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We’re in a new age now. As social media networks, particularly Twitter, become adopted by the mainstream media and corporate marketing firms, we’re seeing an evolution in the way that products are launched. Some might say that this is nothing new, that marketing has always been about capturing the current buzz machines and playing them to your needs, but I disagree. The difference between marketing methods of old and social media marketing is that customers have a say. The success of a social media campaign is dependent not upon how much money is spent, but upon the people being marketed to. If the message works and they like the product, the masses will Tweet it to the rest of the masses. If it doesn’t, the campaign might not even get past the initial push, and will likely spiral into oblivion. It’s All about the People There’s one factor that you can’t control, and that’s people. Knowing that, you have to make the most of what you can control, which are the tools at your disposal. In this case, we’ll be talking Twitter, but it also works for Twitter, Facebook, Email Marketing, and video. So how can you use Twitter for a product launch? Well, there are the obvious methods, such as using the TweetMeme plugin on your blog and product pages. People love to click these because it’s so simple, and I’m really amazed when I find a blog that doesn’t use it. Forcing Your Hand Another option is to create your own banner, with a built in link pointing to your launch page. Again, this works well because people can simply click and go…there’s no work involved. My friend Mike and I implemented this recently for our launch and within just a few days have noticed a huge difference in the buzz around our product. But just creating the banner might not be enough. If you want to create a contest or track the amount of ReTweets, you’ll need a hashtag or custom URL. We created both, so that we could track each message that we create. This is an example of setting a control, so that you can not only track the results, but split-test what works best. If one hash tag isn’t working well, you can try another. If one of your URL’s isn’t seeing the amount of on-page action that you’d like, you can adjust your copy to fix it. Real Time Tracking Once you have your campaign in place, and you’ve set the parameters, you need to find a way to track the activity. This is where Twitter Search comes in quite handy. However, since I’m not a huge fan of Twitter’s interface, I prefer to use clients like Tweet Deck or Seesmic to create custom searches. Of course, I’ll create a panel for my hashtag and possibly my URL, but I don’t stop there. The next step is to set up a Google Alert, using those same queries, so that you can catch any instances that Twitter Search might miss. This also allows you to capture the activity of sites like Topsy, which republish popular Tweets. Although Twitter Search will capture most of your action, Google Alerts will pick up the stragglers for you. Real Time Display Lastly, if you really want to take advantage of Twitter to capture the buzz and hype around your product launch, then it’s time to show the world what everyone is saying. You can do this easily by creating a custom search (they call them groups) in Tweetizen and then embedding the results on sales and contest pages. This does a number of things for you: It provides social proof It creates scarcity, which is a great way to capture a buyer’s attention It creates a sense of belonging when people see their name in the results I’ve seen a number of products use this recently, and even as someone that’s used to seeing this sort of thing, I was impressed by the sense of belief I had when viewing the results. The Total Package If you implement these techniques in your launch, you’ll have a set of controls that you can test and manipulate, which will help you know very quickly if your launch is going to be a hit. If you don’t see the activity you were hoping for, then you can either adjust your campaign or scrap it for another. If you pull it off, and the launch builds momentum, then you might get lucky enough to make the Twitter Trends list or get featured on a social media blog, like Mashable. The great thing about strategies like this, is that you don’t need any cash to get started, yet you can compete with anyone on the Web. Now that’s power. © 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips . How to Use Twitter for a Product Launch

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How to Use Twitter for a Product Launch

Often we forget the little guy, the SMB, in our discussions of the comings and goings of the Internet marketing industry. Sure there are times like this when a report surfaces talking about their issues and concerns but, for the most part, we like to talk about big brands and how they do the Internet marketing thing well or not so well. Of course, when you consider that 95% of the businesses in the US are considered an SMB of some shape or size it should make one think a little more about the impact this market segment has in the overall scheme of things. Unfortunately, ‘too big to fail’ bailouts don’t await the little guy. Instead the SMB needs to make due with what they have and be as smart about how they spend their marketing dollars as possible. The Center for Media Research has released a study by Vertical Response that shows just where many of these ‘Main Street’ players are going with their online dollars. The big winners: e-mail and social media. With only 3.8% of small business folks NOT planning on using e-mail marketing and with social media carrying the perception of being free (which they so rudely discover it is far from free) this should make some in the banner and search crowd a little wary. I suppose the question is just what does increased use of social media mean? Will there be money put toward it or will it just be that the effort by the SMB social media practitioner (usually also referred to as the business owner) is increased. We’ll see. This quote from helps to frame something that most know already but have had a hard time changing. Janine Popick, VerticalResponse CEO and founder, says “… small businesses continue to allocate portions of their budget to… email and social media, despite the downturn in the economic climate… (but) marketers (still) need to help small businesses to see the value of integrating search engine marketing… into their campaigns.” Honestly, I am a little confused by some of the findings here because in the next breath we see the following: According to the study, the most important tool for small businesses to succeed in 2010 is search engine marketing, while email marketing, public relations and social media cited as crucial for success. 23.8% of all small businesses reported that search engine marketing was the tool most needed for their business to succeed in 2010. So which is it? Do they or don’t they use or want to use search marketing? Or is the better question can they or can’t they? Maybe the way that these findings seem a bit muddy is just a reflection of the struggles that many businesses have with the shift from traditional marketing to the online space. In 2010 it looks like the rubber is really hitting the road as the Internet marketing industry matures while many may end up just being left behind. Your thoughts?

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Small Business Marketing Efforts Point to E-Mail and Social Media in 2010

I’ve been a contributing analyst for the eConsultancy/ cScape Customer Engagement Survey over the past few years. The 2010 edition has just landed and I thought I would share with you the data that jumped out at me. Email Newsletters Fading? The 2nd Customer Engagement Survey saw businesses focusing their efforts on using email newsletters to improve customer engagement. An incredible 69% of companies stated that they had measured a tangible improvement through their e-newsletter campaigns so it was not a surprise that 59% planned to invest heavily in email marketing by the time we came to the third survey. By contrast, investment in social networks – such as Facebook – was down on the list of priorities with only 36% of companies planning to increase their investment in that area. Social Networks See Huge Investment So, what happened now we are on survey four and looking at 2010? Those that took a chance and invested in social networks saw a big return on investment. For companies, email newsletters still rated as the tactic offering the highest tangible improvement (67%) but a whopping 44% – almost double the percentage from 2009 – have discovered that social networks helped increase their online customer engagement. That return on investment has clearly caught the attention of both companies and their agencies. In 2010, the survey predicts that 61% of company executives will be increasing their focus on social networks , while agencies are even more bullish, expecting their clients to spend more on social networking (66%) than even email newsletters (41%). Twitter’s King of Engagement Perhaps the most stunning statistic is the percentage of companies that plan to invest in Twitter as a channel for customer engagement. In last year’s report, Twitter barely registered with survey participants with just 7% of companies realizing improved customer engagement from Twitter, hence only 13% planned to invest in Twitter in 2009. What a difference a year makes! Twitter has seen massive growth and companies are scrambling to make the micro-blogging channel a key part of their customer engagement efforts. In fact, with 35% of companies seeing an improvement in their customer engagement from Twitter in 2009, almost 44% of companies plan to increase their investment in Twitter in 2010. That’s a three-fold improvement over last year! Engagement = Conversations What conclusions can we draw from this? Well, it’s apparent that companies are realizing that customers expect engagement to be a two-way dialogue. Email newsletters are a great way to keep customers updated but they don’t really engage them. Instead, companies are seeing measurable benefits of actually having a conversation with their customers be it via Facebook, Twitter or whatever, making them willing to invest more of their marketing/PR budgets to reap the fruits of that engagement. Want to get your hands on all the data? Get your copy of the cScape/Econsultancy report!

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Customer Engagement Survey Shows Twitter is King of ROI

One of the most effective Internet marketing tools that you can use to make people become more aware of your products or services online is email marketing. You really do not have to worry about spending a lot of money using this strategy because this is quite an inexpensive marketing technique. Unfortunately, not all people who make use of email advertising can find success. One of the reasons behind the failure is the fact that some people forget the rudiments of promoting web sites using this method. So, here are the fundamentals of email advertising tactics, read on.

Prevent Net Users from Unsubscribing

Although you should offer the people who opted in your mailing list an option to unsubscribe, this does not mean that you will not do everything in your capacity to prevent them from doing so. A good way to maintain Net users’ subscription is by providing them with emails that have relevant, accurate and current information. You should not forget to study your target market because this will help you determine what sort of data or information you need to provide the recipients and prevent them from deleting your email or, worse, from unsubscribing to your email marketing mailing list.

Choose Your Subject Line Carefully

Subject line is something that a lot of people who are into email marketing forget to take advantage of. If you want to ensure that your email will be read and will not be sent to the recycle bin, you need to have a subject line that is short but attractive. It is also vital that you are able to put on the essence of the entire email content on the first 30 characters of the subject line. If your recipient checks out email using mobile devices, she may not be able to read the entire subject line so you need to keep your subject short and simple but compelling.

