This is the good of social media. The bad has been out there for all of us to see as well. The internet has allowed for the private individual to be outspoken and hate without putting their name or neck on the line. Freedom of speech in all its glory and riches…and foolishness.

Which is why I am still amazed that large corporations assume that people will do what they want them to do when given a platform to speak. Mc Donalds recently did that through their now infamously failed twitter campaign. You can read about it hear. Why they assumed people would only tell good stories about them amazes me. Not only was some media executive looking through rose colored glasses but he or she had blinders on to boot.

The Internet has shown when people have unlimited freedom to comment about you its mostly going to be negative. IF you don”t want that kind of transparency you need to shape it in such a way to limit that type of exposure that is negative. IF you want full complete transparency then you need to be prepared to handle it as Mc Donalds surely wasn’t. They had no plan other then an assumed rosy concept that people would play nice with them. People do not play nice..not when your that large of a company and have had documentaries made about you that are primarily negative and have been promoted as one of the main causes of Child hood obesity.

But they are not the only ones. I was amazed at the way major brands are seeking customers feedback and comments without a structured system.  This was apparent at this years Consumer electronic show and its a dangerous road to go down if your not prepared for it.

SO HAVE A PLAN do not assume especially when your dealing with customers and social media interaction. You may end up with a number 5 supersized on your face just like McDonalds.

They are also REALLY REALLY annoyed when they do not lead to a call to action.

But I recently came across this article here about how Content marketing is becoming Key and KING in social media. You can see the full article here MIKAL E. BELICOVE Is the creator of this article and does a good job of laying out the key facts. I do want to pull out a few of those to highlight them.

“HiveFire’s B2B Marketing Trends Survey Report, twice as many B2B marketers now employ content marketing as they do print, TV and radio advertising, according to the survey.”

This is a great statement. I agree with it 100%.  Now that Google is dumping 100 million dollars into YouTube to make it more of a destination site similar to cable TV with quality shows its even more important to look at each PR, Marketing , and Event or Show you do and see how you can capture that on video to maximize your exposure and spread your costs out over each marketing channel. You control the content here and putting that content out to all those channels through video is very very cost effective.

“Part of the popularity of content marketing is its ability to generate qualified leads while engaging prospects in a branded environment without busting the budget.”

And in today’s world this is very necessary to do.  Not only do you want to maximize your exposure through content marketing but give the customers a direct call to action once you have convinced them of their need for you or your product. Don’t make them go to another site or go to another department in charge of leads get them now!

“Nearly 70 percent of content curators say lack of time hinders their efforts, with 66 percent saying a lack of original and quality content is a major drawback. Another 38 percent say difficulty in measuring results is the stumbling block and 37 percent say lack of staff to do the work is the hindrance.”

True good content takes time but in your weekly or monthly meetings see what your staff or departments are creating and see if other departments can take that same creation and re utilize it . Lack of time usually means lack of time management but if it truly is a small staff then focus on quality content not tons of content.

Content marketing can also come through your customers and fans. Look to them also to see if you can save time and energy by employing a small group of them as evangelists for you. Content marketing will only be growing more and more so the time to start is now.

Now combine this with a new service that combines a Foursquare/Groupon like take on deals and you have a very good potential for viral explosion. This new company is called Deal Springer and you can check them out here. Their a great way to do adds and specials through your smartphone on the fly.

With Spring finally showing up here in the Great Northwest there is a  penchant to get somewhat excited and good humored. That being so I have a link to share with you from our good friends Mashable.com. The article on Mashable is a series of videos showing good humored and very viral guerrilla marketing campaigns that were done for small companies, non profits, and very large companies. Some of these were costly and some were done for less then $2000.00 dollars. But its food for thought when we look at gaining business for our companies and for expanding our customer base without shelling out a lot of money. A lot of these campaigns could have done more with mobile integration and the UNICEF add does a great job of implementing mobile. Add number 6 in a German Airport could easily be done in any location ( think mall, shopping park, outdoor business parks, etc) for little cost.  I am particularly fond of number 5 ,number 10 and number11 for their extreme low cost. Some of these campaigns allowed for the viewers to pass info on to their friends through social media platforms. Again when you view these videos keep thinking how you can apply this to your particular companies products or services.  You may now click here to view.

So are there any trends here that you can use for your company? talk to your employees and customers about what they would like to see. If your at a loss or stuck in a paralysis of ideas contact us today for a consultation.

Also Kudos to Macy’s thanksgiving parade for incorporating Foursquare into this years parade. Who’s going to be the mayor?…too bad Macy’s did not take it one more step forward and offer a prize along with the badge for this first year Macy’s Thanksgiving mayor badge.

You should also look at cleaning up your companies information online as well.You should take a look at updating info on the multiple local business search sites.  These are sites like YELP, CitySearch, Merchantcircle, Superpages. Also don’t forget to look for reviews of your company on Angieslist as well as searching through the forums on craigslist. Make sure that Google maps,Bing maps and Yahoo maps are updated with your correct info as well. Make sure that all hyperlinks, contact info, and pictures on your website and social media platforms( Flickr,Facebook,Myspace, etc) are current.

Remember each social media platform utilized out there on the web for your business is more then just a tiny ripple on a pond created by the proverbial pebble. With social networking, digital marketing, proximity promotions, and multi-channel media, YOUR business  has never had a larger pond to play in. The pebbles are no longer hitting the water one at a time they are being launched into the pond in multiple handfuls at a time. The ripples are now becoming waves and you want to make sure your company is riding them successfully.

Now we here at Smmee have been showing many small business owners that a presence on line is a must. That Social media is a force multiplier for them and a great way to help save money on advertising.It can also take their advertising to the next level. But we also like to show them that sometimes a great idea can backfire. This article by Stephanie Marcus the other day on Mashable is a great example of what to do and not to do when you respond to customers and potential customers online. You can see the article here. She has done a great job on showing three companies who’s online presence was affected by negative feedback and those companies responses. Enjoy.

Great article from Information Week on the latest reports from a Neilson study on Americans usage of the Internet. You can read the whole article here from Alison Diana.

It is rapidly apparent that Americans are utilizing Social media portals/sites far more then they are using their email. Not only are they forwarding their thoughts and deeds and accomplishments to their friends. They are also using it to forward the best deals that they find along with what they have recently bought and from whom the purchased it from. What is interesting is that we are still seeing a larger growth curve in the baby-boomer population

In fact, U.S. Internet users spent 22.7% of their time on social networking sites — up 43% from the 15.8% they spent in 2009, the research firm found. By comparison, Americans are dedicating fewer hours to the once-ubiquitous e-mail: In this year’s report, users spent 8.3% of their online time reading and sending missives, down almost 28% from last year’s 11.5%, Nielsen said in its Aug. 1 report, “What Americans Do Online.”

Users of all ages are adopting social networking, the research firm found, with double the number of Americans ages 50 and above visiting these sites than the under-18 age group. The report tracked 200,000 users in June 2010.

So the under 18 population is rapidly transitioning to a mobile interface and Neilson found this information to be accurate here:

 The picture changed when Americans described their online usage via smartphones instead of computers. Americans spent 42% of their online time using e-mail when they accessed the Internet with their phone, Nielsen found. Last year, they spent 37% of their phone-accessed Internet time on e-mail, the study said. Portals were the second most used category, according to the report.

So we are seeing that any business today needs to have a presence not only on Social media sites ( Facebook, Youtube,myspace, etc) but regionalized sites as well ( craigslist, oodle, olx, etc.) and now a presence on mobile devices ( www.appinkling.com) .