Social Media Marketing - the new power consumers have

Social networking is the fastest growing part of the Internet. There are 70 million active users on Facebook which is the 8th most popular site in the world, and more than 14 million photos are uploaded daily. Social media doesn't just include Facebook, it includes:

	?	Video Sharing Sites (Youtube, Viddler etc)
	?	Photo Sharing Sites (Flickr, Picasa etc)
	?	Q&A Websites (Wikianswers, Yahoo Answers etc)
	?	Blogs (Blogger, Wordpress, etc)

Potential buyers are communicating, comparing and, reviewing your products and services on-line. To stay competitive you must get involved!

The Price For Not Getting Involved - A Story!

You might think that is a luxury to invest in, let me give you an example how it destroyed one company in 7 days.

Kryptonite, a US company, produces supposedly super strong bike locks. In 2004, on a fairly popular bike forum called bikeforums.net, a consumer posted an article saying that he could break the lock using a pen. Within minutes, the message had been viewed by thousands; in hours hundreds of thousands had seen it; and then videos were posted on how to unlock it.

Kryptonite remained unmoved and took its time in responding despite being urged by its consumers to respond. They responded after a week, too late the damage was done. Not only was the story picked up by CNN and other major news channels, there were lawsuits by aggrieved customers.

The irony behind the whole story is that if the company had used on-line forums to address the problem some of the flak could have been deflected. The strange thing was, the story was old itself having first been published in 1992 in bicycle magazine. Even though this is an extreme example, don’t underestimate the new power consumers have!

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs

Today more than ever businesses can tap into the millions of people currently on social media websites. We can design a Facebook Group for your business to let everyone in on the latest and greatest happenings in your field and business. Also Twitter, to let everyone know what's on your mind. For most businesses having a Blog is crucial, because it allows customers to get an inside look at the brains of a business, and learn about the different flavours your company has in doing business.

Online Video Promotion

Did you know, Google rankings are much higher for sites that have video? A great way to increase the effectiveness on web site is to place a video on your site. We have the expertise to market and promote your videos online. We have the technology to pump your videos to around 30 different popular video websites. A great way to for instant exposure, for example, with only 10 videos, that’s the opportunity for 300 plays.

On-line Video Production

According to COMSCORE 12 billion online videos were viewed in the US in 2008. Here at Green Frog Interactive we can help you take advantage of this by producing high quality low cost videos. Packages include, editing, custom titles and graphic designed covers for your DVD.

However it’s important to know who your customers are before attempting to implement any social media marketing. There is no point in having a Facebook campaign if your demographics shows most of them don’t have one.

We at Green Frog Interactive can conduct a full market analysis to determine which medium will work best for your customers. Each medium also has its own best practices and guidelines for community behavior, so it’s important to understand this and choose the appropriate strategy.