This weekend, I was presented with a unique twist on this phrase.  As I was running errands on Saturday morning, I pulled into the local gasoline station for a fill up. Since I live in New Jersey, I get to pop the release on the gas tank cover, roll down my window and say “Fill it up regular, please” and the gent at the pump does the rest. While this is transpiring, another tidily dressed gent greets me with a smile and informs me that they are doing safety checks on windshields, and he proceeds to check mine.  I recently had a chip filled in, which is covered by my insurance, but he found another one which he showed me.

He then said that he could fix it while my gas was being pumped, and that it would be covered by my insurance company, with no problems.  Somehow, I must have agreed, because the next thing you know, he was doing his magic on the ding, calling my insurance company, and presenting me with the receipt. This took no longer than 10 minutes, the first few while my tank was filling.

I mentioned to him when the transaction was completed, that his business model was a good one. He smiled, said he wished he had thought of it, and moved on to the next car.

Thinking about this later, I marveled at the simplicity of the idea.  Where do people with cars go, especially on a Saturday morning while running errands? Fixing those windshield dings is something that often is only thought about when you get in the car, see the ding one more time, and tell yourself that you need to schedule that repair. Most times it is covered by insurance, as it is much less expensive to fix the ding than to replace the windshield.

That company is not on Twitter or Facebook, but they were at the gas station, where some of their customers were on Saturday morning. That is social media marketing that works!

Photo Credit:  http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1261883

Regina Sillitti is Project Coordinator for Dinkum Interactive. She has worked in programming, design, business analysis and quality assurance. Her background in design and data processing give her a unique perspective on client - tech translation. You can reach her at regina@dinkuminteractive.com, or find her on Twitter, @ReginaSillitti.

Lesson One: Think of Social Media As Public

Social media platforms, including Twitter, are about networking and you should consider the content you post as broadcasting. It’s like TV or radio but without producers and editors and you never know who might be viewing your posts/tweets/comments. Even direct messages (DM) intended for two people can be forwarded or leaked. It seems Weiner made a typo between @ and D that led to the public broadcast of the photo but this content should never have been sent using this platform. The first social media lesson: think of social media as public.

Lesson Two: Be Thoughtful About What You Post

In this social media age, everyone is a brand and you can easily trash your reputation by posting content that’s inappropriate, stupid, or ridiculous. Don’t post for the sake of posting. Even though it’s easy to come up with 140 characters, be thoughtful about what you put out there. When you post, ask yourself ‘Am I adding value?’ Most people don’t care what you ate for dinner, that you’re travelling to the airport, or that your dog enjoyed a walk around the park. Be judicious and discerning about your content. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be yourself or be engaged, just be smart about it. The second social media lesson: add value.

Lesson Three: Imagine Yourself Getting Caught

If in doubt, imagine yourself getting caught. This is a handy test in many situations. Before pressing ‘post’ or ‘send’, ask yourself how you’d feel if your private email/tweet/comment went public and viral. There have been cases in which disgruntled employees have written tirades against colleagues that have been sent around corporations. It’s not only people in the media spotlight that need to consider what they’re writing and posting. It’s everyone. A good test is to imagine your content being shared to a wide audience. If in doubt, delete. The third lesson: imagine yourself getting caught.

Social media is a firm part of the new landscape and when used properly, it’s a terrific tool. But as the Weiner case study shows, you can get it horribly wrong. Learn from his mistake.

Photo Credit:  http://www.sxc.hu/photo/596909

Jennifer Fleming is Specialist Content Writer at Dinkum Interactive. With a background in journalism, Jennifer is a best-selling writer, writing coach and media strategist. You can reach her at jennifer@dinkuminteractive.com.

The types of questions the folks asked who had assembled there were relevant and indicated an understanding of the interrelation between Marketing and Social Media. The most interesting one to me was a guy who was working with a sizable firm and he wanted to know how to get management to consider a venture into social media as part of the overall marketing plan. After some discussion the panel came up with this:  every company needs to step up and take charge of their obligation to be a part of society and the tools available with social media allows – no encourages – no mandates that companies now do this.

The mix of tools can be resolved for the company by where their customers are, but the decision to participate or not should never be the issue – the issue should be how, why, what to measure and my favorite – to what end.

