Friday, November 13, 2009

Finger Candy Friday Voodoo w/@JessicaNorthey and @AndieLynne


The term triskaidekaphobia describes the fear of the number 13. These are people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th. According to experts it is the most widespread superstition in the United States. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th…some won't eat in restaurants… some people don’t like to drive…and who would have a wedding on that date?

The great thing about this fear is that today, those people will be cowering in their homes waiting out the end of the day, and will be online. In fact, if the trending topic on Twitter today isn’t Friday the 13th (or something like that) I’ll skip my manicure.

At this time, companies should be taking advantage of this virtual candy bowl of surfers by giving them information about who you are. Unfortunately, there are still naysayers out there that don’t understand how Social Media can work for you to build unique hits for your website…frankly you are missing the Finger Candy opportunities.

We talk to clients everyday that want to be found online. They know what Social Media is, but have reasons and excuses why they haven’t integrated it to their marketing strategy. Maybe you are one of them… you might be if you’ve ever uttered any of these phrases:

-It’s just a fad
-It’s competition for our website
-We don’t have a budget
-Our clients already have information overload
-I don’t understand it
-We don’t have the time or resources to do this
-Our listeners don’t use it
-We will use Social Media when it is more mainstream
-It doesn’t fit into current structures
-No ROI (Return On Investment)
-No corporate support

But don’t all these excuses actually mean one thing…Unknownaphobia or rather, fear of the unknown.

-By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
-Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
-1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
-The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
-80% of Twitter usage is outside of Twitter…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
-Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
-Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica
-There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
-54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
-People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
-25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
-In the future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
-More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
-Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser
***The above statistics from Socialnomics- “Social Media Revolution” video tell the story that social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

Social Media can seem like Voodoo…and give you the feeling of pins pricking you in places we won’t mention! But just keep it simple: consider what you want to accomplish with your social media marketing efforts…what is your purpose? You can judge success by amount of active members within a certain time frame, unique hits on your website, new subscribers, interactions with followers, re-tweets and shared videos or images. Define your goals and manage your own expectations!
Happy Friday the 13th!! Now go tweet or post something!
<3 @jessicanorthey and @andielynne

Jessica is the Social Media Editor for Full Throttle Country-Country Radio's newest full-service and free interactive idea sharing and new media on-line service. She has over 19 years experience including Radio, Television, Internet and Print Sales as well as an On-Air Radio personality. She is an Entrepreneur who owns MediaJess.com servicing all website needs including domain names, hosting, SSL Certificates etc. She specializes in big ideas and is known for the ability to create complete marketing campaigns and bridge marketing partnerships. Her company Finger Candy provides social and new media optimization planning for businesses, brands and individuals. You can also read her blog, “Observations from the Peanut Gallery” at http://www.imwithjessica.com/

Andie works with Finger Candy as a Solutions Design Rep and comes from a background of promotions, marketing & networking. She’s been an on-air talent for the last 20 years in markets like Detroit, Ohio, Fresno and now Nashville. She’s led the marketing campaign for many successful promotions for morning shows, station events, artists, and even night clubs. She is currently on-air in Nashville and works with artists in Media training, Social Networking, Radio Promotions and Syndication. She also writes for a few different Radio Show Prep services has a Syndication called The Nashville Spill and performs stand-up.

4 comments:

  1. This article is great, I an now over my bloggaphobia!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are so clever Jessica! Thanks for sharing your Social Media anecdotes. I can imagine that you are very successful for yourself and your clients! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to give props to Andie Lynne. She is so great to work with. I had a very busy week and wanted to do a fun and informative article. Her style of writing and my style are so similar. As we were on the phone writing this we were finishing each others sentences! I am blessed and so lucky to get to work with her!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So..... do I really have to skip a manicure now??? HA! Thanks Jess ad Kudos backacha babe! Tons O fun!

    ReplyDelete