Integrating Social Media Marketing into a Marketing Strategy

In today's competitive and upbeat market, the biggest myth about social media is that it’s optional. No matter the size or type business you own, social media planning and its integration into your overall marketing strategy  is a "MUST". Today, conventional advertising mediums such as print, radio and TV are not the only forms of media that your consumers use to gather information about  brands, products or services. With unlimited access to the internet, and the social media fever catching on at an alarming rate, today’s consumers have immediate access to information from unlimited sources and are becoming more savvy and smarter than ever.

Integrating Social Media Marketing should be a very important step of your marketing strategy.

 Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google +, have different types of audiences and serve different purposes. To make the most of your social media marketing, I recommend that you plan an execute a strategy that is tailored to your business's needs and that will work best to increase sales and improve customer retention.

Here are some key aspects you should consider when integrating Social Media into your overall marketing strategy.

1. IDEAL CUSTOMER:

Investigate and find out the ideal customer you would like to capture via Social Media for your business's benefit. Once you are able to visualize the type of customer profiles you are looking for, you’ll also be on your way to knowing their interests and aspirations.

2. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES:


The next important step in Social Media integration is being clear about what business goals you want to fulfill by using integrating social media into your marketing.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNING:

 Plan your social media strategy in a way that helps you achieve the primary goals of your business first.

4. CONTENT:

It should be appealing and concise.

5. SELECTING A SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL:

it is very important to select those networks where your target audience is located. In any case, I believe Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and  personal blogs just like this one, are the best social media tools.

6. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING BEST PRACTICES:

The most important thing to remember in this regard is how you can  make your message stand out. You need to know about using Facebook for business and Facebook posting techniques. Likewise, you should be learn how to tweet effectively(Twitter marketing tips.) and you should be aware of the dos and don't s of using social media.

7. SOCIAL MEDIA ROI:

An effective social media marketing strategy should also include a good measurement system. It is very important to measure ROI in terms of consumer engagement, customer satisfaction, cost savings, revenues, brand loyalty, and so on.

 Today, businesses that integrate social media into their marketing strategy, can quickly generate a lot of exposure for their business.

Whether you want to reach out to new customers, generate traffic, improve search rankings or generate leads quickly, social media can make it all happen!

Social Media's Influence in Purchase Decision

Understanding the mechanism of virtual shopping or shopping in general and the behavior of the consumer is a priority issue in order to compete in today's VERY COMPETITIVE market.

Given the continuous expansion of the Internet and specially of the Social Media outlets we can definitely infer that today Social Media has an immediate and imminent power over the consumers' purchase decision in both physical and online mediums.

Consumers have always been heavily influenced by each other when they make purchasing decisions. They are always asking friends and relatives for advise, they usually observe and mimic each others purchasing decision making, and whether they like to admit it or not; they are usually trapped in peer pressure that forces their decision making.

Today, digital behavior now imitates offline behavior and now consumers are equally influenced by peers and friends in their office or at school as well as their Facebook friends or Twitter followers.

Four key points that make Social Media such an important influence in consumers' purchasing decisions are:

1. OPENNESS: Most Social Media Outlets are open to participation as well as feedback. They encourage comments, voting and the sharing of information.

2. CONVERSATION: Social Media is seen as a two-way conversation.

3. COMMUNITY: Social Media allows community to establish themselves and grow pretty quickly as well as communication successfully. This communities share similar interest in a myriad of aspects and issues.

4. CONNECTION: Social Media is like a spider web full of little connections using links to other sites, other resources and other people.

Today's Social Media Outlets make it possible for consumers to influence each other far more dramatically than ever before.

Behavioral Marketing gone WILD & UNNOTICED with Coca-Cola new freestyle machine

Since early this year and after three years of testing, restaurants around the US now offer Coca-Cola's fabulous tech innovation in customer experience. The Coca-Cola Jet Freestyle Machine, heralded as the "fountain of the future" by Coke's PR flasks.
This new technological advance offers more than 120 flavors: traditional sodas, flavored waters, carbonated or non-carbonated beverages, energy drinks and so on; even flavors not currently available in the United States.
Not only is this machine making the experience of drinking coke a very interesting, fun and engaging one for the consumers, but this digital delivery system will also change the way Coca-Cola markets their products and gets insights from its target market.
The jet freestyle machine, sends usage data back to Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta. The data reveals interesting insights, such as the popularity of Caffeine-free Diet Coke after 3pm, and the most demanded flavors on a daily basis. This type of knowledge will help Coca-Cola decide what time of day to air radio and TV spots about Diet Coke, where to sell certain products, which new and hip flavors to come up with, and much more.
In the Ad Age article “Coca-Cola's Futuristic Soda Fountain to Get 2012 Ad Push,” Gene Farrell, VP-general manager for Coca-Cola Freestyle said, “It's mind-boggling, from a marketer's perspective. I don't think we'll really understand the total value for a few more years."
Already Mr. Farrell says the amount of data being gathered from the hundreds of networked machines is "almost overwhelming." Coca-Cola is able to slice and dice data about the brands and combinations that are proving popular, as well as find trends during specific day parts.
This new marketing strategy helps Coca-Cola get into their consumers mind, without them actually noticing it. We are the one giving them all the ideas for their up and coming new products while we have an absolute blast mixing random flavors of sodas.
Great Success!
For a little documentary on this great new machine watch: Coca-Cola Freestyle Jet Machine's CNBC Video

Gaby.

E-commerce & The Travel Industry

 The Traveling industry is one of the myriads of industries affected (in good and bad terms) by the e-commerce boom!

Gone are the days of a long trip to the travel agents (although they still exist) where they work hard to help their clients take in vast amount of information to make their best traveling decision. Nowadays with the ease of the Internet, people are far more likely to get advice and book their trips via a website, such as Expedia, Orbitz, Booking.com or directly from the airline provider site, hotel site, car rental site and so on.

Just like movie rental stores, music stores and book stores, travel agencies have become somehow obsolete due to e-commerce technology. Employment for travel agents have declined significantly in the last decade, and it is expect to decrease even more in the years to come.

The reasons why?

- Booking travel online gives consumers a greater sense of control - especially compared to placing their trust in a travel agent or a phone sales representative.

- It successfully duplicates the key features of offline markets: good locations, strong retail activity, secure payment, fast delivery, and readily available customer service. 

 - It is convenient and cost effective, and it provides customers with the possibility of researching and finding good deals.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/15936.html