While the promoted topics weren’t really targeted regionally at first, over the last year they’ve started to become a great place for regional and local marketing to get the word out in a major city for a major event very soon.  In the next year Twitter will make some huge strides in making themselves accessible to local businesses.  They’ve talked at length about just how in depth their targeting can be, and unlike Facebook and Myspace, it can change up to the minute.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter is a great place for short term and event marketing.  With Facebook you have to take some time to build up your event page, maybe even a few weeks.  With Twitter’s promoted items you can have your event scene and get a following built in a few days or even a few hours (although you should still give it some solid time to build).  Twitter has taken its big advantage, the fact that their feeds move a lot faster than other social media sites, and developed an infrastructure that takes full advantage of the fact.  The result is that Twitter is one of the best places on the web to promote a marketing event.  I’ve talked a lot in the last few weeks about what the major video game retailers, like Gamestop, have been doing on social media.  That’s because, more than any industry I’ve seen, they’re taking advantage of the new things Twitter has to offer for businesses.  Twitter is offering a level of demographic targeting unheard of before, and they’re able to do it in a timely manner.  Once they really start rolling out the regional advertising and promoted topics they could very quickly unseat Facebook as the place to spend your time and advertising dollars.

Another advantage of Twitter in 2012 is that they are working to overcome the idea that they tend to skew toward a younger demographic.  In the past, advertisers had a difficult time advertising toward kids largely because they aren’t the ones who control the cash flow.  A lot of big companies eschewed advertising directly to kids and instead focused those ads on the adult women demo (i.e. Mom). They’ve forgone advertising to kids altogether, the logic being, to “cut out the middle man” and not rely on kids to convince their parents to fork over their cash.  Thanks to social media and digital streaming this has started to become antiquated thinking.  By targeting specific demos with ads that are easy to vary and easy to send to different people virtually whenever you want you give kids something they can take to their parents directly instead of relying on them to sell your message on their own.  Also, just like with Facebook, the Twitter audience will start getting a bit older and more and more of the over 25 crowed will join in.  In 2012 Twitter could find itself the far and away most diverse social media platform as far as age groups go.

One thing I talked about at length some time ago but I haven’t mention in a while is the notion of a Flash Sale.  Basically you tell your social media followers you have a deal going on in the next “x hours” (or minutes if you want to see who is really paying attention)  It’s a great way to spread your message virally and will establish your Twitter as the place to go for awesome deals.  With Twitter being friendlier to advertisers and growing in demos in a big way it would be a great time to try one out.  You could also get a great gage on how much your customer base is online and just what kind of audience you have without all that expensive and time consuming focus grouping.

The 5 Hottest Social Ad Trends of 2012

On social sites, tune the message to the medium

Online advertising budgets: 5% for Facebook in 2012

The biggest change coming that missed 2011 by just a tick is Digital Streaming Integration.  They had some stumbling but 2012 could very well be the year that digital streaming takes over some portion of your local cable.  With the number of people relying on their X-Boxes, Playstations, Internet ready TVs and Blu ray players instead of traditional cable is growing daily. (Myself included) It’s hard to ignore the notion that cable is old fashion.  This year the NFL, ESPN, Major League Baseball and Fox Sports are all making deals where you can watch all their content via subscription. HBO and other major networks are putting the majority of their content on Hulu.  Digital streaming will cement itself as a viable alternative and more.

Twitter Targeting is getting more and more specific and will become a great place for regional business to get into this year.  The major video game companies have used it to great effect over the Christmas season so it shows that Twitter can be even more of a hub for niche marketing than Facebook if used right.  Soon regional and local business will use Twitter to target specific demographics in their specific region.  This could make Twitter the perfect place to do flash sales (something I’ve been a huge proponent of for small businesses wanting some big social media traffic).  They’ve already expanded their profile pages in anticipation.  Keep an eye out for big Twitter news in the beginning of 2012.

Don’t count Google + out just yet.  They still have 65 million users and 20% of those were in the last few months of 2011.  It’s also emerged as a great place for business-to-business marketing and more adult oriented consumer products.  Twitter’s problem is that they’ve always seemed young and that makes it harder to market to them considering, ultimately, kids don’t control the purse strings. (Ever notice how kids movies tend to play during shows women 35 and over enjoy. They’re targeting mom).

