Strategic Use of Social Media 2011!

Bazaarvoice, the market and technology leader in transforming customer conversations into long-term business value, released the second-annual Bazaarvoice Social Marketing Survey conducted with The CMO Club. The new study charts the progress of CMOs against their 2010 social media goals and benchmarks projected social investments, challenges, and expectations for 2011. The survey shows that social media had become an essential component of executive marketing strategies by the end of 2010, with 90% of CMOs participating in three or more social media activities. CMOs still focus on measurability and ROI but are recognizing there’s even more business impact to uncover. Nearly all (96%) are beginning to look beyond sales goals and web metrics to focus on how social media can deliver strong insights that fuel improvements across the business. This is consistent with Forrester Research’s recent finding that more than 45% of all companies now use social media assets for product development in addition to customer engagement (83%), and indicates a sea change in the strategic value that CMOs place on social today.

Key Findings:

The 2011 Survey points to a big shift in the power of social media and user-generated content, as brands begin to organize these voices into strong insights that serve as the launch pad for innovation and business change. In 2011, 93% of CMOs plan on using some form of user-generated content to inform product and service decisions. Top forms of user-generated content used in 2010 include customer stories (59%), product suggestions or ideas (54%), polling (49%), and customer reviews (47%).

CMOs were optimistic about tracking ROI for social in 2010 -- 81% of those who participated in the 2010 Survey said they planned to track social media to revenues in 2010. However, standard ROI metrics proved difficult to measure for many social efforts; only 40% of CMOs surveyed in 2011 successfully tracked ROI on their social initiatives. Still, measurability remains a top executive priority, with sales conversion and revenue attribution standing out as the #1 and #2 growth opportunities in social measurement.

The 2011 Survey indicates that many CMOs still use social media tools without clear insight into the ROI that tool is delivering. More than half of CMOS still don’t know or don’t see ROI across many social media tools, in particular Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Bright spots include product ratings and reviews (59% see average or significant ROI); company / brand communities (56%); and company or brand blogs (48%).

Bazaarvoice

Emineo Media

Solution makes global SEO an option!

For just over a year, experts have been issuing notes to publishers and advertisers that they needed a global platform. Translated content, logos and messages have been touted as a huge benefit for brands, but many brands havent figured out exactly how to complete this translation in an economical way. by Kristina Knight. A new release gives brands a solution for the search arm of campaigns. This month BrightEdge released their global Search Engine Optimization solution, which allows brands to tap into a single solution to manage their brands rank across search platforms around the globe.

"Our clients asked us to extend the platform's reach so they can drive the same ROI globally that they are seeing in the U.S.," said Jim Yu, BrightEdge CEO. "At home and around the world, the Web is increasingly cluttered and complex. Our clients use BrightEdge to break through this clutter and use natural search as a major revenue driver. Bringing our platform to international search engines will give companies a means to scale and drive new business in ways simply not possible before."

The number of search queries continues to increase month to month. The latest numbers from comScore finds that more than 15 billion searches were queried through search giants Google, Yahoo and Bing. Queries from Bing and Yahoo have potentially the highest accuracy rate, with users clicking through to a website after querying Yahoo or Bing more than 80% of the time.

According to eMarketer, the overall US ad spend will reach $36.3 billion by 2014, a 9% increase over 2008. According to Efficient Frontier, SEM spending is on track for between 15% and 20% growth in 2011. Researchers found that, year to year, SEM spending increased by 23% in 2010.

Solution makes global SEO an option - Search Marketing

Emineo Media

What Makes Facebook Fan Pages Successful?

Engagement, interest and constant connection keep fans coming back on Facebook!

Well-known brands like Coca-Cola and Starbucks have had success turning their Facebook fan pages into popular sites with millions of fans. Local businesses are also leveraging the site and can learn from their global neighbors.

Local businesses make up 17.6% of Facebook fan pages, according to financial services firm Wedbush, while companies come in at 6.3% and products at 3%. Interests, musicians and public figures are also high on the list.

Starbucks has 18.5 million fans as of November 2010, and Alexandra Wheeler, director of digital strategy, talked to Marketing Week in the UK about how the brand uses Facebook.

“It’s about making sure that we do our job every day to give those fans some sort of meaningful value,” she said. “Having 10 million people on Facebook who like us would be useless if we did nothing with it.”

What Makes Facebook Fan Pages Successful?

Emineo Media

Website and Email Critical B2B Investments!

In a recent survey of business-to-business (B2B) marketers, traditional online tactics remain key to marketing success.

Just over half of B2B marketers surveyed told BtoB Magazine their budgets would go up this year, mostly by less than 15%. With a primary marketing goal of customer acquisition (69%), the greatest number of respondents expected spending increases to come from online (78%). By contrast, 44% said they would be spending more on events and 36% on direct mail.

Online, B2B marketers were most likely to report planned increases in marketing spending on their websites and email programs, followed by social media. These results differed in priority from those of a survey of general US marketers by RSW/US.

Among that group, 65% planned to spend more on social media, followed by 47% on email. RSW/US did not report on increases in website spending.



More than two-thirds of B2B marketers already used social media marketing as of December 2010, where the main focus of marketing efforts was brand building. Despite customer acquisition being B2B’s top goal for the year, less than half of respondents were using social media for lead generation.



In 2010, social media, websites and email each received a median of 10% of B2Bs’ online marketing budgets. Spending levels were higher on display and video advertising.

 Article

Emineo Media

Email, Social Media to See More Marketing Dollars in 2011!

Email marketers have been warming up to social media for the past year, using social elements like “share with your network” and buttons to connect with brands on Twitter and Facebook in email campaigns. Email and social media also go together in another way: They are the top tactics marketers worldwide expect to increase budgets on in 2011. 

According to a November 2010 survey of business executives around the globe by StrongMail, nearly two-thirds of companies will increase spending on email marketing, and 57% will put more dollars toward social media marketing. Search took a distant third place with 41% of respondents indicating they would spend more.



Email, Social Media to See More Marketing Dollars in 2011

Emineo Media

Resources Are Now a Big Issue for Social Media Marketers!

Lack of sufficient time and resources worse than lack of strategy or objectives

Social media was once seen by some marketers as a quick and easy way to reach consumers at their newest channel of choice. Advertising on the sites was relatively cheap, and marketing on the sites by creating a brand page or profile was free—it only cost internal time and resources.

But those resources can prove to be substantial, as many marketing professionals seem to have learned, based on a November 2010 survey by social media marketing solutions firm R2integrated. Asked what the biggest barrier to social media marketing was, more than two in five selected time and resources. Just half as many said questions about return on investment were as problematic.

Resources Are Now a Big Issue for Social Media Marketers

Emineo Media

Online Ad Spend Surpasses Newspapers!

A milestone for advertising on the internet 2010 will mark the first time marketers put more money into online advertising than newspapers, eMarketer estimates.

Total newspaper spending, including advertising in print and online editions, will fall to $25.7 billion in 2010, a decline of 6.6%. Spending on print newspapers alone will fall more steeply to $22.8 billion. Meanwhile, a rise of 13.9% will push US online ad spending up to $25.8 billion by year’s end.



The spending gap will widen significantly next year, as total newspaper spending falls again to $24.6 billion (including $21.4 billion for print) and online climbs to $28.5 billion.

Online Ad Spend Surpasses Newspapers

Emineo Media

2011 Trends: Content Marketing Is Critical!

Next year, marketers will need to rethink their approach to advertising and marketing and intensify their focus on creating magnetic content that will naturally attract consumers, rather than relying solely on the interruption model of advertising, which consumers are responding to less and less. Think pull vs. push. Magnetic content can include anything created on behalf of a brand—be it an ad, YouTube video, online game, Facebook page, Twitter promo or mobile app—that consumers genuinely want to engage with and pass along to others. This content entertains, amuses, informs, serves a function or satisfies a consumer need. It’s welcome instead of annoying or interruptive. Marketers, especially those working in social media, have seen the proven value of branded content, sometimes also referred to as “earned media.” Nearly three-quarters of US companies with a social media strategy used such content in their campaigns, making it the most common type of content used, according to a June 2010 study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42.

Creating effective, breakthrough advertising has always been a challenge for marketers, as well as for the agencies charged with the task. But the classic interruption-disruption model of advertising is moribund. Marketers should ask themselves five questions about the magnetic content they are seeking to create to determine whether it will be truly attractive to their audience:

1. Is the content unique?
2. Is the content useful?
3. Is the content well executed?
4. Is the content fun?
5. Does the content make good use of the channel in which it appears (e.g., social, mobile, video)?

Marketers should base their magnetic content ideas on well-researched customer behaviors, attitudes and lifestyles. This entails altering your emphasis in marketing from “selling product” to identifying and solving a consumer need or want that transcends or complements the physical product or service you are selling. Ask yourself this critical question: Besides your product, what can you do for the consumer?

