| TRENDING STORIES IN BUSINESS & MARKETING | | | | | | | ALL STORIES IN BUSINESS & MARKETING | | |
| Coca-Cola's Latest Facebook Gambit: URL Riddles | |  Coca-Cola has figured out a new way to engage its 40 million or so Facebook fans: URL riddles. The brand recently began running fill-in-the-blanks riddles like "Even if they pop I smile. It's no secret why.The soapy rainbow swirls are magic to my eye. I love looking up at clouds, And blowing_ _ _ _ _ _ _inthe_ _ _.com." Those who figure out the answer to that riddle are led to bubblesinthesky.com, which features an animated hand holding a bubble wand (which is Coca-Cola branded, natch). You can move the hand with your mouse and release bubbles by clicking. Other riddles lead to fallingdominoes.com and abeachbonfire.com. Though Coke doesn't appear to be running the program on Twitter, the brand is also using its Google+ page for the effort. The riddles, developed with Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam, are a creative alternative to Coke's usually banal status updates (sample: "Who's had a Coca-Cola today?") Nice one, Coke. Your move, Pepsi. |
| Apple's 2012 Fiscal Year Rides on New iPad | |  Apple has a lot riding on the success of the new iPad. It's the company's only big launch this year until the iPhone 5 is expected to launch in October. Apple's quarters are different from most companies -- its fourth quarter ends in September, so sales of the new iPad are essential to meet analysts' profit projection numbers for 2012. iPad sales in the first quarter of 2012 (October to December 2011) hit 15.4 million -- a rise of 111%. Apple's new iPad was announced on Wednesday to eager reporters and tech insiders. After news of the "new iPad" circulated throughout the Web, people took to Twitter to give a collective, "meh." In fact, on Wednesday "iPad" was not even the top trending topic on Twitter and by Thursday it disappeared from the Twitterverse's trending topics completely. Analysts predict Apple's revenue growth will increase by more than 40 percent and earnings should grow by 54 percent by the time Apple's fiscal year ends, Tech Analyst Rick Munarriz from TheMotleyFool told Mashable on Wednesday. But that's only if Apple's earning continue to grow like they are now. Mashable emailed Apple for comment and is waiting for a response. A growing percentage, now 76 percent of the company's revenue, comes from iPhones, iPads and iPods -- everything that works on the iOS. "Apple does not make money on selling content," said Horace Dediu, a mobile analyst with a focus on Apple, who is also a television host and blogger for Asymco.com. "Although last year they received about $10 billion in gross income from iTunes, that business is running at break even. Whatever is left from paying for the content itself (music, video and apps) is used to operate the store and the payment system takes a cut as well." The latest iPad's suggested retail price is $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model and $699 for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB model and $829 for the 64GB model. Mashable and other news outlets reported a study by iSuppli in 2010 that showed the iPad costs roughly half its retail price to manufacture. "The highest margin product is the iPhone, at above 50% gross margin," said Dediu. "But the iPad is not far behind at about 33%. It's higher than the iPod and the Mac which are both around 20% to 25%. The typical PC from HP or Dell barely gets 10%." Android is actually outselling the iPhone in terms of units -- and taking market share away from the iPhone. But Apple is the market leader in smartphone sales and makes the largest profit. It's the most valuable company in the United States, regardless of industry, Munarriz said. It's a $494 billion company --- five times the value of Facebook. "Apple's been one of the best stocks over the last 10 years," he said. "Apple's Renaissance --- you can almost tie it to the iPod release in 2001." Will the new iPad will be as popular as the previous two, continuing to generate massive profits for Apple? â?ªPhoto courtesy of iStockphoto, arakonyunus â?¬ |
| How Product Announcements Affect Apple's Stock Price [CHARTS] | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 11:51 PM | Matt Silverman |
|  Much of Apple's market value hinges on the reception of its products. Will people love the new iPad? Will the next iteration of the iPhone change the mobile game? Product announcement events are so important to Apple's marketing that they can really move the needle on the company's stock price. SEE ALSO: How 9 Tech Giants Traded After Going Public/a> In the wake of Apple's latest revelations, we thought it prudent to see how the stock price has been affected by product announcements of the past. Once again we've turned to our friends at Statista to chart the data, and as you might glean from even a cursory glance, the numbers tell a story of steady anticipation, followed by a steep decline, returning the stock close to or below its original value. The main exceptions to this rule were the original iPhone (announced in January 2007) and the iPad 2 (March 2011). What do you make of these charts? Are they normal market fluctuations, or a sign of over-hype? Share your thoughts in the comments. Graphic courtesy of Statista.com. Thumbnail courtesy of Flickr, Stuart Caie. |
| Uberlife Makes Hanging Out Offline Easier | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 11:13 PM | Veena Bissram |
