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This days im interested in SEM

Now here’s a funding deal you don’t get to write about everyday. True Ventures has invested $2.5 million in a tongue scraper. That’s not high-tech jargon for, say, a scummy site that steals private data off of your social networks and sells it to marketers. True Ventures newest portfolio company is a small consumer package good company out of Provo, Utah that sold a million tongue brushes last year for a few dollars each. And the hope is this tiny company can instruct Silicon Valley a thing or two about how to use social media.

The company is called Orabrush and you may have seen its YouTube videos, which Advertising Age rated one of the ten ideal social media campaigns of 2010.

Except Orabrush’s use of YouTube may be more impressive than say Pepsi or Old Spice, because it was promoting a product that no one knew about and no one wanted to sell. The brush was invented decades ago by a guy named Bob Wagstaff. Now in his 70s, he’d tried everything to make the product successful– even an infomercial. So a few years ago, Wagstaff took it to a local university to see what they could do with it. The students did loads of research and came back and told him that 92% weren’t interested so he shouldn’t waste time marketing it online. Except one student name Jeffrey Harmon pointed out that 8% was still a lot of people.

Harmon offered to work on commission marketing the tongue brush online, and got a friend to do a ranty video about bad breath. That video cost a few hundred dollars and got more than 16 million views and sold ten thousand Orabrushes in six weeks. It also scored Orabrush coverage on Nightline, The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and a host of other highbrow media outlets.

Here’s the surprising thing: The video isn’t really that funny. Saying it “went viral” isn’t quite right. People weren’t forwarding this around saying “YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS! LOLOLOL!” People seemed to resonate with the product itself and a desire not to have bad breath. Many viral videos do more than rack up page views. This one not only sold ten thousands Orabrushes, it spawned hundreds of videos of people using it and showing the camera the gunk that came off their tongues. Another four million people watched those video responses. And a whopping 20% of people who watched Orabrush’s video went to the site, and 5% purchased a brush– metrics that have stayed steady over time.

About this time Jeff Davis — a former senior executive at Procter & Gamble who’d retired to Utah and was looking for something to do– was introduced to the company. Its success at using social media to create a category flew in the face of everything he’d learned over 23 years of marketing products the traditional way. He joined the company as CEO in 2010. On one hand, it’s a like a return to the early days of the consumer package good industry where Soap Operas were high-content ads for soap. On the other hand, he’s in a new world where like George Costanza, his job is now to do the opposite of most everything he learned at P&G.

Since then, the company has managed to translate that video success to retail deals. In the UK, 40,000 Orabrush fans complained enough that Boots called the company to ask how they could carry them. Forty retailers in five countries carry the Orabrush and Wal-Mart is selling them in 14 stories in Utah. The Wal-Mart campaign is interesting. The Orabrush is one of the first products that has an “As Seen on YouTube” label, and there’s a monitor at the end of the aisle showing the videos. I’m not sure Chad Hurley and Steve Chen ever thought their video site would be blaring in Wal-Mart as an in-store marketing tool. But somehow, that too is working. In stores that carry the Orabrush it outsells any other toothbrush– never mind stores turned this product down for years saying tongue scrapers never sell.

Like Justin Bieber, Orabrush is one of those things that seems to be finally proving the promise of YouTube to discover wildly successful things via grass roots that the establishment wasn’t smart enough to “get.” Sure Orabrush doesn’t have millions of followers on Twitter or a movie about its rise through YouTube, but it also doesn’t have that hair. For a device that gets rid of bacteria, it’s about as Bieber-like as you can get.

This is an unlikely social media think tank: 70-year old Dr. Bob, middle-aged Davis and 20-something Harmon and his rogue video crew. But somehow, it keeps working. They’ve made more than 30 videos– most starring a “dirty tongue” who spends his time offending everyone in a weekly show– and their channel is the second most trafficked on YouTube with 33 million views. They followed up with a “Bad Breath Detector” iPhone app, that I refused to blow on when I met with them. It has been downloaded 250,000 times. Despite its small size, Google has flown them out to Mountain View several times to learn from what the company has done well. Under pressure to find a way to turn all those eyeballs into a massive revenue stream, there’s something about Orabrush that might hold the answer for Google.

