Archive for the ‘Social Marketing’ Category

Raley’s launches social media-based marketing/sales system

West Sacramento-based Raleys has launched a social media-based marketing/sales solution developed by Revionics Inc., the former Roseville-based company that moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas, last year.

The Social Commerce solution is the main component of a Raleys social media rewards program called Extra Friendzy, which provides users with time-sensitive, limited-quantity offers through social media channels, such as Facebook. The aim is to drive in-store traffic and also draw consumers to Raleys comprehensive customer rewards program, called Something Extra. The Revionics solution can be accessed across online, mobile and in-store channels.

Officials said previous testing produced positive results, and Raleys believes that Extra Friendzy will enhance its social media audience and promote growth of Something Extra, the companys first-ever customer loyalty and rewards program launched in September 2012.

Raleys operates 128 stores in Northern California and Nevada under the Raleys Supermarkets, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source banners.

Revionics, a maker of pricing software for the retail industry, still maintains a Roseville office, with about 30 employees.

Call The Bees Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.

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Raley’s launches social media-based marketing/sales system

Ratings of Top Social Media Marketing Companies in Saudi Arabia Revealed by sa.topseos.com for January 2014

(PRWEB) January 06, 2014

The independent authority on, sa.topseos.com, has publicized the 5 best social media marketing firms in Saudi Arabia for the January 2014 edition of online rankings. Businesses hunting for distinguished social media marketing firms may access the rankings at sa.topseos.com. Each social media marketing consultant highlighted within the rankings has been put through a methodical examination to uncover how well they perform compared to industry standards and competitors.

Social media marketing services are put through the sa.topseos.com original examination process in order to uncover which services in Saudi Arabia supply the top overall solution. Services are chosen based on performance in the examination process. This process consists of a set of examination areas, communicating with client referrals, and performing various market and industry research projects.

To view the ratings of the best social media marketing agencies in Saudi Arabia click here.

ABOUT sa.topseos.com

sa.topseos.com is an established independent research firm in Saudi Arabia focusing on the evaluation and listings of firms all around the world. The listings are established by the independent research team each month to highlight the top social media marketing firms based on their achievements and their rating achieved through the proprietary evaluation process.

Social media marketing firms interested in being evaluated can visit:

http://topseos.news-prs.com/sa/apply-for-rankings

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Ratings of Top Social Media Marketing Companies in Saudi Arabia Revealed by sa.topseos.com for January 2014

The Sprout Social Index: How Would You Rank?

So much conversation around the importance of social media for business has focused on its role in marketing. How to engage customers with a brand on Twitter in a way that translates to new sales? How to capture a large Facebook fan base and then transform it into brand champions and paying customers? But a new index from Sprout Social, which provides social media engagement, publishing, and analytic tools, shows that social media's most exciting opportunity-and challenge-may be the provision of customer service.

The Sprout Social Index measures channel growth, brand responsiveness, and consumer behavior across more than 160 million inbound messages, across 20,000 brand profiles and fan pages. "For the initial report we focused on Facebook and Twitter because everyone is at least playing on some level on those platforms," says Andrew Caravella, Sprout's vice president of marketing. "The data, which is in aggregate, is meant to assess how brands are proactively and reactively caring for their customers using social media."

The index comprises two separate metrics: a consumer engagement index that measures the likelihood that a customer of a particular industry will communicate questions or complaints via social channels that, in the pre Social Media Era, would likely have been directed to a customer service center. Utilities, real estate, and consumer goods industries rate highest on the consumer engagement index, indicating that their customers are most likely to take to Twitter or Facebook with lauds and laments. Automotive, non-profit, and healthcare were the industries least likely to have that sort of engagement take place in social channels.

The brand engagement index measures the inverse: how responsive are industries to inbound messages from their customers sent via social media? Utilities, banking and finance, and automotive ranked high here, while government, real estate, and entertainment industries were decidedly less likely to engage with their customers on social media.

While the sheer growth of Twitter and FB's reach is impressive - the Sprout study cites growth of 20% of the collective user base of Twitter and Facebook in the past twelve months, to more than 1.4 billion users - it is the growth of the level of engagement where the real story lies. The Index shows a 175% increase in the number of messages requiring an answer or attention from a brand on those two platforms over the same time span. Caravella says that jump comes, at least in part, because brands are inviting those conversations. "Brands want it," he explains, "because they realize that there are brand-related conversations happening all over social media channels, and they want to be a part of them."

The most eye opening statistics in the study, however, are the one that measures what brands do with that increased level of consumer engagement. Sprout found that average brand response rates fell to below 20% during Q3 2013, and response times increased during 2013 from an average of 10.9 hours to 11.3 hours. As Sprout Social CEO Justyn Howard pointed out, "A 20% response rate to messages requiring attention means that four out of five consumer inquiries go unanswered. This would not be tolerated in traditional channels like phone and email and is not a sustainable practice."

So as the social media engagement story shifts rapidly to a customer service play, how can brands keep up? Sprout's report includes seven keys to improved customer care, from staffing for experience to streamlining departments and decoupling response times from a customer's perceived social influence. Caravella says that building for responsiveness is the most important practice. "You have to have the mentality that this is a two-way conversation," he says. "It's a strategic shift, but a foundational one."

As Caravella points out, "Everyone gets the same number of characters to communicate. For the first time, there is equal status between brands and the consumer."

(Image courtesy of Shutterstock.)

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The Sprout Social Index: How Would You Rank?

topseos.com Reveals TopHatRank.com as the Fourth Best Social Media Marketing Agency for January 2014

(PRWEB) January 06, 2014

topseos.com has selected TopHatRank.com as the 4th top social media marketing firm for the month of January 2014. Social media marketing agencies are analyzed by the independent research team to determine which agencies supply the top social media marketing solutions. While there are thousands of search engine marketing agencies offering solutions in the industry only the truly best are highlighted within the ratings.

Internet marketing companies are put to the test through a systematic evaluation process to learn which companies to showcase in the listings. While there are thousands of social media marketing companies the listings are crafted of the absolute best the internet marketing industry has to offer. The independent research team evaluates various social media marketing companies across five areas of evaluation in order to learn the overall level of efficiency in areas including brand management, timeliness, reach, consultation, and methodology.

The independent evaluation team spends time testing the online marketing industry as a whole to better interpret how contending social media marketing services influence the industry. Time is spent participating in various conference events to obtain a wider understanding of the industry and to connect directly with social media marketing services in a neutral setting. Client references are often used as another metric to identify which social media marketing services produce the top services.

topseos.com investigates and names the top social media marketing companies in the industry. Based on the rigorous investigation process TopHatRank.com was selected as the top competing social media marketing agency. Those hunting for an agency with solid client credentials and an solid history of achievement should consider TopHatRank.com.

About TopHatRank.com

TopHatRank.com specializes in providing online marketing services to both local and national businesses in the United States. Their history of achieved success and their ability to continue to offer value and new offerings to their customers has provided their clientele with unmatched value and proven results over time. They provide a service with a money-back guarantee and no contract obligation, giving a promise of achieved results within the first three months of service.

About topseos.com

topseos.com is a well-known independent authority on search marketing vendors. The principal goal of topseos.com is to identify and publish those individuals or agencies offering the best online marketing solutions all over the world. A specialized team of researchers examine thousands of applicants each month who are seeking to be ranked as a top online marketing product or service by the independent authority.

For more information about TopHatRank.com visit:

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topseos.com Reveals TopHatRank.com as the Fourth Best Social Media Marketing Agency for January 2014

Bay Area Social Media Training Announced by Jason McDonald for the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce

Cupertino, CA (PRWEB) January 06, 2014

Jason McDonald (http://www.jasonmcdonald.org), a top Bay Area Social Media expert, is proud to announce he will be conducting a social media marketing workshop for the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce to be held January 24, 2014, in Cupertino, California. The social media workshop will help Cupertino and other San Francisco Bay Area businesses get up to speed on social media marketing. Specific topics will include marketing on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Yelp, Twitter and other social media venues.

"Social media provides amazing free marketing opportunities for Bay Area small businesses," explained Dr. McDonald. "Cupertino businesses are fortunate that their Chamber of Commerce will be hosting this in-depth 'crash course' in social media marketing, and so I was very honored to be selected to conduct this small business social media marketing training in Cupertino."

More information can be found at: http://cupertino-chamber.org/irmevents.aspx#id=152&cid=233&wid=501

MORE ON CUPERTINO (BAY AREA) SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING

Social Media Workshop, Cupertino California Marketing today is more difficult, and more fun, than ever. Gone are the days of just paying some money to the Yellow Pages, or advertising in the Local Newspaper, and calling it a day. These days small businesses need a strategic plan to engage customers online and a practical, day-to-day process of cultivating buzz across the Internet. Join the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce for a "crash course" on how to use social media marketing, for free, to market your businesses. The event will occur on January 24, 2014, from 8:30 am to 1:00 p.m. The event is open to non-members, and so businesses not just in Cupertino but in nearby cities such as San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Mountain View are all invited to attend.

ABOUT JASON MCDONALD - SEO / SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT

Dr. Jason McDonald is a recognized SEO and Social Media expert consultant in based in the San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley. Dr. McDonald received his Ph.D. from the University of California in 1992, and has worked at many hi-tech start ups in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, Dr. McDonald is Senior Editor at eg3.com, a web portal and email service covering hi-tech embedded systems on the Internet, founded in 1994. Recently, Dr. McDonald has begun teaching marketing, market research and Internet marketing at Bay Area institutions such as AcademyX and DeVry University.

Dr. McDonald can be found on the Internet at http://www.jasonmcdonald.org, a website focused on search engine marketing, SEO, and other Internet marketing issues with in-depth free information on SEO, Page Tags, Google Analytics, Metrics, Link building, Free SEO Tools and more. He can also be contacted by telephone at +1-702-879-4771 or email, jasonmcdonald.blog(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Bay Area Social Media Training Announced by Jason McDonald for the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce