How Marketing Influencers Have Changed

In their publication "Top 12 Digital Predictions for 2012", Milward Brown's Global Futures Group described how marketing influencers have changed; "In the past, key influencers have been limited to traditional advertising, consumer promotions (i.e. coupons, sampling,etc.); trade promotions (i.e. price reductions, displays,etc.); and word-of-mouth from family and close friends. With the advent of social media, our influencers have changed, broadening in both reach and scope. Microsoft's Bing search engine can pull in a user's friends' Facebook likes and display them with search results. Even total strangers can now impact the choices we make by leaving online comments and reviews." Social media offers an entirely new way for businesses and organizations to form a relationship with customers and to leverage customer loyalty to attract prospects. As explained by author Robert Cialdini in his book "Influence:Psychology of Persuasion", the idea of tapping into the wisdom of the crowd is based on a principle of social influence. Instead of making a decision (such as what brand to purchase or where to eat dinner) based on the rational measures of traditional economics, we instead turn to outside influences. Cialdini calls this social proof, defined as "one means we use to determine which is correct is to find out what other people think is correct."

Tips for making Social Media and Direct Mail work together

Here are a few tips for making social media and direct mail work together; 1. Create a Facebook page for your company and update it regularly with products or services, or an event. Mail a post card with a QR code to the page. 2. Create a forum on Facebook and encourage participation via direct mail. 3. Monitor Twitter conversations on your product or services. Use the topics in a direct mail piece. 4. Post videos on YouTube demonstrating your product or providing an explanation or instruction. 5. Make your direct mail piece interactive by adding a QR code. The code can lead to a mobile web site, a YouTube video or a short survey form that offers a reward for completion. 6. Include social media icons such as Facebook or Twitter logos on your direct mail piece. This gives your target audience more options for learning about your company, especially if they are interested in customer reviews. 7. Post links to a general, nonpersonalized landing page containing something desirable(information, an offer) on social media sites. Measure how respondents are getting to the landing page to determine the most valuable source. 8. Make it easy for visitors to share with others. People like to share valuable information with others. Provide a "like" button for Facebook, a "mention" button for Twitter, and request a "check-in" on Facebook. Call on us to help you integrate social media marketing with direct mail. We have been providing direct mail services to our customers for 32 years, and we are good at what we do. For more information or to set an appointment call Dan at 303-320-4855

Using Direct Mail to Enhance Social Media

Use of social media has exploded in the last seven years. In February 2005, the Pew Research Center conducted the first of six surveys as part of the Internet and American Life Project. In 2005, only 2% of adults who use the Internet were using a social media site. That number increased to 16% in 2006, 29% in 2008, 46% in 2009, 61% in 2010 and 65% in 2011. Who are these users? According to a Morgan Stanley report issued in December 2009, 67% of 18-34 year olds use a social networking site--and so do 67% of the 45-54 year old population and 55% of those 55+. In 2007, social networking represented about 1 out of every 12 minutes spent online, while today it accounts for 1 out of every 6 minutes spent online. If you can only afford to use one marketing channel, we believe it should be direct mail. Here is why; 1. The marketing message gets to the customer or prospect. You are reaching out, not waiting for someone to find you. 2. You control the message. At a social media site, anyone can say anything, even if it isn't true. 3. You are competing with fewer messages. These days there is relatively little competition for your customer's or prospect's attention in a mail box. 4. Mail is a physical media. The brain responds differently to physical and digital media. According to a 2009 study by Millward Brown research company, physical media like a direct mail piece eaves a "deeper footprint" in the brain, involves more emotional processing, and produce more brain responses connected with internal feelings.

Guidelines for determining copyright.
Images--photographs, clip art, drawings, graphics--are usually copyright-protected. Determining the copyright owner for photographs is sometimes difficult. In general, the photographer is considered the owner even if the work was for hire (such as photographs of a wedding or other event). And the copyright endures even if the photographer is no longer living--rights can be transferred by a will as personal property. The photographer must specifically transfer the copyright, in writing and the document must be signed to another person.
Stock photography and clip art sold in books, on Cd's or down loadable from web sites is royalty-free(or may be in the public domain) but usually is not copyright-free. Exercise care when using the images. By reading the agreement or license that accompanies the image or is available on the website, you'll understand what your rights are for reproduction of the image and whether there are limitations on use. The most common limitation is for incorporating the image into something you intend to offer for sale.

How long does a copyright remain in force?
The length of a copyright varies depending on the type of work, whether it has been published, and whether it was created by an individual or was work-for-hire. In most countires, copyright protection is equal to the life of the author plus 50 or 70 years.
The length and requirements for copyright can be changed by legislation. In addition, copyright laws can be updated to include protection for new types of original work such as the creation of software programs.
In the United States, copyright extends for a fixed number of years after the creation or publication date, then expires at year end. All copyrights for works published before 1923 have expired and the works are now in the public domain. Works published between 1923 and 1964 are in the public domain unless the copyright was renewed. Works published before 1978 without including the copyright notice are in the public domain. For works published after March 1, 1989, copyright notice is not required as a condition of establishing copyright protection.

Copyright law, which has its origins in English law dating back to 1662, was written into the Constitution of the United States in 1887. Congress enacted the first federal copyright law(An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the Authors and Proprietors of Such Copies) in May 1790 and the first work was registered two weeks later. In 1870 copyright functions were placed within the Library of Congress; the Copyright Office became a separate department within the Library of Congress in 1897. The copyright law has been revised repeatedly in, 1831,1870,1909 and 1976.
Copyright law applies to seven broad categories;
1. Literary works
2. Musical works
3. Dramatic works
4. Pantomimed and choreographed works
5. Pictorial, graphics and sculptural works
6. Motion pictures and audiovisual works
7. Sound recordings

The digital revolution has made it very easy for us to access material from files, web sites and the Internet. We all freely copy things we like and send them to others, use them on our social network sites or add them to our presentations and reports. The ease with which we can claim material for our own use may be obscuring the fact that much of this use could violate copyright laws.
What is copyright?
Copyright is legal protection for authors on how their original works are used. The owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to:
1. reproduce the work
2. prepare derivative works
3. distribute copies of the work by selling, renting, leasing or lending and
4. perform or display the work publicly
Copyright protects a wide variety of original works,from the written word (poetry, stories, books) to entertainment(songs, movies, video games, plays, choreography) to visual arts (paintings, sculptures, photographs, architecture). It also includes software code, derivative work and compilations.