It is time to think about social media not as a stand alone or separate outreach, but as part of an overall marketing strategy. The question should never be about convincing someone they should consider the new tools – it should be which of these tools make the most sense.

Never before has there been so many choices for marketers and yet decisions are slow to evolve. Is it because some wish for the good old days when the company was in charge? Is it fear, or is it that companies do not know what to expect and therefore opt out.

The discussions will take place whether you participate or not – it can be fun and highly rewarding if done correctly – take the time to plan a strategy for marketing that includes listening and engagement – you ignore at your own peril.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

Something I do understand is Search Marketing which has its own set of justification requirements, some of which carry over to measuring Social. Fortunately, to a certain extent, Search is a much easier activity to demonstrate value even though questions still arise and the gap that exists with the data is still problematic. So I understand Social Media to be an even tougher challenge. In thinking about the “proof” that many ask of Social Media Marketing, even if you’re just dipping your toes into this brave new world, I can see a few key areas that you should pay attention to.

Listen – this has to be the primary reason for adopting social media for your business. We’ve spoken about this before, and since it’s not a huge time investment for us its a no-brainer. Set yourself up with a simple company name search in Twitter, get your Google Alerts going and you’re underway.

Analytics – you knew I’d bring this one up. At the very least measure traffic. While not directly able to justify your campaign, it should be one indicator of its effectiveness. I assume you’ve set up your goals and possibly your funnels; if you have you’ll be able to determine who converted and where they came from.

Engagement – definitely a tough one to track. I’ve seen folks set up a basic database system that simply outlines social mentions, comments, feedback, DM’s, whatever. Can also be easily done on an Excel spreadsheet. I imagine it’s got to be pretty painful to keep track of but the conversation is one of the great benefits of participating in a Social Media Marketing campaign.

Brand - While I don’t really want to get into this area due to its poor measurement ability, I can see the benefits of using Social Media to enhance your brand and image. I have to think that the number of social mentions can be a contributor. If you’re a small company and can regularly discuss your activities with the customer service reps to help determine if there has been a reduction in complaint calls or the like, one should probably look to your online activities as possibly being a reason for this.

So while the contents of this post are uneducated and based solely on my own experiences (hey I didn’t even consult with our Social Media expert), the main point here is to think about some form of measurement. I still don’t think that “proof” should be the overall goal here but like most marketing activities an objective or outcome must be part of the strategy.

Cheers,
Paul

Paul Fleming is co-founder and VP of Interactive Services for Dinkum Interactive. A trained teacher, Paul has worked in a variety of forms of Internet Marketing but with a focus on SEO. Originally from Australia, he now resides in Philadelphia with his wife, son and another on the way.

PaulFleming is co-founder and VP of Interactive Services for Dinkum Interactive. A trained teacher, Paul has worked in a variety of forms of Internet Marketing but with a focus on SEO. Originally from Australia, he now resides in Philadelphia with his wife and 2 ankle-biters.

Before getting into the how’s and why’s of tweeting, let’s first talk about the overall strategy of marketing. The biggest change in recent years is not only in the tools available, like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, but what these online connectors mean to how people buy and use services and products.

There would not be any talk of social media marketing if it hadn’t had a marked affect on the “buyers” side.  Decision makers in the market for everything from computers to construction equipment are increasingly interested in what others think about the products and services they are considering. In the old days, we’d call our neighbor to find out where he takes his car for repairs. Now, we Google the place and check the reviews on Yelp to see what others are saying about it.

What started with consumer services like car repair and landscaping has morphed into online questions about specialty dyes and Teflon coatings for medical devices. The new tools now allow us to have a conversation with others with the same market need, and even engage with the seller to ask more detailed questions – all in a very short period of time.

When was the last time you asked someone to send along a company brochure to review? Most of us engage on their website first and see what information is available online. If the seller is smart, they have testimonials from others, a blog where the potential customer can read insider info and perhaps even a community of folks who use their products available to answer questions via email.

Companies need to realize that their clients often have a much better idea of how to use their products than they do and the only way to find out is to listen to them. If you do, you might find constructive criticism about the sales or billing process, discover a new market opportunity or more.  Which brings up the case for measurement; you need to track the online conversation about your company.

