Internet Marketing

As a fellow blogger I have become rather versed in the ways of social media. The Internet community has become so vast and grown so strong, that a set of rules seems to have been established to promote this "cohesive social living." The times clearly are a' changing when the traditions of hand written thank you letters and curtsying are being replaced with tweet backs and hoops & yoyo e-cards. Here are just a few basic ground rules for being well received on some of today's most popular social media outlets:

If you blog it they will come: If you're blogging about someones site or product be sure to link back to them. Not only does it make your blog heavier, but it will increase traffic to both sites. If you read a blog that you like, be sure to pass it along. Linking a blog to StumbleUpon, Google Reader, or Friendfeed are good places to start. Also, if you read a great post and want to comment try to say something more than "nice job!" Bloggers always appreciate it when comments provide constructive feedback.

Do not use Facebook to "over promote": There is nothing more annoying than having a Facebook inbox that is constantly flooded with invites to the same type of party, at the same club, by the same promoter day in and day out. If you start up a Facebook group for promotional purposes, do not bombard your members with constant messaging. Try to keep most of that stuff on the group wall or message board. And be sure to use good judgement when tagging your friends in pictures, incriminating or otherwise unpleasant photos should be kept private.

Follows is as follows does: The Internet community has gone afire with twitter, the social site built for microblogging and keeping in instant contact with your friends and followers. While you do not have to follow everyone that follows you, if one of your followers is in a similar industry it is typically common courtesy to follow them back. And while its fine to use twitter as a marketing tool, its nice to promote others from time to time just to change things up a bit.

The future of travel and destination marketing is online. Discussion boards, customer review sites, blogs, and social network sites dominate the internet today. They also play an integral part in the planning of travel.

"This year, 40% of all leisure and 35% of business travel bookings will be done online. By 2010 over 50% of leisure bookings are expected to be online. The percentage of meeting planners researching and booking online is also growing at a rapid pace. An estimated 89% of planners are researching event locations on the web, and by 2008, 41% of all groups and meetings travel revenues will come from the Internet." (HotelMarketing.com)

Facebook, a social media site originally for students attending Ivy League schools, has quickly evolved over the years and taken over the internet. Today, Facebook is used by all ages to get in touch with old friends and even make some new ones. From a marketing perspective, Facebook offers a way for businesses to reach more customers through groups, fan pages, notes, applications, and more. Facebook business pages are a form of social media marketing that allows a business to "create more targeted messages to individual niche groups and to leverage personal recommendations from your customers in order to create word of mouth marketing." (Creative Fusion Media)

Building a Facebook business page will attract customers of all ages and demographics. A Facebook business page offers a number of features to bring customers to your business. You can even build multiple pages to appeal to different groups of people, such as teens.

With a Facebook business page you can:

• Supply basic business information such as a website, company overview and physical address. You are also able to place a logo of your business on the page.
  
• Easily upload photos and videos. Your clients and fans can add photos as well.
  
• Engage clients in conversation using the discussion board or the "wall"
  
• Add notes (similar to a blog post) and post upcoming events or promotions that you may be hosting
  
• Have users become a fan of your company

Yesterday, while listening to my favorite online radio station (usually commercial-free), I was bombarded with an ad that played after every single song for ProFlowers, an online plant, flower and gift store. It was then that I realized that Valentine’s Day has quickly shifted from a greeting card holiday, to the largest e-commerce holiday out of the year.

Looking to use the internet to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Here are some ideas:

· Buy your flowers, gifts and chocolate online. The top websites are 1800flowers.com, ftd.com, and ProFlowers.com.

· Send an e-card. Hallmark.com offers free cards you can send to your sweetie online.

· For a unique gift idea, give a romantic website name such as WorldsBestValentine.com, ILoveYou.net, or ValentinesDay.travel. You can even populate the website with some surprise content.

Businesses can use the holiday to promote themselves. An entertaining Valentine’s themed YouTube video or a Facebook fan page offering valentine promotions are great ways of getting the word out to potential and current customers about the holiday.

Using E-mail, Cross-Marketing and Special Promotions are more great internet marketing tools. According to retailemailblog.com, two-thirds of Valentine’s Day-related emails were sent during February. The biggest days were Thursday, Feb. 8, followed by Tuesday, Feb. 6, and then Monday, Feb. 12.

Happy (e)Valentines Day!