Meme marketing- this phrase is being thrown around a lot lately, but what the heck is it?

During “All Things Considered” on NPR a bit titled “Do Youz Knowz What I Meme?” was aired on August 30, 2010 to discuss the word “meme” and its meaning.

The show defined the word as a phenomenon of popular culture that spreads on the Internet quickly such as an auto-tuned news video, a joke, a rumor, a unique website, among other possibilities. The show also discussed the invention and original meaning of the term.

The word “meme” was coined in 1976 in the book The Selfish Gene written by British scientist Richard Dawkins, an evolutional biologist. He used the term “meme” to describe an idea that evolves itself through natural selection and propagates by leaping from brain to brain across a population, like the spread of a virus. In the book he listed examples of memes as melodies, catch-phrases, beliefs, fashion, and the technology of building arches. At that time he had no way to predict the magnitude of the Internet and its ability to perfect the evolution and spread of memes.

Ben Huh, Internet meme expert and CEO of Cheezburger Network, a collection of internet humor and de-motivational websites, believes memes have to have added value- people need to interpret the content and put their own twist on it. An Internet meme cannot just be a viral video that is shared with others; it has to be participated in.

A recent website that is fast becoming an Internet meme is http://www.skipclasscalculator.com/. Created by Jim Filbert, a developer at Biznet Internet Solutions in Michigan, this website is designed to help college students calculate the risk of skipping class. Articles, blog posts, and Tweets are popping up all over the Internet as users try out the calculator and love it- it is certainly creating a buzz.

“I wanted to create the site because I thought it would be an interesting idea and something that college students would find entertaining,” said Jim Filbert. “I have done a few phone and email interviews with student newspapers and set up a Facebook page, but other than that I haven’t really been doing much marketing of the site.”

And that is exactly how meme marketing works. It is more about the creation of a unique idea and the ability to make it accessible to everyone than the feverish marketing of it.

Wikipedia discusses meme marketing:

“Public relations, advertising, and marketing professionals have embraced Internet memes as a form of viral marketing to create marketing “buzz” for their product or service. Internet memes are seen as cost-effective, and because they are a (sometimes self-conscious) fad, they are therefore used as a way to create an image of cleverness or trendiness.”

Meme marketing needs to start with a catchy idea that hasn’t been touched on before or hasn’t been interpreted in “that” way before. During creation, a niche target market must be determined and goals must be set within this niche market. Meme marketing can become quite annoying when it tries to reach everyone; the message needs to only appeal to a specific group of people.

Next the idea needs to be made accessible online to the target market. This is done by video creation, website or micro-site creation, social media network accounts, and other methods. Then the marketers seed the idea through link sharing and digital media- the more creative the initial sharing is, the more buzz can be built.

Now the marketers must let the idea fly. Meme marketing is only successful with a hands-off, manipulation-free approach. The whole idea is to let the creative idea be “naturally selected” by the target market and leap from brain to brain (or computer to computer) and bring about buzz and awareness.

About Jenn Weesies

Jenn Weesies, Project Engineer at Biznet Internet Solutions, specializes in copy writing, digital marketing tactics and strategies, project management and other public relations and marketing techniques. Based in Wixom, Mich., Biznet Internet Solutions is a full-service Web solutions company, focusing on business and mobile websites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing, including search and social media marketing. For more information, visit http://www.biznetis.net.

Things you should do before design

There are vital steps that must be taken first if you want your new website design phase to go smoothly. In these beginning phases you can hammer out things like:

· What is going to be on the homepage?

· What kinds of pages will be on the website?

· Will there be any kind of social media interaction on the website?

· What platform will the website be hosted on?

· Will there be a content management system?
And many, many more…

All these things can affect the design and page layout in significant ways. Could you imagine designing the homepage before you know what will go on it? Or designing your ecommerce system pages before you know what kind of product images you will have? If the development company you hired is worth their salt, all of these things will be need to be addressed before the design is even a glimmer in the eye of the designer.

Think about what would happen if these were things you didn’t nail down and they got started on the web design right away. The page layout the web designer creates will have whatever they wanted to put on it. It’s possible that the designer could add something to the web page that will be impossible for the programmers to implement on your budget. Then there are endless rounds of changes as you tweak those pre-mature designs. It sounds like a disaster, but all these problems are avoidable.

Complete your sitemap. Complete your scope of work. You will be very thankful you did since the final web page designs will reflect all the planning that went into your project!

Smooth like a Smoothie

You want your web project to go smoothly.

