Posted by: Grant Garcia, Marketing Coordinator

It’s more important than ever for businesses to effectively interact with their customers using social media. Here are five tips businesses should follow when implementing social media strategies:

1. Remember transparency. Make sure content posted on social media networks is representative of the brand. Most information can be seen by anyone, including people who don’t fall into a target audience group. There are countless horror stories of companies that have posted updates to their pages without considering who was reading.

2. Create value. Posting relevant content can build a business’s reputation as a thought leader and source of valuable information. Remember that it’s important to post content that is useful for the audience, not just content that serves the brand.

3. Encourage involvement. Create an interactive atmosphere where the audience can learn about your business, while also sharing their opinion about industry news. Posting comments and engaging in conversation will increase audience involvement and branding efforts.

4. Listen. Social media channels can act as a valuable source of feedback. Genuine concerns or complaints about your company’s products or services should be followed up on.  Make sure to take customer insights into consideration when strategizing and improving marketing efforts.

5. Post regularly. Maintaining multiple social media networks can be time consuming, but it’s necessary for enhancing customer relationships. Without regular posts the audience will have no reason to stay engaged.

Posted by: Lauren Klostermann, Project Manager

In June Yahoo announced the launch of a pilot program for My Display Ads. My Display Ads is a way for users to create their own banner ads and is designed to help small and midsize businesses reach audiences using Yahoo and its Partner Network. The entire program is powered by AdReady, a network advertiser. Users can create ads using more than 800 display templates, basing their campaigns on either CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) or CPC (cost-per-click) pricing structures. Users are also able to track specific metrics for reporting purposes.

Yahoo’s program is based on reaching the currently under-utilized market of small business owners by making online advertising extremely accessible and inexpensive. The results of a March study by BBI (Bredin Business Information) found that SMBs are relying less on traditional marketing tactics because of the economic downtown and are moving more towards online marketing.

This move by Yahoo comes after search giant Google announced changes to its flagship advertising product, AdWords, by offering advertisers more relevant information and options.

For more information and to try out this product, visit http://yahoomydisplayads.adready.com.

Posted by: Kerry Houchin, Marketing Coordinator

It should come as no surprise that nonprofit donations are down. According to the Center for Nonprofit Management, 50.6% of nonprofit organizations are seeing a decrease in donations. Not only are organizations seeing fewer donors but also smaller donations from existing donors. To make matters worse, administration costs are on the rise.

Nonprofit workers clearly have their work cut out for them. My suggestion? Focus more efforts toward online marketing. Online giving worldwide hit the $10.44 billion mark in 2007, and it currently represents nearly half of all nonprofit donations.

Here are some tips on using the Internet to increase donations:

Stay in touch with donors via email. Send a monthly note reminding them to make a donation and show what donations are helping to accomplish.

read more »

Posted by: Caitlin Diehl, Marketing Coordinator

With businesses investing more and more in interactive marketing efforts, it seems like there are hundreds of new e-newsletters popping up every day. How do you know which ones to subscribe to? Which ones are helpful, and which ones will only take up space in your inbox? Below is a list of some of my favorite e-newsletters available today and details on how they manage to stay on top with new competitors emerging all of the time.

·         MediaPost’s SearchINSIDER

o   INSIDER guarantees good content in a short, easy-to-read format. The blog is available through free subscription. It is sent to your inbox every day and provides valuable information about the search engine industry. Topics range from tips on word-of-mouth branding to social media marketing and even Google engine updates.

http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/

  read more »

Posted by: Gloria Dutton, Marketing Coordinator

On my recent post about social media, someone asked a great question about how a traditional B2B company might venture into the social media space, so I thought I’d dig in a little deeper.

The difference between how B2C companies and B2B companies engage in social media comes down to target audiences and the online avenues they’re likely to explore. It’s important to understand, however, that social media is just as valuable a resource for B2B companies as B2C… if not more.

One of the great misconceptions about social media relates to what’s actually out there. When you first hear “social media,” you might think of trendy social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Since Facebook was originally designed for a college audience, it might not be the best match for your business goals right now. (That’s not to say that you should write it off entirely. With some knowledge growth and increases in use, it might just evolve into a worthwhile outlet for you.) read more »