Wednesday, July 28, 2010

e-marketingclass in the home stretch

Now that the midterm is behind us, it's time to start focusing our attention on social media marketing. We've already discussed the topic in class to some extent but let's take a couple steps back and put social media into context before proceeding. You can start by watching the short video Social Media in Plain English. The video simply describes the concept and puts a business spin on it. Is this view consistent with what you think social media is all about? Is it only about selling? Dialog? Community Building? All of the above? However you define it, social media introduces several implications for marketers...be prepared to discuss this in class on Thursday night!

While some folks are in denial, the social media phenomena is here and is becoming a necessary tool in marketers' toolbox. One recent article by e-marketer.com highlights social network user demographics and showcases the critical mass usage has reached. We have all seen/heard of examples of marketing campaigns that tap into the power/viral nature of social media (e.g., Subservient Chicken, Dove Evolution, Elf Yourself, etc.) but does this work for every business? How often does B2B go viral? Any good examples you want to share? B2B seems to be lagging behind the B2C world but this doesn't mean these types of firms are not participating (see socialmediab2b for some examples). I'll post a couple articles to ANGEL related to B2B social media (can't post here due to copyright limitations) for some ideas to ponder (and, of course, discuss in class on Thursday).

Until next time, don't forget about our goal of being the top e-marketingclass resource on the web (or at least getting the search engines to think so) and your team goal of being the #1 Antkeg Remi destination...keep at it and use those newly acquired SEO skills!

e-marketing class: Ford's e-marketing

According to the BusinessWeek article, “How Ford Got Social Marketing Right,” Ford’s Fiesta Movement was a marketing tactic in which Ford gave Fiesta cars to 100 consumers and asked them to drive anywhere they wanted and document their adventures for six months via social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. All expenses were paid by Ford. Their goal was to attract a younger demographic to increase their hurt revenues last year. This was an edgy move that could have had very negative feedback or consequences. They are finally done with the experiment and Ford is seeing some very positive customers who have been looking forward to the product’s arrival in the US, which has just happened this month.

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