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Facebook Engagement Tips

Monday, April 4th, 2011

What are the best ways to engage your Facebook community? We agree with Lauren Friedman at Context Optional. Recently she broke it all down into six (6) easy tips that will escalate your brand presence and give your clients a reason to interact.

Stream Applications – give fans a chance to interact with your brand on their terms. Utilize polls or incentives to provide a quick, easy channel for community engagement.
Fan Recognition – take participation to the next level and acknowledge fans who take an interest in your brand. Taking the time to recognize or respond to comments shows that their opinion matters, keeps the conversation going & encourages others jump on the bandwagon.
Promotion – Entice fans to get in on the action by using creative content to “get the click.” This is your chance to draw attention to your brand, incentivize fans and ultimately drive them to your promotional offer in a way that’s fun and non-invasive. Cornell’s Jewelers has done just that with posts featuring their Diamond Dash event –a scavenger hunt in which the winner receives a $13k Tacori diamond ring – who wouldn’t want a chance at that?
Personal Touch – Humanize your presence; break the barrier between brand and fans. Relationships are fostered by an informal connection that makes people want to engage on your page. Expose them to internal happenings, photos and scenarios that promote a favorable user experience. We use our Tipping Point Media fan page to showcase our “Mojo Moments”, featuring the employee with the most votes for their efforts and contributions that week.
Open-ended Questions – Step out of your comfort zone, make fans feel as though they can relate and give them a chance to tell you what they want. Include them in the decision process and make them feel as though they have influence through active engagement. The Healthy Hero campaign has put a creative twist into the open-ended question strategy with their Family Fun Fridays. Whoever has the most “likes” for their answer to that day’s question receives a free 5-2-1-0 grab bag.
Integration – Crossover between platforms like Facebook and Twitter is a way to broaden your reach. Where possible, and appropriate given the differences in audience, maintain a consistent voice and content on both platforms. This lets fans access your brand on either platform, allowing them a choice of how to follow you while facilitating greater engagement.

Key objective: Engagement. If you want to know what makes consumers tick, ask them. If you want to draw their attention to your brand, entice them. And if you want to take interaction to the next level, develop and nurture a relationship that provides you both with something valuable – engage them.

Michelle Ashby
CEO

Posted in Brand Marketing, Facebook, Making Connections, Social Media | View Comments

QR Codes the Latest Shiny Object for Marketers

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Here in the US we’re seeing QR (Quick Response) codes popping up in more places every day. Already extremely popular in Japan and Korea, the two-dimensional bar code is finally starting to become widely recognized by American consumers. In order to take advantage of all the QR code has to offer (that’s only semi-sarcastic) all you need is a smart phone and QR reading software.

Marketers are beginning to embrace the use of QR codes for a number of reasons. I think the most attractive feature is that they’re immediately measureable. Place it on a billboard or in a print ad, two mediums that have notoriously been difficult to attach meaningful metrics to, and now you can see how many people are pro-actively responding. This can allow for benchmarking responses and trialing different messages and calls to action.

Another obvious reason for the recent surge is the large increase in smart phone ownership. According to comScore, the three-month average of cell phone owners who had a smart phone in Q4 of 2010 was 27% (over 60MM Americans), a 10% increase just from Q3 2010.

Beyond the tracking capabilities and growing user base, the functionality and capabilities of QR codes are attractive to marketers. The simplest (and unfortunately most widely adopted) use is to link people to a web or WAP page. Other uses include distribution of coupons; connecting users to video content; downloading an app, contact, or ringtone; entering a sweepstakes; and launching social media platforms.

Beware of the cool factor. As soon as there’s something new and shiny, marketers are excited to be early adopters. However, if you decide to utilize this technology without considering the user experience, you may sour your audience on scanning your codes. A QR code is like a scratch-off card — people have to apply some effort to engage, so the payoff better be worth it. Content emanating from a QR code needs to be useful or an easy redemption of an exclusive reward. Linking people to a general page on your website might not be the payoff your potential customer was hoping for.

QR codes are the soup du jour; I hear it brought up in marketing meetings on a weekly basis. Personally, I think they’re ugly. I feel for the creative director who now has to find a way to shoehorn in a QR code to their perfectly laid out print advertisement. Soon, these bar codes will be replaced with image recognition software, already available on smart phones. Wouldn’t it be better if consumers could download your app just by pointing their phone at your company’s logo or the product name? This reality is not far away.

