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If you’re on Twitter, you’ve probably browsed around the myriad of tools out there, from third-party developers and Twitter itself, that are meant to help you manage your profile. There’s apps and services for everything you can imagine – finding followers, auto-managing followers, creating backgrounds, promoting yourself, advertising, analytics, spam detectors, widgets…you get the picture.

There's a number of factors we take into consideration here at Mellon & Co. when developing search engine optimization strategies. One major factor is inbound links, also referred to as backlinks, or links from other websites pointing to yours.  

This accurate description of Integrated Marketing Communications, the words often heard when describing the field, are an important part of what we do at Mellon & Co. It may help our clients, and even prospective clients, to have a deeper understanding of our core philosophy: Marketing: It is a process. We measure the results of the process by number of customers, sales, amount of profit generated, etc. Marketing Communications (MC): This is an umbrella term for all communication avenues available for conveying marketing messages. These include advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct response marketing, events, sponsorships, point-of-purchase materials, packaging, trade shows, customer service, and personal sales. MC is measured as the proportion of marketing dollars assigned to each avenue and the marketing return on investment (MROI) for each. Marketing Mix: The specific MC elements used by an organization, measured in marketing dollars and MROI. Brand: It is the total collection of perceptions and associations (good, bad, and indifferent) that differentiate an organization from its competitors. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Another process. IMC is the organization, planning, and monitoring of marketing components and data to control and influence brand information, associations, and experiences. The goal is to incubate profitable relationships and dialog with patients and other groups. This is typically measured by internal and external surveys, focus groups, managerial accounting, trend analyses, referral indices, etc. [Source: audiologyonline.com, describing how they use IMC for their business model.] Read the full article.

Mellon & Co. has kicked off its Illustrate Your Story campaign by introducing new web sites for several organizations and individuals. Mellon & Co. donated an Illustrate Your Story web site to Nance Jackson, a local artist, preparing for Routes to Art, a Western New York open studio art tour. Additionally, the Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament, and the Olean Ancient Order of Hibernians, and Canticle Farm were approved to receive Illustrate Your Story web sites at no charge. The sites may be viewed at www.nljackson.com, www.oleanaoh.org, www.oleangusmacker.org, and www.canticlefarm.org. For more information about Illustrate Your Story web solutions, visit www.illustrateyourstory.com.

For those who are new to Twitter, or the social web in general, it can be a little overwhelming. There’s lots of advice, services and proclaimed experts out there who make it even more overwhelming and confusing. Our intentions are to give you the straight talk: How can you, as a business person, use social websites like Twitter to promote your business goals?

One note before we dig in. Twitter is just one of an ever-growing number of online tools that you can use for business purposes. To really make social media work for you, you need to sprinkle your brand, your content, yourself and your company all around the web, on more than just a single website. Our intentions are to first highlight the ‘heavy-hitters’ and to get you started on platforms that you can’t afford to leave out of your arsenal of social media tools.

It’s also important to remember that Twitter is a tactic. It needs to be part of your larger communications and marketing strategy, not a replacement of it.

The Benefits of Becoming a Twitterfied Business

(Please excuse the not-so-clever Twitter reference. Just couldn’t resist!) Think about what you want to get out of Twitter. Despite Twitter’s proclaimed purpose of allowing “friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” Twitter is really a place for exchanging value – you get something that you need and offer others something of value in exchange. It’s a place of shared community and common interest.

You may choose to use Twitter for personal reasons – like communicating with friends, or maybe following your favorite celebs – and this is great. But from a business perspective, Twitter can offer a lot, including:

• Competitive Analysis. What perceptions are out there about your competition? What’s being said about them? Are they even being talked about?
• Brand Positioning. Face it: Chances are people are talking about your company, whether you’re initiating the conversation or not. If they are, you need to know about it. You need to start listening and contributing to the conversation.
• Industry Trending. Twitter is a place where thought leaders gather. What better way to stay on top of your industry than to follow and join in their conversations.
• Networking. Connect with like-minded people you have never even met and probably never will. It's the perfect place for people who cringe at the word "network" to showcase what they have to offer.
• Lead Generation. Find people who are in need of and are actively seeking the products or services you offer.
• Relationship Building. Don’t just find your prospects, get to know them and allow them to get to know you. Build even stronger bonds with existing customers.
• Customer Feedback. Reach out to your customers, on a personal level, and find out what they’re thinking. Two-way communication is key.

These are just some of the uses of Twitter for business. Every day, companies are discovering new benefits and ways to advance their business goals - one 140-character-or-less message at at time. The only way for you to know, is to get involved. Think about what it is you want to achieve on Twitter. For those who have yet to hop on the Twitter train, our next post will walk you through the step-by-step process of signing up.