How is social media marketing driving E-commerce

The whole world seems to be integrated in the virtual world of social networking websites.  In case of Twitter and Facebook, it is insanely big and it should not come as a surprise if one spends a whole day or more just scaling through these social networking websites.  What started as a hub for friends and like-minded people to meet has quickly turned into something so large that it could set the prospects of your business soaring.  Here are top five reasons why social media can drive e-commerce.

How can social media marketing help your brand?

As part of an integrated marketing plan, social media is the online marketing element that can best be described as the new word-of-mouth marketing. In the past consumers didn’t have any control over marketing messages but new technology gives consumers power by allowing them to decide which brands they want to engage with. This shift in power makes it vitally important for brands to entice consumers to want to engage with them. Social media present brands with the opportunity to engage with consumers and get them to spread the brand message. When this is done correctly, social media can turn brand ambassadors into brand evangelists. With so many platforms available anyone with Internet access can become a publisher through networks like Facebook, Twitter and so many others. Consumers can publish their opinions, experiences and thoughts whilst choosing who they want to interact with. Thus, social media gives consumers the power to have their voice heard. Social media ties in with other online marketing elements like search engine optimisation (SEO) and online reputation management (ORM) as part of an online marketing strategy. It’s a mistake to think that social media and search are mutually exclusive. Twitter or Facebook profiles and blogs are showing up more frequently on the first page of search engine results, whether the group, fan page or blog is owned by the brand or not. In terms of your “Google CV” it looks good if the group or blog post is of a positive nature, praising the service of a brand, but it is a completely different story when it is negative. For instance on the first page of Google’s search results for “SAA” the blog “SAA Sucks” is listed. This of course is where Online Reputation Management (ORM) is all too important to include as part of your social media campaign strategy. Unfortunately, social media is not as easy as setting up a Twitter account, creating a Facebook fan page and ticking social media off on your marketing to-do list. Social media requires continuous activity and engagement. Amongst other things, social media platforms can be utilised to execute ORM. For instance, by using search.twitter.com brands can see what is being said about them in the Twittersphere. Vida e Caffé is one of the South African brands using Twitter to their benefit. Others include Virgin Active South Africa, First National Bank and iBurst. These brands use Twitter to respond to questions, complaints, compliments and offer advice. You don’t have to be everywhere, but it is important to have a presence on the more mainstream social networks like Twitter and Facebook. When a brand decides to engage with its consumers through social media there are a few generally accepted conventions to which one should adhere, for instance: – Do not spam your readers and followers with marketing messages and promotional offers – Encourage dialogue and be interactive, remember it is a conversation! – Always respond to questions, queries and comments, whether it is good, bad or ugly When a brand offers valuable content it is sure to see ROI from social media. Social media marketing can be complicated to execute, especially when it comes to closing the loop, maintaining consistency and starting a viral effect. If you would like to know how social media can enhance awareness for your brand as part of an online marketing strategy, contact AlterSage for a consultation.

Understanding Social Media Marketing

A lot of people are confused by the term “social media marketing” and believe that it is only advertising on a social networking site, where networks monitor what users are doing and place ads next to them, hoping they will get a click. However, social media marketing is actually about different kinds of collaborations between people and finding ways that individual fans of a particular brand product or even a company can endorse it themselves on various social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others.
Social media marketing differs from industrial media marketing in that industrial media generally uses very expensive tools requiring a great deal of financial capital to publish its information, where as social media marketing uses fairly inexpensive tools that enables anyone anywhere to publish or access information. Both social media and industrial media have the capability to reach a small audience of one or two, or large audiences of millions. However, the time lag is generally much longer between a communications from industrial media as compared to social media when responses can be instantaneous. In addition, there are currently few, if any, limitations on social media such as on pages or hours. The audiences are encouraged to be active participants, to add comments, or blog or even edit articles or stories, as they deem necessary.
Social media optimization, or SMO, uses methods that generate publicity through social media and online community websites. There are many different types of technologies and applications for social media like blogs, vlogs, wikis, emails, podcasts, instant messaging and many more. Two of the most popular reference services are Google and Wikipedia. You can share photos at Flickr, videos at YouTube, personal music at Last.fm, microblog on Jaiku and Twitter. Besides the now universally known Facebook and MySpace, you can also go social networking on Avatars United, Youmeo and Second Life (social network via virtual reality).
Experts insist that social media is here to stay. Companies are now recognizing the need to be more involved in social media marketing, because it is through these channels that they can hear most quickly and honestly what consumers need and want. Businesses are learning that they now no longer wield absolute control over the behavior and buying decisions of their consumers. By paying attention, for instance, to a pro- or anti- product blog from a consumer, marketers have access to open customer discussions they never had before and then, in turn, open their own dialogue to be able to drive the needed change quickly.
Social media marketing opens up a world of fast-flowing creative experimentation where an idea can be tested online in the morning and by afternoon there is a response. Social media techniques should be combined into the marketing mix to optimize the places where the impact can be maximized. The key element in successful social media marketing is to be swift but make sure to drive change in proactive way rather than being reactive.

