Steinar Knutsen » marketing

Corporate Facebook Pages Proliferate and Attract Loyal Customer Base

Steinar — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:12:25 +0000

Corporate Facebook Pages continue to proliferate as more companies embrace the world’s largest social network and attempt to engage their market in what’s shaping up to be a very significant communications channel.

Customers who became a fan of DG on Facebook ended up being more loyal. Although they spent the same amount of money per visit, the frequency of their visits to DG increased. On an empirical scale, fans visited DG 20% more often then non-fans.

Fans were more likely to recommend DG to friends and had an average Net Promoter Score of 75, as compared to 53% for Facebook users who were not fans, and 66% for customers not on Facebook.

Fans had a higher emotional attachment to DG, 3.4 on a scale of 4, as compared to 3.0 for other customers.

via Report: Facebook Pages Create More Loyal Customers.

Personally, I have found Facebook Pages to be a great source for attracting prospects and engaging current customers. My Page has under 100 fans, yet in two months this has translated into 4 new customers.

In my experience, the best Pages have a consistent flow of content ~ maybe one new post a day. With so much activity flying by on Facebook these days, anything less frequent will be completely missed and could potentially hurt the brand. Customers like consistency and if the sign up as a fan they are relying on your brand to deliver.

How’s your company Facebook Page doing? Are fans engaging with your company on Facebook?

Measuring ROI of Online Buzz vs. Traditional Ad Campaigns

Steinar — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:21:45 +0000

No doubt, companies see the value in online buzz, but quantifying the return on investment or comparable expense vs. traditional ad campaigns has been tough for most.

Nowadays, buzz around brands on the news, blogs, tweets and other social media that spreads through product launches, PR campaigns, earnings reports are as valuable as traditional ad campaigns. But buzz and social dialogue on the web is tough to quantify. General Sentiment has released a report that calculates the dollar value of the buzz, content, and conversation taking place online.

via The Value Of Online Buzz For The Top 20 Brands

My guess is that measuring social media marketing performance will become more sophisticated over 2010 as companies make significant investment in this channel. Either in-house or through 3rd party tools, measurement systems will evolve so that tracking ROI will become more streamlined.

The bottom line is if you’re not leading the discussion in your industry online, then someone else is, so take this opportunity while the iron is hot to get involved in creating your own buzz. This doesn’t need to be an elaborate or expensive endeavor.

For starters, I suggest you use your industry knowledge and passion for your market to create new and compelling content. This could be a series of videos, an ebook, or a new podcast that engages your audience. Put yourself in your customers shoes – what message or communication would excite them and create a little buzz?

This is the approach I’ve taken with my latest video tutorial series on How to Podcast from your Mac. The response has been terrific and my videos have been picked up by a few influential leaders in the podcasting market. I’m getting new traffic to my blog, comments on Twitter and Facebook, and requests for help. It’s a simple, yet highly effective method of getting your company’s face out there and generating interest.

What do you think? How is your company building online buzz and what’s working well? Are you measuring ROI vs. traditional ad campaigns?

Facebook Via – Twitter Retweet Meets Facebook Allowing Friends to Easily Share Content

Steinar — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:55:04 +0000

It was only launched last night, but I’m already seeing use of Facebook’s new share feature or “via”. It basically allows you to share links from your friends’ posts, add your own commentary and give credit to your friend’s original post.

Generally speaking I think this will go over well, due to the limited nature of the simple “Like” feature and closed in nature of “comments.” By allowing friends to share and comment on each others’ content, Facebook is encouraging many-to-many conversations, like those taking place on Twitter.

We’ve long speculated as to when Facebook might get its own version of Twitter’s Retweet, and it appears that the time is now. This evening, the site rolled out a “via” feature that lets you repost another user’s shared items, with a “via” link attached for attribution.

via Facebook’s Version of the Retweet Has Arrived.

No doubt, anyone who owns a business should be delighted by the improvement if you’re leveraging Facebook to grow your business, since most of the updates businesses post on Facebook include a link.

What do you think? Have you tried the new “share via” features yet?

