Interactive Marketers to Increase Online Spending by 50%

Have you ever been thinking about something only to read a blog post that is catered to the same idea? Just happened to me! I was reading a post by Chris Baggot about old media and his thoughts on the problem with the overall business model.

I (like Chris) love old media. There is something about getting a magazine in the mail and thumbing through the articles. Every once in awhile I also pay the money to buy a Wall Street Journal or an Indianapolis Star. Unfortunately times are changing and we are not just focusing on the journalistic side of old media.

Old advertising is slowly seeing a transition as customers start to shift more of their spending to online marketing. According to Forrester Research, interactive marketers are going to increase their online marketing spending by 50%. There are a couple of reasons to look at this stat from a social media and old media perspective.

Old media needs to shift their business model to cater more to the online medium. It is a fact of change. The evolve or die mantra still stands as old advertising starts to see a decrease in the effectiveness of their advertising model.

Chris and I both do not have answers for old media. I will still continue to buy my favorite magazines but my purchase does not prove that the advertising is working. As a business owner it is important to realize the effectiveness of both mediums.

How are you going to shift your spending to cater to the online marketing medium?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Despite Recession, More Than 50% of Marketers Increase Spending on Social Media (readwriteweb.com)
• Forrester Report Suggests Marketers Still Spend Peanuts on Social Media, But Increases Planned (marketingpilgrim.com)
• An Important Conversation About Conversations (chrisbrogan.com)

Facebook Isn’t For Your Kids Anymore

I was reading a new social networking report from Nielsen called Global Faces and Networked Places and they had some stats about the growth of Facebook over the past year.

At Brandswag we deal with the Facebook paradigm from the older generations. Many of the small business owners we talk to would rather not think about using Facebook for marketing or networking because it is something their kids use. Now, we know that is not entirely true and yes… Facebook is used by your children but there is more behind .

The past few years have seen an increase in the use of Facebook by the Gen X and Baby Boomer crowd. According to the Nielsen report the greatest growth on Facebook has been from the people aged 35-49.

Guess what age group doubled that of their 18 year old children? The 50-64 year olds.

We are talking about one-third of the global audience on Facebook being between the ages of 35-49! What does this mean for small business owners? It means that you now have a viable source for business networking. It means that social media is no longer all about your children.

This small piece of your marketing strategy is now catering to all age groups… young and old. Is it time to start using social media to grow your business? Is it time to at least learn how to communicate online?

Absolutely. Start now.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Baby Boomer Me Up. The 43+ Revolution. (kylelacy.com)
• The 2009 Recession Will Produce the Largest Wave of Entrepreneurship (newcommbiz.com)
• How Baby Boomers Use Social Media (web-strategist.com)
• Facebook: Favorite Among Boomers (boomercafe.com)
• Facebook, MySpace Become Mainstream Marketing Vehicles (marketingpilgrim.com)

The Generation Y Disconnect on Social Media

(Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a characterization of generations… just something I have noticed around the past few months)

I gave a lecture to a couple of classes at Purdue University last week about Social Media. You know… everything they could possible want to know. It was an introduction to the power of social media marketingfor small business in the present and future. I noticed something that was fairly surprising to me as a Generation Y social media user. The majority (and when I say majority I mean 99%) of the students used nothing but Facebook. I am talking about nothing. No Myspace. No Twitter. No StumbleUpon. No LinkedIN. They all used Facebook.

Many would think that the majority of Generation Y (or millenials) would be using all forms of social media they could get their hands on.. apparently not so. This also applies to my friends. The only platform the majority of my friends use is Facebook. Why is that?

The light finally dawned when I read a post by David Armano explaining the evolution of social media from SOCIAL to NETWORKING. There is a disconnect between college students using other tools because frankly… they THINK they shouldn’t need to. Think again.

There needs to be a huge push in higher education towards social media education. Graduates should be taught how to use LinkedIN and Twitter to job search. They should be told about sites like Brazen Careerist and Careerscribe and NOT about Monster and CareerBuilder.

Education needs to shift HARD to new tools and not to whether your resume should be copy and pasted into the email or saved as an attachtment. Give me a break.

I worry that the new work force is not being taught to utilize the world of social media for networking and link building.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Are Blogs Losing Their Authority To The Statusphere? (socialmediatoday.com)
• Social Media Checklist: Where to Brand Yourself Online (lookuppage.com)
• Research Status: The Future of the Social Web, Social Media In A Recession (web-strategist.com)
• Social Networks Now More Popular than Email; Facebook Surpasses MySpace (socialmediatoday.com)

Defining Twitter Using Your Goals

Twitter is slowly starting to shift mainstream and (believe me) this does not mean anyone really knows how to use the tool. It is a chameleon of sorts, shifting definitions with every new user who joins the network.  There are a few necessary rules that have been developed post the creation of the site.

Overall it is a growing mass of people spouting links, ideas, quotes, conversations, and sometimes the Sleestacks (Copyright Michelle Riggen-Ransom via Twittip).

The question now stands… How do you define Twitter for yourself and how do you use Twitter the right way? Remember how you use the tool is completely based around your definition.

Defining Twitter

Why define Twitter? It is pretty simple. SO YOU DON’T WASTE TIME! Social media can be a huge time-suck if you do not define how you use each site. Believe me… even the most dedicated can drown in the social media pool.

Ask yourself why you decided to use the tool. Was it because you heard it was the THING to do? Do you want to keep up with old friend and colleages? Do you want to use it as a business networking tool? Maybe lead generation?

The questions you ask yourself are extremely important. Be honest with the way you want to use the tool. Write down your goals for using the Twitter network. I will give you the first couple goals on my Jan 2008 list.

1. Increase brand recognition for Brandswag and Kyle Lacy.

2. Learn from the professionals in the social media world.

3. Become obsessive in order to help others use Twitter for their benefit.

Twitter is whatever you define it (business and personal goals). Honestly, that is what makes the tool so attractive in the long run. Your experience is based on how you use the tool, who follows you and vice-versa.

How do you define Twitter?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Will social media survive the global recession? (coldacid.net)
• Social Media could be the savior for SMB’s (socialmediatoday.com)
• HOW TO: Manage Multiple Social Media Profiles (tsurch.com)

Myspace Dominates in Business

I have met my fair share of Myspace haters the past few years. Admittingly I have become a hater. I really do despise the overall design and the “trashy” brand name Myspace has developed… I do. Now, just because I hate using the tool doesn’t mean I don’t respect their business prowess.

Mashable recently had a post talking about the new Citiforward Myspace Credit Card, which is a great business tool for Myspace to increase their $600M revenue posting from 2008. Whether or not you agree with the concept of credit cards or offering a social-networking card is not the reason for this post. The simple fact is that Myspace is owning the rest of social networking sites in terms of revenue.

The question still stands: Will Myspace be able to hang on to the business model they have created? Will Facebook actually figure out how to monetize 130M users? Will Twitter ever make money (Good luck)?

I can give the people over at Myspace my respect…because in terms of business…they own the market.

Related articles by Zemanta

• HOW TO: Manage Multiple Social Media Profiles (mashable.com)
• Facebook Pages: Barack Obama Gets Less Features Than You Do (mashable.com)
• Follow Mashable on Facebook (mashable.com)
• New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers (mashable.com)

Announcing a Bid for Congress on Facebook

(hat tip to Hoosier Access for the post about Brose McVey)

In my opinion the political world received a massive dose of social media when (now) President Obama created a massive viral MACHINE using sites like Facebook and Myspace. We are now experiencing a shift between traditional and new media marketing in the political world. This shift may be small but it is still being pushed across the mainstream world.

Brose McVey is running for the 5th Congressional District against Congressman “Indiana” Dan Burton. Where did I witness the announcement? Facebook. Brose McVey’s update status read something like this:

Brose McVey is running for Congress in the 5th CD.

Now… I know that Mr. McVey will have something extremely formal for his ACTUAL announcement but it is encouraging to see the political world embracing the use of tools like Facebook and Twitter.

As long as the use is genuine and not a hard sell.. Is Dan Burton on Facebook?

Guest Blog: America’s First Viral Restaurant: Kogi

Jamie Varon spends her days writing on her blog, intersected. Intersected is that place where work, love, and life all meet and you wonder, “Where the hell do I go from here?” She is also currently looking for a job (any takers?) and resides in the Bay Area. Her goal is to one day achieve world domination through her blog, but for now she’ll settle for a decent readership. Jamie is a writer, a marketer, a graphic designer, and on her good days, a comedian.

By now, I think most of us have heard about Kogi BBQ. It‘s been said to be “America’s first viral restaurant” because the Korean BBQ taco truck tweets where it will be headed to in LA and hundreds of people show up at the location they post on Twitter. It’s buzz and viral marketing at its best and even Twitter co-founder Evan Williams was impressed at how the taco truck had utilized his micro-blogging platform. What’s interesting about this company, beyond their “buzziness”, is that there are two very fundamental things to learn from them in regards to how small businesses can utilize social media.

1. There is no right or wrong way to use social media

No one could have predicted that Kogi was going to splash onto the social media scene and become as successful as they have. I’m sure many people would have thought Kogi’s idea was ridiculous: “You want to use Twitter to do what!? To tell people where you’ll truck will be? Yeah, like anyone will show up.” But now, it seems brilliantly simple. This mysterious and elusive taco truck can only be found through word of mouth; the Easter egg/scavenger hunt aspect of it only makes it more… cool. They utilized Twitter in a way that no one else had. And, that’s the essence of social media: make it work for you.

The internet and the landscape of social media has become intensely diverse that you’d be hard-pressed to find a niche that is not represented somewhere. For small businesses, that’s perfect for marketing your company. Find out where your niche is hanging out online and saturate that area. Be creative and mold what’s already available within social media into something that works for your business. Be inspired by what Kogi has done and how they have morphed a simple networking site into a legitimate cornerstone of what makes them successful.

2. Small or large business: there’s a place for you here

With over a million users on Twitter, Kogi isn’t attempting to reach all of them. Their audience is fairly narrow, because the only people that can visit the truck are the ones in the LA area. So, although Twitter far surpasses just the LA area, Kogi has found a way to reach their market within the broadness. They’ve found a voice within the interminable noise of millions of users. Small businesses can do that, even though social media can seem intimidating.

There’s a way for even the internet to feel local. There’s a way to shrink down the scope of social media, so you can have the “what a small world!” moments all the time.

Be creative. Be relevant. And find ways for social media to work for you.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Evan Williams Predicts That “Normal People” Will Use Twitter In Five Years (tsurch.com)
• The Latest On Twitter: CEO Williams Talks (paidcontent.org)
• Main Point of Twitter? Re-Tweeting. (kylelacy.com)

Guest Post: Social Media, For Folks of My Vintage!

Today’s guest post is by Linda Fitzgerald. What is She working on?

Growing an online community for ‘chronologically maturing’ women traveling through the 2nd half of the journey. Developing and launching the face to face companion neighborhood networks known as “AFFILIATED WOMEN INTERNATIONAL.

Kyle laughs when I use that phrase! It refers to those of us who grew up in the shadow of the “greatest generation”. Those who are supposed to sit on the porch & do nothing!

But social media is not just for the young. It’s become a phenomenon valuable for all ages. Ask folks who work in geriatrics about using social media as a means to keep the brains of elder persons alive and well. Not to mention the health benefits of staying connected to others in order to reduce a sense of isolation that leads to early death.

Those of us who are not yet confined to anything except our computers find social media an excellent tool for developing online relationships that are as strong as many we’ve had for years and meet face to face with on a continual basis. Ask me! I can tell you that the friends I’ve made online via a number of social networking sites, including our own, are priceless.

Did it take me longer to learn to use the tools? You bet, but the practice of not using books (Face book for Dummies or some such material) to enhance the learning process made it all the more exciting when “I did it!” And it kept my brain cells from atrophying. The process of trying to figure out different forms of social media, i.e. Twitter, can be exceedingly frustrating. But once we’ve got it down – the process is absolutely fantastic.

The one thing I enjoy the most is the ‘youth’ of those with whom I now connect and build relationships. Many are young enough to be a grandchild! I never think of it and they are kind enough to never remind me. That in itself is healthy and emotionally satisfying.

I recommend to my ‘vintage’ friends that they dust off the system and at least make a Face book page. For no other reason than to reconnect with friends from high school or college. A few weeks ago I had that pleasure. Got a Face book message from a woman I knew from my young adult days who had been a close friend of my brother. I recognized her immediately and we’ve now reconnected. It was the highlight of an otherwise mundane day.

Have a ‘vintage’ friend or family member you want to keep mentally alert and emotionally healthy? Get them engaged in social networking. Don’t take an “I don’t have time” for an answer.

And certainly don’t take “I’m too old” as an excuse. I’m a perfect example that “old dogs can learn new tricks”. At least social media “tricks”!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Allen Weiss: What the Young People Say About Social Media (mpdailyfix.com)
• You Can’t Advise Clients on Social Media if You’re Not on Facebook and Twitter (chrisabraham.com)
• Why I use Twitter (socialmediatoday.com)
• Facebook’s Thiel Explains Failed Twitter Takeover – BusinessWeek (tsurch.com)

Yes. My Voice Matters.

I was reading through my weekly intake of Jason Falls at Social Media Explorer and came across a post with a reference from the Cluetrain Manifesto. First off, I love the book. I read it when it came out a couple of years ago and still keep it around my desk. In his post, Jason makes reference to Cluetrain point fingers at the marketing industry asking them, “Where is the consideration of the people?”

From Cluetrain:
Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.

I agree with Jason when he says that the Cluetrain Manifesto basically introduced the concept of social media to Corporate America. It is also extremely important for small business owners to understand the concept of listening and starting conversations.

Social Media has a wide array of people. Some people need your product or service.. other people would rather not listen to your hard sell speech about blah. blah. blah. It is about the conversation.. the personality.. and the person on the other end, not you.

I would encourage you to read Jason’s post because it has some awesome points for all matter of people using social media as a strategy for growth. I want to focus on the concept of using a human voice while in the depths of social media. Whether you are using Twitter, Facebook, or Plaxo (etc) it is important to listen first and speak second.

How long is it going to take us to learn that the CONSUMER is now in control of the conversation? It is no longer about quantity. It is no longer about how many direct mail pieces you can send out or how many banner ads you can buy.

It is about the them not about you. Use Twitter and Facebook as a tool to speak as you would your best-friend at a barbeque (okay bad example but you get the drift). We are all in the same rat-race here. Trying to help each other succeed in the cut throat world of small business marketing.

Talk about what YOU do not the industry or the sale of the day. How do you help people? How do you creat relationships with your clients? That is what people what to hear. They are to be inspired.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Top Trends and Apps: How Do People Use Twitter? (briansolis.com)
• You Can’t Advise Clients on Social Media if You’re Not on Facebook and Twitter (chrisabraham.com)
• The 4 Customer Types of Social Media (kylelacy.com)
• The Twitter Adventure: observations (email-marketing-reports.com)

Punch Inactive Users in the Face!

I love Twitter.

It makes life a little more interesting every day that you use it. There is one problem that I have been presented with over the course of the past few days. Inactive users.

Inactive users really upset me and when I say upset.. I am meaning… more along the lines of “wrong order at a restaurant” upset. I just don’t understand the point of spending time to add multiple people and then NOT using the tool every again. But that is their prerogative. (Thank you Ms. Spears)

I had a URL come across my Twitter Feed today to Twitoria. This is the first thing I read when I clicked through:

How many friends are you really following? Twitoria finds your friends that haven’t tweeted in a long time so you can give them the boot!

FINALLY… (unless I missed another one) a tool that allows you to delete people that are inactive on Twitter, something that really cleans up the mess of inactive users. I

I started using the tool and it has extremely easy functionality… it is pretty straight forward. While I was un-following the fifth or sixth person I realized… Why does this matter?

They don’t tweet.. They don’t flood my stream with stupid magpie tweets or worthless hard-sell links.. So why does it matter if I delete them or not?

I haven’t answered that question but it you are wanting to delete the number of people you are following.. Twitoria is a great tool to do that.

Now.. can somebody please create an application that allows me to auto un-follow Twitter idiots?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Mind Your Ps & Qs: Twitter Delete Disabled (pistachioconsulting.com)
• Magpie Threatens to Destroy Twitter (ewriting.pamil-visions.com)
• Delete All Direct Messages of your Twitter Account at once (or at least try!) (gubatron.com)