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Posts Tagged ‘creating buzz’

Favorite Blog Friday

Thanksgiving weekend was one of the most anticipated and loved holidays of the year.  It’s when we start getting a little time off from work, we see friends and family, we eat good food and some participate in the more modern tradition of staying up and going Black Friday shopping.

The day after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.  According to some Wikipedia research I found out that the term Black Friday originated in Philadelphia around 1961 and is day where the majority of major retailers offer discounts and sales. Many people show up to stores bright and early in hopes of getting a great deal on big ticket items and holiday gifts.  The popularity of Black Friday has also spawned Small Business Saturday (created to help drive traffic to small local business) and Cyber Monday (online version of black Friday.)

Sure you can get some great deals but what really drives the masses to the stores and makes these retail holidays a success is marketing.  From the frenzy of TV commercials starting in early November to the nonstop e-blasts in my inbox the evidence of smart marketing is everywhere.  Whether you are a retailer or a B2B company there are lessons to be learned.

Stay top of mind – A huge part of the Black Friday success is that retailers start advertising early and often.  Many companies will launch a marketing campaign for a few days see no results and move on to the next.  A true marketing campaign requires planning and time. Try launching your campaign in stages that way you can adjust it as needed throughout the phases of launch.

Be Clever – Would Black Friday seem as exciting if it was just known as “the Friday everything is on sale?” Clever copy and tag lines will lure in your audience and make them want to invest more time knowing your brand.

Be enticing – Many retailers offer “door buster’ deals on Black Friday – exclusive giveaways or additional deals for customers who show up extra early.  Throwing in a little incentive that doesn’t cost your company much (or even better anything) will sometimes help get your foot in the door.

If you really want to start doing things right, remember that the best campaigns are direct products of more extensive marketing plans.  That said these tips will surely help your marketing campaign get a little more mileage and visibility which we can all agree is quite a deal.

#Hashtags We Salute You!

November 6 2012 is a day that will go down in history.  It was an event that not just Americans, but everyone worldwide was captivated by.  President Barack Obama was just re-elected president and was giving his victory speech. Everyone was mesmerized; not just by Obama but something beyond him….literally.  Standing in the crowd directly behind the president was a woman with an American Flag stuck into her hair.  Millions of people found the bobbing flag in her hairdo so distracting that, within minutes, Twitter was buzzing and thanks to the hashtag #Flaginhairlady she became a trending Twitter topic worldwide.

Aside from being a 15-minutes-of-fame jumpstarter, hashtags are an essential tool for social media marketing. For those who don’t know, a hashtag is the term for the pound symbol (#).  When you use a hashtag in front of a word or phrase you are allowing your post to be categorized with similar posts therefore making it easily searchable.  There are a few things to note about the use of hashtags. First of all when you are hashtagging you cannot use numbers symbols or spaces in your hashtag.  Secondly, hashtags are currently only recognized on Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest (However this hasn’t stopped people from including them in Facebook and other social network posts).

Hashtagging a post is great for visibility because it helps you get your message to a broader audience.  For example, let’s say you are launching a new line of clothing targeted towards busy moms and are tweeting about your grand opening.  You could post a tweet like this “#activemoms check out our new online shop for cool comfy clothing that fits your lifestyle.”  The hashtag is going to allow anyone who searches for conversations on active moms to find your post.

Aside from tapping into already trending topics or general words, you can also create your own unique hashtag.  This is great if you have an event or are in the middle of a marketing campaign .  This allows you to see how successful your efforts are and what people are saying about your brand versus a general topic.

Overall hashtags are a wonderful way to gain visibility on social media.  They allow you to expand your network as well as track your efforts.  If you master the use of hashtags you will be sure to stand out from the crowd just like #Flaginhairlady.

 

FLAGHAIRLADY

#FLAGINHAIRLADY

Social Media RIGHT Now

Over the past few years there has been a shift in the world. Society as whole has developed a new found appreciation for design and renewed respect for quality, artistic vision, and beauty. These are words that have always been associated with right brain thinkers.  The right side of the brain is said to control creativity and the left side is for more analytic thinking, More and more brands are investing in creativity and we are seeing a right brain powered movement across all fields.

The right brain perspective has found it’s way  to social media.  Instead of typing lengthy or limited (ahem twitter) status updates, users are now engaging their networks through beautiful photography. They say a picture speaks a thousand words but if you asked Instagram they might tell you that a picture is worth 1 billion .  That is the amount Facebook paid to purchase Instagram earlier this year.  Instagram is a social mobile application that allows users to share their life through photography and artsy photo filtering.  Brands have been engaging with their audiences on Instagram by encouraging users to post photos of their customers enjoying their products ala Taco Bell.  Other Brands, GE for example, have also been taking this opportunity to post exclusive behind the scenes photos allowing their customers to know more about their process and taking a creative approach to transparency.  Think of ways you and your staff can tell you companies stories through creative pictures and sign up for Instagram.  Remember whatever theme you chose the use of hash tags will help you keep track of who you are  engaging and will  help build brand awareness.

cant go wrong with RIGHT

cant go wrong with RIGHT

Another right brain powered site that is on the scene is Pinterest.  Pinterest is like an online cork board  The idea behind the site is to allow users to organize and share all the beautiful things they find on the web.  Fantastic interior design, magical wedding dresses, delectable recipes, stunning brand work, it can all  be found on Pinterest.  A simple way to get in on the Pinterest action is to add a Pinterest button as one of the share tools on your website.  This is great for companies that have an ecommerce site (Nordstrom for example has implemented the Pinterest share button) because the posts on Pinterest will lead their customers back to the site to purchase. If you are a brand that is a bit more corporate you can still get on the Pinterest train.  Set-up an account and share things your brand values, appreciates, or that your target audience could learn from. Meador staffing  is a great example of a company using Pinterest to share resources with their audience.

By embracing creativity you can discover different ways to share your vision without having to repeat the same calculated elevator speech you’ve been using for years .Ditch the pitch and brainstorm on ways you could use these social networks to visualize your message (We can help if you need a little creative boost!) Whatever you do DO NOT ignore this trend; a right mind is a terrible thing to waste.