Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

Is Social Media about to Embed Itself into Education?

April 11th, 2011

Is Social Media about to Embed Itself into Education?

Educators are using Facebook, Twitter and Youtube in larger numbers to connect with students and other educators. Three universities are even accepting one minute videos in place of essays. Admissions offices are even using social networking profiles during their decision making process.

Check out the infographic from Course Hero for more statistics:

If Educators are recognizing the value of Social Media to educate their students then why aren’t you using it to educate your customers about your business? Its time for your business to use Social Media as part of its Marketing strategy. Direct Marketing Rx can help you get started today.

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Posted in Direct Marketing, social media, Uncategorized

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If Social Media Were a High School [Infographic]

February 20th, 2011

Flowtown had this fun infographic describing each social media network as a high school teenager. Its up to you to get involved and get your business known among the niche group your business is targeting.
Class Of 2011: If Social Media Were a High School
Flowtown - Social Media Marketing Application

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Posted in Business, social media, Uncategorized

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Is Being Relevant Only a Fantasy for Your Business?

February 12th, 2011

Dilbert.com

Have you made your business irrelevant online? Astonishingly enough I still hear on a daily basis, at least one business person say they are not interested in Facebook or other social media to promote their business online.  Apparently those business people want to stay invisible and irrelevant on a media platform that can brand their business on a global scale.

An associate mentioned to me that some people currently view social media for marketing and advertising like people back in the 1950’s viewed radio some new fad that wasn’t worth their making room in for in their marketing budget. Savvy business people who saw the value of radio back in the 1950’s used it too make their businesses more successful. Today savvy business people can use social media, especially Facebook to enhance awareness about their business to their target market on a huge scale for much less money than a radio ad in today’s media.  Social media is the present and the future.

Social media in unexplored territory for many and businesses need to know how to use social networking to promote their business.  Social media allows you to expand your online presence, build a social media fan base, interact with your customers and increase sales with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and Blogs.

You can use it to tell your customers about your business, future products and services, promotional events, special sales and educational seminars. You can also build your business reputation as a leader in your field by sharing your expertise which helps to create loyal customers who turn into fans and tell their friends about your business.

Don’t just fantasize about being relevant get your social media marketing started today. Direct Marketing Rx is a social media management firm dedicated to marketing your business through social networks. If you need help we are here to meet your social media marketing needs. To keep in touch with customers and build brand awareness you need to get involved in social media. Contact us today we can help you.

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Posted in Advertising, Business, Direct Marketing, Direct Response, marketing, Sales, Uncategorized

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Spring into Your March Marketing Promotions!

February 11th, 2011

People are blooming with the urge to shop when the sun comes out and flowers start growing. Lure them into you business with special offers using fun and outrageous themes.

Get people interacting with you on your Facebook page and Twitter. Have recipe contests.  Send out mailers with recipe cards attached and have customers post photos of their version of your recipe on your Facebook Wall.

Have a taste off at your business and have some local celebrities’ judge which of your customers had the best recipe. Take their photo with the winning dish and give them a gift certificate for your products or services.

If you run a restaurant and say a special day below that incorporates one of your dishes or desserts have a special discount on that specific day. Advertise it on you social media profile, your print, TV and radio ads. Get people excited to come in and taste that special dish.  National White Chocolate Cheesecake days sounds like a yummy way to get customers dining at your restaurant. Or Lobster Newburg Day or Baked Scallops Day or even National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day.

There are plenty of ideas for non-food service businesses too.  Have a National Cheese Doodle Day promotion where you hand out snack sized bags to customers who come in to your business on March 5th.

Week 1 –

March 1 – National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day

March 1 – National Fruit Compote Day

March 2 – National Banana Cream Pie Day

March 3 – National Cold Cuts Day – Have cold cuts in a deli tray available for customers to enjoy while the shop your sale.

March 3 – National Mulled Wine Day

March 4 – National Poundcake Day

March 5 – National Cheese Doodle Day

March 6 – National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day

Week 2 –

March 7 – National Crown Roast of Pork Day

March 7 – National Cereal Day

March 8 – National Peanut Cluster Day

March 9 – National Crabmeat Day

March 10 – National Blueberry Popover Day

March 11 – National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day – Invite your top clients over for a breakfast at your favorite restaurant

March 12 – National Baked Scallops Day – Great promotion idea for seafood restaurants.

March 13 – National Coconut Torte Day

Week 3 –

March 14 – National Potato Chip Day

March 15 – National Peanut Lovers Day

March 15 – National Pears Helene Day

March 16 – National Artichoke Heart Day

March 17 – National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day

March 18 – National Oatmeal Cookie Day – Bakery marketing idea.

March 19 – National Poultry Day

March 19 – National Chocolate Caramel Day

March 20 – National Ravioli Day – Italian restaurants can have a special offer.

Week 4 –

March 21 – National French Bread Day – I love fresh baked French Bread.

March 21 – National California Strawberry Day – The Santa Maria Strawberry Festival is  April 29th – May 1st.

March 22 – National Water Day – Donate to Water Project.

March 23 – National Chip and Dip Day

March 23 – National Melba Toast Day

March 24 – National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day

March 25 – National Lobster Newburg Day

March 25 – National Pecan Day

March 26 – National Waffle Day

March 26 – National Nougat Day

March 27 – National Spanish Paella Day

Week 5 –

March 28 – National Black Forest Cake Day – I’m thinking of the Madonna Inn Bakery! Yum!

March 29 – National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

March 30 – National Turkey Neck Soup Day – How about a recipe contests?

March 31 – National Clams on the Half Shell Day – Another seafood restaurant promotional idea.

March 31 – National Tater Day

Be sure to leave a comment about which day you used in your March Marketing promotions. I’m eager to hear how you used outrageous advertising to bring in sales.

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Posted in Advertising, Business, Direct Marketing, marketing, Sales, social media

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Social Media Map of the World – Is Your Business On It? [Infographic]

February 8th, 2011

Check out the infographic of the world map of social networking changes from June 2009 to December 2010. Facebook use is spreading throughout the world.

Facebook and Twitter are the top two social networking sites. Are you promoting your business on Facebook and Twitter?  If your answer is no then what’s holding you back?

If social media has the power to move people to change history think about what it can do for your business.  We live in a global economy. It’s time to get the word out about your business on a global scale with a Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter account.

World Map of Social Networks

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Posted in Business, Direct Marketing, marketing, social media

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7 Tips for Dealing with Complaints Posted on Your Fan Page or Twitter Profile

December 30th, 2010

I’ve heard people worry about using social media because they aren’t sure how to handle negative comments or bad reviews.  They’ve heard some nightmare situation where an unfounded complaint was posted on a review site or someone’s Facebook Wall and the business spent days in an ongoing dialogue refuting the complaint.

Consider social media networks as an extension of your customer service. Here are some tips in dealing with negative reviews and comments posted online:

  1. Be sure to thank the person posting the negative comment or review for sharing their concerns.  Companies can appear indifferent or hostile when faced with a negative comment.
  2. Always reply to negative posts. It shows you are interested in their experience with your company. Let everyone see you have great customer service by posting a timely response.
  3. Don’t get into an online argument for any reason. Always be professional and civil no matter how inflammatory the individual’s comment or review may be.
  4. Be quick to provide an apology when dealing with a negative review. You are sorry they had a bad experience.
  5. Fix the problem and explain the steps you’ve taken to make the fix. Address the issue in a timely manner before you give the person reason to post further complaints due to your failure to respond to the complaint.
  6. Don’t obsess on a bitterly negative review. You don’t want to sound defensive or make a bad situation worse. Do your best to fix the problem and then move forward. Focus on keeping your regular customers happy and encourage them to post positive reviews. This will balance out any negative posts that prospective customers see. If they read on bad review out of 50 good reviews they’ll know it was an unusual occurrence.

If the issue is too involved send the person a direct message on Facebook or Twitter. You can even ask for the customer’s phone number so you can contact directly.  In the past, when I’ve had issues with my web hosting services tech support scheduled a phone appointment to deal with my customer service and technical concerns.

The point is to be proactive and have a person designated to handle customer service issues that come up through your social media profiles.

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Posted in Business, Customer Service, Direct Marketing, marketing, social media

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How Marketers Are Using Social Media

December 12th, 2010

Are you using social media to market your business? Why not? Check out what marketers are doing. Twitter and Facebook are the top social media tools. Are you using them effectively?

Everybody’s Doing It: How Marketers Are Utilizing Social Media In 2010
Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

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Posted in Business, Customer Service, Direct Marketing, Sales, social media, Uncategorized

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Inigo Montoya Was Right About Social Media Too

April 3rd, 2010

By Sid Smith

If I asked you about social media, would you conjure up images of Facebook and Twitter?
And did you also think, “I haven’t got the time to waste on such mindless drivel”?
Ah … but wait! In the unforgettable words of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Will the REAL Social Media Please Stand Up …

Forget what you think you know about social media. I’ll buy you a beer if you read this entire post and can honestly say “Yes, I knew all that.” Seriously. If we ever meet, the beer is on me.
Let’s first turn to Wikipedia, a bastion of social media. Go there and you’ll read that:

“Social media is content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content.”

Not what you thought?

What most people think of as “social media” is in reality “social networking.” There’s a huge difference, and if you’re going to live on the beach while working part time on your web business, you’ll need to understand the differences.

Both are highly useful. They weave in and out of each other like two lovers on a moon-lit tropical beach, so it’s easy to confuse them as one giant sea creature.

Social media is information in the form of content – articles, white papers, special reports, video, audio, and other forms of content. It’s social in that it is meant to be shared.

There are tools specifically designed to share content:

• Blogs: Blogger, WordPress …
• Content Management Systems: Joomla, Drupal, and high-end proprietary systems..
• Video sharing: Youtube, Blip, Dailymotion, Viddler … (there are about 20)
• Audio sharing: Podcast Pickle, Podcast Alley, The Podcast Network …

Social networking is how people communicate with each other online. Sometimes they communicate about content (social media) and sometimes they just blather on (and on, and on … ).
There are tools specifically designed for social networking (communication):

• Twitter (did you know that Shaq has over a million followers?)
• LinkedIn
• User Forums
• The “old” Facebook and MySpace

And … this is where it gets tricky … there are tools that facilitate communication AND share content:

• The “new” Facebook
• Teleseminars (audio conference calling)
• Webinars (video and audio)
• Twitter (it can serve both masters)
• LinkedIn (it also serves both masters)

Use The Right Tool For The Right Job

As a web marketer and entrepreneur, you’ll be eons ahead of the pack once you understand how to use the right tool. After all, the ultimate goal is to make a pile of money for you and/or your client … right?
Non-marketers use the social media and social networking tools primarily for connection. They want to belong.

Marketers use the tools for BOTH purposes – to connect with, bond with, and communicate with their prospects and customers … AND they use the tools to make money.

Here’s my 7-step “Get Social Money Machine” (in a very tiny nutshell):

1. Get online and start connecting with people through Twitter and Facebook (their use is growing, while the use of Hi5, MySpace and LinkedIn is shrinking).
2. Create valuable content – a blog with articles and video.
3. Use social tools to share your content: video syndication tools (YouTube, etc.); blog syndication tools (RSS, blogging communities, Syndd) to share your blog entries.
4. Create a fan page on Facebook and start sharing your blog posts and videos to your Facebook community.
5. Tweet your blog posts: Install a “plugin” on your blog that automatically “Tweets” your blog post to Twitter.
6. Get Social: Once you’ve got a list of fans and followers, host a couple of free content-rich webinars that you announce to your fans and followers. To attend they must provide name and email address. They’ll announce it to their friends and followers.
7. Make money: If you read my previous blog post, you know what to do next … lead them down the path of becoming raving fans who will buy anything from you.

And PLEASE (with pretty hearts and flowers) …

Remember that the foundation of social media and social networking is the SOCIAL element. Your FIRST order of business is to connect. If you are providing value through your connections, then you will be rewarded by having many fans, followers, and eventually paying customers.

One final note: A recent $499 webinar was filled entirely through blogging, Twitter and Facebook. The marketers who created the webinar raked in well over a million dollars, with NO advertising costs and NO shipping or product costs.
Yes, Dorothy. We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore.

This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc. (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.

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Posted in Advertising, Business, Copywriting, social media

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