To better assist you on this journey in the New Year, I reached out to some of the entrepreneurs and social media mavens I look up to and trust. Here are their top social-media trends for 2012:

Gary Vaynerchuk Book author and founder of VaynerMedia


Bookmarking Website Pinterest will explode. Similarly, closed networks likePath, which allows users to post and share videos and photos, will find traction. The reason is, the more open we become, some will do the opposite: They’ll look for closed networks.

And of course, brands and businesses will continue to misunderstand social. They will always look to ‘push’ their product or service and it will hurt brands. Websites that are social aren’t platforms that are similar to TV or print or radio, they are living and breathing. People should be able to react to your creative and you need to be there to react to it, as well as listen.

Looking at the communities you build as an ‘asset’ is important. You need to treat it like a spouse. For instance, you ‘sell’ your spouse on things very differently than someone who works for you. It takes more tact and a slower roll. That’s how to build advocates.

Related: Gary Vaynerchuk on Social Media and Customer Retention





Chris Brogan President, Human Business Works


With so many consumers and businesses using social media, 2012 will be the year of oversaturation. That will require a more focused effort to make useful/meaningful media or be left behind as noise.


Related: Chris Brogan on Social Media Traps





Guy Kawasaki Book author and co-founder of Alltop.com


Google+ will have more users than Twitter in 2012.


Related: Guy Kawasaki: To Win at Social Media, ‘Plant Many Seeds’





Charlene Li Founder of Altimeter Group


Given the limited time and resources that entrepreneurs have, you actually should be very careful about how much time you spend following new trends. Allocate a small amount of time to following new shiny objects — but 90 percent of your effort should be focused on the few social-media sites that have the greatest impact on your business. Develop them fully each and every day before turning your attention to new trends.

That said, the big one to watch carefully this year is Google+. It’s growing quickly and will accelerate as it gets adopted by companies at the enterprise level. Have at least a presence and cultivate a deeper, dialog-driven relationship that’s different than what you can do on more constrained social media sites like Twitter.





Shervin Pishevar Managing Director at Menlo Ventures


This year will mark the rise of the ambient platforms where apps, services and devices mesh together as one in real-time synchronicity. Your activity will automatically register and trigger across multiple apps and devices.

Collaborative consumption, social commerce and services addressing excess capacity are going to build very fast. Social gaming and entertainment will continue to ascend in a second wave of innovation across Facebook and increasingly through mobile devices.

 
Source: Entrepreneur.com

But all word-of-mouth is not equal. I like to say that the effectiveness of word-of-mouth marketing depends on two things: “what words?” and “whose mouth?”

First of all, you need positive word-of-mouth. It’s easy to get word-of-mouth about how unhappy and dissatisfied people are with a product or service. (Statistically, people are seven times more likely to express negative opinions than positive opinions about a business.)

Positive word-of-mouth can result from only one or two things: Either someone had (1) a really terrific, wonderful, beyond-expectations experience with a product or service or (2) they were paid to say something nice.

So, unless you are going to pay people to say nice things about your business, you actually have to have a product or service that is truly outstanding, beyond the norm and above the competition. That is Step One and is the hard part of word-of-mouth marketing.

Second, word-of-mouth marketing’s success depends upon whose mouth these words are coming from. Obviously, some people’s opinions count more than others. People are more likely to value the opinion of someone whom they respect and trust. Someone in your industry who is well respected, well known and has credibility is the best source of word-of-mouth. An example is the positive “blurbs” you see on the back cover of a book from industry experts.

Here are the critical steps you need to take to produce effective word-of-mouth marketing:

• Create a truly wonderful and outstanding experience for customers.
• Find credible, respected people who have said something positive about your business.
• Select the best story or quote that includes a specific benefit—that is, how your product or service saved them money or helped them solve a specific problem. People love to hear stores about personal transformation—how this product or service “changed my life.”
• Communicate these stories to your customers and your prime target audience. How? (1) via email (2) on your packaging (3) on your website (4) on your blog/s (5) on Facebook and other social media (7) via YouTube videos (6) in e-newsletters (7) in trade journals (8) anywhere your target customers are likely to see it.
• Keep in mind, a great personal story that talks about a specific example of how your company’s product or service resulted in some tangible benefit to a specific customer is more effective than vague, general praise about how good you are. Convey that word-of-mouth in all the ways above, and you’ll be on the road to success.

In the final analysis, word of mouth marketing is about what words? and whose mouth? But it’s up to you to create the initial consumer or client experience that motivates someone to be part of your Positive Word of Mouth marketing campaign.

 
Source: scoreoc

Color is indeed one of the important factors in attracting clients. It has to be eye-catching. This is the reason why choosing a color scheme isn’t easy. For designers, you will certainly want to learn how to pick the right color palette but aside from that, it is also necessary for you to know the things that you need to consider in choosing the right color scheme for your designs.

1. Consider the company.

Image: shutterstock

Know what the company is. Dig deeper into what they do, what services they offer, what products they sell, what are the company’s principles, and others. It is important for you to know this so that you could choose the right color scheme that reflects who they are as a company. Try to look at the logo they are using, the color choices for their office and many others. They might even have a particular color that they want you to use.

2. Consider the taste of your client.

Image: shutterstock

Try to know what the company’s big boss really like. You can actually get this by merely look at things that they are already using and had been using. Look at the uniforms, the logo and others. Companies really have certain colors that they use to represent themselves. Make sure that the color you will choose will have certain commonalities to the personality of the company and its employees.

3. Consider the nature of the project.

Image: shutterstock

Of course, this is important. You need to know what the project is and what it is for. It could be a web design, a logo design, a brochure and others. You also need to know if it is print-based or screen-based. Ask how many colors they would use and what are the contents they want to use like images, illustrations, graphs, etc. Know if you are suppose to use a color that will allow images to shine or to enhance some text. Make sure that you will know everything about the project during your first meeting before you start making it to avoid major revisions.

4. Consider the company’s competition.

Image: shutterstock

As a designer, it is your job to make the company stand out. So you have to know who the competitors are and what color scheme they are using. That way, you can choose a color scheme that will shine from the rest of them. Remember that good designers always conduct research regarding the market and the competition before creating a design. Same is true with choosing colors. Do your research well.

5. Consider the target audience.

Image: shutterstock

The target audience is very important since the design you will make has to attract potential visitors from a particular segment of the population. Determine the appropriate colors for the visitor’s age, gender and geographic location. Certain color combinations look more appealing to men while others are more appealing to women. If you target children, it would also be different. You can also consider some people who are color-blind.

6. Consider project’s time of usage.

Image: shutterstock

Try to know for how long the project will be used. Know if it is merely for a specific occasion or for a long time usage. Corporate identities like logos should remain fresh over the years while a poster or a publication just made for a certain event could vary in color. It also depends on the type of event it will be used. You might make give-aways for Christmas or a magazine that follows a particular trend.

7. Consider the impact to the audience.

Image: shutterstock

It is important that you consider the impact your color choices will have to the audience. It needs to have a positive meaning to the industry and to the market. Choose colors that are associated with positivism. You need to know the significance of color to an industry. For example, for a company that advocates for peace, they would opt to use white but if they use red, it could represent war and blood. Meanwhile, a flower company could use red for it is associated with roses.

8. Consider the emotion it reflects.

Image: shutterstock

Every color has its own meaning and emotion. You need to reflect the emotion of the clients and the company towards their target audience. If the business is dynamic and has a high energy, use bright and clear colors. If it is serious and complicated, you might want to use complex colors like maroon and its tones. There are certain moods for your design. So, you could list down the emotions and the kind of atmosphere that you would like to create. You can use your list as your guide in choosing colors.

9. Consider attractiveness and accessibility.

Image: shutterstock

Any color scheme should be attractive but mostly accessible. You have to make sure that the color scheme you will choose will impress and attract most people. There are people who have eye problems like color-blindedness but they belong to a small population only. But still, you have to consider them, too. See to it that even color-blinds can read the text and could get the message you want to relay. It should be accessible for everyone to see and understand.