|  The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: Uberlife Quick Pitch: Uberlife lets users create real-world hangouts, share them instantly with their social networks and let whoever is free join them. Genius Idea: Making hanging out with like-minded people easier, faster and more fun. Planning to hang out with friends is pretty complicated these days, especially when it involves endless back-and-forth texts, e-mails, messages and phone calls. Uberlife is a free app that lets you instead create a â?ohangoutâ? when you plan to do something, share it instantly with your social networks and invite friends and like-minded people who are free to join you. â?oUberlife helps users gain more real-world relationship building and face time with their friends and new people around them, instead of relying so much on catching up online,â? said Uberlife CEO Sanchita Saha in an interview with Mashable. â?oWhile most social apps today are for sharing moments of our lives with friends and networks, Uberlife is about making those moments happen.â? To start using Uberlife, just download the app to your iPhone, sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account and then connect to your Last.fm account. Uberlife will use some of your personal information from these accounts, such as your location, likes, interests and photos. Next, create a â?ohangoutâ? by typing in where and when you plan to go, and then add tags that will match to other Uberlife usersâ?T Facebook likes, interests and Last.fm bands. Once you create a hangout, Uberlife lets you share it on your Facebook and Twitter accounts and invite whomever is free to join. People who join can also invite friends by sharing the hangout on their own networks. Users can then check in at the hangout, post comments and upload photos on the hangoutâ?Ts page. Uberlife users can follow other users they'd like to hang out with, and the app will notify them as soon as any of those users create a hangout close by. However, users can only become Uberlife friends if they are following each other and have attended at least one hangout together. If you create a hangout, you automatically earn a â?oConnector Score,â? which increases when more friends connect in Uberlife after attending your hangout. In the future, Uberlife hopes to reward users with the highest Connector Scores with discounts and free items. â?oOnline networks give us the tools to connect with friends and family easily, instantly and frequently,â? says Saha. â?oUberlife brings that same ease and opportunity to â?oofflineâ? interactions, informal get-togethers, and events.â? Although there are a number of ways to plan events with friends, including through Facebook events and MeetUp, Uberlife is different because it's free, more flexible and allows anyone to create a hangout. Facebook events are mostly geared towards big occasions such as birthdays and parties while MeetUp is restricted to only group organizers. Launched in 2012, Uberlife is currently in invite-only beta. The company plans to implement its business model when the app is public, which could be based on offers from local venues for Uberlife users and location-based advertising Uberlife has raised $1.6 million in funding and had approximately 7,000 users sign up within one week. The app is available for iPhones and as a mobile web app for Android and Blackberry devices. Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, skynesher |
| 4 Ways Restaurants Should Use QR Codes | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 10:32 PM | Hamilton Chan |
|  Hamilton Chan is CEO and founder of Paperlinks, which provides the leading QR code infrastructure for businesses. Codes generated through Paperlinks app can be scanned by the free Paperlinks iPhone app or by any QR code reader on any smartphone platform. Despite criticism, the QR code continues to be a major player in the evolution of mobile commerce. But while many Fortune 500 advertisers may have embraced the QR code in their marketing efforts, the restaurant industry has proven a relatively late adopter of the technology. When used to power speedier transactions and provide timely information, the QR code is a useful tool for restaurateurs seeking to augment the customer experience. On takeout menus, dine-in menus and real world advertising, the QR code has a purposeful place in the restaurant experience. SEE ALSO: 10 Funniest QR Code Fails As any supporter of QR codes, near field communication (NFC) chips, or augmented reality will tell you, the key is the destination, not the mode of transportation. It doesnâ?Tt matter if information is delivered with zero friction, if the information itself isnâ?Tt wanted, it won't pay off. Are QR codes just a marketing fad, or can the mobile technology deliver real value for restaurants and consumers at the right place and at the right time? Here are four ways QR codes can be effectively leveraged in a restaurant environment to improving the overall dining experience. 