Social Media Influence
By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
Social media influence; the harsh reality is that you either have it or you don’t. I’m going to tell you the cold hard truth about social media…what you need to know that most people won’t tell you. While anyone can have a social media presence, not everyone possesses social media influence. It’s clear to those in the know that social media is a universe of the haves and have nots. It’s the difference between relevance and irrelevance, visibility and anonymity. You might have something to say, but without influence, nobody will be listening. Put simply, having a social media presence without influence is little more than an exercise in frivolity. In today’s post I’ll share some thoughts on the importance of social media influence in the building of personal and corporate brand equity.
Assuming that you have deep pockets, a talented staff, and a lot of patience, growing a recognized brand isn’t difficult…spend heavily across all mediums with consistent, creative, on message advertising while simultaneously conducting aggressive public relations and social media campaigns. Avoid controversy, maintain a high likeability factor, consistently and proactively engage your customers, be a business of character that engenders trust and confidence with your target market(s), produce a quality product or service at a competitive price point, and provide great customer service. The preceding description paints the perfect illustration of why branding is one of my favorite topics…It is complex. Unless you are a very large enterprise it is unlikely that you have the time, money, staffing, or external professional relationships to execute a brand management strategy such as the one outlined above. In today’s post I’ll share 8 tips for common sense branding that entities of any size can put into practice…
What drives your internet strategy? I’m always amazed that in today’s digital world where web based technologies reign supreme, at the number of companies that still don’t get it…It is not at all uncommon for me to find corporate internet strategies that are at best cobbled together if they exist at all. It is as if digital marketing and branding initiatives are the corporate version of the “hot potato,” such that everyone wants to have their say, but no one wants to take responsibility. Rarely do I come across corporate internet strategies that are aligned with the core business strategy. In an earlier post entitled “
What do I mean by “culturally savvy“? I am not addressing the topic of being politically correct, rather I want you to focus on the importance of simply being cognizant that there is a larger cultural impact on how business is conducted today than ever before. Cultural differences often exist within the same companies…they certainly exist between different companies. Without question there are different cultural business practices in different cities or regions within an individual country. These differences are almost exponentially complicated when you start doing business on a global basis. For purposes of this post we will address how to best blend and manage your internal cultural characteristics with those of your vendors, partners, suppliers, customers and investors who may be located in foreign countries.
Looking for a way to enhance your direct marketing initiatives? Look no further than Twitter. Why is Twitter so hot? Why is it the fastest growing microblogging/social media platform on the planet? Because it produces real value, and it does so very quickly. Twitter is arguably the best and most powerful direct marketing tool to come along since email assuming two things: 1,) you understand how to use it, and; 2.) that you do in fact actually use it. In today’s post I’ll provide a few thoughts on how to leverage Twitter without going into the technical aspects (there is already plenty of information in circulation on that).
Subjecting your website’s traffic to intense analysis is the key to breaking the code for improving conversion ratios and watching your success on the Internet skyrocket. Understanding the basic logic surrounding this premise, it amazes me how few companies truly understand the key metric in driving website success…traffic. In today’s post I’ll share a bit of information that will help you gain a better understanding of the value of website traffic analysis… 
Search Engine Marketing has always played a critical role in managing the visibility of a company’s online brand. However with the Internet becoming what is arguably today’s dominant medium, Search Engine Marketing has also risen to become a key driver in a company’s overall brand strategy. Regrettably the maturity of the products and services that comprise search engine related disciplines come at a time when the industry has never been more complicated and difficult to navigate for the uninitiated. Even though businesses today have many more options with regard to how they execute their search engine initiatives, I find that many marketing executives struggle more today with their online marketing strategies than they did a few years ago. In today’s blog post I’ll share my opinions on the current state of the Search Engine Marketing Industry.