Valley Auto Loans: A Successful Story of Social Media Marketing
May 9, 2013
A press release on Digital Press titled New Social Media Strategy Help Valley Auto Loans Connect with More Bad Credit Auto Loans Shoppers throughout the Country speaks to the rising popularity of social media marketing. Valley Auto Loans, a well-known company that provides applicants with “hassle-free car loans” has adopted a new marketing strategy aimed at the people most likely in need of their services. Social media marketing techniques are explored in the article,
“All companies are now looking to build a strong social media presence for their business. Valley Auto Loans has built their strategy around the highly popular platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, G+, and Pinterest…Valley Auto Loans operates with an objective of offering 100% approval guarantee to poor credit car loan applicants. By building a strong social media presence, they have done well to get the word out to those people who need them the most.”
Valley Auto Loans credit their recently implemented social media strategy with a recent surge in bad credit auto loans applicants. Realizing that it may be awkward for some of their customers who cannot qualify for a car loan or student auto loans, Valley Auto Loans attempts to provide such individuals with a speedy solution through auto lenders. Reaching out via social media got their message to frustrated people running out of options. For more information on the techniques of social media and tactical implementation, visit ArnoldIT. We explain some of the types of social media and differentiate between their uses and values.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 09, 2013
If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.
Written in Ink: Considerations for Students When It Comes To Their Digital Selves
May 9, 2013
The story titled Understanding Your Digital Footprint on the Digital Literacy blog highlights the dangers and consequences of using social media. Sherry Turkle, the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, is shown giving a Ted Talk on the addiction to technology that our society has collectively embraced. At one point she explains the reliance on social media with these words, “I share, therefore I am.” The article considers a potential roadmap for students to use to think about their social media use,
“There is a line in the Aaron Sorkin film, The Social Network, that highlights the importance of what we post digitally. “The internet is not written in pencil, Mark, it’s written in ink.” Objective: Create an image or images that represent your digital identity. Tell your digital story. Guiding questions: Consider your engagement with social media. How would you define your digital self? What characterizes you online? How would Employers or College Admissions officers define your digital self?”
Perhaps seriously considering that others may see everything and anything you share will help stymie some less classy posts. Another video on the blog acts as a fable of the possible consequences of sharing. A young man takes a video of himself, forgets it, and realizes years later that it has been seen by over a million people, and defines his digital presence. At ArnoldIT the traces of one’s digital footprint is of the utmost concern, especially since so many of us are unaware of the risks.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 09, 2013
If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.
Social Media: Changing Marketing From the Inside Out
May 8, 2013
The article 6 Factors That Turn Social Media Strategy Into Results on {grow} is full of tips and advice on how to not only implement a social media strategy but also how to even approach such a transformation in your business. Beginning with the warning that this is unlike traditional advertising, in that you can’t relegate to an outside source, but must instead promote internal change, the article goes on to describe the pitfalls of doing social media the wrong way, such as changing directions before you given the new strategy time to yield results. The article also insists on measurement being united with objectives,
“Repeat after me. “I will measure my marketing efforts.” In today’s data-filled world, there is no reason NOT to measure. It’s just this simple: How do you know your strategy is working if you don’t measure? Don’t get caught up in the endless ROI debate. Pick meaningful KPI’s that are helping to move the needle for your business objectives. “
Because of the ubiquity of blogs and Facebook pages, the article argues that without such tools you are already behind. Also addressing the heads of companies, the article instructs leaders to support the implementation with a hands-on approach, the only way to know what resources to provide out of necessity. The successful implementation of social media strategy is vital in this day and age; it is the only way to reach certain targeted audiences. More about effective approaches to social media strategies can be found at ArnoldIT.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 08, 2013
If you are interested in gourmet food and spirits, read Gourmet De Ville.
Because Tweets Are Not Always the Truth
May 8, 2013
Can emerging technologies aid in filtering out the untrusted and unverified chattering of the masses? Using the recent Boston Marathon bombings as an example where this kind of technology would be useful, the MIT Technology Review article “Preventing Misinformation from Spreading through Social Media” explains some possible solutions on their radar.
