Generate word of mouth with powerful social marketing tools.

As an Internet marketing professional, I try to keep on top of new marketing avenues and opportunities for leveraging word-of-mouth. In recent years, the method by which individuals get their information has evolved and so have the tools for sharing information from one individual to another. Social bookmarking is now a popular method of communicating among younger audiences and is proving to be an effective marketing tool for increased exposure of products, services, and brands.

Start Your Own Blog In 3 Easy Steps

Blogging is a great way to reach your audience, share your thoughts, and even help you with your Internet marketing. I’ve been blogging for nearly 3 years and continue to enjoy the benefits of not only communicating with an audience, but engaging in meaningful dialog. Starting a blog is easy to do and pays huge dividends.

There are a number of free services available that offer free blog services. Sites like Blogger and WordPress only require a brief registration and set up. Once you determine a theme for your blog and a template, you’re ready to begin posting. Posts are entries you make on your blog that are published instantly.

Do free trials really work? Are they cost effective? Whether you’re considering a free trial or sampling of some kind, keep in mind that many products are best “experienced”. For example, its difficult to know whether or not you’ll like the flavor of a new toothpaste without trying it. On the service side, you don’t know if you’ll like a new dry cleaner until you get your shirts pressed.

As a result, many marketers are using free trials to lure new customers. This is particularly effective when the lifetime customer value of a new customer is substantial.

This article is by Avi Savar, founder and chief creative officer of Big Fuel, a social media agency that is part of Publicis Groupe.

Companies sometimes gripe that social media is useless as a branding tool.

For marketers, converting messages into transactions is the Holy Grail, but if they don’t quickly materialize through new media outlets, that’s no reason to throw in the towel. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other outlets are constantly evolving and experimentation is necessary to find success.

Once we accept that “social” does not equal “transactional” we’ll all be a lot more adept at using it in 2012.

By Michael Fleischner

I don’t know about you, but I feel like there is a scarcity of good marketing today. What do I mean “good marketing?” You know the kind of marketing that sticks with you and drives you to take action. The only marketing that has really moved me in the last couple of years has been from Apple. How do I know? I own 3 ipods.

You might be thinking to yourself that it’s more the product that drives behavior than the marketing, and when it comes to the ipod I don’t necessarily disagree. However, I would argue that in some ways, the marketing has to be even better than it does with your run of the mill product.

Here are some of the insider tips that will lift response, readership and recall:

1. Why bury your contact info? You see it in every trade pub and newspaper, contact numbers and Web sites in teeny weeny print at the bottom of the ad. That’s the last thing even the most dedicated prospect reads. You can lift response by increasing font size or using contrasting colors. Or try something radical, like moving the contact details up in your copy.