Social networking is here and the importance to your business is that it can develop your online presence and authority through multi level communication channels.

Use it correctly and you can create marketing awareness that you may never have thought possible. It shouldn’t be feared or ignored but embraced as an extension to your marketing force.

Social networking tools if used correctly can have numerous benefits on how your business is perceived online.

It’s in its early days but the results for businesses across the globe prove that this is where its customers are: online. This new advertising platform allows business to converse messages to a ready and waiting audience; the trick is to be where your potential consumers are going to be communicating via sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. One of the most important areas is to learn and understand how social networking sites operate in order to develop your business.

Social networking sites work with your website presence. The key thing is to not forget or disregard your website but enforce it through the means of social networking.

One of the most visible and encouraging things is that it they can drive traffic to your site, create the interest and desire to look further at what you do and who you are and most importantly create enquiries and sales.

Engage with your customer base, release promotions and encourage your product/service or brand recognition through careful manipulation.

A brilliant example of a business using Facebook with great results is Pizza Hut, a global brand it has successfully integrated through to its consumer market base and with the advantage of the order app brings more appeal to its online customer base.

Social networking sites are proving popular to various age demographics and all market sectors providing you with an excellent opportunity to nudge consumers and make them aware that you exist!

 It is now not only the young market sector that is enjoying social networking but the older generations too, you can build your reputation and online credibility through flexible medium.

An advantage of social networking is that you can interact and engage with your consumers on a level not previously accessible. In the past surveys and questionnaires provided businesses with something of an indication as to how they were perceived by customers and the wider world. The data collected was not always fully accurate and usually an incentive would be offered to encourage feedback.

Now businesses can get down to the ‘nitty gritty’ of consumer perception through online conversation; this allows you to understand the needs of the customer or potential and delve into their purchasing behaviour.

Measure and control your reputation with the added value of building your online presence and nursing your brand values attributing to customer perception.

Customer retention can also be gained through this medium; you can find out the truth of what your customers really think about you.

The end result is to create more enquiries and increased sales for your business; social networking can be likened to cultivating your own online garden, plucking out any weeds of negativity or potential damage to your business and growing your business ideals.

Take Absolut Vodka for example; they have combined their Facebook page; Top Bartender with online videos. This facility has allowed Absolut to target their respective age demographics.

The launch of the new app for the iPhone ‘Drinkspiration’ allows the user to recommend and customize drink ideas. The app has proven very popular and opens Absolut into the social mechanism for interaction.

Social networking is going to move and develop, if this is the beginning there is plenty of room for new platforms and invaluable ideas. New technology is always emerging; your business must be flexible to react and engage in the new marketing tools available.

Personalise yourself with your consumer but remain vigilant to what you want to achieve.

For your business it is best to approach social networking with direction in mind, your networking strategic needs to be carefully grown in order to keep control of your business communication. The key to success in this new marketing area is recognising and appreciating that social networking is a powerful engine for business advancement and must be carefully maintained to achieve your business marketing plan.

Social networking has only just begun; all businesses must see it as the opportunity to market themselves in an ultimately online world with the advantage of maintaining and strengthening website performance.

Viral Marketing is a marketing tool in which businesses can advertise their product through video, game and social networking to intercept their marketing message in an online capacity. 

Viral Marketing is generating awareness for business like never before, and can be said to be one of the biggest shifts in marketing to consumers.

Communication with your customer is changing and it’s a good idea to think about how viral may affect your business.

New types of social media are allowing businesses to move forward with marketing generating an exciting buzz in the marketing world.

Viral provides business with an opportunity to market products through an interactive medium allowing the marketer to convey a message that is reactive to the audience.

It can also provide excellent ROI through a campaign that has the ability to cross through cultural barriers for instance, expressing the meaning of the product through a new marketing portal.

There can be a lot of cost benefits to a viral campaign and the message can be transmitted by word of mouth as consumers experience your marketing; generating high awareness.

This means that customer acquisition costs can dramatically reduce from one single media project.

Viral offers the opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their creative flair; focusing on the brand and taking it somewhere that can build credential and awareness through communicating product benefits in a fresh and innovative medium.