Twitter is a Social Media Marketing Success but Avoid Committing the Same Error that the NY Times Did

Twitter has been discovered and is being used by many businesses and individuals as a successful social media marketing tool. Even US President Barrack Obama is on Tweeter. In fact, Twitter was used heavily in Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign. Popular TV host Oprah Winfrey joined Twitter in January 2009. The New York Times has just appointed a social media editor, Jennifer Preston, and she promptly joined Twitter, sending out her first tweet on May 26.It’s so easy. Anyone can register an account. You can then click to “follow” other Tweeters and, hopefully, gain a large following, too. You can read the messages sent out, called “tweets”, by anyone you choose to follow but you can only send messages to those who follow you. Tweets are limited to 140 characters. Go over and your message will be cut. This includes prefixes. Among the prefixes used are “@” followed by the the person’s Tweeter username when replying to someone, or “RT@” followed by the source’s username when reposting a tweet, much like reposting a blog entry with a link back to the source. You can use the services of URL shorteners such as tinyurl.com or bit.ly to transform long addresses you can then use in your tweets.This is where you have to be very careful. The new NY Times social media editor, Jennifer Preston, sent out an RT on May 26 but she forgot to count her tweet characters carefully. As a result, her tweet was cut and the resulting address she sent out led to Ebay instead to her intended article, “10 Golden Rules on Social Media.” So count your characters before you send out your tweet.There are so many ways you can use Twitter to market your site. You can tweet links to your articles, making sure, of course, that your readers will find them useful. Really good articles will most probably earn RTs, spreading the word further and resulting in more visitors landing on your pages. If you have a good web site with rich content, it will deserve many return visits.You can also use Twitter to request and gather feedback about your site. If you have developed a good relationship with others in the Twitter community, you will surely get a lot of helpful inputs.Twitter can also serve as a bulletin board of sorts where you can make announcements about upates in your site or your products and services. Since your tweets are only sent out to your followers, it is not considered spam.One of the believers in the power of Twitter as a social media marketing tool is Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. Social media marketing is part of the internet marketing services offered by Web Dot Com along with search engine optimization and search engine marketing.From its base in Manila, Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. serves international clients from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Korea, and the British Virgin Islands, providing various business process outsourcing (BPO) services, including low cost advanced web site development packages. Its highly skilled programmers are experts in php, mysql, JavaScript, Adobe Flash and other programming tools and languages, taking on advanced interactive database driven web site development, advanced portal development, heavy web based programming, web application development, content management systems, website design, graphic design and multimedia components including flash animation development, e-commerce site solutions including a shopping cart using osCommerce, website maintenance and support, and internet marketing. Not only is it a web site developer, but Web Dot Com is also a web hosting provider with domain name registration services. Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. is your One Stop Shop Internet and Contact Center Solutions Vendor for the Global Market.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc.Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),Quezon City, 1110 PhilippinesE-mail: info@webdc.com.phTelephone numbers: (632) 634-4625; (632) 635-6104

Social Media Marketing through Facebook

If you want to make the most of social media marketing today, you better sign up with Facebook. According to a recent report from the Orlando Business Journal, Facebook has far outpaced its competitors in the first quarter of 2009, garnering 78 percent of US social network participants against MySpace’s 42 percent, LinkedIn’s 17 percent and Twitter’s 10 percent. Worldwide, Facebook was reported to have 307.1 million unique visitors in May 2009 while MySpace had less than half with a mere 123.2 million unique visitors. According to Facebook, its members are sending each other one billion chat messages each day.As early as 2008, a study done by Internet Retailer and Vovici showed that most online retailers in the US chose to use Facebook as a social media network to help boost sales. A separate study done by Rosetta among the top 100 US online retailers showed that 59% had set up a Facebook fan page. Among these retailers were Best Buy, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us.In order to make the most of your company’s Facebook fan page, though, you should familiarize yourself thoroughly with social media marketing as a whole, and with the way Facebook itself works in particular. It would be wholly counterproductive to make an online faux pas and earn ill will. Each social media network has its own temperament, after all, and its own set of rules and online etiquette. Members and users also have certain expectations from other members and users.Perhaps it would be best for a company not to risk experimentation by assigning this task to a newbie. Learn from the mistake of the New York Times whose new social media editor had no extensive knowledge of Twitter before diving in. As a result, her repost meant to point other Tweeter users to an online article ended up taking them to Ebay instead. Do not make the same mistake in Facebook or you will get a lot of negative comments instead of the favorable ones you need. It would be best to leave the task of handling your company’s social media marketing efforts to the experts.Social media marketing is one of the services offered by Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. as a full service web site developer and a web hosting provider with domain name registration services. Web Dot Com recognizes that social media marketing, along with search engine optimization and search engine marketing, is now a necessity in the online marketplace. Having a good website with good landing pages are no longer enough.As an expert in online applications and solutions, as well as business process outsourcing (BPO) services, Web Dot Com has been trusted by clients from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Korea, the British Virgin Islands and the Philippines for the past ten years. Indeed, many companies have proven that outsourcing web development and other business processes is profitable.From its base in Manila, the Web Dot Com employs expert programmers and developers highly skilled in php, mysql, JavaScript and other tools and languages in order to provide low cost advanced web site development packages including advanced interactive database driven web site development, advanced portal development, heavy web based programming, web application development, content management systems, website design, graphic design and multimedia components including flash animation development, e-commerce site solutions including a shopping cart using osCommerce, website maintenance and support, and internet marketing. Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. is your One Stop Shop Internet and Contact Center Solutions Vendor for the Global Market. Make it your social media marketing partner, as well.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc.Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),Quezon City, 1110 PhilippinesE-mail: info@webdc.com.phTelephone numbers: (632) 634-4625; (632) 635-6104

Social Media Marketing Errors of Wal-Mart at Facebook

hereas Target’s social media marketing efforts at Facebook were lauded and hailed as a resounding success, its competitor, Wal-Mart did not do as well in the same social network. In fact, in the estimation of some social media marketing authorities, Wal-Mart’s social media marketing foray failed miserably.Target’s success was attributed to its having done competent research on the medium before engaging with it, and then adapting its message and language to the Facebook culture. Target was able to make a perfect fit.Wal-Mart, on the other hand, either did not do its preliminary research, or just decided to have its own way. Actually, Wal-Mart already started out with a disadvantage. It has been widely criticized for its labor practices. Its corporate reputation has been under fire. Its presence on Facebook, therefore, could have been a way to face and defuse these controversies, if properly handled. It seemed that the people who were doing the campaign felt that they were not prepared to face full dialogue on the page, though. Wal-Mart did not put up a discussion board like Target did, and limited all comments and feedback to wall posts. Even when questioned on the absence of a forum, Wal-Mart did not budge.Facebook members are quick to sense such efforts to restrict feedback, and will not take it quietly. The wall posts were soon overtaken by negative comments.Wal-Mart was also perceived as insincere when it veered away from its identity as a company. Known for discounts, it suddenly tried to project itself on Facebook as an authority on fashion, style and taste. This came across as fake and pretentious and Facebook members openly expressed widespread disapproval.Wal-Mart attracted only less than a third of the members that Target gained in Facebook, and many of those who visited the Wal-Mart page left disparaging comments. The entire campaign backfired because Wal-Mart’s Facebook page could very well be used as a testimonial to its competitor.Companies and professional organizations cannot risk making serious errors in their social media marketing campaigns. Perhaps not joining social media networks at all would be better than sabotaging their own names inadvertently through errors. These days, though, social media networks have become so entrenched in popular culture that a company or organization’s absence in them would mean missing out on valuable opportunities to connect with a huge part of their audience. The solution is to seek the help of the right social media marketing experts. Wal-Mart may not have chosen well.A Manila-based company, Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines Inc. offers social media marketing expertise along with low cost advanced web site development packages. These web packages may consist of advanced interactive database driven web site development, advanced portal development, heavy web based programming, web application development, content management systems, good web site design, graphic design and multimedia components including flash animation development, e-commerce site solutions including a shopping cart using osCommerce, web site maintenance and support, search engine optimization and search engine marketing. The company is a web hosting provider, too, with domain name registration services.Web Dot Com’s specialists in social media marketing, search engine marketing and search engine optimization ensure their client’s positive and productive presence online. The company’s web site developers and designers, highly skilled in internet languages and tools such as php, mysql and JavaScript, create landing pages that are compelling and effective, according to the needs of each client. It is not surprising that international clients have been outsourcing web development services to Web Dot Com since 1998. Its business process outsourcing (BPO) services also include contact center solutions.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. is your One Stop Shop Internet and Contact Center Solutions Vendor for the Global Market.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc.Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),Quezon City, 1110 PhilippinesE-mail: info@webdc.com.phTelephone numbers: (632) 634-4625; (632) 635-6104

The Social Media Marketing Success of Target at Facebook

Facebook is touted as the most successful platform for social media marketing these days, and Target seems to have hit the bull’s eye in using Facebook for its social media marketing campaign. In fact, Target’s participation in Facebook has become some sort of positive case study on how to use social media networks for social media marketing.Target began its involvement in Facebook as part of its back to school campaign. It did not just barge into Facebook though. Target was wise enough to do its homework first by visiting Facebook and other social media networks regularly for some time in order to get a feel of what people were talking about and how they were talking to each other.It is very important to know what is happening in the entire social media network scene. It is even more important to learn the specific culture and language within each social media network. That way, a new participant can enter gracefully, blend into the community and create connections. It eliminates most risks of making a grave mistake or social booboo.Target knew that it could not preach to its audience or use its usual storytelling approach. What it did in its Facebook page was to give its intended audience – mostly students – a platform to interact with each other like in a party. After all, that was what the students were in Facebook for.Target avoided the kind of language used in its usual commercials and instead adapted the language of its audience on Facebook. There was no mention at all of the Target TV tagline “Hello, Good Buy.” Instead, Target’s Facebook copy – or posts, rather – used words like “awesome” very frequently.Hard selling was also avoided at all costs. There were no ads for discounts or promos. There were even no links to Target’s e-commerce site. If banners were placed on other areas of Facebook, these led only to Target’s Facebook page and the ongoing conversations there. On their own, Target’s Facebook friends were already talking about the great deals available in the store, the discounted products and other things they loved about Target. People signed in by the thousands, joined discussion groups, made posts regularly and even uploaded photos.All in all, Target’s presence in Facebook strengthened and deepened its relationship with its customers, further motivating them to continue their loyal support to the store. They were no longer individual customers but a community.Social media marketing professionals know how to maximize the use of social media networks for companies and professional organizations. It is, therefore, best to leave social media marketing efforts to the experts. Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines Inc., based in Manila, offers social media marketing services as part of its low cost advanced web site development packages.Aside from social media marketing, Web Dot Com packages cover advanced interactive database driven web site development, advanced portal development, heavy web based programming, web application development, content management systems, good web site design, graphic design and multimedia components including flash animation development, e-commerce site solutions including a shopping cart using osCommerce, web site maintenance and support, search engine optimization and search engine marketing. The company’s programmers and web site developers are experts at internet languages and tools such as php, mysql and JavaScript. Along with seo specialists, they create clients’ landing pages that have excellent design and high search ranking.Web Dot Com is also a web hosting provider offering domain name registration, as well as a vendor of business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Numerous companies and organization from around the world have been outsourcing web development services to Web Dot Com for the past ten years.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc. is your One Stop Shop Internet and Contact Center Solutions Vendor for the Global Market.Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines, Inc.Address: 2nd Floor, BT&T Center#20 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Libis (C-5),Quezon City, 1110 PhilippinesE-mail: info@webdc.com.phTelephone numbers: (632) 634-4625; (632) 635-6104

Next Page »