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The BUY Button is Active on Pinterest

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OMG, the BUY button is in full effect on Pinterest Now!  This can be a game changer for small and mid size brands. This gives smaller brands the ability to play along right beside the larger, more well known brands. Take a look at their introductory video:

Leave comments below once you have had an opportunity to try this out. We are looking at the payment options and comments that consumers are making about the new feature. We will be sure to update you on our findings.  We also have a scheduled Periscope coming up about this topic.

We are days away from launching The Mompreneur Lifestyle on SelsiTV

Are you ready to go on a journey with us through what it takes to be a mompreneur? We hope that you will watch our episodes, make comments, and ask questions that you would like to see us discuss.  We are not promising to have perfect video editing and sound effects, but we can assure you that we will have AWESOME content that any mompreneur can use immediately.

Stay tuned for additional sponsorship information and information for how you can be a guest on the show. Here is a preview of the intro:

Mompreneurship: Raw & Uncut

Please go ahead and subscribe to our channel in YouTube.  You can get right to it by clicking here.

Send Messages on Pinterest Now

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This week, Pinterest opened up a new feature. You can now send messages to your pinners within the platform. This is something that has been in the works for a while and it is now live.

As a marketer, this is another great way to communicate with your audience. Think through the possibilities for your brand. Here are a few ideas that we thought about:

1. You can plan or announce an event using Pinterest.
2. Logo design options can be discussed.
3. Product features and benefits can be directly discussed with your audience.

Let us know what ideas you have about ways to use this new feature in Pinterest.

The Future of Marketing

Businesswoman standing on a ladder looking through binocularsWhen you sit and think about the direction that marketing is going in, you can’t leave out social and mobile. I think that we all can agree that it is not a passing fad. A marketing/pr strategic plan that does not include these two elements is doomed for mediocracy.

The future winners will be those that can develop super creative content that can break through all of the clutter. Right now agencies are losing talented, out of the box thinking people to the Facebook’s and Google’s of the world. I think the future will be such that many big brands move away from the BIG agencies. The creative genius can now be found in freelancers, smaller agencies, and proper development of internal staff.

Here is a great article about Keith Weed’s, chief marketing for the Unilever brand, view on the future of marketing.

What do you see about the future of marketing/pr? Are BIG agencies going to remain the staple for BIG brands? Can brands train their own people do that they can save a chunk of their budget?

100 Days of Blogging

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It’s time to put what the experts say to the test! You probably hear all of the time that ‘content is king and consistency is vital.’ So, Selsi Enterprises has come up with a simple project. We are going to put out great content on a consistent basis for the next 100 days.

We would like to have some of you join us in this effort. The more people that join in, the better we will be able to test our theory. Leave us a comment if you are interested in diving in with us. When you share your blog post with the world, use the hash tag #100Days.

Happy blogging!

Social Media Strategy Audit

Many times we see that companies get involved in the world of social media without any real direction.  A business owner feels good being able to say that their company has a presence on all social media platforms. The problem is if you do not have a strategy behind what you are doing; it can simply result in a lot of wasted time with no real gain in the business bottom line. We see companies every day that post in social media, but tend to feel that social media is not providing them with any results.  It is not a weakness of social media as much as it is a weakness in the strategy behind the post.

Our advice, step back and either do your own social media audit or hire a consultant that can give you great data about your social media campaign.  We would say leave it to the experts (shameless plug coming). Let a company like Selsi Enterprises dissect your current plan and give you some sound techniques to move forward with your efforts on social media.

A good social media strategy audit takes about 2 months to conduct. This audit typically compares what you are doing in the social media sphere to what your competitors are doing. This audit should also take a look at what you are doing versus where your customers are and what they may prefer in the way of social communication. Finally, you should end up with recommendations that can be measured over time.

Once small business owners conduct a social media audit, it is amazing how they see the results start to stack up versus the time before they had a specific strategy. What keeps most business owners from hiring a consultant to perform this audit is a concern surrounding the cost. A business owner should look at this as an investment in business growth.  This is a short term expense that can lead to a long term gain.  As I have polled consultants in 2012 on what they charge for their social media strategy audits, I have seen a range in terms of prices, services, and guarantees.  For a quality audit, the price range is 5K to 8K. Typically a consultant will allow a business owner to break this expense up into multiple payments over the 2 month timeframe. It really depends on the consultant!

Turn Up the Charm

Social media today is all about how well you are charming your audience.  A company, be it large or small, can not proceed with the same persona that it had even 5 years ago.  Customers are now wanting to engage in conversation with businesses that they enjoy patronizing.

Unfortunately, many of the larger corporations are still a little slow to come to the social media playground.  Some of their reasoning may be justified because it is easy to say the wrong thing and end up in a media fiasco that could have been avoided.  For the small business owner, it may simply be a time issue.  How do you successfully run a business and have time to properly manage your social media presence?  Your social media presence should personify your brand and that may require some strategic planning to make it happen, but it can be done.

