For additional information and registration click here!

The Advanced Social Media Training Series will help you turn your followers into fans, your fans into advocates and your advocates into influencers and purchasers who are not just engaging online but energizing your bottom line.

You’ll learn advanced strategies and tactics for reaching influencers and building a long-lasting online community, how to take social media beyond marketing, acquire the tools you need to deputize your employees for organization-wide social media engagement, and finally, you’ll build a multi-channel social media campaign, metrics dashboard and engage in case-based problem solving with marketing peers.

First, it is important to understand that the internet is the best friend of any business operating in the twenty-first century. There are a slew of avenues to take when using the internet to perfect marketing strategy and increase visibility. Ani Marketing Service recently launched a social media branch to tackle platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to use in conjunction with other and more traditional marketing techniques like email marketing, websites and blogging.

Noticeably, businesses that find ways to generate an online presence often find themselves to be more successful than those that do not. Companies flock to employ social media networks—Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn—and reap the benefits of reaching large and diverse consumer demographics. The influx of online networking platforms undoubtedly provides businesses with unique and unprecedented marketing opportunities. Facebook allows companies to create spaces and forums for current and future customers to collaborate and discuss experiences, likes/dislikes, and more. Twitter enables companies to deliver real-time updates to followers about new services, relevant company information, etc. Finally, LinkedIn is a platform that provides the space for companies to use each other’s networks to grow their businesses. Each one is unique, yet they all bear strong similarities: tremendous power to connect a consumer base.

As a company, you might also consider writing a blog. A blog is a great way to garner intrigue and visibility by pulling customers into your company. Your online social media platforms should ultimately drive customers to a blog, which is dynamic and full of fresh content. No topic should feel off limits, provided that it gives clients something interesting to think about, and a reason to contact you.

Another way to consistently connect your clients to targeted information, is through an email blast. We recently featured a blog about the high potential of a well-placed email blast. Successful emails blasts are not long-winded and verbose; they are interesting and easily read within a few minutes. They are well-timed, so as not to clog inboxes, but keep your company relevant to consumers.

Finally, it is always important for companies to consider a more traditional outlet for internet marketing: a website. As a business, you must remember that customers need to have access to your information; a website is the key to unlocking better understanding about what your business does. The information on this website is accessible and should not change often.

As you consider how to incorporate and revitalize some of these marketing tips for your business, think critically about what your company needs. Social media platforms are incredibly useful, but perhaps your business would benefit from something other than the big three. Maybe your consumer base would be better served by a blog, email blast, or a website. Whatever the case, be sure to tailor your strategy to what works for you. If you want to see a new take on adaptation, check out The Skin I Live In by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. It’s a whole new way of seeing things!

One client is full of ideas, BUT this translates into a flavor of the month club — one month she discusses bringing out a new product, another month she is targeting a new industry sector, the next month she is looking at a new geographical region, and so on.  Every time she gets close to making a decision, something better seems to come along.  The good news is that the company has A LOT of opportunity.  The challenge is that the revenues are flat.

Contrast this to another client who wants to establish his company in online social media within six months to help bring in new business.  He’s put together a monthly plan, learned and practiced all the marketing building blocks, and finalized the communications strategy with a website, blog, emails, press, and online social media. The reporting metrics have been base lined and he is already seeing a steady increase in market visibility.

Which company is more similar to your organization?  As Edison once said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. Once you make a decision, make sure you follow through.  And if you don’t have all the right resources, contact us.  We make things happen every day for our clients, while maintaining your focus.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is
dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
~Thomas Edison~

A CRM is a company’s Contact/Customer Relationship Management system—essentially their Rolodex/list of contacts.  This list is generated during the sales process, with the hottest leads usually being the ones with the most activity.  The cooler leads tend to have less communication, because they are not as much of a priority and often there are not enough resources to do so.  Before you know it, though, there are many names in your CRM that haven’t been touched for ‘a while’.

This is your sales opportunity!  ‘Mine’ your CRM data to get current contact information, to explore new opportunities, and to assess market trends.  You can even try to cross-sell or up-sell to your existing customers.

How do you find the resources?  Commit to making these calls and set goals on how much time to invest and reasonable expectations for results.  Then be creative:  use interns or sales trainees, or perhaps hire an appropriate third-party resource.

Lastly, make this investment worthwhile by using it as a short term program with long term implications.  Document phone call responses in a format from which it’s easy to report and use those reports in the future.  Also, categorize updated contacts into sales/marketing campaigns, e.g., need meet face-to-face, call regularly, or put on an email campaign.  Then, implement the campaigns!

Now you’ve got an updated database, sales leads, and contacts to which you’ll regularly market.  It’s definitely a great way to make something out of “nothing”!

If you would like to learn more about things that are obviously not obvious, check out Nisha Inalsingh’s Huldufolk102 about the Hidden People of Iceland.  You’d be surprised:  “Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

• “We already do that.”
• “We’re not ready just yet.”
• “How do I know you can do it?”

Now Ani Marketing Service can live with the selection of another marketing firm, even if we don’t like it.    The bigger concern is that, in most cases, the prospect does nothing.  As a result, their business continues to stagnate, or even worse deteriorate.

