Internet usage, smartphones and social media have become more popular and show a steady increase in popularity not only from personal use but from business marketing as well. The below graphic displays B2B and B2C companies Social Media profiles and the popularity of social media in business marketing.

The emarketer.com reports that Social Media Marketing spending for B2B and B2C businesses is projected to increase over the next several months and years.  Customer Relationship Management and Brand Building will be the focus of business social media marketing practices as these play key roles to a company’s success.

Technology, internet and smartphones are the content delivery mediums today and your marketing needs to adjust to reach your target audience. Not quite sure where to start?

1. Start with a plan, who is your target audience and what is your message?
2. Make sure that your website is up-to-date and relays your company message.  Is your web site smart phone readable and friendly?  Can users interact with your website via their smart phone and current web browsers easily?  These are important as trends show that 83% of adults have cell phones or smartphones and, among them, over 35% have access the internet via their phone.
3. Create a Social Media Strategy – see related post with strategy and social media sites information found at: http://www.isisinternettechnologysolutions.com/social-media/social-media-adventure-continued/
4. Initiate Marketing Plan – how are you going to reach your target audience with your message? Social Media is certainly an item that will be used but there are also alternatives such as Personalized Email Campaigns and Personalized URL’s. These provide an alternative to customary print marketing and are personalized and targeted to that specific person or persons vertical market, enabling you to target your marketing message.

The key is to plan your marketing strategy, ensure that your message is reaching your target audience and engage your audience with your brand and customer relations.   Getting involved in Social Media is more than just posting, but involves interaction and getting to know/responding to your consumers.

Recently, I had two different experiences with 1) a well known internet company and 2)  a company that isn’t so well known.  I made purchases that were “guaranteed” to arrive by a specific date.  Due to weather in the Eastern US the items were delayed.  Surprisingly, I had two very different customer service experiences.

From the well known internet company -  I never received any notice/warning, communication about the delay. The items just didn’t show.  I had to keep checking the tracking information in order to determine when I would be receiving the items (which was a moving target due to delays, etc.). I realize with weather related issues it really isn’t in the control of the company, but according to the delivery tracking information, the packages didn’t even leave their facility prior to the weather issues.  Basically, the packages left late in the first place.

From the not-so-well-known internet company – I received an email 2 days before the impending weather hit the East Coast warning me about the possibility of a delay and informing me that I could contact them and cancel my order.  I then received daily updates via email from this company on the status of my order and they also upgraded the shipping type to a higher level in order for me to receive the package sooner than the level that I purchased. At no charge.

The final outcome, my packages from the well known company were over a week late and I never received any type of notice or communication from them at all.  The package from the not-so-well-known company was a few days late and they have a customer for life.  I find my self more apt to read their advertising emails when they arrive, look at their site, recommend them to my friends and family, and place orders for items not really needed. Yes, I am admitting to ordering a few things that I really don’t need.

As far as my continued support of the well known company, I don’t spend any time looking at their advertising emails or visit their site to see what they have that may be of interest.  Just not interested in giving them my money any longer since they don’t seem to value me as a customer.

Customer service plays a very important role on not only current, direct sales, but future sales as well.

No customer service = No sales.

What are your doing to ensure that you have a customer for life?

On the other side of the fence however, the electronic/digital world is seeing an increase in the number of social media users and companies using social media for marketing purposes.  As reported as recently as last month, Social Media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter continue to see an increase in new users, from approximately 10M to 20M unique users year over year respectively.  Check out the article found on Mashable.com related to Twitter and Social Media Growth.

Is electronic marketing the wave of the here, now and the future? Based upon recent polls taken earlier this year by www.toprankblog.com that includes the following findings, Social Media outlets are definitely the way that the masses are using to market and reach their audience.  Sources being used the most are indicated below:

* Blogging (34%)
* Microblogging (Twitter) (29%)
* Search engine optimization (28%)
* Social network participation (Facebook, LinkedIn) (26%)
* Email marketing (17%)
* Social media monitoring & outreach (17%)
* Pay per click (14%)
* Blogger relations (12%)
* Video marketing (10%)
* Social media advertising (7%)

In essence, do you have an electronic/digital marketing plan in place?  If not, this should be reviewed as a viable alternative to traditional printed marketing pieces and include a strategy and marketing goals in order to track and see your RIO.

