Technology is always advancing, and as it does can either improve the value of marketing, or make it even more difficult to get an effective marketing program across to the target audience.

Are you sending SPAM emailing or a valuable newsletter?

Does anyone read your emails?

Does your brochure actually help people want to hire you, or give too much information (the average person doesn’t even read)?

Are the networking events and luncheons and trade shows you are going to actually generating new business?

Does your website bring you customers? Do you even know who reads your website? Have you ever seen a traffic report on your website?

These are all very important questions that a marketing professional must ask, and that an owner or CEO must always balance against the daily needs of running the business. What we specialize in is using technology to economize these activities – to provide a higher level of accuracy in reporting, adaptability to alter course in days instead of weeks should a program be ineffecient, and the experience to know what usually works better than most practices.

How many times have we sat through a marketing workshop that told us we needed to use some new gizmo to reach a trillion new people, only to go through the implementation process, the learning curve, and the complete headache of creating staff policies – only to find out 3 months later we saw no new business, got no new clients, and all in all wasted our time? If it’s not your ideal client you are talking to then there’s no point in talking at all – save your breath, your energy, and your time for the clients and colleagues that make your business and your profession better for the effort!

At the end of the day no one knows your business as well as you do, you’ve been doing it for years and you know your clients better than anyone. Our job is to bring the best practices from a variety of business climates to your doorstep and make it possible for you to reach new heights with new technology at your feet.

Social Media = any kind of media that creates a social or community experience for the audience. Facebook lets people do this by sharing photos and videos and news with their friends.

New Media or Emerging Media = The exciting (and confusing) part of technology advancement is we don’t always know what to call it. That’s this stuff. Currently this includes social media, online communities, mobile marketing, and a bunch of new tools and platforms we’re learning how to use.

1. YOU MIGHT BE A SPAMMER IF: you compulsively send strangers connection requests and not jut the people you met once, but the folks you’ve never ever met…

Yes, LinkedIn is a place to connect with colleagues, references, past co-workers, and prospective clients – but stalking people has never been a pleasant experience for the stalk-ee. If you are reaching out to someone you don’t know for a good reason, then tell it to them. I’ve reached out to many people I didn’t know, for work purposes or client projects, but in the subject line will say “you don’t know me, found you on LinkedIn” and start off the message by saying why I’m emailing. The result? About 4 times more responses.

2. YOU MIGHT BE A SPAMMER IF: you join lots of groups and post your sales pitch in them over and over and over and over and over..

LinkedIn Groups is your destination to find and join communities of professionals based on common interest, experience, affiliation, and goals. Stay in touch with organizations, schools, and companies that you are and were a part of, network with professionals with similar interests and goals, and collaborate in a professional community online.

Groups are typically organized around a company (IBM or Apple), a trade organization (AIGA or APA), or a special interest group (Mac Users, Blackberry Users). You apply for membership and the group owner can either accept or decline your request for membership. Once accepted, you have access to discussion boards, job boards, news feeds, and the ability to submit news articles to the group. Being involved in the community (posting answers to questions, sharing news articles relevant to the community) is a way to increase your visibility, credibility, and esteem within the community. Trouble seems to be – this takes time. Rather than spend this time, many seem to post their sales pitches as discussions over and over again…. my guess they think this visibility makes people think of them – and it’s true… but thinking of you as an intelligent authority or just the pain-in-the-keester newbie?

It’s totally appropriate to get out there and try new things – try the groups, try posting comments, try inviting connections – but if no one posts comments, and your invitations aren’t accepted take the hint that you may be coming on too pitchy and not enough of a human being. People like people, much more than salespeople….

The Definition: Social media is simply a buzz word for any type of media that has a social component – sharing, posting, commenting, messaging, discussing etc. These are social practices you would be more inclined to see at a group gathering, or coffee shop, than you would traditionally have seen online. The media used in these communities can be primarily text, video, or photos, but the most engaging are typically using all three.

The Tools: When someone talks about social media we often think about tools like Myspace, Facebook, and LinkedIN, but there are over 80,000 different social media platforms around the world. Ning, Xing, Bebo and Orkut or a few examples of different social media tools. Typically it’s easier to get started on the more common applications, but the most strategic marketing plans focus on reaching out to the niche communities that best match our client’s target audience.
EXAMPLE: Tony Columbini @ Egge Machine & Speed Shop doesn’t do much on Facebook/Myspace/LinkedIn, but is extremely active in car enthusiast communities. They’ve seen a direct relationship between sales and this online community involvement.

The Business: Many social media platforms make their money from display ads on different parts of the site, or by charging people for advanced access or communication ability. One of the basic tenants of social media is the most simple membership be free, so many people can join – to create the community and bring enough people together to keep the site engaging to the audience.
EXAMPLE: LinkedIN charges for advanced communication, like InMail or number of introduction requests. Twitter is often a topic of conversation, because to date the founders do not have a revenue model for the tool, leading many to believe it may not last forever.