Karl Heberger
Digital Media Supervisor

Tags: digital media, Marketing, Social Media
Posted in Brand Marketing, Marketing, Social Media | View Comments

Social Media from an Intern Perspective

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

What is it that consumers are looking to gain through brand interaction – is it solving problems, entertainment, a sense of belonging, or all of the above? That’s what I am hoping to find out while interning at Tipping Point Media. As a recent graduate from Mercyhurst College with a degree in Business Marketing and Advertising, I am ready to jump in and excited to share my thoughts on social media and insights gained from internship experiences.

While interning as marketing assistant at the University of Rochester Medical Center, I was fortunate enough to join the team during the development and launch of a new brand campaign. I participated in TV spot production, development of collateral materials for cardio, cancer and vascular medicine, market research and market plan development for the Wilmot Cancer Center.

Given all that the rebranding entailed, one might ask, “what about social media?” As social marketing was just beginning to gain momentum, this avenue was of high interest to me. The strategic value in understanding the power and reach of social media is a crucial tool that, if utilized correctly, can facilitate greater exposure, leverage consumer engagement, and build a company’s brand. I am now joining the Tipping Point Media team where social media is in full swing.

Social media helps us in understanding the way consumers think, what interests them, and what drives them to engage with your brand. Some key things to keep in mind:

-Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, fans and followers would rather relate to your business than be its target

-Include them in the decision process, encourage sharing of information and remind them that their opinions matter

-Eliminate brand vs. fan relationship, reveal the company’s human face and you may just obtain the engagement you’re seeking

-Ask yourself: Are your consumers relying on engagement for problem solutions, entertainment, community involvement or maybe something else?

As I look to social media to build the Tipping Point Media brand and fine-tune strategies for our customers, I hope to share some thoughts, tips and tricks that encourage you to look further into your customer interaction strategies and social media tactics.

Stephanie Caluori
Social Media Intern

Tags: brand engagement, Internships, Social Media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | View Comments

Friday Favorite: Map Your Twitter Followers

Friday, November 5th, 2010

One of my favorite things about the Twitter and Facebook platforms is the interesting and informative data they leave open to discovery through their API’s. Earlier in the week our CEO Michelle Ashby tweeted a cool finding from Facebook, a chart of when throughout the year, users breakup with their partners. The most often time is two weeks before Christmas. An odd fact, yes, but for marketers, data like this can be of great value when planning campaigns or thinking about the state of mind a large number of consumers may be in.

There are dozens of cool tools to find information about the people connecting with social media. Some of the more interesting use Google Maps to provide insight. Previously I mentioned one, Trendsmap, where users can see what topics are trending around the world by location.

Another useful tool in the same general category is MapMyFollowers. The site uses your Twitter account and Google Maps to see where the people following you reside. It plots the results on a map with pinpoints and you can click on each pin to see who the user is.

There are two limitations. First the site will only show you the location of 1,000 followers at a time. You can see them all, but you have to click on a drop-down menu to select from each group of 1,000 users. Second not every user provides accurate information about their location. While many do, not every person in your feed will be represented.

MapMyFollowers also includes a second very useful feature. It looks over the profile descriptions of followers and pulls out the most common keywords they use. This gives you a very interesting window into the interests of the people who are following you. Again the same limitation applies, the site lumps followers into groups of 1,000 at a time.

This information can be used to discover reach for a Twitter account and to discover what is important to that audience. It also opens a great deal of opportunities for targeted messages directly to individuals in a given location.

h/t to ReadWriteWeb where I originally found MapMyFollowers.

Tags: Data Visualization, Keywords, Twitter
Posted in Favorite Fridays, Twitter | View Comments

The Chaplin Time Traveler That Wasn’t

Friday, October 29th, 2010

The power of the Internet and social media to spread messages and information is both awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time. We have all seen the e-mails from supposed Nigerian princes seeking wire transfers of a few thousand dollars that come attached with the promise of a return on investment in the millions. Myths, scams, half-truths and outright lies abound online and unfortunately travel far faster and further than common sense. Enter the latest example, a video purported to be a possible spotting of a time traveler caught in front of a 1928 Hollywood film premiere. It was uploaded by a company called Yellow Fever Broadcast and has received over two million views on YouTube.

