Today I received an email from a co-worker that read:

Dave,

Can you please send me your ideas for getting this client promoted through social media?

Thanks,

Co-Worker

This, of course got the hamster wheels in my head turning.  What are some social media tools that a brand can use to market their goods? Let us see, we have Twitter, Facebook… Then it hit me. There is a lot of ways to market your brand online, OTHER than Facebook and Twitter.  So let us look at some ways a company can market their selves online.  I think a good way to answer this would be in list form, as people like lists.

-Social Networking Sites: Do not just think Facebook & Myspace!   Is that where your potential clients are? Maybe. Yet, there a lot more! Are you looking for Baby Boomers specifically? There is Eons, Boomj, Teebeedee and many more.   There are social networking sites done by other companies that you can partner with. Heck the WWE even has a site. There is probably a niche social networking site for almost any target demographic you can think of.

-Virtual Worlds: As I posted last week, there is $600 million being dropped into virtual worlds. Creating a virtual version of your product seems like a great move. Find a virtual world, there are  hundreds (this is list is far from complete or current, but it is a start!) and make your brand something special there! Why not allow an avatar drink a virtual coke? Let an avatar wear designer jeans?

-Create a Blog: This blog could be about things that “support” the product you want to sell.  Let us say you sell diamond rings. Create a blog that shares information about different quality, shape, type, ratings about diamond rings. Best time to buy, events to buy, fun ways to surprise people with them.  This blog can help support the goal of sales and give potential clients great reasons to purchase the diamond rings.  You can also do something fun like SouthWest Airlines.

-YouTube Channel: Same Idea as the blog, just done with video. A great example is the New York Times channel. The great thing about this it has links to channels for the reports and links back to the New York Times site. In a way it feels like your actually on the New York Times site itself.

-Mobile Application: This is hot, I mean red hot. The mobile application business is booming. Why not create an application that supports your brand in some way? Look at what Nike did!  My advice, make it fun and simple. Let people take your brand with them.  Oh and if you are an application developer, there is some serious money to be made as Newsweek points out.

These are just 5 ideas. There a lot more out there!

Posted under Blog, Social Media

So this will be a quick and short post. Wanna see something really cool? Thought you would! Check this out!

See! Pretty cool huh?

The newspaper! Im talking about the New York Times “Obama Wins” Headline. See you can give it as a gift to someone on Facebook! Here look at what my friend C.C. gave to Steve

Click on the image if you are having trouble seeing it, I will wait.

So here is my point. The New York Times has 2,000,000 plus of these things for people to give to one another on Facebook. Its a mini NYT newspaper.  People send them to their friends in excitement for the Obama win or like I did to my friend John, to throw salt in his wound.  My point though is this is part of online branding for you right there! This is social media at its best.  People are sending millions of NYT gifts back and forth on Facebook, cause they want to!

Another cool thing is that FB then sees what is happening between the users and the system says to its self ” Ah, Steve must be interested in Obama lets hit him with some custom advertising on his screen! See the NYT:Obama Wins ad on the right side? More then likely you don’t even know its happening, its really a natural flow that is niche marketing and online branding. NYT gets it!

…and yes Facebook knows what you are doing, talking about  and sending. It creates custom ads based on what your doing. Do not think for a minute they are not watching!

Posted under Blog