Boom + ipad = marketing gold. I’m way to cerebral.

Putting together an online team of awesome

I’ve been exchanging emails with my Uncle Chuck this afternoon and somewhere in between philosophical and political diatribes, each of taking turns on the pulpit, the question came out as to what exactly I do. My answer to Chuck’s query, “I develop online marketing strategies that makes use of website builds, social media strategies,  web analytics and search engine optimization, ie whatever needs to be done to help my client reach their marketing goals.” They key to that sentence is the “whatever needs to be done” Since 2003 I’ve dabbled in virtually every aspect of the online marketing, from Dev & Design to BA and SEO, so that one day I could be the maestro conducting a virtual symphony of online awesomeness. Basically I wanted to be the Timothy Hutton character in the thrilling TNT drama, Leverage.

Now to a man like my uncle who is incredibly intelligent, an amazing artist and architect, and about as online savy as some one of his generation need be, so my list of abilities must seem about as intelligble as the sanskrit tattooed across my arm. So to help educate my family, friends and the similarly uninitiated, I begin my weekly series explaining the tools of the online marketing trade:

• Social Media
• Search Engine Optimization
• Web Analytics
• Pay Per Click
• Web Design and Development
• Email Marketing

Books have been written on each and everyone of these subjects, especially the social media, but once I have covered each area I’ll show how I weave all of these wonderful components into a holistic strategy that makes each item on your marketing wish list jump off the page and do a lil’ jig.

First up Social Media:

What is Social Media Marketign? In its driest and least nuanced form, Social Media Marketing is; The use of online platforms where people connect, communicate & collaborate in order to promote a product or service in order to increase revenues, decrease costs, or improve customer satisfaction. Now if we’re to break down what Social Media is, we could use the 7 categories Jim Sterne uses in his awesome book “Social Media Metrics
How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment” :

1. Forums and Message Boards – Think of those old threaded discussions. Ask a question, get an answer. A lot of the IT world still uses this tool for customer service and tech problem solving: Mac Forums
2. Review and Opinion Sites – All those stars, comments, thumbs up and down we see all around the web were customers voice their opinion. Amazon uses this feature to help sell products, Yelp uses it to create a site that scares the crap out os SMBs.
3. Social Networks – Facebook the 500 Million member poster child springs to mind once the words Social and Network are uttered. Simple enough social networks are online platforms that allow people to collaborate, communicate, and virtually congregate online.
4. Blogging – if your reading this your engaged in blogging. Essentially a blog is a website designed to allow its owner to easily publish their opinion, prose, photos etc to the web. My favorite blogging platforms are WordPress, Blogger, and the offerings of SixApart.
5. Microblogging – The media and celebrity darling Twitter falls into this category, as does Yammer the Tweeter for the biz world. In 140 words or less we get to communicate inspiring quotes, informative anecdotes and keep all our followers up to date on our lunch choices.
6. Social Bookmarking – Most people that surf the web are familiar with bookmarking their favorite sites for easier access (hit Ctl + D if you haven’t already). Social Bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, and Delicious allow users to share what they think is hip, rad and worth “favoriting” with the world at large. So go ahead share Bd1i with all you friends.
7. Media Sharing - Sites like YouTube and Flickr are the Pièce de résistance of this category. Friends, family and strangers sharing vacation photos, cute feline videos and crazy cool ninja tricks.

So now that we’ve defined what social media is, how does one go about using it to get their online marketing groove on? For many,  the words marketing and advertising are often thought of as being one in the same. When I first got into the game people would always me ask if I made those “Slap the Belly” ads for MySpace….I wish! While I never got in on the Sumo slapping, I explained how companies use online platforms like Facebook and Twitter to engage their existing consumer-base  and potential consumers in an insightful dialogue, giving them opportunity to get a better idea of who they are and what they have to offer. Hopefully the conversations will allow for the creation of a trusting and transparent relationship that will result in customer retention, increase increase in sales and cleared understanding of the consumers’ needs.

When setting up a client with a Social Media Plan, we put their current efforts through a combine if sorts, going over their various profiles, seeing how high their content jumps, and getting their integrations “40 time”. We than come up with a strategy to properly facilitate their Profile &  Conversation Management; Blog Creation & Strategy; Content Development; and Cross Campaign Management, to help them consistently deliver their marketing message and reach their overarching marketing goals.

Ultimately social media marketing, as with all marketing, is about promoting a product or service to increase your companies revenues. Where social media differs from more traditional marketing is its use of online platforms like Facebook & Twitter, to connect with your customers and nurture those relationships. In the end we have to acknowledge that conversations taking place in the social-mediasphere is not something we can control or direct. In the end we are participants in a realm that belongs to the consumer. It’s like Pooh said; “Lots of people talk to animals, Not that many listen though. That’s the problem.” Social Media is about listening to your consumer,  participating in the conversation and finding actionable insights based on those conversations.