More Reason to Socialize

Over a short period of time, sites like Facebook and Twitter have grown from messaging tools between friends into widely adopted means of self-promotion, advertising, and interaction. Most recently, the growing popularity of sharing useful information through these networks has caused a shift in the way the internet is being used, blurring the lines between its informational and social atmosphere.

As of last week that gray area got a little grayer. Microsoft announced that they struck deals with the two social networking giants to start integrating real time search results that will come directly from Twitter and Facebook users but will be listed within the Bing search engine results. Google also announced that they cut a similar deal with Twitter and would soon be launching a whole new search tool called ‘Social Search’. So it appears that now the influence of your tweets and updates will expand beyond just their narrow social circles.

This all came about as increasing amounts of traffic to websites were coming from Facebook and Twitter, taking some potential business away from search engines. The search engines, rather than compete, realized that when people are seeking information they are finding that content is often more relevant when it comes from someone within their sphere of influence online and not a mysterious and complex algorithm. Also, social search is predominantly based on recency because more times than not the most recent information is also the most pertinent.

What does this mean for publishers? There are larger marketing opportunities in growing your online social circle and actively participating within it. This is also important because for the first time these new forms of search are giving you some control over being found.  Instead of solely being bound by the strict rules of search engine optimization and highly competitive keywords, now by making regular use of Twitter and Facebook you are vicariously using search engines to reach an even larger audience. The more social you become with your marketing, the more traffic directed through your links.

67% of Shoppers Spend More Money When Their Facebook Friends Give Them The Green Light

At Dirxion, we like to think that we have our finger on the pulse. We cashed out with Bernie Madoff like 2 years ago. In 2003, we popped our collars at least a month before everyone else caught on. Not the best examples, but it makes my point about us having some foresight. We not too long ago introduced our social sharing feature aimed at our customers with digital catalogs, travel guides and magazines. Without fail, a study recently came out from the E-tailing Group, Inc and it proved us right again.

The report states that 83% of consumers who shop online are keen to the notion of sharing their potential purchases with their Facebook and Twitter friends. On top of that, 67% admit that they end up spending more money online if they receive their social networking friends’ seal of approval.

Also discovered through this study:
62% of online shoppers are more likely to return to a retail website that offers social tools.

Twice as many shoppers say they prefer the recommendations of their friends in social communities rather than that of the retailers.

41% of people say they would be interested in being a part of online communities that share information about shopping and their favorite products.

Social networks are continually proving to be a valuable business resource. If you aren’t using these sites for all their marketing capabilities you could be missing out on some potential revenue. So here’s an idea … publish a digital edition of your publication. Use the social media features to circulate it to your customers, and then let your customers start circulating it for you. That’s working smart.

Twitter Is All The Rage In The Small Business Sector

We thought it would be interesting to mention a few Twitter stats that we noticed over at MarketingProfs.com a few days ago. This is very brief, yet very interesting, especially for all of our customers who are taking advantage of the extremely popular micro-blogging service known as Twitter.

Take a look at what they’ve found:

According to this survey Twitter users, most of whom represent small businesses expect their company’s use of this microblogging tool to increase in the next six months.

• 84% of respondents say their company’s use of Twitter will increase
• 46% say it will increase by a “significant” margin
• 66% of respondents consider Twitter either extremely” or “somewhat” important to their company’s business/marketing operations.

Rating the value of social-media business tools, respondents replied that the following gave “great value” to their company:

52%, corporate blogs
41%, Twitter
25%, LinkedIn
17%, Facebook

As we’ve talked about in earlier marketing posts, there is quite a bit of opportunity for all of our customers to promote their digital publications through Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and all sorts of social media outlets. It’s never too late to start, and if you have any questions, just drop us a line in the comments below or you can use our contact form.