Feel the heat of social media marketing

DaniWeb recently attended the ANA Digital and Social Media Conference in New York City which brought into focus just how much social media has become a powerful marketing technique. With speakers from companies including RadioShack, Coca-Cola and FedEx, a powerful message was broadcast: social media used to be a thermometer, today it’s a thermostat!

The various speakers got that message across loud and clear. FedEx, for example, proved how social media not only drives sales, but drives how people research companies; especially those seeking employment. The numbers were staggering, but we already have a good idea what they are. After all, FedEx explained, since we’re plugged into the internet most of our day, we should gauge how much we use social media to deliver us information and then multiply that by the population at large.

Then there was how different companies are using coupons through social media to drive sales. Take Gap, the clothing company, which claimed to be the first national brand to launch a deal on Groupon which has since become a powerful marketing technique geared towards getting the best deals towards consumers and exposing brand names to audiences.
Sandy Culver, Consumer Marketing Director with Lowe, detailed how the company has moved on from having just a print catalogue to creating communities online for their customers who are now encouraged to engage ideas with each other for their home improvement. This was demonstrated to be a huge success for Lowe’s, generating sales through social media constructs.

The most interesting speaker was Paul Dunay, Chief Marketing Officer for Networked Insights who spoke passionately about how you can figure out the Return on Investment (ROI) for Social Media platforms. Dunay reflected upon the 12 different ways to determine ROI. I don’t want to take the thunder away from Paul, but the most interesting mention I thought was teaming up with celebrities and getting a message across through their channels. Although Dunay suggested that not all celebrities might be the right fit using Lady Gaga as an example. Some companies can’t put their image on certain celebrities because they’re just not the right fit for their particular brand.

What lessons can DaniWeb pass on from this conference? Simply that social media is the new backbone of advertising. It has become a powerful tool to create sales, and that applies to both large and small enterprises. The more channels you’re tapped into, the more branding opportunities you will have. So, please, don’t resist social media any longer. Even the largest, and most established of companies, have figured that out and are already on board.

[ownstlucia]

Team up with celebrities to promote brands. Surely, this is only applicable to large companies. How many small companies have acess or for that mattedr can afford to hire Lady Gaga. It would be interesting to hear what Duna proposed for brick and motar stores. JMHO

[swebsitedesign]

it has now a days become common practice to advertise your product through celebrities
..ans no doubt it has produced better results

[narcisalin]

Social media marketing is a trend and I think is useful

[Ydeveloper]

It has become mandatory to use the social media whether you run your business online or offline. Running Business today is quite different than it was before. Social Media has opened a platform for the direct communication between customer and business owners. E.g. One customer like any product then he/she can appreciate it on their facebook page, which will surely attract some more people to come and buy that product.

[Emma Johns]

they all are facts and i totally agree to them, here i have my own experience where i got hired in a company where they get 30% more traffic through social media especially from face-book by the social media campaign. i find that it may not give us more back links but still it has that much capability to increase traffic as well as enhance the popularity of a company.

[AndrewH]

Agree that social media marketing it neccessary 'tool' to achieve the result nowadays

[AndrewH]

now most of the mobile phones even have Apps of social network, so the area of reaching the audince is getting wider

[sufalamtech]

I am fortunate enough to meet and talk with a lot of hotel marketers in the past few years (conferences, one to one meetings or through this blog).

[perfectionj]

There is no doubt that social media marketing is most effective way to become popular over the internet.

Few strategies and regular efforts toward social profiles can make our brand popular among all competitors.

[judan]

Social media marketing is the latest trend along with all other marketing techniques which are in use.

[longlivemedia]

The allure of social media is indeed hard to resist. If the big guys are now into it, then small business owners must double their efforts to bring more attention to their brand and products.

[holidaygermany]

In these days, social media marketing is the fastest way to promote your bussiness very well, so it become more popular day by day.

[elitebag]

Social media marketing is popular and many people join in it .It grows fast .I also do my business through it .

[Tofayel]

Now social media is a most important part of our life. So without social media, now difficult to think business.

[davidmeer]

Social media really helps your business to leave brand image on customer, weather business in online or not. Social Media is platform to increase your revenue.

[PrimeOutsourcin]

Social networks have became our virtual journal. They are the witnesses of every moments in our lives. That's why it is very effective to use it for social marketing because all users depend on social networks. So when thinking about promotion, they are in the top list! :)

[PrimeOutsourcin]

Social media marketing had proved a lot. Many businesses depend on it because it already proved how useful it is.

[GarryHillton]

Social media give us much and still after penguin update social media still have good impact on business promotions.

[John Sandler]

Social media is a good way of increasing a company’s trustworthiness and goodwill which will definitely give the said company and increased and better branding. When companies are able to have conversations with their customers, the result is going to be a great amount of credibility.

social media marketing

It's not going away anytime soon.

Many businesses really depend on it because it's a much faster way to promote a product and companies name.

[annamawrick]

social media is becoming kinda mandatory to maintain your existence over internet.