Just as social marketing has reshaped the communications industry, social gaming companies are transforming the video game industry. Leading this transformation is Zynga, maker of popular games such as FarmVille and CityVille.

Zynga’s model has key differences which separate it from traditional video game manufacturers. Zynga offers its games for free through Facebook but makes money by selling “virtual goods” that allow people to perform better in the game. According to The Wall Street Journal, 95% of users play for free while the remaining 5% spend from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month. Sales of virtual goods have given Zynga revenue of $600 million in 2010 including $91 million in profits.

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Pass-along rate is a common term that’s regularly used throughout the marketing and communications industry when determining the reach of a specific message. This term is defined as the percentage of people that pass along a specific message through some form of media.

This is an extremely important factor when calculating reach, as the pass-along rate creates a multiplier effect for that specific message. This rate has been in use for decades and its significance has grown exponentially given the rise of online media content. For example, 20 years ago you may have read an article in a magazine, found it compelling and gave it to a friend. Therefore, the message did not just impact you, but also your friend as well as anyone else that your friend may have given it to after he or she read it. The point is that published messages live on, and the advent of online content and social networking have created an environment where pass-along rate is paramount.

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The most effective way to increase your Facebook and Twitter followers is to provide valid and useful information that your fans may not have seen otherwise. As a PR pro, I’m constantly staying on top of current events and reading the news – on my computer, on my cell phone and in the newsfeed of my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Some of the most interesting news I see only because someone I follow posted it.

By being a dialed-in, finger-on-the-pulse-of-your-industry PR professional, you have the opportunity to share breaking news with your fans first. Post a recent article on a relevant topic or ask your followers a question about a hot topic. The beauty of social media, especially now with all of the changes to Facebook, is that every friend of your followers can now see most of their activity. So if they comment on a post on your wall, it will appear in their newsfeed and will ideally inspire someone else to click on your link, find your page interesting – and voilá – you’ll have a new follower.

This method of attracting followers is not guaranteed – in public relations there’s very little that is – but it’s a way to be recognized as a valuable and forward-thinking participant in your particular industry.

Kate Toy is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Nothing sells a product or a service better than a satisfied customer. A president or CEO can say their company is the best in the industry, but without third-party credibility, it’s just lip service. That is why services such as Yelp.com, which strictly focuses on user reviews, can make or break a company. These reviews act like mini case studies and can be amplified when they are linked to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Companies can take the customer review process one step further by including testimonial videos on sites such as YouTube. Domus incorporated this tactic with OKI Data Americas’ customers during the ISTE 2011 Conference in Philadelphia. OKI customers were given a platform to present their story and increase their Internet celebrity through the process. This strategy gives consumers a voice and also puts a face to the name, which lends additional credibility to the testimonial. The reach of these videos can be increased when distributed through social media networks as well. An example of the OKI customer testimonial video can be accessed through the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxHIxhVSFuI.

Not only do these videos provide beneficial information to prospective customers, but they also increase the company’s interaction with current clients, helping to build that existing relationship.

Greg Smore is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Daily Deal sites like Groupon and Living Social can cause problems for a business due to hurting its’ profitability, brand and relationship with customers.

With a discount offer, the business is probably appealing to customers that purchase on price. It is unlikely customers will come back to the business in the future to purchase products and services at full value. In a column on AdAge.com, Al Ries, the famous marketing consultant, states:

“Presumably, all those consumers who bought products and services for 50% off are going to be happy to return to their local retailers and return to buy those same products and services at full prices. That’s not going to happen. What is going to happen is that those same consumers are going to go back to Groupon and wait for the next 50%-off sale.”

I’m sure many of you have used Groupon, Living Social or one of the other local daily deal sites. Of those of you who have, how many of you have returned to that business to purchase the same product or service at full price? My guess is not many.

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As PR and social media continue to overlap at a rapid pace, what next? Today, the boundaries between advertising, marketing and PR are becoming more blurred than ever. While PR is all about making announcements that you hope will grab editors’ attention and result in increased coverage and exposure, the goal of social media for business is to gain that loyal list of “followers” whom you must converse with, create dialogue with and hopefully …convert into customers.

