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Hi guys,

I recently moved everything over to a new page to get the URL I wanted.

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Thanks and happy reading

Olivia

Print budgets shift to social media

Almost half (47%) of businesses have shifted marketing spend from print to social media, a study conducted by Nielsen-Community Engine has found. The online survey of 347 Australian businesses found 70% intend to conduct some form of social media activity this year, compared with just 40% in 2008.

And it is not only print taking the hit.

Facebook Introduces Community Pages, Hopes to Make Them “Best Collections Of Shared Knowledge”

Today, Facebook is announcing the first in a string of product launches that we’ll be seeing this week. We just reported that the site is about torevamp its Interests section. And today it’s also launching a new type of profile called Community Pages, as well as some new privacy options.

iHoodie. Are we there yet? No.

OK, now this is taking it just a bit too far. Permission to speak freely? Granted? Thanks. The below link takes you to a page that describes a hoodie designed to keep the fashion conscious facebook addicts out there (and let’s face it, it’s a vast market) connected at all times… whilst I have complete faith in, say, those who own pet rocks or use vibration weight loss therapy to give this product some traction, I just can’t sit here and say this innovation has a place in society.

I am ALL for innovation. Hell I’ve come up with a few crazy ideas myself, but I’m not keen on innovation for the sake of innovation. Are we seriously at a stage where people will leave their phones at home and take their hoodie instead? And do we really want to physically feel a poke in the shoulder when Anna’s second cousin’s flatmate’s friend pokes us on facebook because they’re too nervous to call and ask you on a date?

No discredit to the team who has come up with this, it’s clearly cutting edge technology we’re dealing with that could very well have a place in another context; I just think it’s a shame this product line probably won’t do it justice due to poor targeting. It would take a lot to convert their chosen market of self-assured trend setters who don’t consider it cool to be permanently logged into an online friend making site.

But I’m only one person – make your own judgement here: Ping

Comments welcome!

Image Source: blogspot.com

Bloggers in the marketing mix

Many bloggers have readership numbers that are larger than many traditional media platforms including magazines, newspapers, television and radio shows. Mr. Gadget, who writes daily about new gadgets and gizmos in the tech world, commands over 170,000 reads per month. If that were to be ranked against the nine magazines in Pacific Magazines’ computer genre stable, it would slot in just behind number two. Not too shabby. SuperKawaiiMama on the other hand is one of Australia’s most recognized fashion bloggers. Her unique and clearly identifiable style often gets her stopped on the street for photos. With over 130,000 monthly blog reads she is not too far behind popular fashion journal Grazia. And finally one of Australia’s biggest parenting bloggers PlanningWithKids receives over 65,000 monthly blog reads which is only a few pegs back from the leading parenting print publications in this country. It is also important to note that blog readers are influential people in their own right. Given that they care so much about a particular subject, so as to be constant consumers of blogged content, the readers themselves become opinion leaders in their own circles. The viral implications of a blog marketing campaign therefore make it an even more attractive proposition for marketers.

Ten Ways for Growing Businesses to Use LinkedIn

When I first blogged about ten ways to use LinkedIn, the site had 8.5 million total users worldwide. I’m told that now there are over twelve million small-business people on LinkedIn, which is roughly 20 percent of its total user base.

Many of these small-business people are using the site in ways you’d commonly imagine: finding leads, growing their business globally, or finding the right vendors. My buddies at LinkedIn recently provided me a list of ten additional ways small businesses can use LinkedIn:

Top 142 Social Marketing Blogs on the Web

Below is the most complete list I’ve ever seen of the top social marketing blogs.

We created it because it is a list that is much needed by marketers who want to get great news, opinions, and insights by credible, popular bloggers and experts in social marketing.

If you could put a dollar value on the information shared across all these sites it would impossible for most people to afford. Luckily, you can access all these sites and keep up on social marketing trends and news for free.

The sites are not ranked in any particular order, nor did I come up with a complicated algorithm to sort and sift them into any order of importance. They all have something to share and they are all popular sites with their own following, large and small.

Enjoy this big resource!

HANDS ON OR HANDS OFF? THE SOCIAL MEDIA BALANCING ACT

Social media can be, in many ways, a dream come true.  What brand manager wouldn’t be happy if their brand was so loved that consumers marketed it themselves – something we’ve seen with Nick Haley’s iPod Touch ad and blogs like J. Crew Aficionada?

Indeed, in recent years, we’ve seen brand managers attempt to harness the power of social media by reaching out to natural brand ambassadors and embracing user generated content through crowdsourcing or other means. But as many are realizing, while crowdsourcing can be great (and often times, budget friendly), it comes with its own set of rules. In these types of campaigns, it is the brand manager’s job to give users the tools and opportunities to meet and come together. However, if there’s an attempt to drive them to action or exercise too much control, brands risk major backlash.

The Social Media Landscape

I came across this social media chart this morning on cmo.com, worth checking out:

The CMO’s Guide To The Social Media Landscape

TOPICS: Social Media, Strategy
TAGS: 97th Floor, Brand Exposure, Customer Engagement, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Web traffic
PUBLICATION: CMO.com
DATE: February 10, 2010

Social media marketing is expected to dominate this year — so much so that 81% of CMOs plan to link their annual revenues to their social media investment, according to a recent survey by The CMO Club and Bazaarvoice. But the growing list of online social media sites makes choosing the right route complicated. From Facebook to YouTube to Digg and beyond, which media outlets will net the most bang for the buck in terms of customer communication, brand exposure, traffic, and SEO?

For an analysis of which social media tools are your best bet, CMO.com turned to 97th Floor, an SEO and social media firm. (Full disclosure: CMO.com is a 97th Floor client.) Here’s 97th Floor’s take on 10 social network choices. A downloadable PDF version of the chart is also available at the bottom of this page.

Let us know what you think about this guide. Post your comments or send an email to feedback@cmo.com. And, as always, please share this with your colleagues.

7 ways to grow your Facebook audience on the cheap

If you have struggled to connect your customer base to your official page at Facebook, you’re not alone. Many brands are finding it difficult to turn customers into fans. Last week, I defined the 4 Cs of scaling your social media efforts (customer support, communication, content, count). While most brands want to scale social media responsibly, there is constant pressure from senior management to grow social media as a marketing channel. This pressure can sometimes lead to hasty decisions and bad investments as brands desperately try to get their numbers up on Facebook.

The pressure will not only continue, it will increase. And why wouldn’t it? As a marketing channel, Facebook represents a tremendous opportunity for brands to distribute messaging, information, and content more cost effectively than paid media. As I pointed out last week, social media is not “no-or-low” cost. It’s merely cost effective, particularly over time.