Social Media: Green Social Media Positions Are Easy to Fill... For Now

Social Media Marketing has been all the rage for two years or more now, and is slowly being adopted into the mainstream. Mainstreaming SMM will have several efffects, one of which will be the increasing difficulty to find quality employees.

It's still early in both SMM and green commerce. Hundreds, if not thousands, of marketing employees are fed up with the eco disasters of their past and present employers. As more green companies seek out social media marketers, we'll see a vast array of employee options. Everyone looking to champion a company they can believe in will jump on that bandwagon as soon as they can. Which will inevitably lead to the plateau.

Online Marketing: How Many Domain Extensions Should I Purchase?

Registering additional domain extensions can seem superfluous. Why buy what you won't use? Why not save even that small amount and spend it on something that leads to trackable ROI?

If you are making a name for yourself on the Web, or have ANY ambitions to do so, you will eventually draw someone's attention. That's the whole point, right? And in drawing attention, it is a mathematical certainty that you will draw a percentage of negative attention and/or competition.

Online Marketing: Should I Redirect My Extra Domains?

We've encountered our fair share of people who buy domains like they're hot cakes (I "may" be a little guilty of said compulsion myself). They do so without any real active strategy in place for using them. The most common reason is that they've noticed a new competitor or two using keyword-rich domains and begin wondering what else is available out there. They do some digging, and realize that they could have 20 more keyword-rich domain competitors by next week.

So you (I mean "they") buy one, ten, or twenty domains. You feel a sense of satisfaction from having ripped the opportunity straight out of the clutches of unforseen competitors, only to realize you now own valuable real estate and maybe have no clear plan to use them. I've heard questions like, "Should I copy my website onto each domain?" or "Should I redirect all of these other domains to my main website?" or "Should I just create a dozen splash pages?"

Social Media: "The Twelve Days of Christmas" - Social Media Style!

On the first day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Killer links from @jowyang for me to see. 



On the second day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the third day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the fourth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Four useful tweets,

Three super-pokes,

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.



On the fifth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Five blog comments, 

Four useful tweets,

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the sixth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Six new RSS feeds, 

Five blog comments,

Four useful tweets, 

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the seventh day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Seven status comments,

Six new RSS feeds, 

Five blog comments,

Four useful tweets, 

Three super-pokes,

Two useless MySpace surveys,
and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the eighth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Eight friends-a-“friending”, 

Seven status comments,

Six new RSS feeds,

Five blog comments,

Four useful tweets, 

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the ninth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me

Nine viral videos, 

Eight friends-a-“friending”,

Seven status comments, 

Six new RSS feeds,

Five blog comments,

Four useful tweets, 

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the tenth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Ten new Twitter applications, 

Nine viral videos, 

Eight friends-a-“friending”, 

Seven status comments, 

Six new RSS feeds,

Five blog comments, 

Four useful tweets, 

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.



On the eleventh day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me 

Eleven bloggers-blogging, 

Ten new Twitter applications, 

Nine viral videos, 

Eight friends-a-“friending”, 

Seven status comments, 

Six new RSS feeds, 

Five blog comments,

Four useful tweets, 

Three super-pokes,

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, 

social media sent to me

Twelve “epic fail” links,

Eleven bloggers-blogging, 

Ten new Twitter applications, 

Nine viral videos,

Eight friends-a-“friending”,

Seven status comments,

Six new RSS feeds, 

Five blog comments, 

Four useful tweets,

Three super-pokes, 

Two useless MySpace surveys, 

and killer links from @jowyang for me to see.

From MarketNet.com - Happy Holidays Everyone! =)

Social Media: 3 Types of Twitter Marketing Campaigns

After reading my last post, 5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Twitter, you may be chomping at the bit to create your Twitter profile and get started connecting with others. But before you do, a word of caution: There are at least three unique approaches to corporate Twittering, and careful consideration is necessary before launching out into full-fledged Twitter marketing. The #1 most common mistake companies make in regards to social media and search marketing is launching half-baked strategies. This usually occurs when a senior level executive learns of a hot new technology and impulsively decides that the company must have a presence there ASAP.

To avoid wasted efforts and reputation snafus, let's review each approach first and make you aware of the pros and cons to each BEFORE you staff up or hire an agency. Once you are equipped to make an informed decision, your chances of success exponentially increase.

Social Media: 5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Twitter

There are at least a dozen reasons why your company should twitter. I'm going to focus on five of those here, and hopefully open the doors to further discussion in the near future.

Reason #1: Immediacy
Think of the benefits of immediate access to your target audience and customers. Announce product recalls and avoid lawsuits. Answer customer questions on the spot. Engage with non-followers who mention your product, company, or competitors. Reward followers with incentives. Announce sales and links to quarterly earnings. Immediacy means the power to reach your audience now.

Mobile Technologies: What Is Your Delivery Strategy For Mobile Devices?

The beginning of a multi-part observation and analysis on emerging trends in Mobile Devices presented by MarketNet . . .

Some 40 plus years since its origin, Moore’s Law is alive and well. For those of you not familiar with it, Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, postulated around 1965 that “[the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits would double every year]”. This was later revised to every 18 months, but is still remarkable that with all the breakthroughs and advances in the evolution of IC technology over this period, the Law still holds true and shows no indications of being broken in the near future. One might conclude this is a fact of life.

How this Law impacts daily life can be measured in so many different ways. Simply pause reading right now and take stock of your surroundings. Odds are you have some device in the room where you are that utilizes digital technology; a clock, sensor, communication device, etc.  These devices are smaller and more powerful than what were commonly available 18 months ago. Need more evidence? You are probably reading this on a flat screen computer monitor. Think of what the flat screen’s predecessor looked and performed like 18 months ago. Look farther and think back three or six years ago. Rather impressive, wouldn’t you agree? Now I want you to imagine three to six years in the future.  What does this vision hold for you?  A palm sized device that could also project a high resolution image perhaps?  Or how about a Heads Up Display (HUD) on your hybrid’s windshield, which is integrated into your GPS giving you real time driving directions, restaurant options, etc.  Well, perhaps not that far in three years.   But in both instances web content would easily be important considerations for their use.

If you find yourself thinking something like “While technologists and device manufacturers might find all this fascinating, why is this important to me?” Let me ask you to bear in mind one specific example used earlier: mobile devices.

I am willing to venture that since you are reading this article you have some role in the creation and or evolution of a web presence. And that probably involves sprucing up, enhancing, or even a complete redesign of that presence. You may even be looking at options for establishing an online site built from the ground up. If any of these are true, and if your goal is to improve or begin communicating your company’s or brand’s message interactively, then considerations for mobile devices should be a top priority. It is very important to understand the impact and proliferation of mobile devices, especially when Moore’s Law is applied to a common economic principle:  As technology becomes cheaper, faster and standardized, consumers will be more likely to procure and use it.

Even though the future penetration for mobile devices and data consumption is yet to be determined, especially when it comes to market projections about the US, one thing is certain: the cost of getting this technology into the hands of the average consumer has dropped. Contemplate how Apple led the way this year when they released their second generation iPhone and cut prices by 200 dollars over the original model. Since then other carriers have slashed prices on similar devices (RIM’s Blackberry devices on Verizon, Google’s Android on T Mobile and Samsung on Sprint to name a few) in time for this holiday shopping season. 

When comparisons are made of the mobile device industry with such recent technologies as home computers and music devices (DVD and MP3 players), one can easily draw the parallels: once a technology is established and the price reaches a certain ‘widely accepted’ threshold, consumers adopt it. Mobile devices may well be reaching that level for the masses. However, as Michael Mace reported at Mobile Opportunity, only about 35% of the consumer base in the US market will be willing to pay for these data streaming mobile devices. Still a large target audience, but those numbers may change over time due to Moore’s Law . However, once those targeted 35% do decide on a carrier and model, more and more web sites will be visited. Now you can see why planning for this is so important.

The questions are flowing aren’t they?

•  What type of sites are people typically looking at when they browse on a mobile device?

•  What browsing needs have to be met when considering mobile devices? 

•  Does one architecture platform meet those needs?

•  Are there any standards in place and are they easily adopted?

We’ll begin delving into these and other questions beginning in Part 2.  In the mean time, as you continue to pull up pages on your browser, begin thinking of the sites you visit in terms of smaller scale. What do you assume it will take to insure the information you seek and are searching for could be presented on a much smaller screen?

Steve Hartline
Quality Assurance
MarketNet, Inc.

Social Media: Online Marketing Strategies in a Down Retail Market

Retail sales are down significantly - as referenced in this jaw-dropping article from Bloomberg.com. This is a challenge not only for brick-and-mortar stores, but retail E-commerce sites as well.  Consumers dealing with next to impossible economic times, and the startling news that US unemployment rates are at a 14-year high of 6.5%, is putting the crunch not only on how much money consumers choose to spend, but who they will be shopping with as the holiday season approaches.

Excerpt from the Bloomberg article:
``The Christmas season looks to be the worst in memory, you'd have to go back at least to the '81-'82 recession period,'' Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics LLC, said today in a Bloomberg Radio interview. ``You're going to have to do above and beyond to stimulate the consumer to come into your store this year.''

Not only will physical retailers have to "do above and beyond to stimulate the customer to coming to your store this year," online retailers are facing the same challenges as well.  This is now beyond "competition" for online retailers - this is approaching tactical warfare to garner consumers' spending dollars online.  In these dire conditions, let's explore what online retailers can do to facilitate success, while keeping marketing tactics to a reasonable expense rate, open up a new channel in which to market, and most importantly, ROI:

Embrace Social Networking Communities

Research suggests that approximately one-third of large US retailers are actively participating in social networking communities, such as Facebook.com.  This begs the question - why aren't the other two-thirds using this new medium to communicate to potential consumers?  Is it a lack of knowledge, a fear of the unknown, or concerns over cheapening a "brand?"  Only the stores and brands can answer these questions, but I'll give you one very strong argument as to why they should - it's a FREE platform for tactical marketing.  Where out-of-pocket funds are needed is to partner with an Interactive Marketing firm with a full grasp of the communication medium itself in conjunction with E-Commerce expertise.

If you focus only on Facebook (to start), you're looking at a "captured" audience of over 36 MILLION US visitors alone.  This is a site that is ranked at #5 of the most trafficked sites on the Internet according to Alexa.com.  How can retailers afford NOT to look at an opportunity like this?

Facebook is not for kids.  Facebook is not just for college students.  In 2008, new users have flocked to Facebook in droves.  CEOs, Moms, Dads, people rekindling friendships, and many more diverse demographic profiles are now using Facebook on a DAILY basis. 

Ideas are being exchanged.  Discussions are being facilitated.  Opinions based on peer input are being formed.  Chances are, your store or brand is already in the massive flow of conversations and information exchange. By not participating in social networking communities like Facebook, you are simply not doing your job as an online marketer to your full capabilities. 

Steps To a Successful Social Network Presence:

1.  Give Users What They Want - Not What YOU Want Them to Want. 
Consumers in these economic times are basing their buying behaviors on value proposition alone.  Forget the brand name, forget the cache' of a store name - it all comes down to the value proposition.  And that's not to be interpreted as a marketing tactic - it is a harsh reality that consumers have little in the way of discretionary spending this year (and next at best).  Instead of holding your hand out for revenue, extend your hand out to assist users with wise buying decisions, and ways to spread their limited spending to the fullest potential.  The more you "give back" to the communities, the more you will be embraced.

2.  Go Viral with Little Effort
As you give back to the community, the community responds by telling their group of peers what they like and dislike.  Positioning your product sales from a value proposition point of view is not only topical, but informative.  Information is viral - people want information, not marketing slogans.  As information is distributed out, community users show a tendency to distribute the information further, far beyond your direct reach.

3.  Reuse Existing Creative Assets
If you are an online retailer, you most likely have a great amount of creative imagery and messaging in which you can reuse to create your own profile.  After your profile is established, continue to update it as frequently as you do your own web site, to give people a reason to come back and visit you more often.

4.  Start a Conversation with Your Consumer Base
Social networking is not a traditional online marketing channel by any means.  It is imperative that a two-way dialogue is established from day one.  Again, when you "give" to the community, the more the community will give back.  Ask for thoughts on your products.  Ask for ways to improve customer service.  Encourage a dialogue on a topic that relates to your business - but that extends beyond only your company.  People love to express themselves, love it when others take their opinions and ideas into consideration, and appreciate those that take the time to facilitate such a dialogue.

5.  Market Your Products with Tact
Marketing within a social networking environment is a careful balance of informing users of the value of your products, with no hard sell.  Offering a private sale / discount code for community users encourages conversation as it becomes a special offer just for them, and if compelling enough, will carry enough merit so that the community spreads the promotion to their friends.  And on, and on, and on.

Facebook is simply one example of many social networking sites that offers a tremendous marketing value to stores and brands.  Your investment is time, not hard dollars.  Social networks such as Facebook are giving retailers unprecedented and very personal reach to users.  Take advantage of said opportunities, but remember - do not attempt to take advantage of the community.  Those who push hard marketing tactics after establishing a following will find that the reaction from the community is negative, and the viral nature of such networks and communities are not to be underestimated when it comes to sharing exactly how they feel about doing business with you to their friends and family.

In closing, to execute a sound social networking strategy, look towards partners that truly understand online retailing AND this new marketing medium.  It is imperative to your online reputation to execute your new efforts flawlessly, as there is absolutely no room for error where constant conversations take place.  Skilled interactive agencies provide a way to provide your business with a seamless brand transition to online communities through communication strategies, programming in special markup languages for maximum visual impact, and ongoing strategic tactics to insure that your brand integrity is insured.

Matthew Brown
Senior Director of E-Commerce
MarketNet, Inc.

Usability: Top 4 Reasons Why Addressing Web Accessibility Is Important

Whether or not you have (or realize you have) disabled visitors to your web presence, the chances are that web accessibility is more important to the performance of your site than you realize.

1. Everyone has a blind visitor to their site, and his name is Google.
The exact same strategies you can implement on your site to make it accessible to blind visitors almost always helps your organic search engine positioning. Insuring that images have relevant ALT attributes, descriptive TITLE tags, and using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for formatting rather than inline markup, all make your site far easier to use for disabled visitors, and also enhance your position with search results.

2. Accessible web sites have a larger audience
Making a web site accessible to a wide variety of devices usually also makes it accessible to a wide variety of browsers. Nothing is more frustrating than having to shut down your preferred web browser, and re-visit a site in another one so that it will operate properly. This can be so frustrating, in fact, that most visitors won't do it - they'll find a site that works in their preferred browser.

3. "Accessibility" is about more than disabled visitors.
Making a web site "accessible" also makes it available to devices other than traditional browsers. The concept of a "site visit" has changed. "Visits" could entail reading your content from an RSS reader, from a third party site that aggregates content, or from a cell phone or other mobile device. Mobile devices in particular are growing faster than any other browsing sector, and this should be on the mind of every web site developer with a forward-thinking strategic outlook.

4. Protection from lawsuits
The very last thought that many website owners have is about being sued for the way there website is produced. It's certainly rare, but it has happened, and it was not just little "mom & pop" e-commerce sites (although they are the most popular target) that were the object of legal action. Target, Inc. is the largest company ever to settle one of these lawsuits for SIGNIFICANT cash damages.

At this point, you either agree that web accessibility is important, or you don't. Even if you do, however, you are likely thinking that this kind of development is expensive and time consuming, and nothing could be further from the truth.

When a project is planned from the very beginning to be accessible (changes late in the process are always expensive), accessible development is often cheaper. Accessible websites are far, far easier to maintain (because they separate your content from the presentation), so costs over the course of ownership of the site are lower, too.  With the added benefit of increased organic search engine visibility, it's truly a win-win situation.

Matt Cave
Director of Application Development
MarketNet

About MarketNet:

As a full-service interactive design and development company serving the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex, MarketNet is driven by an experienced team of strategists, designers, programmers, information architects, web developers and search marketing experts.

At MarketNet, it’s our philosophy to partner with our clients to gain an in-depth understanding of their business, industry, and long- and short-term goals.

With this collaborative approach, we are equipped with the knowledge that provides our clients with effective solutions and creates long-lasting relationships.

E-commerce: Five Tips To Successful Online Retail in a Down Economy

This blog post is short and sweet as the holidays are approaching, and we're almost at the end of the runway when it comes to successful holiday planning.  Below is a list of ideas that should help you in these tough times, and potentially allow you to see gains during Q4 that you've been looking forward to from a sales goal perspective all year long.