*808 Girl Media*

For those who are not familiar, Coupology.com is a service similar to Groupon, offering local small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) the opportunity to tap into a consumer base they might not have had access to otherwise.

For $19.95 per month, Coupology.com provides SMBs with access to a targeted, ready-to-buy audience, 24/7. In addition to the distribution Coupology.com provides, their coupon network also allows the coupons to be distributed via social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter.

In many markets, services like Groupon and SocialBuy reign supreme. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to fire up the competition…

Check out Coupology.com’s media kit for more information.

Before even reading this post on Mashable, I thought to myself, “There’s no way Foursquare doesn’t win this matchup.” Much like a sports announcer might say there’s no way USC gets beat by Oregon State. Oh wait… :D

But I digress.

Let’s just say that Foursquare kicked some major Gowalla-by booty. It had already been speculated that Foursquare had a “tremendous” SXSW; but ViralHeat brought the proof in the pudding. The infographic above shows that the West was won by Foursquare…by quite a bit.

I’ll be honest - I don’t even think I KNOW anyone who uses Gowalla? Do you?

A visual interpretation of the stats also published on the LA Times “Go Mobile” blog today. I’m a fan of the visual presentation, myself!

Of couse, these stats make no mention of the large percentage of Twitter users who sign up for the service, but never use it. I also don’t know who updates from their “mobil” phone…maybe that’s a regional thing?

from keithmoore:

Another informational post from Mashable! This post also originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable is a regular contributor.

As more and more brands/businesses ride the social media marketing wave, one does need to stop and think: “what value am I offering my customers with these soluctions?” More specifically, Mashable poses the question: “What kind of value does a custom Facebook Fan Page offer?” Here are 5 things you should think about when promoting your company on Facebook:

Interactivity
Don’t just put yourself up there so you can say “My business is on Facebook!”. Bad idea. Instead, harness the interactive nature of social networks and offer interactivity on your Fan Page. Facebook is all about sharing, so your Fan Page landing page shouldn’t be passive - your users are going to want to do something on your page. First example: Baby Gap implemented a simple splash page that allows fans to upload pictures of their babies wearing their favorite Baby Gap apparel.

Second example: Home Depot harnessed the sharability of Facebook actions and created the “DIY Gifts App.” When you grant the Home Depot app access, you can share your gift purchases with the recipient and your Facebook friends. Hmm…this could be a good way to ask for help from your friends on DIY projects! :)

Full Website Experience Within Facebook
Example #1: adidas created a fully-fledged multimedia hub on their Facebook Fan Page, complete with photos, videos and events based on your region. Sure, the page is built entirely in Flash and isn’t super interactive, but it sure does look cool. There’s something to be said about experiencing a cool-looking rich media experience without leaving Facebook.

Example #2: Dell integrated a fully-fledged mini-website on their fan page, which presents fans with an integrated site that allows them to customize their new Dell computer without leaving Facebook.

Offer Deals
What will make you successful on Facebook? Having the ability to push out content that your fans and their friends would be interested in. A good way to keep this dialogue going: deals and coupon codes. Walgreens created a landing page that is nicely branded and simply promotes “Exclusive Offers for Our Facebook Fans”. The promotions/coupons are in their actual updates - leaving the deals to Facebook’s built-in functionality.

Of course, the examples in Mashable’s article are for large companies/brands that have vast technical resources - far more than most small businesses. Which highlights the need for an internet marketing consultant. :)

Click here to read the entire article on Mashable.

Well, this will certainly be interesting. Not quite sure what I think of this just yet, but I’m sure I’ll have something else to comment on regarding this union by the end of the week. I will keep this post updated.

http://mashable.com/2010/03/02/cotweet-acquired/

Email Marketing Meets Social Media - ExactTarget & CoTweet from ExactTarget on Vimeo.

In a February 8th, 2010 article posted on Technorati, Julie Weishaar addressed some of the questions and concerns that surfaced after her original social media article, “Social Media Marketing: A Necessary Evil”.

What it really boils down to is that larger companies and big brands are really looking for data to back up what social media marketing tactics are boasting. The main concerns covered in the article are:

1. “Social media isn’t supposed to sell, it is supposed to influence.”
   Weishaar’s response looks at Ford as a case study. Ford is the leader in the automotive industry when it comes to influence on decision-making.
   
   
2. “SMM increases your brand and product visibility.”
   This is not an easy one, as making a brand stand out among the social media marketing crowd is a daunting task. But it can be done. An example Weinshaar refers to is Atari’s social media marketing strategy for Star Trek Online.
   
   
3. “Social media is about conversations, not conversions.”
   Weishaar basically says that, if you expect to see a direct path to conversion via social media marketing, you will be disappointed. Social media marketing IS about conversations, it’s an advantage because your customers are already having those conversations when thinking about a purchase.
   
   

Essentially, the one takeaway I got from this article was: “Social media marketing increases your product and brand visibility by influencing conversations.” The real question is, do social recommendations have more value than other types of product recommendations?

Bottom line is, more and more consumers are turning to the web before making any decisions (whether it be buying a new car or looking for a new place for dinner). They are turning to the reviews of their peers for advice and guidance, especially regarding things/purchases they are unsure of. As Weishaar states, “social media marketing, used optimally, is a very effective marketing tool.” So true, but isn’t that the case for most tactics?

Click here to read the full article on Technorati.

”Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” is my recommended social media marketing read: