In the vast waters of social media, the mainstream media giants such as Twitter and Facebook are difficult water to navigate, especially as a marketer. InfiniteSM’s new promotions platform is Qoints, a new way for marketing managers and staff to target niche groups within larger social media platforms. The platform makes it easier for companies to deploy contests, coupons, samples, sweepstakes, etc, but also allows for consumers to easily follow the brands they like to receive special deals.
Qoints is a SaaS solution that allows marketers to measure the success of their digital campaigns against themselves, their competitors and industry averages through Qoints’ comparative index. Qoints is a spin-off of InfiniteSM, our digital agency that has successfully specialized in branded promotional applications for the last number of years. It was developed as a solution for brands and agencies to actually understand the massive amounts of data they bring in, and objectively measure it in order to improve future results.
This leads to the idea of Micro Marketing on social media platforms. Where companies will look to not only engage, but build their own social groups [hopefully] filled with potential customers. Facebook fan pages (and groups, though they are being phased out), somewhat fill this niche, but often get lost in the shuffle of a general account. As a result, only a small percent of people actually see posts made by the owner of a fan page, especially with the way Facebook now “encourages” you to boost your viewing audience though payment.
The latest results show that new marketing techniques like Facebook Exchange (as demonstrated on this blog) really work, as it integrates advertising into ones timeline. Fourth Source also argues that “‘world of mouth’ recommendations will soon dominate buyer behaviour as well as brand activity”, as people continue to move more and more towards trusting “friends” over traditional marketing techniques. Ads telling you you to buy someones new pair of designer shoes, wont cut it anymore, as this type of advertising is becoming blocked out by viewers like advertisements in a newspaper tend to be overlooked.
Finally, as social media becomes more and more adopted by companies as a marketing and outreach means, headhunters and HR specialists are looking beyond the “you are young, you can run our Facebook page” type thinking, and specifically seeking proven “social media experts” with 7 or more years of experience [With Facebook and Twitter only really becoming public in 2006, this is expecting a lot in my opinion]. The standard “lets run a Facebook, YouTube and Twitter account and update our customers on what we do” will not fly anymore, at least for those who want more then a number beside a stagnate page of supporters. Unique and new means will need to be sought out and utilized, so staying ahead of the game and being willing to try new options could become crucial to growth and success.
What employers want when looking for social media talent
Lessons Learned:
So all of this means that companies will need to focus on finding people who are more training at social media then just “using” it for 5 years for personal enjoyment. These specialists should be aware of the changing markets and trends, and utilize new services as they become available to capture early adopters in the market. So gain knowledge [maybe look at this course as an option], stay nimble and stock up on Qoints when it is launched (or other new platforms and strategies).
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Submitted by: Barry Rooke – SMBP Student University of Waterloo.
To contact the author of this entry please email barry@infinitesm.com.
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.