1. Mobile Ordering Ordering food from a smartphone is incredibly convenient. It is sub-optimal to have to speak to a live person, who is juggling multiple roles in a restaurant, dealing with customers face-to-face and handling several ringing phone lines. Enter the QR-coded takeout menu. Restaurants realize that the printed takeout menu is still one of the most effective ways to elicit food orders. Itâ?Ts tangible, colorful, holds a lot of information and is easily shared. Adding a QR code to the menu triggers a mobile ordering experience. That way, restaurants can marry the best of old and new technology and make the traditional takeout menu digitally interactive. Or prompt a customer to complete a takeout order online, at which point she'll receive a custom-generated QR code to be scanned at the point-of-sale. The Melt handles orders by generating QR codes that help consumers skip the ordering line. 2. Links to Photos and Social Media Ever stare at a text-based menu and wonder what a particular dish actually looks like? A QR code strategically placed on a dine-in menu has the ability to take consumers to additional information. The QR code could lead to photos with dish names, to the restaurantâ?Ts Yelp listing, or to Twitter and Facebook links to encourage social media sharing. On takeout menus and any real world advertising, the QR code can trigger links to a wealth of useful information. In this manner, the QR code is not a marketing gimmick, but a bona fide mechanism to provide interested parties with information on which they can act. The mobile landing page launched by the QR code on a takeout menu could include hours, contact information, a map and directions. Special offers and feedback forms could also be part of the mobile-optimized experience. Additionally, most QR readers have a history tab that logs previously visited sites, so the information, once scanned, could be referenced later. 3. Different Restaurants, Different QR Code Applications The QR code can be utilized effectively by a variety of different restaurant types, from fine dining to casual, from fast food to food trucks. A fine dining establishment might wish to use the QR code in a city guide advertisement, which leads to its online reservations system and photos of the interior of the restaurant. A fast food restaurant could add the QR code to a table tent ad, leading to a special promotion in exchange for an email address. And food trucks could affix a QR code to the side of the vehicle to help people skip the line, should they wish to order and pay through their smartphones. 4. A Word About Aesthetics A common objection to QR codes is that they are ugly and unbefitting of a nicely designed marketing strategy. It is true that the standard out-of-the-box QR code isnâ?Tt particularly aesthetically pleasing, but brands can improve the appearance with clever design tricks that ensure scanability and beauty. By going with a custom-designed QR code, restaurants can represent their style, while also reassuring customers that the restaurant has put some thought into the experience. As consumer smartphone adoption continues to surge, QR code usage is becoming more sophisticated. In particular, QR codes are transforming from a mere advertising hook to an integral part of mobile infrastructure. From boarding passes to takeout menus, the QR code is becoming less novelty and more utility. One challenge for restaurants is always staying fresh in the minds of consumers. The restaurant that embraces mobile technology intelligently will demonstrate its cutting-edge commitment to excellent user experience and customer service. Images courtesy of WTF QR Codes, Flickr, alexhung |
| New iPad: Is Your Content Ready for the HD Tablet Revolution? | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 6:40 PM | David Clarke |
|  David Clarke is CEO and Co-Founder of BGT Partners, a 2011 and 2010 Ad Age Best Place to Work in the U.S. BGT creates interactive marketing and technology solutions for global corporations that strengthen brands, develop more engaging relationships and transform businesses. Itâ?Ts time to take tablet design seriously and evaluate how your brandâ?Ts web presence caters to tablet consumers. As usual, Apple is the primary driver behind tablet growth, and the new iPad is yet again redefining the tablet experience and pushing the boundaries of how we use the web. But what does it mean for your web presence? Below are three ways for your brand to excel in the tablet revolution so you donâ?Tt get left behind. 1. Prepare Your Site to Go "Beyond HD" Just as the demand for high-definition technology forced broadcasters to convert their shows, the new iPad may force brands to make their websites retina display-friendly. With the new iPad, your site is not going to look the same as it did before. The original and second-generation iPads both have a screen resolution of 1024 x 768, but the new iPadâ?Ts resolution of 2048 x 1536 is double that in both directions. The retina displayâ?Ts pixel density is so high that your eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels. And with a 44% better color saturation than before, coupled with A5X quad-core graphics, images on your site will pop off the screen and be crisper and sharper at any size. Existing apps will be updated automatically, and they will look better, but as Tim Cook stated during the unveiling, â?oIf a developer takes a little bit of time, they can do little things that are mind-blowing.