In response to Jaycelyn's post...

Jaycelyn talked about an article called, "5 Insights From The 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report". She asked,

Why is it important that marketing strategies be utilized and the difference between marketing and social marketing be known?

One of the key aspects that I took away from the article is that 1) companies are slow to react to beneficial new opportunities, 2) companies believe just having a social media page is effective and 3) marketers are more out of touch with their audiences than I had thought.

The article talks about companies not utilizing or offering daily deals on sites like Social Living or Groupon. Sites like that target large audiences and offer deals to customers that might not otherwise know or use your company.

Many times, a company has a Facebook, Twitter or blog. There is a major difference between having and using these sites effectively. For example, the article mentions social and non-social marketing. If you are not engaging the customers in your business, you are not partaking in social marketing. Consumers don't want to just be blasted with company updates. All too frequent Facebook or Twitter updates act the same as spam emails; we ignore them, or even get frustrated with the company. Just having a social media presence does not mean it will help your company.

One of the insights from the article that really struck a cord with me was #3: "Great writing and video productions skills are still undervalued". As a film major, I see people who have created their own small videos about their company or even made small commercials. Most of the time, the quality, writing and productions is atrocious. It makes me cringe to watch it. Regular consumers will also surely notice. Just because you believe you know your company best does not mean you have the talents to create a video. This is especially important to me because I work in video advertising, and I know how important a good video is to a company.

So back to Jacelyn's question. Companies really need to understand how to engage their audiences. No one wants to be spammed with updates. Consumers want to see videos and pictures, and get deals for being a part of what might be considered the inner circle of consumers.

Do companies you know use their social media effectively? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by their posts?

Advertising through games

Marketers are looking for new ways to engage customers through online mediums. Aside from social media and ads, what options do they really have? Many companies are turning to sponsored games.

Companies like Mentos have created small online games or game apps that can casually played. As opposed to a standard game, casual games are games that typically won't be played for more than a few weeks, and don't require much time. Games created by Zynga for Facebook fall under this category. The game developed by Mentos is inspired by one of their commercials that was particularly popular. Since making the game app, it has been downloaded 1.7 million times. Source

Overall, these games not only increase brand awareness, but also engage customers in the company. One of the largest demographics for these games are women. Not only has the amount of female video game players increased by 55% last year, but 43% more women ages 55-65 would describe themselves as game players Source. In families where women either have the majority of buying power or split it with their partner, this kind of brand involvement really pays off. 70% of game players say they are more likely to buy from companies that sponsor free games. 67% of game players say they'll pass the game along to their friends, providing a wider audience as their game spreads.

What do you think about company sponsored games or mobile apps? Do you have any? Are you more likely to buy from the companies that have these games?