Recently, we’ve all seen endless debates about who should “control” social media in ad agencies. And that “someone” should be the PR professional – often the eyes and ears of the agency.

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Your company has accepted the fact that you need to be involved in social media in order to maintain your presence in the digital marketplace. Excellent decision! But after constructing your Facebook page and creating your Twitter account you discover one glaring point; you don’t have any followers.

Just because you have created a social media presence doesn’t mean that clients and potential customers are going to automatically “follow” or “like” your brand.  Now, if your customers are offered an incentive to subscribe to your company’s social media newsfeed, two things can happen:

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Measuring Public Relations has never been simple. It’s difficult to tie it directly to sales; unless glaringly obvious it’s tough to determine a hard and fast public opinion of your company; and without a consistent measurement tool or equation your public relations ROI can differ depending on who you ask.

For example, in public relations we measure a total number of impressions by multiplying a publication’s circulation number (which in itself can be unreliable) by a specified number. This is known as the “pass along rate.” I stick with the number 2. Meaning, for every person that subscribes to the publication, there’s one additional person reading it. Some folks are not as conservative and will use a pass along rate of 2.5 or 3. By using “2” I may err on the conservative side but at least I’m not making any false promises. The pass along rate is justified for many reasons; dentist and doctor’s offices often have magazines in the lobby so several people are reading them, there’s usually more than one person in a household reading a magazine that’s delivered there, and in other cases people will share magazines or interesting articles with friends and colleagues. Regardless of the ways to justify it – there’s no exact science to it.
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Google has been consistent in its efforts to be a contender in the social media race. Their major efforts include the development of Orkut (you must be thinking what’s that – read on!), Google wave (was a hype once), the release of Google Buzz (remember that???), and now Google+ (Google Plus). With the outrageous popularity of Facebook and Twitter, Google clearly does not want to be left behind in this domain and has therefore upped its efforts and investments to be a key player in social media.

In 2003, Google offered to purchase the social network Friendster, but they declined the offer. Google then internally commissioned Orkut Büyükkökten to work on a competing independent project. The result was Orkut. The product launched on January 24, 2004, which was 9 days before the launch of Facebook, which now boasts nearly 750 million users (as per Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on July 6, 2011) . Orkut.com initially had its largest user base in the United States, but that soon changed with the site being noticed in Brazil (later in 2004) and then in India (in 2006-2007). The site became highly popular in these countries but unfortunately failed to create a buzz anywhere else.

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Technologically, we have only come of age in recent years. The past twenty years have seen transitions from postal mail to emails to text messaging (SMS); from CRTVs to Plasmas to LCD to LED to 3D TV’s; from 8-bit video games to Playstation 3’s, Nintendo Wii’s, X-Box 360’s, Kinects; from telephones to mobile phones and now smart phones. The list of the technological advancements in the past couple of decades is endless. It’s simple evolution in terms of technology. The businesses and markets have changed dramatically over this period of time. While good copy writers, newspaper advertisements, and marketing posters were needed for marketing a new or revamped business in the early 90’s,  there is so much more that you can do with technology in the current times to give your business the boost it needs. The World Wide Web (WWW) alone provides a plethora of techniques to reach out to the world – a world in which the potential clientele is infinite. While there are dozens of things that you can start with, there are five basic things that are a necessity to bring your business to life on the web.

A Sleek, Stylish, Sexy – yet Efficient – Website

Where’s a prospective client most likely to look for a product or service they need? The internet! In an age where Google and Bing have become verbs, a website is a necessity for any business. With the availability of the latest website building tools, a new website is expected to have utilized some, if not most, of the features available with the latest website building tools. With the advent of HTML 5, dynamic web has reached new heights, and a good looking, scalable dynamic website is a definite plus (or requirement) for your new business. A smart website is not only sexy, but should also be easy to browse and user friendly. Keep in mind that browsing a website should be geared towards the user since the user experience of the website can have a direct impact on the business. A person who is unhappy or unimpressed by a client website may be less inclined to approach it for his business needs.

Here are examples of some really cool websites that use the latest in web technology, mainly HTML 5: (continue reading…)