Right under your nose – The first place to look for social media followers is your client list.  Current or past clients are the ideal audience to build a foundation for your fan base because they (hopefully) have a good relationship with your company and will have no problems letting people in their network know how much they enjoy working with you.

If WE build it – We’ve all heard the saying ‘If you build it, they will come.”  Unfortunately it isn’t that easy with social media.  Including your audience in decisions and encouraging them to voice their opinions will make them root for you much harder. When WE build it instead of YOU not only will people come they will tell their friends about it.

Make it worth their while – The more brands realize the importance of social media, the more saturated social networking sites are becoming.  People have the option to follow hundreds upon hundreds of their favorite brands. In order to stand out you’ll need something exclusive to offer your followers. Whether it is exclusive information or special offers/discounts, show your online community you appreciate them.

Follow the leader – A great way to build a following is to tap into a community that already exists by building a relationship with its leaders. Look for popular bloggers in your field, follow them and engage in online conversations.  Their networks will soon notice your back and forth and their curiosity will most likely get you a few new followers.

Make friends, not enemies – Definitely  try different tactics for gaining new followers to see what works and what doesn’t however, there is one method that has proven to be a social networking no-no.  Do not bombard your followers’ networks with unsolicited messages/request to follow you.  Most social networking sites have strict rules on this practice; mainly it’s spam. Spamming is counterproductive to building your network since your account will most likely be suspended.

Taking these tips into consideration, your follower count should go up in no time.  Remember to provide valuable information and engage with your new found friends. Staying an active member of your own online community is just as important as seeing the numbers rise.

Tumblr is a microblogging site that has been gaining popularity thanks to its super simple interface that allows users to post and more importantly share posts of interest easily.   Many media outlets  have started to use Tumblr as a tool to gain visibility and new traffic to their sites and blogs. Newsweek pioneered the way with many others such as NPR, Huffington Post, & the Economist jumping on the Tumblr band wagon. These companies have all been using the site to post condensed content that redirects readers to their main blogs and/or websites. This has helped them attract a newer audience almost daily.

If your blog or website views are coming to a lull you may want to look into signing up. Keep in mind as great as Tumblr is, it isn’t for everyone. Organizations that cater to mass audiences versus B2B may find more benefits to Tumblr. If you do decide to give Tumblr a whirl here are a few tips:

• Your Tumblr posts should be related to the content on your main site but not as intense.
• Try following Tumblr pages with similar content as yours.
• The more people you interact with on Tumblr the more people will interact with you (ensuring higher visibility to your brand and message.)

Following these simple guidelines and maybe Tumblr can have the blog views rolling in.

Prior to 2010 if I said ‘Hide your kids, hide your wife” most people would probably go into a panic and assume danger was lurking.  Now this phrase brings a smile to faces as they recall the viral “Bed Intruder” video.  Antoine Dodson became an internet sensation when believe it or not, his sister was attacked in her home and the local news came to interview the family.  Antoine was very upset and quite animated.  The folks over at  schmoyoho took his interview added a catchy beat and vocal effects which catapulted Dodson into the hottest thing on the internet.  Since the video has gone viral Antoine has appeared on countless talk shows.  The parody is actually sold on iTunes and with the profit Antoine and his family have plans to buy a home.

Most recently another unintentional celebrity has merged from the web.  Ted  William better known as “The man with the golden voice” is someone who had fallen on his luck.  Ted was once on air radio personality who gave into his addictions to drugs & alcohol.  Eventually his vices (which apparently he is still battling with) cost him his career and he has been homeless for quite some time.  A local newspaper filmed him for their YouTube channel and the video was such a hit that in the matter of 4 days Ted William got a haircut, a home, reunited with his mother, a slue of TV show appearances, and what he wanted the most a job.

Your business could become a hit on the net as well.  A flip camera, creative idea, and good marketing plan can result in an excellent web video. Although it is important to think outside the box don’t forget to stay relevant to your products and/or service.  Trying out new marketing techniques could have a great payoff.  Even if your video doesn’t quite reach viral status, your organization will be sure to have star power in the eyes of potential clients.