Your web developer wants it go smoothly too!

No doubt you hired a web development company because your own company doesn’t know how to build a website. With this in mind, let your web developer do what they are best at: building websites. Many development companies have been around for 5 years or more. They have experienced the ups and downs and different trends that have swept across the Internet. These lessons shaped them into the professionals they are today. Nothing will frustrate them more if you decide that you know more about the web than they do and try to dictate what the website should look like and do.

So be patient and work together with your web development team! Your website will end up not only looking great, but working great for your business!

About Ben Fryc

Ben Fryc is the Creative Director at BizNet. He has been with the company for more than 6 years and has been an integral member in the success of the company. He has a strong focus in Website Layout and User Experience with a sprinkle of experience with HTML, CSS, PHP, jQuery and ASP.NET.Based in Wixom, Mich., Biznet Internet Solutions is a full-service Web solutions company, focusing on business and mobile Websites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing. For more information, visit http://www.biznetis.net.

Marketers historically spent millions to position their companies above their competitors. Companies with the largest budgets had the best chance of being selected by consumers. In today’s digital marketing world, each industry player has a more balanced chance of engaging with potential customers.

Online digital marketing is relationship based, much cheaper and more accessible to consumers regardless of budget size. This generates more qualified leads for the company and significantly lowers the cost per qualified lead. Today’s consumers are looking for honesty and transparency. They desire to establish relationships with “trustworthy” companies. Too many companies make promises that remain empty and unfulfilled. Authenticity has become the differentiating factor for successful businesses.

Savvy customers are well researched and more aware of the options available to them. For them the internet has transitioned into a trusted, credible source for information. They want to form relationships with companies that are relevant (online) and in fact, are less trusting of companies that do not have a digital presence.

In response, savvy marketers are increasing their digital marketing budgets. According to Forrester Research, the average marketing budget will be 21% digital by 2014. In fact, Ford Motor Company has announced that is already has converted 25% of its marketing budget to digital efforts.

Content Marketing & Social Media

In the past, marketing tactics were disruptive in nature and provided an opportunity for the “audience to go into the kitchen and get another soda or change the channel”. Today’s marketing is about providing information as consumers are in-market and seeking it- it only enters the consumer’s mind when it is given permission to do so.

Content and Social Media Marketing provides marketers an avenue to provide meaningful information and form relationships with potential and existing consumers. Nearly everyone is aware of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The reason for this is the engaging nature and the relational aspect of these social media properties.

Content Marketing provides value by allowing marketers to create thousands of links to company websites, develop thought leadership, build the company’s online brand, better position the company among its target market, and build credibility on search engines like Google.  Examples of distributed information content include power point presentations, blogs, articles, press releases and videos.

Social Media Marketing leverages tools to share and discuss information, share experiences, and build relationships through technology integration.  Social Media Marketing includes social bookmarking, podcasting, online photo sharing, social networks, RSS feeds and blogging.

Successful Digital Marketing programs increase the number of engagements in social media properties, increase traffic and online brand mentions, improve search engine rankings and website rankings, increase the number of backlinks, and increase sales and market share for a fraction of the cost of Traditional Marketing.

Consider what your organization has to lose in making the switch from traditional, interruptive marketing to permission based, digital marketing.

Better yet, consider what your organization has to gain!

About John E. Smith

John E. Smith is a long time Marketing Strategist, his background spans more than a decade developing sound marketing strategies, analyzing competitive and industry landscapes, geo-demographic targeting and consumer segmentation. Based in Wixom, Mich., Biznet Internet Solutions is a full-service Web solutions company, focusing on business and mobile Websites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing, including search and social media marketing.  For more information, visit http://www.biznetis.net.

Companies have been going to extremes in order to stay out of the red; budget cuts, layoffs and slashed employee benefits have been just a few of the measures taken. The result has been hundreds of thousands of discontented employees who dread that early morning alarm and pray for five o’clock to come faster every day.

Any reasonably intelligent office manager is well aware that a miserable workforce can lead to an overall company downturn. Still, how can they boost workplace morale without breaking the bank? The latest surge of content across the web offers numerous ways to do so; from employee of the month recognition to casual Fridays, most offices have already put at least a few suggestions into action. Still, many businesses note an unhappy staff.

One option that select companies are beginning to use is to allow personnel to bring their pets to work. Yes, this sounds like a recipe for disaster… at first. But when managers begin to give the idea the consideration it deserves, they see that this may be an excellent way to boost workplace morale.

