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Buzz Marketing Monthly November: Tweetsgiving '09 Launches Tomorrow, Facebook Innovations, WOMMA Summit Recap (We WON a WOMMIE!), More

theKbuzz's monthly newsletter on what's happening in the world of word of mouth marketing...the good, the bad, and the buzz-worthy! 
 
Table of Contents
  • Welcome and theKbuzz News 
  • Tweetsgiving '09 Launches Tomorrow!
  • 3 New Facebook Innovations You Need to Know About
  • WOMMA Summit Recap, in Takeaways & Tweets
  • Verizon FiOS Video Challenge in MA/RI
  • We're Hiring: in New York, Boston & Chicago
  • Recent Blog Posts from Buzz Marketing Daily

Welcome and theKbuzz News

Welcome to Buzz Marketing Monthly, your source for the latest news, tips, trends, and ideas in word of mouth marketing, social media marketing, and of course, buzz marketing! If you're a new recipient, you should know that this newsletter goes out every month on the 20th, 21st, or 22nd. theKbuzz is thrilled to announce that last week, we became the 1st company ever to win WOMMIE awards from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association in multiple years. We'd also like to welcome all of our new clients, including those using our proprietary theFacelift. Finally - we're about to hit 6,000 Facebook fans and we'll be making an exciting announcement when we do - so please do become a fan or invite your friends, coworkers and colleagues to become a fan if you already are one. Lots of news in this month's edition and lots more in recent blog posts - so please do check them out. Visit http://theKbuzz.com or call us at 718.416.2899 to talk about Social Ideation or any of our marketing services. Be sure to mention this newsletter when you contact us for an exclusive discount. Enjoy our latest Buzz Marketing Monthly, and as always, if you'd like some social media or word of mouth buzz, just give us a buzz via phone or email Dave@thekbuzz.com. From all of us @theKbuzz, we wish you a month filled with excitement, surprise, gratitude, success- and buzz!. Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving, and we'll see you on December 21st!

Tweetsgiving '09 Launches Tomorrow!
Thanksgiving is coming in just a few short days, but first, we're bursting with excitement over Tweetsgiving, the global celebration of gratitude that kicks off tomorrow. Last year, we were proud to be a pro-bono partner of the 1st Tweetsgiving - which raised $11,000 in 48 hours through hundreds of small donations online, thousands of tweets, and dozens of blog posts. This year, we've got much bigger goals, more volunteers, events and sponsors, but WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP. There are many easy ways to help - and it all starts with gratitude. Please help us spread and share gratitude, from wherever you are. Visit http://Tweetsgiving.org now to learn more, or, to find out if your city is home to 1 of the over 40 offline worldwide events, click here. Thanks for being the best newsletter readers ever! :)
 
3 New Facebook Innovations You Need to Know About

We talk a lot about how often Facebook innovates- but this month was a busy one, even by Facebook standards. Here are the 3 more important newsworthy items for marketers:
 
1)     New Friends of Connections Ad Targeting: Though this will cost you in the form of per-click advertising, it is the most significant new development. Now you can truly tap into the social graph, reaching only the Facebook friends of your current fans, with built-in testimonials from your fans in the ads. More here.
2)     Stream Updating Targeting by Location & Language: For any company or organization with a footprint beyond 1 city, it can be very helpful to target fans in your updates by their location and/or language. Whether you reach people in multiple countries, states or cities, it makes sense to target different groups with different local messaging, right? More here.
3)     New Contest Guidelines: This isn't necessarily an innovation - but it's definitely something you should know about. Facebook has published new guidelines for running contests and sweepstakes, which prohibit them without a 3rd party application and written approval. Don't worry, we've got your back. More here.

If you'd like access to any of our 20 previous free webinars about Facebook marketing and advertising and social media and word of mouth marketing through various channels and for various industries, we now have an extensive webinar library available exclusively to Facebook fans. You can access free downloads of webinars on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and for businesses, non-profits, politicians, sports teams, schools, attorneys, consumer products, restaurants, and health fields, all through our Facebook Public Profile on the "Fans Only" or "Webinar" tabs. Hope to "see" you at a Webinar soon!

WOMMA Summit Recap, in Takeaways & Tweets

We just got back from attending the 5th annual Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit. Not only were both Carrie & Dave featured presenters, not only did we win a WOMMIE Award - but we actually learned a ton of valuable information and often found ourselves inspired by the incredible array of talented speakers, including author of The Anatomy of Buzz Emanuel Rosen, VP of Patagonia Rob Bondurant, and country music legend Kristian Bush of Sugarland. Here are 5 Key Takeaways:

1)     Listen first. We've heard this before, and we'll hear it again. Companies are excited to share their messages, insights, and even value with their customers and potential customers using social media. But what good is all of that sharing if companies don't listen first, to learn what their customers want and need from them.

2)     Tell stories, and encourage storytelling from your customers. We all know a picture's worth a thousand words, and a video is probably worth 10,000 words. So companies should be sharing their stories, not their press releases. More important, you should be equipping your customers with as many tools as possible for them to share their stories about you, with you and with their friends. Your customers' storytelling about you is far more valuable than any paid (ads) or unpaid (social) messages you share.

3)     Disclose Disclose Disclose. The new FTC guidelines are very clear: If anyone is being given anything of value in exchange for talking about you online or offline, there must be a clear, unmistakable disclosure of relationship. Companies and individuals who violate who violate this are breaking the law. Don't mess with it, just disclose.

4)     Beyond Facebook and Twitter. Facebook and Twitter are clearly excellent tools for joining, monitoring and stimulating the conversation between companies and consumers and between consumers around your company and industry. But using these tools is just a start. You need a strategy around them, follow-through - and more tools beyond the big 2 - like blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn, Yelp, etc.

5)     Customer service and Marketing are now linked. There really isn't a way to separate them on social networks anymore. Every time you respond to people talking about your brand on a social network or blog, you're performing tasks that could be considered marketing, customer service, and pr. And every time your call center takes a call, that customer service experience could easily be turned into great marketing - or a viral nightmare. Be careful, listen up, and get everyone involved at your company.
 
For more information and an incredible summary of the Summit via Twitter, check out our our blog post here.

Verizon FiOS Video Challenge in Massachusetts & Rhode Island 

We are right in the midst of a YouTube video contest for our Verizon FiOS friends in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Verizon FiOS fans have made videos sharing their experience with and love of FiOS and the video with the most views will win a party for their whole community. To see the videos and share your favorites click here.
 
We're Hiring! In New York, Boston & Chicago...
 
theKbuzz is excited to grow our New York and Boston offices and to begin building our Chicago office. We are looking for the best and brightest college students and the most talented account people (with social media marketing expertise), in each of those cities. If you or someone you know fits the bill, please spread the word. Visit our website for further detail.

Recent Blog Posts From BuzzMarketingDaily.com

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