St. Louis Missouri (MO) Small Business Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing Metrics in 2010
http://blog.slideshare.net/2009/12/28/social-media-marketing-metrics-in-2010/

As Chief Marketing Officers develop their social media marketing strategy for 2010, they are demanding business results. That’s the message from a CMO Group/Bazzarvoice survey,

In 2009, 89% of CMOs tracked social media’s impact by using standard metrics such as site traffic, pageviews, and number of fans. However, CMOs expect that in 2010 top metrics will track more closely to P&L business goals––not just Web-related goals. The study forecasts the growth of adoption of the top three metrics in 2010, as follows:

* A 333% increase in tracking revenue
* A 174% increase in tracking conversion
* A 150% increase in tracking average order value

Such a shift in measurement expectation is significant. CMOs indicate a 300% year-over-year increase in 2010 in the number of companies that plan to measure social media’s impact on conversion and a 400% increase in the number of companies that will track social media’s direct impact on revenues.

The 2009’s financial crisis probably did social media some good. Not that you need a ton of budget, but when competing for scarce budget alongside more traditional projects is a creative constraint. As social media marketing matures, it will become a facet of marketing overall and it will be harder to spot a campaign that isn’t social. Part of that maturing is you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Part of it driving activity that drives traditional metrics, like how you can drive conversions with LeadShare.

Social media marketers should get ahead of this curve. If you know you will eventually be accountable for traditional metrics, start iterating as soon as you can to find models that work. And volunteer to report these metrics before they are volunteered to you. This will require that you actively engage other parts of the marketing organization and give them stakeholdership in your outcomes. Take a look at your 2010 campaigns, reconsider your metrics, and incrementally realign your activities with the core of the marketing function.

Ross Mayfield is an advisor to Slideshare, co-founder of Socialtext & @ross on Twitter.

I’m looking for 8 St. Louis business owners who understand the rest of this post.
Whether you are completely new to the business,  or wanting to move to the next level, this might be for you…If you’re plan is to “ease” into 2010. Then stop reading. The
unsubscribe link is at the bottom. Don’t take this the wrong way,
but you don’t want to be helped.

I know, I know that’s not real sensitive. It’s forbidden in the marketer’s handbook.

You know I spend a ton of time running LTC Expert Publications LLC.

I’ve got a family. Triplets that are almost 3 years old and my husband, and our extended family.We’re busy.

How about you?

And yet I get a CRAZY amount done. Finished. Launched. Profitable.

How about you?

You should know exactly how much time you have to work with in a day.

If you don’t then here’s a question…

What’s wrong with you?

If you don’t know how much time you have to devote to your business
(something that is totally measurable); how can you plan?

Forget all the reasons you can’t and start canning.

—————————— ————————
2010 : Important Stuff
—————————— ————————

1. 5%.

That’s the number of businesses that make it.

Michael Masterson wrote this in Early to Rise yesterday, “According
to polls, almost all Americans — about 88 percent of us — plan to
make New Year’s resolutions this year.

That’s good. But this isn’t: More than half of those resolutions
are abandoned (or broken) on January 2.

Another 10 percent will be forgotten (or broken) on January 3.

By April 1, more than 90 percent of those good intentions will have
mutated into regrets and rationalizations.”

Ah…….

That’s the problem.

It’s not businesses that don’t make it.

It’s PEOPLE that don’t make it.

LOL! If people can’t keep (finish) something as simple as a
resolution, how in the world are they going to operate a profitable
business?

The good news. That absolutely does NOT have to be you.

2. 30 days

The next 30 days are crucial.

They set the stage and the pace for 2010.

Get on your mark, get set… GO!

Decide on ONE business goal for the next 30 days.

Launch one blog. Make your first $1. Make your second million.
Whatever. The what is not nearly as important as getting it DONE.

3. Partner

Find a coach or a mentor.

Going it alone sounds cool, but it’s hard.

4. Focus

Are you distracted? Too many thoughts? Too many shiny things to
look at? Too many possibilities? Don’t know what to do first? Don’t
know where to go next?

Schizophrenic business building will drive you insane.

Go back to #2 above. Concentrate on the ONE target. You do not have
to do everything at once. Just one thing.

Earl Nightingale said, “People are where they are because that is
where they really want to be – whether they will admit that or not.”

Think about that a while.

—————————— ————————
2010: It’s Time for a Coach and Mentor
—————————— ————————
Hire a mentor who will really stretch you to into a new paradigm.
You want to be pushed and challenged to be more than you are now.
That’s not going to happen if you are all nice and cozy hanging out with your best friend.

5. Invest High

My last tip is to hire a success coach at a level that hurts.
You MUST have some serious skin in the game to experience the level of growth you desire.
If you aren’t feeling a pinch then you aren’t being charged enough.

Here’s why.

When you find your stride you’ll be tempted to back off or slow down.

When you are dropping some serious change (and this is at whatever level it hurts for you -
could be $200 or $20,000 a month) then you will work a million times
harder to ensure you get the return on investment.

——————————————————–
Move on This NOW. It will sell out, guaranteed.
——————————————————–

In 2010 I’m offering 8 people/organizations the opportunity to work with me one-on-one.

-I will arrive at  your office/home office/facility/community one time, and spend 1 to 1.5 days with you (at my expense) and your staff looking at marketing processes, print marketing pieces, CRM, autoresponders, websites, radio, tv, newspaper ads, yellow pages ads and more.

-We will analyze the effectiveness of what’s happening now, what needs to happen for success in 2010, and how to make it all happen QUICKLY.-You will also receive one-on-one coaching calls monthly.

-You will receive $400 “LTC Expert Bucks” to use on any of our products or services in 2010.

-Finally, you will receive free admission (for 2) to our 2010 Power Marketing Conference (dates TBA).

Most coaching programs like this cost $15K and up, and even $15K is a low figure for most high level programs.

This is for serious elder care entrepeneurs who feel that they can benefit from one-on-one “in person” coaching/mentoring that will absolutely give them and their organization to get to the next level.

The cost for the program for 1 full year is $5K.

That’s peanuts for a huge leg up on your local competition, and believe me, I know what most of them are doing.The program is by application only, we will only accept 8 clients this year.

If you are accepted, and full payment is made, we will immediately work together to schedule our meeting dates.

SEE ATTACHED or LINKED FILES FOR APPLICATION AND AGREEMENT.

Success is NOT an Accident,Valerie VanBooven RN BSN

APPLICATION FOR COACHING PROGRAM.pdf (136 KB)
View this on posterous

LTC Expert Coaching_Agreement.pdf (20 KB)
View this on posterous

Posted via email from Marketing Elder Care and Marketing Senior Services

Jordan Julien got it right when he wrote this article- see it here: http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/121581

He also made another statement that I think provides the most clarity of all when it comes to social media marketing:

“…Individuals NEED to infuse their personality/ beliefs into their brand to create a corporate brand that deserves respect.

I agree, that brands built from the bottom-up, should consider my advice as a progressive goal. Many brands, at this point, have tenants in charge of marketing. (People in charge, who simply want to make things a little better than when they first came into the position; CMO’s, CEO’s) Rather than those, who have invested their personal identity into their business.

These are the people that need to invest, and re-invest, into creating a brand that will promote confidence; and a brand that can be identified with.”

5 primary models a brand can use to communicate with its audience via social media.

I suggest there are 5 primary models a brand can use to communicate with its audience via social media. (These models can be applied to other media as well, but some work much better, and are much easier to execute using social media.)

1. Direct Communication
2. Communications Catalyst
3. Cooperative Communication
4. Participatory Definition
5. Brand Embodiment

Direct Communication: Occurs when a brand communicates its message directly to the audience.

Timeline: Instant

Participation: Minimal

Example: Youtube Video (Dove Evolution)

Communications Catalyst: Refers to a brand that encourages or provides the means of communication between two or more customers.

Timeline: Short

Participation: Minimal

Example: Crowd Sourcing (Best Buy IdeaX)

Cooperative Communication: Is a type of participatory marketing, where the brand proactively participates with its audience.

Timeline: Intermediate

Participation: Results proportional to participation

Example: Dynamic Facebook Page (Dew Labs)

Participatory Definition: The opening of a brand to influence, or re-design by its audience.

Timeline: Intermediate to Long

Participation: Minimal, but ongoing for better results

Example: Customer-Generated Branding (Doritos Undefined Flavour)

Brand Embodiment: Happens when an individual, or group of individuals, develop such a strong affinity for the brand that they will recommend it without being prompted. (Of course this also means, that if prompted they’ll recommend the brand, and also means that it’s their brand of choice.)

Timeline: Long

Participation: Substantial, and ongoing

Example: Apple* (Check out the # of related videos & comments)

*Note: Apple isn’t the best example, because they didn’t strictly use social media to follow this model. A better example might be Best Buy.

It’s important to know what model you plan on following, and map out the way to achive your goals. The knowledge that there isn’t just one way to participate in social media can help you plan the most effective campaigns. (Many brands follow the ‘Cooperative Communication’ model, but might achieve a higher ROI using a different model.) It’s also important to note, that multiple models can work together to provide a higher ROI; especially when dealing with different types of content.