10. Consider its contribution to companies’ success.

Image: shutterstock

The colors you choose can facilitate the company’s success. You can do that if you consider the companies’ goals, mission and vision. Remember that the colors you choose have a great impact to that. Make sure that the colors you choose will give the items from 1 to 9 because if it does, it can surely help bring up the company.

In the absence of writing, colors can speak for your designs. We cannot deny the reality that colors really have a great impact and significant effect in marketing, designing and to other aspects, too. If you have any additions to the list above, please use the comment section. You can also add your opinion if you want to.

 
Source: naldsgraphics

The key to this approach is to set very specific incremental goals, carefully collect and analyze the resulting data, and be ready to do one of two things based on what the data tell you. If the results are positive, repeat and iterate that tactical experiment as long as it is moving you towards the defined goal. Alternately, if the tactic is failing, be ready to quickly terminate the experiment.

Search engine marketing is a tactic that is perfect for a lean, iterative approach to marketing. Paid search allows small business owners to easily set simple, reasoned goals and then, based on the data collected, make adjustments and decisions rationally. For instance, if you have a simple goal of driving additional traffic to your site it is easy to measure the results (and cost) of the SEM campaign. Define for yourself exactly how much traffic you wish to result from the tactic, and how much money you are willing to spend for the additional traffic. The resulting data will tell you quickly whether you have accomplished that goal.

We have provided advice on using Google Adwords as well as other platforms, and today I want to share some advice on best practices for using Facebook as an advertising platform. Facebook advertising’s greatest benefit is the network effect. If a Facebook user interacts with your ad by ‘Liking’ it, that ‘Like’ is automatically shared with the user’s entire network of FB friends. This is a powerful magnifier, not just in terms of the word-of-mouth amplification that brings your message to many more people, but because of the ‘endorsement effect’ that accompanies the word-of-mouth. Studies have indicated that as many as 90% of consumers are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know. In other words, we all take advice from our friends and if one of them ‘Likes’ a certain FB ad, then we are more inclined to try that product or service ourselves.

Here is a short tutorial for getting your Facebook campaign going:

1. Set goals.

Be very clear with what you are trying to accomplish with your Facebook campaign. Is it to gain fans for your business’s FB page? To drive traffic to your own site? To generate sales and revenue? It is crucial that goal definition include conversion definition. For instance is a visit to your site what you would consider a conversion? Is a user registration or harvested email address a conversion? Or does it have to be an actual sale for you to consider it a conversion? Define what a conversion is and be clear on how much you are willing to pay for each conversion. The only way to measure the campaign’s success is to articulate for yourself how you define success and to measure the data against that definition.

2. Target effectively.

Facebook allows you to target your ads to very specific segments and demographics.You can segment by a user’s location, language, or by the industry the user works in. Alternatively you can target by personal demographics like age, relationship status, education or even by birthday. For instance you could target your ads only at people in California, who are single, and who’s birthday it is today. You could even choose to target only people who’s 37th birthday is today. This ability to slice and dice by the audience you want, and not just be those searching for specific words or terms can be incredibly powerful.

3. Determine ad type.

You will have to choose between to approaches with your Facebook ads – CPC or CPM. CPC is the cost-per-click model and with this you will only pay for the actual click-throughs that your campaign generates. With CPM (or cost-per-thousand views), you are paying for the number of impressions, or actual people, that see your ad appear on a FB page they visit. This choice should be driven by your own goals; if the objective of the campaign is to drive traffic to your site, then CPC will be a more measurable choice. If, alternatively, you are trying to raise awareness of your brand or service, then a CPM approach might make more sense.

4. Budgeting, bidding, and structures.

Like AdWords, Facebook allows the advertiser to set a daily budget which is not to be exceeded. For instance, you may determine that your daily limit will be $200 and that (using the CPC ad type) you will pay as much as 50¢ per click. At this threshold you will receive a minimum of 400 clicks before your budget for the day is depleted. Remember though, as with AdWords, you are competing with other advertisers to get your ad in front of the intended audience and this is where bidding comes in. You will need to determine not just a daily budget, but the maximum amount that you are willing to pay for each click (or for each thousand views with a CPM approach). So if you set your bid at that 50¢ per click maximum, your ad will be less likely to run than your competitor’s who may be offering 60¢ per click. Think not just budgetary, but strategically and remember to let your own goals, and your own business economics drive your bidding strategy,

