Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

Less Mass, More Media

Generations tend to define themselves by big events: the Kennedy assassination, the Challenger explosion, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc. These moments, unfortunately tragic, give people increased powers of memory to the point that they can remember the finite details of where they were, what they were doing, and even what they were wearing at the very moment of getting the news of something very big happening.

Too bad advertisers can’t brand those events. They’d get a big audience and lots of brand awareness. And no, people, I am not serious. No one wants “Hurricane Katrina, brought to you by …” Still, in an ever-shrinking mass-media world, I wonder if the thought has crossed the minds of those who like to see logos in lights. Read more…

Social Media and Brand Consistency

We all talk about brand building and using social media as a marketing tool a lot. One subject that I feel has been overlooked is keeping your branding consistent throughout each different social media platform. The look and feel of most social media platforms are all different but it’s important that when someone visits your Facebook or Twitter page that they still know it’s definitely your brand. So how will they know?

Facebook

Many brands use the FBML tab to create a tab that looks and feels very similar to the brand’s website. You will need to either know HTML or FBML or you will need to have someone write it for you. There are several other customizable options on Facebook including the About section, the ability to upload company logo’s and pictures and switching the tab that shows up first for your Facebook page visitors. You can see some great examples of excellent Facebook pages on the inspiration feed blog. Read more…

Professional Social Networking For Your Success

As a professional in any industry, you should be using social networking to your advantage. The statistics about the influence of social media are overwhelming. Major marketing campaigns; such as Pepsi’s $20 million Super bowl campaign, have all but abandoned television and radio advertisements and have made the shift to marketing through social media. Facebook has taken it upon themselves to reinvent the way we do internet by infiltrating every webpage with the “like” button. Is your personal brand and business “liked”?

Google has moved away from its traditional search algorithm of simply searching for content, keyword, etc. They now include social media as part of the magical formula to create search results. When you search for your name I bet your Twitter and Facebook (if you have them) both come up on the first page of results. As a result, those who have not taken advantage of professional social networking are in danger of missing out on premium search result spots. Other search engines are adopting similar algorithms as well. They are all realizing the power that social media has on the virtual world. Read more…

The Current Power of Direct Mail

While attending a session at the annual Direct Marketing Association Conference & Exhibition in San Diego this year, I was part of an interesting discussion about direct mail, it’s direction and it’s current power.

We all know that the USPS is in financial troubles, postage rates have gone up and direct mail volume has been recently shrinking. What does this mean for the business owner and direct mailer that are still mailing? Well for one, it does mean that you’re paying more per mailed piece. However, because the volume of direct mail has shrunk, your message stands out to prospects more than ever. Recipients of your piece are paying more attention to it, and if you’ve crafted a relevant offer, more recipients of your offer are turning into paying customers. So while the initial cost of your campaign may increase slightly because of postage, your return on investment (ROI) could be exponentially larger than it may have been just a year or two ago.

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What Is Public Relations?

Before you ask, the title of this post is grammatically correct. “Public Relations” is now a recognized field of study, employment and specialization, which is used to help companies expand their customer bases through methods other than traditional advertising.

Public relations, commonly referred to as PR, is the entire process of creating and maintaining a brand’s reputation with the public. The primary task of a PR professional is to ensure that a company’s central message gets across to its target audience.

PR can be used by anyone – individual, small business or corporate. The student lobbying for a classmate’s attention is engaging in PR, just as a presidential candidate campaigning for success is. It’s just that the methods used by the two will widely differ, as is appropriate given their differing target audience, scale and circumstances.

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