Digital marketing blog CMO.com and SEO firm 97th Floor teamed up to develop this extremely informative and valuable infographic guide to using social media for marketing. This 2011 version is an update to their previous 2010 version because, as CMO points out, “what worked this time last year might not work today, for this is a rapidly shifting landscape that must be mapped out regularly”. Rather than just present the spectrum of social media sites one can use (and there are a lot), CMO’s guide shows and explains which social media sites are best for which types of marketing tactics, such as customer communication, brand exposure, website traffic, and SEO. The result is brilliant. Of course, keep in mind what Mashable points out: “this chart gives you the tip of the iceburg when it comes to making the right choice for your own company’s or clients’ campaigns.” Still, this graphic is a helpful tool when considering or analyzing a social media campaign.

Click here or on the image for the full-size PDF!

Here’s an interesting question: how do you choose the best social network for your company or brand? Of course Facebook is powerful, but there are a plethora of other networks out there… how do you know which are the best? Or rather, which are the best for you?

From The Boom of Social Sites, by TechCrunch

Different social networks can have different effects on the perception of your brand. Certain networks are more popular among certain demographics – based on age, geography, common interests, lifestyles. etc. While networks like Facebook and Twitter may seem like social “cure-alls,” there are a number of things to consider before choosing a social platform for your company or brand. As Lisa Barone points out (for Business Insider), “it doesn’t matter how pretty a house you build if you’re putting it in the wrong neighborhood.” Barone lays out a few questions you may want to ask yourself before setting up your social presence on a particular network:

1. What are the strengths of this network/site?

2. How much time can I afford to spend on this network/site? Each day? Each week?

3. What are the demands of this network?

4. Does my target audience/community use this network?

5. If engaging on this network cost $500/month, would I still join it?

6. Will this network/site integrate with the rest of the promotion we are doing?

It’s wise to prepare for a social campaign in this way; social media is a marketing strategy and should be managed as such. Since so many people utilize social media for personal and recreational purposes, you’d think it would be easy! But social networking still requires work to be used as a successful marketing tool. Barone says, “These are social channels. In order to see a return on them, you have to actually be social on them... When you go and create that social media account – you’re actually going to be expected to do something with it.”

We know a thing or two about social networking – having always offered social media campaign preparation, planning, and set-up services, Ashworth Creative is now offering full social media campaign management. So, drop by and let’s get social.

As the new intern at Ashworth Creative I have been given the task of handling all things social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and this blog. Part of my daily routine consists of keeping up to date with all of our favorite bloggers. As I was reading through the hundreds of new posts this week, I came across an interesting trend: a battle over the life of social media.

According to the blog Duct Tape Marketing, social media doesn’t matter anymore. The blog is based off the Duct Tape Marketing book by John Jantsch, which claims to give simple, effective and affordable small business marketing tactics. John claims that small businesses are lacking in the adaptation of social media, agencies are over-adapting to social media, and in reality it’s all irrelevant. He goes on to say that the reason why social media doesn’t deserve the hype is because it doesn’t exist beyond a label. Social media was mislabeled, and really it is part of the new way of marketing; listening to and involving consumers. Social media tools, plans, agencies, departments, and experts are drawing focus away from marketing strategies and tactics. Instead of wasting resources on the hyped-up social media trend, marketers should be focusing on engaging prospects, customer experiences, collaboration with communities, and fusion between offline and online activity.

So right about now I feel pretty useless, but as I continue reading through the blogs the life of social media (and my job!) starts looking up.

I came across a post from Brian Solis in honor of National Small Business Week. Brian claims that social media in small business in anything but small. He discusses how social media is helping small, local, and emerging businesses increase visibility and value. People and businesses are connecting, consumers are participating, and customer-bases are unifying all from opportunities created by social media. Results from a study published by the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and Network Solutions shows interesting statistics about social media adoption among U.S small businesses. According to the study, the rate of small businesses adopting social media has increased from 12% to 24% over the last year. More interesting statistics from the study: 61% of small business owners use social media to identify and attract new customers, 75% of those surveyed have a company page on a social networking site, and 45% expect to see profits from social media integration over the next 12 months.

Now I’m beginning to feel better about my love for social media (and the importance of my job!). I disagree with John; I think social media does still matter, and can be used to reach and start the conversation with your consumers. However, it is important to note that social media alone can’t be your only marketing strategy. Social media can be utilized as a supplement to other strategies such as search engine marketing, optimization, traditional advertising, public relations, and other marketing tactics. Brian found fascinating statistics about the use of social media in small businesses, and made an interesting point: social media help businesses and people connect. If your business doesn’t have an online presence, you might as well not exist. This online presence doesn’t just include social media, but a website, searchability, general contact information, and perhaps even some multimedia. The Internet is the first (and probably only) place consumers go for information.

Even Facebook is becoming a search engine, and not only for people but businesses too. According to Eli Goodman, a blogger for SearchEngineWatch.com, Facebook hosts 600 million U.S. searches per month! Currently the majority of searches on Facebook are for people, but Facebook can further develop their search technology so that when an individual searches “cars,” a list of their friends’ “liked” related pages such as BMW or Toyota appear. This type of social search doesn’t exist yet, but as consumer behavior changes we may see Facebook redefine search and become a key search market player.

All of this social media buzz may seem overwhelming to you, but have no fear Ashworth is here to help! I came across a blog post by Michele Linn from MarketingProfs Daily Fix . She gives some great tips to remember when you consider starting a social marketing plan:

(1) Start small. Don’t jump into every social media vehicle at once, you will be overwhelmed. Try setting small goals: check out other blogs first, try writing possible blog topics, observe how others are using Facebook and Twitter, do some research on your target market to see where they are interacting.

(2) Realize opportunity cost. Starting a social media campaign is time consuming, and sometimes hard work! You will have to spend hours researching, developing, and maintaining your presence.

(3) Get others to help you. Have a group of people at your business help maintain your online identity. Or hire outside marketing agencies (like us!) to design and develop a strategic online marketing plan. Once established, think about hiring someone internally to keep your online presence going and up-to-date.

(4) Commit. Once you have your website, social profiles, and online existence, you must keep it going. Engage and interact with your consumers, keep information current, and grow your customer base.

Want some more tips? I found a post on Mashable.com that describes 6 tips for effective recruiting on social media sites. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook, we are always posting useful and interesting information. What do you think about the importance of social media? Should marketers stop using these vehicles all together? Do you think social media is effective? What do you think could make social media more effective? Any comments, suggestions, questions? Let us know what you think, we love hearing from our fans! Until next time, keep tweeting, liking, and posting, it’s good for you :)