If you’re not there yet, you need to be. The world is changing and evolving each and every day. To stay ahead you need to play ahead and have a plan/strategy that rivals your competitors and keeps you on top and in the forefront of your industry.

References: thanks to http://www.toprankblogs.com, http://www.mashable.com, and http://www.govexec.com/ for your wealth of insight and information on digial, electronic, and social media marketing.

To be successful in Social Media there is an investment of time.  Social Media is exactly as it sounds – being Social through media streams such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, blogs, etc.  What a lot of people & organizations forget and fail to recognize is that the main point in Social Media is being Social.  The definition of Social by Websters.com:

• relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society 
• tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others of one’s kind 

Investing time is how you will be successful and how you will learn and grow in the social media community.  There have been some great posts with information and suggestions on how best to handle the social media tools and tips to help organize the various social media items.  Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I’ve included a few of the most helpful to me below:

• A Quick ‘n Dirty Guide to Setting up Social Media Monitoring -http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2009/02/18/a-quick-n-dirty-guide-to-setting-up-social-media-monitoring/
• Get More Comments with a Better Discussion Experience http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/get-more-comments-with-a-better-discussion-experience/
• Twitter tools for every one http://etsygreekstreetteam.blogspot.com/2009/02/twitter-tools-for-every-one-for.html
• Choosing Social Networks -http://mashable.com/2008/12/16/choosing-social-networks/

These are only a few tools that will provide you with ideas and information on how best to set your social media monitoring.  Try a few to find what works best for you then establish a schedule.  Don’t forget, social interaction is important and is the key to your overall success.

The tools and tips in the first two posts were definitely the starting points.  The referenced sites and materials which are included in the first two posts are definitely worth a visit and read.  Click here to return to the first post and here to return to the second post.

One very important key factor is STRATEGY.  To be successful and to learn/know your target audience and peers, you need to be aware of their needs and their interests.  By devising a strategy, you can determine these needs and target your goals more effectively.

Your strategy should include:

1. Social Media Presence – create your Social Media Presence by creating Profiles in Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, etc.  There are numerous social media sites where profiles can be created, select the ones that best fits your needs. Search/see where your target audience has a presence.
2. Look, Watch & Listen – search the social media sites where you have profiles for keywords relating to your industy, your company name, competitor company name and groups that fit your profile.
3. Join the groups where applicable and watch the interaction. See what people are saying and asking – find out their needs and how you can help.  Begin to log this information for further research.
4. Search – search for blogs that are similar to your service or product.
5. Contribute – Contribute when you have something to offer that provides information or helps with a post or comment.

This strategy will help as you begin to explore social media and all that this encompasses.  So, now that you have a few strategy items, it’s time for action.  Below are a few tools that will help with the items listed above:

• Setting up your profile in Twitter – I recommend you visit http://www.twitip.com.  Read the information and sign up to receive the posts.  This is a great site that has a wealth of information that you won’t want to miss.
• http://search.twitter.com.  Enter keywords for your industry to see who is tweeting and what they are saying.
• Use a twitter tool – There are quite a few to select – TweetDeck (my personal favorite), Twitteriffic, Twhirl, Spaz, etc. Check out all of the available apps at http://twitter.com/downloads.
• Don’t forget to click on the link at the bottom of the page for the Twitter fan wiki.  Amazing applications listed here that will make your head spin with all that is available. So very cool.
• Facebook – you can search for a specific term in Facebook and select to narrow the results down by Group, Events, Applications, Web, etc.
• LinkedIn -   you can search for People, Answers, Jobs, or Groups.
• Alltop – an “online magazine rack” which is better than a magazine.  It is updated each hour with the hottest stories on any topic, category, name, etc.
• Google Blog Search – searching for blogs can be done by entering “blog” behind the search term in Google. As an example, if you want to search for blogs on WordPress – enter “WordPress Blog” and hit search.
• Technorati – good site that provides the ability to search blogs by various categories, words and view the top 100 blogs, most popular, etc.

These are a few strategy items and tools to get you started.  If  you have questions or feedback, please feel free to post comments or contact me.