In the recent years there has been tremendous hype generated around social media and how it can impact marketing. Most people agree that social media can be used to amplify word of mouth exponentially and companies of all sizes have established themselves on various networks. However all said and done the true value of social media is still not clear and most companies have either not been able to utilize its potential or don’t know how to evaluate its benefits.

Reputation systems are components of social media platform with amazing potential – they can be vital in building trust, improving collaboration, instilling loyalty and promoting quality. Although they are very popular, they are also mostly badly designed and hence ineffective. Websites like Amazon and eBay have used online reputation systems very well. In the case of eBay although its solid reputation system made it such a big phenomenon, certain flaws in the design have forced eBay to establish additional monitoring systems.

The CEO of HP Mark Hurd believes that more data will be created in the coming four years than it was in the history of mankind. It may not be an exaggeration if you consider that Facebook now has more than 500 million users; if it were a country it would be the third most populous after China and India. Data is generated by people who are spending increasing amounts of time on the internet and participating in a variety of activities.

Email is a blessing of the Internet, but for many it has become a curse as they are overloaded due to a continous flow of emails. In such a situation how do you ensure that your email marketing program hits the bulls-eye.

Source: Inc Magazine

Small businesses in Bay Area, California, had been helplessly witnessing a steady decline in business as big name retailers opened local chapters and also offered a relentless flow of tempting online offers at their websites. This was till Jason Sutherland a web designer opened the web-based community portal called Peninsula Shops. Sutherland had envisioned Peninsula Shops as a ‘chamber of commerce on steroids’. He intended to help local businesses stay relevant and improve their profits with the help of latest online marketing ideas.

Imagine having an advertising system in which your advertisements appear before customers who have expressed interest in your products or services. That’s what retargeted advertising is all about. It is not based on some latest technological marvel, but is just an innovative way of using existing technology. Companies that are involved in retargeted advertising use cookies to track customers who visited their websites but left without making any purchases.