brandstorming

Facebook Search Is Going To Change The Way You Market

2009-06-30T12:16:53-05:00

cross-posted over at SocialMediaHeadhunter.com

I've not been a big fan of Facebook for marketing. Facebook is a difficult beast with low clickthroughs and far more potential than ROI for the majority of marketers, and so when I'm looking for a social media expert, Facebook is about having a profile, not necessarily driving results. Sure we've seen results, but they've tended to be as a traffic driver for traditional websites. Lots of folks spend time on Facebook, and thus its natural you have a presence there. Do some conversion pages - create some groups, and that's about it, unless you have the time and money for apps and contests.

Well, no more.

Based on my own traffic stats for blogs that range from politics to marketing to fashion to small business, I see Facebook becoming an ever-increasing important aspect of a social media marketing campaign.

This article on Hitwise's estimate of Perez Hilton's traffic was the first clue. Google typically will deliver 80% of your non-RSS traffic if you optimize well, and the revelation that Facebook can outpush Google traffic is no small one. You may say that Perez is a gossip, and the only people who want to read gossip are heading there from Facebook, but that's exactly the point. Facebook is built to keep people in. When click traffic goes outside Facebook, it's highly targeted. Those wanting to read gossip go to Perez Hilton. Those wanting to say, get a job, or buy a product, or watch a video, or learn about a service are also going to self-selecting to be interested. And they'll be coming from referrals. Currently, if you have the viral chops, you can drive traffic using your update feeds and getting people interested in joining, writing, and posting content to your pages and groups and updates. If you have a big network, that can lead to a lot of traffic, but it's entirely based on your network (and their network). That's some hard slogging, and tends to only work haphazardly.

But now, there's the Facebook search beta, which is rumored to be like Twitter search. If it's executed properly, which is to say if it actually dredges up content, it could be a tremendous boost for traffic for those outside Facebook.

All of a sudden, those not in your network can find you. Furniture designers, car enthusiasts, political causes, and job seekers can now search by brand through updates, instead of profiles. That's huge. It's a microcosm of what Google and Twitter do, and with the sheer traffic of Facebook, it guarantees some very hot, targeted opportunities for marketers.

I don't see a lot of people getting involved in this. They're making a huge mistake. This is big. Much bigger than BING, which is sending me traffic, but not nearly as much as Facebook is. If I can almost double traffic to every site simply by improving my content to my network, imagine what you can do with a targeted marketing campaign.

It's big. Gird your loins, and figure out how to build community on Facebook. 6 months from now, the winners will be those with networks in place.

Shock City Grand Opening Party

2009-06-19T16:00:37-05:00

I didn't attend, but all good things are heard about Chris Loesch's new studio project, Shock City. Darrin Garella has the scoop with pictures and stuff.

The site is up at Shock City Studios, and it sounds like a pretty fat pad. Now if only I had musical talent...

What's great is it's a local small business, and you can bet your sweet..., well, there will be social media and marketing involved, as Chris is married to the lovely and talented Dana Loesch of Mamalogues.

The business is a recording studio located in South St Louis. Drop on by.

Social Media Club St Louis On Small Business

2009-06-16T09:37:30-05:00

Everything you know about social media is wrong. Okay, maybe not everything, but if you're working in a small business, there are things you need to know that will change the way you approach this medium.

SMCSTL is having a networking event this Thursday to talk about the use of social media in small business. I would strongly urge you to attend if you're looking for answers on how you can take your business into this world.

The four panelists are:

Chris Reimer - Owner of RizzoTees.com
Dixie Gillespie - Business Coach at Pure Synchrony
Greg Bussmann - Owner of Executive Business Products
Jim Durbin - Vice President of Social Media at Durbin Media Group

Yes I'm on the panel. We'll be talking about low cost ways you can drive online traffic, foot traffic, sales, conversions, and press attention. Nothing boring, and certainly not more pie-in-the-sky nonsense.

Come and ask questions. It's at the Pepper Lounge, with the panel starting at 6:00.

Social Media Consultant Interview

2009-06-12T08:29:13-05:00

The tables have been turned! Steve Weiss of Grindvision takes my camera and asks me the questions. I had a good meet and greet with Steve in Orlando - we talked about different small business solutions, as well as actually doing a little door-to-door cold-calling with cell phone dealers. Here we are at a Starbuck's at the end of the day.

Frosty!

2009-06-07T08:12:25-05:00

I don't mind telling you that we considered dressing like members of Poser Mobile for Halloween a few years back. I'd get to be the cool Asian kid, of course (what can I say, I dug his fuzzy cap & chill demeanor). We like that they knew (or should I say the brand & ad agency knew) that they were making fun of themselves. Who doesn't love a campaign that pokes harmless fun at pop culture?

So this Wendy's ad gets two big thumbs up from us. I don't eat Wendy's so I can't speak to whether or not this would impact my brand loyalty. Are people eating more burgers? More shakes? I have no idea. But isn't it more telling that I'm writing about them? Yes. I'd say that's the story here and my kudos to the team behind the fun campaign.

Oh, and this time, I'd like to be the lead singer in the fedora. Yeah...bring me my glossy patent white shoes & silk scarf. We've got a video to shoot, people!