Internet Marketing, Social Media, Business | StuckInTheFunnel

19% of Americans Tweet/Update Their Status Online

According to the latest survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, almost one in five (19%) of Americans uses Twitter or similar services to post updates about themselves and their businesses.

This data shows a substantial growth over previous surveys that reported Twitter use. In December 2008 and April 2009, Pew found that only 11% of Internet users made use of a status-update service. A study by Harris Interactive in March/April 09 found the number to be even lower, at a mere 5%.

Yum…Some Twitter Demographics:

  

In addition to the basic demographics of Twitter users, Pew also determined that the following 3 groups of Americans as those responsible for this new growth:

• Social Network Users (35%)
• Mobile Internet Users (25%)
• Young Internet Users between 18 and 24 (37%)

These figures continues to support the trend social media advocates have been trying to pitch to their upper management: Social Media is here and it’s not going away.

Enterprises Will Continue to Spend on Social Media Despite Spotty Success

A survey conducted by Deloittle, Beeline Labs and the Society for New Communications Research indicated that 94% of enterprises expending dollars for social media plan to maintain or increase their investment.

Despite the fact that investment in online communities and other social media campaigns by enterprises has been strong, many companies are having a tough time meeting business and marketing goals with these vehicles.

While some of the respondents agree that social media has helped them with word of mouth advertising, customer loyalty and brand awareness, many others report that the new phenomenon has had less that a substantial impact on their bottom line or customer acquisition costs.

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Don’t Become a Social Media Burnout

In a world where you can let 1500 of your friends know what you are doing instantly, while tracking the status of your Dominos Pizza order online, there’s no secret as to why many of us may suffer from information overload.

I purposely spent some time the past couple weeks away from the computer during off hours to read and take a tour of North Carolina’s beautiful mountains.

Unlike most of my getaways, I only used my laptop and BlackBerry to access information that was pertinent to my trip itinerary which meant no work email. At first I thought I could not do it unless I tied my hands behind my back, but in the end, it was worth it.

The effectiveness of your Social Media marketing efforts are largely based on the amount of time and labor you put into them. That being said, it is important that use this time effectively so you get the most out of the time you sacrifice.

How to get the most out of Social Media without burning yourself out:

Set valuable and measurable goals

I stress the word “valuable”.   Telling yourself:  “I will spend 2hrs a day on Twitter”  is not a goal. Instead, commit to something like building 3 new relationships with potential prospects or professionals in your industry. This rule can be applied to any of the networks you participate in, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, etc. Bottom line: get the most out of the time you spend.

Syndicate for success

With a little planning, you can syndicate your online content and reduce the time it takes you to spread your message across all of your social pipelines.

Here are a few tools that can help you do this:

• Tweet Deck (update Twitter and Facebook simultaneously).
• Word Press Twitter Plugin (Display your Tweets on a Word Press Blog)
• Twitter Feed (Automatically feed your blog posts to Twitter)
• Hoot Suite (for scheduled Tweets and other workflow)

While these programs may take some manual labor off of your hands, it is important not to abuse them. Don’t use them to blast your audience with never ending streams of content. Use them ethically and remember to build your audience organically.

Track and Refine

The only way to determine if the time you have invested has been well spent is to measure the goals you have set. If your goals are to build relationships and network, maintain a directory of the new contacts you have obtained and where they came from. If your goals are to increase sales and revenue, use a tool such as Pea Shoot to log your conversions and ROI.

Be Patient

Don’t expect to achieve all of your goals overnight. Just like any other campaign, get ready to struggle, test and refine. Do it smartly and you will achieve success while making time for the other important things in your life.

Twitter Users are Twice as Likely to View Your Ads

According to a study from research firm  Interpret, LLC, Twitter users are twice as likely to click internet ads than those who stick to traditional social networks such as Myspace, LinkedIn and Facebook.

The study was conducted on 9200 Internet users in August 09 and concluded that 24% of Twitter users had rated or reviewed products online compared to 12% of those who used other social networks, but not Twitter.

