Last year Facebook had 150 million users with 200 million people visiting the website monthly. Now Facebook has more than doubled in size to 350 million users. It is estimated that by summer 2010 over half of all Internet users will visit Facebook at least once a month.

So, that is impressive right? Sure but consider this: “175 million ( 1/2 of all registered users ) log into Facebook every day.” Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.com

Advertising your business on social media sites like Facebook.com can give you a very targeted group to market your goods and services. Plus, people have “friends” that typically share alot of the same hobbies and interests as they do.

For example: Let’s say you own a Soccer Sporting Goods Store with a retail ( brick-and-mortar ) offline location. You want to drive more foot traffic into your store. Consider building a FREE facebook fan page and use Facebook advertising, along with your website,  to promote and build that page. You can market your Facebook advertising to those people who are in your geographic location even further segmenting it ( if you like ) to those interested in sports. Maybe you want to target only “Soccer Moms”…you can do that. And, when you reach someone and they become a “Fan” they advertise it for free on their profile page to all of their friends. Talk about viral!

Need the ins-and-outs to advertising on Facebook and other social media websites? We can help!

Social Media Ad Spending - “Top Priority”There is a new report out from the Society of Digital Agencies and reported on by Marketing Pilgrim suggesting marketers plan to further shift budgets from traditional forms to online media. The top budget allocation considerations are as follows:1. Digital Infrastructure2. Digital Advertising3. Search Optimization4. Social Networks5. Mobile6. Viral Campaigns7. Blogger Outreach8. Email Marketing9. Games10. OtherDirectly from the report at: http://sodaspeaks.ning.com/page/digital-marketing-outlook:

• 81% of Brand Execs expect an increase in digital projects for 2010
• 50% will be shifting funds from traditional to digital media
• 78% of global participants believe the current economy will actually spawn more funds allocated to Digital

Social Media is propelling the rise of the Consumer:

• “Rather than spending another misguided year trying to “engineer” viral campaigns that will propagate themselves, regardless of consumer intentions, it’s time to refocus our marketing efforts to align with the way that people actually behave.” – Ivan Askwith, Big Spaceship
• “2010 will be the year that social media-fueled technology and behavior is responsible for more content consumption choices than ever before. As the media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, marketers will need to become more nimble than ever, and start getting on the leading edge of trends, as opposed to waiting for them to emerge.” – Ian Schafer, Deep Focus
• “The most effective digital platforms have shifted from “disruptive” to “productive” by providing a service or utility…[They] fundamentally change the approach from “how we reach our customers” to “how we make their lives better.” - Ken Martin, Chief Creative Officer, and Ivan Todorov, CEO & CTO, Blitz

“The web can be anywhere, and physical interaction with brand and the extension of commerce into the real world are the convergence point in the next wave of digital marketing.” – Peter Connolly, Obscura DigitalTeeth Laser Whitening

How’s $3 million for 30 seconds sound?  That is $100,000 per second in case anyone is counting.  What a bargain!  The Super Bowl has long been a prime audience for many of the nations biggest brands.  Soft Drinks, Banks, and Beer top the list of companies willing to shell out the dough. 

Budweiser has exclusive rights among during the broadcast leaving Coors to scramble for another way to capitalize on the “big game”.  Coors Brewing Company is inviting its consumers to submit their user generated content ( VIDEOS ) online to win tickets to the event.  The “Who Wants it More?” promotion runs for 5 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.  Consumers are challenged to create videos demonstrating why they deserve to get tickets to the 2008 Super Bowl.

Users upload their Coors videos to coorslight.com or coorsbeer.com along with an entry code that comes from specially marked cans and bottles.  The promotion is advertised through web advertising, point-of-sale, out-of-home, and radio ads.  I’m not sure the “entry code” is a great idea.  Seems like that could conflict with the amount of submissions. 

Coors will keep the videos on the site through the promotion period but “doesn’t have plans to use the submissions in further advertisements.”  YEAH RIGHT!  I see another Miller “Over the top” Home with Christmas Lights and Rockin’ Music Display coming.  That started out the same way, got viral, and then Miller decided …”Hmmmm, this viral video thing might have some worth.”

Each week Coors is picking a winner.  The weekly winners will then compete head to head I guess….why else would there be a weekly winner right? 

I think this really has a chance to be a very cost effective yet rewarding campaign for Coors.  Who knows….you might get the next “She Bang She Bang” dude or “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE” guy.?.   So far the entries are a little weak.

