It appears 2012 is the year of convergence; companies are remodeling their marketing, public relations and advertising strategies all as a direct reaction to the social revolution. Public Relations Society of America recently announced its plans to redefine exactly what PR is due to social influence.

According to DreamGrow.com’s article “21 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2012,” social media and marketing will not be separate entities, having a social presence is now vital to marketing efforts and essential for positive brand to consumer relationships; social is no longer optional.

Companies are now allocating generous budget portions to their social media front and leaning on the public to spread the word. Word of mouth marketing is undoubtedly the most powerful form of marketing and now with the prevelence of social media, it is probably the most common.

Bet you’re wondering how this affects your blog, aren’t you?

BE INFLUENTIAL. BE UNIQUE.

Blogs instantly create a niche market for consumers and brands. You are an influencer. Meaning, you directly impact other consumer’s perceptions, purchasing decisions and brand reputations. In 2012, it is projected that brands will be leveraging your blog even more frequently to connect with their audience. It is also suggested that sponsored content will continue to expand.

Managing a blog with posts that reflect your honest opinions will not only position you as a credible resource to your readers, but it will build a trustworthy relationship with the brands you represent.

How will you continue to build positive relationships with your readers and brands in 2012?

CHIRP UP IN 2012

With more than 300 million users, it doesn’t appear that the little blue bird has any plans other than to continue soaring. Twitter has recently announced its brand pages which will allow brands to more easily establish their presence.

Tweeters connect with brands they love and seek customer service via Twitter. They write their reviews and opinions in a compact 140 character message. More than ever, brands realize the impact Twitter has on customer experience, loyalty and ROI. Consumers will be the primary vehicles for product information, not advertisements.

How will you maintain your Twitter presence?

THE ERA OF THE SMARTPHONE

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

“Never put anything on Facebook you wouldn’t want your mother to see,” is something I often hear, and if you think about it, it’s true. Our personal brand is attached to our name…our image (both literally and figuratively)…. So wouldn’t you want those represented in the best light possible? After all, you never know when your personal brand could help or hurt you.

Here are a few things to consider to help protect the integrity of your personal brand, and to think about before hitting that “Tweet”, “Publish”, or “Share” button:

• Someone “new” may be checking you out. Perhaps you recently attended a conference or a networking event, and some of the folks you met are looking through your Twitter stream, or checking out your Facebook Wall. You don’t want to turn them off with a constant barrage of “complaining” Tweets or updates, do you?
• Potential employers may be researching you. This is particularly important to keep in mind in our digital society. Don’t damage your opportunity for new professional adventures by constantly Tweeting nasty messages or dirty words, or what’s worse…complaining about your current employer!
• Nobody likes a whiner (see also bullet #1)! Really, it’s true. A complaint every now-and-then is certain to be expected when such an easy platform is at our fingertips, but nobody finds value in someone who’s constantly a Debby Downer (at least I don’t!).
• Be yourself! You’ve attracted an audience and a following because people like you, and care about what you have to say! If you aren’t being authentic and letting your true self come through, chances are your audience is going to know it.
• Brand consistency. If someone’s visiting your Twitter profile, then jumping over to your Facebook, is it a consistent experience? Refer to this post we published a couple of months ago for more on the topic.

Can you think of any others?

So you see, we really do have the power to protect our own personal brand! It just may take a little work on our part is all. Who are some of the people you follow that have strong personal brands?

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

I have alot of respect for Jason Keith, creator of Social Fresh and influencer in the social media space. While I’ve actually spoken to him in-person very few times, we often chat on Twitter and e-mail, and I would consider him an industry friend (a fellow graduate of Sarcasm University). When I recently ran across a post on his blog, it made me revisit a much talked-about topic over the years: transparency in brands. Perhaps transparency isn’t the right “phrase,” but rather the “Face Behind the Brand.”

Nothing new and profound here, by any means, but something that always seems to surface every once-in-a-while.

We here at IZEA have always been quite transparent when it comes to our Team Members engaging in conversation with our Community (and non-Community, for that matter). Anyone’s who’s been active in our Community for any length of time widely know myself (Community Manager), Carri Bright (Communications Lead), and Ted Murphy (Founder & CEO)–who tend to me most active in conversations–are part of the IZEA Team. And while none of us appear in any of the Twitter or Blog branding, our images do appear when a blog post is published, and most folks know when it comes to Twitter the voice is either Carri (@IZEALove and @Spontwts) or myself (all other IZEA Twitter and Facebook profiles).

Top Consumer Brands*

According to a study released in mid-2010, here are the top Consumer Brands using social media. You’ll note none of them feature the faces or names of the folks “behind the brand”; Zappos, however, does announce their Team Members via Twitter when they come on board for their customer service Twitter channel; CEO Tony Hsieh also appears on the main company Twitter profile.

Would you feel better connected with these brands if you knew who the face(s) behind the brand are?