Animals have been used as therapeutic companions for some time now, notably in assisted living and rehabilitation facilities. Studies have shown that physical contact with a pet can have several physical and emotional benefits, including lowering high blood pressure and triggering a release of pain-suppressing chemicals in our bodies known as endorphins. Patients that engage in animal-assisted therapy also show an overall positive change in attitude and mannerisms.

With so many positive effects resulting from time with our furry friends, is it any real surprise that managers are starting to apply the concept in efforts to boost office morale?

Granted, the idea should be taken with a grain of salt. Pets brought to the workplace must be house-broken and trained well enough so that they don’t become a hindrance rather than a constructive change. Most coworkers and clients would not appreciate a smelly ‘present’ in the hall or a ‘talkative’ dog while trying to work.

In order to prevent the office from becoming a zoo, perhaps designate a certain day each week or month as ‘bring your pet to work day’. Or, if several employees are interested in partaking, alternate days so that there are never too many animals around the building. Baby gates are also great tools for the workplace! Owners can use them to keep pets in designated areas, thus preventing the distraction of keeping a close watch throughout the day.

Clearly having pets around the workplace is not appropriate for every business. However, if possible, it is a fun, low-cost alternative to help boost morale and reward employees for their hard work while putting a smile on everyone’s faces.

About Mimi Naghshineh

Mimi Naghshineh is currently making her mark in the digital marketing industry. She has an expert eye for detail and quickly captivates readers. Based in Wixom, Mich., Biznet Internet Solutions is a full-service Web solutions company, focusing on business and mobile Websites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing, including search and social media marketing.  For more information, visit http://www.biznetis.net.

A good Strategy begins with clearly defining your goals or Objectives. Objectives are plans that your organization will use to measure success, increase market share, sales, unique visits, volume of traffic to your site, or become a recognized leader in your industry. E.g.  drive 5,000 unique visitors to my website each month. Objectives should include short term goals (next 6 months to a year) as well as longer term goals of 3 to 5 years.

Once you have defined your objectives you will conduct an assessment of the “landscape.” Ask who are my competitors? What do they provide my potential customers that I currently don’t? (to better understand your customers see Amanda Broughton’s post here). Also, what benefits do I offer my customers while my competition lacks? This assessment is referred to as a SWOT. (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats). Strengths and Weaknesses refer to internal variables, while Opportunities and Threats apply externally.

Strengths are internal advantages that set your organization apart. Weaknesses are internal shortfalls that challenge your business. Opportunities are external factors (environment) that allow your organization to provide an advantage. Threats are external factors that if not dealt with will ultimately harm your business.

As a quick example let’s take a look at the recent developments for Blockbuster and competitors in the movie rental industry.

Internal Factors- Strengths:

Blockbuster may conduct a SWOT analysis and determine that one of its Strengths (unlike many current competitors) is allowing customers to select from a wide range of the newest available releases with face to face interaction.

Internal Factors- Weaknesses:

For Blockbuster a weakness may be the store hours; customers can only rent movies during the hours that a Blockbuster store is open. Late fee charges have historically been a big weakness for Blockbuster. Digital competitors and on-demand movie options allow consumers to view on their terms 24/7.

External Factors- Opportunities:

Due to negotiated contracts with the movie studios, competitors Netflix and Redbox cannot offer new releases as quickly as Blockbuster. This is a competitive advantage that Blockbuster could capitalize on.

External Factors- Threats:

Technology has changed the way that consumers access movies; the competitive landscape is changing.  Redbox, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, illegal downloading, as well as other forms of entertainment compete with Blockbuster. Customers are continually finding new ways to access movies at their convenience. If Blockbuster were to ignore current trends and not plan accordingly it would fail.

Tactics are a series of steps carried out to reach your objectives. Tactics help you determine what is required to achieve your goals. Tactics must fit your overall Strategy; otherwise they are wasting your resources and not adding value to your organization.

Biznet Internet Solutions can assist you in crafting sound digital strategies, help you assess the landscape, identify your target audience, and craft the “correct” message. We want to help you determine the best approach for becoming more profitable and accomplishing your goals. Biznet is staffed with professionals who are experienced in providing sound solutions for developing a comprehensive digital marketing presence.  For more information contact us.

1. PPC Ads Are Ignored
You know those ads. The ones that are placed above, and on the side of, the organic search results. Many people think that consumers ignore those ads! All Ellis has to say is “clearly someone is clicking on these ads.” Google is making a ton of money from PPC advertisement. There are multiple businesses investing large amounts of money into PPC campaigns. The return is there. As long as you target an audience relevant to your offerings, the ads won’t be ignored.