Foursquare is another one to watch.  Here is a fact for you; roughly 10,000 smart phones go active everyday.  With all those new users, mobile marketing is now as important and necessary as having your social media and SEO up to date.  One mobile site that would be good for a small business to follow is Foursquare.  Foursquare has actually been around for a few years but it didn’t have the mobile Internet to get things going until smart phones really blew up.  Now even Facebook is trying to adapt its model as one of their features but that hasn’t really taken off just yet.  Foursquare is getting more and more fans everyday and could rival Twitter in social media use if they play their cards right in 2012.  Start some exclusive giveaways for people with a high number of check-ins and encourage people to talk you up and you could be at the front of a site that’s really exploding next year.

QR Codes have been a prickly area for a lot of business.  I worked with one in April that wanted to put them on their tray tables and displays in their restaurant.  The reality is that it wasn’t easy to scan and view them online.  It doesn’t take an ad wizard to know that people don’t want to work to see your advertising.  But with some new tech springing up and mobile Internet getting faster and faster it’s a lot easier.  QR Codes are going to be a huge deal very soon.  They can also be a great way to gage your customer’s mobile marketing potential.  Use them to reward loyal customers that use your Facebook and Twitter.  Remember the more you give them the more likely they are to talk and the better your SEO will be.  (See, everybody wins)

Not for profits on social media are also on the verge of getting some big boosts in the coming year.  With sites like Kickstarter making national headlines it’s only a matter of time before Facebook, Twitter, and other sites make special considerations for charities using social media to raise funding. I’ve actually been working with some non-profits on social media for years and I’ve been a little annoyed with the lack of consideration on the part of some of those sites.  But 2012 looks like a great year for non-profit groups to get what they need using social media.

Facebook Will Take Over The World In 2012

5 Social Media Facts For 2012

Tips For Your 2012 Social Media Strategy

Rejuvenating the Muppet brand started with building buzz on Twitter.  They didn’t just create a page for the brand, they created one that embodies it.  They did it from the point of view of the characters (see here my personal favorites Statler and Waldorf). Potbelly Sandwiches did the same thing, instead of just using their brand name they have it come straight from the VP of marketing.  They give it a real voice instead of just a faceless brand with a megaphone.  This plays great on Twitter and it’s really surprising that not a lot of people get it.  The second you treat Twitter like a department store P.A system is when you start losing followers.  Take a lesson from the Muppets, use it to interact, have fun and the people who are loyal to your brand will spread the word for you.  Once you have established that, then you can launch an entirely different twitter for special advertisements and offers just like Disney did (Muppet Central)

So the Muppet Twitter took off pretty steadily to the point that it attracted a good and loyal fanbase.  The fanbase was so loyal they started creating offshoot twitter accounts.  The Muppets for Oscar Host Twitter took off in a huge way and got some national TV buzz, without Disney having to lift a finger.  This just shows what can happen when you take the time to build a loyal fanbase (And not go crazy with protecting your trademarks, but that’s another issue). This can happen on a global level like Disney and the Muppets or it can happen on a regional level like with 5 Guys Burgers or Play N’ Trade.

Along with Twitter, Disney launched a great Youtube and viral video campaign. Even smaller business shouldn’t underestimate the value of a good viral video.  Sometimes the cheapest ones are the ones that catch on the most.  Even the Muppet ones couldn’t cost more than what a small business could do.  Commercials like The Johnson Automotive Badger are a fun easy way to get some great SEO with some videos.  The more people watch them, the more you show up in search engines. As with Twitter, start with getting eyes and then worry about pushing your brand.  The push will come naturally – getting people to look at your stuff is the hard part.

I did some work for a riverboat casino launching their social media.  We did a hard launch email blast and got a solid thousand out of that.  Then the first thing they wanted was a way to get people into their place.  The mistake made was putting together a hasty coupon promotion that didn’t boost our fan count and didn’t go over well.  The lesson from that and the example you should take from the Muppets is that if you push your brand on your customers too early, you could lose your momentum. But keep in mind there is also a expiration date to push your brand. If you wait too long you could lose that momentum and lose the interest of the people who want to look at you every day.  Take a lesson from the Muppets, give your audience something to talk about and build from there.  If things get going, your audience will create content and build your SEO for you. The car dealership above did the same thing as Disney, they just did it on a regional level.

Muppets Social Campaign

Analzying The Muppets Marketing Campaign

As we’ve seen in the past with some pretty big regional and national brands (i.e Hot Topic, Five Guys, Threadless, etc.) have blown up because of their shrewd use of social media.  Just like how smaller video game retailers have started hitting it big in the wake of blockbuster scaling back their stores. There is now a lot of room for independent and smaller bookstores to make a real impact if they use social media sites right.  Social media is, after all, nothing if not a great equalizer among retailers.  Mom and Pop’s books gets roughly the same amount of Twitter and Facebook space as Barnes and Noble.  Independent book retailers on a budget can do big things with social media.

Books are really the world’s largest niche market.  There is a massive market out there looking for the next great thing to read.  The goal for any small book retailer on social media should be to build up that excitement right on your page.  Build yourself up as the place to go to find the next big thing and keep up with what’s coming out soon.  As with all social media niche marketing, you are building a hub for people to talk to each other and build buzz for things like in store events.  Ask more questions than anything else and try to respond with statements that continue conversation. (Use the phrase “yes and…” in all your posts.)

One thing niche marketing businesses, particularly indie bookstores, can do is build events on social media.  A digital launch party is a great way to get some fans and establish yourself and maybe even get some free press out of it.  Make it an event both in store and online.  Give them a coupon or some small gift for being your fan and coming in.  The best social media events build interest in both the fan page and the physical store.

One site that is great for indie bookstores is Kickstarter.  No, I’m not saying you should go ask people to give you money just for opening but if you word it right you can get some good press and sell some merchandise too.  Kickstarters like Uncharted Books are offering great stuff for supporting them.   They’re basically building a following and hyping their launch date.  If you can get that buzz from Kickstarter over to a Facebook page you could have a pretty big following as you open your doors.  A dedicated social media following is like a perpetual motion machine for SEO.  The more they talk the more you show up on search engines.  Keeping people talking isn’t that difficult, it’s getting them there that can be tricky so taking advantage of your momentum from things like Kickstarter is crucial.

One more thing for niche market indie retailer to remember is that your audience is looking for you.  They’re hungry for the next big thing.  The good thing is that you have a dedicated group to take advantage of.  The problem is you have to compete with all the other niche market indie retailers too.  Don’t be afraid to do something aggressive to spread word of mouth and get some people talking.  Your audience wants what you have and you aren’t going to scare them away by running a promotion that asks them to repost on their own social media pages.   Ask them to bring friends and give them coupons for bringing people in.  The more people talk about you the more you people will see you.

I’m not always huge on the paid ads on social media.  I usually hold off until I have something huge or I’m not where I want to be as far as fan interaction but with a niche market audience getting momentum right on the outset is crucial.  If you can’t get a good social media crowed with Kickstarter or an in store promotion you might need to do a paid campaign.  You could also ask other groups or stores to cross promote with you.  Again, a niche market audience is an audience that likes to talk so take advantage of that whenever you can.

Barnes & Noble takes control of Borders’ social media pages

Social Media for Small Businesses – A Modern Day Essential

Social Media — 4 Trends To Watch in 2012

It wasn’t that long ago that Blockbuster was being talked about in the same breath as Tower Records, a relic of a bygone era. Heck, it was probably earlier this year. But with a new deal involving Dish Network (another brand struggling to find a hole to fill in the cable TV/digital media world.) comes renewed interest and the potential to overtake their rival, Netflix. Blockbuster made a huge push into social media and made itself into what Netflix wasn’t, a place for people who loved movies (and by extension places to rent them). They were able to utilize their niche audience to grow their fan base virally. They re-branded themselves as a place on the cutting edge instead of a dying breed. Criterion is also a similar brand that is using the same model as Blockbuster. They’re both using social media as a platform to build goodwill and to host giveaways and let word spread from there.

Marvel Comics is another brand that has made huge pushes to rebrand via social media. In the last decade, they’ve been victims of skyrocketing printing costs and piracy. Instead of trying to downplay and ignore the issues that print publishing is going through, they made a genuine attempt to use digital and social media to reach a new audience. They’ve promoted social media-heavy events like “Free Comic Day,” and built up their digital publishing in a way that enhances their print side and doesn’t detract from it. If you only read their print publications you’d be o.k. and if you only read their digital media and followed their social sites you’d be o.k. But if you did both, you’d see how they complemented each other – and that’s what we ad wonks like to call “synergy.”

Domino’s Pizza launched a huge campaign on television attempting to change their image, but they also made huge moves on social media. They built up a solid group of funny videos on YouTube that caught on virally. Domino’s sunk major cash into getting a load of Facebook followers before that TV campaign even started. All those Facebook followers lead to some great online reviews on sites like Yelp and Google Places. So when all those people saw those commercials and went online they found a huge assortment of reviews leading them to their local Domino’s phone numbers. They showed that the best way to build a bigger customer base is to let your dedicated social media followers do it for you.

Pro Elite MMA isn’t a well known company right now. They were running shows on Showtime and CBS while the UFC was struggling to gain ground a few years back, but for various reasons they came very close to bankruptcy at one point. Now they’re on their way back and they owe it all to using social media and digital streaming. They created events around social media chat sessions and Facebook giveaways while at the same time building toward their shows which just happened to be a click and few bucks away from their Facebook page. Like Marvel, Pre Elite discovered that niche market customers are all about the path of least resistance.

Old Spice knew to never underestimate the value of a great spokesperson. They found some unique voices and built social media followings around these personalities. It didn’t hurt that their videos were really funny too. I’ve always said making some well made funny videos is easy for small business. There are always young talented artists in any community willing to work for experience and a sandwich. Put an ad in a local college paper and get some talented kids to make videos for your brand and you have the makings of a great viral marketing campaign.

Blockbuster Is Back From the Doldrums — Netflix Finally Has Competition

ProElite Readies for Second Life

Social Video Marketing Tips With Domino’s Pizza Chicago’s Ramon DeLeon

Netflix had the opportunity to learn from both TiVo and MySpace mistakes.  They could have been prepared for the likes of Blockbuster/Dish Network and Hulu.  They chose to go another way and in the span of a few months they’re in danger of falling behind Hulu and other streaming video sites.  The problem is they’re unveiling products and add-ons like they’re Apple or Microsoft.  What they don’t realize is that at 5 years into their runs those companies were still branding one or two products.  Netflix needs to narrow its focus away from video games and such and focus on streaming video and mail order.   One reason Hulu made great strides in the last few years even though they raised prices is because they made a lucrative deal with X-Box.  (Actually they raised prices from zero which some saw as the kiss of death, making their success even more remarkable.) Netflix missed a golden opportunity to make a deal with Playstation and get some great press and strengthen their streaming video division.

The problem with TiVo, and the problem that Netflix is facing, is that, in the end, they really don’t own anything.  They rely entirely on the contacts they’ve made with their content suppliers.  The moment they start creating their own stuff the content suppliers will turn on them and the moment they find a way to squeeze more money out of streaming video they’ll move their support elsewhere. Hulu is looking like a more attractive place every day.  Then again, something could come up that draws there attention and Hulu and Netflix could be on their way out.

Streaming video needs to be stable for lots of big things to happen.  Social Media was a very unstable market when Facebook started blowing up and it caused a lot of big advertisers to sit out a while.   If streaming video is going to be a viable place for you to put your advertising dollars there needs to be an industry leader that you know is going to be there a year or two from now and there just doesn’t seem to be one yet.