You must have a well thought out plan before diving in to social media.  Determine what it is you are hoping to gain from your efforts. Decide on the mediums that you would like to cover and then dive in!!  If you decide to join Twitter, take a look at some of the twitter chats that happen daily.  A simple search on your topic of choice will yield a great list of chats and individuals for you to follow and engage.  If you decide on a Facebook page, create your page and then determine about 2 weeks worth of updates that you would like to post.  It is easy to schedule these posts using a site such as Hootsuite. The Facebook page is an excellent way to offer specials for anyone that may ‘Like’ your page.  I know, we are making it sound very simple, but it really is a ‘learn by doing’ activity.’  Once you have created your first Facebook page Twitter page, or your LinkeIn profile, take time to explore what others are doing.  Learn from others that are in your same industry.  Think about what type of strategy they are using (especially if it is working for them).  Do not be afraid to mimic what is working!

Once you are onboard, it is all about your social media charm.  Figure out ways that you can help people fill a need.  Then, interact and engage.  Or, as Guy Kawasaki would say….Enchant!

Nonprofits can Benefit Greatly from Social Media

Social media is an inexpensive way that nonprofits can grow in reaching their mission.  As a strong supporter of many local nonprofits, we at Selsi Enterprises realize how limited resources can be when trying to balance all that needs to be done to keep the nonprofit afloat. Allow us to make a few suggestions as to why a nonprofit that uses social media can not lose:

1. Keep your volunteer engaged –  Social media is a way to show the success of those that volunteer with your organization.  It is also a great way to schedule and plan activities with those on your volunteer roster. This is also one of the greatest ways to get feedback from those that volunteer with your organization.

2. Tell your story – Platforms like YouTube will quickly allow you to showcase the efforts of your organization.  Many in your local community will not realize of your hard work unless you let them know.  Telling your story is the best way to keep donations coming in all year long.

3. Fundraising campaigns – What better way to allow people to donate to your organization than in an online format.  Your audience can watch the total rise, encourage others to donate, and share their reason for donating.  Social media should one tool that you use in your fundraising campaign.

Building a successful social media campaign is not just watching your ‘likes’ on Facebook rise, but engaging your audience by using a variety of tools.  Social media is one, inexpensive tool that should not be ignored by nonprofits.

Get out your Social Media Yard Stick

In marketing, we all know that you are going to hear the phrase, “what is my ROI?”  What is the return that I will get for placing my money into this form of advertising?  It is a hard question to answer when talking about social media.  I am wondering if we are deep enough into social media to be able to properly measure the tool.  I think there are many that are doing a great job at generalizing the data that they receive.

One important factor that companies, be they small or large, need to realize is that social media is for the point of being social.  You can not continue to push the same old information that you have pushed in traditional media.  In order for social media to be successful, one must jump in and engage with an audience that may very well already be talking about your brand.  If your brand is not being discussed, think of ways to get on the minds of your possible customers.

In actuality, there are many tools that can be used in combination to figure out if you are hitting the mark with your current social media campaign. In researching ROI tools for our clients, here are a few that we do not mind recommending:

Radian6 – This tool is not the cheapest for a small business owner or a nonprofit to use, but it is extremely useful in all that it is capable of measuring.

Lithium Social Media Monitoring – This one is really easy on the eyes because it is based on the look and feel of Google. Lithium measures a variety of negative and positive signals that can give you a great overview to deliver in any upcoming presentation.

Trendrr – Many consider this to be very web 3.0 in its make up. This gives the user real time data that it gathers from microblogs, searc, social, and even video.  Many that we have spoken with love the location based specific data that they are able to obtain almost instantly.

If you have any ROI tools that you are successfully using, please let us know.  We love to share this information with our readers in the hopes of helping those that may be in a rut with showing their return on investment.

Survey Monkey is Winning!

I am so impressed when I see big companies that are truly paying attention to their social media.  Recently, I tweeted about Survey Monkey.  Here is a look at my tweet:

Selsi_Ent Nicole Henderson

Developing a survey on @surveymonkey ! Great tool and super easy to use. Looking forward to the results. #communication#measurement

I did not do it for a response, but I was surprised when I did get one.  Take a look at the tweet I received:

SurveyMonkey SurveyMonkey

@Selsi_Ent Thanks for using us! We’re glad it’s working so well for you

I think that small and large companies can learn a thing or two from SurveyMonkey.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of companies doing some great things with social media.  Many companies are still lagging behind in taking social media seriously.  When a company responds to a random customer on Twitter, to me it says they really want to make sure that their customers have a great experience with their product.

Marketing Nugget: Do not be afraid to engage with your audience.

This will allow you to create fans for a lifetime.