Marketing still needs to satisfy the basic needs of, awareness, research, consideration and comparison, and procurement, whether it be offline or online. Lead generation has to start somewhere, it does not matter if it is for B2B or B2C. Traditional methods still work great for everyone. The big events that gather people to tradeshows or phones and direct emails. I personally think that networking is huge and will continue to be. But, now more than ever internet marketing, it has certainly taken over how we advertise to the world. A website’s design is critical to if it meet, needs and exceeds what the customer demands. So what is the customer demanding? Av vivid page that is easy to navigate, has lots of eye appeal and interaction. The landing page must be smooth, with any click through that are directly routed. Checking out should be secure and simple.

With that being said companies also need to install the Customer Relationship Managing. Which is basically building a trusting relationship. This means that everyone from the sales force to the customer service to the shipping departments must be all on the same page. That way if something falls through the cracks everyone will know how to try to fix it. That is the only way you can keep a customer for life.

Websites are no longer just an advertisement. They need to be a fully functional store at everyone’s finger tips. Not just compatible for the desktop or laptop either. Consumers want it to be convenient. Convenience means mobile. So build in security and compatible is done for mobile phone of all different operating systems, and tablets. So this now all done, everyone is happy right?

Nope! Now how do we deal with the problems?  Security was broken, webpage would not load, order delivered wrong? Customer service is more important than ever. When surveys are giving of unhappy consumers they want to be acknowledged and actions taken about their issues right away. So whether it be a call center or an online virtual advisor, we need to be courteous and prompt. It is also to be understanding of the culture in which you operate. For instance, in America we would appreciate a representative who “takes charge of the situation” may even crack a joke, but a consumer in Japan may take this approach as being disrespectful. I think that is a very difficult role to follow. But there are so many people that are successful at it and keep consumers nationwide happy.

All of this greatness comes at a price, that a price is keeping the knowledge. So many companies have to worry about intellectual knowledge being lost or stolen. Laws have been written to regulate internet transactions. But also to protect the companies, designers, programmers all sign a waiver about the confidentially.

 At the end of the day when all is said and done, this cycle all starts over only keep changing and improving more and more. 

It is amazing how we live in a world where social media marketing has rose to such a level that it's just part of our normal routine. What do you do when you first wake up in the morning? I know what I do, I check my phone and my Facebook account. In fact 80% of smartphone users do the exact same thing with in the first 15 minutes of getting up. So what keeps us to want to be so connected all the time? A survey was taken about why people stay connected. The following were the top reasons.

·         They have contests or requests for suggestions regarding current or new products

·         They post fun and interesting topics/items

·         They create content that is worth sharing

·         They answer emails or messages I send them

·         They respond to comments or links I post on their page

That seems about right. With this in mind when it comes to advertising I think that there are some rules that should be followed.

·         Know who your targeted audience is, don't be too vague.

·         Technology compatibility, needs to be able to run on a platform of different operating systems.

·         The content should be up to date and relevant.

·         It should draw people’s attention to it, make it fun.

That makes sense, but what about the other side of it? I found this interesting to do a little focus on what not to do.

·         Don’t be all talk.  Tweets that include a picture attached get 200% higher ratings then just text. Now I don’t personally use Twitter but I do see how that is true. Even on Craigslist if there is a picture it is going to get more hits than not.

·         Not sharing content that other people want to follow. Consumers don’t want to hear about “you the man or company” they want to interact.

·         Think before you tweet, sometimes the buzz is in and out faster than you can keep up with it.

·         Not all platforms are created equally. This is very true. B2B are going to use LinkedIn more than Pinterest. B2C are going to head straight to Facebook.

·         Complaints they are no longer hidden. Ever had that bad restaurant experience? Yep you bet I’ve got it on Facebook before the check is even on the table. The thing about that as well is that it doesn’t really matter how many friends you have because more than likely you checked into the location to begin with.

·         Remember that consumers are not just a number, they are human. If you get the chance to actually have a conversation don’t bombarded them with corporate words that mean nothing.

·         Don’t assume it’s working just because it was “liked or tweeted about” find the time to invest in some sort of metric measure to be sure that you are getting your return on investment.

So after writing this and thinking about it, it brought me to a great example. I have a friend (Emily) that started her own photography business. I was looking over your blogs and reading them, enjoying the pictures. Every single one of them the focus was on the people in the event. There was no focus on her business what she does, rates or anything. They all are very personally to the people and made me feel good reading them. That is the kind of social media advertising I would for any company. Not only does it easily go viral but it also enhances word of mouth and word of mouth is still just as important.

Another recent Facebook incident was a posting of what a certain company was getting from the government and what it intends to do. That went out faster on Facebook then the public relations for the company could comment and give their side of the story. But it does not help that in small communities that is all it takes for a reputation to be ruined.

I would have to say that I have learned so far that everything said or done has either side to affect. I can see how it’s a tool that has all the potential in the world. We just need to remember to follow some of the basic rules of thumb. If there is a setback, just remember that it was really just a learning experience so that the next advertisement is ten times better than the first.

Thank you for reading.