There are a lot of major things on the horizon that can’t really happen until we get a viable marketing model for streaming video.  We are on the verge of 24/7 connectivity, where everything from your phone, your computer, and your TV is connected to the internet and accessing the same user data (what Apple calls “iCloud”). With both Cable and Network losing viewers to things like streaming video, and still struggling to monetize and stabilize in a realistic way, they are bleeding viewers and losing money at a time when they should be introducing new and exciting technology.  Your TV and your digital video streaming are going to be merging in the next few years.  Instead of getting HBO and watching things as they air you’ll be able to get the HBO app for your TV and things will become available to view at a certain time.  But none of that can happen till they find a way to stabilize the streaming video service market and make it an inviting place for major advertisers.

Ultimately, like social media, streaming video will turn into a place for smaller business to bust out of there regions and hit it big on a national level.   Just like social media it will also become more regionally targeted.  If you want to start a national viral campaign streaming video is a good place to put your advertising dollars but someday it will be a place to put big bucks into.

Netflix Backtracks

In House Video Marketing Via Youtube

-from AdAge-

Marketers can’t afford to ignore the social dimensions and interests of their customers. Frankly, it’s irresponsible and leads to a host of undesirable consequences:

- Massive media waste: Marketers are paying to retarget the same people multiple times, which produces media waste and substantially throws off attribution modeling.

- Limiting scale/potential: By simply retargeting the same people repeatedly, you miss out on growing your next most profitable customers. In some cases this newly expanded pool can be 60X the original audience size.

- Buying the easiest, lowest hanging (media) fruit: Taking the generic route and buying in scale from trusted sites won’t always get you the highest impact for your dollars. In other words, you won’t get fired for buying Facebook, but it doesn’t truly represent where the majority of consumers’ online interactions are occurring.

To read the entire article, go here:
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/ad-campaigns-dead/230213/

Kickstarter has been around for years as a fundraising tool for creative projects.  It developed a cult following among the hipster set for people wanting to find an audience.  In a medium that is already about as unsubtle with advertising and marketing as one can get, Kickstarter makes everything else look like a whisper.  Basically it gives you the opportunity to talk directly with your audience about exactly what you want them to do and it gives them the opportunity to be a part of it.

Even though it started out as a fundraising tool Kickstarter has become something so much more.  You can use it to have your customers get involved in the business and feel like they are a part of things.  They call it a donation on the website but a lot of businesses are actively giving things to each person who donates at different levels.  So basically you are getting new customers and getting them involved in net products and new services.  Kickstarter is great for niche marketing and hobby shops.

With Kickstarter you can turn new products and services into a game that gets your audience interested and spreading the word for you.   Tell them if they donate a certain amount you’ll release prizes and then keep going for a few levels.  Soon they’ll be getting their friends involved and you have a well hyped product or service that people are excited about before it even comes out.

Entrepreneurs like Jeff Katz have recently used it to great success hyping his new business venture.  Wrestling Revolution is an attempt to create a wrestling show from the ground up and he’s getting ready to launch his first show thanks to Kickstarter.  He’s had big success hyping things and has already built up some good buzz without spending anything on digital ads.  He basically set up a Kickstarter and a Twitter page and then let word of mouth spread as he seeded things a little along the way.  It would be easy to take the model he used and have it work for your small business.  Try something soon because once other people see how successful Katz is Kickstarter could very well explode in a big way and start to get crowded with junk business and spambots (RE: Myspace).

Ultimately if you have a new product or service you want to try and aren’t really sure it’s going to succeed Kickstarter is a great way to gage public opinion.  Katz’s company got massive funding from real backers based on the initial response he got from Kickstarter.  You never really know what kind of an audience you have until you try something like this.

The Trivialities and Transcendence of Kickstarter

How to Start a Buzz Fire: Using Social Marketing and Word of Mouth for your Game

My point is there is always an excuse for a marketing failure. When I heard the news about Borders folding they blamed it on digital readers and people buying off sites like Amazon. But the truth is, if they were really paying attention and marketing themselves well using the same media they claim did them in they’d be as solid as companies like Barnes and Noble and Books a Million.

The first sign that lead to their demise happened nearly a decade ago when they farmed their website out to Amazon.com. People forget that it hasn’t been that long since Amazon started posting record profits. In the early 2000s they were only just starting to really explode and so were sites like MySpace. Where other companies so digital shopping as a competitor Borders saw it as a way to be lazy. They farmed their online store out to Amazon and gave them a huge leap in web traffic that drove people to exclusively online shop and killed any chance they had of taking advantage of Social Media and SEO.

