HEALTHCARE & SOCIAL MEDIA

As it turns out, social media and search go hand-in-hand...

From Facebook and Twitter, to Pinterest and MySpace (yes, it still exists), social media users are often on the search for… something.

For marketers, understanding the searches that lead to improved engagement is critical.

To that end, Azntaiji Multimedia and SocialRadius have produced a new infographic highlighting exactly what so many of us are searching for.

As we look ahead to 2013, where will marketers invest their resources? Where will they look to expand their presence and offering and what will they name as their top challenge?

Learn what almost five hundred marketers from a wide variety of industries and companies, both large and small, along with social marketing experts have to say about the state of social marketing today and in the future...

With over 800 million active users, Facebook is by far the biggest social networking website at present. The number of users is increasing on a daily basis, with thousands of people setting up Facebook accounts. The traffic and usage is sufficient to judge Facebook’s stature in the social media industry. It has grown in leaps and bounds and is far ahead of the competition.

For the past few years, businesses have gauged the potential of Facebook for marketing and creating a brand image. The trend towards online marketing has increased, with internet based promotion becoming a major part of businesses’ marketing strategies. Through Facebook, businesses can target their market segment and attract customers. Already, a majority of the businesses are using Facebook to increase awareness about their products and services. A corporate Facebook page can enhance the popularity and sales of your business.

Read more: http://bit.ly/KUeh5U

Social marketing is an advertising art that is widely utilized but less widely successful, forcing marketers who are looking for real, measurable results to hone their tactics. Review our list of seven ways to be a successful social marketer to help give you a leg up on the competition!

1. Build strong, targeted social media accounts.

Your social media accounts are only as useful as the friends and followers connected to them, making the first step of building those accounts absolutely crucial. Instead of simply working to obtain as many connections as possible, work instead to connect with like-minded people who are more likely to have an interest in what you have to offer.

Read more: http://bit.ly/LtgVRt

Is digital a viable channel to my customers? With global population of 6.8 billion how much of this audience is viable to get to? According stats 52% of people live in urban locations, there is a 30% internet penetration and 22% of the world is social networking. Now for a stat that should really make you pay attention, globally there are 5.86 billion mobile subscribers globally. A whopping 86% of the global population has a mobile phone.

Some impressive figures, but marketing is all about targeting specific demographics in the populations. In North America internet penetration has reached 77%, 50% of the population use social networks and there are more mobile phones than people (please note by mobile we do not mean “smart phone”). We need to drill deeper and deeper into our data to target specific customer profiles. For healthcare brands trying to target elderly patients, if you’re customers aren’t accessing the internet for information there is a high probability that a close family member will being doing it for them.

What can we conclude from this data?

1. Your customer have access to digital channels

2. Mobile marketing could provide a powerful tool for your communications

3. High mobile usage means that your websites should be optimised for mobile access

4. Social media means that your customers are becoming increasingly connected

Used well digital, communication is powerful tool for your brand in all markets. The internet has provided your customers with instant access to a wealth of free information. They expect to find information on your products and services, and more importantly, whether you like it or not they will talk about you (positively or negatively).

Digital can be a powerful channel for any marketer in any industry sector. In isolation, it can be effective but in combination with other channels, it can be used to amplify the rest of your marketing mix.

Click on the headline for more interesting stats on digital penetration and the full regional breakdown data.

Jon Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing as a valuable article on listening, one of the key skills every individual or company needs to further refine in the near future. He writes:

"...I believe that one of the master skills of any marketer, manager, or educator is the ability to listen perceptively to what our prospects, customers, staff and community members are saying.

...there are many forms of listening.

a) Passive listening – the kind we do when we are listening to a seminar but we’re really scrolling through Pinterest.

b) Selective listening – the kind that I might practice when I’m discussing something with someone and mostly I’m thinking about what I’m going say next.

c) Active listening – the kind where we are discussing something with someone and reacting only to the words being said.

d) Perceptive listening – the kind where I hear and interpret the words, but I also consider what the person is thinking and perhaps how they are acting as they say the words.

Perceptive listening is by far the most complex because it requires you to be totally focused, completely mindful and, well, perceptive of what’s really going on."

Useful. 8/10

Read the full article: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2012/01/11/5-exercises-in-perceptive-listening/