Customer Input Reinvented – Starbucks My Idea is a social community that lives on the Starbucks website. The concept is simple. Customers make suggestions on what they want to see in the stores. Sounds like any other forum right? Well the genius behind this is that Starbucks actually selects the ideas with the most buzz and makes them happen. It’s taking listening to its customers to a whole new level and paying off in a big way for the coffeehouse.

Adapting to Your Target – There is no doubt that social media had a huge part in the last presidential election. President Obama’s campaign truly embraced this new era of marketing. Not only did his campaign set up profiles on all the major social networking sites, they also used tools such as Ustream to broadcast speeches on the web and an IPhone app that encouraged people to spread the word and vote. Obama’s approach captivated younger voters and they came out in droves to the polls. His fresh approach to politics and marketing were a winning combination. Let’s see if he can use these techniques to bring up his approval ratings…

Interacting With Your Audience – When Old Spice wanted to sell more body wash they realized they had to take a new approach – they bypassed their customers and went straight to their girlfriends. Old Spice launched a comical commercial featuring a tall dark and handsome guy enticing women to buy Old Spice body wash for their boyfriends so that they could smell just like him. The commercial was a hit and Old Spice took it to the next level. Old Spice launched personalized YouTube video responses to people who tweeted the Old Spice guy. Fans of the commercial loved this unique interaction so much that the campaign gained nationwide recognition for its innovative use of social networking.

Building a Brand – Chicago-based T-shirt company Threadless lives, breathes, and eats social media. For those who aren’t familiar, Threadless is a company that allows people to submit t-shirt designs to their site. Threadless customers then vote on which shirt designs will be sold for that week and the winning designers not only get their shirts sold but also some cash. Basically the company’s website in itself is an online community. Threadless is known for using social networking to build their brand and secure brand buy in. Their customers love how accessible and interactive they are and they have the following to prove it.

As you see with the examples i mentioned social media marketing is not to different from traditional marketing efforts you are use to yet when done correctly the results speak for themselves. With a little research, time, and effort your brand could also see big results by implementing social media into your marketing plan.

Immediately my first thought was “it is too cold to have these poor employees out here on the street.” My next thought was “this is a terrible marketing campaign.” I could easily think of a few reasons why it was not an effective plan.

1.There is no way to track the campaign’s success
The employees who are out in the street do nothing but simply dance around and hold up the mentioned sign. Lawrence & Western is a busy intersection so when a car honks there is no real way of telling if it was because of traffic or whether they truly love Liberty Tax Services.

2. There is no strong call to action
Liberty Tax Services committed a common mistake which is to roll out what they think is a great campaign with no call to action. Let’s say someone in their car was driving by and loved the idea of the dancing Statue of Liberty. They honk their horn and drive off smiling. What if that person went home and wanted to know more about the company behind this campaign? How would they find you with no URL or phone number on your sign?

3. A single layer campaign
The Statue of Liberties focus all their energy on shaking their signs and trying to get the attention of people in their cars. Several mornings I have found myself standing shoulder to shoulder with one of these employees waiting for the traffic light to change. There currently is no interaction with pedestrians. Having a handout for foot traffic would cover all bases and get them better results.

Had the good people of Liberty Tax Services taken the time to map out a strategic AND creative marketing campaign they could have had wonderful results. Granted some could argue their goal was merely to get noticed. To that I say well done and congratulations! You just got featured in my blog!

Much like a little piece of dark chocolate, concentrated marketing efforts pack a mighty punch. Whenever you have an exciting new business endeavor many offers and seemingly exciting opportunities will come your way.  It is important to take time and really map out which of these opportunities are the ones worth following.  You will find yourself with many propositions that at first seem good but you will soon find out are not effective and are a waste of time.  Mapping out a marketing campaign and only concentrating on a few smaller  efforts that strategically incorporate your message and effectively deliver it to your target audience will help you not only reduce the risk of wasting your time and money but also help you measure your success and ROI easily. Saving money and insuring success sounds like a sweet deal to me.