The U.S. Postal Service announced on Wednesday 8/5, a loss of $2.4 billion in its third quarter which is contributed by the drop in mail volume during the third quarter by 7 billion pieces, or over 14 percent, compared to last year.
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.
Over the past several months, I posted a few articles relating to strategies and establishing a social media goal and presence. These were under the title of the Social Media Adventure. While the information contained within these articles are relevant and useful to beginning with social media you will still need to plan for your overall success.
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:
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 social media adventure and determination of best practices continues. The best practices are what I’ve found works for me when starting a company out in Social Media.
The previous posts about the adventure, The beginning of the adventure, and Social Media Adventure-Continued, include tips and strategies that I’ve been using to assist these companies with social media.
While some progress has been a little slower than others due to schedules, vacations, holidays, etc., we are making progress and show an increase in followers in the Twitter accounts and interest in the companies. Interest is also peaking in the upper level management segment and resources are becoming available. Progress is a wonderful thing.
While we continue to go through the strategies and organize the posts and information that will be available for these companies, some useful and fun information that I’ve found is included below:
A great resource for information on Twitter for Non-profits can be found on Twitip at: http://www.twitip.com/how-to-show-your-soul-and-engage-users-with-twitter-tips-for-brands-and-non-profit-organizations/
Tweet this post without the plugin from John Chow – great tool - http://www.johnchow.com/tweet-this-post-without-the-plugin/
Building Your Twitter Network - http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2008/12/11/building-your-twitter-network/