The video shows a woman holding a device and talking as she walks past the camera. She looks exactly like someone in our modern day, roaming oblivious to the world, as they talk on a cell phone. Evidence, it is speculated, that the woman had traveled back in time. It has since been spread not only online but on broadcast and cable television news shows. One more example of how tiny internet memes and PR stunts are now moving from quirky to mainstream in record time.

Of course, like most spectacular “too good to be true” things found online, the video actually shows us an easily explainable and perfectly mundane example of historic life. The woman was most likely using an “ear trumpet” or hearing aid and not a cell phone which, of course, would also have required her to transport a cell tower back to carry and spread her message. Unless of course, she was from some even further time in the future, where cell towers are no longer needed making this whole thing even more plausible. Welcome to the leaps of logic wild internet speculation breeds!

Live Science has both the explanation and a photo of an ear trumpet that existed around that time. Not as exciting as a time traveler, I know, but far more reasonable.

I remember the buzz online, back in the days of AOL and online bulletin board services, when a video purporting to be of an alien autopsy was shown on television. Debate about its authenticity still continues online even though the filmmakers behind it have come out and confirmed its true Earthy origins.

There are thousands of myths and misconceptions that have pervaded our culture, many evolving from myths told long ago and updated to reflect technology or modern trends. A great resource and one of my favorite bookmarks for debunking myths, urban legends and rumors is Snopes.com. It is the first place I go when a family member or co-worker sends me an email with the question “Do you think this is real?” Usually it isn’t and I can forward the answer with a link back to Snopes.

These are all examples of how powerful the Internet is, where we can build resources of both misinformation and clarification.

Posted in Social Media | View Comments

Old Spice Follow up

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Old Spice is becoming a household name in the world of viral marketing, especially after their most recent campaign that was launched via YouTube and Twitter (you can read about this campaign in a previous blog post here).

After reading articles upon articles on the Old Spice campaign, and its success (and in some peoples’ minds, failure), there seems to be a lot to follow up on. For one, what has made this viral phenomenon so out there? Why are people so enthralled with this campaign? I truly believe that the majority of the success of this promotion is derived from pure entertainment: a good looking man with uncanny wit and magnetism, hilarious content, and an overall feeling of connection with consumers.

However, all of this “entertainment” would never have just happened if it weren’t for serious research. And this, my friends, is why Old Spice is so good at what it does (well, at least their marketing team). They understand who they are trying to reach, and they tailor their message around them; sounds simple in theory, but is much harder in practice. This article by Rob Rose highlights the years of work that Old Spice, and their agency, Wieden + Kennedy, put in to make this such a nationwide sensation.

It’s all about going back to the basics – the first lesson that you learn in any Business 101 course is to know your target audience. Although it’s basic and often merits a sighing “Duh!,” it’s often where many companies fail. Sure, they may know who is buying their product and who they would like to see as a future customer; however, many miss the boat on actually connecting with them. Beneath it all: the satire, the humor, and the outrageousness of the Old Spice videos, is pure business fundamentals – Marketing 101.

Why do you think the Old Spice viral campaign was so successful (or such a failure)? This is a case study that could be discussed for days, and I want to hear what you have to say.

Posted in Marketing, Social Media | View Comments

Finding Motivation From Social Workouts

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Social media sites and services offer dozens of ways to harness the power of your social graph for entertainment, education, rekindling old connections or making new ones. One of the most useful things a user can do, in my opinion, is connect to a niche or subculture online where other users meet to achieve a goal, further a cause or share information around a specific topic. The most interesting and useful for me has been connecting my personal efforts to stay healthy and work out with social media.

There are several different Web sites and dozens of smart phone applications offering the ability to track workouts and keep food logs. The best tools connect users with a social graph to share progress around the topic of staying fit. My favorite is DailyMile where I have been keeping track of workouts for about a year now. (Note: There is no food log on DailyMile so I would recommend the calorie counter at About.com or one of the many apps available on Smart Phones.)

On DailyMile users can monitor circuit training, cycling, running, swimming, weight training, Yoga or any of a number of other popular activities. If you are someone like me who prefers to be outdoors and outside of the gym, you can chart your miles using the sites Google Maps integration. Then you can store frequently used routes and even see other users who follow similar routes in your area.

