Content search is the first step in the buying process for many consumers.  According to David Meerman Scott, “when people come to you online, they are not looking for TV commercials.  They are looking for information to help them make a decision”.  Successful businesses build a relationship with their customers before applying high-pressure sales.  Simply put, offer content to build reputation, reputation builds trust and loyalty, trust and loyalty leads to sales.  “Content drives action” is the bottom line.

The key to driving sales through offering content, without the high-pressure banner ads and pop-ups, is an optimized website.  The example that Meerman Scott uses is Amazon.com.  Amazon.com uses website optimization to guide its buyers through the final decision to purchase.  The flow of the customer’s clicks determine at which stage of buying they are at.  Amazon uses these patterns to direct the customer to certain websites which will help the customer to make that final decision to make the purchase.  Make it a point to avoid the traditional marketing experience – we no longer want to interrupt the customer’s buying process with pop ups and loud banner ads, we want to help them through the decision making process by providing information content in a user-friendly way.

We are not giving content to our competitors, we are giving content to our consumers.  A blog, for example, gives customers a chance to make a personal connection with a company, it offers an opportunity for the customer to interact with the ‘company’, and have a voice.  It also gives companies a perfect opportunity to reach the niche of the market.  Research where your customers are spending their time on the Web, become active, offer your knowledge and expertise.  Accept criticism, and know when to act.  Allow loyal customers to step in for you, should your company be on the verge of a public relations crisis, you are already a trusted member of the blog, you already have an ‘innie’ – you have a way of reaching your customers directly. You are IN!

Sure, the competitors can take the content and do what they please with it.  What is important here, is to realize that you, as a company, need to set yourself as the leader in the industry.  Sure, competitors will offer the same content eventually, but who offers it first?  Who offers the most?  From the words of Scott, “Content turns browsers into buyers”.

Resource: The New Rules of Marketing & PR 
By David Meerman Scott

Blogs offer a unique and cost effective way to get into your customer’s head.  Through blogs, niche customers offer uncensored, unsolicited, blatantly honest comments about a company, their products, and their services.  Social media marketing is not just another selling platform to display high-pressure banner ads and pop-ups.  Social media marketing, such as blogs, offer a way to connect with your customers on a much more intimate level than ever before.

• First, understand blogs.  Who is writing them, who is commenting, what is the general tone of the blogs?  Also take into consideration who the perceived expert is, who supplies the answers or solutions - you will want to connect with this blogger.  You also need to understand the role of blogs to your social media marketing strategy, which is where the research comes in. 
• Do your research.  Search for blogs that are already established about your industry, company, products, and services.  What is being said?  Search for blogs that are specifically written about your competitors – what is being shared?
• Become involved.  You need to take an active role in the blogs that are centered around your niche.  Again, this is not a selling platform; this is a place for you to offer information content to your niche.  Offering information content to subscribers will increase your reputation, earning trust and credibility.  This gives you a unique opportunity to communicate directly with your customers in an environment where they feel comfortable.
• Monitor blogs.  Check out Technorati, this website shows the activity of the highest trending blogs.  This will also be very helpful in keeping an eye on blogs about your company and your competitors.  Simply search for your company name or industry, and begin monitoring!  Monitoring blogs will give you insight to customer complaints or compliments of your product or service; it will perhaps give you a running start for necessary product enhancements.
• Avoid unnecessary public relations crisis!  Blogs offer a unique opportunity for public relations and marketing professionals to control and prevent a crisis.  You now have an insider view of what exactly your customers are thinking and saying, and because of your involvement and information content sharing, you are seen as the go-to expert of the blog; you are at a perfect position for public relations.  Companies that do not take advantage of being activley involved in blogs heighten the risk for a crisis.   

Simply put, to succeed in marketing today, you must include blogging in your social marketing strategy!

 resource: The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott

When do you plan to reap the benefits of integrating social media into your business?

Do you have well-seasoned, experienced executives at the top of your company?  Great!  But what about those employees at the bottom of your ‘bottle’?  Have you looked into the unique expertise that these younger, entry-level employees posses? 

You need to differentiate yourself from your competitors; you already have revolutionary, innovative products and services,  but you need to let your customers know.  Excessive marketing and advertising budgets spent on print and television commercials are a thing of the past; if you still rely solely on this, you will soon be left in the dust.  Social media marketing allows you to reach your customers on a whole new level, in a much more efficient and cost effective way.   Social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, blogs) allows you to reach a greater amount of consumers with much less effort.   I bet that some of your competitors are already well-engaged in social media, defining themselves as in-the-know, credible and dependable resources for consumers. 

To stay in the game, you must adapt to using social media as a significant part of your new marketing strategy.   How do you tap into these new resources, when your entire staff is accustomed to the old ways?  You need new, fresh thinkers to get your staff acclimated to the new way of marketing.  You will need to utilize resources which have not been considered so valuable in the past – the new, young talent.

A great quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “There are always two parties, the party of the past and the party of the future; the establishment and the movement”.  The past serves as a foundation, but it is forward and revolutionary thinking that will truly ensure that your company has a place in the future.  

There is valuable young talent at the bottom of your bottle, make sure to create room for them at the top.  What are you doing to be sure that you do not become victim of the bottleneck?

“Strategy as Revolution” by Gary Hamel

Supplying great content creates a positive experience for your consumer, and gets them started in buying process.   Naturally, your goal is to reach as many consumers as possible, but if you are not utilizing social media to spread your content, you are missing out.  According to Nielson’s “State of the Media: The Social Media Report” Q3 2011, social networks and blogs reach more than three-quarters of active internet users, and more than half of active online adult social networkers shop online. 

You have a great opportunity with social networks and blogs to positively influence your company’s bottom line- social media is no longer an option, it is a necessity.

What do you think of the advertisement? Is this the first of many Twitter television spots?

Now obviously I’m exaggerating a little on the greatness of opening the package, but the greatness of iPad should not be understated. As I started to use the iPad, I found that there was something that I hadn’t quite figured out yet. How to get my stacks and stacks of GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wired, Outside, and New York Times onto my new apple device. Then I found the app called  Newsstand.

Newsstand is the app that allows you to both read and buy publication subscriptions for the iPad. I have found that reading publications on my iPad is great. It’s easy to read, has bright and vivid color, and has more dimensions that a normal subscriptions. Most subscriptions have a very easy to use layout that allows you to jump from section to section with ease. The new form of digital magazine and newspaper also allows for other content to be placed into the publication such as videos, audio content, and even slide shows of pictures.

For example, every time I receive a Bloomberg Businessweek in the Mail, the cover is the first thing that catches my eye. The covers are always dynamic and hit on emotional cues that other magazines don’t quite get to. I had always wondered how they came up with such great ideas. With their iPad subscription, I wondered no more. At the beginning of each new version, there is a short 2:00 minute video with the Creative Director and sometimes the editor explain the cover and how they got to the final version.

[picture of Bloomberg businessweek video]

The part of iPad publications that is great for marketers is the digital advertising medium. Advertisements in these publications are now more versatile than ever. They allow for bright and vivid color, interaction, multi-sized and positioned ads depending on the current layout of the iPad (horizontal or vertical), and multimedia such as videos, audio content, and slide shows of pictures. All of these things also can be clicked on and directed right to Safari (the internet) on the iPad device.

[picture of GQ advertisement]

Now if your thinking, I already own a magazine subscription that comes in the mail OR why would I double purchase a publication? The answer is you don’t have to. Many publications allow you to fully access the iPad version of the publication if you have a current subscription. For example I currently receive GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Wired both in Print and Digital versions. You may think it’s redundant, but in reality it is very convenient. I find myself leaving my print version in the living room or even in the bathroom. I then can read my magazine right where I left off, on the go such as in the car or on the plane.

If you were doubting the publication aspect of the iPad, doubt no more because as a young professional I use it constantly. To find out more about the iPad Publication Process go to the Apple Newsstand Website. To view all of the publications you can download visit the App Store on you Apple device or visit the Apple Newsstand List. Thanks for reading and as always, be sure to leave a comment.

One way that people disseminate all of that information and track trending topics on Twitter is by the use of hashtags. A hashtag is a word or phrase with no spaces that starts with a number sign (#). example – #EastLansing

After you enter you hashtag into your tweet, you are now engaged in a conversation with everyone else using that current hashtag. To see the conversation and everyone else tweeting about your trend, you can go to the “Discover” page of Twitter and type your hashtag into the search bar.

With all of that information flowing though Twitter how can we find local information about Lansing and local trending conversations?

#LoveLansing is your direct connection to everything great about Lansing, MI. #LoveLansing has been used in several different ways.

1. To reference the city.

2. As a shout-out to Lansing.

3. As a trending topic tag.

So next time your tweeting about Lansing or something you love about Lansing, use the hashtag #LoveLansing. we hope to see your tweet in the trending list. If you haven’t already follow us (@LSJMediaBizDev) and see what we love about #LoveLansing.