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There in the dentist waiting room sat Entrepreneur Magazine. I had forgotten about that magazine and flipped to a page where the subscription card would most likely be. ( yeah, last minute Christmas gift to myself … I let that magazine lapse about 2 years ago ).  And there it is: “The Truth About Truemors - An interview with Guy Kawasaki.”  Guy and I go way back…..ok, he doesn’t even know that I am alive but I’ve been a big fan of his.  Anyway, the piece is a nice read.  It is a glimpse into the mind of Guy Kawasaki and his new venture, Truemors.  The site www.truemors.com let’s ‘citizen journalists’ express themselves and “tell the world something without having to run a website or a blog.” 

Truemors is another one of those “Social Communities” where the content is created solely by the site’s visitors.  The community fuels the site, its path, and even its online personality.  The online masses can choose to embrace or bash a site within a very short amount of time. 

“The blogosphere is full of angry nay-sayers who are good at tearing things down but not at innovating. They should move out of their mothers’ houses and start dating.” - Guy Kawasaki

Truemors makes money with Advertising and Sponsorship - a common method for funding such communities.  So, does this mean that companies are spending ad dollars with Social Media websites?  Do they even know the difference?  The opportunites to market a company online is quickly moving beyond just PPC and SEM/SEO ( Search Engine Marketing/Search Engine Optimization ). 

Take for example www.fthebigthree.com.  The site was created to illustrate the opportunities available to find products and services through communities rather than search engines.  For example, if you respect my opinion then maybe you will check out Truemors.com.  If you don’t….well, I guess you won’t.  But, a search engine doesn’t give you that same two-way, push/pull feel.  It pretty much just does the pushing - hoping to serve up the best match to your keyword search. 

A buzz can run through a community very quickly ( positively or negatively ) leading to the success or failure of a campaign ( even if their wasn’t a campaign to start with )…..

OK, I’m getting off track here…

Guy was asked: “What advice would you share with other entrepreneurs about this startup exercise?” 

Guy Kawasaki: The most important lessons are: Do things quick, dirty and fast; don’t wait for the perfect time/market/product; ignore the naysayers–odds are they are right, but you’ll never know unless you try; and keep things cheap so you can make a lot of mistakes.

Wow, how the Internet makes starting a business a much different process than just a few years ago.  Where is the planning and planning and the endless business plan wrapped around 100 pages of double-speak? 

Yeah, that is 1 BILLION ( say in your best Dr. Evil voice ).  By 2012, Social Media sites and applications such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr, will garner over one billion users.  This reported by Strategy Analytics in a report entitled “The People’s Revolution: Implications of Web 2.0 and Social Applications.”  The report notes that media companies must view social media as both an enormous opportunity and a competitive threat.  The report concludes that “the ability to develop successful targeted advertising techniques will be the key to long term financial viability for social media sites.”

User generated media will continue to compete with professional media when it comes to the attention and free time of users commented Martin Olausson of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics.  “If professional media companies choose to embrace social media applications it will enable a more direct and positive relationship with consumers, which will in turn drive increased engagement and loyalty.”

Read the Executive Summary:

Clipped: As a direct consequence of continued consumer take-up of broadband Internet access all over the world, the Internet and the World Wide Web are rapidly transforming into the key platform for mass communication and social interactions. For some pioneering segments, social network sites such as MySpace and Facebook have already replaced email as the primary way to communicate with peers. People all over the world are also continuing to upload pictures and video clips and are expressing themselves via blogs and in chat rooms. It is becoming increasingly clear that the established media companies will have to compete for eyeballs not only with traditional competitors but also with an ever-increasing amount of user generated content (UGC). But in spite of an estimated 373 million users worldwide in 2007, the long-term financial viability of even the largest social network sites depends heavily on the ability to develop targeted advertising techniques that as yet are largely unproven, or may ultimately be thwarted by privacy regulations. This report examines the current state of play in Social Media and assesses its future impact.

DANG IT!  Why didn’t I think of that.  OfficeMax created a very addicting, viral marketing piece where you can insert your head into a dancing elf.  I didn’t spend as much time as I should have outlining the “heads” but you get the point.  This is the best I’ve seen since the “beat the Penguin” or whatever that was.  Maybe someone can point me back at that. 

Anyway, check it out for yourself at www.elfyourself.com.  You can see mine here.  I had some difficulty hitting the site from anything other than IE7 with FlashPlayer 9.  Strange they didn’t prompt me to update my flash version…oh well…very funny indeed.

Are the days of search engine marketing dead…..or on life support? Probably not, but there are new opportunities for companies to reach their audiences that are beyond the traditional methods of organic search optimization and pay-per-click advertising.  

These aren’t the old days anymore. The search boom was fun, but the Internet is huge and search isn’t the only game in town. There are an endless number of methods and places to spend your money besides Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Quit thinking about ranking #1 and start focusing on where your audience is.

Whether you are selling products or services, a well planned and executed social media campaign is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention, conversions and traffic.

Learn more at FtheBigThree.com