This is why Davis joined the company as CEO, and this is why True invested along with existing investor 2x Consumer Product Growth Partners in Chicago. It’s a lot of pressure on something that seems to have just worked so far. The question is: Has Orabrush been lucky with a product people happened to connect with or have they unlocked some secret of using primary YouTube content as highly-actionable commercials? Could they do this with, say, dental floss?

Harmon the keys are the four Cs of authentic content, collaboration with the YouTube audience, consistency and a clear call to action. Also, he doesn’t show the videos to Davis before they run. A rude tongue insulting users, women, minorities and beating up on a football field? Yeah, superior to ask forgiveness than permission. See the latest one about Valentine’s Day below.

But part of the key might be not to confuse lightening in a bottle with a formula for success. What’s striking isn’t that YouTube would have the reach to pull this off. After all, we’ve all seen stats about how much time people spend on the web versus watching TV, how powerless ads are in a TiVo world, and how you have to entertain people if you want to advertise to them these days. But 99% of the time, it just doesn’t work. American Express and Microsoft tried the entertainment route with pricey ads starring Jerry Seinfeld, and they were a bust. Nearly every Superbowl ad invites you to watch more online. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never once done that. And while the Old Spice campaign was an exception too– it was also hilarious and overtly interactive. The Orabrush campaign seemed to strike a chord because people wanted the product.

On one hand, I hope there is something they’ve figured out because consumer packaged goods is one of the only industries the World wide web hasn’t managed to disrupt. But on the other hand, I fear an onslaught of ranty ads trying to ape what Orabrush seems to have innately stumbled into.

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This days im interested in SEO

Dan Klamm is the outreach and marketing coordinator at Syracuse University Career Services. Connect with him on Twitter @DanKlamm.

Finding a job in today’s economy is tough if you’re looking locally, but it can be particularly challenging if you’re seeking work in a far-away, unfamiliar city.

If you’re a long-distance job seeker, you face several disadvantages. First, some companies that bringing you in for an interview will be a hassle and that you will expect them to pay for travel expenses. Second, they don’t know whether you’re serious about relocating to their city. Third, you’re an unknown entity. When going head-to-head with more familiar candidates, it’s often easier and less risky for employers to the locals and toss your application aside.

Even if you’re able to secure interviews and gain some traction in your search, the process of landing a position in a new city can involve a significant investment of time, money and resources on your part.

The good news is that social media can help with the process of long-distance job seeking. Whether you’re looking for a job 300 or 3,000 miles from home, here are some tips for using social media in your search.

Stay On Top of Local News

When interviewing for positions in a new locale, you don’t want to seem like an outsider. It’s important to get acquainted with local culture and to stay on top of important happenings in the news. Though you probably won’t be grilled on local politics, sports teams or economic development during the interview process, being aware of these things can help with small talk. It also shows that you’re serious about relocating and invested in the process.

You can get started by following local news outlets on TwitterTwitter and FacebookFacebook, as well as identifying local personalities and thought leaders to keep up with. A job seeker focusing his efforts on Richmond, VA, for instance, might think about following @RVAnews, @RichmondMag and @WireRichmond. The Huffington Post even aggregated lists of regional news outlets on Twitter, making it for you to find Twitter accounts in specific locations.

Grow Your Professional Network

Most jobs are found through networking, so you should leverage any and all local connections you may have. Facebook is a great platform for warming up relationships with old friends, family or former colleagues who live in the location where you’d like to be. Beyond that, LinkedInLinkedIn can help you identify new contacts — such as people working at your target companies — and get introduced through mutual connections. Here are some tips on the etiquette of reaching out via social media.

Tap into local professional associations on LinkedIn, too. If you’re relocating to Boston to work in marketing, for instance, you have plenty of opportunities to network: The Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association, the Boston Marketing Group, and the Boston Interactive Media Association, just to name a few. Being part of these groups will keep you in-the-know with local industry happenings and increase the likelihood that you’re invited to networking events.

Don’t overlook alumni connections in your target city. Many schools have satellite locations or active regional clubs with robust offerings in the way of career connections. At Syracuse University, alumni can follow @LubinHouseSU and @BigAppleOrange on Twitter, or join the Huge Apple Orange group on LinkedIn to network with SU’s alumni base in the New York City area.