â? What does this mean for your brand? To really take advantage of the retina display, brands need to put more emphasis on high-quality imagery, colors and overall attention to design details. Letâ?Ts face it -- a poor design will make you look even worse in HD, while high-resolution imagery and a broader range of colors will ensure your site stands out. 2. Prepare for Voice- and Gesture-Controlled Interfaces Do you remember the movie Minority Report? It featured Tom Cruise swinging his hands and using his voice to control a computer screen. This was fiction 10 years ago, but voice- and gesture-controlled interactions are rapidly moving from fantasy to reality. Gesture-controlled video game systems like Nintendo's Wii and the Xbox Kinect have been hugely successful, and LG recently came out with a voice- and gesture-controlled TV. That's not to mention the splash that Siri made in the mobile world. Although the new iPad doesnâ?Tt include Siri, it does include a voice dictation feature. However, voice- and gesture-enabled websites are bound to be a key part of the future web experience. In fact, Apple recently filed for a patent called the "Three-Dimensional Imaging and Display System," hinting that the company is exploring gesture-controlled interactions. What does this mean for your brand? Well for now, Siri only works with a few of the iPhoneâ?Ts built-in apps (email, search, calendar, etc.), but just imagine what will happen when Apple opens Siri up to third-party developers. Brands will be able to create Siri-friendly apps (for mobile and tablet) to allow customers to use their voices to carry out mundane tasks, such as paying your electric bill or transferring money from one account to another. To prepare yourself, focus on your key customers and their most important tasks and consider how your current apps can be improved through voice-controlled interactions. 3. The New iPad Is a Tipping Point for Tablets With the explosive growth of tablets and mobile, people are accessing the web on an increasing array of devices, and your consumers are now expecting your site to work equally well on their desktop, smartphone and tablet. But how do you accommodate for this when there are hundreds of different devices and screen resolutions? Creating separate sites for each device on the market can be expensive and difficult to manage, as the landscape is constantly changing. What does this mean for your brand? A smart approach to this challenge is implementing responsive web design, which utilizes one set of code to display content effectively across all devices. Gone are the days of creating entirely separate websites in parallel desktop and mobile versions. Now you can construct an extremely flexible website to handle multiple environments. A responsive design responds to the userâ?Ts behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. As the user switches from a laptop to iPad, the website will automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. Essentially, your site will scale to whatever device your customer is using. In Summary Before you do anything, start with a thorough audit of how your current website performs on the new iPad. Look at imagery, colors, fonts and overall opportunities to improve the visual experience. Next, start the planning process to integrate voice and gesture-controlled interactions into your site -- this is the future of tablets. Finally, convert your site design to one thatâ?Ts responsive so it can be viewed optimally on every device in the market, starting with a tablet. Follow these steps and your brand will not only be â?obeyond HD,â? but will also excel in the tablet revolution. |
| GE Wants You to Play With Power Tools at SXSW | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 5:37 PM | Sarah Kessler |
|  Ever used a laser cutter? How about a cold saw, ironworker, injection molder or 3D printer? If not, do you want to? No matter your power-tool qualifications (or lack thereof), GE wants to give you a chance to get some hands-on time with them. The company is launching a series of pop-up open workshops at South by Southwest called GE Garages. A promotion for its â?oGE Worksâ? campaign, the garages are scheduled to appear in Houston, Cincinnati and San Francisco later in the year. Tools in the garage are free, and they're open to anyone to use for their own projects (with "support in product building"). But since most people wonâ?Tt want to spend a whole day in the workshop when theyâ?Tre at SXSW, GE has defined some quick projects for the conference as well. The projects include using an injection molder to make an iPhone case with a customized spot for mobile payment device Square. You can also weld together bike racks for the city of Austin and etch your name into a business-sized toolkit. If youâ?Tre so inclined, you can subject your own mobile device to the engraving tools. GE partnered with collaborative development platform Quirky, peer-to-peer learning marketplace Skillshare, membership-based workshop and fabrication studio TechShop on the project. The garage was designed and built by an agency called Sub Rosa. Despite obvious liability issues involved in letting the public operate your power tools, GE global director of communications Linda Boff assures us thereâ?Ts no need to worry about lost fingers. â?oWe have a lot of faith in people,â? Boff says. â?oAnd the tools will be well supervised.â? What would you make in the GE Garage? Tell us in the comments. |
| SXSW Networking: 6 Ways to Up Your Game | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 5:16 PM | Scott Gerber |
