Google has launched its cloud storage service Google Drive. Google Drive is similar to DropBox and will most likely be beneficial for all types users, from students to traveling sales reps. Similar to DropBox, you install an app on your computer to access files anywhere. Google is supposed to be coming out with an iPhone and iPad app soon, but it is not available yet. I agree with this article in that Google Drive does not have any specific advantages over DropBox at the moment, but it is more convenient for those already using Google Docs on a regular basis. Do you think you will use Google Drive? Do you think you would switch from DropBox to Google Drive?
Why Relationship Marketing is Important
Check out this great interview with Mari Smith, author of The New Relationship Marketing and Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day.
In the interview, Mari discusses why relationships are important to businesses (regardless of size or type) and why businesses need to improve their listening skills. She explains that it doesn’t matter if you are a B2B or a B2C business, you should always think of your company as a P2P (people to people).
Relationship marketing involves using multiple medias to communicate with your customer:
– social media
– Blogs
– Email marketing
– Offline marketing
Lessons all companies should learn about relationship marketing:
– Personalize and humanize your brand. Don’t be afraid to humanize your brand even if you are a big or medium size company. Focus on using the first person “I/Me” not “Us”, and using people’s names when replying to customers through social media.
– You do not need to be a big business to do relationship marketing. It is just as important for small businesses to focus on relationship marketing.
– When using Facebook focus on posting great content and having an engagement strategy in place beforehand. Be consistent and don’t get discouraged, it will take a while to for users to become engaged.
Check out the full interview below.
Have you focused on using social media to build relationships with your customers? Have you found other ways to create new relationships or maintain current customer relationships?
5 Companies Rocking Social Media
Social media has become one of the greatest tools for companies to build relationships with their customers. While some companies are hesitant to use social media because of the inability to control negative comments, others realize that the benefits extremely outweigh the risks.
The infographic below breaks down how 5 companies were able to leverage the best features in social media and are rocking it!
Check out the social media strategies for:
- Dell – focused on using social media to listen to what their customer’s wanted
- Morton’s Steakhouse – used social media to surprise their customers
- Unisys – focused on the resource sharing benefits of social media
- KLM – used social media to provide 24/7 customer care
- ABC – used social media to promote new shows & enhance the entertainment experience
Check out more about social media strategy creation and the future of social media.
Created by Voltier Digital for ScottMonty.com
Design in Business
Check out this great blog on how thinking like a designer leads to business success. This article breaks down the very interesting relationship between design and business. Have you ever thought that design could impact your business strategy or organization structure. The way that design can spark innovation is they same way it can impact how you make decisions and evolve as a company. This article definitely has inspired be to try breaking away from the way I normally work and take more of a “design” perspective.
How Marketers Will Use Social Media In The Future
Each year the Social Media Examiner publishes the ‘Social Media Industry Report‘. The report is based on interviews with over 3,800 marketers. This year, one of the big questions that they focused on was:
“How will marketers change their future social media activities?”
Overall, marketers plan on increasing their use of social media in the future. However, the tools that they utilize and how much the use each tool will change.
YouTube
YouTube and other video platforms are leading the pack, with 76% of marketers planning on increasing their use of YouTube and/or video marketing in 2012.
Not a big surprise, Facebook came in #2 with 92% of marketers planning on using Facebook in 2012 and 72% planning on increasing the activities on top of that. Only 4%
of marketers do not plan on using Facebook at all; however, this is most likely due to the industry that their client is in. Clients in industries such as healthcare or manufacturing are less likely to include Facebook in their social media strategy.
I found it very interesting that Facebook is the #1 focus of those just getting started in social media. This makes sense because it is most likely the platform that they are most familiar with. In addition, B2C companies plan on increasing their use of Facebook much more than B2B companies. B2C companies are able to reach in customers more easily using Facebook than B2B companies. However, B2B companies can use Facebook for building and monitoring their online reputation. For more information about how B2B vs. B2C companies use Facebook, check out this infographic.
Overall only 69% of marketers plan on increasing their activities on Twitter; however, this increase will most likely be by enterprise level companies and local small businesses. Marketers realize that due to the real time nature, maintaining and monitoring a Twitter account effectively requires a significant time commitment. As such, marketers currently dedicating 21 hours or more per week on social media are more likely to increase their use of Twitter.
Blogging
Blogs are great for driving site traffic and increasing search rankings. Due to the benefits of blogging, it is no surprise that 86% of marketers plan to either continue or increase blogging. Similar to Twitter, blogging requires a significant time commitment to write, edit, and post articles, as well as monitor comments. Due to the necessary time commitment, marketers who are currently dedicating 11 hours or more a week to social media are more likely to increase their blogging efforts.
