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Issue 16: October 8, 2010

Social Media Primer eBook

Still think social media doesn't lead to revenue generation?

Then you're doing it wrong!

Social Media Primer covers everything from how much time should be spent and the ROI to dealing with negative comments and social media in practice.

A lot of information, but very doable if taken one page at a time.

Buy it today by visiting the Spin Sucks marketplace.

By the Numbers

$1.35 Billion

The value of Groupon, a group buying site that offers daily deals on the best a city has to do, see, eat, and buy.

QR Code Contest of the Month

Halloween Prize

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Keeping It Fresh
A friend has a great name for people who always talk about themselves: Type OO. It stands for Output Only. You know the type. You're at a cocktail reception and you see them making a beeline for you from the other side of the room while you stop, drop, and roll.

What's scary about that is, even though we hate those people, we all tend to talk only about ourselves in our marketing and sales materials. Go through your website and your company brochure and count how many times you say "we" vs. "you." Most companies will have only 20 "yous" for every 80 "wes." You are type OO.

But a solution is here! Read the 80/20 Rule of Corporate Content from Junta42.
Quick Tips: 2011 Online Trends
Every Thursday, we take a question from the Arment Dietrich Facebook fans and answer it via video on Spin Sucks and YouTube. This week, the question was, "How much should I budget for social media?" You can view the response here.

But it got us thinking about budgeting for 2011, in general. Not just how much you should budget, but which tools, technologies, and ideas you should be considering as you create a plan.

Following are eight trends to be watching.

1. Net neutrality. If you pay attention to only one trend in 2011, it should be net neutrality. Anytime you see news where Google and Verizon are mentioned together, read the story. If what they want to do passes, the web will soon be a paid model, just like cable television. That means the end of a level playing field on the web.

2. Customer engagement. Long gone are the days of surveys, focus groups, and market research. We've long lamented how much time and money it costs to find out what our customers think. Well, no more! Now we can ask them directly every day by learning the difference between talking at and engagement.

3. Content. All companies will become media companies, in that the content they provide is valuable, consistent, and non-salesy. This will be big for B2B companies while they figure out how to use, what they've always considered, intellectual property to attract new customers.

4. Social commerce. Social who? In short, you can now sell on Facebook by letting your customers buy, but also letting them tell their friends. And letting their friends tell their friends. Even if you don't offer ecommerce on your website, it's now possible to provide that service through the social network. And it's overly simple to set up.

5. Group buying. You've heard of sites, such as Groupon, that sell for discounts if you get your friends to "group" together to buy a product or service? Based on the $1 billion price tag Groupon received earlier this year, expect them and like-minded sites to continue to grow, offering you a new way to reach different audiences.

6. Q&A sites. It may seem crazy if you're not a high user of the social platforms, but people are beginning to make real decisions based on recommendations from their virtual friends. Sites such as JustAnswer will begin to pop up, allowing people to ask a question and get real answers, from real people. The marketing possibilities become endless because you'll begin to collect data from groups of people instead of one customer at a time.

7. Mobile. It's no surprise our phones are becoming like third hands for most of us or that we're eons behind Asian countries on how we use them. But we're beginning to catch on and move toward abandoning our laptops for phones. Watch for movement toward mobile payments and begin thinking about how to accept payments via an application on the phone.

8. FTC rulings. As companies begin to create their own content, paying attention to the FTC rulings will become imperative. Right now, things such as blogger disclosure and not paying for reviews are the hot topics. Be sure someone within your organization is kept abreast with changes to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Now you can get to planning and budgeting!

Digital Marketing In Practice

Gini is an entrepreneur blogger for Crain's Chicago Business, where you can find her every Friday. Read her latest post: Who Should Own Social Media At Your Company?

Learn how to Use the Power of Videos, how to Use the Power of Podcasts, and how to Use the Power of Email Marketing on AllBusiness.com.

Discover how to Put Your Face on Facebook Via Video in the Social Media 101 article in the October issue of Franchise Times.

We are on the road speaking at industry conferences and CEO groups, hosting workshops, and doing digital marketing consulting. If you'd like to have us visit you, please contact Patti Knight at 312 787-7249 or [email protected].