In this show, five heavyweight experts give business sales advice on the best ways to reach more customers next year.
Thomas Power - Founder, Ecademy.com
Social media and social networks are converging fast. 2010 will be the year social media networks rise. Businesses which truly tap into social media networks will reach incredible numbers of people. They’ll attract the right people, start the right conversations and achieve incredible profile.
Debbie Weil - Author The Corporate Blogging Book
Online is the key channel whether you're trying to reach 20-somethings or 60-somethings. It means a Web 2.0 site, a blog, and major social networking platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Especially YouTube. Video is the new king of content. Everybody loves it. Potential customers will woo other customers with it.
Alan Stevens - Director. Mediacoach.co.uk
Companies should focus on the communication methods their customers use. These will include video, iPhone Apps and social messaging. You can use these to develop products or deliver them.
Andrew Ballenthin - Author, Stop Chasing Chickens
Be realistic about social networking. 75% of businesses using social media do not get ROI. Causes: not integrated with marketing, lacking traffic, no relationship conversion process. Choose a network your customers want to go to, have goals and a communications plan, and understand how to notify your audience of your content. Dialog is overrated. Only 1% or less of visitors will say what they think online. Most of your audience just wants to watch. Expect measurable returns that your company values or stop. Time is too valuable to not get acceptable returns.
Mark Mason - CEO, Mubaloo
We would encourage businesses to explore smartphone apps as a business tool. Mobile media usage will grow by a third in the next year so businesses need to have a presence. The B2C market is already heavily investing in apps ...the B2B market is beginning to play catch up. Apps are becoming a powerful branding tool. Soon every brand will have an app in the same way that every brand has a website.
