FlashBurst Media
content creation • management • strategy
It’s hard to pretend like you’re not looking at your iPad
May 10th
Last week, President Obama said, “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and Playstations… information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.” Now, I’m sure the President wasn’t condemning the use of these gadgets. In fact, Mr. Obama is the most technologically-savvy President we’ve had to date. He was speaking about trusting news sources and knowing the difference between information technology for education purposes vs entertainment value.
I think my wife would agree with the President calling these informational gizmos “distractions,” though. Not a date night goes by when my phone doesn’t buzz with a text from a friend or an email that was just delivered to my inbox. (I admit, I usually wait until she goes to the ladies room before I check, though). We can’t even sit through an episode of LOST without me checking Twitter during one of the many super-long commercial breaks. Every time we go somewhere, the first thing I do is “check in” on Foursqure. She really loves that, by the way.
*Note – as I was writing this, I received a CNN Breaking News alert notifying me of the President’s nomination to the supreme court, which, in turn, led me to the CNN app where I spent the past minute or so skimming the information. Now where was I?
I don’t yet have an iPad, but I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and was thinking how nice it would be to have one – especially to set it up with the keyboard dock and type notes on it, all while having my Twitter and Facebook apps a finger-swipe away. Now, in my line of work, the iPad and other social networking devices are necessities. I’m a Social Marketer, so I need to be connected at all times – even during marketing strategy sessions.
Most people in my line of work frequently update their accounts with one eye on the speaker and the other looking under the table, where the mobile device is discreetly hidden. One hand thumbing a status update, the other writing notes. Everyone who operates social media marketing accounts in the meeting does it, because we are all chronic multitasksers who’ve mastered the art of one-handed, one-eyed social networking. While the older generation may think we’re being rude, we’re actually doing our jobs.
But let’s be honest. It is rude. It’s’ very rude to blatantly not pay attention to someone who is speaking to you or your group. It doesn’t matter if the entire meeting is about social media marketing or if you’re sitting in a AA meeting. Our attention spans have become shorter and our need to be constantly stimulated and barraged by a sea of information (usually useless information) has grown.
I admit that the first thing I do in the morning – before I get out of bed – is grab my phone and flip through any emails I received overnight. Is it an addiction? Is it a need to be constantly in-the-know? Or is it, as the President said, a distraction? A distraction from life, from intellectual thought?
I love technology. I love gadgets. I love social media. And you’re darn right I’m gonna buy an iPad. But we all need a weekend or two to totally unplug and reboot our systems. As odd as it may seem, it was only a few years ago when these devices didn’t exist. What did we do for stimulation then? Read books? Ride bikes? Fish? Build stuff? I sound like my dad when he used to scold me for watching too much TV.
We’ve become good at inconspicuously checking of our iPhones and Blackberrys, but hiding the use of an iPad has got to be much more difficult. You need two hands to type on one of those.
I’m The Mayor of This Bandwagon
Mar 19th
Show of hands… how many of you own a business that participates in Foursquare?
Foursquare? I don’t know about all that. I mean, what is the ROI?
Ugh. Just stop with the ROI talk. You’re too focused on hard numbers and ignoring the potential of being in on the upswing of an Internet phenomenon.
Yeah, but there hasn’t been any real research as to the value of Foursquare. I’d really much rather see where this trend is going before getting my company involved in some silly check-in game.
Okay, fine. Let me ask you another question. Are you on Twitter?
Yup. Just got on there last year. We’ve got 300 followers!
Wow. 300? Pretty good. How many followers do you think you’d have by now if you joined and were active in 2007? You know, back when it was just a silly new trend? How many connections could you have made in those three years as the site grew? Facebook? Same thing, right? You just got a fan page last month. Where were you last winter? Last summer? Still doing “research”?
Foursquare is a silly mobile app that allows users to “check in” at locations that they frequent. Going to the bank? Check in. Going out for a drink? Check in. Meeting friends at the movies? Check in. Users are able to unlock badges as they participate. If a user visits a location more than anyone else, they become the “Mayor” of the establishment. For example, I’m the Mayor of FlashBurst Media because I check in to work every day. I even get a fancy little crown on my profile.
Silly? Yes. Are there benefits from a marketing standpoint? Hell yes.
Your brick-and-mortar store can essentially track how many Foursquare users have visited your business in person. Every time someone checks in to your shop, a message relaying that information is posted for their friends to view. How many people are using Foursquare? Well, the company recently tweeted during SXSW that they added 100,000 users in ten days time. The company is year old and they’ve just gone viral. Look for the number of users to explode over the next few months.
