Tag: buyer advertising

Monitoring Social Media

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At first, it seems like an easy proposition—setting up an account on Facebook or Twitter and keep running updates about your company. After all, millions of teenagers and grandmothers do it every day. But there are unexpected challenges that come with a company staking a claim in new media venues: obstacles that get in the way of maintaining a neat and orderly operation that distributes the content you want while building your own community.

Disruptions to your social media strategy come in two distinct flavors: spam and negative feedback. To manage both, it’s not simply enough to set up static safeguards (ie. fan and comment approval systems); you need to actively police your wall, Twitter feed, or blog comments.
 
Spam can come as supposed fans posting messages on your own wall: solicitations to visit a specific blog or buy prescription medicine online. Oftentimes, spammers will target your industry specifically to lessen the chance that their missive will be detected. As a good policeman of your content, delete all spam messages immediately, and block the spammer from your system. Trust us, you’ll have a cleaner wall in the long run.

While criticism can be constructive, negative or angry feedback on your wall can be distracting and damage your reputation in an online space. By all means, answer questions and do your best to engage your community, but outright “troll” messages should be deleted. If a message is angry but making a valid point, engage a fan in a more personal way using a messaging system, and leave the public drama behind.

Until next time,
Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com

5 Tips for Tweeting Jobs

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Social media remains an amazing resource for companies seeking to attract quality candidates—without spending large sums of money. The “popcorn message” nature of Twitter allows businesses to present relevant information while skipping everything non-essential. However, it’s still up to you to make your tweets count. Here are a few tips to help you along.

Cover the essentials: Job title, responsibilities, location, and qualifications.

Answer direct messages: It’s impossible to explain the full scope of a job in 140 characters. Many job seekers root out further information by writing direct messages, that can in turn help you connect with potential hires.

Tweetup. Mix up your job posting by hosting hiring events, advertised in part by your Twitter account.

Join networks. If your “followers” list is a little slim, get the word out by joining job-specific networking groups. Your messages will be re-tweeted and you’ll get more impressions per post.

Don’t spam. If you post more than once or twice in day, you’ll be running the risk of annoying your base. Just like the length of your messages, keep things slim.

Good luck!

Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com

Economics of Advertising

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As the American economy enters a period of recovery and growth—albeit slower growth than many of us would prefer—eyes once again turn toward advertising. Advertising in any economy lays a solid foundation for development of your own, but in times of want, it often takes a back seat to other budgetary concerns.

It shouldn’t.

Advertising, whether for recruitment purposes in building a stronger, more capable company, or in promoting your services and product to customers, is the engine of success. Now, as we enter a period of economic recovery, it’s more important than ever to convince an increasingly consumeristic market to invest in your brand. Advertising will:

1. Make more jobs – Attract the right type of employees to your company, or drive the economy forward through sales.

2. Reduce selling costs – By creating a demand, you’re streamlining the way your product reaches its target destination.

3. Grow company profits – On average, every dollar invested in advertising sees itself multiply by half again. Targeted advertising will grow your investment even further.

4. Find security – By crafting an advertising strategy now, you’re creating a pattern of product recognition and sales that will keep your company solvent for years to come.

Until next time,

Buyer Advertising

www.buyerads.com

Strategies in Social Media Today

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If there was ever any doubt, the question is settled: sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have changed the face of business forever. The ability to connect with customers on an individual basis, to answer questions in real-time, and to provide a meaningful forum for brand interaction has made social media a staple for any truly comprehensive marketing strategy. But it isn’t all rose petals and sunshine. Operating social media venues requires time, talent, and strategy. Here are a few approaches industries are taking today.

Banking – Many banks today are slow in developing social media—and with good reason. Considering the negative attention the industry has received in recent years, it’s quite a chore policing message boards and walls for offensive and possibly damaging content. It’s important for banks to take the reins of new media now, however, rather than later—such as in the case of U.S. Bank and the group U.S. Bank Sucks, a Facebook group for sternly-stated complaints.

