Posts

#MarketingTitbits – media mentions, coding, Twitter

media-coding-twitter-smaller1. The companies with the most media mentions in 2013
 Each year, Dow Jones publish their Global Dow Index which includes a list of the companies with the most media mentions for that year. Unsurprisingly US tech giants topped the list with Google being number one, Apple coming in a close second and Microsoft coming in a close third.

To have a look at the rest of the list from Mashable, click here.

 

2. Become a coding expert and a better marketer

 Learning to code is rapidly becoming an indispensible skill; it can open up a whole world of new opportunities, and can make you stand out a mile when looking for a new job. There are many online courses that offer to teach you everything you need to know to become an expert coder, some free and some paid. We think Codecademy is one of the best free websites that can teach you about all different types of coding and how to use them.

To read more about why and how you should learn to code,click here.

 

3. How the top 100 brands use twitter

If your business isn’t already using Twitter then it’s about time you thought about it. It has been one of the fastest growing social networking sites since its launch in 2006. If you don’t yet use Twitter to connect with your customers or if you’re simply in need of some fresh inspiration, have a look at this article which highlights how the top 100 brands use Twitter.

To read more, click here.

/0 Comments/by

Google top brand for 2010

The Brandz report for 2010 has just been published and it is no surprise that Google are top with their brand value increasing 14% over the last year, to a huge $114 billion.
The top 100’s total brand value exceeded $2 trillion! That is just shy of the $2.2 trillion GDP forecast for the UK in 2010 from the IMF.

Indeed in a period of extreme economic hardship and uncertainty, the overall value of the Brandz top 100 increased by 4%. However, part of this increase could be attributed to the inclusion of Oil & Gas companies for the first time.

The big gains, as you would expect, lay in the technology industry and highlight the massive importance of innovation in this sector. Brands like Blackberry weren’t even in the top 100 5 years ago, however, now it ranks 14, with a brand value of just over $30 billion dollars.

The report highlights the importance of defining a brand on more than just product and service excellence, it needs to be founded on deeper ideals and values:

‘The biggest share price gains will be made by brands which aren’t afraid to stand for something. They will go beyond the functional, to represent an ideal, which appeals across products, categories and cultures.’

One of the most interesting areas of the report focuses on the role of Social Media and brand building. Those of you still questioning the importance of social media as part of your business’ marketing mix should take notice. Widespread adoption of this medium by many of this year’s top 100 brands, shows it is here to stay.

The report cites examples of brands as diverse as HSBC, Ford, Evian, Coca Cola and Starbucks, all employing social media campaigns to compliment their more traditional marketing methods.

The WPP study makes an interesting read and provides insights into brand building, relevant to even the smallest organisation.

To access the full report visit: Brandz Top 100 Most valuable global brands 2010.

/0 Comments/by

June’s Top Marketing Tips

Top marketing tips:

  1. Conduct a client survey: – Some businesses are reluctant to undertake a client survey in case they don’t like what they find out. For those that are keen to understand their customers better, it might just be the best thing you do for your business. The benefits are plentiful. 1. If clients aren’t happy with some aspect of your service or product, better to find out early and have an opportunity to rectify it. 2. Showing your customers that you care will build loyalty and foster a stronger relationship. 3. Are you struggling for ideas as to how you can improve your service or develop that new wonder product? You customers have the answer. All you need to do is ask the right question.
  1. Data capture tool: – If you are like us, you’ll hate spending time typing in or copying and pasting the contact information of various prospects when building a database. Inspired to find an alternative solution, we stumbled across a piece of free software called Contact Capture. Now all you need to do is highlight all the information you want to gather, press a button and hey presto it is organised into a workable format, ready for exporting into your CRM or database software of choice. It is particularly good when consolidating different excel spreadsheets! You can find a link to this software on tlcbusiness.wpengine.com/cool-stuff.
  2. Consolidate your social media: – for those of you out there that are already hardened tweeters and social networkers you’ll probably know this already. But for those of you that are irritated about having to waste time updating Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn accounts, why not use Ping.FM to update your social media status on these three platforms and more. It is free, easy and saves you time. What more can you want? Enjoy.

 

Hope you find our top 3 marketing tips useful. Do let us know what you think and any areas you’d like more info on.

 

/0 Comments/by

Marketing Trends 2011

In 2010, TLC Business talked about the impact of social media on your business, how lead generation can help you generate new clients and how an SME can go green. So with 2010 nearly behind us, what marketing trends can we expect for 2011?
We have produced a shortlist of what we think will be making the marketing headlines next year, the news we will be reading, blogging and tweeting about.

The age of Social Media

The past few years have seen people and businesses experiment with Social Media tools. Social Media in 2011 will no longer be considered new. In 2011, we will see businesses include Social Media in their marketing strategies, taking full advantage of the social networking opportunities on offer.

SMEs that use Facebook to market business-to-business campaigns will receive a new set of tools from the social media giant. Facebook Pages has released new analytic tools to assist small businesses in better gauging their traffic by posting impression counts. The change will allow small businesses that receive less than 10,000 “likes” to monitor the success of posted content and give SMEs an edge against competitors. Additionally, small companies will be able to see who viewed their posts and post feedback. In turn, they will be able to create better targeted Facebook advertising campaigns.

Not only will businesses be able to take advantage of the growing capabilities of Facebook, shopaholics will also benefit from the power of the Social Media tool. Facebook are capitalising on the fact that many online shoppers like to review, network and interact as they shop. Online storefronts are adding networking platforms to their virtual operations, while marketers are aiming to include social media sites in their sales strategy. With the help of Facebook, you can now take your shopping experience to the next level.

However, unlike 2010, 2011 may not all be about Facebook and Twitter. Google’s top secret foray into social media, ‘Google Me’, has been delayed until March / April 2011. The top-secret plan is rumoured to be a Google branded social platform. According to Google, it won’t be a social network the way people think of Facebook, but rather social information about who your friends are and the people you interact with.

“We are always experimenting with new ways to improve our products, and we have already confirmed that we are focused on incorporating social elements across Google, but we have nothing new to announce”

So what does Google have up their sleeve? Well, we will just have to wait until Spring 2011 to see whether Google’s latest attempt will be a triumph or failure, like Wave and Buzz. Only time will tell.

What we can say now, is that Social Media is only set to grow even bigger than before. If your business isn’t on Facebook or Twitter, it soon will be.

Keep an eye out for more 2011 marketing trends.

/0 Comments/by