Offer special discounts to those who hold mayorships at your establishment or those who are nearby. This is starting to become more and more popular as the Foursquare app catches on. What a great way to market your business, gain potential customers and spread word of mouth throughout the interwebs.
Image via http://ryanspoon.com
No one can say for certain where Foursquare will be in 2 years, but it certainly won’t hurt to be using it to your advantage right now. It may give way to a similar app or it may explode and add new features, becoming an essential part of your online presence. But lets just say for the sake of argument that Foursquare dies in a few months and no one uses it anymore. What have you lost? The 3 minutes it took you to set up your account? The 1 minute it takes you to check into where ever you frequent? Not really a big deal, so don’t sit back and wait for your “numbers” and you “research” to come in. Don’t join the trend after it’s been proven to be valuable. Strap yourself into the rocket and prepare for blast-off!
Further reading: A great January article from Mashable: How Foursquare is Changing the World
Your Blog Sucks
Mar 9th
Sorry. Maybe in your opinion, my blog sucks, too. It’s okay. I’m working on it.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we should talk about why your blog sucks.
1. You’re not saying anything new. I’ve heard it all before. You’re not giving me any new, useful information that will inspire me to find out more. The “just the facts, ma’am” attitude doesn’t work with a blog. Let’s hear some personal examples of the facts in action.
2. You’re a re-poster. You know that little blog about why dogs and cats don’t get along? It’s pretty much the same thing I read on the NY Times site. I mean, it was nice of you to provide the link to the original article and all, but I’m really more interested in why YOU think dogs and cats don’t get along.
3. You’re doing it wrong. Blogging for a business only slightly different than blogging for personal reasons. Hey, I love personal blogs. Heck, I even have one of my own (and it’s WAYYY more popular than this site). Personal blogs showcase your writing talent, your sense of humor, and tell you Mom what you’ve been up to the last few days. And yes, the writing qualities found in personal blogs need to shine through in a professional blog. But you’re doing it wrong. If your target audience wanted to read a press release, they’d work in a newsroom with their desk set up next to the fax machine. No one in the the PUBLIC responds to PUBLIC relations unless you target a PUBLIC audience. And I’ve worked in a busy newsroom – not even the media are interested in your press releases. But that’s a different story, and a different post, altogether.
4. You’re One-Sided. I liked the blog about keeping peanut butter in the fridge; it was funny and thought provoking. I left you a comment about why I believe peanut butter is better when stored in a cupboard. I took some time to craft a intelligent comment, hoping to spark a little debate with you. You never wrote back, and I still keep my peanut butter in the cupboard. Where’s the feedback? Where’s the interaction? Where’s the SOCIAL in SOCIAL media?
Your blog sucks. Fix it.
SEO: It’s not rocket surgery
Feb 16th
Knowing how to craft an SEO article that contains highly searchable keywords is easy.
Right?
Not so fast.
You’re a smart business owner. You are well informed and well aware of the products and services your company offers to perspective clients. You know the inner most details of your widgets. What makes them work. The thingymajigs that make the widget spin and bounce and sparkle. Problem is, your clients have no idea what a thingymajig is, nor how it relates to your widget.
That’s where crafting a delicate balance of highly informative copy and searchable, common keywords comes into play. Search Engine Optimization, when done properly, will allow you to inform your potential clients while skyrocketing your company to the top of the search results page.
You have to think outside the realm of your office and put yourself into the seat of an average Googler. What terminology will an average Joe use to research a product? If he’s having trouble with his furnace and needs to research HVAC contractors, for what will he search? Evaporator condenser coils? Direct expansion systems? Probably not. You, an HVAC professional, know all about the inner workings of a furnace. Joe Googler just knows his furnace done broke.
Maintaining a balance between a quality article and common terminology can be more difficult than it may seem. A good way to find out what common lingo is used to search for your product is by making notes during conversations with customers. What do they say when they call your office? In most cases, that is what they’re typing into a search engine. Also, check your website stats to find out what keywords refer people to your site.
Now that you have a good idea of what keywords Joe Googler uses to search for your products or service, you can put them to use in your SEO articles. The challenge is to write compelling copy that will truly hold a customer’s interest and motivate them to take action and contact your company. Make sure your writers are paid to compile intellectual, grammatically correct articles. We’re not writing the next Iliad, here, but articles written by folks with a good grasp on the English language are far more likely to be read and fully understood.
Intelligible copy that uses common terminology is hard to come by in the world of SEO, especially with so many internet marketing companies outsourcing their writing assignments to low-priced freelance writers overseas – who barely have a working knowledge of the English language. Keywords are the breadcrumbs that lead clients to your door. Invest in quality local writers (like me! – hint, hint) and see a measurable improvement in your bottom line.
Running an Effective Social Media Contest
Jan 15th
Launching an online contest can be a very inexpensive, yet effective, way to reach a wide audience and spread much-needed word of mouth excitement. Using social media channels such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as a vehicle for which contestants enter your contest can provide a measurable increase in traffic and overall knowledge about your brand. Running an online contest smartly, however, may not be as easy at it sounds.
First, you need to clearly define what your end goal is. Will this contest significantly contribute to your overall customer base? How many new clients do you foresee as a result of the contest? To achieve lasting results, you must make the contest fun and genuine. Remember – many social media users do not want feel like their being solicited. Entering your contest should give them a sense of excitement while helping to spread the word of your business. Requiring a contestant to log in to your website or fill out a form with their personal information WILL make them feel as if they are being set up for a lifetime of emails and phone calls from your company.
Keep it simple.
I can’t stress that enough. It may be a bit cliché, but keeping it simple when it comes to social media marketing (and contests) is by far the most effective way to gain new followers and spread positive word-of-mouth. Let’s say your giving away a free meal at your restaurant. Do you think the contestant will want to enter your contest by sending you an email expressing interest or filling out a form with email address, phone number and mother’s maiden name? Of course not.
Keeping it simple means allowing them to enter the contest by posting an update on a social media channel they already use. This update spreads the word of your contest, as well as promotes your business. The more contestants enter, the more people see your name. The more people see your name, the more interest in your company. The more interest, the more customers. And more customers equals more measurable profit. It’s that simple.
Here in Richmond, there area couple of contests going on that have gained popularity amongst locals:
These contests from @CarMax and @ArbysRVA are extremely simple to enter. For CarMax, all one has to do to enter the contest is simply retweet. Whomever is running the CarMax Twitter account can gather all the retweets and pick a winner at random. I’m sure there are thousands upon thousands of entries, which translates in to thousands and thousands of dollars in FREE promotion.
The same goes for Arby’s RVA. Everyday they pick a winner at random. While a turkey sandwich isn’t exactly a new car, many people are entering the Arby’s contest by simply tweeting their favorite Arby’s meal. And mama always said you never turn away a free meal. I like Beef n’ Cheddars, by the way. Hmmm… now I’m hungry for Arby’s. I may have to go there for lunch. See how that works? The Arby’s brand is in the forefront of my mind because I see my friends entering this contest by talking about their favorite Arby’s meal. Now I want a B n’ C.
Contests on other social media channels can be run just as simply. For example, a contestant can make a short video explaining what they love about your product or service and upload it to YouTube. Of course, that video can be seen by countless numbers of people. Multiply that by the number of people who enter, and you’ve got yourself a lot of promotion that costs only the price of whatever it is that you’re giving away.
Keep it simple. Keep it fun. Keep it light. Keep it interesting. Social media contests, when done right, can translate into a momentous business success.
Making a List, Checking it Twice
Dec 11th
About a month ago, Twitter implemented its listing feature. The ability to make lists and streamline the content you view can have a significant impact on the way you organize and sort your own contacts based on relevance. These lists give you the ability to target your message specifically for the groups of people in a selected list. Methinks it’s marketing made simple!
Making a List:
You can organize your Twitter contacts into any sub category you can imagine. Professional contacts? There’s a list for that! Family members? List ‘em! Personal friends? On a list! The goal is to be able to aggregate people with similar interests and needs into a category so you can better craft your message. For example, if you’re a software developer, create a group of contacts that are passionate about development. This allows you to see an entire Twitter feed made up of people who want to talk development, exchange ideas and grow.
Checking it Twice (or often):
Allow your professional lists to be public so others may elect to follow the feed. Be sure to monitor the lists you appear on and the topic that is being discussed. Check your competitors – it’s a great way to get a feel for anecdotal brand perception, and it’s the perfect way to find new people to follow.
The bottom line is that you can increase the number of Twitter users you follow based on similar interests and categorize your feed into specific topics. Twitter lists have given users the ability to target certain audiences and find people to interact with that can deepen conversations and create useful networking opportunities.
Having trouble creating a list? Useful sites that aggregate the most popular Twitter lists include Listoriousand ListAtlas. Start following a pre-made list and join the conversation!
Customer Service Made Public
Nov 16th
Whatever your business or the services you offer, it’s a good bet that a significant chunk of your client base is using social media to connect with friends. And we all know that word-of-mouth between friends is an immensely important way for your company to gain business and respect within the community. So where does your business stand in the online neighborhood?
A great way to get a feel for what your clients are saying about you in public forums is to do a simple search. Googling your name will bring up a healthy sample of results that can give you starting point for your research, and using the Twitter search function gives you real-time results of what Twitter users are saying about you. However, finding this information is only the first step in managing your online relationships with the public.
Let’s say, for example, that you are a company that specializes in kitchen cabinetry. One of your recent clients is an avid social media user, with hundreds or even thousands of followers. A status update of theirs says, “My new cabinets look great. Too bad XXXCOMPANY took a week longer than expected to complete the job.”
Their huge social network now knows that your company has great-looking cabinets. However, they also are aware that the job took longer than expected. If even one person out of the hundreds or thousands of followers were contemplating a cabinetry renovation in their home, they might not want to employ your service because of the possibility that the job will take too long to complete. That means your business is out a client, and that lost client means lost revenue and – even more damaging – further word of mouth that you can’t complete a job quickly. So how do repair your relationship with the original client and turn that word-of-mouth into a positive recommendation and future business?
The first thing to remember is that you should never offer excuses or engage in defensive tactics when dealing with customers online. Instead, be grateful the person is enjoying their new cabinets and offer solutions to issues with which they are unsatisfied. I’m not going to tell you how to run your business or how you can make it up to the client. I am, however, advising that you highlight your solution to the problem (whichever it may be – maybe a refund of some money, maybe a discount on future products, etc.) and by respond to the client quickly and publicly.
It is up to you to be active in your online networking and engage in positive, solution-finding dialogue with your clients. Furthermore, showing interest in your social network and contributing to interesting discussions will help you become a member of the community, not just a company looking to make a buck.
Today’s word-of-mouth carries a lot more weight and reaches a larger swatch of your client base. Participating in meaningful discussions and offering solutions to any problems is the new customer service, which seems a lot like the old customer service, doesn’t it?
Twitter and LinkedIn: Synced Status Updates
Nov 13th
Twitter is constantly integrating itself with companies and other social networking websites in order to help you streamline the information you share with your network. The most notable is the ability to sync your status updates between Twitter and Facebook. You can sync selectively using the #FB hashtag, although this a functionality is supported by the Selective Twitter Status Facebook app. This has been proven to work well between the two social networking giants and is widely used in the online community. Recently, Twitter has launched partnerships with both Microsoft Bing and Google to bring outside search functionality to the social networking giant. It’s obvious that Twitter knows that it is just one spoke in the wheel of your online persona, and wants to grab a bigger slice of the pie.
On November 9th, Twitter formed a partnership with LinkedIn, the widely popular professional social network. Now users of both services have the ability to sync their status updates. In short, you can send a tweet on Twitter and it will automatically update your LinkedIn status, and the other way around.
The ability to cross-post on the two networks requires you to visit the LinkedIn Twitter Settings Panel and choose the Twitter account that is to sync with your profile. Thankfully, there is a option to only allow specific Twitter updates to be shown on your LinkedIn profile. This can be done by using either the #li or #in hashtag in your tweets. The ability to choose appropriate synced updates is similar to the Facebook Selective Twitter Status app, however the #li and #in hashtags are officially supported by Twitter.
Here’s LinkedIn Co-foiunder Reid Hoffman and Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone discussing the integration of the status syncing service:
Remember, LinkedIn is like a professional business networking event. Twitter, on the other hand, is the after party – ties loosened, cocktails in hand. Make sure the status updates you choose to sync between LinkedIn and Twitter are appropriate for your professional persona.
So what do you think? Do you see the value in this new service? Will you use it?
Welcome to FlashBurst Media
Nov 11th
I’m a professional writer and blog strategist (yes, it’s a thing) who specializes in creating clear, concise and – let’s be honest – AWESOME content for your website and printed materials. As a marketing agent, I have years of experience writing SEO enhanced articles for small businesses and startup companies. As a blogger, I write for professional organizations as well as my own personal projects in an entertaining and informative voice.
With over 10 years in the broadcast media industry, I know the importance of brand identity, the impact of good design and the power of the written word. I’d like to sit down with you and figure out the most effective way to reach your audience by using new media as well as traditional methods. The landscape of communications is constantly evolving. I’m here to help you stay on top of the trends and, quite frankly, stay relevant.
Content is the key to your public persona, and I can help you create, organize and streamline your message to ensure your brand is targeted to a wide audience. Whether you need creative written or graphical content for your website, or guidance through the perplexing maze of social media, FlashBurst Media is here to help.