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

When you log into SponsoredTweets.com you will notice a new PRO button (located on the right hand side, just above your “use our api!” and “referral program’” buttons) . Clicking this button brings you through the signup process to upgrade your account to PRO. PRO accounts are $9.95 per month and have three core benefits:

Try it Free for 30 Days

All users are invited to try a PRO account free for 30 days (credit card required). The fee for PRO accounts will be deducted from your balance. If your balance won’t cover the fee we use your credit card as a backup. You can cancel your PRO account at any time. Our hope is that the additional exposure and lower cash out makes SponsoredTweets an even more profitable social media sponsorship marketplace for you.

Your Cost Per Tweet, FAR and CPC still matter

While a PRO account can help you get more exposure that exposure will only help if your cost and historical performance are in line. Be sure to check out your suggested price in your account settings.

Not interested in a PRO account? No problem! Basic accounts will always be free.

If you have questions you’re welcome to leave them in the comments section here. You can also direct them to @spontwts on Twitter, or refer to our Support Forums.

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

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

Recently, however, something’s got me thinking: when is sharing too much? I’ve stumbled across several blog posts and Tweets in a short period of time, from or talking about visits to the doctor’s office, dentist, some type of surgery, childbirth, etc. All included photos, mind you (thankfully no video!). Do we really want to know about the intimate details of these personal experiences, or even more…do we care?

Any thoughts on this? What are you willing to share? Seen any posts or Tweets similar to the ones I’m speaking of? And is it “too much”?

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

I was watching the videos again earlier today and am just as entertained as when I originally discovered them. I’m sure given Twitter’s massive explosion over the past year–particularly with its adoption by mainstream media–many more folks will identify with its tongue-in-cheek message.

(Please note: “Part II” contains some adult language.)

Enjoy…and for gosh sake, Follow Lisa Nova.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

A friend of mine recently blogged on her company blog about the benefits of businesses using Twitter, particularly as a customer service channel, and it got me interested in hearing from our Community about their own interactions with businesses on Twitter.

I have my own personal experience with a business (that will remain nameless) that is extremely active on Twitter. As a result of their lack of continued attention to my Tweets about cleanliness and customer service, I am no longer a patron; I now shop (it’s a retail chain) at their competitor. Candidly, I wasn’t even looking for a resolution to a specific problem, I was simply wanting to be heard.

I manage most of the Twitter profiles for IZEA, so this topic is particularly close to me. I pay very close attention to the conversations happening, and do my best to respond to any Tweets directed to us or about us. With the volume of Followers we have I’m sure I’ve missed a few over the past couple of years, but it’s very important that we engage with our users and provide exemplary customer service. This is definitely a mission we’ll continue moving forward.

So what are some interactions–positive or negative–you’ve had with businesses you Follow on Twitter? We’d love to hear about them!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

LOGIN NOW to Experience them!

Here are some of the cool things we added:

Referral Program

The biggest part of this release contains what so many of you have wanted… A Referral program! Use the links and badges on your Referral Program page to spread the word about SponsoredTweets. When a tweeter signs up using one of your links or badges you will receive 10% of SponsoredTweets portion of revenue.

	When logged into SponsoredTweets, click on this button to get to your Referral Program page.
	Give out this link! Anyone that signs up to SponsoredTweets from your link will have you as their referrer.
	Announce to Twitter!
	We’ve supplied a few badges that you can use on your websites, blogs, etc.

Updates to Opp Creation

Opportunity creation keeps getting simpler!

	Now you can add tags to your matches filter! This works just like “inviting” users to your opp, you start typing a tag, we show you suggestions, and you add! A green tag means we have Tweeters in the system using that tag (and the number of them that are) and a red tag means there are no Tweeters in the system with that one.
	Estimated matches will let you know how your opp settings will affect the number of people you can make opps too.
	When editing your Twitter filters, there is a button that will allow you to easily reset them to the defaults (Not Shown)

Here’s a video of the new opp creation process:

Data on Tweeters

To help advertisers make the best decisions about who to hire, we’ve started collecting from of the great data that is provided by Klout. We are adding their impressive metrics to what we get from Twitter Grader, Twitter Counter, and our own formulas to help the best Tweeters get recognized by Advertiser.

Non US Citizens:

There was a bug that caused problems when non-US citizens tried to withdraw funds. This is no longer a problem!

Following Options:

There are now options to follow/unfollow other people you meet in the system

Shown here, the Advertiser can choose to follow people that hire.

Other notable updates:

• Opportunities can now be sorted, and each opportunity list (Matches, Pending, Taken) can be sorted too! It should be easy to quickly find what you are looking for.
• We’ve also changed some of the data shown in an Opportunity Match list.
• Staff picks are now order properly
• When submitting a form from a lightbox, we intricate to you that something is going on so you know that the system is gathering data.
• There were many performance and visual fixes in this release. In all, we closed out 75 issues in this release!

We hope you enjoy! And many thanks to @adamfortuna, @matthew_schultz and @izeabugman for all their hard work on this release!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Strap your boots on! It’s about to get crazy fun! Sign Up Here!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Thanks to everyone who joined-in on the live broadcast, and followed everything via Twitter and our Twitpics (http://twitpic.com/photos/izeainc).

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing