Connecting directly to our target demographic through social media, word of mouth and permission marketing is essential to brand awareness. Not only will consumers buy your products, they will also act as our brand ambassadors, if our products are truly meaningful to them. So how do we go about creating meaningful campaigns? First, we must figure out what our potential consumers are looking for. This is where “How to Spot Trends in your Industry” comes in.

By identifying what your target demographic is currently doing, you can shape the way your message is delivered without changing the actual message. For example, a lot of rappers have embraced various social networks and right now Twitter seems to be the biggest buzz. Rappers are now able to directly communicate with their fans through this medium without changing their message. They noticed that the new trend with a lot of their listeners was tweeting on Twitter. A few years ago Myspace was the big buzz, but rappers understood that by adapting with their listeners they were able to stay relevant with their delivery (pun intended!).

This doesn’t only apply to the music industry. Restaurants are also capitalizing off of sites like Yelp and Groupon for customer attraction. In Los Angeles, Food trucks are the biggest craze and most of their profit is coming through Facebook and Twitter.

In the past, I’ve listed various tools, strategies and informative websites that help businesses spot trends. These are all helpful, but one must understand that execution of these strategies are just as important. Once we start seeing brand growth through execution, we are able to find new ways to market our brand.

The best part about staying relevant and understanding the hottest trends in our industry are the endless opportunities. From linking up with charitable organizations to bringing awareness to destructive diseases, the collaboration we’ve seen in Social Media is powerful. There are no boundaries to these movements and by doing what we want, we are able to affect who we want.

Mashable, the popular social media news site, reported that companies utilizing social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are earning higher ROI’s than those that don’t. The study, conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies, found that 67% of consumers following their favorite brands on Twitter were more likely to buy their products. Facebook users were 51% more likely to buy products from brand pages they “fanned.” And if you thought the brand loyalty stops there, think again. Word of mouth marketing is increases as well. How much you ask? Well, 79% of Twitter followers refer a friend to follow, while 60% of fans on Facebook refer their cohorts.

Social Media Marketing sometimes gets dismissed due to its unorthodox approach and questionable ROI. However, as consumers continue to embrace the web and utilize it for more of their purchasing needs, all brands must start establishing an online presence. The study also showed that those companies NOT active in social media are actually suffering from a loss in sales.

The study is another sign that social media is becoming a competitive advantage for those that are participating, and an increasingly major weakness for those that aren’t

Does this mean every company will soon have a Twitter and/or Facebook page? My guess is yes. I’ve talked to some business owners and they say that they’re still hesitant in jumping on the Social Media bandwagon. Some feel their businesses won’t benefit from the exposure due to the fact that they are more B2B than B2C. Granted this is a valid concern, I would argue that transparency and online relevance in one’s brand is important. Regardless of one’s business model, creating a presence online, is almost as important as having a company website. It gives your brand authenticity and allows your clients, users, or customers to contact you through avenues they are comfortable with.

As social media continues to grow and expand, we will see more ways companies are utlilizing this medium to produce higher ROI’s. It’s only a matter of time, if it hasn’t happened already , that every business, firm and sole proprietorship will need to embrace Social Media. Why not start now and put your company on the map!

1) Understand your expertise
2) Create your Brand
3) Create the Project
4) Find the Right Contact
5) Attract Employers Interest

Imagine creating our future job based on our experience, skill-set and industry knowledge. The fact that each one of us has varying degrees of knowledge and hands on experience, we as individuals can offer a combination of different strategies. Young explains that by offering quantitative results in the proposal, potential companies can easily measure our worth and compensate us accordingly. Young reiterates that in this tough economy, this may be your best alternative:

As you look for any new job opportunity, remember that a job posting is only a company’s attempt to increase its profits by adding a resource. That’s why creating your own job opportunity by presenting a profitable project can be a great way to shorten your job search and maintain your salary in a tough market.