Amusement Parks – Although more of a niche industry, amusement parks are fertile ground for customrs to talk to each other and discuss favorite rides, memories, and stories. This is evidenced alone by Disney’s Facebook presence of over 22 million fans. Mascots are big business, too—before Shamu’s Feb. 2010 attack, her tweets were reaching over 10,000. After social media publicized the attack, however, Seaworld suspended the program.

Retail Establishments – Though the potential is there, many retail establishments are struggling to find a role for social media on their own. The reason they give is that there’s a large difference between a shopping experience—what customers encounter when they enter a real-world store—and a buying experience, which includes online sales. Staples and Bloomingdales are two heavy hitters in this field, accumulating millions of followers by actively searching out customer questions and providing helpful answers on Facebook and Twitter.

Signing off for now,

Buyer Advertising

www.buyerads.com

Strengthen Your New Media Footing With StumbleUpon

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Much like Digg, StumbleUpon is a site that’s rapidly gaining popularity. What does this mean for businesses? An opportunity to drive new traffic to your social media sites. StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com) is revolutionary in that it’s a highly personalized experience for every user: as a person votes on what sites he or she likes, the portal picks up on interests and suggests new sites to satisfy their tastes. Think Netflix, only without the monthly fee.

This model is a great business opportunity because, as a business, you have more control over the way your content is presented. Unlike the also-popular Digg.com, registering a site with StumbleUpon is more individualized. You must a) visit a site either through StumbleUpon’s portal or by using their toolbar, and b) type in your URL and then “Thumbs Up” your site.

If you’re the first to register a page on StumbleUpon (say, your company blog), you’re in a very good position. You may set up searchable criteria by listing “topics” that your site covers. You can add tags. You can write a review. You even have the option of naming your site appropriately—something that you might not want to trust to an average web-surfer.
Once your site is in the system, StumbleUpon users can encounter your site if their interests match the particular tags you’ve defined for your page. This is a great feature. By attracting relevant consumers, you’ll be cutting down on spam messages and increasing the odds of generating a dialog concerning your subject material: the Holy Grail for social media content managers.

StumbleUpon is up and coming, and a great diversion for Internet surfers. Turn their rec time into face time for your organization.

Till next time,
Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com

Crowdsourcing: Part 2

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If you’ve read our last post on the Buyer Advertising blog, you’re familiar with the concept of crowdsourcing and its ability to deliver specific business-oriented benefits. Crowdsourcing is the art of tapping into your existing social network to solve problems or achieve quick results. Here are a few ways you can leverage crowdsourcing to maximum effect.

Charity drives – The more people who know how to make a positive difference, the more successful a charity event or fundraiser will be. Keep your message concise, clear, and provide a way for fans to connect with your happening.

Lead generation – Whether you’re sourcing customers or clients, asking for a boost doesn’t hurt. In many cases, you can reach maximum effectiveness by sticking to a single industry—for instance, asking if any of your fans are involved in the health industry, and if they know someone who needs your company’s service.

Talent sourcing – If you’re tackling a project, you may have need of contract work—fast. Crowdsourcing is a low-overhead way to connect with discounted rates from professionals. In some cases, bartering services can eliminate cost altogether.

Taking home the prize – In some businesses, winning an award can mean a ramp-up of your market appeal. Tapping into social media to ask (nicely) for votes is considered acceptable, and could fast-track you to the blue ribbon.

Good luck in your future crowdsourcing endeavors! We wish you the best.

Until next time,

Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com

Crowdsourcing: Part 1

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It’s not your fault: as a business, you’re stuck a in a service mindset. You build social media networks to offer industry insight to your customers and provide them with an exceptional selection of products and services. It’s what staying in business is all about: serving your customer. But by ignoring the larger potential of social media—a vehicle to help you out in the process, you could be missing out on a source of potential marketing and, yes, revenue.

The power of many is the opportunity crowdsourcing provides. Simple stated, crowdsourcing is tapping into a large group of people at once, through the power of the Internet, to help with a question or challenge you’re facing. Companies like Mountain Dew have, in the past, used their social media network to let fans vote on the new look of their brand. Meanwhile, businesses like Kickstarter tap their audiences to raise funds for good causes. Companies have also been known to call on their fans directly for creative talent or to find leads.