Make Sure There is Call to Action

If you want your email advertising to succeed, you should not forget to include a call to action to your email. The first thing that you should do is to make the objective of the letter clear at the beginning of your email. Next, you ought to try to subtly influence your readers into doing what you want them to do using the content of your email. Lastly, be sure to make your call to action succinct and clear. In order to help you with your email marketing needs, you may want to visit www.Majon.com.  

According to a recent survey by email marketing company VerticalResponse , small and medium businesses are wising up to online marketing. For their 2010 plans, they’re big into SEM, social media and email marketing—but interest in banner ads is quickly waning. 54.2% of SMBs do not plan to use banner ads online next year. Of those that are currently using banner ads, less than 20% of businesses with 11-100 employees reported increasing their banner spend this year (and about 7% of businesses with

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SMBs Abandoning Banners

If there is one direct Internet advertising tactic that is effective in letting Net users know about your service or product, it is email marketing. Just like other online marketing strategies, using email as a promotional tool is very affordable. The only reason why many businesses, both big and small, are experiencing failures when it comes to this type of online marketing is that they fail to produce high quality content or message. It seems that many people forget the fundamentals of Internet marketing, most especially when using email. In order to make sure that your email campaign will not fail, here are the basics.

Make Sure Recipients Do Not Unsubscribe

Many email marketing specialists will tell you that giving your followers or recipients an option to unsubscribe to your newsletters or emails is very important. Even so, you need to ensure that your followers do not unsubscribe. One of the ways in which you can achieve this is by carefully studying your customers or niche market and determining what they want. Next, you need to ensure that the content of your message will interest them. Irrelevant content is the number one reason why Net users unsubscribe.

Be Meticulous About the Subject Line

Many email marketing professionals forget the power of subject lines. Let’s face it, people usually decide whether to open an email based on its subject line. This means that if your subject is not interesting, there is a big possibility that your recipients will not even consider to open the mail, regardless of the content. One of the things that you should not forget to include in the subject line is the benefit that your recipients will get from reading your mail. Moreover, you also need to capture the essence of your message in the first 30 characters of your subject line in order for people who open their email via mobile devices to surmise on the content of your email.

Call to Action is Vital

The call to action is very important in Internet marketing. It is crucial that you start your email with the objective of your message. Next, it is important that you subtly tell your readers what they should do after reading your mail. Lastly, the call to action should not only be visible, but it should be simple as well. For those who do not know anything about email marketing, you can visit www.Majon.com.

I want to make money online! Making money online for free is easy if you can write great articles.  It’s not a hard task but yet it does require practice.  When article marketing was first introduced, only a few articles were required to generate consumer’s interest.  Within our current times, a large base of marketers who are also utilizing this method, you have to increase the number of articles generated and make sure the articles contain quality content. Does article marketing really work? Article marketing can be utilized as a powerful marketing tool.  If you are building a subscriber list, consumers who find your website after viewing your articles are more than likely going to purchase your product as compared to consumers who find your website via some other source of traffic.  This is a result of building trust with your consumers while giving them information as well as expertise you have demonstrated through your written articles. How about video marketing? Another great popular method of marketing is video marketing.  Produced online video’s relating to your business is very important for your products which you are selling.  This is not only a very unique way of marketing but it’s also a great way to advertise your products. Video marketing requires that you have to start somewhere.  It is essential that you have a great product to sell.  Practice makes perfect.  Record your children, pet’s or funny moments or even your family.  The examples can make you more comfortable in developing your skills with video marketing.  You will eventually begin to learn editing while making your videos.  This of course makes your videos more professional.  What is viral marketing? Viral marketing is a great for promotion of your services or products online.  Viral marketing produces daft video’s or even power point presentations while creating exposure by distributing it via email or cell phones.  These things can be seen by thousands of people and all you need to do is include it in your website address. Viral marketing can work for you by offering free products on your website for your visitors.  Downloadable EBooks is a great example of free product which could be offered.  Make sure inside the EBook that affiliate links or other links are connected to your website.  Visitors who have access to these types of free products raises the chances of your website making even more money. Do I need to obtain consumer’s email addresses? Why is this important? Obtaining people’s emails is very important for email marketing.  This will prove very useful down the road.  Place an opt-in page or a squeeze page on your website.  Consumers will give you their contact information via this page; just make sure you are offering consumers something for their information.  You want consumers to subscribe to your mailing lists. You will need to decide on correct tag lines.  This is crucial in writing profitable emails.  Include a few lines referencing your business.  Give an instant overview which you can offer consumers.  You need to make consumers curious about your product with the tag lines; this will enable you to gain many more new customers.

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Ways to Increase Your Online Marketing Skills While Making Money For Free