It was also found that the users of Twitter are twice as likely to view online company profiles than non-Twitter users (20% vs. 9%).

Why is this the case?

Given the hyper/ADD nature of Twitter and the fact that it is not a destination site is the primary culprit behind these numbers in my opinion.

Twitter’s rapid stream of information is more conducive to link clicks than social sites which provide content that requires more concentration and engagement.

What does this mean for your business?

Get on Twitter and start building those relationships. Put a strategy in place that leverages Twitters’ click happy audience and get your brand noticed.

What Do Ads on Twitter Mean for Internet Marketing and You?

Last week (Sept 10th) Twitter amended it’s terms of service to include the right to display advertisements. However where, when and how the ads will be pushed is “open for exploration”:

The Services may include advertisements, which may be targeted to the Content or information on the Services, queries made through the Services, or other information. The types and extent of advertising by Twitter on the Services are subject to change. In consideration for Twitter granting you access to and use of the Services, you agree that Twitter and its third party providers and partners may place such advertising on the Services or in connection with the display of Content or information from the Services whether submitted by you or others.

It was only a matter of time before this occured. It takes a lot of resources to dispatch the amount of SMS messages that Twitter does each day.

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Twitter Brings Dell 3 Million in Sales

While attending a Twitter for Brands event hosted by New Media Age in London Last Friday, Dell employees claimed that their Twitter account has driven $3 million in sales since it was first created in 2007.

I am curious as to how Dell tracked the correlation of their Twitter activity to their additional sales.

How did they use Twitter to generate these sales? Did they Tweet about specials, direct message followers or gain new customers by finding them on Twitter?

These claims are evidence that when used effectively, Twitter can be a viable marketing tool. However, a recent poll on Linked In/Harris poll revealed that only 8% of marketing professionals and consumers think Twitter is a usefull promotional tool. Are they right or do they just not know how to leverage the SMS dispatch service effectively?

I think as more companies like Dell show off the value of Twitter, more marketers will educate themselves and adapt their marketing plans accordingly.

Tags: dell, Twitter, twitter for businesses

Myspace Users Would Rather Communicate Online Than in Person

Myspace just conducted a survey on their British user base. The results concluded that 36 percent of those between 14 and 21 felt more comfortable conversing online v.s. in person.

Nearly three-quarters of the 16,000 young people polled said they felt left out in real life – although 43 percent cited having a good group of friends as the most important factor in their future happiness.

Rebekah Horne of Myspace Europe found the results insightfull and said:

“This study shows us to what extent young people are using online as a way to explore and settle into their burgeoning identities.”

As technology moves forward, I find myself relying more and more on digital communication. I would choose an email over a phone call and a phone call over a face to face meeting any day. However, I think it is important that we hone the social skills of upcoming generations who may be too reliant on technology.

Tags: myspace, myspace Europe, myspace survey

So What is Web 2.0 Anyway?

The term web2.0 was originally presented by O’Reilly Media (A well known media company publishing books and websites on various computer technology topics). It’s a term that refers to a new generation of websites (social networking websites, wiki-based websites etc). These websites take advantage of web application technologies and give web users the ability to collaborate and share their experiences, views, opinions and interests while they surf the web.

The web2.0 is a revolutionary phenomenon. Let’s talk about the most basic characteristics of the websites using the web2.0 concept:

• A web2.0 website should be completely interactive and dynamic with a friendly user-interface based on the latest web2.0 technologies like AJAX.
• Web2.0 websites should deliver web based applications to Internet users and allowing them to make use of these applications through a web browser.
• A web2.0 website should implement social networking capabilities allowing users to interact with each other and create friend lists.
• A web2.0 website should be a democratic website where users will be able to add value by interacting with the web based application.
• A Web2.0 websites should allow it’s users to exercise various controls over the website data and content (adding/deleting/editing content).

The conclusion is that web2.0 websites are build on participatory web based applications focusing basically on user experience and collaboration.

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Tags: application, bookmarking, concept, internet, myspace, social, technologies, users, web, web2, website, youtube