When people play detective on Reddit and other social media sites with the goal of sharing information quickly as opposed to ensuring accuracy, false accusations can be made – such as the case with Sunil Tripathi. Researchers from Masdar Institute of Technology and the Qatar Computing Research Institute plan to launch Verily as a platform that could combat situations like that one.
The article states:
“Verily aims to enlist people in collecting and analyzing evidence to confirm or debunk reports. As an incentive, it will award reputation points—or dings—to its contributors. Verily will join services like Storyful that use various manual and technical means to fact-check viral information, and apps such as Swift River that, among other things, let people set up filters on social media to provide more weight to trusted users in the torrent of posts following major events.”
This will be an interesting sector to watch as there is a growing awareness of social media’s distortional lever.
Megan Feil, May 08, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
LinkedIn Takes the Place of the Traditional Newspaper
April 26, 2013
Gone are the days of the newspaper boy and his route to be replaced by tablet and the warm glow of an app on its screen. LinkedIn is a professional job networking Web site and it replaces the old-fashioned want-ads. The newspaper consisted of more than want-ads and Read Write informs us that the business section has been replaced: “With Pulse, LinkedIn Is Becoming The Newspaper Of the Future.” LinkedIn’s $90 million acquisition of the news-reader Pulse gives it users access to articles from 750 publishers.
The LinkedIn heads want their Web site to be the definitive professional platform:
“That means bringing in a wide variety of sources — a layer of original, exclusive, high-end articles on top; links to relevant business items from around the Web in LinkedIn Today; and user contributions in LinkedIn Groups and profile updates. The only problem LinkedIn has on its current website is that its tools for reading, saving, and sharing content leave something to be desired. That’s where Pulse comes in.”
LinkedIn is not afraid to add media to its company and so far it has gained it a respected reputation and more money in the pocket. Where are the Sunday coupons and comics, though?
Whitney Grace, April 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Measuring the Worth of Social Media
April 26, 2013
When social media first started any companies thought it was a useless tool meant only for the younger crowd. Why would an established company want to promote itself through a tool meant for kids? According to LucidChart in the article, “Is Social Media Worthless?” the company polled 3,000 users on their Web behavior and found that social media played a small role in driving Web traffic. Social media experts are trying to justify the place it plays in a company’s business, but if it loses money it does not have any value.
“Social media denizens are, by and large, in it for themselves. They’ll promote your brand if it means their share of a cool $20 million, or a free pair of glasses, or whatever else you’re offering them. Everyone likes to pat themselves on the back and feel like they’re serving their fellow man, whether that’s retweeting a funny video or donating money to a favorite charity. But if your fans aren’t buying your product, or influencing others to buy your product, they’re not really fans at all. And all the brand awareness in the world isn’t going to change that.”
Harsh words for social media if the source is accurate. It echoes the era of MySpace filled with teenage girls and boys touting their social lives and interests. Social media has its place, but it needs to be reexamined in generating revenue for real life companies.
Whitney Grace, April 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Chattering About Big Data
April 22, 2013
As social media outlets such as Twitter continue to grow analysts can tell a lot from what users are tweeting or which topics have the most followers. It seems that Big Data is really buzzing in the Twitter world and created quite a stir in 2012. According to the DataSift article “Who’s Big in Big Data? the data science team at DataSift did an analysis of the amount of social interaction that Big Data received in 2012.
“A record number of Tweets were reported relating to big data within the technology sector in 2012 showing a continual growth of social interaction around ‘Big Data’. Using our sophisticated social data platform, we ran a DataSift Historics query against our hot list of Big Data products and conversations to identify which vendors were the most socially interactive, which domains were the most favorable in publicizing ’Big Data’ Tweets, the quarterly traffic progression for mentions of ‘Big Data’ and the most Tweeted stories.”