By taking our future into our own hands, we are not only shifting our paradigm, but strategically making ourselves accountable for our success. This is also surefire way to build our credentials and make lasting connections with those we’d like to work with.

Defining what we want to do and how to go about it, is the most important factor in inventing our next job. When trying to create our job in a difficult market, we must zone in to exactly what we can provide the employer. If we want companies to look at us as a resource, we must be secure and confident in what we offer. This will reassure potential employers and even improve work habits for overall success. When we believe in ourselves, it’s hard NOT to produce.

Whether we want to create our next job or join a company we can excel with, it’s important to remember that destiny is in our hands. Yes, it may seem like taking odd jobs here and their are beneficial for us in the short run, but those can also be distractions. Sacrifices might need to be made, but it will all be worth it in the long run.

The advantage of being today’s most influential demographic is that we have the ability to start and stop trends. In Malcolm Gladwell’s best selling book “The Tipping Point,” he talks about the power of trends and how certain phenomenon’s tip. He describes the tipping point as the time in which a product, idea, or trend hits the masses and suddenly becomes popular. One of the major factors making something tip is what he calls the “Law of the Few.” He defines this law as “Social epidemics controlled by a handful of people with strong social connections.”

So how does this all relate to making money in the real world? Well, companies all over the country are seeking out community leaders and social organizers. Whether you know all the skateboarders in the area or you’re a regular chess playing champion at the park, you’re social network now means something. Companies understand that they can no longer pitch commercials and get the same return they used to. They are now going out into the field and pairing up with influencers to sell their brand. This could literally be anyone of us. The important thing here is to be the connector between big brands and small communities. Once you’re able to show the benefits for each group, you’ll be able to get paid consulting for these larger companies.

In theory, this idea sounds great, but it might be more complicated for some. The fact that their isn’t a blueprint for these types of career opportunities, might be a bit discouraging. Being persistent and having a strong passion for your community is what companies are really looking for. They want brand ambassadors who care as much about their product as they do. Mazda USA is one of the pioneering companies to embrace social media and enlist brand ambassadors. As one of the 22 chosen, I can tell you that Mazda has definitely made great progress in the social media game. Initially, they called on Mazda enthusiasts, bloggers and social media professionals to share their stories online. By tapping into their core market, Mazda was able to grow their marketing efforts by spending less money.

In the end, it pays to be a trendsetter. Whether you’re doing it for fun or need some extra cash, the value in spotting trends is growing. We’ll definitely start seeing more campaigns utilizing this new route and hiring more Generation Y’ers.

1) Market Research

Who’s consuming your brand? Who is your target demographic? What are you competitors doing different than you? Each of these questions can be answered utilizing the social web. For instance, let’s say you own a clothing line and would like to drive more potential customers to your website. You already have a Twitter account and Facebook fan page, but you don’t feel like they’re growing fast enough. You look at your competitors and notice that they’re fan pages and Twitter activity are growing exponentially. Why is this the case? I don’t the answer, but I can give you the solution. Do a competitive analysis between your pages/accounts and the others. Now, look at how your competitors fare against even larger brands. I guarantee you’ll notice similarities (contests, games, fan interaction etc…) that will give you insight on how to improve your social brand. I’m not saying blatantly copy your competitors Social Media strategy, but utilize these networks to discover untapped research.

2) Social Marketing

So the real reason businesses are so intrigued by social media is the marketing aspect. Being able to talk directly to your customers (and potential consumers) instantly is amazing. Companies are literally shifting their marketing dollars from traditional to new media marketing relying heavily on Social Media. Often times, the amount of spend is lower and more efficient than traditional billboards, magazine ads and TV commercials. When designing Social Media Marketing strategies, it’s important to keep in mind the process is ongoing and won’t without interaction. Simply setting up a Facebook and Twitter account doesn’t mean you’ve embraced Web 2.0.

3) Customer Relations

We’ve all heard that “Content is King,” but I’d like to add that “Conversation is Queen.” At the end of the day, we’re basically just talking to our customers. The worst thing you can do is ignore your customers. It’s almost the equivalent to asking them not to buy your brand. When companies reward their consumers and acknowledge their loyalty, we start to see brand allegiance. Consumers will then start to go out of their way to make purchases with your company. Amazon.com has proven this theory successful in their attempts to socialize the online shopping experience. Offering solid recommendations and rewarding frequent users has become a staple to their success. Jeffery Gitomer put it best in his book: Customer Service Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

4) Reputation Management

Social Media makes every company accountable for their transparency, therefore it’s imperative that you start thinking about reputation management. What are people saying about your company online? How are you perceived by your customers? How do I get rid of that negative stuff about my company on Google? Each of these are valid questions that exist when thinking about reputation management. Social Media Monitoring is one of the most important tools when dealing with reputation management (Lucky for you I made a list of 7 superb monitoring tools) They alert you whenever your company or brand is mentioned online. Staying on the pulse of your online presence will allow you to be the first to respond to your brand. Rapper Kanye West has managed his personal brand effectively this way. Most of his fans turn to his blog to get the real answers, instead of listening to whats reported about him on the news. The fact that he’s built up this authentic rapport online has allowed him to be his own publicist.

What are your followers saying about your brand? How can you better interact with those die-hard fans and include them in future promotions? The understanding of “community” is huge here. It’s not about having 100,000 followers on Twitter, but more about what those followers are saying and how they’re responding (Retweets, Mentions, Sharing etc…)

Most of us get caught up in the numbers because that is what are clients ask of us. How fast can I get 50,000 followers on Twitter? I’ll pay you X amount to get my fan page to 5,000. These demands are inefficient and miss the point of Social Media. By taking this approach, you’re not only losing your voice, but also your authentic followers.

As we continue to move forward with Social Media and Social Networks, I think we’ll begin to see better techniques evolve and utilize sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Instead of just trying to grab followers and fans, companies will need to focus more on the content and distribution models. There are plenty of tutorials and lists out there that explain social media etiquette and how to get the most out of your followers. These are extremely helpful and need to be employed by brand strategists.

Quality over quantity basically comes down to playing by the rules and allowing your content to speak for itself. Making strategic alliances is also important and shouldn’t be overlooked. But simply spamming for more followers, fans and irrelevant links won’t help in the least.

In recent years we’ve seen a growth in Social Media and new technology events. The two go hand in hand and are constantly changing. It’s important to have these events because they allow us to acknowledge the intricacies of the web experience on a daily basis. In the past year I’ve attended a number of talks, conferences and meetups that have helped me better understand technology and social media. I feel like everyone in this industry has a different experience when approaching these mediums and it’s insightful to hear what they have to say.

The Gravity Summit promises to present useful and tangible “marketing objectives” that each of us can utilize in our line of work. Although that may sound a bit vague, I believe that by providing a variety of tried and true techniques, one will be able to decipher what will work for them. Often times following blogs or watching videos won’t give us the same insight as hearing it directly from the professionals.

In the near future, I plan on holding my own summit/conference, where I can touch on topics that I feel are important and near to me. Although I’m not an expert in my specific field, I believe that I will be able to spotlight areas in which I’m proficient and skilled in. I will definitely keep you updated on my future plans and please expect to see some more shameless self-promotion on this blog.

1) Monitoring Online Presence-

This is probably the most obvious measure of success in social media. Improved online presence can mean a lot of things, but for the sake of argument we’re looking at numbers. Twitter followers, Facebook friends, @Replies, Retweets etc… “>By tracking these numbers and setting goals for what you’d like to see improve, you’re defining the foundation of your growth measurement. This is important because, as time goes on, you can look back and see how much you’ve improved your presence. Often times people get obsessed with these numbers and put too much emphasis on “getting more twitter followers.” This shouldn’t be the case. I’m simply saying that you should keep track of these numbers and use them as indicators for your online presence.