|  Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes youth entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment. The YEC provides young entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business's development and growth. On Friday, the ultimate crossroads of music, film, technology and entrepreneurship kicks off in Austin, TX. But if you're an entrepreneur who is navigating the SXSW Austin Convention Center for the first time, nine days of industry panels and meet-and-greet events can easily be overwhelming and, at worst, incredibly unproductive. Don't wait until next year to make great use of South by Southwest. We asked six successful young entrepreneurs for their best advice on how to meet other influencers and make SXSW well worth it for both your personal brand and your business. Is SXSW a good place to meet other entrepreneurs? How do you do it right to get the most value for your buck? 1. Research a Plan of Action SXSW is a great place to meet entrepreneurs in a less formal yet relevant environment. The best way to maximize the opportunity is to do plenty of research on the who and what of events in advance. With so many things to choose from, it's important to be strategic about who you want to reach. If you know other influencers who are attending, ask for introductions in advance. - Lisa Nicole Bell, Inspired Life Media Group. 2. Attend With an Open Mind At most conferences, it is easy to focus on a narrow track and only mingle with people who share like-minded interests. The beauty of SXSW is that, while folks have different passions, most are still interested in everything else at the event. Take advantage, talk to everyone, and learn things that you did not know you did not know! - Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches. 3. Research Some Tech Lingo SXSW can be a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs, donâ?Tt get me wrong. It can be a great way to network, which should be a primary goal for many startups. However, tech startups are predominant at SXSW and the crowds are huge. Unless you make a genuine, one-on-one connection with another person, you can be forgotten as soon as you turn around. - John Hall, Digital Talent Agents. 4. Set Up in Hot Spots There are certain locations at the Austin Convention Center and nearby where people just constantly cycle through (my favorite is the Bloggers' Lounge). Pick a spot or two and check in there on a regular basis. Introduce yourself to everyone in the room. Shyness just isn't allowed. Focus on making the initial connection and arranging for a chance to follow up, either in person or online. You will meet hundreds of people in a few days, so write down everything you plan to follow up on â?" that means bringing a notebook, because Internet access is not guaranteed when tens of thousands of people are trying to use it all at once. - Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting. 5. Drop into the Driskill Hotel! Going to SXSW was one of the best business decisions I made last year, and I'm headed back this year in 2012. It's the place to turn online friends and acquaintances into business collaborations. If you want one suggestion to cut through the noise of SXSW networking, be sure to stop by late-night, every night at the Driskill Hotel. Both the front lobby and the back bar always have an engaging scene of social media, marketing and change-making insiders. - Michael Margolis, Get Storied. 6. Leave Room for Spontaneity SXSW is a great place to meet many entrepreneurs from across the globe. By the end of the event, it'll feel like you've met too many entrepreneurs, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The keys I've found are to arrive in Austin with a few folks that you must connect with while there for business, but other than that, maintain a level of openness and availability. Too much planning or organization will only cause unnecessary stress and worry about not attending everything you set out to do. Rather, go into the event, knowing that spontaneity is king for the few short days you have to enjoy the event. - Jeff Slobotski, Silicon Prairie News. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, webphotographeer. |
| Why Big Consumer Brands Have Yet to Tap Pinterest's Potential | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 4:06 PM | Lauren Drell |
|  The Modern Media Agency Series is supported by IDG. According to a 2011 survey by IDG Research Services, IT buyers prefer to interact with peers and tech bloggers mainly on Twitter and LinkedIn. As might be expected, mobile use is widespread throughout the day and night. And the interest in video may surprise you. Learn more in this infographicâ?¦ The image-sharing site Pinterest has experienced meteoric growth since its launch in February 2010. Pinterest's user base grew from 1.6 million visitors in September 2011 to 11.1 million visitors in February 2012. Along the way, it became the fastest site to reach 10 million users. In February, it was announced that Pinterest drives more traffic to retail sites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined, and this week we learned that Pinterest drives more traffic to blogs than Twitter. When it comes to engagement, Pinterest is second only to Facebook -- its users spend, on average, 89 minutes per month on the social network. All of these statistics should be very encouraging for brands -- there's a very captive and engaged audience on Pinterest -- but why, then, aren't you seeing some of your favorite big brands on the site? We spoke to a handful of media agencies -- the people who help brands develop their marketing strategies -- about why Pinterest isn't catching on with big consumer brands despite its status as a runaway success for smaller brands. Determining Fit Certainly, there are plenty of brands actively pinning, such as HGTV, Kate Spade, Whole Foods and Etsy -- and their audiences are sizable. But major consumer brands like Coca Cola, Oreo, H&M (which has a massive Google+ audience) and Macys haven't yet embraced pinning. In a strategic move, some brands have flocked to Pinterest to access the predominantly female audience -- women comprise about 82% of active users on Pinterest, according to Google Ad Planner. Women typically spend more time on on social networking sites than men, but Pinterest's female audience far outweighs the male one, moreso than on any of the other big-time social platforms. And because of that, many big-time brands aren't sure what to do about Pinterest. When a new platform emerges, a brand either will want to jump in headfirst or be reluctant to add yet another social site to their marketing arsenal. Oftentimes, brands look to a media agency for answers. The agency then has to determine whether it makes sense for the brand to be there. Taylor Valentine, VP of social media and relationship marketing at Horizon Media, has a litmus test to help brands consider whether or not the platform is a fit: Is your audience there? Is the conversation that's happening one that you want to participate in? Are you equipped to participate, when it comes to content, resources and people to keep the presence active? If you can answer yes to all three of these questions, says Valentine, then it's a no-brainer. Valentine recently asked a wedding cake professional how many brides she sees on a weekly basis and how many of those have a Pinterest. The answer was 100% of the 10-12 brides she meets with each week. Pinterest has replaced the three-ring wedding binder, so brands in the $86 billion wedding industry ought to say "I do" to Pinterest -- the audience is there and the conversation is happening, so it's worth it to commit. While beauty, food, wedding and decor brands are doing very well on Pinterest, we're not implying that other products and industries don't have a place there. Sports teams have proven they can score fans on Pinterest -- the New England Patriots pin Pats recipes, cheerleaders and photos of New England, while the Pittsburgh Penguins pin photos of old-school Pens players, the city of Pittsburgh and hockey-themed home decor. Are Agencies Encouraging Pinterest? Despite the apparent popularity of Pinterest, not many of the agencies we contacted have clients with a Pinterest page. Andre Woolery, associate digital director at Media Kitchen, says that agencies might more aggressively encourage clients to pin if there were "clear ad opportunities" available. "We haven't employed any programs with Pinterest yet, but that doesnâ?Tt mean we donâ?Tt find value in the platform," says Woolery. "Clients have expressed interest, and we are in the midst of developing unique programs for their campaigns." For now, Media Kitchen is focusing on Pinterest reconnaissance -- the team is paying attention to the site's personal curation process to get a sense of what products are resonating with customers and what's trending in the marketplace. Armed with this knowledge, the agency plans to use the site as a platform for distribution. This more tentative approach has been witnessed at Horizon, too. "Most of our clients are interested, weâ?Tve submitted POVs, they see it all valuable, they see the hype, they get excited," says Valentine. "Not many of them that are setting up brand pages..I donâ?Tt think itâ?Tll be that far off." Of course, once the brand decides to commit, it's up to them to run the show. "Our point of view as an agency is that brand presence on a social platform is the responsibility of the brand -- we donâ?Tt manage Facebook Pages, Twitter handles or Pinterest," because those interactions ought to speak to the interests and passions shared between the brand and the consumer." â?oAs agencies, we must hold responsibilities for giving our clients the best bang for their buck in social media marketing."This do-it-yourself mentality could be what's deterring brands from diving in, especially because many companies are already dealing with limited resources. Because of this, Pinterest may be viewed by brands as an ancillary social network, with more of a supporting role than a starring one. This is the approach that MEC embraces. "It is important to establish a strong social foothold in the primary social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, while leveraging Pinterest as a visual extension of the brand," says Kristine Segrist, managing director of social at MEC. If you do embrace more visual platforms, like Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram, she says "it's important to think about the unique but complementary role of each platform. Showcase different aspects of the brand within specific platforms -- based on the strength of each partner -- and then cross-pollinate content in a deliberate fashion when appropriate.