From the comparison of the various Tweets concerning Big Data, DataSift was able to determine which topics were the most popular. They then went a step further and looked at which links people shared and what Big Data sites people went to the most. Results showed that over 2.2 million Tweets were generated and Apache was the most popular Big Data vendor. As an added bonus DataSift also was delighted to learn that a BBC news article on DataSift took 2nd place in the running for most shared Big Data stories of 2012. This type of social media analysis not only provides companies with valuable insight for their daily business but also shows who the heavy hitters really are in the Big Data world.
April Holmes, April 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Social Analytics Tips
April 21, 2013
Social media analysis has become popular among marketers, but many businesses have no idea what their return on investment is with these tools. In fact, we learn from BtoB‘s “4 Things to Remember About Social Media Analytics,” a recent survey by BtoB found that just 41 percent of marketers even try to measure their social ROI. Why?
Writer Karen J. Bannan cites Altimeter analyst Susan Etlinger, who says the problem is rooted in fuzzy intentions from the beginning of companies’ venture into social media. You have to have a goal before you can measure progress toward it. A related problem lies in deciding how to use the data you collect.
Bannan offers four points to keep in mind when approaching social media analytics. First, she notes that measuring whether a company or product is mentioned means little if you don’t know the sentiment within the comments. Are folks praising or panning? Another point emphasizes the need for careful human judgment. Item number two reads:
“Some of the most important social mentions won’t use your company or product names. The idea of brand monitoring is not as valid as many believe, said David Rabjohns, CEO of MotiveQuest, a social market research firm. ‘When people are talking about something in social, 95% of them aren’t going to mention a product because they are talking about brands as enablers of their passion,’ he said. ‘But marketers think that everyone is talking about their brand.’ Marketing is evolving from storytelling to story listening, he said. Again, marketers need to be on sites where customers are spending time and listen carefully to everything they say—not just pay attention to specific keywords or phrases that show up in reports.”
Ah, but is that too much of a labor investment for most companies?
The article goes on to observe that there is a wide array of metrics tools available, and companies should choose carefully. Look for one that emphasizes insights that can be applied to decision-making. Scalability is another huge plus. Finally, be aware of the differences between social media flavors. For example, while a Pinterest post is nigh eternal, a tweet will lose relevance very quickly.
Cynthia Murrell, April 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Augmentext Expands Social Functions
April 10, 2013
Short honk. In response to client requests, ArnoldIT’s Augmentext service has added a new line up of social media services. These range from third-party comments to posting images and original articles. For more information, navigate to Augmentext Social. To get a free price quote, write seaky2000 at yahoo.com.
Stephen E Arnold, April 10, 2013
Social Media Strategies
April 9, 2013
Social media is not just for personal use anymore it has expanded into the business world. The Expert System Cogito Blog piece “Understanding the Strategic Value of Social Media Analysis” talks about how many companies are selling themselves short when it comes to using social media.
“I have often said that companies are missing out on the real value of social media analysis. More often than not, even the big players don’t have the processes or models in place to really make use of the data gained from the analysis. As a result, social media analysis has a limited impact on the business, not to mention the budgets assigned to such projects.”
However, despite the usual oversights the author talks about a recent encounter with the head of customer experience at a well-known bank. They were going to discuss the tools they would need to support social media analysis but instead of going through the usual song and dance the manager was actually prepared to discuss exactly what they needed from them. Even more surprising the customer was actually able to provide specific examples of quantitative as well as qualitative data that she wanted to be able to extract from the streams of data. This made it easier to talk about semantics and how it can bring value to their company. Strategies such as focusing on extracting relationships between monitored entities and relieving some of the social media noise through deep analysis and contextualization can help to improve product visibility as well as market trends. The author ends by nothing that they are sure that they haven’t seen the last of their “usual pitch” because many organizations do not have a clear and concise strategy when it comes to social media projects. However, as the trend changes and more and more companies are realizing the importance of social media semantic technology vendors better strike fast and learn how to “grab the bull by its horns.”
April Holmes, April 09, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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