Blogs???

Social Media Classmate Blogs
2 Personal Faves...

First I would like to give a shout out to Amanda M's blog post on Do's and Don'ts of Social Media Marketing. I chose her post on Do's and Don'ts of Social Media Marketing because she has a very user friendly/readable post that doesn't add unnecessary fluff with overly difficult vocabulary or dry material. I also liked how she transitioned each Social Media Marketing Do to one another. (It doesn't hurt that we have the same first name either). One of her most important Do's was keeping people involved so customers feel more secure and important to the company they are buying from. Giving a customer a chance to voice their opinion is important so the company can evolve with the customer needs, wants and trends.

 Also I would like to mention Nicholas's blog post on Marshall McLuhan. His blog was also easier on the eyes and readable. I like his use of quotes and images in order to get the point across while still keeping the reader's attention. Nicholas's post on Marshall McLuhan illustrates the tetrad with quotes and detailed explanations.
Blogs about Social Media Marketing
Scott Monty said it best in regards to humor used in Social Media Marketing. When working on a Social Media Marketing Campaign an organization or company really needs to be careful about the message they are sending with their humor. This blog gives good examples and explains why humor is an important part yet also a very hard thing to accomplish successfully in social media marketing today. All too often can a social media marketing attempt can turn into a long line of problems with negative publicity being immortalized.
Blogs Used to Market
 Other than the fact it bothers me there is actually a site that allows companies to buy blog posts from a particular blogger... I was taken aback by one paid bloggers random approach to product blogging. Bloggers of featherweightgoods.com charges $5000 per blog and doesn't have a rhyme or reason to their blog other than advertising random products or services. They aren't even well written. It puts a whole new scrutiny to getting what you paid for.

Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan

7 Steps to a Social Media Marketing Plan

Social Media Marketing Plans differ from person to person and company to company and ultimately purpose to purpose. Online there are many websites, blogs and informational videos/slideshows that claim they know what is best in regards to Social Media Marketing. One such slide show was called 7 Steps to a Social Media Marketing Plan (Source). At first this slide show doesn't seem to get to the point and is very image heavy with little content. However after the first few slides the slideshow gets down to business about 7 of the most important components to a successful Social Media Marketing Plan.

The 7 Steps:

Objectives- What we want to achieve

Audiences- Who we are trying to reach

Assets- How we will fund said objectives and marketing (Not just $$$, but people power too!)

Tactics- A strategy on how to achieve said objectives

Big Ideas- Ultimate goals over time and milestones along the way

Measurement- Being able to measure success and failure of various tactics and objectives

Rinse, Repeat- Sticking with it

This slideshow agrees with what has been posted by the instructor, but is incomplete in comparison (Source). No one strategy can stand alone, however this list of seven steps for a Social Media Marketing Plan is fairly solid as it does cover the main components (Source).

It only forgets:

Review of Social Media of Similar Organizations - Researching what others have done

Relevant Goals of Target Audiences - Goals of the audience we are trying to reach

Proposed Content - What types of content we will use to reach the target audience

Proposed policies concerning Transparency, etc - Deciding what will be used in marketing campaigns, and how to handle negative feedback and mistakes when they occur.

The Assignment:

To cook up a Social Media Marketing Plan at LCCC for our Business Division as per the parameters set forth in the 11 steps listed above (Source).

My Opinion On The Assignment:

I think this assignment is a good one as it outlines what is needed from the beginning. The only part of this project that is discouraging is that it is about a department at the school. It is harder to get into doing a project about something I haven't chosen myself, but I think it will be fine. I do like the fact the instructor is allowing us to give constructive feedback because it makes an online course feel a little more interactive than it normally would.

McLuhan's Tetrad & Social Media/Social Media Marketing

McLuhan's Tetrad consists of four parts:

ENHANCE: To raise to a higher degree, intensify or magnify. Also to raise the value or price. (Source)

So what does the new media enhance, make possible, improve or accellerate? (Source)

REVERSE: To undo or change direction back to the original direction. (Source)

What is the potential that the new form will revert back to it's original form? (Source)

RETRIEVE: To recover, repair, regain or bring back to a previous or better state. (Source)

What aspect of the old or obsolete form has been revived and retrieved for reuse? (Source)

OBSOLESCE: To become outdated or put out of use. (Source)

What is made obsolete or pushed out of use? (Source)

Now while some of this may take years to notice, and they may not all seem to be occuring simultaneously, McLuhan insists they do occur simultaneously. (Source)

The Message is in the Medium?

McLuhan's theory can be applied to Social Media Marketing mediums in one major way. Each type of Social Media Marketing does end up going through this process from the day it appears. They take one aspect of a previously standing medium and and enhance it and change it to become it's own thing. As time goes on from this moment and progress is made to update and change the way the medium is being used and evolving to find new audiences it changes and gagues the reactions of the potential customer and either enhances, reverses, retrieves or obsoleces various aspects, interfaces and so forth in order to keep the current customer and reach the new customer at the same time. (Source)

 Google+, Facebook and Myspace are all examples of this tetrad timeline. Myspace was one of the first that took from previous attempts of other medium and enhancing it for a new form. As time went on they added, took away, readded and enhanced their site and service to gain users and keep the users they already had. In turn Facebook took parts of Myspace and enhanced them, retrieved obsoleted things Myspace had tossed to the wayside. Facebook too took the same approach but stuck with it which is why Facebook is still here and Myspace is dying.  Google+ is the newest attempt at this lifecycle of a medium that took from previous attempts and focused on enhancing a few of the previously attempted aspects of the sites before it, created or enhanced some of it's own, and has already begun the retrieval, obsoletion, enhancement and reversal processes from the moment it was born, however they all occur at different rates. I wonder how Google+ will fare in contrast with Facebook which currently seems to be a Social Media giant, while Google+ is still in it's beta stages.

5 Don'ts of Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing can be tricky business especially for those new to the market. Some people have said the only bad publicity is no publicity, however some Social Media Marketing stunts have been very damaging.
5 Don'ts In Social Media Marketing

   1.) Don't LIE! Misleading potential customers only leads to customer dissatisfaction. Remember word of mouth is a big part of social media marketing, so what one customer relays to another will definitely be of impact. (Source)

   2.) Don't SPAM! When engaging customers through social media, remember it is a long term relationship. Trying too hard and too frequently in short periods of time can cause potential customers to lose interest and even complain to others about your social media marketing tactics. (Source)

   3.) Don't ACT LIKE A ROBOT! (Or use one...) This goes hand in hand with spam but it is on another level. This is where the personality leaves the marketing and most attempts at social media marketing becomes repetitive. This includes Re-Tweets and even adding automated followers and friends to look more appealing. (Source)

   4.) Don't FORGET TO MEASURE RESULTS! How do you know how well your attempts at social media marketing are doing if you do not measure the results? Measuring results can help show what works and what doesn't and it is more than just how many people like your page or have declared themselves as followers. (Source)

   5.) Don't FORGET TO UPDATE! If your status/twitter posts and so forth are stale and haven't moved or changed information in a while, chances are your social media marketing attempts have also gone stale. Keep information up to date so customers know what is currently going on so they feel included. Offering the feeling of being included is more appealing and draws customers in closer and builds loyalty. (Source)