One simple way to do this is to set up Google alerts to ferret out online mentions.  It’s as simple as signing up for a Gmail account and activating the alerts section after you sign in – very handy.

The mistake many small and medium size businesses make is that they try to treat their online marketing strategy as if it was offline –  but it just doesn’t work that way. Online tools allow you to “engage” with your existing customers and reach potential customers as well. If you don’t keep in touch with them in a meaningful way (meaningful to them, that is), then it becomes too easy for them to find someone else who will.

Figure out what you want to accomplish first, then look at the social tools available to reach your goals.  Decide on the best approach, given the amount of money and time you have available.  This can make a big difference in your sales now, and even more importantly in this economy, in the future.

Don’t automatically assume that your company is not appropriate for social media. Think of it as an important way to talk to your clients and your prospects. The use of these tools MAY help. Yes, there is a reluctance about opening up this conversation for many companies.  But remember, there is probably already a conversation taking place somewhere in cyberspace about you, your company, their services, problems with customer service, etc.  Ignoring the whole subject will not make it go away.

Engagement is the apex of marketing success – people talking about us, our product, and our services. We now have important tools to facilitate that conversation and find out what’s being said about our company, both good, and bad. It is increasingly critical to know how your company is perceived on the Internet, whether you want to deal with it, or not.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies.  Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

While it’s understandable that a business would be reluctant to consider using social media without knowledge or experience, that time has passed. Let’s look at several reasons why a business may have been reluctant to include social media in their marketing plan. While some are perfectly understandable, most issues can now be overcome:

• Lack of Experience – Every business deals with uncertainty on a daily basis. There has been enough experience generated by business to give companies interested in social media enough information to overcome their shortcomings.
• Lack of Resources – Whether it’s time or money, resources are precious. Arguably though, the cost of initial research is negligible. Speaking with customers and vendors, reading a trade journal , or doing some online research on social media in a company’s industry is not resource intensive.
• Unknown Benefit – Some businesses can directly track the benefit of social media use, but many others can’t. John Wanamaker’s observation “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half” suggests that this isn’t much different than traditional marketing.
• Loss of Control – Frankly, businesses are kidding themselves if they think that they have total control over their message. “Control” is an illusion; they should take some advice from .38 Special: Hold On Loosely
• Fear – As human beings we don’t like uncertainty – that’s only natural. However an unreasonable fear of what could happen can retard progress. You could get hit by a bus the next time you cross the street, but waiting for the street light, using the cross walk and looking both ways will probably get you to the other side safely.

As most might agree, it’s time to stop fearing social media. Businesses of all sizes are gaining experience, which offers the previously reluctant enough information to make more informed decisions. That’s not to say social media is a fit for everyone, but companies that can set their fear aside long enough to perform an honest evaluation will find themselves in a stronger competitive position.

Bill Rowland

Facebook Fan Pages

Truth be told, I haven’t traditionally been a fan of Facebook as a user but that’s changing. Originally I had a personal account that enabled me to stay in touch with friends and family, not to mention keep an eye on my children. When it was suggested that I immerse myself in Facebook and its Fan Pages, I thought, really? Me?  Are you sure?

Consequently I’ve been “bitten” by the Facebook bug as both a user and a marketer. Now as Administrator of Dinkum Interactive’s Facebook Fan Page I’d like to invite you to Fan us. What can you expect of me and the Dinkum Fan Page? It will be a veritable mixed grill including:

• Social Media Observations
• A Heavy Dose of SEO
• Some Business Marketing Insights
• Daily Conversation and Opinion
• And a Touch of Philly Flavor…

I really look forward to cultivating our Facebook community and I hope that you’ll join us. As time goes on, I’ll be blogging a little more about our Fan Page and you will begin to see some changes regarding contests, promotions, speaking engagements, etc.

Please join the Dinkum Interactive Fan Page We’ll offer a great deal of useful information that you can use to increase your sales and improve your business. You won’t be sorry you did.

Thanks & I hope to see you on the Dinkum Facebook Fan Page soon.

Kelly Dunning

Social Media Case Studies Focused on Measurable Results

Maffin’s project focuses on real results not the warm fuzzies like “return on influence,” “impressions” or website “HITS” (“How Idiots Track Success” – Shel Holtz) – the kind of information that businesses really need to make an informed decision on whether an investment in social media is right for them.  Of course, measurable results start with sales, but also include actions taken (tweets), interviews garnered, members retained and similar metrics. The goal of the site is to present examples that can offer marketers examples and insight into what they can expect when jumping into the social media waters.

Social Media Case Studies: A Few Examples

So far, CaseStudiesOnline.com contains about 200 case studies and is a work in progress for Maffin, who is a marketing consultant and speaker, but I wanted to offer a few quick examples of the types of case studies that can be found on the site. They include:

Facebook Marketing Study for a Bakery: In conjunction with Desert Gallery Bakery and Cafe, Rice University determined that Facebook marketing for this Houston multi-unit bakery makes a lot of sense.

A Nonprofit Organization’s Twitter Success: An interview with BrightSpark Consulting on how Twitter led to increased donations and a deal with Amazon to benefit an African AIDS charity.

Social Media to Sell Out Event: A post on how an agency Swirl used blogger outreach, Facebook and Twitter to sell 15,000 tickets to an event and make it a big success.

These are just a handful of case studies, but I tried to give you a good cross-section of the type you can find there. I must admit that after looking a bit more closely, the case studies seem to be heavily focused on larger company efforts, but I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise since they tend to be the ones that measure their results more carefully. But with that said, there are a decent number of studies that still have a bit of the “fluffy” factor; some of the “results” are not quite as focused on the concrete results I would have hoped. But hey, it’s a start.

Still in Beta & Free

CaseStudiesOnline.com offers some good food for thought and should be useful to jump start some ideas. I particularly like its ability to sort on a variety of criteria like Demographics, Industry Type, Organization Type, Geographic Region and Marketing Tactic. Since it was started as a project, Todd accepts case study submissions from around the world, which has its benefits and drawbacks. While usefulness of some of the case studies might be debatable, the ability to use and build on others’ ideas is a big benefit. As a result, the success of a site like this is in the participation of businesses and social media marketers to share their success and perhaps their failures too.
Checkout CaseStudiesOnline.com and see what you think. If you think it has value, take the opportunity to offer your own social media case studies to share with businesses willing to explore this emerging marketing method. Ultimately it’ll work to benefit your business in the long run.

If your interested in learning more about social media success stories or how your business may benefit, give us a shout.

Bill Rowland

While some may argue that using Twitter for a bar & restaurant is like shooting fish in a barrel, something must be said for execution… And AJ Bombers sounds like it’s executing the heck out of it.

Bill Rowland

Keywords: twitter, chris brogan, julien smith, social media marketing

Essentially, Google has adopted its PageRank algorithm to evaluate the reputation of Twitter users for inclusion in real time search results. Although it’s still early, there are a number of factors that may affect the ability of a given tweet to show up in real time search results and the Econsultancy article presents a brain dump on some of the most likely factors. Here, I offer a few brief comments:

Presence of Hashtags – This one seems a bit grey. Inclusion of hashtags in a trending topic suggests spam. How we define “trending” is a big part of this one. I don’t know.

Presence of Keywords – I think this is common sense. ‘Nuff said.

Unique content – While real time search filters information quickly, it’s more likely that Google will use a reputation score before the order of publication.

Recency – Of course tweets from dormant or seldom used accounts will be less likely to be included in real time search.

User Name – I’m not sure on this one; 15 characters is enough to include keywords but I think that keywords in the bio is more likely to matter.

Age of Account – Naturally, recently opened accounts could be spammers so I would think that this could be significant.

Keyword Focused Accounts – I suppose that if every tweet is about sofas the user may know a lot about the subject, but it seems pretty manufactured. Kinda like all the links with the same anchor text…

External Links from Non-Social Sites – Seems likely. Echoing the use of “link diversity”…

Quantity Helps – I think general activity is more likely to create authority than specific types of activity, like retweets… just my guess.

Ratios – This seems to make sense. Generally, users with greater authority probably have more followers than those that don’t. Could this mean that auto-following is spammy & bad?

Lists – Something I never thought of; presence on other users’ lists implies quality and value. I learned something here.

These are just my thoughts and are not based on any objective data. What do you think affects a Twitter user’s tweets in Google’s real time search?

Bill Rowland