5. Test your ads.

A/B testing. or champion/challenger testing is an important way to understand what works for your intended audience and what doesn’t. This can be as simple as testing alternative headlines, images, or body content. When you run two ads head-to-head, it can quickly be determined which is more effective in reaching your stated goal nd in maximizing your budget. Other testing strategies include testing your ads at different times of day, teasing against different segments or demographics, and testing different bids. Any of these tests will give you valuable data and allow for iteration and experimentation. Finally, create lots of ads. Everyday try new ads, with new copy and new images. Every day target a new segment with a new message – then stick with the ones that are working, and quickly kill those that aren’t.

6. Make them Like you.

One of the more common strategies with FB ads is the use of a ‘reveal tab.’ This technique displays a special offer or download available to the user, only if they Like your ad or your page. By giving a FB user a reason to Like your ad, such as a free download, a discount coupon, or other value which will be provided to them only if they click the Like button. The old rule applies here: to get something, you gotta give something.

7. Analyze and iterate.

Then analyze and iterate again. Im the tips above, I talked about setting goals, targeting, bidding, budgeting, and testing. The most important point is what do you do with this information. It’s pretty simple: collect the data, analyze the data, and then act on the data. For instance if you test against various target segment, take the time to scrutinize the data, and adjust your ads based on which segment responds to your ads more often. Iterate based on this information and adjust your targeting accordingly. If your testing reveals that one image results in more Likes than another, then focus your ads on the image that is converting more effectively. This constant cycle of test, iterate, test again will allow you to refund your campaign and make the most effective use of your budget.

8. Give it time.

Facebook advertising takes time. Not just the time to test different approaches, ad types, target segments, and bids, but time in the sense of capacity. It is critical that you carefully and deliberately track your campaigns, adjust your approach, and measure your progress. Doing this takes precious hours, and as small business owners and managers, we all know that these hours are our most valuable commodity. Budget your resources as well as your money, and remember that the two go hand-in-hand; to get the most from your money, be sure to devote the time needed to do the job right.

Source: crowdspring.com Author: Mike

Here are some website issues to consider: 

• Is your web page out of date?  How long has it been since anyone other than your IT person looked at it? Time marches on and your webpage is going to get left behind if it isn’t updated on a regular basis.
• Is your website keeping up when it concerns Search Engine Optimization better known as SEO?
• Is your website lagging when it comes to social networking?  Is working with Facebook or Twitter foreign to you?
• Is your website so out of date it is starting to have coding issues?
• Does your website look cluttered and is it difficult for visitors to place an order or find information.

If you answered yes to any of these questions it is time to rethink your website. Perhaps looking at a few stats in the electronic marketing area may help to make your decision to do a Website Design Makeover.

Did you know according to David Carlton’s Local Business Marketing Success: 

• 51% of business see themselves as a ‘browse online and buy at the store’ business
• 55% of searches performed locally have the intent of purchasing locally

Using these stats may help you justify seeking help in redesigning your website.

You will need to look for a company whose staff is both creative and experienced in the complex art of website design.  They will need to know how to use Facebook and Twitter to boost your sales. Will that web design company make your landing page exciting to look at and have your visitors wanting to see more of your product or service before they buy?  Will they have your website designed and capturing visitors when they said they would?  Do they have 24/7 customer support?  E Design Group web design company can do all the above and put your company on the first page of a category search; using their search engine optimization knowledge.  After you work with the E Design Group you won’t need to work with anyone else.

Since 2008 we have been transforming the landscape of the internet for the better.  We are one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s top web design studios.  Our creative and talented staff can design you a customized, easy to use and social network compatible website.  We have helped companies with graphic design, mobile web design, landing pages, Search Engine Optimization and even Print to create an awe inspiring website that turns heads.

Our company E Design Group is a web design company that can catapult your website into the 21^st century.  Contacting us will get you started on a cleaner, more effective and virtually trouble free website.

It’s one of those key business phrases that everyone agrees is important…and yet few seem to understand.

