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What Marketers Are Saying About Social Media

by Daria Steigman on January 22, 2010

Want to know how communicators are using social media? You could pose a question on Twitter or you could do a deep dive. MarketingProfs did the latter, surveying 4,763 marketers and others managing communications for their organizations. That included 3,285 who specifically said they are responsible for social media.

I don’t have a copy of The State of Social Media Marketing, but I did get a peak at some of the findings. There is some great data here:

  • 48.2 percent said their organizations have a social media presence. They are typically companies that have “very little to hide.” Companies in industries with strict regulations and major repercussions for leaking information (think drug makers, bankers, insurers) are less visible.
  • 60.8 percent who do social media said that it is not part of their job description.
  • Social media isn’t cheap: Most of those doing social media are mid- or senior-level people.
  • 48.8 percent said their company has no official social media policy; 12 percent said they have a restrictive one.
  • There is a correlation between culture and the success of a company’s marketing efforts. Employees who blog (independently) can spark new ideas and increase prestige.
  • All the measurement tools are helpful, but incomplete. For example, 52.8 percent of those surveyed said that paid analytics tools are “helpful but incomplete” (versus 66.1 percent of those using Google and other free tools). And approximately one-third of respondents (33.6 percent) said that the paid tools “enable perfect tracking” (versus 28.1 percent for those using free tools).

There is also a lot of data about the disconnects between the tactics people use a lot (i.e., what’s popular) and the tactics that are most effective. For example, the most used tactics on Twitter are driving traffic (72.1 percent) and driving sales (54.2 percent)—how’s that worked out for you lately? In contract, the most effective Twitter tactics cited involved two-way communications strategies and monitoring for PR problems in real time.

Photo by webtreats (Flickr).

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Don’t Know What to Blog About? 104 Ideas.

by Daria Steigman on January 13, 2010

Don’t know what to blog about today? Well, Lisa Barone has come up with a solution. In a post for Small Business Trends, she identifies 104 topics covering your industry, your business, your customers, going social, and getting to know you.

The focus is small business–but Barone’s list is equally applicable to bigger organizations. Check it out here and get inspired all over again.

Photo by lilit (Flickr).

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Is Collaborative Blogging Right for Your Business?

by Daria Steigman on January 12, 2010

wordle_collaborative bloggingMy friend and uber-trainer Lee Watts asked me the other day about collaborative blogs. His idea is to bring together several colleagues in related fields (i.e., sports performance, nutrition, physical therapy, and so forth) to create a broader and more dynamic go-to resource. His question got me thinking about the broader pros and cons of collaborative blogs. Clearly, it’s a good idea for some businesses–but not necessarily for everyone.

There are definitely some benefits to having a collaborative blog, including:

  • potentially richer content across a sector, industry, or profession
  • you aren’t responsible for all the content
  • there are more people to share the posting load (which is exponentially more valuable when the primary posters aren’t natural writers)
  • the potential to attract a more diverse audience drawn in by one or more of the key areas of expertise

But there are also some downsides:

  • your company loses its unique branding
  • loss of control over the content (versus having your own blog)
  • you gain responsibility for bad content, but without the ability to remove it (i.e., whatever is on your collaborative blog reflects on your brand)
  • there’s a danger of losing blog focus
  • it’s harder to fire someone if they’re producing badly written or dull content

My recommendation: Keep your own blog and use guest posts to beef up your content and create opportunities for cross-blog collaboration. This will allow you to (1) keep your branding intact while showcasing your broader referral network; and (2) guest post to other blogs (and expand your visibility with new audiences). The exceptions: If you believe your area of expertise is too narrow to sustain a blog or you are unlikely to post at regular intervals.

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Blogging for Business Value

by Daria Steigman on June 4, 2009

Have you ever wondered why a growing number of small businesses are investing time and resources into starting and maintaining a blog?

My latest column for CW Bulletin is out, and the topic is blogging for business value. While there is no magic formula for business success, a well-written, well-focused blog can be an effective way of promoting yourself by adding value for your multiple stakeholders.

The column looks at three key reasons why, if you don’t have one, you might want to consider starting a business blog:

  • content
  • thought leadership
  • street cred

Plus it features insights from Marc Meyer and A.J. Leon, both of whom know a little something about successful business blogging.

Read the column here, then come back and let’s talk about why you are (or aren’t) blogging for your business.

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Small Business Taps Into Social Media

by Daria Steigman on April 16, 2009

A recent study on social media trends offers some useful insights on small business use of social media. The top line findings–that Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, and Facebook are marketers’ preferred social media tools–is pretty predicable. But it’s some of the other data that offers a good reminder of why business owners need to understand, and consider using, social media.

According to the Social Media Marketing Industry Report, business owners were more likely to use social media tools than people working for someone else. And more and more of us are incorporating social media into our marketing mix. The report finds that business owners of companies with 2-100 employees tended to be earlier adopters than our sole proprietor brethren–but more of them are joining the social media ranks every day.

Business owners reported that social media has led to:

  • more exposure for their business
  • improved Web traffic
  • new partnerships
  • better search engine rankings
  • leads and new business

The report also contains a useful Top 10 list of questions people want answered about social media. They’re worth keeping in mind when considering your own use of social media or if you’re trying to convince a client to add a social media component to their marketing strategy.

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