Acknowledging the problem is the first step.  Having the confidence to address the problem is the second step.  Where most companies get off track is the third step:  You can’t always be the one to fix the problem!

As a leader in your organization, your time is valuable.   Everyone knows that marketing is not rocket-science; anyone can do it.  But the best business leaders know they need someone else to make it a priority.  That shows strong business resolve and insightful leadership!

In cases where a full time person is not feasible, Ani Marketing is an ideal experienced resource.  Marketing our clients is always a priority, no matter how large or small their needs. That’s how we help companies maximize their market presence through email campaigns, online marketing, live/virtual events, and print /digital advertising.

If you find yourself unhappy with your business results, it’s time to do something.  Reach out to Ani Marketing.  We have all sorts of ideas to get your business more visibility, and we do it in ways that fit into your budget and organizational culture.

It’s never too late.

All my best,
Aruna

“Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation”
~Milan Kundera~

For more information and to register, Click Here!

Experience top-quality education, engaging networking, and unique lessons to help you develop the right blend of marketing, membership, and communications for powerful results!

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Following successful 2012 Social Media Strategies Summits in Las Vegas and Chicago with speakers from brands such as Warner Bros., Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds, Weather Channel, NCAA, Intel and Cisco, GSMI is excited to host the Social Media Strategies Summit in Miami, Florida. Whether an organization is just starting out or a leader in the forefront of social media, Social Media Strategies Summit, Miami can help companies take their social strategy to the next level. Through hands-on workshops, case studies and keynotes, this Miami event will provide attendees with emerging strategies, tactics and the top do’s and don’ts of social media marketing.

This is a three day summit with interactive workshops, an abundance of case studies, keynotes and a new Latin focused consumer track. Speakers include innovators, celebrities, authors, award winners and thought leaders including Nicole German, Head of Marketing at LinkedIn, Frank Eliason, author and SVP of Social Media at Citi, Emily Crume, Sales and Business Development at Digg, Cristina Alfaro, External Communications Manager at McDonald’s USA, Zach Chapman, Regional Vice President at Univision Interactive Media, Juan Jose Duran, Strategic Hispanic Content Development at YouTube and Christina Gonzalez, Associate Director, Multicultural Marketing at Verizon Wireless.

About GSMI:
GSMI is a leader in the industry of executive education, creating conferences, summits, workshops and training sessions that combine rich learning environments with the opportunity to network with today’s most relevant thought- leaders, speakers and practitioners. GSMI’s annual events have reached 70% of the Fortune 500 companies, in over 30 countries, and cover topics that today’s leaders find most challenging and inspiring. More information about Global Strategic Management Institute and the Mobile Marketing Strategies Summit can be found at: http://www.gsmiweb.com.

The variety in social media platforms is seemingly endless and dynamic, catering to every desire a company might have.  In the midst of all of this movement, one social media tool has remained consistently present:  Email.  It might not come with all of the bells and whistles of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  It is, however, a platform that carries remarkable importance in the face of the online and social media frenzy.

Believe it or not, email is one of the most popular online activities, despite, “newer innovations in personal communication.”   92% of internet users actively use email, which represents a marketing demographic that must be addressed.  The question becomes, how does a company handle email marketing successfully?  In this blog we will begin to answer that question and give a brief introduction to the power behind email marketing.  Stay tuned for future blogs to really unpack the full potential of a successful email campaign.

Ani Marketing Service (AMS) spends a significant amount of time reaching out to current and new AMS clients via email.  We also create email campaigns that deliver specific information for our clients, based on what their target audiences need.  For example, we work with one company, Dadday, producing email campaigns that reach widely different demographics.  Dadday is a company that provides interactive workshops to anxious new fathers and their partners.  Accordingly, AMS creates email blasts that speak directly to four target audiences: former and future students of the class, medical professionals, retailers, and the press.  The core of our emails provide carrots of information to each audience about fatherhood—doing so in a meaningful and appropriate way—that will ultimately lead to participation in Dadday workshops. 

There are other points to consider when employing this marketing strategy.  An inundation of long-winded emails is not the key to success here.  A recent article suggested that, “We are now a community of scanners, so we want our information delivered in small chunks and sound bites.”   This quote speaks to the fact that it is critical to make email campaigns easily readable by highlighting the important content.  A reader should be able to scan an email and gather relevant information quickly.

This is further compounded by the fact that much of “email reading,” occurs on smart phones.  Be aware that your email might be read on a 2.5×3 inch screen, and scrolling endlessly is a consumer turnoff.  A crucial component of a successful email campaign is tailoring content for mobile platforms.  Companies must consider the question, “How will this look on a Blackberry, iPhone, or Android?”  By thinking within this framework, companies inevitably avoid long-winded emails and information overload. 

Email might not be the first thought when considering social media as a platform for marketing strategy, but it definitely should not be the last thought.  A variety of opportunities develop when using email to market your company.  It is always important to keep this in mind, especially in the face of social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Believe it or not, well-written pieces can have a large impact on their audiences.  Watch the film, The Note, and you’ll have a greater appreciation for it.

[1] Tried and True, But Not Tired: Email Marketing Now

[1] 10 Predictions for B2B Marketing in 2012 (Part I) http://blog.blisspr.com/2011/12/15/10-predictions-for-b2b-marketing-in-2012-part1/