Interpersonal is the applications, websites and social media platforms that allow users to communicate in real time with others. Examples are: Skype, AOL, AIM, GTalk, iChat and Jott. These platforms range from on to one, one to many, many to one and many to many forms of communications.

The first tactic to use as a marketer is to explore these different types of interpersonal platforms. These various social media applications allow you to better communicate with your marketers and to recruit prospects. The best part about these networks is that they are free! While exploring the different applications, pay close attention to the strengths and weaknesses for each. Also pay close attention to which ones would work for your brand or company.

When it comes to one to one communication Skype can be used to call another person twenty four seven. Skpye is a video or chat conversation that can be had, free of charge, around the world. AIM is a free online service that also lets you communicate in real time. AIM can be used with voice chat or text chat. Google Talk is another instant messaging platform. iChat, available on Apple computers, is similar to Skype. iChat also incorporates screen sharing.

Twitter is a one to many communication tools. Twitter is a form of microblogging and allows users to tweet 140 characters or less of text. Photos and links can be included in the tweets. As a marketer, the important aspect here is engagement. Engagement is a key factor in building strong relationships with consumers and I don’t feel enough companies are taking advantage of this through social media. The bottom line is to increase sales, recruit new customers and increase brand loyalty with existing customers. All of this can be done through sincere engagement with consumers.

 In this chapter, I feel Twitter is an important tool to communicate to customers. Although many companies know that it is important to engage with consumers through online media, not many are truly engaging, but rather simply posting information. They don’t form a two-way conversation with their Facebook fans or Twitter followers. By not participating in conversation with consumers, they are ignoring feedback, which is horrible customer service. There is a small percentage of people who actually care enough to give feedback on your product or service and companies need to listen and engage. By ignoring online communities, opportunities are missed for the community leaders to influence beyond. It’s important to be transparent in social media, and embrace both the positive and negative feedback. Engagement is letting people know you are there and listening. Valid points may be brought up from your consumers that may help improve your product or service.

Twitter Engagement for Business suggests to marketers to display their company or brands as human. This article also suggests listening and serving as a resource. A brand can also communicate to the audience through Twitter by learning and getting feedback.

Smart and feature phones have had an enormous impact on social media and advertising. Smart and feature phones can now do almost anything a browser can do: download music, write a blog, surf the net, email, share photos, play games, watch video and more. By 2012 it is predicted that 30% of the world’s population will use the Internet regularly. This can be carried over to mobile. The most popular online activities among mobile Internet users include: searching the web, accessing news and sports information, downloading data, instant messaging, and email.

As a marketer it is essential to stay on top of mobile marketing. Keep up on the news and take notice of how the big brands are utilizing mobile marketing into their media mix. It is also key to stay on top of technology. With technology moving extremely fast today, it is important to stay current on new technology capabilities. As a marketer understanding the main features and benefits of the main technologies is as in-depth as one needs to go. With mobile technology, understanding the different between Android and iPhone technologies is key.

The book also suggests for marketers to set Google Alerts using the terms “mobile marketing” and “mobile advertising.” I use Google Alerts and find them very helpful to stay up to date on news. The book also introduces a tactic to use a Jott account. Also using the mobile Web through your mobile phone is key.

There are some struggles with mobile phones and an Internet browser. Not everything can be viewed from the Web onto a phone. Flash is the common technology for applications and those are not compatible with mobile phones or tablets. HTML 5 is a technology that makes this possible and will make mobile and Web applications seamless. Although HTML 5 is not heavily used, it is the tool that is sure to solve many technology problems with applications.

Check out 3 Dreams of Black. This video displays the power of HTML5 and actually lets the user interact with the video. It is quite amazing and astonishing to see how far technologies have come to actually let the user interact with a music video. And the best part is that if it is in HTML5 it can be viewed on your tablet or smart phone. It is a great time to be in the advertising industry with the technologies moving so quickly and new innovative ways of advertising is happening!

Search Engine Marketing, also known as SEM, is an effective way to market or advertise your website on the Internet. Successfully utilizing SEM in an advertising campaign, you will own your sponsored listings. Combining SEO with SEM will produce exciting results. SEM means marketing your web page through a paid Cost-Per-Click or Pay-Per-Click marketing plan. 

PPC advertising means that you decide which keywords to use in your SEO campaign. The best way to use SEM is to perform SEO first. Although in SEM you are paying for your keywords, a successful SEO campaign will get you on the best pages. When utilizing SEM, be sure that every page is analyzed for its own keywords. This way, the customer is brought to the exact page they wish through the correct keywords.

Another important tactic as a marketer, is to check your meta words. This can be done by: opening the page, selecting View, the Page View, then look for Meta Keywords. Make sure they reflect your content. Another tactic is to create good content. It is not a smart idea to try to trick a search engine. If they catch you, they may ban you from their sites for up to five years.

