Impressions of Online Peer Influence
Ever thought about measuring effectiveness of your social media marketing budget? How do consumers get influenced online and by whom? Here is a quick summary of random facts.
•Online Influence can be measured from two sources: people posting within social networks and influence posts created by blog posts, blog comments, discussion forum posts, ratings, and reviews.
•Views are called impressions.
•People’s influence on each other rivals that of online advertising.
•According to Nielsen Online, during 12 months ending Sept 30, 2009, impressions of social networks and posts, together, represented about 1/4 of impressions resulted from advertising.
•This trend may increase as more people join our online communities, start blogging, rate products and write reviews
•Peer impressions are more credible than advertising, since they come from friends or people we trust.
•A minority of people generate majority of online influence posts and impressions (approx. 14% generate 80% of influence posts and 6% generate 80% of online impressions).
•If you want to build a word-of-mouth strategy, you should first understand who the mass influencers are in your specific market.
•Word-of-mouth marketing budget should reflect the amount of influence posts and online views mass influencers are able to generate.
We all make impressions on each other… But how many impressions, and who is responsible for their majority? Here is a link with some numbers. Is social media marketing worth your budget? Read and decide for yourself.
http://adage.com/digitalnext/post.php?article_id=143372
Guest Blog by Galina http://remotebusinesshelp.com
Social Media Marketing…what to do, what not to do…that is the question?
Friday Facebook Tip: Social media marketing, and any networking, should be aimed at letting other people know what you do. This is NOT because you want to sell all the first line contacts you have. This is because every person you meet knows so many other people. You want that person to think about you when they talk to their friend who needs what you do. It’s not about who you know, it’s about who they know!
Who do you know?
How genuine are you Really?
Just because we think that we are perceived in a certain way, it doesn’t mean we are. More often than not, our view of ourself doesn’t exactly match the view others have of us. If we don’t recognize this, just think of the damage we can do!
Now lets think about this from the Socal Media world. If in the real world we are not seen as genuine, how do you think social media magnifies this? In my experience, it only gets worse. In person, we can read peoples nonverbal communications, but on the internet that goes away. So what can we do to ensure success?
To start, ask those closest to you to be honest and evaluate you. Be willing to accept the answer whether good or harsh and use it to improve yourself. Next thing to do is think about your online message and figure out how to be certain that your message is always taken in the best spirit. Be a craftsman of your brand. Finally, surround yourself with people that uplift and honor you and your message.
Don’t ever assume anything! You know what that stands for.
We’re taking this show on the road, who do you know in these cities?
“Marketing that works while you are. Building the foundation, you can do what you are good at and have people chasing you for your services.”
Social Media Marketing for Dental Professionals
Everywhere we turn, we hear that social media has become an important force in business marketing, which is very true. Money goes where people go, and people are going to social media sites.
Having an account in a social media platform (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) is not the same as having a social media “strategy”, and having a strategy is essential for success.
You can find out how to navigate all your media choices, and start achieving your specific results by attending the Setting Your Media Strategy Boot Camp, and rewrite your advertising and marketing rules. You’ll find out how to create a personalized system to get you top results with a low investment. Develop a strategy that will build your business, grow and change as you do, and respond quickly to market conditions. Here are some of the topics we will cover:
- Social media psychology
- Social media strategy
- Persona branding
- Organic marketing
- Blogging strategy
- Tools (facebook, linkedin, twitter, youtube)
100 % Money Back Gaurantee
(If we don’t over deliver with this workshop, we will return all of your money, no questions asked)
Upon purchase of ticket you will receive location of event and suggested action items to prepare for the event.
Questions? Please Call or Email:
Sandi Maki First Lady of the InSights Group
Social Media Strategist Organic Marketing Trainer
Marketing Idea Maker
Contact Sandi:
At the Office: 810-623-5839
On the Road: 248-798-0239
Drop her an electronic note here
Allan Curtis: Orator of the InSights Group
Social Media Strategist
Organic Marketing Trainer
Twitter Coach
Contact Allan: At the Office: 810-623-5839
On the Road: 248-798-0236
Drop him an electronic note here
Learn from people who have built a business using social media
Sandi Maki and Allan Curtis are co-founders of the InSights Group, an amazing collaborative learning organization. Without traditional funding, a marketing or advertising budget they used organic marketing strategies and social media to grow the InSights Group. Creating the roadmap as they went, learning and growing on the way, they’ve found what works in the world of social media. The social media strategies taught at the InSights Group were developed as a part of those experiences, and they’ll be sharing some of what they have learned with you.