One of the things that surprised me a lot is that Borders never really took advantage of social media in the last few years. They had a readymade audience on Facebook and Twitter. It would have been easy for them to build a Twitter of over a million followers and a Facebook page with lots of action. They already had a niche audience with tons of disposal able income and they basically handed it to Amazon in a gift wrapped package. What they should have done was promoted their Social Media pages to get people talking about what was going on in store. Promote the store as a place to meet like minded people. Give them what they can’t get sitting on their computers, a genuine social experience.

They missed their chance to do this with MySpace in the early 2000s but when Facebook and Twitter sprang up with their audience full of teenagers and tweens they squandered that too. They should have set up local Facebook pages for each store. (Usually I’m against this because it weakens your SEO but it would have worked well here.) They should have started running online exclusive events and online an Q and As with authors or other people interested in a particular book (It’s not like that age group isn’t reading these days.) Then after a while they just shift things from online to in store. You’d be surprised how much a big event can spread word of mouth, especially among that particular audience.

Pictures also go a long way in making your place look like it’s fun to go to. With all these midnight release parties for those Twilight or Harry Potter books they never really put much of it online. They should been all over those things with live blogging, pictures and even streaming video. The best way to establish yourself as a fun place to spend a night and a place with happening events is to show people what they missed by not being there.
Ultimately for Borders to not take advantage of social media was a huge mistake considering their audience was already on it and looking for the next big thing. Even with Amazon undercutting them if they could establish that there social media sites are the place to go to get the next Twilight or Hunger Games people would buy come inside and buy there. Instead they sat there and barely lifted a finger in the social media scene that could have kept them alive a little longer.

The lesson of Borders: Bookstores need to guide us

With Death of Borders, What Is The Future of Independent Book Sellers?

Independent bookshops consider future without big boxes; Bull Moose to bid for Borders stores

Google has two previous dives into social media with less than stellar results. First there was Google Wave that failed to catch on and then there was Google Buzz which caused some uproar over privacy issues. The fact that you needed a G-Mail account to sign up for either of them didn’t help things as complaints of e-mail spamming popped up as well. Google built them both as a way to show people what videos and websites you were looking at. They launched this with full knowledge that both Twitter and Facebook already added things to make it easy to share your stuff. The thought at the time was that the Google brand would draw people over and they’d start using that instead. Clearly they were wrong.

With Google plus they may have finally learned their lesson. Instead of trying to go where the puck is and compete with Facebook on their own terms they’ve finally tried something new and predicted where the puck is going. Google Plus is for those who are less concerned about seeing pictures of “friends” you haven’t spoken to in years or people that want to stockpile as many “friends” as possible. Google plus is more about making your own website in an easy fun way. Instead of taking the Facebook model they’ve looked at what smaller up and coming sites like Stumble Upon and Justin.tv are doing and taken that to a whole new level.

By putting the idea of custom pages through Google out there they’ve set themselves up to be in a great position to take advantage of mobile media down the line. Surfing Facebook on your phone isn’t easy and if they don’t develop something to change that they’re going to be in trouble very soon especially now that Google Plus has put all your stuff in one place. Once they’ve established a custom website they’re only a step away from giving you a personalized custom app. If they can make a consumer based custom app program that’s easy to use they could very well find themselves at the top of the heap. It looks like that is the way they are heading and if Facebook is smart they’ve got one in development right along with them.

It seems like, after years of trying to compete with Facebook and Twitter, Google has finally found an entirely new foothold into social media that could get them a foothold into mobile media. What they need to do going forward is make sure people know they aren’t just doing “Facebook for Gmail,” as they’ve been criticized for doing in the past. If they are going to stick in the world of social media you could have a great new alternative to Facebook or Twitter advertising and if they fair well in mobile media it would make it a lot easier for small business to use mobile advertising.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/biz/2011/07/google-plus-for-businesses-brands.php

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/blogarticle/124431/Google-Plus-whelms-the-Internet/blog/The-Hashtag

http://technorati.com/technology/article/google-plus-vs-facebook/