12:54 pm in status by Michelle Dunn
In 2010 I am stepping up my online presence, and attending more virtual events and joining and networking on social networks to save on expenses and travel.
If anyone wants to connect on other social networks, please join me on
LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/creditmd
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/DunnMich
1:06 pm in status by Michelle Dunn
Join me!
Michelle Dunn on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/creditmd
Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/DunnMich
12:54 pm in post by Greg Krivicich
Does Marketing Your Business on Facebook Increase your Slice of the Cake?
By Addy Dugdale, Fast Company
So, you’ve got your own business and you wonder whether promoting it on social media is worth its while, or just a waste of time. Utpal M. Dholakia, associate professor of marketing at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business is probably the best-placed person to answer that question. He set up a Facebook page for Dessert Gallery, a popular café in Houston, and found customers way more eager to respond when social media became part of a marketing campaign.
7:29 am in Uncategorized by Greg Krivicich
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
By Doris Hajewski
MILWAUKEE – Kohl’s online customers would like free shipping on all of their purchases. And the right people at Kohl’s know it.
That’s because free shipping is a constant request from some of the retailer’s 725,000-plus fans on the social-media Web site Facebook.
In the six months since Kohl’s Corp. made its debut on Facebook, the department-store chain has amassed one of the largest fan bases among retailers and is part of a trend that has more consumer businesses using free social-media Web sites.
“Social media is becoming the way you connect with your customer,” said Bill Emerson, a former retail executive who heads Emerson Advisors in West Palm Beach, Fla. “Big retailers are getting on to this.”
A new poll conducted by BIGresearch for Shop.org, a retail trade group, found that 47 percent of online retailers will increase their use of social media during the coming holiday season. Sixty percent said they had added or improved their Facebook and Twitter pages this year.
Kohl’s, based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., ranks fourth among retailers in the number of fans on Facebook, after Starbucks, with almost 5 million fans; Victoria’s Secret, with more than 2.1 million fans; and Best Buy, with about 844,000.
“Kohl’s Facebook page gives our customers a place to interact, share stories and celebrate Kohl’s great values and savings tools,” said Vicki Shamion, the company’s vice president of public relations.
For the holiday season, Kohl’s will change the look of its Facebook page to match its ad campaign. In addition, the company will place merchandise giveaways on popular consumer blogs.
Shoppers who sign up as fans on retail Web sites often express their love for the company. But many also use the sites to complain.
Kohl’s has a team in its marketing department assigned to monitor the site and respond to customers. In some cases, they deal with complaints, or agree to pass them on. Like this one from customer Cheryl Gordon:
“Dear Kohl’s – can you make your online shopping cart hold your contents for more than 5 minutes before auto-dumping it? … It’s very discouraging when you spend 30 minutes or longer putting an order together, walk away for 5 minutes, come back to find your cart says $0. With a company this size, surely you have a techie that can extend the cart life to an hour, a day, or longer.”
Allowing criticisms to remain on a companysponsored Web page isn’t a negative, said Emerson, the retail analyst.
“Some research showed you do more business even with bad news than if you don’t do anything,” he said.
People who are unhappy about something a retailer did or failed to do will complain anyway, often on personal Web sites, Emerson said. “The idea is you begin to har ness some of that conversation and control it.”
Best Buy is held up by social-media experts as an example of how to use Facebook as a business tool. The Minneapolis-based electronics retailer has customerservice employees who are dedicated to responding to customers on the site.
“When social media started, retailers hoped it would be a way to sell,” said Ellen Davis, a vice president of public relations at the National Retail Federation. But at the moment, most retailers are using it as a branding tool and a way to call out sales.
Social media also is a way for retailers to save money while they communicate, experts say.
Because they are free, social-media sites are used by retail businesses of all sizes and types.
Murf’s Frozen Custard in Brookfield, Wis., has 299 fans on Facebook who take advantage of alerts about the restaurant’s Facebook Freebie of the week.
Facebook fans
The number of fans for various retailers on Facebook:
Starbucks: 4,977,000
Victoria’s Secret: 2,140,000
Best Buy: 844,000
Kohl’s: 725,000
Target: 571,000
Abercrombie & Fitch: 519,000
Express: 122,000
Bath & Body Works: 118,000
The Limited: 18,000
Source: Facebook
2:56 pm in Uncategorized by Greg Krivicich
1:31 pm in Uncategorized by Greg Krivicich
By Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Ford Motor has high hopes for Fiesta, a popular model abroad launching in the U.S. next year.
So how does it introduce the subcompact car to Americans? A massive ad blitz on TV? In-house promotions at dealers nationwide?
Nope.
In April, Ford tapped 100 top bloggers and gave them a Fiesta for six months. The catch: Once a month, they’re required to upload a video on YouTube about the car, and they’re encouraged to talk — no holds barred — about the Fiesta on their blogs, Facebook and Twitter.
“It’s extremely important to this company’s history,” says Scott Monty, whose job as head of social media at Ford was created about a year ago to take advantage of the growing social-networking wave. “It’s about culture change and adapting to this ongoing way of communicating. The bloggers are fully free to say what they want.”
Social-media services, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless other websites, have had a profound effect on how millions of Americans — especially those under 35 — interact with others (or don’t), shop and view brands. It’s a real-time digital lifestyle, powered by smartphones and netbooks, that often colors what products they purchase, how they view brands and where they spend most of their waking hours.
Marketers have noticed. Social-networking services increasingly are indispensable business tools, says Forrester Research. According to its survey of 1,217 business decision makers worldwide late last year, 95% use social networks to some extent.
And 53% of more than 300 marketers planned to increase social-media marketing spending this year, according to a Forrester presentation in April.
For entire article: Click here
2:10 pm in Uncategorized by Greg Krivicich
Have you joined Auttr yet? Who would have ever thought that a web site that aims to connect people would be such a hit with auto dealers from around the country? What’s more, there are other social networks such as: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Business-wise, this means that you have a huge potential market in social networking web sites. Making your marketing strategy easier is the fact that there are several built-in applications that you can use to promote your products and services within the social networking web sites. To give you an idea, read below:
1. You can communicate with other members. People will always be hungry of information, whether it is about auto dealers, cars, or even your business. Post messages that can be read by friends, and if it is good, they will pass your message on to other people. Simply put, joining a social network can offer you a effective free publicity.
2. You can set up groups. Do you have a good idea about the auto industry? Set up an online group at your chosen social networking website. Those who have interest in what you are offering will likely join. You can update them about your business, share more information, or invite them to your mailing list, which then allows you to communicate with them through future marketing campaigns.
3. You can build up your authoritative character. Why are some products successfully sold every day? Well, it only proves that in business, it’s how you present your services and products to the market. There are a number of social networking web sites, such as Auttr, that have message boards that you can participate in. If you check on them, there could be some questions that you are relevant to your chosen niche. You can share your knowledge and expertise to others, thereby increasing your reputation as an authority in your own field.
4. They are free. Social networking web sites can save your business hundreds of dollars in advertising costs and yet be able to reach out to many people. Most of these social networking web sites, if not all, are completely free. All you need to do is to sign up.
5. You can choose your friends. If you’re using social networking sites to gain contacts, you might as well choose your friends. Fortunately, you can narrow them down by using the various options like those available in Auttr. You can identify the profiles of your potential market as well.
———-
Greg Krivicich is President of the Marcy Design Group, Inc. Marcy Design provides professional web site services such as design, production, programming and marketing for businesses and organizations.