Geoff Ramsey—CEO, Co-Founder

2011 Trends: Content Marketing Is Critical

2011 Trends: Census Highlights Demographic Shifts!

Future growth in the digital population will come from minority audiences.

The overall growth of the online population in the US is stagnating, and most future growth will come from increases in minority audiences including Hispanics, blacks, seniors and children.Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the US population, and eMarketer expects the Hispanic online population to grow by nearly 10 million people between 2010 and 2014.

Next year, eMarketer forecasts 32.2 million Hispanics, or 62.9% of the US Hispanic population, will be online. The results of the 2010 census could push those estimates up even further.



While the bureau has consistently projected strong growth within minority populations through 2050, the new figures for all races may change more than the bureau projected.

The census’s open-ended questions on racial and ethnic background—including a write-in answer for filers who did not feel their background could be explained by a single check-box answer—caused much confusion and comment.

It is still unclear how respondents identified themselves and their families.

2011 Trends: Census Highlights Demographic Shifts

Emineo Media

Big Jump in Social Media for Holiday Marketing!

Three-quarters will market on social sites this holiday season

Holiday advertising budgets are shifting as marketers increase their reliance on online channels, according to research from BDO USA.

While print advertising remains on top for holiday spending, nearly 27% of retailers reported they would spend most of their budget for the period online, including on social networks. That was up just from 18% last year and puts online ahead of broadcast for the second year in a row.

Big Jump in Social Media for Holiday Marketing - eMarketer.

Is Cyber Monday Dead?

According to eMarketer Cyber Monday is dead. Various sources are reporting an uptick across the board in both on and off-line spending for the Thanksgiving holiday. That alone is something to be thankful for. Digging into the numbers from Coremetrics there's real evidence that a segment of the population is also using their mobile devices. Whether they are making a purchase or just browsing the site for the latest deals is irrelevant. That fact is they are online and looking for something - right; coupons, discounts, promotions, directions, etc.

Whether your business is retailing online or just driving traffic to your site to spur offline sales, your online presence, image and ability to just be found is increasingly important. Last week we interviewed several businesses who maintained they must go it alone due to costs - they can't afford to outsource or hire someone to manage or run their interactive marketing; or even worse - they "know how to do it, (we) just need to commit some time." Sleeping on the job never got me a pay raise. Neither did being stubborn.

Trying to shoot a moving target is a difficult task. So too is Interactive Marketing. Reason being, you've got to be up-to-speed on where the target is now, or where it's going. Unless you're entrenched in the in's and outs of the marketing industry, you're more than likely going to miss the target, or at best, get there after it has moved.

Don't get bogged down in the details of learning how to do interactive. Educate yourself on what you think you need and get with (hire) a firm that can help you meet your needs & goals. Small and Medium size businesses that opt to go-it-alone are missing opportunities 24/7. And at what cost?

How can you cost-justify outsourcing? How much does your average sales agent generate each year?

Social Media Is Top Priority for Search Marketers

Social will be at the center of SEO and PPC campaigns

Is 2011 set to be the “year of Facebook,” even among search marketers? Based on what US advertisers told search marketing agency Covario, it’s definitely the year of social.

Search marketers have discovered how social media marketing can help build their search engine optimization efforts, and respondents to the Covario survey said their No. 1 priority for SEO next year was integration with social media programs. According to the report, “leveraging social media for scalable link-building efforts is a major initiative for advertisers.”

Social media will also play an important part in paid search efforts next year. Search ad campaigns on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn were top of mind for nearly half of advertisers surveyed—far ahead of priorities like local search or dealing with recent changes to major search engines (for example, Google Instant and Yahoo!-Bing integration).

Social Media Is Top Priority for Search Marketers

Leveraging Best Practices for Social Media!

Achieving social media marketing goals, whatever your level of participation Brands and marketers have different levels of participation in the social media space, but many have similar goals and strategies. The “2010 Social Media Benchmarking Study” from Ketchum and FedEx found when looking at 62 study participants from a variety of industries that 100% had some degree of social media presence.But they demonstrated different engagement levels, including observers who are determining how to best use social media and leaders who push boundaries and innovate.

Leveraging Best Practices for Social Media

Smart Marketing using Good SEO!

