stories of how people have used social media to find jobs, boost their careers or sales, find true love, or achieve other goals are endless.

So, what’s the secret?  How do some people use social media so effectively that they achieve such lucrative results?  They realize the quintessential purpose of social media marketing is social.

If you have hundreds or thousands of Facebook friends or Twitter followers, yet don’t know any of those people in reality, you’re going about your social media marketing all wrong.

You don’t have to know everyone you’ve connected with personally, but the end result of your social media strategy should be social.  If you just use social media to post your blog and products online without attempting to get to know people (at least online), people will view your social media strategy as the Web 2.0 version of cold calling.

Here’s some quick tips:

1. Include your goal(s) and type of people you want to connect with to achieve your goal(s) in your social media strategy.
2. Connect with those people who could help you achieve your goals, whether directly or indirectly.
3. Find out what organizations those people in your area you connect with belong to and/or events they go to.
4. Get involved with those organizations, go to those events, and meet those people.
5. Host an event and invite those people you want to connect with to that event.

How do you use it to connect with people?  I’d love to hear your comments.

Stay social,

Erick

Our Social Media Marketing (SMM) philosophy is to keep every interaction relevant, personal, and conversational.  Start by determining who your target audience is and focus your SMM endeavors on your target audience.

Once you determine who your target audience is, formulate a relevant message and stick to that message. One suggestion is to find useful blogs, articles, and other sources of information to Tweet or retweet.

Make your SMM personal by letting your audience see your real side, but don’t fall into the trap of sharing TMI (Too much information). I see too many people giving constant updates about where they are and what they are doing.  Unless you’re famous, no one cares.  And if they do care, you probably don’t want them to know that information.

Now, your conversational Tweets and other forms of virtual conversations, may not be relevant to everyone, but they will be relevant to the person you’re having a micro-conversation with.  Others will see you’re not just using Twitter or other platforms to send out advertisements, but that you’re trying to get to know your audience. Thank people who retweet you, interact with people who interact with you, answer questions, and get into conversations with people on the Web.

Whether you use our Social Media Marketing philosophy or one of your own, build your audience around that philosophy and brand yourself with that philosophy.  It will pay off in the end.

Go ahead and comment, Tweet me, or e-mail me.

Erick