2) Conversion Rate-

In order for social media to be a viable business model, one must track the conversion rate of what people are doing after they come to your website. Whether you have an e-commerce site or you utilize Google Adsense, conversion rates are the key factor in quantifying social media success. Without knowing who’s clicking content to product, it becomes difficult defining what content works and what doesn’t. By understanding the conversion rate of an article, we’re able to identify the important content and replicate it in the future.

3) Referral Sources-

Where are your customers coming from? It’s important to know how your customers reached your homepage because it lets you know what’s working. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon or Digg, by identifying the source, you’ll be able to ramp up your efforts on the network bringing you the most traffic.

4) Subscriptions and Email Lists

Whether you publish online greeting cards or viral videos, identifying your core audience is an important factor in social media success. No better way can this be done than through subscription or email lists. These lists show factual data on your core audience and those loyal to your brand. Although there will always be stragglers that simply sign up for the free swag, maintaining a growing list of your audience is important in quantifying your success.

The four options I listed above are not meant to be the only factors that quantify social media success. Often times success in social media can’t be quantified. Improving the customer/audiences’ experience is the overall goal. Once companies are able to understand this concept, their social media efforts will begin to mirror their goals.

The obvious answer as to why traditional marketing is lagging is due to the change in consumer behavior. People are no longer combing through the pages of once popular newspapers and magazines for their information. The real-time aspect alone makes newspapers and magazines outdated the second they hit the shelves. It no longer makes sense to take out 1-2 page ads in the New York Times because no one is going to see it. By redistributing a bulk of their marketing dollars to social media, traditional marketing companies are eager to embark on new campaigns and strategic efforts.

We can all agree that since more and more social networks are proving successful in social media marketing, everyone wants to integrate their brand into this space. Yes, the power of social media is stronger than ever, but companies are still trying to figure out how to couple this beast with traditional marketing strategies. The best example of a company’s successful transition from traditional to social is Pepsi. They made headlines a couple months back for pulling their name from the Super Bowl commercial lineup. Instead of spending the $20 million on a few 30 second spots, they decided to invest in the money into Pepsi’s Refresh Project. This groundbreaking endeavor by Pepsi utilizes social media by allowing prospective participants to pitch their ideas on how to improve their community and the world. Pepsi then allows users to vote the project up and rewards those with the most votes cash to start their new endeavor. By reconnecting with the community and involving users to participate in this project, Pepsi is reestablishing their brand as caring, innovative and fun.

Some skeptics feel that social media doesn’t have the viable ROI that traditional marketing once had. They argue that with all the buzz around social media, companies are blindly spending their money on social media campaigns that promise little to no ROI. However some companies have proved this theory wrong. Larger corporations like Dell, who made $6.5 million dollars over two years via Twitter. Or Lenovo, another popular computer manufacturer that saved over 20% in call center reduction after building a web community assisting in customer service requests. Yes, these are only two examples, but they remind us that social media marketing works and is here to stay.

Last Thursday, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture with best-selling author and circuit speaker Seth Godin. Thanks to Mazda USA I was able to attend the talk and receive a free copy of his latest book “Linchpin.” Mr. Godin’s discussed the importance of “being a leader” and how starting your own movement is the first step.

Before the event, I had only heard of Godin from his popular blog and talks on TED. His conversational tone and storytelling ability makes him a joy to watch. By utilizing funny pictures in his slide shows, Godin is able to clearly explain his points and keep the audience intrigued. One of my favorite aspects of Godin lecturing style is his ability to jump from one story to another and tie them all in at the end.

His latest book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? plays on the importance of being fearless and going after what you want. During his talk, Godin emphasized how many people are “hunkering” down at their jobs and lacking innovation based on their fear job loss. Godin explained that our failing economy should be the primary reason more people take risks and find new ways to be “indispensable.” I completely agree with this point. Yes, it may be hard at first to confront your peers and supervisors, but by making yourself more vocal and strategic, you’ll find bigger and better opportunities ahead.

Special thanks to LinkedOC for putting on a great event!