Twitter - the new marketing Mecca?

Hi, I’m Emma and I will be your guide to Twitter these upcoming months!

Let’s begin by going back to basics a bit, what is Twitter?

Twitter is a fast growing social network which first saw the light of day in March 2006. It's essentially a short message service, where the users can "tweet" about everything thinkable - in a maximum of 140 characters. Parallels can be drawn to the status-updates on Facebook, but the difference is that on Twitter, the updates are practically the only thing you find on the site. By subscribing to different users (or the correct term, to "follow" them) you can be constantly aware of what your best friend, your neighbor or your favorite artist is up to at this very moment. The most followed person on Twitter is currently Lady Gaga (8 467 905 followers).

As has always been the case, when new trends and new ways to socialize emerge, so do new opportunities for marketing. But how are you supposed to market your company with just 140 characters? The MarketingProfs of http://www.mpdailyfix.com gives you the scoop on how to tweet your way to success by presenting “7 Ways Marketers Can Use Twitter”. It’s a brief description on what you can get out of working with the new tool, and there are also some good examples to learn from.

So, how can I use Twitter to market my business?

- Extend the reach for those individuals or companies that already have a blogging strategy in place, and want to deepen or further ties.
- Announce retail sales and deals.
- Increase the ability for frequent updates to blogs or web sites or news.
- Build consensus or a community of supporters.
- Build a buzz.
- Update breaking news at conferences or events.
- Update your network to shape your own personal branding.

See the full list and examples here!

Now that we know how marketers can use Twitter, let’s keep a close watch on how they actually do it. I will give you the latest updates in my future posts. Stay tuned!

Hitting a Moving Target - Mobile Marketing

Hey everyone! Brandon here, I'll be your subject matter expert when it comes to mobile marketing. It's a fairly new concept to the business world, but one that is already extremely important. It is often said that the one item people carry with them now is their cell phone. But that is rapidly evolving to include tablets, netbooks, or other devices.

Business are constantly searching for new avenues of approach in the mobile marketing world. It's still a medium in its infancy, which makes it difficult to develop a steadfast mobile strategy. One company, Jetstar Airways (Australia), is attempting to bring iPad rentals to all of its flights. Jetstar has already led a very successful pilot program. For only 10 Australian dollars, you could have your very own iPad for your entire flight.

What kind of marketing opportunities does this provide to a business? For Jetstar, it gives them a direct line to their customers. By creating a rental account, they can track their customer's flight patterns and offer discounts or other offers accordingly. Jetstar can also choose a select number of apps to preinstall on each iPad unit, giving partner businesses even more opportunities. For instance, a digital SkyMall magazine could see great success.

This is only one approach that businesses are taking in the mobile marketing industry. There are new strategies developing each and every day. Make sure to subscribe to our blog to keep up to date on the newest mobile marketing developments!

via Engadget

What's up social media?

So, what's this blog all about?

It's about our new reality!
The worldwide phenomenon of "social media" boomed during the beginning of the 21th century, with networks like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and thousands of new blogs being set up every day. The success was practically immediate and soon "everybody" had a network profile or a blog.

It did not take long for the commercial businesses to realize that this "social media thing" might be something to watch closely, as people seemed to be watching less TV and reading fewer newspapers. Instead they were all connecting to each other on the internet! But then where was the advertising supposed to go? Well, naturally, it followed the trends and moved to the web.

In this blog we will report, discuss, analyze and give our point of view on up-to-date marketing events in the social media jungle. We are all exposed to ads, surveys and PR every day and we want to use this blog to unveil hidden messages as well as talk about outspoken and obvious marketing campaigns. Who is succeeding and who is failing?

Welcome to follow us as we begin our quest!

Welcome to our blog!

Hey!

This is the first official post from the Surviving in the Social Media Jungle team! We will begin our blogging by giving a short presentation of the authors, so you'll get the grip on who's on the other side of the screen. Keep a look out for the next post, which will describe more in detail what this magnificent blog will contain in the future.

"The Survivors" consist of three students at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), located in the outskirts of Tacoma in Washington state, USA. We are currently taking the e-Marketing class with professor Sven Tuzovic and this blog will be a near semester-long project. Learn more about our school and the class we're taking at PLU School of Business.

We are:
Lynn Anderson, a 21 year old Communication/Public Relations major from Seattle, WA.
Brandon Kinne, a 22 year old Business/Marketing major from Spanaway, WA.
Emma Eriksson, a 23 year old Business/Marketing major from Stockholm, Sweden.

Each survivor will introduce himself/herself more closely in the upcoming posts.

Subscribe to our blog today and follow us as we try to stay alive in the social media jungle!