2. Paid Traffic Gets Less Clicks Than Organic
It is true that natural traffic can generate more clicks than paid traffic. However, the clicks generated by paid traffic often make more revenue for the company because that traffic can be directed to the best opportunities and pages on the website. A combination of organic and paid search efforts is a one-two punch in online marketing.

3. PPC Advertising is Expensive
Yes, you have to pay per click and it may be intimidating to see that number grow with every click your ads receive. However, Ellis says that “PPC is the best value across all marketing channels.” Heck, you can even set a maximum budget so you don’t have to spend more than you’re comfortable with. PPC is flexible.

If you find that some keywords are too expensive, then you can work harder to identify a niche in the market where your company fits perfectly and re-define your keywords. You can change the amount of keywords you bid on to become even more target-specific and money-efficient. The possibilities are endless.

Take the time to create an optimized PPC campaign that will target the most relevant traffic available. If you hire someone else to create your campaign, make sure they know what they’re doing. (We know what we’re doing at Biznet). When you do this, all the myths about paid search will melt away and you may begin seeing a great ROI before you know it.

About Amanda Broughton

Amanda Broughton has experience creating and executing digital marketing strategies for a number of diverse businesses and industries. She enjoys every aspect of online marketing from SEO to social media. Based in Wixom, Mich., Biznet Internet Solutions is a full-service Web solutions company, focusing on business and mobile Websites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing, including search and social media marketing. For more information, visit http://www.biznetis.net.

Before thinking about techniques to gain visibility and drive traffic, take the time to do some research. Find out who will most likely visit your website, purchase your product or use your service. A few simple questions to answer pertain to the demographics of the audience:

• Age group?
• Men or women?
• Occupation?
• Salary?
• Location?

These questions may seem trivial and unimportant; but when you consider the fact that internet usage between demographics is different, these types of questions can be very helpful. For example, a report done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project concluded that “men are more avid consumers than women of online information. Men look for information on a wider variety of topics and issues than women do”. Knowing this information, more keyword research may have to be done in the future to ensure the best keywords are being targeted depending on whether the site caters to men or women. This type of critical thinking can be applied to every piece of information you have about your target audience.

In addition to these demographic questions, the target audiences’ likes, dislikes and habits need to be determined. These questions include:

1. What forums/websites do they follow?
2. What common words/phrases do they use?
3. What are their interests?

By identifying this information about your target market, you can further optimize your internet marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) campaign. You will learn the language they use to better choose keywords that will drive the most relevant traffic to your website. You will learn where to advertise on the web. You may even learn invaluable information about who your competitors are and what online marketing techniques they are using.

It is easy to see that internet marketing and SEO requires a lot of time and research to get it right. Jumping in head first without figuring out the target market can be a big mistake. If you’re using the wrong keywords, you may drive traffic to the website but won’t see any conversions because it is not relevant traffic. To save yourself the troubles, allow a SEO and internet marketing expert to do the work for you. These experts are there to do all the research for you and will carry out the tactics to best help and promote your website on the internet.

About Amanda Broughton

Amanda Broughton has experience creating and executing digital marketing strategies for a number of diverse businesses and industries. She enjoys every aspect of online marketing from SEO to social media. Based in Wixom, Mich., Biznet Internet Solutions is a full-service Web solutions company, focusing on business and mobile Websites, advertising agency support and Internet marketing, including search and social media marketing. For more information, visit http://www.biznetis.net.

How can one company have a personal conversation with thousands of customers and potential customers all over the country and the world? The relatively new marketing tool called social media breaks down the old “time continuum” and allows companies to have a conversation with thousands of people all over the country, indeed all over the world.

There is a great deal of talk about social media and special social media agencies have sprung up to take advantage of the growing marketing spend in this medium. But what is social media really and what is the best way to use it?

What Is Social Media?

Let’s start by looking at the latest facts for this holiday season. A new survey by comScore Inc. found that 28% of holiday shoppers said that social media influenced some of their purchase decisions this season. That is a large percentage of people for whom this media directly influenced a purchase. It is clear that smart marketers cannot ignore social media. But what exactly did this survey define as social media? Interestingly, they broadened the definition of social media to include online reviews and articles. Many social media disciples do not consider online reviews and articles to be social media. In fact, most of the social media talk and buzz is about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. But without that broadening of the definition to include these reviews and articles, the results of this survey don’t look so good. Only 6% of consumers were influenced by Facebook and 3% by twitter. The vast majority of consumers were influenced by reviews.

Yesterday I reviewed a newly published white paper on social media. This is a well-researched paper that surveyed 700 marketing professionals who are actively engaged in social media marketing. By a long shot Twitter was the top social media tool used by these professionals followed by LinkedIn and Facebook. So, only a very small percentage of consumers are influenced by tweets but Twitter is the top social media property the surveyed marketers are using to reach their audience.

Content is King

In our blogs we have talked about the value of content marketing, the creation and distribution of articles, press releases, videos etc. throughout the internet. When you create this content not only are you informing the consumer about your products or services but you are establishing link backs to your web site. Done properly your content can have thousands, even hundreds of thousands of link backs from sites all over the net. This has value on several levels. Obviously it creates additional interest in your business but it also has great value for SEO, raising your web site’s search engine rankings.

I’m not saying that Facebook is fallacy or you should be a Twitter quitter. These are very valuable tools that will continue to grow in value over the years. You should use these tools as well as blogging, social bookmarketing, and all other tools available. There will also be new social media tools cropping up and it will be wise to embrace some of them as well. The goal is to have an on-going conversation with your customers. I do believe, however, in using those tools that deliver the greatest results. Content marketing has proven to be a strategy we have had success with for our clients.

So, by all means, embrace social media. Just don’t narrow the definition to the more talked about strategies and consider adding content marketing to your online arsenal.

Just Tuesday morning Ford announced that it has made almost $1 billion in profits in its third quarter and the company expects to be profitably sound in 2011. Could this be due in part to the large chunk of change they dedicated to updating the marketing program to meet customers in the online world? A quick Google search proves to me that I am not the only one who thinks so.

Ford’s Fiesta Movement may be one of the biggest and best displays of how digital and social media can be successfully utilized on a large scale to bring about awareness of a brand or product. Even though the Fiesta is not yet available in the United States, according to surveys by Ford, the level of awareness is 37 percent among Generation Y.

When successful internet marketing programming meets perfectly optimized websites meets a dedicated social media strategy, sparks fly! Creating brand awareness has now become more than traditional advertising and marketing campaigns; it is all about combining these methods with more investment than ever in digital and social media programs. Businesses that are successfully meeting customers online, where they’re already at, will find that they are keeping up with the changing times and are retaining, even increasing, business.

Where are you in the digital commitment decision making process? Have you fully committed to the realization that the shift from traditional media programs to digital and social media programs has occurred? Are you keeping up with this change or, are you lagging behind holding onto “what has always worked” hoping that soon everything will fall back in to place? If so, it is time for some serious strategy revamping.

Every company can benefit from making the digital commitment and if you already have not, now is the time to take the leap.

Please note this is not a complete list. I invite readers to make additions in the comments!

“Choosing to use social media marketing”

Does not mean:

• Throwing up a company blog for newsletter items and press releases
• Using Twitter to syndicate your RSS feeds
• Placing ads on Facebook
• Anything that requires little or no human company representative to interact

Does mean:

• Engaging stakeholders on a one-to-one and one-to-many basis
• Making a time investment in social media
• Sharing content and offering others to use it on your behalf
• Letting go of controlling the message

“–means choosing to update corporate culture”

Does not mean:

• Hippies, cowboys, or exclusively Gen Y’ers running and participating in your media relations
• Your company can continue ignoring what may or may not be said about it
• You will be disrespecting your brand

Does mean:

• Agility (by which I use the wiki reference for agility: the power of moving the limbs quickly and easily; nimbleness; activity; quickness of motion; as, strength and agility of body; A faculty of being agile in body, mind, or figuratively)
• Listening to other users–with our ears more than our mouths
  
• Increasing transparency; not company secrets, but certainly sharing more than you’re used to
• Realizing the market is bigger than your control
• Better integrating your PR and/or marketing professionals into your team’s daily activities

“–and sometimes policies”

Does not mean:

• Lawsuits will be flying at your company left and right
• Sneaking around different departments to gain approval
• Your list of “rules” can/will be all enclosing
• Your lawyers will have a coronary

Does mean:

• Policies disallowing company’s expressing opinions might be altered (Quit shuddering; it’ll be okay. I promise.)
• Sharing media (Really, I mean giving it away. No charging. No rules. Just allowing straight embeddable media.)
• Opening your mind a little more