Find Job Postings

Increasingly, companies are using LinkedIn and Twitter to publicize job openings. LinkedIn is more useful than a typical job board because it grants you to see who posted each job and to pinpoint how you are connected to individuals at the company.

Edelman, one of the world’s largest independent PR firms, uses LinkedIn to post job opportunities in its 52 worldwide offices. The firm also uses Twitter to engage potential employees. Recently, Edelman even hosted a San Francisco Tweet-up for job seekers savvy enough to be following its @Edelman_Careers account on Twitter.

In addition to specific companies posting jobs, be aware of niche job feeds on Twitter. Looking for jobs in New York City’s fashion industry? Follow @nyfashionjobs. Marketing jobs in Los Angeles? Try @LA_Marketing. Visit twitjobsearch.com to locate Twitter accounts posting jobs relevant to your particular search.

Save Money on Travel

In most cases, you’ll need to make at least a couple trips to your desired new location before making a permanent move. If you’re lucky, your prospective employer will offer to cover the costs of travel or give you the opportunity to conduct preliminary interviews via phone or SkypeSkype. Even with these accommodations, the costs of hunting for a job in a far-away location can add up quickly — especially if you’re looking in costly markets like New York City or San Francisco.

To learn about opportunities to save, connect with travel providers and hospitality companies through social media. Often, these organizations will provide promotional codes or discounts to their followers. United Airlines has been known to advertise special fares (or “twares”) via their Twitter account. Virgin America has also offered discounted rates via Twitter promotions, such as “Fly Forward, Give Back.” Amtrak, Greyhound and Megabus all use Twitter to share news or special offers, as well.

When you will need to find lodging in your desired new location, it never hurts to be acquainted with local hotels. This past summer, the Bryant Park Hotel gave away a free two-night stay to a lucky Twitter follower. Many hotels are using social media to communicate with prospective guests, announce special rates and articulate their brand values. For a comprehensive view of hotels on Twitter, take a look at this list organized by Resideo.

Show That You Mean Business!

When a prospective employer receives your job application from across the country, he/she has no way of knowing how serious you are about moving. Are you applying to the company on a whim? Are you applying to positions all over the country? Would you really be prepared to make a move if offered the job? Use social media to show that you’re committed to relocating.

You can begin by customizing your LinkedIn profile. In your LinkedIn headline or summary, your plan to look for jobs in “X field” in “X location” by “X date.” This clarifies your intentions and shows that you mean business. Not all job seekers can be this forthright (especially those who have to keep relocation plans a secret from their current employers), but this is an excellent way to reinforce your seriousness about moving.

Looking for work in a new location can be a daunting task, but with the help of social media, it doesn’t have to be quite so difficult. When you make use of all the resources at your fingertips, you may be surprised how easy it is to make connections, identify opportunities, and ultimately land your dream job in a new location!

More Business Resources from Mashable:

– How the Fortune 500 Use Social Media to Grow Sales and Revenue
– 5 Ways to Sell Your Expertise Online
– Why Your Business Should Consider Reverse Mentorship
– 35 Essential Social Media & Tech Resources for Small Businesses
– 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter

Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, thesuperph

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Awesome research, and a thank you to the smart people behind it! My thoughts on each stat:

86% of B2B using social media compared to 82% of B2C: Great! Social media works better for B2B than B2C because a) the more complex a topic is, the more granular you need to get and only social media grants for that kind of depth; b) the easier it is to find information housed in social channels (like blogs) via search engines; and c) the tighter-knit the offline communities are, hence greater inbuilt trust and constructive engagement.

Only 32% engage on a daily basis, compared with 52% of B2C firms: Frankly, I'm pleased to see that the number is as high as a third. B2Cs were forced onto the social web earlier because the have greater raw numbers of people speaking about them online. So the opportunity showed up faster and so did the threats.