To construct a great content-rich website takes planning. A competent designer uses online architectural design principles, carefully combining information delivery and intuitive navigation to satisfy the visitor's needs (why they visited) while accomplishing their own business goals (why the website was created – generate sales ready leads, sales products & services, create awareness, etc).

Layout is vital to the online internet marketing of a site that will attract and also satisfy visitors. Simply put, designing an award winning website is not enough. The site needs to be placed in front of potential visitors or they will not know you exist.

Good SEO includes the integration of web design, development, and interactive marketing with focused traffic-generation tactics that is vital to the success of your site. Without smart marketing any great website will fail.

A focus on interactive marketing through website design, search engine placement, search engine marketing, submission, analytics, email, and branding programs is paramount to online success.

Emineo Media

More Time Spent on Social Media than Email Worldwide!

Email most common daily activity, but social racks up more hours

As the social media trend becomes a normal part of life for internet users the world over, it’s also becoming the most time-intensive activity on the web.

The TNS “Digital Life” survey of internet users around the world found in September 2010 that on average, surfers spent 4.6 hours a week on social sites, compared with 4.4 hours on email, the most common internet activity.

via More Time Spent on Social Media than Email Worldwide - eMarketer.

Emineo Media

A Study: Twitter Increases Student Engagement!

Communicating in 140-character segments may seem to contradict the goals of generally long-winded academia, but a new study has found that the two are less opposed than one might think. Students in the study who were asked to contribute to class discussions and complete assignments using Twitter increased their engagement over a semester more than twice as much as a control group.



The study used a 19-question survey based on the National Survey of Student Engagement to measure student engagement at the beginning and end of a seminar course for first year students in pre-health professional programs. Four sections (70 students) were given assignments and discussions that incorporated Twitter, such as tweeting about their experiences on a job shadow day or commenting on class readings. Three sections (55 students) did the same assignments and had access to the same information, but didn’t use Twitter.

via Twitter Increases Student Engagement [STUDY].

Emineo Media

Social Media Increases Small-Business Exposure!

According to the American Express OPEN fall 2010 “Small Business Monitor,” small-business owners have dramatically upped their usage of social media for marketing in the past year.While just one in 10 business owners reported using social networking for marketing last year, 39% indicated they did in September 2010. The impetus is driving sales by connecting with consumers. Facebook was the clear leader among small-business owners, with 27% using the site to attract new customers, vs. 9% using LinkedIn, 8% using Twitter and 5% maintaining a blog.

Social Media Increases Small-Business Exposure

Emineo Media

Investing More Time Brings Sophistication to Social Media Efforts!

Nonprofits that spend the most time see the most success

Nonprofits, which have sometimes shown themselves to be ahead of their counterparts in the business world when it comes to social media marketing, are also divided depending on their experience with the medium. What makes the most experienced users stand out?

According to August 2010 research from Ventureneer, a provider of online tools for nonprofits, and Caliber, nonprofits that had been using social media the longest also tended to spend the most time on their efforts. Among respondents that had used social media marketing for at least two years, 68% spent at least 25 hours a week on it, compared with just 12% of nonprofits that had been active in the space for less than a year.

Investing More Time Brings Sophistication to Social Media Efforts
Emineo Media

Corporate Blogging Goes Mainstream!

Becoming fully incorporated into media and marketing Blogging has been around for well over a decade—an eternity in internet time. Whereas blogs used to be a thorn in the side of traditional journalism, today they’re an essential ingredient in the media mix. Hardly a news organization exists that does not have a blog where its journalists post updates to breaking stories, offer personal commentary and engage in a dialogue with readers and viewers.

Corporate Blogging Goes Mainstream

Emineo Media

You’ve got a website!

You’ve got a website.

It’s got great graphics, pictures, company description, a blog and even a shopping cart, but where are your customers?

You’ve got a website! Your business should be booming now, right?

Step back and think about why you have a website in the first place.

The goal of a website:

      Find Sales Leads!

      Social Media Marketing!

      Conduct e-commerce!

      Search Engine Marketing

      E-mail Marketing

      Sell!

      Brand your business!

      Promote!

Does your website produce any of these goals?

If it doesn't?

The good new is we can maximize your website!

Emineo Media delivers interactive solutions that maximize marketing ROI.

We focus on business objectives to determine how companies can best use the Internet to increase revenues, reduce expenses and/or streamline business processes.

Emineo Media focuses on the complexities of interactive marketing and web services so our clients can focus on their business.

We can provide an analyze of your website.

You’ve got a website?

Let's make the website work for you!

Emineo Media