What is brand identity? Simply put, brand identity is how customers perceive your products or services, typically tied in with an individual visual signature. Consider the famous Nike swoosh and what it means to Nike’s brand identity.

There’s a reason this phrase is thrown around so much in just about every Bay Area design company. That reason is simple: brand identity is important. It’s how people recognize your business. It changes customers’ decisions.

We at E Design Group believe that synergy, or an overall cohesion of print and online efforts, is one of the best ways to improve your brand identity.

But knowing what a brand identity is and knowing how to achieve one are two different things. Here are five ways to improve your brand identity through both online and print marketing:

1. Realize that print is underrated.

Beautiful print is one of the best ways to establish a visual brand identity. While a lot of people are moving online for their buying habits, a lot of people – old and young – still love tangible print advertisements. Now, there are ways you can get Print Bay Area specialists to produce something decent, quick, and cheap for your business as far as business card design, presentation folder, full color flyers, unique brochure, etc.

But if you realize that print is underrated, you come to a brand identity firm like E Design Group – a company that understands what an overall, arching “theme” does for your marketing strategies…and for your bottom line.

2. Make sure your print matches what you do online.

A brand has no identity if all of its visual cues for customers to see never match.

This is one of the big mistakes we see companies making all the time. They think that they can just throw whatever they want at a wall when it comes to their brand identity – and that whatever sticks will work. To some degree this is true, but it’s no way to go about creating a brand identity for yourself. In fact, it’s downright inefficient.

So what should you do? Hire a company like E Design Group – someone that understands what cohesion and synergy can do to improve your brand recognizability and identity.

3. Try different avenues.

One website logo and one business card alone do not make a brand identity. You see, to some extent you do have to assert your brand identity out there, and you have to do it in a number of ways. Online brochures, cheap and affordable brochure designs, affordable postcards, website design – why not get it all working for you by outsourcing the work to a firm that handles it all?

4. Don’t ignore the web.

Those who ignore the web in today’s economy definitely do so at their own peril – the web these days is one of the best, most efficient ways to expand your brand identity and get the word about your business out there. E Design Group, a San Jose web design firm, is a great avenue if you’re a local business that wants to spread your wings – why not try it out?

5. Work with one company.

It’s tempting to scrape around for cheap web design and free brochure design, skimping out on the “big picture” in order to save a buck here and there. But working with an online and print company like E Design Group can actually bring all of these elements together into a cohesive brand identity – and that’s what synergy is all about.

You start with the basics; inventory, sales, service and most importantly advertising. Start with a company that knows marketing and advertising from the inside out; that company is Print Bay Area:
 

1. Graphic Design:

   Sit down with this trusted San Francisco Bay area web design company and map out a plan.  They understand you can’t foot the bill for everything right away so start small.  Begin with eye-catching business cards.  The customer service team at Print Bay Area will walk you through your first order.  Choose one of dozens of business card templates on their website or if you have your own artwork they can work with that too.  If you still need help with a design; they have graphic artists who will do your designing for FREE.  Get a design you really like and build on that theme.  This bay area web design company will keep your artwork on file and use those graphics as building blocks for your marketing platform.

 

2. Print and Marketing:

   Do you have a tradeshow to attend?  You had better be armed with more than just business cards.  Print Bay Area can help using your graphics to design flyers, presentation folders and product brochures and just about any other promotional material you can think of.

 

3. Website Design:

   As your establishment grows Print Bay Area will grow with you.  Web presence is your next logical step.  They have San Jose web customers who depend on them to build and maintain their web presence.  The Silicon Valley web design service is something they are very proud of; even the techies come to them for help.  Bay Area Print offers free website design to those companies who qualify.  If you are on a tight budget, and who isn’t these days, they can supply your company with cheap web design that will make you look like you’ve got a million bucks.

 
If your place of business is anywhere near the Bay area website design is literally on your doorstep.  Print Bay Area has helped company start-ups just like yours create an array of website products.  Making use of your artwork they can create a sense of stability as well as continuity for your website that will put your potential customers at ease.  The graphic designers can manipulate you present artwork so everything from your business cards and flyers will convey the same tone throughout your entire marketing spectrum.