Social Media- Just a Popularity Contest?

When it comes down to it, social media is really just a popularity contest. It can be thought of as a glorified version of "Mean Girls" or "Clueless". For the most part, individuals and companies care about being popular on social media. Here's my reasoning:
 
   [Companies use social media to generate more brand awareness]
   [People use social media to show off the cool things they do]
   [Companies get excited when they are the most popular on social media because that leads to more
   revenue for them]
   [People get excited the more likes they get because that means they are popular and people care
   enough about their life to give them a like]

Just like in junior high, there is a tactful and tacky way to be popular on social media. Some examples of tactful companies and people include: Charmin, Converse, Ellie Goulding, Coastal, & Blendtec. Some examples of companies that use social media in a tacky way all the time or just every so often are: Axe, GoDaddy, and Carls Jr.

So please be respectful of everyone out there as you try to gain popularity for yourself or for your company! Popularity is good and you should strive to achieve it, just don't be a punk about it. 

Email Marketing: Dead or Alive?

With the start of my new job, I decided to go on a quest to find out if email marketing was dead or alive in this current age of SMM.

With my previous knowledge of Social Media Marketing [SMM] and knowledge from the SMM class I am taking currently, there is a little minnion inside of me that says, " Yieks! That will turn off more potential clients than it will do good."

However, this is the approach that the company wishes to take, so before I completely disregard it I decided I wanted to do some research about email marketing.

I found a great article talking about email marketing tips and stats for 2014. Here are the most interesting facts & tips I found:

Stats

• According to eMarketer there will be around 236.8 million US email users by 2017.
• For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investment.
• 56% of businesses say they plan to increase their use of email marketing in 2013.

Mobile

• When planning content for a multi-device experience, your most important content should come first. Think back to the top-down hierarchy taught in basic journalism—what do you most want your readers to see?
• Know your audience—it’s the most basic of all marketing principles. If your brand’s mobile audience is at or above 10%, it’s time to start optimizing for mobile.
• Don’t focus solely on click-based interaction—instead, try to think in terms of swipes and taps. As with any good design, grid-based layouts ensure content is easy to read and digest.

Mastering the Inbox

• Do you want to help your bounce rate? Locate the emails that generated the high number of bounce backs and investigate the source of the list. 
• Comply with the guidelines in the federal CAN-SPAM legislation. Most importantly, make sure that all requests for removal from your mailing lists are honored. 
• 33% of email recipients open email based on subject line alone.
• More people read emails that deal with their finances and travel than any other category. 
• Recipients often only read the subject line or the first few lines of an email. Include your CTA early on in your email. 
• Subject lines fewer than 10 characters long had an open rate of 58%.

Data.Data.Data

• 7 in 10 people say they made use of a coupon or discount from a marketing email in the prior week. (2012 Blue Kangaroo Study)
• If the addresses were acquired organically via form submissions, consider using a Confirmed Opt-In process. With Confirmed Opt-In, an individual is required to enter an email address to access your site or content. Upon registering their email address, a verification email will be sent to the address provided. This way, new subscribers can only submit valid, active email addresses. 

Social Media & Email

• It is important to include social sharing buttons at the top of your email. When the recipient clicks the share button, have the social post populated with interesting copy and a shortened link.

So the end result after this article? I'm more willing to give email campaigns a try! I think that as long as they are legit and well designed then they can be very effective. 

My verdict is that email marketing is still very much alive!

Social Media: Adults vs. Teens

I came across an interesting article/infographic a few weeks ago that compares how adults use social media compared to teens. It's widely assumed that adults no where near as tech savvy as teens, which in many cases is true.

This article from Entrepreneur argues, however, says that when it comes to a few social media outlets, adults actually use them more than teens!

They said that adults use Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr more than teens. It's an interesting argument. I have a hard time believing that adults use Instagram more than teens, even if it's just slightly. But maybe they consider anyone from 18+ as adults in this study and if that is the case, then I can believe that. Take a look at the infographic below and tell me what you think!