Happy new year!
AZ Media Maven is nearing the one-year anniversary of its creation. We want to wish you and yours a prosperous and successful 2013.
We have news to share about social media trends for the coming year, its impact on marketing, and some new services we’ve added here at AZ Media Maven.
Social media trends for 2013
Reflection:
Before we can move on to 2013 goal-setting we need to examine where we succeeded in 2012 and where we can improve.
At noisecut.com, these questions are being put to customers:
- How well did I engage with clients and prospective clients?
- What did I do to get more visibility?
- What could I have done to improve my online presence?
- Where are the places I felt wasted my time/money this year?
- What areas could I improve upon next year?
- Who are the people I can learn from the most in my niche?
- Have I defined clearly who I am online so prospective clients know my background/capabilities?
- Where have I established a strong presence online?
- When I update my social media strategy for 2013, what can I eliminate/add?
- What are my social media goals for 2013?
After you answer these questions, if you want additional insight into analyzing your marketing presence, talk with your marketing agency/staff to outline a strategy for this year or contact us at AZ Media Maven.
Humanizing content
Matt Plughoff, writing for The Thank You Note blog, reminds us that “designing a social media strategy for small or medium-sized businesses is never just about the product or service the company provides–especially if that product or service isn’t that fun or sexy.
“Plumbing, for example, or heating and air conditioning – not the most glamorous trades. And to build a social media identity on these services alone is incorrect. The services are commodities and they suffer from their own unique types of parity.
“Instead, companies are beginning to understand that community building needs to be about humanizing the business in a way that goes beyond the nuts and bolts of daily operations or simple promotions. New friends and visitors need to see a value system that they connect and identify with – one that is relevant to their lives in the same ways that our best friends are consistently relevant to our lives. This means that the content a company chooses to curate, share, and create needs to have a clear, value based perspective that key influencers will actively spread in to their own evolving networks.”
Mobile social media
The traffic made from the mobile users to the social media sites is phenomenal, according to examiner.com. In a recent blog, the site wrote that “Facebook anticipates that the level of growth in mobile usage will overtake the usage from personal computers…. The social platforms are the ones set to experience rapid growth and the advertising development of new mobile advertising options to suit mobile users.”
Content, content, content
Creating quality content will always be the way to grow online communities and develop marketing strategies. It’s been around a few hundred years , but some companies take longer than others to realize if the content is poor, then no one will buy/LIKE/follow what you offer. AZ Social Media Wiz Giselle Aguiar says in her 2013 outlook that “It’s all about content – relevant, exceptionally good content. She predicts that Google will continue to rule but that the focus is shifting from SEO to on SEM (Search Engine Marketing).
“Providing quality content – sharing informative, entertaining and educating content will lead to sales,” Aguiar writes. “People don’t want to be sold to. They want information. This is where blogs come in. You’ll need a well-written blog post at least once a week. Use social media to promote the blog and grow your following. Video and pictures are considered content too!”
Going local
As a small business owner AZ Media Maven has become involved with several Laveen-based groups that promote each other’s businesses. Building a following in your own community can lead to impact on a larger scale with social media. According to customerthink.com, this is a growing trend in social media and other public relations. Its outlook states: “Get in on the ground floor of real estate and construction projects of your area; have your online shopping experience localized or personalized to mirror your little corner of the world and your own wants and needs.”
Analyzing results
AZ Media Maven has been following Exploreb2b.com since going into business nearly a year ago. It has been an exceptional education. In its 2013 prediction blog, author Ben Hollom says that measuring results is essential. “Measurement will remain a key focus for businesses, as many have so far found performance and ROI measurement quite elusive.”
Well that wraps up the highlights for the coming year, just a note about AZ Media Maven.
We have added new services for this year, including: video, film and commercial production, event coordination and planning, and development of short- and long-term marketing campaigns.
AZ Media Maven is based in Laveen, AZ, a suburban village in the greater Phoenix area. Owner Rose Tring has 25 years of journalism experience as an editor and writer, many of those years in business news. AZ Media Maven was created to serve other small business owners in learning how to best use social media.
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- Ambivalence in social media marketing: to use or not to use (azmediamaven.wordpress.com)
Heya! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work
due to no backup. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?
Regena, this has been a while since you posted, but there is a function on WordPress for when you want to migrate your blog to a new user, or combine with another blog site you administer. It allows you to download your entire blog site. I would suggest doing this periodically so that your content is backedup. You put the backup on an external drive as well.