Google+
The platform that most of us are aware of and probably have an account on, though we probably don’t use it much, is Google+. Some interesting statistics on Google+ usage include:
- 67% of business plan on increasing their Google+ activities
- 1 in 5 businesses have no plans on using Google+ in the future
- Men are more likely to use & increase usage of Google+
- It is the #1 platform that marketers want to learn more about
In 2012 B2B companies are more likely to increase their usage of LinkedIn, while only about 1/2 of B2C companies will increase their usage. As a tool for networking, LinkedIn definitely has more benefits for B2B companies than it does for B2C. B2C companies will most likely use LinkedIn as a tool to increase brand awareness in their industry and search for potential employees.
Photo Sharing
The industry report states that only 60% of marketers even plan on using photo sharing sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Flickr. 
However, I believe that these numbers no longer accurately reflect where usage is going based on:
- Rapid growth in the popularity of Pinterest
- Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram
I think that there will be a much larger increase in usage, as well as a decrease in the percentage of marketers who have no plans of utilizing photo sharing sites.
Geo-location Services and Daily Deals
Of all the statistics in this section of the report, I found the information on Geo-location services and Daily Deals the most interesting.
Only 23% of marketers plan on increasing their use of geo-location services like FourSquare in 2012. This is particularly interesting since FourSquare just hit their 20 million user mark this week. (Check out more information here)
72% of marketers have NO plans to use daily deals, such as Groupon or LivingSocial. This percentage really surprised me since Groupons were recently very popular. The decrease in usage may be from lack of repeat participation by companies or lack of profitability.
10 Ways to Increase Search Engine Rankings
This article on search engine optimization is great for both beginners and intermediate marketers looking to better understand search engines. This article includes 10 easy to understand tips for increasing your site’s ranking in organic searches. If you want to increase your site’s search engine traffic, your site will need to show up on the first page of search results. Only one site can be #1 in a Google search, so I recommend setting a goal to get your site to appear above the fold. This article not only has great tips, it also has includes excellent resources for understanding and implementing an SEO strategy for your website. Check it out!
Related articles
- Make Your Presence Known On The Web With SEO (ronmedlin.com)
- Significance of Search engine optimization in the actual Self Storage area Industry (boldstate.com)
Inbound.org – The Best Source for Inbound Marketing Content
I recently discovered what might be the best source for quality articles relevant to those in the digital community and probably my new favorite website! Inbound.org is a website designed for the passionate digital community. The purpose of the site is to provide the best and most current online content on all aspects of inbound marketing, including (but definitely not limited to):
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Inbound.org was launched mid February and has been quickly growing in popularity with those passionate about all things digital. The brilliance behind this site came from its founders Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz and Dharmesh Shah of Hubspot. It is kind of like the Reddit or Digg of inbound marketing, but with a MUCH more attractive site design. The simplicity of the site design and structure is perfect for perusing articles. Similar to other social bookmarking websites, Inbound allows users to Upvote their favorite articles. The design of the site has made it very easy for new users to determine how to “Vote” for the articles that they like.
A very intriguing feature of Inbound.org is that registration requires users to have a Twitter account. I really like this feature because if you are truly passionate about social media, web development, SEO, analytics, etc., you should are already have a Twitter account and be active in the digital community.
The 3 Ways To Use Inbound
Hot Articles
The Hot Articles page lists the most popular articles on Inbound.org at that time. Below is a screen shot of what you might see while on the Hot Articles page. I understand that the articles listed are the most popular, however I don’t quite understand the ranking method. Articles are not listed by the number of Upvotes, though it appears that their may be an algorithm that determines the hottest articles based on time of article submission and number of Upvotes.
Incoming Articles
The Incoming Articles page is similar to the Hot Articles page, but it lists the newest submissions in chronological order. Think of it as a Twitter feed of newly submitted articles and you are actually interested in all of the posts!
Share Articles
All the articles listed on Inbound.org are submitted by users. The image to the right is the Share Article screen that users can use to submit articles to Inbound. For the Article Title option, you can either select your own title or a title will be created from the article URL. However, it is almost always best to write your own title because the number of characters displayed in the listings is limited. As a base, I recommend following the standard for SEO best practices and keep the title shorter than 70 characters (including spaces). Keep It Short And Sweet! Since the listings do not include a summary of the article submitted, it is extremely important that the title is intriguing and does not get cut off.
