Category: Social Media/Digital Marketing

The Top CMOs And Social Media Marketing On Twitter

the-big-cheeseWhat a great way to learn about social media marketing than by following the best of the best. The top Chief Marketing Officers on Twitter today, are listed below.

5,000+ Followers:

#1: Barry Judge
Chief Marketing Officer at Best Buy
www.Twitter.com/BestBuyCMO

#2: Scott Hoffman
Chief Marketing Officer at Lotame
www.Twitter.com/Lotame

3,000+ Followers:

#3: Jeffrey Hayzlett
Chief Marketing Officer at Kodak
www.Twitter.com/JeffreyHayzlett

#4: Kent Huffman
Chief Marketing Officer at BearCom Wireless
www.Twitter.com/KentHuffman

social-media-cartoon212,000+ Followers:

#5: Joanna Lord
Chief Marketing Officer at The Online Beat
www.Twitter.com/JoannaLord

#6: Sam Decker
Chief Marketing Officer at Bazaarvoice
www.Twitter.com/SamDecker

#7: Jacob Morgan
Chief Marketing Officer at HiRank
www.Twitter.com/JacobM

#8: Nigel Dessau
Chief Marketing Officer at AMD
www.Twitter.com/NigelDessau

#9: Brett Greene
Chief Marketing Officer at Oxstein Design Labs
www.Twitter.com/BrettGreene

#10: Marian Salzman
Chief Marketing Officer at Porter Novelli
www.Twitter.com/MarianSalzman

#11: Sam Mallikarjunan
Chief Marketing Officer at American Health
www.Twitter.com/Mallikarjunan

twitter-cartoon#12: Sonny Ganguly
Chief Marketing Officer at WeddingWire
www.Twitter.com/SonnyG

1,000+ Followers:

#13: Tom O’Brien
Chief Marketing Officer at MotiveQuest
www.Twitter.com/TomOB

#14: Matt Browne
Chief Marketing Officer at MoreFocus
www.Twitter.com/SDMatt

#15: Marc Poirier
Chief Marketing Officer at Acquisio
www.Twitter.com/MarcPoirier

#16: Meg Smith
Chief Marketing Officer at American Booksellers Association
www.Twitter.com/IndieBoundMeg

Social Networking and Business Growth: A Winning Combination

Social Networking is the perfect answer to growing your business, economic downturn or not.

networking-photosOver time, personal interaction within a social networking environment creates trust. In turn, it develops relationships, shares information, provides two-way communications, and provides points of reference for follow up. It creates a multi-tiered platform of information that benefits both business development and customer generation efforts alike. Often, simultaneously.

How are you using social networking (and Web 2.0 tools) to grow your business? Are you using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to full benefit? Need some questions answered? Post them below and we’ll be sure to answer them. If we don’t have the answers you need, we’ll get them for you as soon as possible.

95% Will Maintain or Increase Social Media Spending

The following article about Social Media spending was originally posted on the Forrester Research website. We’re sharing this article because we feel it’s an excellent follow up to our last article about social media marketing. All trends are pointing towards significant increases in social media spending.

Recession resistant: 95% of social media marketers will maintain or increase social media spending
originally posted by Josh Bernoff

Last year, we surveyed interactive marketers and found a strong desire to continue investing in social applications, even with a recession looming. Now the recession is here. What are they saying now?

Based on a more recent survey from December of 2008, they still will maintain or increase their social media investments. The full statistics are in a new report by my colleague Jeremiah Owyang called “Social Media Playtime Is Over.” Remember, in late ’08 the recession was nearly as gloomy as how it looks now. And yet:

forrester-research-report11. More than half of interactive marketers plan increases in their social technology spending. (These stats are from 114 marketers currently using social media, out of the 145 interactive marketers we surveyed.) Only 5% plan decreases. Go ahead, name another marketing investment that’s anywhere near this strong in recessionary times.

2. The most rapidly growing categories are social networking, blogging, and user-generated content.

3. Remember that the base of this growth is small. While the marketers in this sample all come from companies with at least 250 people, three quarters of them are still spending $100,000 or less on these social technology projects. This is a drop in the bucket compared to other marketing expenditures.

This has reinforced what I’m hearing out there anecdotally, which is an awful lot of marketers asking for (and paying for) advice on this topic.

What’s driving this? As the executive summary of the report says:

These inexpensive tools can quickly get marketing messages out through interactive discussion and rapid word of mouth, and properly managed, can deliver measurable results.