Image: Courtesy of Penn Olson
Statistics: Ranked by Famecount.com

Your Thoughts

So what’s your take? Are you more comfortable knowing the actual person behind the company’s social media efforts? Or are you merely satisfied to just have a relationship with the brand itself? I’m curious to know what you think.

To view Jason Keith’s blog post, which inspired this one, click here. He posted a handful of responses to his question “Should brands publicly list their community managers on their social networking accounts? Why or why not?”

* study from 2010

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Can you say you’re consistent with your visual branding and presentation? I’m talking something as simple as a photo – a recognizable image that tells someone they’re on one of your sites regardless of the platform. In Social Media, in particular, your face is a large part of your brand – this is why you want people to have good things to say when they see your image. This also helps out when meeting your online friends offline, particularly for the first time. Networking events. Conferences. Tweetups. This is why consistency is so important.

I’ll use myself as an example, so you can see what I mean.

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Engagment

Blog Comments

Article Comments

This article recently posted on Social Media Today supports this, if not pertaining specifically to image branding but to content. It’s so simple and very convenient to change pictures & descriptions, and you certainly should if you’re wanting to freshen-up your social sites. Remember, though, if you’re using any of these platforms as branding tools, each site is a touch point for your readers. So if you do change a photo, be sure to change it across all platforms you use.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

“…to promote the Microsoft Tag Technology using a celebrity tie-in while aligning with social good and giving back during the holidays (five winning charities received $10,000 each).”

Nice, huh? So how can you help? We need you to VOTE! We’re in pretty good company as you can see, but we have no doubt if we all pitch in we can get to the top! Plus ours was for a good cause….

Here’s the link to visit if you would like to vote. You can even share with your friends, if you so feel led. Voting ends next Tuesday, February 1st.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Promotions!
Sales!
Customer Service!
…oh my…

Of course, these are all common occurrences during the year and not just around holidays, but this particular holiday season seemed to have been inundated with Tweets and Facebook wall posts alike. In fact, I noticed some brands that have franchises have separate social media profiles for each franchise. I feel like if done incorrectly or in a sloppy manner, this can sometimes get a tad confusing to consumers, don’t you think? Especially if the brand in mention is a big, well-known brand with many, many, many “franchises.” Here’s a great example (both positive and negative) that I just stumbled on over the weekend (by the way, I Tweeted at Whole Foods and they were very helpful and responsive):

Whole Foods Corporate Voice

If a large brand or company such as Whole Foods (I love Whole Foods!) is going to have Twitter and Facebook profiles for each of their franchises, I actually think this is a great example of how to present that to the consumer. The company website explains there’s 1) a global account (i.e., “voice”), 2) topical voices, and 3) local voices (broken down by City/Metro areas). I appreciate they let their customers know there’s a centralized location where they can go and get the “local” information they need, rather than spend wasted time on Twitter and Google searches.

Whole Foods Corporate Twitter

Whole Foods Corporate Site

Whole Foods Local Voice

I chose the Twitter profile for one of our local stores here in Central Florida. I think as long as all the content is relevant and providing value to the consumer, ancillary profiles like the one below is fine. Quite pertinent, actually, with info on the store’s special, events, etc. My one BIG issue in this particular example (and it’s a big one for me personally because I’m huge on brand consitency) is the “local” Twitter profile loses all corporate branding – they’re currently using a generic, templated Twitter background. Wah!!!!

What’s your take? Do you share my opinions, or have a different take on things? Should there only be one profile on each social media channel? Or do you think local franchises can relate to their local customers better with a separate voice?

What are your thoughts?

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

This WebProNews interview with our very own Ted Murphy at BlogWorld Expo a couple of months ago was recently posted. For those of you who couldn’t make it to BlogWorld, or for those who are just interested about the state of Social Media, take a peek:

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

A recent Facebook status update by our friends at Social Fresh, coupled with an article I read in Time magazine over the holidays, resurfaced something I’ve given much thought to in the past. The topic being the impact of Facebook and Twitter not only in the bubble world we live in every day (i.e., the world of Social Media), but the cultural impact as well; obviously this is nothing new or profound. Regardless of your personal level of use of either platform, each in their own way have forever changed the way we communicate as a global community.

The post from Social Fresh that sparked this:

These stats have likely changed just over the past couple of weeks, but the data presented here is pretty compelling. I’ve conducted various informal polls on my personal social media profiles over time, and the general consensus seems to be that people use Twitter as a conversational & networking tool. The opposite can be said of Facebook: people tend to utilize Facebook as a communication outlet with friends and family – people they know personally. I can see that, for sure. I’m a little bit of a different case because I tend to use both for networking, although I wish I were a little more selective of those I allowed into my Facebook circle – I am “Friends” with people I’m not really even acquainted with, but have either connected with through work functions or trade shows (who are probably better suited to be connected with me via LinkedIn). Oh well….

All that being said, I’m curious to know what Twitter and Facebook do for you? How do you use one or both of these platforms…if at all?

Thanks for your feedback! It’ll be interesting to see how the growth of Twitter and Facebook grow in the coming year.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

The thing that stuck with me the most is:

“Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing