1. Become Socially Adept – We’re all still figuring out exactly how to incorporate and integrate social media into our marketing strategies. Everyone knows they need it (and increasingly so), but have you sat down to determine what your goals are and how social media can help you accomplish those goals? Ultimately it’s about increasing engagement through ongoing conversations that leads to brand advocates. Make this the year that your social media strategy comes into focus.
2. Mobilize – Mobile marketing is the new social media. Smart phones are used by nearly half of all mobile phone subscribers. Your customers are on the move and sites or communication that can’t be viewed on these devices is deleted as fast as they can swipe. Think about how you can optimize your site and communications to keep your brand in front of your customer wherever they are.
3. Give It Away – Giving your customers or prospects valuable content that helps them in their business makes you more than just a vendor. It makes you an expert. Put it in your blog, in your e-newsletter, on your facebook wall, and everywhere else your customers find you.
4. On the Tube – Think about it. People use YouTube like a search engine. The site has more than 2 Billion (yes, capital B) views per day. If people are searching, shouldn’t we be there? New video equipment and editing software can make it simpler for you to post demo videos, testimonials, advice, and more on YouTube (and on your own site). But if that’s not feasible, talk to us. We can help.
5. You Asked For It – Ask for business. It’s simple. Ask for referrals from your best customers. Developing a great referral program is a cost-effective way to increase your business, and it comes with a third party endorsement so your new prospect has reason to trust you. Also, ask your current customers how you can help them more. Gather the low hanging fruit and watch your business flourish.

These are our marketing resolutions for 2012. You’ll be seeing and hearing more from us in the days and months to come. Could any of these ideas apply to your business? If so we’d love to talk. Give us a call (or find us on facebook!).

Some wisdom from smart people, some things you learned from your mom, and some seriously random stuff…

1. “In this business, you can never wash the dinner dishes and say they are done. You have to keep doing them constantly.” Mary Wells Lawrence
2. No whining.
3. “People who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to.” Jerry Seinfeld
4. Failing does not make you a failure.
5. “The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.” David Ogilvy
6. Never leave a man behind.
7. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill
8. “I’ve learned any fool can write a bad ad, but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.” Leo Burnett
9. Tip your servers.
10. “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Plato
11. Always stick together.
12. “Never trust a smiling cat.” Garfield
13. A little goes a long way.
14. Lefty loosie, righty tighty.
15. “Floating the flop to bet on the turn.” Ted Kucinsky

The buzz is out and lots of people are talking about the new Google+ service that is coming from Google. Only a select few are getting to test the service out right now due to Google’s “Invitation only” model, but it won’t be long before you will be able to “+1” your friends.  (This is actually just the same thing as “liking” someone on Facebook.)

We at Catalyst are already getting questions about this service and whether or not it’s something you should do as part of your social media strategy. Honestly, that’s up to your business needs. But what we can do is offer you a list of what to expect from Google+ and decide for yourselves if this is worth looking into or not.

Below is your “official” Google+ Cheat Sheet:

Circles

This is just Google’s fancy word for “groups”. If you’re familiar with Facebook grouping of friends then you’ll understand what this is. It allows you to put your coworkers into one circle, your close friends in another, family in another, etc. The difference between Google and Facebook here is that Google allows you to drag and drop your friends into a circle instead of clicking on them.

Sparks

Sparks is really just you telling Google what types of interests you have and in turn, Google provides you with content that has been “tagged” with the same interest. For example, let’s say you’re interested in news regarding the iPhone. You simply add “iPhone” as an interest. Google will then use its search engines to find articles on the iPhone. Think of it as a custom magazine for you to decide what you want to read when you have time.  If you like the article, then you can “+1” it.

Hangouts

Hangouts are nothing more than group video chatting. Your status shows available so your friends can hop online and chat with you.

Mobile Apps*

Instant Upload – This is a camera app that is connected to your Google+ account that allows for instant upload online.

Huddle – This is basically just group texting for your mobile device

*Google+ app is still in review for the iPhone and iPad

Final Opinion

Google has attempted to enter into the social media market and has failed before. If you review the new things that Google is doing with Google+, it’s not really new. Facebook already has all of these features. They may not look the same, but they all work the same. Google just has different names for things, which in my opinion is going to hurt them with the general public. For example, when you “like” someone on Facebook that makes sense. But I still have a hard time imagining people “+1’ing” each other.  My rule of thumb for any social media is to not make people think. If you have to ask what something is, then most people will move on rather than trying to figure it out.

After reading this you may still be left with the question as to whether or not your business should get involved.  Will that little “+1” next to your site on Google’s search results make a difference in how you show up online? All I can say is that it could. Google uses algorithms online to determine ranking. I’m sure that they’ve added the “+1” results into the algorithm as a way to make sure you use the service, but that’s only an opinion. It will be important to monitor and promote that people “+1” your site. I’m sure there will be buttons for your site offered by Google that allow people to easily “+1” you. (Facebook is already doing this.)

In the weeks to come, there will be more information coming out regarding Google+. Catalyst will do its best to keep you up-to-date on these changes and how they could impact your company’s online strategy. If you have questions about Google+, please contact us or email me.

After my post on the Catalyst blog on Online Transparency last week, I really started to think about the other side of that coin – Online Reputation. I’m not just talking about a bad reputation online either. I’m talking about the good and the bad. Again, this all has to do with relationship management of your audience.

Let’s talk about the bad reputation first. With social media and blogging being so prevalent in society, it’s easy to see how one bad comment about your leadership, service, product, sales force, etc. can spread like wildfire. All it takes is one person with online influence to see the comment and decide to run with it. Believe me, there are people out there that do this for a living. These “mixers” love to stir the proverbial pot in order to gain online followers.  So if someone in your customer service department handles a customer rudely, who will know? EVERYONE! There’s also a class of online Twitter users that love to post only negative tweets about bad experiences. These “nega-tweeters” just want to be heard and believe that Twitter is the best place for it. And because humans naturally love drama, this one tweet will be seen by thousands, retweeted by even more and eventually you have a big game of telephone going on and your brand image and reputation will suffer.

All is not lost though. You do still have businesses with a good reputation online.  I will personally tweet about a good business experiences that I’ve had. There are others like me that I call “kudo-tweeters”. We’re a positive breed of online users who understand the importance of recognizing a company when they do something right.  Although our tweets don’t spread like wildfire, they’re still out there. And they’re just waiting to be snatched up by the company and used to their advantage. The problem is, most businesses ignore the good and only pay attention to the bad. Or they forget to look for the online “bad” and flip it into an online “good”. But businesses that reward the “kudo-tweeter”, win big in the end.

What can you do to help create a good online reputation? Ben Franklin said it best, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” So if you’re just now getting into the social media or haven’t hit it big yet, keep your nose clean. Don’t post a single thing that you wouldn’t want your customers, parents, or pastor to see.

What can you do to clean up the bad stuff that’s already out there? Trust me when I say this, cleaning up the bad stuff online is VERY difficult and can take years to get rid of and that’s if you’re lucky. Online freedom of speech is a tad different and Google, Twitter, etc. protect the freedom to say what you want online.

It’s important to monitor what is going on out there so that you can catch people when they’re being good or bad. It’s all about you as the business paying attention and listening to your audience. React positively to the good AND the bad and you’ll have a great online reputation.

If you have any questions about ways to monitor your online reputation, contact us or email me.

Are you on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, WordPress, LinkedIn, Posterous, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr or some other type of social media outlet? If so, when was the last time you posted? What are you using it for? Is it just because everyone else is doing it or are you using these outlets to maximize your online presence?

You see most companies think that since their competitors have a Facebook page or blog or anything else, they need to as well. In theory, that’s true.  But the reality is that most companies never really get the purpose of social media and therefore start the account and leave it sit. Maybe they go heavy with posts on their blog and then the excitement wears off and the last time they posted was sometime last Summer. If that’s you, you have one of two choices: 1. Start posting at least three times a week, or 2. Clean up the web and delete your account.

Why do I say this? Actually it all has to do with the whole point of social media in the first place; it’s SOCIAL media. The first person to “tweet” wasn’t doing it to make a bunch of money. They were just trying to socialize. The first person to post a blog wasn’t trying to further their career. They wanted to speak their mind.

The goal of the social side of media is to engage others, make new connections and start new relationships. It’s also a numbers game. The more “friends” you have, the more exposure you get. But the challenge that companies have when trying their hand at social media, is that they forget to actually be social and then end up frustrated because they never see their numbers go up.

So, here are a few little tips to help you increase your numbers:

1. For every three serious things you say online, say one fun thing. For example, let’s say you are a runner when you’re not working.  Ask your audience what their favorite running socks are. If you go out for coffee, talk about your drink of choice. It sounds silly, but you’re being transparent.
2. Ask for your audience’s opinion on a topic. This engages your audience and starts a dialogue. It shows that you care.
3. If you’re going to blog, then be sure to blog at least three times a week. Anything less than that is a waste of time. And again, apply rule one to your blog. Show people that you are a real person.
4. The CEO and/or other leaders of your company need to blog regularly. This helps establish your company as one that regularly communicates with your customers.
5. Pictures, pictures, pictures. People want to see YOU. They want to know YOU.

I guess in all of this, there’s really only one key idea I’d like to get across. Be TRANSPARENT. When economic times are tight, people typically become increasingly relationship oriented. By being transparent to your audience and letting them know that you’re one of them, then new positive relationships can begin and trust will be established, potentially leading to new business relationships.

If you’re looking for some good advice or just need help getting started and would like to talk more, let me know. I’d love to discuss how Catalyst can assist you in becoming more transparent online.

Editor’s note: While I was working on this blog I stopped for a 22 oz. iced mocha with whipped cream, took a picture of it, posted it to Instagram and tweeted about the whole experience while also promoting the coffee place I got it from using GPS. Ahhh, transparency!  http://instagr.am/p/GrrBi/