Leverage Online Video to Engage Readers, Drive Website Traffic and Differentiate Your Business (Video)

Steinar — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:11:54 +0000

YouTube has been around for years and is without question one of the best video sharing sites. Getting your video message online is a terrific method of engaging readers, driving traffic to your website, and differentiating your business. It takes practice but the payoff can be significant.

Topic Covered:

Test and gain confidence (It’s all about practice)
Use the right tools to shoot, edit, publish, promote
Using Multiple platforms to share videos online
Leveraging the network to reach a broader audience
Engaging with readers unlike text or audio content
Search engine optimization to drive traffic to your site
Mix it up with different approaches to use video.

How can you get started with video today? What holding you back? Have any success or horror stories to share?

Free Download – Internet Marketing Primer

Steinar — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:08:35 +0000

Why am I giving something away, when I could easily sell it? Frankly, I love internet marketing and I like to share my success with others to help them achieve great results for themselves.

What’s Covered?

Blogging – overcoming writer’s block, establishing rythym, WordPress, Blogger and other tools
Twitter – how to use, Tweetdeck, Tweetie and other tools
Facebook – business pages, advertising, and common questions
YouTube – getting started and video search engine optimization

Only 28 Pages – why so short? I wrote this book as a guide to help people get their head around the basic tools Internet Marketers are using today. I meet so many business people that need a simple introduction to the basics so they can get started.

So what’s the catch? Why is this completely free? Although I’m not charging any money for it, I still want something from you. If you like the book, follow me on Twitter @steinarknutsen and talk to people about it. That’s the catch.

(Internet Marketing Primer is distributed as a PDF, and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 6 or newer, unless you’ve got a Mac, in which case you just need a Mac)

Social Media Marketing Strategy – Key Considerations

Steinar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:40:15 +0000

Following is a quick overview of the key considerations for developing your business Social Media Marketing Strategy. It is in no way all inclusive, but does highlight some of the considerations important to an effective strategy.

Social Media Strategy – Key Considerations

B2B Social Media Communications Strategy

Steinar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:52:19 +0000

Q: I am working on a B2B communication Strategy and need to know IF and HOW social media is used when communicating with customers?

via LinkedIn Answers | LinkedIn

A: Social media is used for communicating with customers. There are at least two emerging trends in this area.

The first trend is to use social media to connect and engage with prospects and customers. The goal is to listen to their needs and leverage social media to build trust, credibility and rapport. This is also an opportunity to sell them products, but approach pitching your product or service with caution. Frequent selling can come across as too aggressive and may actually turn customers away.

The second trend is to use social media to monitor and respond to customer service issues. For example, you might find that customers are unhappy with a product feature. You can then ask questions for clarity and share your solution. In the very least, social media gives you a new channel to learn about issues much more quickly and cost-effectively than other approaches. Of course, this depends on your customer participation in the social network.

Hope this helps,
Steinar

Tracking Customer Conversations Across the Web

Steinar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:07:31 +0000

The topic of harnessing social media to engage with customers, share new developments and provide better service will be more important than ever in 2010. Seems like 2009 was the year that companies started to take Twitter and Facebook seriously. Now the question is “What are our customers saying and what do we do about it.”

Marketing and media relations professionals are now tasked with tracking millions of conversations, keeping an eye on which ideas are growing in influence, and then determining how to respond. But social media is not just about media anymore. The way the customer service is delivered, the way sales and hiring prospects are evaluated, and the techniques for product development are all being transformed.

via Tracking A Million Conversations – Forbes.com.

Clearly, some get this better than others. Starbucks and Zappo’s for example are fully engaging customers online and improving the products and service as a results. Starbucks has expanded it’s wifi service and added new breakfast foods to their menu, while Zappo’s employs a staff of customer service reps to monitor and track issues on Twitter.

More challenging is the need to scour the web to understand what customers are saying across multiple platforms. It’s fine to engage customers in one platform, such as Facebook, but finding customers where they hang out can be tough on the surface. In the most simple sense, RSS is the key to collecting this information, wheather it’s blog posts, forum comments, video mentions, or Tweets.

What are the best resources for a beginner of SEO ?

Steinar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:22:37 +0000

Q: What are the best resources for a beginner of SEO ?

via Discussion: Search Engine Land | LinkedIn

I recommend SEObook.com, SEOmoz.com and SearchEngineWatch.com. You can also take a professional course, such those offered at SempoInstitute.com.

If you really want hands-on training, identify a niche, conduct keyword research, and build a traffic generation strategy. Maybe set up a free WordPress or Blogger account to test various tactics you learn along the way.

At that point, you might need to consider leveraging communities or building your own and implementing a conversion strategy. Depends on your objectives – which you should clearly understand before launching an SEO campaign.

Learning the basics is pretty straightforward. The toughest part may be identifying the right long-tail keywords – if you don’t know how to do this you could potentially waste a ton of money and time with both SEO and SEM especially.

Becoming truly proficient at SEO takes time, so have some patience and learn one new tactic everyday.

Hope this helps,
Steinar

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What materials or applications would you recommend for producing podcasts and YouTube videos?

Steinar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:09:17 +0000

Q: I am working to create a YouTube channel and weekly podcast; I have been requested to put together a list of necessary materials I will need in order to do this, both on a Mac and PC platform (e.g. lighting kit, editing software, etc.). I’ve done this before, but wanted to see if anyone out there might have any specific recommendations I should be considering! via LinkedIn Answers

It depends on the context, but here is a sample of the equipment I use.

For high-definition, professional results I shoot with a Canon HG20, with either voice over or music or a USB mic. My mic of choice is the Samson Audio C01U.

For casual high-definition shoots, the Flip MinoHD could also work.

For video blog style, I use my Macbook Pro iSight, either with a mic or using the internal mic.

In all cases, I edit on my Macbook Pro with either iMovie (direct post to Youtube) or with Final Cut Express ($199).

Lighting can range from window light to $50 halogens from hardware store to professional lighting kits ranging from $50-$1000.

You can get started for a couple hundred bucks or go into the $1000′s depending on the quality desired.

Hope this helps.
-Steinar

iPhone Poised to Snap Up More Business Users?

Steinar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:51:09 +0000

Below is an interesting article from Fast Company on the growth of iPhone share among business users.

I use both the Blackberry and iPhone for business and they each have unique strengths and weaknesses. My gut tells me that Apple will continue to grow market share with outstanding customer service, ease-of-use, and the ever-growing app store on iTunes.

More iPhone business applications are coming online and it’s just a matter of time before we see significant growth in this segment. On the flip side, marketers that have yet to explore building applications of there own should strongly consider this channel as a powerful method to build market share and loyalty.

When you think of corporate smartphones, you tend to think almost automatically of RIM’s BlackBerrys–they’re solid, reliable, iconic, successful and have sewn up something like 40% of that market. The iPhone, with its glossy looks, high-tech allure, reputation as a gaming and entertainment platform and relatively high unit costs isn’t something you’d necessarily associate with a corporate environment.

via iPhone Poised to Snap Up More Business Users? | Technomix | Fast Company.

Six Social Media Trends for 2010

Steinar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:14:53 +0000

A peak at what’s to come in 2010 from Harvard Business Publishing Forum. No doubt, the past few years have been the discovery phase as businesses gear up to launch more substantial campaigns to leverage social media in years to come.

In 2009 we saw exponential growth of social media. According to Nielsen Online, Twitter alone grew 1,382% year-over-year in February, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the US for the month. Meanwhile, Facebook continued to outpace MySpace. So what could social media look like in 2010? In 2010, social media will get even more popular, more mobile, and more exclusive — at least, that’s my guess. What are the near-term trends we could see as soon as next year? In no particular order:

via Six Social Media Trends for 2010 – Conversation Starter – HarvardBusiness.org.

Keeping Momentum in Social Media

Steinar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:58:09 +0000

Here’s a good article from Corporate Executive Board on the realities and best practices of executing a social media platform in your company …

While many companies are enticed by social media, most struggle to sustain successful initiatives, particularly when it comes to utilizing new mediums to mobilize their workforce. Companies recognize social media’s potential as a powerful tool for internal communications and thus move forward yet fail to get the anticipated employee-participation levels.

via Keeping Momentum in Social Media – BusinessWeek.

In my experience it comes down to strategy & engagement. The tools and channels will change – that’s a given. It’s your strategy and the level with which you can generate buy-in that impact success.