| Today, many new areas of opportunity and pathways | | | | The idea behind social media optimization is that by |
| of consumer traffic are becoming the topic of interest | | | | adding compelling, dynamic and fresh content on a |
| of marketing people everywhere. It's called social | | | | regular basis, e.g. through Tip Sheets, How To listings, |
| marketing and it appears to be here to stay. These | | | | white papers, a podcast or blog, a web site gets more |
| new social marketing areas put the advertising directly | | | | easily and frequently linked to and achieves top ranking |
| in the paths of people where they are in the normal | | | | and visibility in the general and specialty search engine |
| course of daily events. | | | | such as Technorati, BlogPulse and podcast directories. |
| Neilsen/Net Ratings reports that 114.5 million Americans | | | | Other examples of SMO are the implementation of |
| used search engines during January of 2004 alone. | | | | links to social media web sites to make tagging, sharing |
| Popular search engines are the #1 way users find new | | | | bookmarks (Del.icio.us), and voting for content (Digg, |
| web sites even above email, tv, radio and word of | | | | Netscape, Stumbleupon) by visitors easier. |
| mouth. | | | | Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) |
| Unlike traditional forms of marketing, social marketing | | | | Word of Mouth Marketing relies on finding and |
| focuses on what consumers want and makes it | | | | empowering people to spread the word about a |
| available through various methods outlined below. The | | | | product or service. People such as opinion leaders |
| popular forms of social marketing we're focused on | | | | who have extensive knowledge in a specific area. |
| include: | | | | Today, people are utilizing this method of marketing in |
| * SMM - Social Media Marketing | | | | very creative ways. Ideally word of mouth marketing is |
| * SMO - Social Media Optimization | | | | something that occurs on it's own (viral marketing) and |
| * WOMM - Word of Mouth Marketing | | | | without effort. Word of mouth marketing is powerful, |
| * BBM - Business Blog Marketing | | | | lasting, and something every company wants to have |
| * ORP - Online Reputation Management | | | | working for them. |
| * POD - Podcasting Video & Audio Content | | | | Business Blog Marketing (BBM) |
| Where Does Social Marketing Happen? | | | | Business blogs are another way online marketers, |
| A huge number of sites exist that are centered around | | | | business owners actively engage and communicate |
| things like podcasting, RSS feeds, public and private | | | | with potential and existing customers to build customer |
| blogs, user forums, wiki's, user review websites, and | | | | loyalty, generate online buzz and increase your |
| various social networking websites like MySpace, | | | | company's brand awareness in the marketplace. Small |
| Friendster, FaceBook and Digg. The process connects | | | | Planet Marketing.com's business blog marketing |
| active consumers on these sites with mutual interests | | | | services include comprehensive strategy consulting, |
| with what they are seeking online. The benefits of this | | | | planning and blog design, blog hosting, custom setup |
| type of marketing include: increased website traffic, | | | | and training, and ongoing blog content management |
| increased brand awareness, viral marketing. | | | | and development. |
| Exploring The Various Forms of Social Marketing | | | | Online Reputation Management (ORM) |
| Social Media Marketing (SMM) | | | | Do you ever wonder what others say about your |
| SMM is primarily driven by off-site activities that are | | | | company? It's a growing concern for modern |
| initiated on social media web sites, such as Digg, | | | | businesses around the globe and with good reason. |
| MySpace, Wikipedia, Flickr and others, to spread a | | | | Becoming aware of what customers and industry |
| message or content (video, text article, audio) by itself | | | | analysts are saying about your business itself, your |
| from-to-friend.increasing inbound links to get more | | | | company brand and employees can make the critical |
| traffic to achieve top web site rankings in the organic | | | | difference needed to increase your competitiveness in |
| search engines or improving brand-awareness and | | | | the marketplace. |
| consumer associations, a social media marketing | | | | Small Planet helps your company become aware and |
| campaign is more effective when you have a | | | | respond to these concerns through blogs, forums, |
| compelling message or unique content and prominent | | | | social networking websites, opinion sites, and other |
| profile in the social media.compelling text-based content | | | | online sources. Because the information people post is |
| that gets bookmarked at Del.icio.us or Furl or by | | | | indexed by the search engines - people will find it! We |
| making the home page at Digg to the creation of a | | | | create a strategy based on your company industry |
| video that spreads virally by placing it on YouTube and | | | | and focus to actively monitor the online dialogue about |
| other video sharing and social networking web sites. | | | | your company. |
| Social Media Marketing happens online and requires a | | | | Benefits of this service include a better understanding |
| lot of experimentation and testing. the risk of failure is | | | | of product issues, awareness of consumer opinions |
| higher then for "traditional" online marketing and | | | | and feedback from various sources, and other posted |
| advertising, but the rewards can be high for relatively | | | | content found that talks about your company, products |
| low cost. | | | | or services, employees, or other company information. |
| Social Media Optimization (SMO) | | | | Our online reputation management program enables |
| Social media optimization is a more narrowly defined | | | | you to help fight bad publicity, protect your company |
| activity then social media marketing. Social media | | | | image, become aware of what the public is saying |
| optimization is often limited to making a web site or | | | | about you. |
| blog more adaptable to social media. | | | | |