The Great Land Grab

Seems like over night social media has exploded into a new and vast marketing medium. New jobs are being created to keep up. Interactive marketers are charged with communicating with customers and creating an open discussion about their products and companies.

With over 500 million users Facebook has become one of the largest social media platforms. Every company, organization and entrepreneur is creating their own page or group to help promote their own interests. There seems to be a big land grab going on with every organization trying to get their own fans. With so many companies vying for our attention the gold rush has come and companies should try to get as many fans as possible before people become overwhelmed and stop becoming a fan of every page that asks them to. Now is the time to get as many fans as possible.

Stop stalling and jump in the game. Now is the time to hire a real professional to communicate with your customers. Now is the time to pick your platform and to start getting your members to join you.

It isn't to late, go West and find your Gold!

Online Marketing...and Off

I passed a street performer while walking home for dinner this evening. Most people strumming an acoustic guitar on a bench don't have percussive elements, but this guy had a high-hat at one foot and a kick drum at the other. And he was a pretty good singer...a veritable one-man band. Unlike most other street musicians I've seen, he actually drew quite a crowd.

After he was done playing a few songs and much applause from the onlookers, I approached him and asked him if he had a CD for sale. He replied that he didn't, as he was traveling and had sold all of them. He asked where he might buy some CD-Rs so he could burn some more from his laptop, and I pointed him to a few places nearby.

He then mentioned that he had a MySpace page. He ripped off a scrap of paper and wrote down the URL using a thick magic marker, in fairly sloppy handwriting. Later, I managed to locate the page after a few attempts to determine the correct letters in his name.

If this guitar player wants people to find him, he should consider investing in cards that have his MySpace URL on them. Bundle them with the CD. Always be prepared, whenever you're going to start playing for people, to tell them who you are and where to find you.

Just because you have an online presence doesn't mean that the people you want to find your page are going to go out of their way to find it. You have to make yourself so easy to find that people don't even have to think twice about it.

Social Media SPAM

When a lot of companies start using facebook they seem to have a "fake it till you make it" type attitude towards communicating in this new medium. They create fake accounts and post explicit advertisments on other company and individual pages. They post comments with links to their own products, that have nothing to do with the original post and like there own posts. You may think this will help show that you have fans and get you more followers. You may say to yourself, what harm could it have to fake a few interactions until we get more fans? People wont notice. But the truth is people know when something is off. We have all been well trained to smell SPAM from miles away. People will start to equate your company with the smell of SPAM and will stay away. In the end all your really doing is hurting your online reputation, which will have a bigger impact on your social media marketing then one link have.

If your about to post a link on someone elses fan page just to get a link to your own fan page, stop and ask yourself if you would be willing to post that same thing on a friends facebook page. If the answer is no. STOP, don't post it.

Facebook Interactive Marketing

Before you jump onto Facebook and start telling people how great you, your company, or your product is, please check your bullhorn at the door. Better yet, lock it up in the closet so you won't be tempted to use it.

Twenty years ago, messaging was very top-down. In traditional marketing channels, like television or radio, PR people got to broadcast what they wanted to say to a large audience. And the audience, without any other choice, generally listened.

It works for those mediums, but it doesn't work in social media. If you jump on Facebook and try to market from a pulpit, people are going to ignore you.

What you need to do, instead, is start a conversation. Get people talking about you by asking intelligent questions or offering advice. You don't get to control the direction of conversation or censor what people say, but you can participate.

And by all means, listen to the community. As a matter of fact, you can still use that bullhorn of yours. Put it to your ear and use it to hear what everyone is saying. The feedback you'll get is invaluable.

Dangling the Carrot (Cupcake)

Now, this company's Facebook page is a great example of how to convert Facebook fans into customers.

Crushcakes Cupcakery in Santa Barbara, CA, tempts their fans by posting an update, every day, telling them what the cupcake of the day is. And they always make sure they tempt you with juicy details while you're scanning your News Feed.

Tell me this doesn't make your mouth start to water: "Grasshopper Cupcakes, dark chocolate with creamy mint frosting rolled in Oreo Cookie Crumbs."

I'll admit I have gone here one too many times on my way home from work because of these daily posts. Bravo, Crushcakes!