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Three Ways Everyday People Are Using Social Media

Filed under: Social Media

As a marketing flunky it can be easy to start navel gazing and thinking how grand it is to be working with the wonderous technology of social media. It’s the best way to talk to other marketers about marketing! The trouble is that doesn’t really pay the bills for normal companies. Here’s an insight into how some average users are leveraging social media to enrich their lives.

#1 Sara- New Media Mom

Even though Sara works for a large dot-com based in NYC she once told me, “I hate social media. I don’t get the big deal with regard to Facebook or Twitter.” Then Sara decided that for her 1st child she would be using cloth diapers. That’s when she started using http://diaperswappers.com/. It’s a niche community where moms can trade, sell and buy cloth diapers. There’s extensive advice on which brands are best, ways to mend existing diapers and of course the normal chatter mothers engage in. Sara had found her niche online and started chatting with her new-found friends like crazy.

LESSON: If you provide value even the most reluctant consumers will seek you out online. Everyone has an itch waiting to be scratched.

#2 Frank- Enterprising Employee

My friend Frank initially balked when I suggested that Twitter had a variety of interesting uses. I offered to give him a brief walkthrough and suggest some uses for it. About a week after the walk-through I checked back in with Frank. He was a changed man. His position entails that he manage PPC and SEO issues for his clients. Frank chose to use Tweetdeck to monitor the chatter on Twitter. He had chosen search terms like PPC, SEO, Adwords and SEM. Frank started sharing links with me regarding interesting advances in his field that  he discovered by monitoring conversations via Twitter. Not only that but he was even helping other folks who needed assistance with Adwords and SEO.

LESSON: People like to help others. Empower experts to do so. Then connect them with those in need of advice. Each side wins and your audience will love you for it.

#3 Mike- Music Maker and Risk Taker

Mike has a day job as a project manager but what really gets his blood pumping is music. He likes all sorts of great stuff from rock to R&B to funk to hip-hop. During his free time Mike put together a great album of tunes. He created all the instruments using his keyboard, did all the vocals and mixed/mastered it himself. Completely DIY! Mike wanted to let his friends know about his new creation so he shared the link via Facebook. They in turn shared it with all their friends as they saw fit. The album reached far more people thanks to this collaborative sharing than it would have otherwise. Mike leveraged his friends online to help promote his new album. 

LESSON: It’s not selling online when those who are helping you are your friends. They just want to see you succeed. The trick is to turn those customers into friends.

You Down With PPC?- Five Adwords Tips

Filed under: Search Engine Marketing

*This is a guest blog by our AdWords Guru Frank Andolina. Enjoy!*

Do you manage your own Pay Per Click campaigns using Adwords? It can be challenging to see the results you’d like to achieve. Here are some insider tips to help you increase your ROI.

1.       Make sure to keep your keywords in small, manageable groups.  Your Ad Groups should always be specific to one product, service or idea.  If you own an online computer supply store, you wouldn’t want every keyword displaying just any ad.  You should have an ad group for each product you sell to ensure that the searcher sees the ad most related to their search. You wouldn’t want a potential customer searching for a new router to trigger your ad that describes your printers. 

2.       Download AdWords Editor today!  This is a great application to help handle bulk edits within your campaign.  You don’t necessarily have to have a robust campaign to find value in AdWords Editor (it is free).  It will cut campaign change times immensely.

3.       Using AdWords without tracking website activity with Analytics could be very costly as you won’t know which keywords are truly converting for you.  It’s like driving with your eyes closed.  Maybe even more dangerous.

4.       Use embedded match when appropriate.  If you sell Barack Obama merchandise, you should set an embedded match on –[Barack Obama].  This way, your ad will appear for “Barack Obama merchandise” or “Barack Obama t-shirts”, but not the exact match, “Barack Obama”.

5.       If you don’t have time to run your own PPC campaign, hire someone. Because we’re also down with PPC!