Monthly Archives: September 2011
7 Ways To Leverage Social Media For Your Business, via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Excellent article posted by Scott Williams.
Scott started his article by claiming that :
- The World Of Social Media is booming.
- There are over 220 million bloggers, 700 million Facebook users, 175 million Twitter
- Users and 34% of these folks post opinions about products and brands.
- Research shows 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations and only 14% trust advertisements.
I feel this is really amazing.
On-top of that, one of the problem with social media is that many companies don’t have a clear understanding of how to leverage social media for their business.
Here-below, a summary of these 7 Ways Businesses Should Leverage Social Media, explained by Scott Williams
1. Develop A Plan
- Develop a plan that starts with the end result in mind.
- Do you have a desire to promote offers, promotions and coupons?
- Are you going to make Social Media the main communication hub for your customers, how are you co-branding your social media platform with your existing brand.
2. Know Your Voice
- If you are speaking on behalf of your Organization, make sure that you speak from that voice.
- Businesses tend to confuse or overlap the voice of their personal brand with their business brand.
- An easy solution to make sure your business voice is the one speaking is to ask this question before posting — If my company could tweet or post, would they share this?
3. Be Social
- The most important thing about social media is the social part and not the media.
- If you look @Starbucks Twitter streams, they are always interacting with customers and people.
- Be Social, Be Accessible, Be Social, Be Relevant, Be Social, Be Authentic, Be Social, Be Real, Be Social, Be about Your Brand, Be Social, Be Entertaining, Be Social and did I mention BE SOCIAL!
- 78% of customers trust peer recommendations drives home the importance of being social.
- People are more likely to trust and promote brands they feel connected to. Be Social!
4. Make A Name For Yourself
- Make sure that your Twitter and Facebook names are simple, easy to remember and relevant to your company
- Make a name for your company by being active in the world of social media.
- Familiarizing yourself with the 111 Twitter Tools will help you to become efficient at making a name for yourself.
5. Make Your Profile Work
- Make sure your Twitter and Facebook profile represent your company.
- If your business is a coffee shop be sure to have your logo as your profile pic and not your personal glamour shot.
- Check out my 6 Ways To Make Your Twitter Profile Work.
6. Have a Primary Social Media Application
- The cool thing about the success of Twitter is that Facebook and Twitter have become kissing cousins.
- There are many applications that automate the connection of the two platforms.
- It is great for a business to encourage their customers to connect with them on multiple Social Media medians; however having one or the other as a primary helps with clarity.
7. Make It Fun
- No matter the strategy you choose, make it fun for your customers.
- Fun, engaging, enlightening… should be the words your customers use to describe your social media presence.
- This isn’t necesarrily “crack jokes” fun, but it’s definitely not blah blah blah boring.
#Kinect got the FUN AWARD Price 2 times in a ROW in Belgium, via @davidmerzel’s BLOG.
Kinect Games got the FUN AWARD Price 2 times in a ROW, in Belgium.
Great recognition from the cnsumers and A big thank to my TEAM to make this happen !!!
Game Sports 2 for Kinect / Xbox 360 has been recognized as prefered game by kids from 4 years old.
Watch these video to discover Game Sports 2 for Kinect / Xbox 360.
More info on this award HERE
If you want to know more on Games coming this holiday Season, just click HERE
What Kinect Games will come very SOON ? Watch this video.
Discover the World of (serious) Video Games on RTL “Tout s’explique” [video], @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Take a look at this extract “Tout s’explique” special Video Game (15th Sept 2011)
You will discover new applications on KINECT and specially the First Medical Kinect Serious Games, which is really important for me.
Regarding this First Medical Kinect Serious Games (called R.O.G.E R) developped in collaboration with Fishing Cactus & Erasme Hospital, you will find more info HERE.
I will give a presentation @ LOFT-Coworking Brussels : Are you a WHITE belt or BLACK belt Marketer ? via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
This 10 October @ 9.00 AM : Conference in the LOFT – Coworking Brussels.
Are you a WHITE belt or BLACK belt Marketer ?
For more info, click HERE
What are THE 10 Levels of Intimacy in Communication ?, via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
What are THE 10 Levels of Intimacy in Today’s Communication ?
This is back to basics but the real & authentic communication remains off-line talking.
I really believe a real engagement starts with that kind of communication.
This is my first rule of “Close Contact Marketing”.
To know more about CLOSE CONTACT MARKETING, click HERE
The 3 Things That Motivate People [video], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Excellent video showing the surprising truth about what motivates us.
As a leader, it’s important to have good ideas, but if you want to do something great with those ideas, you must be able to influence others to join forces with you. You need to be able to convince people to share your vision. You can use a tasty carrot or sharp stick — both have their place — but I think it’s better to have a keener understanding of human nature and what it is that motivates us.
In this Video, Daniel Pink explains the three things he believes are the greatest motivators of all:
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Autonomy.
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Higher purpose.
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Mastery.
So, it’s not about money 
More details here-below,
Pink’s conclusions contradict what most of us probably think about motivation.
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Autonomy:
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No one wants someone always looking over his or her shoulder.
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Good leaders lead by providing direction, not by pushing from behind.
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Higher purpose:
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Sure, the primary goal of every business is to earn a profit and make the highest return on invested capital, but that surely isn’t what will drive our motivation.
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That’s why we talk more about solving our customers’ problems and making their lives better — we help them feel secure, maintain privacy, lower energy costs, and darken rooms so their babies sleep longer.
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Being able to donate money to the less fortunate in our community as a result of our success, is another motivator.
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Mastery:
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Many people leave their jobs because they feel stagnant.
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When there is an opportunity for promotions and for people to learn new skills — even without a title change — they’ll still feel like they’re moving up. When people have higher skill levels, their value goes up and they’re in a better position to get raises, or at the very least, they’re equipped to handle new jobs at other companies.
Are you a WHITE belt or BLACK belt Marketer ? [slides], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Discover a new approach based on my own experience as marketer and in martial art.
Thanks to this innovative approach, I’ve been nominated Marketer of the Year. Just Click here_below to access the voting page.
Vote for Me on
The spirit in Close Contact Marketing is basic: Treating your consumer with respect is the best way to win their heart.
Applying the Close Contact Marketing technical I have developed within my team has been very succesful, for the launch of Kinect in Belgium.
I want to share with you the approach that leads Belgium to be that successful.
The close contact Marketing is based on the following belief: once you convince the consumer, he becomes your best ambassador.
Close contact marketing has its roots in eastern values of the martial arts such as karate: respect and direct involvement are part of it.
Its six rules are symbolized by belts of the sport that I practice so much.
Let me introduce these to you:
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Rule #1 : Engage Personally
Involve yourself personally as a Marketeer. Make your hands dirty, talk, surf, have a dialogue with journalists, retailers, consumers and colleagues. This rule seems obvious. Those who experienced it know it’s not.
For the launch of Kinect, we decided to invite journalists, retailers, consumers and bloggers to come and test this new stuff in a friendly atmosphere. The Kinect Loft has been created to enhance the networking with influencers.
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Rule #2 : Trying is Believing.
Set up an authentic, winsome experience on your products.
More than seven thousand people tried out the Kinect, including the Kinect Loft (see below in the slide share the LOFT) in Brussels, as the device was not launched yet.
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Rule #3 : Invite Influencers Generously
Take the time to discuss with influencers as they carry on your message.
Journalists, bloggers, retails partners deliver your message to an audience. The Kinect Loft has been on its way, in a mobile version, within the retail field and events for consumers. The commitment level was so high; the content was shared on Facebook, Twitter and over 350 blogs in Belgium.
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Rule #4 : Enchant the Masses
Find the best way to enchant the audience, focusing on spending that much money on advertising .
In Belgium, Kinect has spread its words in more than 36 newspapers and magazines, 6 radio show s, 18 TV shows .
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Rule #5 : Share Close Contact Marketing
I share my passion for marketing, social media , new technologies
I’m having a leadership position throughout a blog who made more than one hundred thousand visits over the past year. Thanks to the comments on the blog and on social networks, I’m aware of the reactions of the target audience. The key audience at the Kinect launching was families and the most important move was to keep a strong image towards the communities of players within our core audiences. I have shared my passion and vision of marketing in universities (ULB, VUB, IHECS, KDG Antwerp, KH Leuven) and professional organizations (BMMA, IAB, BetaGroup). I met by then more than two thousand people that year and I really enjoyed that !
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Rule #6 : Improve Society
The boundaries of your job are not settled by your products, as a Marketeer you obviously have a role to play in society.
With the help of Fishing Cactus, a Belgian company based in Mons, and the Erasme Hospital, Microsoft has developed revalidation softwares for the Kinect platform for people suffering from brain damage. Kinect gives the patients the ability of visualize daily tasks, and teaches them how to improve their lives . As a candidate of Marketeer of the year, I know that less is more.
You can learn more from this approach here-below.
You Feedback is Welcome !
Who will be Marketer of the Year in Belgium for 2011 ?
Short List Marketer of the Year 2011 has just been published.
It’s a real honor to be on this list.
See details by clicking http://bit.ly/piFWrR.
Good luck to all of us.
Good or Bad Marketing ? via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Excellent Food for thought to evaluate of youe Marketing is good or bad … 
Good marketing starts with a cause. Bad marketing starts with a goal.
Good marketing drives loyalty. Bad marketing drives transactions.
Good marketing promotes values. Bad marketing values promotions.
Good marketing tells us exactly what a company really thinks. Bad maketing tells us what the company thinks they want us to think they think.
Good marketing seduces. Bad marketing targets.
Good marketing never mentions price. Bad marketing always mentions price.
Good marketing uses the products to help tell a story. Bad marketing tells stories about products.
Good marketing is about us. Bad marketing is about them.
Bad marketing manipulates. Good marketing inspires.
The Social Media Brandsphere [Infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
The Social Media Brandsphere is a handy tool that breaks down the division of media opportunities for marketing professionals.
The infographic goes beyond the standard opportunities of Paid, Owned, and Earned Media (P.O.E.M.) and includes the more recent strategies of Promoted and Shared to create a complete picture of the opportunities available to engage audiences.
In any given network, brands can invest in digital assets that span five media landscapes:
1. Paid: Digital advertising, banners, adwords, overlays
2. Owned: Created assets, custom content
3. Earned: Brand-related conversations and user-generated content
4: Promoted: in-stream or social paid promotions vehicles (e.g. Twitter’s Promoted products and Facebook’s Sponsored Stories)
5. Shared: Open platforms or communities where customers co-create and collaborate with brands. (e.g. Dell’s IdeaStorm and Starbuck’s MyStarbucksIdea.)
Any combination of the five media strategies defines a new Brandsphere where organizations can capture attention, steer online experiences, spark conversations and word of mouth can help customers address challenges or create new opportunities.
To visualize the model that reflects the state of new media, Brian Solis partnered with JESS3.
Source : http://www.briansolis.com/2011/08/new-inforgraphic-the-brandsphere-by-brian-solis-and-jess3/
What’s the Growth of Social Media [infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Interesting infographic showing the Growth of Social Media.
Click on the picture here-below to enlarge.
Source : http://techtrends.eu/la-croissance-des-medias-sociaux/
83 percent of young people sleep next to their cell phones [infographic], via @davidmerzel’s BLOG
Great infographic !
From the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed, young people are constantly connected to their electronics, syncing their tablets and smartphones with all the latest updates.
According to this infographic, titled “A Day in the Digital Life,” 35 percent of smartphone users boot up their apps before booting themselves from bed, and 83 percent of young people sleep within reach of their trusty devices.
But how is this connectivity affecting their daytime hours? Learn more.
Source : http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/always-connected/
