Check it out! Social Media Landscape | CMO.com

• BioVedaTechnologies.com (launched!) – We built this corporate website to accompany the already existing, consumer facing BioVedaWellness.com website that we developed for them last year.  BioVeda Technologies is a cutting edge, medical device company and their new website was built using cutting edge interactive design and technology!
• BrainBalanceCenters.com (coming soon!) – April is autism awareness month and what better time to launch the website for Brain Balance Achievement Centers, an incredible company that specializes in working with kids who suffer from neuro-behavioral and developmental disorders such as Autism, Asperger’s, ADHD and Learning Disorders.  This site will be an incredible resource for parents and educators alike!
• HeyYouNeverKnowtheBook.com – A Jewish Novel by Robert Newman, this website represents what we hope to be the first of many author and small publishing house websites.  Contact us if you need help marketing your novel!
• SpecEye.com (coming soon!)- Spectrum Eyecare is an optometry practice committed to patient care and Dr. John Henahan recognizes the importance of an interactive website coupled with a social media presence.  If you are a small business owner and have a consumer service, we want to help you establish your web presence and gain more customers!  Contact us today.
• And, more to come…

Celebrity endorsements and the idol approach are effective for large companies with big marketing budgets.  However small or medium sized businesses need a more cost effective approach which leads us to the grass roots movement that social media propels.  When we examine social networking, you are achieving something much more valuable than advertising. You are creating referrals, testimonials and endorsements, which gives you instant credibility and a level of trust that traditional advertising simply cannot achieve.  Social Media allows you to leverage your existing customer base and create real world champions of your brand.  While we may be entertained by a pretty woman singing Bye Bye Birdie while sipping her diet drink, we are more likely to purchase something based upon the positive experiences of our like-minded family and friends.

Particularly by package-goods standards, that $1 million digital outlay with one site was large. But Dunnhumby has run similar studies with smaller digital campaigns.“Just about every one has seen some positive results,” Mr. LaRocca said. “And the ones that have had negative results … just had a poor message or poor targeting.”

Success stories related to social media and how it has a direct correlation to increased revenue are becoming more and more common .  And the return on investment is usually high, considering that social media has little to no hard costs associated with it, and is more of an investment in time and strategy.  Even for those companies who opt to have a third party manage their social media on their behalf, the ROI is still high as compared to traditional advertising methods.

That leads me to the point of this post.  What’s your social media success story?  Please respond with a comment if you’ve had any improvement to your business as a result of using social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter.   Whether it be a single new customer, an increase in revenue, improvement in your customer service, positive testimonial or all of the above, please share your story!

You can also share your story in the discussion section of the Kayne Interactive Facebook Page, so your friends can see and pass along the good news to their network!

While it may not seem old-fashioned at face value, technology through the use of social media allows you to do both if used correctly.  Social media is an online marketing tool that can reach a mass audience in a targeted manner.  It helps your customer to understand the core of your business values.  Social media is a unique marketing platform in that it also provides you insight into what your customer wants and allows you to respond to your customers immediately and in a personalized manner.

It’s important to understand that when harnessing the power of social media you must be real.  No PR spins.  No one-sided positioning.  No in your face, buy-it-now messaging.  Instead, share your story.  Encourage feedback (good and bad) and respond in a manner that tells your customer that you are listening and that they are valued.  While you may not be able to physically reach out and shake a hand, your customer will still feel as if they know you personally, will be left with a positive impression about your business and will likely refer their friends.

Are you ready to tell the story of your business?

All growing businesses at some point have to deal with an unhappy customer and the outcome is not always a happy customer (no matter how hard you try to turn a negative experience into a positive one).  Since the advent of blogs and social networking, it has become much easier for those unhappy customers to broadcast their negative consumer experiences to their networks of family, friends, colleagues and whoever else may be listening.  As the company who may be the target for negative rantings, it’s important for you to be prepared to compete with unhappy customers.  The best preparation…a blog of your own!

Blogging and social networking for your business allows you to broadcast positive customer testimonials to your own group of family, friends, colleagues and whoever else may be listening (i.e. potential customers).  It provides a platform for your happy customers to EASILY report on their positive consumer experience. (People are less likely to share a positive experience than a negative one, so it’s important to make it easy to report the positive and perhaps even provide an incentive for them to do so.) That coupled with enhanced search engine optimization will ensure that your positive messages about your business overshadow whatever negativity about your business that may exist out there in the blogosphere.  And the best part?  Getting your blog built is easy and cost-effective – Get Started today!

Another shout out to Seth Godin for inspiring this post.  I highly recommend that you follow his blog!