In this book social media has proved to be inexpensive. But one of the places where you will need to spend money is through the search engine market through PPC, Pay-Per-Click. Although it does cost money, the return to be more than 300% of what you spend. This proves to be a very powerful tool. Another tactic to try with SEM is to focus on WIIFM. Like mentioned in early chapters, asking yourself, “What’s in it for me?” through the customers eyes is key in marketing. Using WIIFM, searchers will click on your brand or service and ignore the competition.

HOW TO: Optimize Your Site for Search Engine Marketing, also supported many of the tactics the Social Media Bible suggested in regards to SEM tactics for marketers. This article also agrees that familiarizing yourself with SEO is the first step. Then they suggest to grade your website by using a website grader to provide an assessment of where your website is for SEM and where it is not. Mashable also suggests using SEM-optimized CMS software and plug-ins. They also suggest testing your PPC and landing page strategies. Putting ads in search engines can also drive traffic to the website. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are techniques that bring traffic to web pages, photos, blogs, social media profiles, and videos to grow your search engine rankings. Both techniques are important because it lets search engine sites recognize your name and ranks your brand higher in the rankings.

Search engine optimization is important because Internet users are searching the web constantly. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are other places people are searching. The best scenario is to completely take advantage of SEO and SEM and have your company or brand appear on the top of the list on the first page.

There are several tactics marketers and public relations specialists should utilize. It’s important when optimizing keywords that the keywords match each individual page. Checking page titles is also important. An important tactic is to be aware of the title bar. Make sure the title includes the most important keywords. Also, check meta keywords and reflect your content to ensure you get ranked high.

It’s also important to build external reputable links. Make sure to get at least twenty reputable links. You can check at yourdomain.com see how well you are doing with your external links. Trying to trick a search engine spider can ban you for up to five years, so it’s never a good idea. Another tactic is to ensure that there is a “What’s in it for me?” value.

Search engine optimization rewards can be capitalized through online video. ComScore found that YouTube is the largest site where videos are being watched, next in line is Google Video, with Facebook growing consistently. Businesses can’t beat competitors until consumers know their business exists, and this can be easily achieved though optimizing their search presence. Google’s search engine is structured to reward sites with video. Google owns YouTube so there is a strong connection between searching and video in fact, YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. According to Forrester, a webpage with a video has a 50% better chance of appearing on the first page of a Google search compared to a webpage without a video. Keywords in the title of the video drive traffic and gain SEO rewards, bringing the viewer’s attention to the video. Additionally, using keywords in the description and tags will also drive SEO rewards.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS allows all of your content to be sent to your followers the moment it is published. It also lets you have your preferred blogs and news stories sent to you automatically. RSS is a way to feed your web pages, blogs, audio, video and photos automatically to subscribers. The first tactic for a marketer or public relations specialists is to go to one of the web sites that provide a feed reader so every time you open that page the freshest content from the Web to which you subscribe will be there for you to sift through.

Aggregators, or readers, make it easy to visit all of your favorite web sites. The reader gives all of the newest content in one page. Social bookmarks are small icons found on blogs, web sites that provide fresh content on a regular basis. By selecting your feed reader icon, the content feed is automatically added to your reader page. Page readers, or aggregators are free. There are a number to choose from, but some include: Blam!, FeedBeast, iGoogle, MyYahoo!, RSS Bandit, Omea and many more.

Another tactic as a marketer, is to subscribe to your favorite sites by copy and pasting the URL in the Add Subscription text box. Then it is important to make sure that your business’ web and blog pages have Subscribe and social book marking buttons for customers to easily follow.

It seems that RSS gives an opportunity of delivering information to the marketer quickly and easily. It cuts the clutter and gets direct marketing, PR, internal communications, online publishing or other information to the marketer while cutting the clutter. Your Seven-Step RSS Marketing Plan gives these 7 steps for marketers:

1.     Start using RSS as an end-user

2.     Plan your RSS feeds

3.     Create a list of RSS marketing/publishing requirements

4.     Choose an RSS marketing/publishing tool and start generating feeds

5.     Promote your RSS feeds through your own channels

6.     Promote your RSS deed through external channels

7.     Other key RSS activities

I felt this chapter was a little behind in saying that online gaming is an Internet phenomenon. With the high rates of social media and digital technology changing daily, even though this book was published in 2010, a lot has happened in a year and online gaming is here. The advertising agency where I am working this summer specializes in digital media, and gaming is a huge medium for entertainment and movie industries.

An MMORPG is a genre of computer or Internet games in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world on the Internet. They assume the world of a virtual character. Revenues from across the world exceeded a half billion dollars in 2005. Using an Xbox and Halo3 to do market research through MMORPGs is a good way to experience first hand if it is a media channel that may fit your service or brand.

It’s important to stay on top of MMORPG articles and to understand the fan base they have. Another tactic to use is to fully understand in-game advertising. Since in-game advertising is still new, it is important to stay on top of the news. This way, when more companies begin to utilize in game advertising and MMORPGs you will understand how it works and if it’s a good fit for your brand.

This chapter talked about UGC, User Generated Content, which is a powerful tool to be used in gaming. It lets users know that the brand cares and wants their content. For instance, Honda is in the midst of, the Sounds of Civic, which is a UGC where users could send in songs and have the chance to win a brand new Honda Civic, get free music gear and perform on Honda’s online marketing campaign. This was a great “game” and was very interactive with users. The voting is going on right now, so users must share their song with their friends and their networks, which creates buzz for Honda. Although the idea was great, only 62 entries were entered. So this brings to mind, is UGC a good idea or a bust? I think Honda could have did a better job of integrating the Sounds of Honda also in traditional media so more people knew about it.

I think this chapter is very relevant in today’s social media industry. Online gaming through Facebook applications, iPad, iPhone, online and the Android system is already here. But when it comes to MMORPG, there is room for product placement, which has been done, but also going deeper to connect with the users. Maybe sports teams will create their own digital sword on a fantasy game. There are huge opportunities available for marketers.

A virtual world is a simulated virtual environment online that inhabits avatars. Avatars are a graphic representation of its interactive users. They can be represented various ways: image, photo, logo, 3D cartoon person or object. Virtual worlds are not to be mistaken for games; they have a completely different purpose. Virtual worlds do not have a game-winning objective. They are designed for people around the world to enter an online community with their avatar to communicate with others. This world lets people explore and learn with new people from around the globe. These worlds may seem to be like the real world or they may be fantasy driven.

The skills to focus on in a virtual world for a marketer is the movement, communication and how to find things that interest you or fit your brand or company’s identity. After finding a community that fits your interests, start to communicate and share ideas with them. This part is really about forming a relationship with others in the virtual world. Another great tip for a marketer is to explore your competition and see how they utilize the virtual world. After taking note of their successes, you will be able to make a plan to fit your online campaign. Then, after the plan has been formulated, explore ways to sell within the virtual world. I feel a soft sell may be a better approach in this instance.

Internally, the virtual world may be a great source of communication. Holding meetings in the virtual world is an option. PowerPoint slide presentations are available in this online interaction and it could be a fun way to get your employees excited about meetings and conferences.

Marketing in a Virtual World- Step Into the Future gives further insight to reaching out and gaining brand awareness in a virtual or secondary world. These second life virtual worlds consumer seven million registered users. This summer I am working at an entertainment advertising agency and I found the video on this website to be very helpful. For instance, one of our clients is Warner Brothers, and we worked on the Star Wars movies. In the second life, or virtual world, movies can be promoted throughout this world and avatars can interact with the movie through role-play or watching clips or seeing billboards. Product placement and store testing could be used for product research. Products can be created just for second life by brands. Also, games can be made for a brand for the users to interact with the brand.

Livecasting has many names: Streaming radio, e-radio, talk radio, webasting, Internet radio, webcasting and many more. Basically, it is a broadcast that is online from users to stream. Livecasting gives the ability to produce your own, current content and distribute the content live via Internet. And the best quality about livecasting, is that is free! This is the first time producing a radio show and distributing it to the entire world has been free. As a marketer it is a tool to utilize.

With the portability of livecasting it has become very popular. Do- it- Yourself Radio is a live broadcasting, Internet radio where you can communicate with your followers live. BlogTalkRadio is a platform that allows people to host their own live Internet broadcast shows. All a person needs is a telephone. This is known as the newest form of new media. It’s also known as the Internet audio blog. Producing a a livecast is as easy as logging onto the Web page with a password, type when you want the show to air, call a serial number with a phone, then the computer screen will display the phone numbers of listeners. Then the host can put as many as six listeners on air at once and other listeners can download the session as a podcast later.

A webcam can be used with a livecast. Webcams are fairly inexpensive and can be a valuable tool to the livecast. As a marketer it is important to always see through your customers’ and potential customers’ eyes. When creating a webinar or radio show, remember, “What’s in It for me?” content. Including chat is another tactic to keep in mind. Also, presenting pictures along with the audio can be valuable for the listeners, especially in webinars.  Internally, a company can utilize livecasting for web conferences. This enables businesses to use the power of the Internet and the power of livecasting to communicate successfully around the globe.

Web Radio—A Viable Marketing Strategy’s author Kathleen Gage gives additional insight to web radio marketing tactics. This source tells us that if the host web station is well positioned in the market place, it can gain your brand global notice for no cost. They point out to make sure the quality of the audio is good, make sure the audio is clear. Also, this source brings to light that this is a great social media tool to integrate into a marketing plan, not to be used alone.