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.

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.

The year of Upstart interactive TV’s ( google and apple amongst others) and Tablets ( over 100 shown at CES). For those of you who do not know CES its the years show of shows for tech. The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Nevada… viva Las Vegas! This year set records for attendance as well as a buzz in the air of promise for the New year. Last year was kind of dowdy and dreary and you had to stand in line to see a 3D tv. This year they were all around the expo halls as were tablets and tablet/notebook hybrids and e-tablets. Also QR codes made the booths go around this year. Almost  all the large manufacturers of tech had Qr codes one could use to expound upon the virtues of their products and services. If only CES had seen the wisdom of that instead of handing out individual maps to show all the exhibitors for all the Halls ( over 7 maps in all not very well done CES).

But that is the Joy of this show and the burgeoning power of smart phones and the new kids on the block ..tablets. Already the manufacturers of tablets that were shown at CES with out cameras built in were promising within 3 months that they would have them.  The ability for you clients and consumers to access your company via mobile tech is becoming one of the most important channels to pursue in the coming 5 years. So get on the band wagon now. With smart phones projected to be half of the cell phone marketplace in the US alone by 2015 ( that’s 150 million of them) and with a projected sales of 40 to 50 million tablets this year alone you had better be able to be accessed by this technology. IF not your customers will find someone else who is available.

Also I had the privelage of being with Soma Games and Intels Peter Biddle’s Atom Mashing Radio show. You can listen to it here.

Have a Great New Year from SMMEE!

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.

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) .

But its not the same as having your own branded  smart phone app. In this economy not many want to shellout $10,000 or even $5000.00 for these apps.

NOW you don’t have to. For under $1000.00  Appinklingallows you to have a branded image for both the I phone and Android phones. This now allows your customers and potential customers to see who you are and what you do without having to find a computer and looking you up. Self help guru’s you needs this… Service oriented business’s should find this as a must have to proclaim themselves to the world… Artists, Authors, Publishers and especially Musicians should all have one of these. There is alot of flexibility in the template offered by Applink. Also to get placed in front of other customers just mention to them you heard about this from Seth Crofton at Smmeenow and you will get placed in front of the line.

So the uses of QR codes are vast but this was a great idea in using them as graffito. Now of course graffiti is frowned upon but think of the many flyer’s you see downtown advertising bands/activities/groups and performances. And if your at a convention what a great way to get people to see what you have to offer by placing a few of these as posters up on the walls to the convention area.

Your Size Works in Your Favor

As a small business, your size is your friend in social media channels. Use your small size as an advantage and respond to each and every person that mentions you. Since you’re working with a smaller customer base, you can also build customer Twitter Lists to separate different categories of customers into groups, which should help you offer more personalized customer service — something the big businesses don’t have the time or resources to support.

Here’s an easy example: Who are your most frequent customers? Make a Twitter List called “Regulars,” and add your regulars on Twitter to it.

In doing so, you’re associating patronage with prestige. Your efforts could even inspire semi-regular customers to frequent your business more often just so they too can get added to the list. This tactic might also serve as a catalyst for one regular to connect with another, though you could also facilitate customer-to-customer connections with introductory tweets. So if a customer tweets for a recommendation, you could respond with something simple as, “@customer1 good question, I like the cheesecake but @customer2 really loves the custard.”

These types of personal exchanges highlight the advantages afforded to small businesses using social media