Successful businesses are enjoying the benefits of a structured social media strategy and leaving non-networkers in a cloud of dust. Why? The Social Media Today article “Case Studies of Successful Facebook Marketing” presents several different approaches to social networking via Facebook which have brought about positive results.

The article explains:

“Every day, businesses are inspired to bring creative marketing ideas to life on Facebook in ways that have a real impact on their bottom line. Many have discovered how to leverage their Facebook communities to strengthen brand loyalty and communicate directly with customers. As your company invests in the social network for marketing, advertising, and branding, it’s useful to have a few examples of what others have done with the platform. These case studies look at the goals, approaches, and results for several Facebook campaigns.”

Social media expert Tess Arnold reiterated:

“Each company involved in the case study started with clear and concise goals that they believed were achievable utilizing Facebook. The end results were somewhat astounding with goals met for all involved and even exceeded for some.”

Social networking success is within the grasp of any and all entrepreneurs who take the time to develop a targeted social media strategy with genuine content. However, with the networking realm and rules consistently being altered, there is no shame in consulting with social media professionals.  Business owners looking for strategy guidance will find the experts at Arnold IT can easily help design and implement a plan based on the overall operational needs of the company. No matter how many case studies are done… the key to social networking success will always be determined by the company’s strategy.

Jennifer Shockley, June 17, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.

Stalking social media statistics is not a crime… as a matter of fact, it is encouraged within one’s own company. Anyone with a head for business knows that it is important to evaluate your investments and look for ways to improve results. The Social Samosa article “Social Media Strategy Review; The Telecom Industry” paints a portrait of one major industry player who is tracking and continuing to implement improvements for multiple social media campaigns.

The article provided several examples of social media tracking:

“Tata Docomo has the largest community on Facebook for an Indian brand. With more 13 million ‘likes’, it is almost three times ahead of its nearest competitor Idea Cellular, which has close to 4.5 million people in its community. Without inside info it’s difficult to tell but a sustained strategic advertising campaign on Facebook could explain the sudden increase in fans. On Twitter, Tata Docomo again holds reign with 68k followers. However, unlike Facebook, Vodafone and Airtel have a following better than the rest. They boast of 64k and 32k followers respectively.”

For those who think the fancy graphs and print outs just look impressive, they can provide the data needed to make success saving alterations to a social media campaign. Many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar with the tracking process and that is where professional services like those offered by Arnold IT can make a difference. Their team of experts can evaluate and redesign a social networking strategy to include the most beneficial aspects possible in order to reach and exceed company goals.

Jennifer Shockley, June 17, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.

The article Managing A Social Media Marketing Team on Marketing Land refers to the utmost importance of efficiency. Although social media marketing is a relatively new field, there are many areas already ripe for improvement. Avoiding turf wars, taking inventory of resources and determining timelines and project guidelines are all touted.

The article explains:

“Dr. Barry Johnson was fond of saying that problems are to be solved, while dilemmas are to be managed. In social media marketing, we are immediately confronted by a great big hairy dilemma: social media marketing is made up of both open-ended activities and closed-ended tasks. This is a dilemma because we’re not able to report on outcomes in the early stages. Instead, we have to report on activities, which we assume will lead us to the outcomes that we’re seeking.”

Different approaches to social media marketing include Brand Maintenance, which is focused on maintaining social spaces, Influencers, which is focused on engaging with influential social media presences, Big Splash, which grabs attention through projects that are creative in nature. Techniques and tools are still changing, and at ArnoldIT the attention to context aware planning by the staff of social media specialists allows for successful implementation of social media marketing strategies.

Chelsea Kerwin, June 13, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.

The article titled The Ten Commandments of Social Media Marketing on Top Dog Social Media lists the rules that the author claims made her career a success story. The commandments are as follows: Be Consistent, Provide Significant Value, Actually Care About Your Audience, Be a Human Being Not a Corporate Robot, Be Accessible, Make It About Them Not You, Thou Shall Not Spam…Ever, Always Be Listening, Position Yourself As The Authority, Never Underestimate The Importance of Blogging.  View them on this infographic. These may not be as catchy as honor thy father and thou shalt not kill, but the article explains their importance:

“People can tell if you are using social media to promote yourself with zero interest in helping others. This turns people off and, no matter what you believe, caring about your audience cannot be faked. You need to genuinely care about your audience and show this with thoughtful, unscripted replies and by taking the opportunity to go the extra mile whenever possible. The beauty of social media is that it spotlights these encounters in a way that was never possible before, but it must be genuine.”

Some of these commandments apply to general life,  but number ten (never underestimate the power of blogging) ascribes vital benefits of blogging, such as moving up in the world of search engine optimization, more website traffic due to the promise of consistent updates, and gaining a secure grip on your online identity. Learn more about your digital footprint and taking control of your online reputation from the experts at ArnoldIT.

Chelsea Kerwin, June 11, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville

On the french blog Poncier, the article Social Business: Begin By A Social Media Strategy Or Deploy An Enterprise Social Network First? explores the different possible routes to social media. Some do not believe that these different methods are created equal, like Altimeter Group. They claim that just having a social media department is not enough to transform and impact business. Those companies that are truly integrating social media are throughout their workforce are much more likely to work.

The article prevaricates:

“Because companies which are already active on social medias through their communication department or marketing, will push to begin by social media, then internal transformation afterward. At the opposite, companies which own an enterprise social network will defend the other point of view. But there is some light differences between the two positions… Of course, the right answer should, do the both at the same time (even the three)… But as usual, it’s a theory…”

The third dimension the article mentions is to collaborate between partners and/or suppliers. This is tricky because of the problem of sharing the information and keeping everyone on the same page. Obviously, using all of your employees makes sense because most of them already use social media, but that doesn’t guarantee that they will be effective. If this sounds confusing, at ArnoldIT a staff of social media experts advocates productive methods to implement the right social media strategy for all kinds of businesses.

Chelsea Kerwin, June 03, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.

When it comes to business, social media is not just about the latest deal or an upcoming sale and some entrepreneurs are still struggling with that concept. The Shopper Discount Rewards article “Shopper Discounts and Rewards: Implementing an Effective Social Media Strategy” touches on the importance of a social media strategy that focuses on not only getting the attention of a targeted audience but also providing that consumer base with interesting, yet relevant content.

The article stated:

“Social media needs to be a part of all business and communications strategies. Where possible, it should be considered a division in its own right, just like PR, advertising and events. A number of online retailers are still using social media solely as an advertising platform. It could be argued that instead, they need to make sure that content is offering added value to the audience. The greater the value added, the more willing the users will be to engage in a two-way conversation with the retailer.”

The overwhelming popularity of social media as a marketing platform has made it mandatory that businesses put effort into creating a content rich strategy just to stay afloat in an industry, much less succeed. Entrepreneurs ready to swim in the seas of social networking success will find the experts of Arnold IT can design an integrated social media strategy that emphasizes content with value. Businesses that utilize a customized strategy like this reach their targeted goals, while companies relying on a randomized approach simply drift or completely sink.

Jennifer Shockley, May 22, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.

Since social media exploded on the scene there has been a barrage of fly by night social networks, software and articles offering the ‘how to’ for networking novices. Thus, it comes as no surprise when the Content Marketing Experience article “Content Marketing Case: the Vocus Social Media Strategy Tool” announced a new interactive social media strategy application deemed Vocus.

The article provided seven reasons Vocus will succeed:

*Control is put in the hands of those who interact: you.

*It provides an answer to questions many businesses have when it comes down to social media marketing.

*There is a social and ‘group’ dimension since you are benchmarking your strategy with that of others who are actually using the tool. That’s strong.

*It’s highly relevant and provides information and value.

*It’s easy and very intuitive; it doesn’t take too much time and is even fun to do.

*Even if you don’t have the time, you can download the content.

* It’s quite innovative.

Social media expert Tess Arnold stated:

“Vocus is impressive but it is just another social media tool that requires human interaction to function. Entrepreneurs mustn’t be fooled by programs claiming to manage social media with little or no human intervention, as ultimately that type of interaction is required to achieve success. Otherwise, the profile just becomes another bot.”

Vocus is being promoted as requiring very little maintenance but the entire purpose of social networking is social interaction. Socialization must be a part of a social media strategy in order to generate quality content for a targeted audience and despite its many tools; Vocus cannot replace the human touch. Entrepreneurs will find a more human touch in designing a social networking strategy with the experts at Arnold IT. Their team of professionals will focus on creating a campaign that compliments services or overall operations to achieve both short and long term company goals without downloading a new app.

Jennifer Shockley, May 21, 2013

If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.