The report includes recommendations for marketers. Here are some for my blog readers:

•If you are a marketer interested in social media, use these stats to get a realistic budget, then concentrate on measuring the results of your efforts to prove they work. Don’t dabble; dabblers will see their budgets cut. Social media playtime is over.

•If you are a consultant or recently laid off person, yes, this is a growth area. But it is one in which there are already an awful lot of experts. To become successful, concentrate on developing expertise in implementation, management, moderation, or measurement of social media efforts; that’s where the need appears to be, from the companies I speak with. In other words, social media playtime is over.

•If you are a technology vendor, case studies with proof of value will be far more effective than features, functions, and technology claims. If you can offer a consultative sale and handholding service, you’ll be a lot more likely to win clients and thrive in this space. Say it with me, now. Social media playtime is over.

Got it? What do you think? Is the recession halting social media efforts at your company, or encouraging them?

Huge Growth Projected for Social Media, Mobile and Email Marketing!

As the following article and graph points out, it is projected that social media marketing, mobile marketing and email marketing will experience huge growth through the year 2014. franchisEssentials has projected the same, and has geared up to provide clients comprehensive, technologically advanced marketing services and strategies. Complementing its own expertise and increasing success in social media marketing, franchisEssentials has recently aligned itself with several leading marketing and support organizations. To address email marketing and mobile marketing, it has entered into Strategic Partnerships with iVideo Makers (aka Franchise Video Makers) and Strategic Growth Concepts.

iVideo Makers bring an exciting combination of video and audio products that take email marketing to new levels of message delivery and professionalism. Quite frankly, nothing compares. It’s newest product, iVidMail is state-of-the-art and is used to create video email campaigns with extensive audio and video capabilities, complemented by an expansive tracking and reporting system.

Strategic Growth Concepts utilizes years of experience and expertise in mobile marketing and cellular technology to create successful mobile marketing campaigns for franchise organizations and independent small businesses alike. Utilizing more strategy than a particular product, and capitalizing on the increasing popularity of the iPhone and Blackberry, Strategic Growth Concepts keeps itself on the leading edge of the rapidly expanding mobile marketing market.

franchisEssentials has also entered into Strategic Partnerships with Arment Dietrich PR, Open Box, SmartFinds Marketing and AssociAD. These highly successful organizations are focused on public relations, custom software development and tech support, internet marketing and direct mail marketing, respectively. franchisEssentials is excited by its ability to offer clients extensive and comprehensive marketing and emarketing services, as a one-stop marketing and development company, for years to come.

Forrester Predicts Huge Growth for Social Media Marketing [and Mobile Marketing and Email Marketing]
as posted on Marketing Pilgrim Friday, April 24th, 2009 by Andy Beal

Forrester Research is holding its own conference (Forrester’s Marketing Forum 2009) down in Orlando and has just revealed its predictions for the growth of online advertising. The bottom line is that social media and mobile will be the hottest, but just about everything will see an upward trend.
social-media-marketing-figures1

Social Media and Franchise Lead Generation

Mark Siebert, Chief Executive Officer of the iFranchise Group, one of the leading franchise consulting companies, recently wrote an excellent article about Social Media Marketing, and how it can be used to generate franchise leads. Mark explores the world of Social Media Marketing while defining it as the fourth part of effective franchise lead generation strategies. I believe Mark is spot on in his thoughts and views of Social Media Marketing. For the benefit of all that may not have read the article as of yet, I have listed the article below.

Enter the Fourth Horseman
Social media is the next lead generation site

By Mark Siebert
As published in: Franchise Times – April 2009

franchise-timesBy virtually all accounts, the Internet represents the single biggest lead source for most franchisors. Yet despite its dominance of the franchise lead generation market, a significant number of franchisors simply do not use it effectively.

It is little wonder. The traditional troika of Internet lead generation – organic search, Pay-Per-Click, and portals – are all designed to keep us off balance. Organic search engine optimization techniques change almost weekly, as the major search engines try to improve their search algorithms and SEO companies strive to catch up. Pay-Per-Click advertising, by the very nature of the competitive bid process which serves ads, can require frequent strategy changes in an effort to stay a step ahead of the competition. And franchise portals, which now number more than 100, represent the primary focus for most franchisors’ Internet marketing strategy.

Read more

Franchise Sales & Space Mountain: An Odd Comparison?

social-networkingThe great thing about social networking, that has been missing from online franchise lead generation, is the “meeting place.” It’s a place where a candidate gets to know the people in the know as well as on the fringe; the concept’s customers. So, let’s define the “meeting place.”

