PayParade optimal social media

Gathering My Roses: Sun and Earth Review & Giveaway Ends 11/6/11

2011-10-28T22:00:00.000-04:00

Gathering My Roses: Sun and Earth Review & Giveaway Ends 11/6/11

New Culprit in Household Environmental Contaminants

2011-10-11T10:41:00.001-04:00

Really interesting article on how conventional dryer sheets may be the source of various environmental contaminants.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/green/ditch-the-dryer-if-you-want-to-embrace-green-laundry-habits/19099

Enter uni-ball Perfect Pen contest

2010-05-12T12:34:00.002-04:00

Free Uni-ball Pen

2010-02-03T08:36:00.003-05:00

The new Uni-ball JetStream pen gives you extra confidence to write securely on important documents - their specially formulated ink is called Super Ink.

Get your FREE sample today at www.uniballsuperink.com and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/uniball.

PayParade’s White Paper is Coming Soon!

2009-07-07T17:00:00.001-04:00

Excitement is mounting as PayParade prepares to release its official White Paper.

For marketers interested in learning how to optimize social media to maximize profits this White Paper is a must read. Here’s another sample of what we’re talking about:

“Key business uses for social media include: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, and as a lead generation tool to intercept potential prospects.”

At PayParade we have the ability to help your brand identify and measure which customers spread your message most profitably. Once this target market is identified we can help utilize the most loyal fans of your brand and maximize their effect in social networks in a way that leads to increased profits for your brand.

PayParade is prepared to help your brand expand into the booming network of social media. Make sure you register your email with PayParade to guarantee you will receive this information for marketing in the realm of social media.

PayParade White Paper Preview

2009-06-29T12:44:00.005-04:00

PayParade is proud to announce that our company’s White Paper will be available soon.

The document will provide a valuable asset to any company looking to expand into the realm of social media. Here’s a sample of what we're talking about…

“This white paper examines the market forces—financial, technological, human— that are driving social networking forward, with a focus on the challenges such forces impose on marketers. While the wide acceptance of social media marketing has proven the viability of the social networks channel, retailers are often ill equipped strategically and technologically to execute a proper Social Web program.”

If you’re interested in social media, you need to request the PayParade White Paper and find out what PayParade can offer you.

Harnessing Your Inner and Outer Circle

2009-06-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

Through social networks developing connections with people in your inner and outer circle is easier than ever before. We have always been accustomed to communicating with and relying on our inner circle. Immediate family members, roommates, and close friends are a reliable and vital aspect of our well being. However, advancements in social networking have provided a tremendous leap forward in regards to what our outer circle can provide and these connections are rapidly increasing in value.

In 1973 Mark Granovetter introduced a hypotheses he called “The Strength of Weak Ties”. His argument asserted that our acquaintances (or weak ties) provide a valuable commodity that our close friends (strong ties) can not offer. The reasoning is that our weak ties are less socially involved with each other than our inner circle. However, by establishing a connection with a weak tie you gain access to the resources of that person’s strong ties. Thus, weak ties constitute a bridge between groups of strong ties and foster a network of connections well beyond the scope of our inner circles.

By harnessing and nurturing your outer circle it becomes possible to expand the reach of your voice, as well as seek out the expertise of your connections that can provide information no one in your inner circle has.

To learn more of how to empower your customers to take advantage of weak ties, request a FREE phone consultation with a PayParade Relationship Specialist.

Methods for Harnessing Your Outer Circle

It’s easy to be skeptical and say that there can’t be possibly be more to gain from weak ties than strong ties. Weak can’t be better than strong. Maybe that’s true, but social networks are rapidly making them an equally valuable resource to the community as a whole.

While the people within your inner circle can provide a support structure that every individual needs, the resources of a small group of strong ties do not offer the same benefits to the community that social networks can provide through a massive group of weak ties. Within an inner circle there is a limited amount of perspectives, resources, and reach of influence. However, by harnessing your outer circle through social networks it is possible to quickly and easily gain a wide array of new and diverse perspectives, resources, opportunities, and reach of influence of a message that you are trying to spread.

When looking for work, advice, or the number of a good auto mechanic in your new town don’t limit yourself to only your inner circle with which you have strong ties. Instead, harness the power of social networks and reach out to other people in your community who will share their resources. Maybe one day you will be able to return the favor and offer your expertise to a friend of a friend and make your contribution to the rapidly expanding network of connections.

To learn more of how to empower your customers to take advantage of weak ties, request a FREE phone consultation with a PayParade Relationship Specialist.

Welcome to Socially Speaking

2009-05-05T07:04:00.003-04:00

It's 5pm, do you know where your customers are?

Retailers are seeing a seismic shift in the ways customers are communicating and spending their time on-line. Email has been a proven communications vehicle for marketers, as a cost-effective channel for superior customer retention and loyalty. Due to its low cost and initial success rates, it's now being challenged by social media techniques and may become a victim of its own success. With the proliferation of email campaigns from the largest to the small retailers, spam filters have become more powerful and in-boxes are opened less frequently. Conventional email techniques are not reaching targets nor converting sales anywhere near the levels that they once were. Especially among the young millenials (18-35yo), customers are investing their time and reinforcing their relationships via their social networks, leaving their in-boxes behind.

Brands can chose to continue with the status quo and their current marketing methods, while losing market share, mind share and miss out on sharing in the rich social discourse that is going on in the world of trusted friend content (TFC).

The writing (or lack thereof) is on the wall for e-mail

75% of adults 18-24 are using social networks. A recent Pew research study

41% less email messages were opened per day in 2008 as they were in 2006, just two years earlier. Jupiter Research

22% of email users are using their social networks INSTEAD of e-mail. Jupiter Research

39% of e-mail users believe signing up for permission-based e-mail from retailers and banks leads to more unsolicited e-mail

Since 67% of retailers expect to invest more in email marketing now (State of Online Retailing 2009, soon to be published), it appears that old habits die hard. The continued dependency on email as the channel for retailers to get their message out is a function of the narrow view of the potential channels of how consumers can be reached. This dependency on email is also a function of what is considered "successful" in the often misguided view of the measurement of influencing customers. The ROI equasion involving impressions, conversion, and revenue generation has it's place, but the social web operates on a different set of measurements that require a new understanding of the impact a brand can have in the hands of its customers.

Social requires new strategies, tools, measurement and monitoring to make your brand an active participant in the dialog. This blog will explore these and other related topics with new posting frequency expected to be once per week.