Sandi and Al have presented to a diverse array of audiences, from a small group in a conference room to a national convention of hundreds. They are hired as social media strategists, conduct classes and training regularly both at our facility, the InSights Group in Brighton, and on location. You can find their CD series available on Amazon.com, and webinars, audio downloads, and podcasts available on the InSights Group website.
Setting a Media Strategy Boot Camp Program Testimonials
It’s creative, inspiring and helps to learn things with a group of others. When I started to get overwhelmed, the ease and ideas of others helped me see the ways this will work for me. There is so much to learn. I am relieved to have you as a resource. - Terry Goss, Terry Goss & Associates, Dental Consultant and Life Coach
“After spending hundreds of hours (and thousands of dollars) over three decades of dentistry trying to ethically market my practice, the “experts” with their marketing “formulas” were both unsuccessful and artificial. Allan and Sandi offer a logical, yet revolutionary approach for promoting your practice with integrity and unique personalization. Their concepts give you the opportunity to present your authentic personality and services to a virtually limitless audience, giving those in your community a true opportunity to beat a path to your door.” -John Artemenko, John Artemenko, DDS, Sterling Heights, MI
Understanding how unlimited your business reach is. How many people you can touch with positive and negative influences. – Jennifer Pohl, Dr. Gary P. Hutnik, DDS, PC
Boot Camp is an INCREDIBLE WAY to really understand and start to formulate a social media strategy to grow a business. Wow! - Brett Blair, Sanford Rose Associates
The ability to connect with people via social media is exponential! I can’t even imagine pursuing conventional marketing methodology ever again. (I wish I had met you before spending $50,000 on marketing that didn’t work this year.) – Sophia Lertola, Mindy Salzberg-Siegel DDS
Eye Opening Experience explaining the use of social media in a way that was understandable with support both personal and on CD to help along the way. - Sandy Acosta, Dr. Roman Shlafer DDS
I learned WHAT social media is, how I can use it professionally and personally. The summary of each form of social media was very relevant , it helped me understand the connections, similarities, differences, and unique featuers. JUST THE BEGINNING! Thank God for follow up! – Kim O’Neil-Adams, Dr. Roman Shlafer DDS
I learned good stuff about personalities. Facebook is a tool. Aha! It’s not just a place to meet up with old friends. I believe Boot Camp is a very important class for any business. - Chuck Schultz, S&W Associates
An engaging comprehensive overview of social media, how it can work for you, the philosophy, and it’s place in the future. – Jill Johnston, “The Coupon Queen” Coupons4Livingston.com
Boot camp has totally revolutionized my brain. We celebrated personal strengths, identified our target market, got tools and skills to design a step-by-step practical strategy to take our goals to the next level. Complete with follow-up support and accountability, all while connecting with like minded, inspirational professionals among the best in their fields! Super fun-not only the information “priceless,” you will walk away believing, knowing success is for you.-Jen McClure
I went from “I don’t want anything to do with social media” to “how exciting is this!” I can’t learn the skills fast enough. Website, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube, my vision for my business went from local to worldwide! How belief blowing is that? Plus I am scaring my kids! Always Fun! -Sherri Richards
I believe that the social media scene is in its infancy stage. Attending the Social Media boot camp at InSights with Sandy and Al was such an eye opening experience for me. Until the boot camp experience I could not see the big picture and the value of social media in my marketing mix. The information they presented should be heard by all. I could have not figured this out without the InSights Team, their help and guidance. Thank you Sandy and Al, you’re the best! Great program! -Linda Houston
It gives you the tools to market your business while also educating you about why you are in business and reminds you what you are passionate about. -Besty Rackliffe
Running a business can be so overwhelming. Boot Camp helped me create a picture of what I wanted my business to be and how I could get there. It helped connect all of the pieces of marketing to create my message, therefore creating MY brand! -Christa Braun
Traditional marketing is not working. Boot Camp gets you to think out of the box. Social Media is intimidating and InSights is a great home to learn how to use it. -Amy Iverson
The reason to come to boot camp is because you leave having a more specific idea of who you are, what you do and why you do it. The education on social media is just icing on the cake. -Nicole Doyle
The people that believe the statement “You can’t teach an old dog a new tricks” have not yet attended the Insights Group Marketing Boot Camp with Sandi Maki and Al Curtis and trust me they should! I don’t consider myself “old”; however, I am experienced in the marketing field and thought I knew everything about marketing until I attended the boot camp. After working for a large corporation as a Marketing Specialist, I knew how to market but with the support of a large budget. Now that I am a small business owner, my marketing budget is limited. At boot camp I learned how to market my company in an organic way that fits within my budget. The information that is taught at boot camp is so impactful and a great way to benefit any company. I highly recommend boot camp as it is an outstanding program that teaches how to market in an organic, low budget and very powerful way. Great job Sandi and Al for developing a program that will help business owners reach the ultimate dream of having a successful company. -Marcy Hornsby-Mohr, Your Insurance Solutions
Attending the InSights Group Setting Your Media Strategy – 2 Day Boot Camp provided me with the information needed to help me understand how to use all the various social media tools so necessary in today’s changing business climate. Since attending, I have expanded my LinkedIn network, created my blog and post articles on a regular basis. Now I truly understand the benefits of using Twitter and building those relevant relationships. Thank you Sandi and Allan for the clarity I needed to help me grow my business! -Marie Taulbee, Equine Maintenance, LLC
Upcoming Cities and Dates:
February 18th, New Orleans, LA
Strategy and Philosophy…are you in the game?
We are looking forward to being a part of so many amazing presentations in January!
We have just been back into the studio recording the next set in our Social Media CD series, this time focusing on sharing our philosophies on Social Media Strategy. We have found working within social media that many large companies and corporations are trying to use social media as they have used traditional marketing methods of the past. Our goal is to help with the awareness and understanding of how to focus on a strategy, and participate in the new online conversations well rather than trying to recreate methods of days that are past.
Social Media helps to open so many doors, it’s up to you to decide which ones you would like to walk through…watch for BIG news from the InSights Group on January 8th!
The key to social media that everyone must understand is that when you set up a social media presence with a strategy in mind, what you invest will be in place for you to leverage for an indefinite period of time to come. Making sure to put the plan in place a the beginning, and checking in on your strategy for adjustments as time goes on, are the sure ways to develop a winning Social Media Plan.
The game is getting bigger, are you staying on top of the plays?
See InSights LIVE at the E-Loft in Mqt, MI 12/29/09
Social Media Strategy
Everywhere we turn, we hear that social media has become an important force in business marketing, which is very true. Money goes where people go, and people are going to social media sites.
Having an account in a social media platform (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) is not the same as having a social media “strategy”, and having a strategy is essential for success.
Allan Curtis and Sandi Maki have a common sense approach to integrating social media into a business marketing plan, and would love to help you define, develop, implement and maintain a successful strategy.
The process begins with setting some social media goals, and incorporating the best elements of what is available in the social media world today, with the ability to grow and change tomorrow. A successful strategy can be developed utilizing your existing web presence, and gaining the maximum amount of traction by adding the most important social media elements to your marketing mix.
Join us for a luncheon event hosted by the E-Loft, Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 11:30am and learn how and why these social media sites should be an important part of your marketing mix.
Bio/Introduction:
Sandi Maki and Allan Curtis are co-founders of the InSights Group, an amazing collaborative learning organization. Without traditional funding, a marketing or advertising budget they used organic marketing strategies and social media to grow the InSights Group. Creating the roadmap as they went, learning and growing on the way, they’ve found what works in the world of social media. The social media strategies taught at the InSights Group were developed as a part of those experiences, and they’ll be sharing some of what they have learned with you.
Sandi and Al have presented to a diverse array of audiences, from a small group in a conference room to national conventions. They are hired as social media strategists, conduct classes and training regularly both at our facility, the InSights Group in Brighton, and on location. You can find their CD series available on Amazon.com, and webinars, audio downloads, and podcasts available on the InSights Group website.
Is Social Media generating results?
I read an article in Business Week yesterday that left me a bit unsettled to say the least. It was discrediting social media as a business or marketing tool, and social media consultants. One issue states was because of the authors desire for proof of ROI. To address some of the questions raised, I’ve taken an informal poll of some of our group’s entrepreneurial members to find out, is social media helping their business?
The results have been overwhelmingly yes, for those individuals using social media. We’ve even gotten yes’s from people who admit to only marginally using it, proving you don’t have to be an “expert.” To address the author’s concerns, we don’t believe there is such a thing as a “social media expert.” There is so much to know, and it changes, daily, that you can’t possibly know everything. There are, however, people who are very good at understanding social media, how to explain, describe, and advise in strategy and philosophy. There are also people who can teach the use of the tools.
Here are a couple of entrepreneurial and small business stories:
A cake designer in Howell, MI, has been using social media for about a year now. She reduced her advertising expenses to 1/3 of what she spent in 2008 and has seen over 100% increase in her business. She moved her website ranking from page 3-4 of a google search to page 1. She gets calls and orders from around the world, which an order coming in from Iraq for local delivery. She has also serviced customers in California, Texas, Georgia, New York and Indiana as a result of her online presence, which she attributes to social media.
Another member who has relied on referrals in her 17+ year drapery business has fielded calls and set appointments from people seeing her blog, and being recommended by a friend to check it out. She uses her time on Facebook to say hello to current and past clients, reinforcing her relationship. She also has had people see her on Facebook and instant message her to schedule an appointment. She’s getting business from social media, and admits she’s not using it much yet. What happens when she really get’s started?
A LinkedIn enthusiast in the consulting and training fields has been using that tool to increase his number of recommendations from current and past clients within the system. He can then take these with him anywhere he goes, including into the community at networking events.
A member of our Organic Marketing Club, in the construction industry, focusing on basement remodels was referred to as a result of someone posting a question on Facebook, “who do you recommend for…” and landed a $25k job, which is considered small for this company. She’s using social media, but only kinda sorta so far. Watch out when she is truly using it!
One of our favorite graphic designers, who did the CD covers for the InSights Group was also referred through Social Media when someone asked for a recommendation of a graphic designer. She was referred to the same person six times, and three of the recommendations came from people she didn’t even know.
I’ll even cite the InSights Group. We exist solely because of the marekting and promotion we’ve been able to do in social media to raise awareness that we are here. We’ll be telling more of our story as we celebrate our 2 year business anniversary in January of 2010. We’ll share real examples about how using social media every day can help a business get off the ground without huge marketing or advertising budgets. We’ve done it. We also teach it, since we’ve found the tools useful and can explain them to people with some relevance. We are very strategy and philosophy focused. There are many valuable resources available to people, and there is no one way to use social media. That’s also the beauty of the system. Information is available everywhere, and it’s up to individuals to decide who they want to listen to. It’s not about the one who has the most money to create the best campaign. It’s real, authentic, and people are willing to listen.
For the entrepreneurs we know that are using the tools, social media seems to be working. How do you measure ROI on tools that are free? We can try to measure our time investment as it translates into dollars. That’s only one way. The even more important, and harder to measure results are in the increased strength in client relationships, strategic alliances, and top of mind awareness in people.
You can read about some methods of measurement over at Sazbean:
Breaking Down Social Media Measurement
Reasons to Measure Social Media and Marketing Efforts
A smart investment is to work with someone as a consultant to figure out a strategy that can measure results. The key is finding out what the goal is, and then determining how to define or measure the success. Invest in training, the time to research what is going on in social media, and in continual learning and monitoring of a strategy. It will grow and change, so it’s natural to assume the results and measure of those results will grow and change as well.
These stories are from an hour long conversation with a handful of people today, and a couple of stories from Monday of this week. If I asked the hundreds of people I know personally that are using social media, I am sure that each would have success stories to share.
So I’ll ask you, what is your experience with social media? Do you have a success story to share?
Free Social Media Luncheon on Tuesday 12/8
•Social Media Strategy
Everywhere we turn, we hear that social media has become an important force in business marketing, which is very true. Money goes where people go, and people are going to social media sites.
Having an account in a social media platform (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) is not the same as having a social media “strategy”, and having a strategy is essential for success.
Allan Curtis and Sandi Maki have a common sense approach to integrating social media into a business marketing plan, and would love to help you define, develop, implement and maintain a successful strategy.
The process begins with setting some social media goals, and incorporating the best elements of what is available in the social media world today, with the ability to grow and change tomorrow. A successful strategy can be developed utilizing your existing web presence, and gaining the maximum amount of traction by adding the most important social media elements to your marketing mix.Are you using social media to promote your business?
Join us for a free lunch and learn how and why these social media sites should be an important part of your marketing mix.