At the same time, you want to be smart when it comes to tapping your audiences. Don’t give away more information than you’d like about your current strategy, and don’t reveal clients that would prefer to stay anonymous. And remember—this goes for double if you’re a publically-traded company—never admit you’re in dire need of help. Keep it positive, remain excited for new opportunities that your own personal crowd can bring you, and await (and hopefully receive!) some powerful results.

Signing off for now,

Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com

Leveraging Social Media to Reach a Diverse Applicant Pool

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This week’s blog is written by Jody Robie, Executive Director Business Development at Buyer Advertising.

2011 offers many new and innovative tools to not only source candidates but to make a social connection with them. Using social media can give your organization another platform to have the important conversation, promote the benefits of your company and build brand awareness as an employer of choice. Here are a few key places to start which don’t require a large financial investment.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn offers the ability to source candidates with both their free and recruiter license model. Additionally, there are more than 100 million members representing more than 200 countries. There are more than 1200 groups with a diversity reference, but you also can start your own group as a way to connect with your target audience. Joining a group allows you to connect with the members, make comments, start conversations and promote job openings. www.linkedin.com

YouTube

YouTube has more than 1200 videos tagged under “Diversity and Inclusion”. It includes the opportunity for your own employees to share their first-hand experience working for your organization. Video is replacing the formal brochure as the most effective and efficient tool to give a candidate or an employee the chance to connect with your culture. Having a video on your own website greatly increases the optimization of your career site. Giving your employees a flip cam can also give them an opportunity to share their personal experiences, promote core values or just show the personality of your company. www.youtube.com

MeetUp

There are more than 250,000 monthly MeetUp groups worldwide. MeetUps are groups which extend beyond virtual connections into real life meetings. You can join a group for a particular discipline such as Bioengineers in Atlanta or Black Professionals in Boston. You can also create your own group with special features which have costs associated with each option. www.Meetup.com

For more information or to view our website and portfolio, please visit our website, blog and social media sites listed below.

Signing off,

Buyer Advertising

www.buyerads.com

Looking Back

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As a professional invested in the marketing of your business, you like to stay informed. Chances are, you check at least a few articles, magazines, or blogs (after all, you’re here, aren’t you?) per month to generate an electric brainstorm of ideas that could propel your advertising strategy forward. Future-minded though you might be, if your nose is pointed directly at what’s to come, you could miss an important source of inspiration: your past.

Your company has enjoyed success. As a matter of fact, to stay in business, that’s a requisite. And it’s exactly those successes that you can turn to in order to drive you forward. Take a trip down memory lane and pull up pieces you’ve done in the past. By actually examining individual projects, they’ll stir up memories—what’s worked, what hasn’t, what goals you had set originally—that can provide the push you need to market your organization more effectively.

Every company is different. Take great notes about what’s worked for your organization—numbers, if you can wrangle them up—and track what strategies or campaigns have been most effective for your business, that what’s pooped out on you. Information often turns into inspiration, positioning you perfectly for the next big idea.

Farewell for now,
Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com

4 HR Trends to Watch in 2011

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As we wade into 2011, HR is bracing for the inevitable undercurrent of change. If there’s one thing in the Human Resource industry that’s constant, it’s constant evolution. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the top trends to watch in the months ahead, and how they can change how you hire and how you manage your employees.

1. “Humanizing” companies with perks such as daycare, flex time, work-at-home opportunities, and a looser attendance policy.

2. Cutting the fat—as budgets continue to tighten, HR personnel are called upon to be the gatekeepers of effective programs, and to help eliminate what doesn’t work.

3. Succession planning: more than cross-training, there’s a growing demand for battle-preparedness in the likelihood of staff turnover.

4. Greenifying: HR staff are being called to take an active role in reducing the company carbon footprint—that means finding new ways to eliminate paper in favor of electronic storage, initiating recycling drives, and sponsoring employee riding-sharing programs.

Signing off for now,

Buyer Advertising
www.buyerads.com