When submitting an interesting article, you are also required to select one of 23 categories that the article falls into. This feature is very helping when searching through the Hot Articles or Incoming Articles lists because the article category is included in the article listing. At this time you can search for a specific topic but it pulls articles from varying categories. The one feature that I hope to see as the site grows is the ability to sort submitted articles by category, and maybe even by hottest or newest articles in a single category.
Inbound.org does a great job bringing together bloggers, marketers, and those passionate about all things digital. It may even become your main news source for industry news. Why spend extra time searching for the newest blog posts and articles that interest you when you have a haven of the best and most interesting articles already available.
WARNING! You may become addicted to this site and spend all free time reading the great article submissions! (I already have!)
Have you been on Inbound.org? Do you think you would use it as a source for industry news?
Social Media Industry Report – 2012
The Social Media Examiner recently published their 4th annual social media marketing industry report. Each year they interview marketers about how they are using social media to grow and promote their businesses.
For the 2012 report, they interviewed over 3,800 marketers to determine:
- The top 10 social media questions marketers want answered
- The time commitment
- The benefits of social media marketing
- Commonly used social media services
- Social media sites people want to learn more out
- How B2B vs. B2C companies use social media
- How marketers are using other forms of marketing
- Outsourcing of social media management
Benefits of Social Media Marketing
One section of the report that I found most interesting was the benefits of social media section. The top 5 benefits of social media marketing that marketers have seen are:
- Increased exposure
- Increased traffic
- Provided marketplace insight
- Generated leads
- Developed loyal fans
Below is a graph from the annual report that shows the percent of marketers who have seen specific benefits from using social media marketing.
An interesting change from the 2011 to 2012 report is the percent of marketers who said social media marketing helped to improve search rankings. In 2011 62% of the marketers interviewed said that their search rankings improved, but only 55% of the marketers interviewed in this year’s report saw a benefit. I found this change very interesting since I have experienced improvements in search rankings using social media campaigns in the past. After examining the report further, it appears that those who saw improved search rankings were investing more than 10 hours a week in social media, have at least 3 years experience, or are selling to other businesses (B2B companies). There appears to be a direct correlation between the amount of time invested and experience on search ranking. However, industry is a large factor, as only 50% of businesses who sell to consumers saw a significant increase in their search rankings.
Benefits of Social Media Takeaways:
- B2B companies are more likely to grow business partnerships using social media than B2C companies.
- Spending 6 hours or more a week on social media shows a significant increase in lead generation.
- Small business are more likely to see an increase in lead generation than large companies.
- Those with 3 and more years experience managing social media see a significant increase in all the measured benefits compared to those with less experience.
- Over a third of all mid-sized and large companies have not seen a reduction in their marketing expenses. This is very interesting, I wonder if social media is seen as an additional marketing effort not a replacement for other marketing at this time.
- A not surprising find, social media is great for generating site traffic. 74% of marketers saw increases in site traffic when investing minimum 6 hours a week in social media.
- B2B companies use social media for gaining marketplace insight much more than B2C companies.
- B2C companies have a much larger increase in their loyal fan base when using social media than B2B companies.
- There is a direct correlation between amount of time invested in social media and acquiring loyal fans. More Time Invested = Increase in Loyal Fans
Check out the full 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry report on the Social Media Examiner site.
Related articles
- Interview With the Head of Social Media at Ford (beingyourbrand.com)
Jobs Are Like Boyfriends (and Girlfriends), It’s Okay to Get a New One
“Look job, it’s not you, it’s me. I don’t think we’re as compatible as I once thought.”
I don’t think I have read an article that explains the relationship with one’s career better than this one. Kayla Cruz does an excellent job explaining why sometimes you need to leave your job to be happy; in the same way you sometimes need to walk away from an unhealthy relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend.
My favorite aspect of this article is that it is very positive. Not finding your dream job right away is not a bad thing, it is just one stop on your career path. Kayla states that “It’s okay if you graduate and your first ‘dream job’ turns out to be an epic fail. CONGRATS! You’re one step closer to finding something you DO like…So don’t be afraid to acknowledge that what you’re doing isn’t the right fit for you and that you need something different. It doesn’t make YOU a failure.”
No matter where you are in your career, I recommend reading this article.
The Future of Blogging
What should your focus be for your online marketing strategy? The infographic below breaks down what online medias companies will be using in 2012.
Takeaways 2012
- Start or increase blogging – 43% of companies will have active blogs in 2012, up from 39% in 2011
- Create an email newsletter – 77% of companies will use email marketing in 2012
- Find your next superstar- 57% of companies will use social media to find new employees