Once you log your activity, the time and your distance, DailyMile uses your profile information to calculate the calories you’ve burned. You can see your progress over the days, weeks, months and years. This is great for watching the miles add up and the pounds come off. Of course the site also shows those “not so great” weeks when you didn’t quite make your goals.

DailyMile offers a set of badges you can send as motivation to friends and followers. You can also leave encouraging comments. In the past, there have been times when kind friends have sent me motivation as a gentle reminder to get back on track. It worked and I often do the same for others.

On DailyMile you can elect to automatically post your workouts to your Facebook and Twitter feeds. You don’t have to do this, but it makes the process much easier to expand your friend-base. I have been greeted with wonderful, motivating comments from friends, family and Twitter followers who aren’t using use DailyMile.

In addition to motivation, the most important benefit for me has been the invaluable amount of information I have learned from using the site. Watching how other people train helps remove what sometimes can feel like insurmountable hills when you take up a new regimen. Reading their workouts have reminded me that everyone struggles and stumbles.

The site also helped me find the best workout for me. I had been running and struggling because of complications from asthma. As hard as I tried I could just never build a consistent routine. Watching the success others had with cycling, I decided a few weeks ago to buy a mountain bike.

In four weeks I have already logged near 100 miles. Best of all, biking allows me to accomplish more than I was achieving from running and with far less stress on my lungs. I now look forward to coming home, working out and logging the routes!

If you are looking for motivation, or even just a way to keep track of a workout, DailyMile is an invaluable resource. I highly recommend joining. You can always see my profile and connect if you are looking to get started.

Tags: DailyMile, Facebook, Health, Twitter, Working Out
Posted in Social Media | View Comments

The Old Spice Viral Phenomenon, and What We Can Learn From It

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

It’s not your father’s deodorant and body wash anymore…

There’s something refreshing (excuse the pun) when a large corporation can launch a successful marketing campaign complete with a charming, burly man catching large fish in his bathroom. The charming man I’m talking about is former NFL wide-receiver turned actor Isaiah Mustafa who is winning the hearts and minds of Twitter fanatics and YouTube junkies all over the country for his work as pitchman for the company Old Spice.

Wrapped in a white towel in front of a shower, Mustafa is “talking with the Internet,” responding to questions and comments from Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook users. Whether he’s having a conversation with tweeting actress Demi Moore or asking user @Jsbeals’s girlfriend to marry him in front of a YouTube audience of nearly one million, he’s got social media users hooked.

So, what can marketers learn from the Old Spice campaign? The company’s been around since 1938, but there’s nothing old school about how they are reaching a new audience. With that said there are some key marketing fundamentals that Old Spice has brilliantly mastered.

Consistency in the Brand – Consistency is the Holy Grail of branding. If you don’t have stability in your campaign messaging, then you should go back to the drawing board. That’s what is so compelling about Old Spice. From their Twitter bio (I’m the man your man could smell like) and location (I’m in a bathroom) to the overall reoccurrence of anything that screams “MANLY;” they know their brand inside and out.
Harnessing the Social in Social Media – A big piece of the social media marketing puzzle that many companies are missing seems simple, but actually takes hours of management and strategic planning to grasp. What is it? The social part of social media. The reason I, along with many others, have fallen in love with this campaign is because Old Spice is actually responding to, not talking at, their audience. Both star blogger Perez Hilton and Joe Schmo can both get a response in the same day. And if you know it’s a possibility that you’ll be spoken to, aren’t you more likely to engage in conversation?(Side Note: I must admit: I may even be guilty at mentioning @oldspice in my tweets, in the hopes of getting a YouTube response. No luck yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!)
Targeting Influencers – Old Spice didn’t just respond randomly, as it may appear. They strategically had a mix of both influencers in society (celebrities, bloggers, etc.) and everyday people in the Twitterverse who had outrageous requests. Old Spice took advantage of the celebrity influence that people like Alyssa Milano, the NHL Blackhawks, even @twitter itself have in order to ensure that content will continue to be created.

Before this, I’ve felt that no company really understood new media. With most corporations skimming the surface of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, there hasn’t been a campaign that has really harnessed the potential of these sites…until now. Old Spice has set the bar high for Twitter/YouTube viral campaigns, and I challenge others to step up and let their brand shine through as they have.

Katie Shill
Interactive Media Intern

Posted in Marketing, Social Media | View Comments

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