What’s all the marketing buzz about?

The big buzz in marketing these days is all about social networking, viral campaigns and Web 2.0 tools.

Corporations, nonprofits and government agencies are all asking...Do I start a Facebook page, set up a new blog, create a wiki, or start using Twitter, Flickr and/or YouTube?

Well, before you jump in and start using the latest and greatest social networking sites, take a moment to review your business plan.

Keep it simple. Who are you trying to connect with, what is your message and what benefits do you have to offer?

If you just start using a new tool just because you don’t want to miss out on the latest marketing technology or popular website, you can end up wasting a lot of time, effort and money…

With this in mind, you may want to ask yourself three basic questions before starting a big, new marketing campaign using the latest and greatest social networking tools:
1. Is this tool going to help us reach our target customers with the appropriate message?
2. Do we have valuable information to provide via these marketing venues?
3. Are the resources available to regularly update and enhance our new, social network, marketing campaigns so we experience the best results?

If you answered “Yes” to these questions, then please move forward and plan how you are going to incorporate these social networking tools into your marketing, PR and business development plans.

But if you answered “No,” it may be best to do some more research and walk before you run. This way, you’ll be able to focus your efforts on the marketing activities that will give you the best results while still being aware of new tools and technologies that are available.
Cheers!

Dave Sharp
Sharp Consulting Group, LLC

Social Networking Goes Mainstream...

More than half the country actively uses social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn according to a new report issued by market research firm IDC. According to IDC’s report (U.S. Consumer Online Attitudes Survey Results Part III), more than three quarters of social networking site users log on at least once a week, and 57 percent do so daily.

And these folks are logging an increasingly large amount of time on these properties, as more than 61 percent of users spend more than a half hour on these sites per session, with 38 percent staying at least an hour.

Implications for marketing are phenominal.

Please share your thoughts, ideas and comments.
Cheers!
Dave


http://www.sharpconsults.com/