This allows the consumer to identify the brand in a relative format that is accessible for most and can correspond to either multiple sectors or be targeted at niche markets.

In this new marketing format it allows your company to become more personable and expressive, creating interest and conversation. It can change your business persona and can help you evolve your brand and company identity through relating to your customers social networks.

The way in which we advertise has changed due to consumer demand and technological movement, many have researched that consumers are no longer as receptive to ‘traditional’ marketing methods such as the Television or Radio, with a 41% increase in consumer awareness of a product via online marketing; this de sensitisation has moved advertising to a new platform; Viral Marketing.

www.marketingcharts.com

A good example of the strength and power of a viral campaign can be the release of the Nike campaign ‘Take it to the next level’ featuring Ronaldo; 500 million views later it has been one of the most successful and well noted viral campaigns of the last few years.

It was relevant to the audience it was presenting to, highly inspirational and allowed the viewer to feel as if they were on the football pitch with the famous names.

This reflects not only the mass intensity of social media but the popularity and user engagement through viral means.

Viral marketing must be conducted through a clear marketing strategy. What type of message do you want your campaign to create and portray. There must be an emotive conclusion for the consumer such as thought provoking, shocking or humorous.

Most importantly it needs to reflect your product and service USPs.

Groundbreaking for the beauty industry was the Dove Evolution campaign, showing the process of a model being transformed for a photo shoot the message, embedding the message of natural beauty. A series of viral videos showed models being photo-shopped and air brushed to perfection sparking media frenzy and topical debate which gave Dove the perfect opportunity to market its ‘real beauty values’.

The results of the high visibility campaign have morphed Dove into a trusted brand by the female market; the clever marketing by the company translated the message to women everywhere that natural beauty is a positive thing. Women agreed and Dove now has millions of females who are brand loyal and most importantly increased sales.

The advantage of viral marketing allows you to connect in an interactive medium, this gives you the opportunity to relay your brand values and spark conversations relating to your product or services. This gives you the opportunity to cross communicate your marketing message to an expansive market.

Feedback can be one of the most invaluable things for a business and actively listening and reacting to it can mould your company to where you want to be.

Communication of your message is the most essential; through reaching a wider audience you convey your message across an intricate market platform.

People like to see imagery, colour and movement and that’s where a video for example can benefit you, it allows the online viewer to have an insight into your brand behaviour and furthermore give you the capacity to grow your ideas, become part of the online community and allow you to network your business potential

The tools of communication are forever changing due to technological advancement and this process will continue to progress through heightened use and popularity. Viral has quickly integrated itself into the marketing model for businesses large and small. It can also allow a gateway between usually unreachable brands and consumers creating the right vibe and feel for your online business.

If you want to learn more about viral marketing and what we could do for your business please contact us here at Greenmedia on 01912759777.

This might sound like we’re taking something that’s not even old yet and giving revamped, resized and warm fuzzy brand appeal.

Nostalgic branding is now becoming an integrated part of many marketing campaigns, consumers are now hooked to the familiar sights and logos of yesteryear, and they can evoke feelings such as contentment, security, childhood memories and more. 

The blending of traditional brands in the new digital era has reenergised flagging brands and products that were heading for the scrap heap.

The associated feeling contributed with nostalgic marketing allows the viewer to delve in a moment of brand remembrance linked to their personal memory, enticing product purchasing through the power of emotion.

There is the fear that established brands are at risk of losing their identity through mass branding and over use of iconic logos and history.

So how can we sensitively merge historical brands through digital media?

The answer is through strategic and concise brand protection

These, in essence, can be the factors that can contribute to a successful campaign using nostalgic brands.

Digital marketing and media should be a predominant factor in marketing your product.

Take Audi, a credible luxury brand which even though highly well known; markets itself with the undeniable force of nostalgia when needed, the below campaign shows how powerful imagery can portray an innovative and forward thinking company and take it back to its roots, steeped in history and conveying memories of the ‘good old days’, this EDM combines a strong simulative image transferred to the present day relative call to action.

The ‘trick’ to nostalgic brand placement is creating balance between product credibility and relevant marketing message, the focus of the advertisement can be lost without direction and all content and imagery must link in a clear intended focus point.  

If well executed, Digital marketing combining your brand persona can intensify your marketing savvy, reaching new audiences and even attracting a generation that may not have noticed you before. Creating a nostalgic brand campaign through new media has a powerful effect on products and delivers you with the opportunity to reawaken ageing or forgotten brands through digital medium with the reference to new found identity; old becomes ‘classic’ and dated is now ‘retro’.

The impact is everywhere, as companies realise the unique power of the brand they already have; the persona created which becomes the driving force for marketing in 2010 and beyond,

Another recent example of this is Birds Eyes Artic Roll, shunned to the frozen foods graveyard for 10 years it has made an astonishing comeback with sales of this product forecast at £284 million for 2010*

In an age where we yearn for security and belonging; these readily identifiable brands of the past have been updated and configured to suit and satisfy our needs. The message may be communicated a little differently but they are still the familiar brands we remember and they are reaching us on a level we react to; the digital medium.

As we yearn for comfort, the big brands have caught onto reawakening forgotten product lines with tremendous success. The power of marketing nostalgia is that it can be found in the simplest forms and even new brands are using imagery, fonts and slogans that hark back to  ‘happier’ times. Through using advertising to embellish memories and thoughts you can really tap into the psychology of the consumer.

The key to creating a successful digital marketing campaign that embodies nostalgia is focusing on the right target group, creating the correct relative reflection of the product.

So ‘Classic’ brands are now an established part of our consciousness and have adapted to survive in the digital environment.

Take the recent revival of the Wispa bar, due to a massive consumer campaign the product was re-launched and now has a firm place on the confectionary aisle.

So traditional products do have a place in the digital world and have shown that they do have a place on the shelf even in today’s super-saturated multimedia advertising environment.

 * www.telegraph.co.uk

Check out our addictive new Flash game – “Bin the Bottle”. Developed as a key feature of the Northumbria Police young people’s advice website eBeat, the game is a stylised representation of a night out where the player has to make the decision to bin the bottle or face a number of outcomes.

The gameplay changes in response to how many alcohol bottles you drop, resulting in dulled reactions and fuzzy vision associated with over-indulging on drink.  Advice messages appear at intervals explaining the effects of various levels of alcohol, informing the player of the dangers and encouraging responsible behaviour.

Why not try it out for yourself at eBeat?

“How can it be better?”

We’ve launched the Anywhere Fitness website this week, a neat design with a memorable brand identity.

Bespoke features on the site include an interactive events calendar and easily accessible CMS.

Take a look.

Check out the Green Media portfolio update for this month, featuring the new website for Digital Crayon as well as email marketing for Colebrook and Burgess, operators of the North East Audi Group.

We’ve also included our own email marketing mailshot, as a neat example of a flyer-style presentation.

Check out the updated Green Media portfolio, featuring a selection of April’s work – Beamish Hall’s fantastic new website, a typically stylish Liverpool Audi e-flyer and an exciting viral video for Northumbria Police. Take a look.

We’ve gone live with a website marketing campaign for Northumbria Police this month, which includes some exciting new approaches. Based on the tagline of “Let’s draw a line under crime”, the opening phase of the campaign features a viral video and pavement graphics.

Viral video – stunning commercial quality production featuring a sinister line figure that preys on unsuspecting victims, highlighting the simple ways to avoid making it easy for criminals.

Take a look at the viral here.

Pavement graphics – high impact street art created with pressure-jet water sprayed through bespoke laser-cut aluminium templates, these graphics are unmissable, eye-catching and incredibly effective. We’ve positioned graphics for the campaign in Newcastle, Sunderland and other prime locations around the North East where they’re sure to make an impact.

Check back soon for more on the campaign.

We’re proud to announce the launch of Cranio – a custom-made jewellery website with a twisted soul. The ominous dark design, driven by the powerful white-on-black skull logo, is the perfect showcase for Cranio’s brilliant product portfolio.

Skull rings, classic horror style rings and ancient Egypt influenced jewellery, everything on Cranio comes from original designs, painstakingly hand-crafted in the finest materials. In truth, Cranio’s rings are less like jewellery and more like individual works of art. Take a look at the Cranio website to see for yourself.