Posted by Mark Campanale on Mon, Jul 20, 2009 @ 01:17 PM
By Andrea Little, Marketing Intern
It all started with MySpace.
As a rebellious 16 year-old, I made a profile behind my mom's back complete with self-taken pictures, a hot pink background, and a Jimmy Eat World single. Soon after, I left MySpace for Facebook.
Now, I'm also a tweeter, a YouTube user, a blogger, and a LinkedIn user. (No idea what these mean? Read my "Social Media Dictionary.")
I admit that at one point, I was confused why a person would ever need so many different places to talk about themselves.
But during my time as a Communications major, I've realized that the social media phenomenon is bigger than sharing pictures from last night's party or telling the world what you ate for dinner. Social media presents a completely new platform for companies to reach their customers, connect with current and potential employees, and leverage themselves above the competition by humanizing their products and services.
What I learned about Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations, and Journalism four years ago is now outdated. Companies and media agencies who do not keep on top of social media trends and digital technologies will also become outdated.
A Social Media Success Story
This example comes from Queensland, Australia's Cummins Nitro advertising agency. With a relatively small budget of $1.7 million, the "Best Job in the World" campaign was exposed to more than three billion people worldwide and generated more than $150 million in publicity value.
How did they do it? A huge part of the campaign's success was the use of free, worldwide social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The winner of the contest continues to blog, tweet, and share photos on Flickr while he acts as island caretaker. (Read more about the campaign here.)
Triumvirate's Social Media Success
Since the marketing interns (Becca, Lindsey, and I) began helping Mark Campanale with Triumvirate's website and social media accounts in June, our website traffic rank has increased from around 3 million to 1.6 million (lower is better). Our work on search engine optimization has attracted new customers and accounts.
Where our competitors are stagnant, we are gaining standing, and where they are absent, we have a huge presence. Our 200+ Twitter followers include global environmental organizations, activists, and customers. We've been referenced alongside the LA Times and recommended to other Twitter users by well-known environmentalists.
We've made connections with clients and prospects from healthcare, higher education, industrial and life sciences on YouTube and LinkedIn. And our Facebook page has over 300 friends and fans.
To quote marketer Sarah Hofsetter, "Covering your ears is not a viable strategy." Utilize social media, and you will enhance your reputation and enrich your personal and professional networks.
Posted by Mark Campanale on Mon, Jul 20, 2009 @ 10:16 AM
By Andrea Little, Marketing Intern
Social Media - it's a term you most likely hear every day. But do you really know what it means?
This short list is meant to clear up basic questions about what social media is, and what the various platforms are that Triumvirate uses. If you have any questions that were not answered here, email me at alittle@triumvirate.com.
Blog (abbreviation for "weblog")
• A frequently updated online journal usually written in a casual, conversational tone.
• A place to publicly share thoughts and ideas.
• Usually displayed in reverse chronological order, with more recent entries at the top of the page.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
• A global social networking site.
• Over 200 million unique users.
• Allows users to customize their own profile page with personal information varying from Favorite Music to Educational History. Users can "friend" each other and write on each other's profile "wall" or message board.
• Important features include uploading and sharing of photos and videos, instant messaging, and thousands of available specialized applications.
• Similar network: Myspace.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
• A global social networking site for professionals.
• Over 40 million unique users.
• Allows users to customize their own profile page with work history and areas of expertise. Users can "connect" with other users and form professional networks.
• Important features include getting recommendations from other users and joining "groups." For example, Triumvirate has a "Troubled Waters" group, meant to connect LinkedIn users who attended our roundtable on the subject.
Social Networking
• The platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) and tools that people use to "publish, converse, and share content online" (blogs.aquent.com).
Social Marketing
• Using social media to directly interact with customers and humanize marketing efforts.
• "Social Marketing eliminates the middlemen...provides a unique opportunity to have a direct relationship with customers and to both listen and talk" (Bryan Weiner, "Social Marketing Playbook").
Social Media
• The content shared through online platforms including text, video, images, photos, audio, and other media.
Twitter (www.twitter.com)
• A global social networking site.
• Over 23 million unique users.
• Allows users to create their own username and send brief updates (less than 140 characters). User profile pages include a short user biography that sums up interests and topics that the person may "tweet" about.
• Users can "follow" other users. This simply means that user wants to see the other user's updates or "tweets." Users can also reply to or repeat the updates of users they are following, thus starting a conversation.
YouTube (www.youtube.com)
• A global social networking site centered on video sharing.
• Over 16.6 million visitors a day, with 20 hours of video uploaded every minute.
• Allows visitors to watch, comment, and share videos. Visitors can create free accounts, subscribe to their favorite channels, friend other users, and upload their own content.