Social Media Marketers for Inc 500 companies are seeing success—what tools are working best for them?

Social media is widely recognized as a more valuable marketing strategy than it has been in past years.

A recent study from UMASS Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research looked at the usage and success of social tools used by Inc 500 companies in 2009-2010.

71% of respondents used Facebook in 2010—up 10% from the 61% of respondents who used Facebook in 2009.

Social tools including twitter, blogs, message boards, and podcasts also saw increased usage from respondents through 2009-2010…. Continue Reading

Self-service advertising for small-medium sized businesses has brought Google billions—could Facebook’s growth in this category result in a future duopoly?

AdAge recently highlighted Facebook’s 2010 worldwide online ad revenue, which was $1.86 billion; a 151% increase over the company’s estimated 2009 advertising revenue of $740 million worldwide.

Facebook is still far from Google in terms of market share for self-service advertising; however new eMarketer estimates show that similar to Google, the majority of Facebook ad revenue comes from small businesses.

Reports show that 60% or $1.12 billion of the total 2010 ad revenue on … Continue Reading

Facebook is now third most important marketing tactic

Small businesses are placing more importance on social media marketing, according to a fall 2010 survey from small-business marketing firm Constant Contact.

The businesses surveyed overwhelmingly considered word-of-mouth the most important marketing tactic for finding new customers, but that figure includes discussions that take place both online and offline.

For business promotion, the marketing tools rated to be most important were websites and email with more than nine in 10 … Continue Reading

Social to be featured at center of SEO and PPC campaigns

It’s not surprising that 2011 is projected to be the “year of Facebook.” What’s interesting however is that the “year of Facebook” may also be relevant for search marketers.

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 … Continue Reading

On Monday, Facebook announced new communication channels for its users which included new message systems and a @facebook.com.

Among the upgrades, users now have the ability to tailor communication channels for individuals in their network. An individual may chose a certain friend to receive emails while another receives IM’s depending on which platform they prefer. Once that information is inputted, the user simply chooses the name and types a message.

The biggest change, though, will likely be the @facebook.com – a project that Facebook has reportedly been … Continue Reading

Social media marketers who have successfully attracted fans to their Facebook or Twitter page must work to keep fans interested and engaged.

According to a September 2010 survey by social media marketing agency Cone, incentives are the biggest draw for consumers connecting with brands online. Users expect deals and look for brands to help solve their problems and receive their feedback on products and services.

However, what users aren’t looking for is equally important. The top two reasons new-media users said they stopped following brands online was due to … Continue Reading

Facebook is now offering deals from nearby merchants and brand marketers such as Starbucks, Gap or McDonald’s for users who share their locations in status updates.

Facebook launched “Deals” as an extension of its Places feature where users are able to check into locations such as restaurants, bars, or malls. The Deals service was launched with 22 big brand partners including Starbucks, McDonalds, H&M, and Gap as well as 20,000 smaller businesses.

Merchants create a Facebook page where there is an option for choosing the kind of deal they would like to offer: individual, loyalty, friends or charity. Individual and loyalty offers are digital … Continue Reading

According to the American Express OPEN fall 2010 “Small Business Monitor,” small-business owners have dramatically upped their usage of social media 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. 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.

American Express found that among businesses using social media marketing, 39% said it … Continue Reading

Three-quarters of Facebook fans have signed up with pages after invitations or ads from brands

Research on social media users who follow brands has shown marketers the importance of offering deals and discounts on Facebook fan pages. Often times Facebook users become fans because they are prompted to “like” a brand due to some form of outreach.

Three-quarters of Facebook users worldwide who had “liked” a brand told DDB Worldwide and Opinionway Research in September 2010 that they had done so because of an invitation or advertising from the brand they … Continue Reading