The “meeting place” is anywhere online where cyber identities gather. Ok, it’s where people network on social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, just to name a few of the most popular sites. I just wanted to be geeky cute so forgive me for the humor.

Anyway, in these social networks, individuals meet with others, share information and learn new things. In this process, if they’re looking for a franchise or business opportunity, they’ll seek out information that may assist them in the process. Through referrals and discussion groups they may be exposed to “experts” in their particular field of interest. Experts that may have the answer to what they’re looking for.

But, would they trust a direct push right to a website full of information? The answer is no because they’re only “hearing” it from one source. They need to have full understanding which the website may help provide. But before that, they need to “see” and “hear” what others have to say. Others that know what’s going on. Others that have experienced the service or product as the end user. Others that are the “operational” people. Where does the candidate find that online? Is there a place online that is not intimidating and so one-sided that it creates a level of discomfort as opposed to excitement to proceed?

Yes, there is such a place. For one, a Facebook fan site of the concept, could be just the right place. A landing zone so to speak before being launched to the company website. This non-intimidating site may have a cross platform of many different individuals “talking” about their views, positions and experiences with the company as a candidate, a franchisee, a corporate executive or a customer. It’s in this zone that the franchise candidate learns about the practical side of the concept, the pros and cons as they are conveyed from different individuals, and they get to “see” the experience of the concept itself through the “eyes” (comments) of others.space-mountain2

It’s kind of like standing on a line for a ride at Disney World where the time up until the ride takes off is the Facebook site and the ride itself is the concept a franchise candidate is considering. On the long line for the ride, you kind of know what to expect and the anticipation builds as you move along. But, you just don’t jump on the ride, right? You first go through the info stage. You read the general signs at the entrance. You hear directions and watch videos along the way. Sounds a lot like Social Media, doesn’t it?

Further along, you see the caution signs. You interact with other guests on line. You share what you have heard about the ride with others and them with you. You interact with the ride personnel as they usher you to the ride itself. There, you interact with the people who just finished the ride and you see the excitement and joy on their faces. Now you’re ready for the experience yourself. Hold on tight because as the ride leaves the station, YOU”RE COMMITTED!

agreementOf course, franchise sales are not quite as easy or simple as anyone who has ever presented a franchise sales opportunity can attest. But when you consider the building and infrastructure of the ride and the time spent developing the ride concept, the design of the structure, the projected ride experience and the large financial investment, it’s easy to see how both a franchise opportunity and a ride evolve the same and ultimately have similar objectives; to encourage participation, create a positive experience, instill a desire to do it again without remorse and to share their unique experience with others.

The one key thing that Disney has that may be lacking in many franchise organizations is “attention to detail.” It’s the little things along the way that create the desire, justify the value and establish trust that the Disney name brings to the experience. Is it ironic that key components of a sale are need/desire, value and trust? Are you ready for the Disney-ish way of selling franchises? If you are, then you’re ready to sell franchises through social networking, social media and all the other goodies that make up Web2.0!

The NEW Golden Rule!

The following article has been submitted by Guest Author, Frank Again. Frank is the Founder and President of AmSpirit Business Connections, a national franchise organization that empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives and professionals to become more successful through networking and developing stronger business relationships.

amspiritPrior to founding AmSpirit Business Connections, Frank developed the largest territory of Network Professionals Inc., a similar organization. In addition, for ten years he operated a successful law practice in Columbus, Ohio focusing on the creation, growth and sale of small business enterprises. After completing law school and graduate business school at the Ohio State University, Frank started his career as a tax consultant with Coopers & Lybrand.

Frank has authored and published a book entitled Foundational Networking: Creating Know, Like & Trust For A Lifetime of Extraordinary Success. The premise of Foundational Networking is that the most important aspect of successful professional networking is not our skills or knowledge of the process, but rather our attitudes and habits with respect to presence, altruism, and integrity. Foundational Networking is a culmination of his life experiences, observations and research as it relates to the components of these attributes.foundational-networking

The NEW Golden Rule!
as submitted by Frank Agin

If you ask most anyone in serious networking circles what the Golden Rule of Networking is, they we reflectively respond, “Give First, Get Second.” While there is lots of truth in that answer, it is not the complete answer. It can’t be, as there is much more to successful networking than just giving.

Networking is about developing relationships with other people and then (while contributing to the lives of others) parlaying those relationships into things that benefit you …referrals … information … other contacts.

So the key to successful networking is getting lots of great people interested in you. This, however, almost begs the question, “How do I get people interested in me?”

The best way to answer that is to ask yourself this, “Why do I want to network with certain people?” After all, it only makes sense that the reasons why you want to network with certain people are likely the same reasons why others would want to network with you.

With that simple revelation, it makes perfect sense that if you adopt the same characteristics, attitudes and habits of the people you want to network with, then others will want to network with you.

In very simple terms, you need to become the person you want to network with. This is the NEW Golden Rule of Networking.

So, answer this: Who do you want to network with? In the most general of terms, you want to network with people that you know, like and trust. However, you need to drill down into more specific questions, such as …network<

• What do you want to KNOW about others?
• What makes you LIKE others?
• What builds your TRUST in others?

If you really think about it and work to uncover the answers to these three questions, then you have found out exactly why you want to network with other people.

More importantly, however, this exercise reveals to you exactly the person you need to become to get other people to want to network with you. Again, become the person you want to network with.

To get at this, take a moment to examine each of these questions.

What do we want to KNOW about others?

For example, you cannot help but be impressed by the doers of the world, as those that go the extra mile for company, community or country always seem to have a following. Why not become one?

What other qualities in people do you admire? Sense of humor? Optimism? Courage? Endeavor to take those on.

Become the person you want to network with.

What makes us LIKE others?

As with most people, you cannot help but like people who like you and as such you want to be around people who seem to take a liking to everyone. With that little nugget, you should find a reason to like everyone and do all you can to express it as genuinely as possible.

What other characteristics in people do you find attractive? Compassion? Thoughtfulness? Generosity? You should seek to adopt those mindsets. Become the person you want to network with.

What builds our TRUST in others?

Admit it, you have a natural trust for the person who does what they say they are going to do. With that, you should become the person upon which others can rely.

What traits in other people make them trustworthy in your eyes? Conscientious? Honest? Open-Minded? You should try to mimic these behaviors. Become the person you want to network with.

Yes, giving to the world around you quietly inspires others to give that generosity back. If, however, you endeavor to mirror the characteristics, attitudes and habits of those you aspire to network with, legions of others will strive to network with you – giving you much more in the end.

Content Marketing: It’s All About Distribution

The following article has been submitted by Guest Author, Melih (“may-lee”) Oztalay. Melih is CEO of SmartFinds Internet Marketing, an internet marketing company known for developing very creative marketing strategies. Before starting SmartFinds, Melih ran one of the Detroit Metropolitan area’s premiere Internet Service Providers (ISP), SpeedLink, from the early 1990’s where he served for nearly a decade as President and CEO. In the new century he has pursued taking the creative and marketing services from his experience in the 1990’s to businesses via SmartFinds Internet Marketing. franchisEssentials is honored to have Melih as one of its Guest Authors.

Content Marketing: It’s All About Distribution
as submitted by Melih Oztalay

You may have heard that “Content Is King” on the Internet. The statement is 100% accurate. The one with the most content and backlinks to their website wins. (The “and backlinks” statement is significant.)

Of course, developing and writing content is only the first step. Where and how to distribute your content is even more important! Consider this: If you post 1,000 content items on the Internet, but they are posted in a way that lacks viral capabilities, the reach will not expand and will be constrained within the 1,000 original websites. As a result, these content items do not provide much value. If, on the other hand, those same 1,000 posted content items virally find their way onto 100,000 websites, your business achieves a much bigger impact from the outreach effort.internet-marketing

Let’s dig into this process of content marketing. First, let’s define content marketing:

“The convergence of editorial and advertising using multiple formats that allows for viral distribution to raise awareness about your business and website.”

Content Marketing is not directly about your website, but rather what is happening overall within your business and industry sector. This is a communications art and outreach effort that does not involve direct selling, but is rewarded with sales and loyalty. Content Marketing is a supportive method of selling via quality, relevant and valuable information which:

Educates your customers
Shows your authority in your field
Allows prospects to find you through multiple sources
There are a variety of types of content, including:

Articles (informative and educational, not featuring your business)
News releases
Photos
Social Media
Videos
The above tends to have the most viral impact, however, additional types of content are as follows:

E-Newsletters
Powerpoint Slides & Presentations
Podcasts
Webcasts or Webinars
…So you get the idea that there are many other items which might be included as types of content

Unfortunately, the process of physically distributing content on the Internet is far from an automated task. Instead, the process is laborious. Many of our clients simply do not have the time and resources for this important outreach effort; therefore, they outsource the management of their content marketing efforts to SmartFinds Internet Marketing. For companies who directly engage in content distribution, it is typically something to pursue at regular intervals over weeks and months. Locating websites that accept your content, specific to your business and industry is not as important as casting a wide net on the Internet. Some distribution point categories to consider include:

Article Networks
Blogs
Directories
Forums
News Networks
Wiki Communities
Photo Communities
Video Communities
…and many more

You will notice that many of the above are plural. Content marketing allows you to support your identity on the Internet and as such, acts as a public relations tool through a variety of distribution areas.

Stay tuned to this SmartFinds Digest; and we will tackle strategy, content development, benefits, measurement and search engine ranking effects of content marketing!

For now here is an exercise you can perform yourself. Do you know how much information exists on the Internet about your business? Have you performed a search at the major search engines on your company name? What about a search on your domain name? Now compare that to your competitors. Tell us what you found!

Are Relationships With Your Franchisees Strengthening Your Franchise?

The following is an article submitted by Guest Author, Katryn Harris. Katryn is the CEO of Open Box, a company focused on helping franchisors use technology to build their franchises. She brings her background in management, business strategy and communication as well as her team of technical experts to work with franchisors, ensuring that their technology fits their business strategy and moves their franchises forward. Be sure to check out Katryn’s blog at www.growfromhere.com.

Are Relationships With Your Franchisees Strengthening Your Franchise?
as submitted by Katryn Harris

business-relationshipsAs a franchisor, you are in the business of building relationships; relationships with your franchisees, with your potential franchisees and with your end customers. Relationships build sales, build your brand and build your franchise.

The franchisor /franchisee relationship has interesting challenges that may not be seen elsewhere in the business relationship world. It’s not employer/employee, it’s not quite a partnership, and there are elements of both financial dependence, and inter-relatedness. The franchisor & franchisee depend on one another, and are both accountable to one another, and the success of each depends strongly on the success of the other.

One of the key success factors for good relationships (with both potential & existing franchisees) is to set your boundaries and expectations clearly. Some franchisors are more or less consultative, some are more or less friendly with their franchisees, some are more or less clear from the outset on expectations and accountability (and whole books have been written on which of these is right and which is wrong). I highly recommend
a) Knowing the pros and cons of leaning towards either side of the spectrum (do your homework)
b) Being clear about where you sit along the spectrum, and
c) Communicating where you sit to your franchisees and, particularly to potential franchisees.

Whether you are more or less consultative in your relationships is actually less important than knowing why you have chosen that position, being clear about where you stand, and then finding franchisees who are looking for that particular degree of consultative relationship. If you can attain these three, the franchisor/franchisee relationship will be strong and rewarding for both of you & lead to strong franchise growth.

One great resource for building your franchise through strong relationships is Greg Nathan and his books about the franchisor/franchise relationship, such as The Franchise E-Factor.

Has LinkedIn Lost its Appeal?

Is it just me that feels individuals are using LinkedIn more and more just to post job requests and sell services than to engage in discussions, meet new people, and develop relationships.

Have we become bored with LinkedIn?linkedin-logo2
Is LinkedIn a waste of time?
Why have we joined LinkedIn in the first place?
Are we achieving our objectives with LinkedIn?
Do we really need LinkedIn?

Personally, I find LinkedIn most helpful because it provides benefits and information that would be impossible to bring together under any circumstances except in a similar networking site. So why not use LinkedIn for all it has to offer?

Do you realize the wealth of experience at our fingertips on LinkedIn? Without LinkedIn we might never get to network with some of the world’s most intelligent people. Not just know them, but be able to tap their brains for information and share thoughts and feelings about any subject imaginable. I’m not just talking about the obvious contacts like leaders in our respective industries, or even famous people that we come across now and again.

Instead, I’m talking about the great minds of tomorrow, the leaders of tomorrow. Imagine having had the chance, 10, 20, or 30 years ago, at sharing information and discussions with Bill Gates. Or, being able to read Steve Jobs’ answer to a compelling question. Or, how about learning what’s on the mind of a young Donald Trump or Richard Branson. Or, from the franchising perspective, how about experiencing the passion and vision of aspiring entrepreneurs Bud Hadfield and Ray Kroc.

Imagine having been able to communicate one-on-one with one of today’s government leaders and being exposed to their thoughts and views at an early age. What was President Obama like thirty years ago?

The point is, if we take full advantage of LinkedIn now, today, we might be exposed to the leaders of tomorrow. Through discussions and sharing information we might learn today, what can benefit us tomorrow. We might receive some insight today that becomes essential tomorrow.

We just don’t know what might help us in the future. So, why not take full advantage at what we have right in front of us today? Here’s to engaging discussions, new and renewed relationships, and sharing of information!