36% of B2Bs said there was low executive interest in social media: Speaking anecdotally, I bet that figure was 70% a year ago. There has been a sea change in opinion, in part because I think execs now see Twitter and Facebook logos on all kinds of consumer advertising. Sort of like when web site addresses become omnipresent in the 2000s. The roll out of Google “Jazz” earlier in the year, with its inclusion of videos, and tweets, has also upped social media's visibility. A study done by Forbes/Google found that the C-Suite conducts about 6+ searches per day, regardless of age (http://www.forbes.com/forbesin…). That's six times per day they're seeing social media-derived results about the business trends they're researching.

46% of B2Bs say social media is perceived as irrelevant v. 12% for B2C: To paraphrase Steve Jobs, they're holding it wrong. Like many consumer companies before them, B2Bs thought simply having a Twitter feed or YouTube channel meant you had a social media strategy. But that's like saying a phone and email address equals a media relations program. They're getting there now, and they'll get their faster as soon as one competitor in each market starts holding it “right.”

60% of B2Bs say they have no staff for social media v. 54%: As the DIRECT TRACKABLE links between social media and sales is seen, I predict a big uptick in investment. When $1 of expense yields $2 of return, resources follow, usually from the advertising budget.

10% of B2Bs use outside agencies compared to 28% of firms: There's a healthy debate about who can DO community relations better. Some agency-client relationships are so deep that an “outsider” can be entrusted to communicate the client’s culture and be given access to get the info they need on a daily basis . But otherwise, it’s going to be an in-house person that can keep their finger on the pulse of their company and community the ideal and ultimately synchronize them.

B2B spending on interactive marketing to double in next five years, but social media marketing will grow from just $11m to $54m in 2014: As the totally quantifiable links between social media and B2B sales are seen, I think that number will grow far beyond that.

Facebook stratified “extremely” or “somewhat” effective. Fewer state that of LinkedIn and 35% so of Twitter: As they to see the thought leadership applications of LinkedIn groups and learn more about how to use Twitter to steer traffic into their other social media channels, I think that “effective” ranking will increase considerably.

Only 50% of B2B marketers formally examine metrics to judge ROI: The next wave of integration — and we'll see a lot of this in 2011 — is linking social media traffic and metrics to in-house CRM systems. So that number will climb as the expertise about how to make those causal links grows.

Two factors have delayed B2B adoption. The first is that consumer got their first. The second is that when consumer-style approaches were used, most of them were found lacking. That discouraged a lot of B2Bs from thinking social media could work for them. The good news is that B2Bs have been steadily finding their way, trying approaches that fit their unique needs, and finding many that work and can be scaled. Funny thing is, social media delivers higher ROI for B2B than B2C. Many people have called this time the golden age of public relations. When it comes to B2B, it's more accurate to state “platinum.”

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This days im interested in SEM

Almost Effortless Marketing for Your Website by Creating Interest

Viral marketing, or viral advertising, is a great way to market any website. It is called viral marketing because your advertisement or website promotion grows and spreads like a virus. The idea is to have your website
 address replicated quickly and effortlessly across the web.

And it works.

Viral marketing works on the basic premise that people want to share good things with their friends and associates. The first step to creating a successful viral marketing campaign is to create something that members of the public will want to pass along to others.

Funny stories, humorous or amazing movies, jokes, games, and intriguing articles are all good viral marketing elements. Whatever the chosen medium for the viral marketing ad, the most important thing is to include, prominently but not obnoxiously, your company’s logo or website address.

Every time a person passes the hilarious joke along to a friend of family member, your website address goes with it. Not only do you improve your brand recognition, but also you will improve the public’s opinion of your company. And company owner with such a great sense of humor must be an okay guy to do business with. That is the kind of idea that you want to foster with viral marketing.

Another excellent viral marketing method is writing a branded ebook that you offer for free to people on your website. Again, make sure that your company logo and website address are prominent in the ebook’s pages.

Encourage your visitors to download the ebook for free, and encourage them to pass it on to anyone else they think might like it. Your generosity will increase perceptions of you, at the same time you are spreading your website address around.

Besides ebooks, other freebies, contests, and games are other great viral marketing techniques. Give away a free t-shirt with your company logo on it, have an advertising contest, of offer free fun games on your website. If visitors enjoy themselves, not only will they come back for another visit, but they will also pass the information to their friends.

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