Blogs Top List for Social Media in 2012

Fully seven in ten brands (70%) say they plan to increase their presence across social media platforms in 2012, while 59% plan to boost the frequency of social content publishing, according to survey from Awareness.

Many brands plan to focus efforts beyond the big three platforms (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) in 2012, expanding their reach into multiple social marketing channels, the research finds.

Among other social media investment priorities, the management and monitoring of social media is becoming more critical: 50% of brands plan to improve social media management processes and tools in 2012, while 40% plan to focus on monitoring social channels.

Growth of Blogs, YouTube, and LinkedIn in 2012

The big three social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, were the most widely used in 2011, followed by YouTube, and publishing a blog. Across the various platforms, brands cited the following adoption levels: Facebook (87%), Twitter (83%), LinkedIn (76%), YouTube (66%), and blogs (57%).

In 2012, blogs are expected to gain the most ground: An additional 28% of brands that don’t currently publish a blog plan to do so in 2012—bringing the percentage of brands that publish a blog to 85%.

An additional 19% of brands expect to adopt forums, and 18% plan to adopt YouTube.

Among the big three social networks, LinkedIn is expected to register the strongest growth in 2012—with 10% of brands who don’t currently use the professional networking site planning to do so in 2012.

Social platforms such as Foursquare, SlideShare, Flickr, and Tumblr are still uncharted territories for many brands: Some 60% to 76% of brands, on average, say they did not use those channels in 2011 and have no plans to do so in 2012.

However, most self-reported social media leaders say they had a presence on newer social platforms in 2011, whereas self-reported novices and dabblers had no significant interest in the channels during the previous year.

In 2012, the expected adoption levels across newer channels range from 30% to 45% among social leaders, whereas only 10% to 20% of all marketers expect to use the channels.

LinkedIn Groups

Brands that use LinkedIn clearly value the added interaction and exposure that LinkedIn Groups offer. Nearly 80% of marketers surveyed joined and used LinkedIn Groups in 2011, and some 42% now participate in more than three LinkedIn Groups:

Budget Influence

There is a direct correlation between the planned focus of social media investments and available social marketing budgets, though it’s hard to tell whether the budget drives the focus, or vice versa.

Among those with limited budgets in 2012, the focus is more likely to be on increasing presence across social media platforms, a priority for 69% of such brands.

Among those with social marketing budgets in the $30,000 to $50,000 range, nearly 80% plan to invest in more robust social media monitoring, whereas three-quarters of companies with the largest budgets ($100,000+) plan to invest in tools and processes for social media management.

Top Social Marketing ROI Metrics

The top measures of social media success are associated with social presence and reach, including follower and fan levels (76%), Web traffic (67%), and social mentions across platforms (53%).

Fewer brands track social media in terms of new leads (38%) and sales (26%) for the enterprise, but those numbers are likely to grow in the coming year, according to Awareness.

Among brands surveyed, the top social marketing challenges are lack of sufficient resources (77%), measuring ROI (58%), and managing and growing social presence (42%).

Source: MarketingProfs.com

My New Etsy.com Store Has Launched!

I hope you enjoy the unique treasures that I have collected. I’ve hand chosen each and every item in my new Etsy.com store because it spoke to me and is something that I would use to decorate my own home or use as a special gift for a friend. My wish is that they bring style and class to your home to brighten up your space and bring joy to yourself and others. Shop Now! Go >

 

13 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing

In the same way that websites, then MySpace URLs, and more recently Facebook pages started appearing in TV, magazine and newspapers ads, we’re starting to see more QR codes appear in traditional advertisements.

QR codes have been spotted on direct mail pieces, movie posters, business cards and in Times Square. Whether they’ll have the staying power of your website or of your MySpace page has yet to be determined, but while they still enjoy the buzz of the “next big thing,” you can take advantage of QR codes in marketing your small business.

What is a QR code?

A QR code is a 2-D barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera and transfer information. Based on the type of code it is, it might direct the viewer to a website, make a phone call, deliver a vCard or more.

How can I market my small business with QR codes?

QR codes are fairly new here in the states (no surprise, they’re big in Japan), so many people won’t recognize them when they see them or won’t have a smart phone with a QR reader installed, which limits their impact. Most current advertisements that use QR codes still have to explain how they work, and the steps the person has to take to access this additional information.

Because of this, you need to determine if QR codes are a good fit for your business and your audience. If you feel there’s a place for QR codes in your marketing toolbox, here are some creative suggestions on how you can take advantage of QR codes.

1. QR Codes on business cards. OK, not the most creative idea ever. In fact, this is probably the de facto way many businesses use QR codes. Rather than overload a business card with all of your contact info you could include the bare minimum for reaching you, then create a QR code that leads people to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Plaxo, Yelp, FourSqure, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Whrrl, and MySpace profiles. Little muss, little fuss.
2. Scavenger hunts. Again, for some reason this appears on every list of QR code marketing ideas. Probably because scavenger hunts are fun and engaging, although a lot easier to write about than to administer. Still, for destination marketing, a scavenger hunt approach can be a great way to get visitors to check out places they might not otherwise go.
3. Labeling. Somewhere, a restaurant patron is enjoying wine from your vineyard. They notice the QR code on the bottle and quickly scan it. That takes them to a mobile site where they can learn more about your wine, your vineyard, and links to where you can buy a case for delivery…all before the check comes.
4. Storefront displays. Few retail businesses are open 24/7. Don’t (fully) disappoint potential customers after you’ve left for the day. Create a Shop Online Now! QR code and put it in your storefront window. One quick scan and you’ve turned a potential lost sale into an online customer who’s going to share a lot more of their contact information with you.
5. Promotions, discounts and giveaways. If you want to encourage patronage from the iPhone and Android set, you could create discounts that are specific to the QR codes. You could run these codes in advertisements or post them throughout your store. You could even turn them into a “retweet” so that your shoppers share their discount with their followers.
6. Laptop stickers. Slap a QR sticker of your vCard or website to your laptop, making it easier for other geeks to connect with you when you’re at SXSW or the local coffee shop.
7. T-shirts. Put your QR code on your t-shirt (or parka, in Maine) for some shameless self-promotion. Or, make a bigger impression by printing up 100 t-shirts and put them on 100 interns and have them attend a public event like a ballgame, street fair or campaign stop. For more engagement from the crowd, put different messages on the shirts, so people take more scans of more of your codes.
8. Get funky with your QR Code design. QR codes allow a little wiggle room, meaning that you can “hack” the code itself. A famous, early example is the BBC’s QR Code. However, you can play around with the QR code once it’s been generated in an image editing tool like Photoshop and work in your own logo or brand. Always be sure to test your QR code before printing up a few thousand copies, however.
9. Use QR codes to get Likes and Follows. You can create mobile-friendly landing pages with Facebook like buttons or lead them to your Twitter page for a quick follow. The name of the game is engagement, so a like or follow can create a long-term marketing opportunity. Caveat: so far the Like buttons that QR tags generate lead to the Facebook website rather than the mobile app. I don’t know about you, but I rarely log into Facebook’s website from my phone, so that requires extra steps the average person may not be willing to take.
10. Supplement your retail space. QR codes next to pieces of art could help art galleries move more art, or museums replace those aging audio tape tours. Hardware stores could link to how-to videos on YouTube of how to use specific power tools. Groceries could link to pages that talk about how their products were sourced, and perhaps to interviews of the farmers who grew the food. Electronic shops could bring visitors to review sites so they could get unbiased reviews of stocked products. Or to an e-commerce site where shoppers could buy out-of-stock items. Book stores could link to their own reviews of books on their blog.
11. Increase e-commerce sales. Since QR codes can lead to URLs, you can create a code that will populate a shopping cart with specific products. (Assuming your e-commerce solution can handle that.)
12. Build your email subscriber list. Use your QR code to send people to your email signup. Just make sure you give people a compelling reason to subscribe to your list…otherwise you will have just wasted their time. Not the best way to engage your audience.
13. Get the phone ringing. QR codes can also make a phone call. (Oh, imagine the mischief!) If you want to get the phones ringing–at your business or at campaign headquarters–you can create a code that will dial a predetermined number. Likewise, QR codes can generate SMS text messages.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to use QR codes to connect and engage your audience. QR codes can provide additional information, including photos, reviews, directions and event dates and times. There’s a certain amount of fun and surprise with QR Codes, so that you can take advantage of a “what’s behind door number one” mentality.

Have you used QR codes in your marketing and communications? If so, how are you using them, and what results have you seen?

BY FC Expert Blogger Rich Brooks, Mon Jan 24, 2011, Source: www.fastcompany.com

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness refers to customers’ ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo, jingles and so on to certain associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products. Brand awareness is of critical importance since customers will not consider your brand if they are not aware of it.

‘Brand love’, or love of a brand, is an emerging term encompassing the perceived value of the brand image. Brand love levels are measured through social media posts about a brand, or tweets on sites such as Twitter. Becoming a Facebook fan of a particular brand is also a measurement of the level of ‘brand love’.

Brand Identity

The outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications, and visual appearance.Because the identity is assembled by the brand owner, it reflects how the owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand – and by extension the branded company, organization, product or service. This is in contrast to the brand image, which is a customer’s mental picture of a brand.The brand owner will seek to bridge the gap between the brand image and the brand identity.

Effective brand names build a connection between the brand personality as it is perceived by the target audience and the actual product/service. The brand name should be conceptually on target with the product/service (what the company stands for). Furthermore, the brand name should be on target with the brand demographic. Typically, sustainable brand names are easy to remember, transcend trends and have positive connotations. Brand identity is fundamental to consumer recognition and symbolizes the brand’s differentiation from competitors.

Brand identity is what the owner wants to communicate to its potential consumers. However, over time, a product’s brand identity may acquire (evolve), gaining new attributes from consumer perspective but not necessarily from the marketing communications an owner percolates to targeted consumers. Therefore, brand associations become handy to check the consumer’s perception of the brand.

Brand identity needs to focus on authentic qualities – real characteristics of the value and brand promise being provided and sustained by organizational and/or production characteristics.

The recognition and perception of a brand is highly influenced by its visual presentation. A brand’s visual identity is the overall look of its communications. Effective visual brand identity is achieved by the consistent use of particular visual elements to create distinction, such as specific fonts, colors, and graphic elements. At the core of every brand identity is a brand mark, or logo.

Source: Wikipedia