via Forbes.com

Social media isn’t just a fad, but an entirely different way of marketing your brand to your consumer. For many business professionals, LinkedIn has been the primary social networking site used to connect with other industry professionals. LinkedIn has given people the ability to personally network with job recruiters, brands, and executives to form real connections. LinkedIn has taken business relationships online, allowing more engagement and the ability to stay connected at all times.
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Are you looking to network with like-minded people or market your business to other individuals and business owners in your area? Meetup.com may be the solution you are looking for. With over 7.5 million users, Meetup.com is a great place to meet people within any given industry. The great part about this social network is that it allows you to interact with community members online and then go meet them in the real world! Meetup.com combines the ease of social networking with the ability to join groups of people with common interests. Within these groups, people host events where you can meet community members!
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This weekend will mark the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012! We hope everyone had a great year and has big plans for 2012, as it is best to start the New Year off on the right foot! For those of you who have been following our work since the beginning, or even just recently started reading, we thank you and would like to recap our top 10 blogs of 2011 that were made possible by your views!
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Not to anyone’s surprise, Twitter has begun rolling out their version of a brand page along with a complete platform redesign. As a social media marketing manager myself, I welcome this change with open arms and cannot wait to see if and how these new pages change the Twitter landscape. Since this will be a gradual unveiling, not everyone will have access to the new pages just yet. Some of the larger corporations such as PepsiCo, McDonalds, Jet Blue and several others have been given the chance to use the new layout, so we will use their redesigned pages to explain what new features you can expect to see.
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Several weeks ago, I wrote a blog about a program called Convofy, which at the time, seemed like a very useful tool for businesses. Its design and usability mimicked Facebook, and its functionality resembled Google Docs. However, over time I have been noticing that Google+ has been implementing features that seem to be differentiating it from Facebook in a profound way. Since Google+ launched, there has been an ongoing question of who will inevitably take the title as “King of Social Media,” but what if that isn’t the case? Google+ seems to be veering off the road Facebook has paved to possibly focus on practical social media use within a business, not just the personal and brand social communities.
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In the past, our Social Media Spotlight series has shown how companies use social media to market to their consumers in a more efficient way, but what happens when a freelancer needs to pay the bills? This week we are proud to introduce Parker Detchon, a freelance digital filmmaker based in Venice, California. Parker, who for the last 4 years has worked with various clients from VH1, MTV, National Lampoon, Break Media and The Ski Channel to individual clients, like aspiring actors and directors. Parker is, well let’s face it, he is a one man band. His skill set allows him to not only write a script and edit the final product, but also direct the actors and shoot the video. He is what Hollywood would call a “preditor,” a producer, director, and editor. Parker also understands that his work includes not only figuring out the clients’ wants, but what they need. Here’s what Parker had to say:

What social media platforms do you currently use?
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Okay, so the title was a little fabrication to grab your attention. It worked, just like how a properly designed social media campaign should entice your consumer to engage with your brand. Although there is no easy way to design a social media marketing campaign, we will cover some of the steps needed to be taken when considering what you will need for such an initiative. Planning a campaign takes time, patience and a true understanding of where you want to take your brand.

The first step towards designing a social media plan of attack is understanding your target market. Since your company is already up and running, your target market should already be established. If for some reason a target market has not been decided, it is best that you do that now. Right now. Pause reading this, and come back after you have targeted a demographic.
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In this week’s edition of our Social Media Spotlight, we would like to present a company located in Fairfield, CT, Devan Infiniti. Automobile dealerships may find social media networks as a valuable tool in gaining customer feedback, as well as informing potential clients of upcoming specials. Devan Infiniti has grown a well-known and credible reputation in Fairfield County while continuing to provide an experience that will last a lifetime to car buyers. We had the pleasure to speak with Rachael Workman, Internet Sales Manager for Devan Infiniti, about their social media efforts.

What social media platforms do you currently use?

R: We use Facebook, Twitter and PR.com for press releases to re-direct traffic from searches to social media. YouTube is a still a consideration at this point. Continue reading…

Just like when anything has a rise in popularity, those sticking to their guns on the sidelines always have to raise controversy. So now that social media is the newest and hottest form of marketing and advertising, that must mean there is a bubble? A social media bubble you say? Like the dot-com bubble, right? Wrong. I mean, everyone is entitled to their own opinions on the validity or effectiveness of using social media. Most common arguments claim you can’t measure ROI, or that social media relationships are fake, or whatever people will say to negate the power of social media. The arguments are a dime a dozen and rarely backed with any good juicy information. I also read an article about this “social media bubble” on the Harvard Business Review, stating social media is creating artificial connections. This article is to those skeptics who see no true value in social media and or claim there is a “bubble” inflating…

Now I am not trying to call out this one article in particular, it is very well written with great points. The writer may just lack further insight into social media as a whole, as most of his arguments are based on opinion. Continue reading

Social media marketing expands far beyond target based advertisements. Of course, the goal of any social media campaign is to market your product or service to a certain demographic, increase sales and not become a nuisance to the general public. But before you can actively and effectively begin to market your company to the consumer, you need to build a network, a proverbial web, to attract and catch your next paying customer.

Imagine your company’s social media campaign as a spider. You start from Point A, which is your present social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your blog, etc., and begin to spread outwards to Point B. Creating this first connection takes time and effort, but will soon pay off. Networking is crucial in not only the increased following of your social network, but also the expansion of your brand’s name throughout the web. The more sites people see either linking to or from your social networks, the more credible you become. Continue reading…