â? Neil Kleiner, head of social media for AIS, sees the benefits of Pinterest, but says that none of his clients in the UK is active on the site. "In short, the audience is not mass enough (yet), and there are huge potential copyright issues that I wouldn't want to expose our clients to," he explains. And he does admit that right now, the audience isn't big enough for his client's to pay attention to. "Otherwise it would be innovation for innovation's sake, which obviously has a place, but we as agencies also must hold responsibilities for giving our clients the best bang for their buck in social media marketing," he says. What's Holding Brands Back? There are a few reasons that major brands have not embraced Pinterest. Michael Litman, head of engagement at 9010 Group outlines his top three: Lack of analytics. There's no "dashboard" like a brand finds on Facebook, Foursquare and SlideShare, and the "follower" dynamic is different here. "It's hard to attract followers -- people might repin your stuff but may not follow as a result," Litman says. He says that, at some point, a dashboard for brand pages to help brands quantify what they're getting out of Pinterest would be a great offering, even as a paid-for feature. Not all brands are visual. Pinterest is highly visual, so it can be hard for a brand to wrap its head around Pinterest if there's nothing to show. "If you can't convey your business offering in images, then Pinterest probably isn't for you," says Litman. However, Pinterest isn't there to help you push products -- you're supposed to convey the lifestyle of your brand. So boards devoted to fan art, your team or behind the scenes at the office could be engaging enough to merit followers. "It's about promoting the lifestyle, the interests and the people behind the brand." They'll wait and see. "Some large brands will be watching the early-adopting trailblazers to see how they do it and take best practice from those," says Litman. And many have taken notice already -- Whole Foods and the Today show are especially good examples. "I think we'll really start to see over the coming months that the best is yet to come from brands on Pinterest," Litman says. If you're waiting to gather up resources or figure out how to implement a Pinterest strategy, there are two things to keep in mind, says Valentine. First, you shouldn't start unless you're ready and commit to be active on a daily basis -- there's an expectation that you're going to respond. Also, these users are very social -- they expect Like buttons, they want to be able to interact with your brand. And they're mobile -- so your brand's website ought to be mobile-optimized. Measuring ROI? Valentine says that as the site grows and the gender balance evens out a bit -- or even gets to 65:35 -- more brands from other industries should see more opportunity. "50 million is the new 100 million -- there's a snowball effect," he says. He laments that some industry people think upstart social sites are too small or niche to be effective. "The feedback is 'thereâ?Ts only 1 or 2 million people, thatâ?Ts not enough reach!â? but the point is the extended reach you get from the social integrations, and that is the opportunity." A lot of a brand's success with Pinterest is based on anecdotal evidence or simple metrics, like the number of likes, repins, followers and comments. It's still to early to determine revenue driven by Pinterest. â?oClear ROI metrics are still being established," says Ming Linsley, director of social at MEC. "We'll evolve into more substantial ROI measures, such as referral traffic, sales and brand preference metrics." In the meantime, there are some tools that have emerged to address the ROI issue. "Pinpuff provides an estimated â?~worthâ?T for pins and referral traffic to help marketers better quantify return on investment,â? she says. But any Pinterest ROI services are new to the market and require further examination, though they do suggest that progress is being on the ROI front. Series supported by IDG
The Modern Media Agency Series is supported by IDG. What are your prospects information preferences? Technology websites and print publications hold prominent roles for IT buyers but vendor sites are not too far behind. According to a 2011 survey by IDG Research Services, IT buyers prefer to interact with peers and tech bloggers mainly on Twitter and LinkedIn. As might be expected, mobile use is widespread throughout the day and night. And, the interest in video may surprise you. Learn more in this infographicâ?¦ |
| New Site Helps You Control Google Search Results for Your Name | | Thursday, March 08, 2012 3:20 PM | Sarah Kessler |
|  Potential employers, clients and dates are all Googling your name. BrandYourself, a new website launching Thursday, helps make sure they find what you want them to. The website guides you in search optimizing the links you want to push up in Google results for your name. Hereâ?Ts how it works: You choose the links you want to â?oboost,â? for example your LinkedIn profile. The platform assigns SEO tasks that will help those links show up higher in Google search results. For LinkedIn, suggestions include setting your name, customizing the URL and adding a profile photo. BrandYourself tracks the links you choose and lets you know if their Google rankings change. The free version of the platform will help optimize up to three links and track the first page of Google search results for your name. For $10 per month, you can boost to unlimited links and track the first 10 pages of results. The startup also provides a profile page where you can link to all your other online profiles. Because linking out and in are factors in how Google ranks pages, this step is important. BrandYourself claims that 80% of its profiles appear on the first page of Google within the first two weeks. Co-founders Pete Kistler and Patrick Ambron launched the first beta version of BrandYourself in 2008. That product also helped expand online presence by suggesting people to follow on social networks and content on which to comment. It was, Ambron admits, a bit cluttered. â?oBy focusing on one important thing, we were able to make the product more powerful and effective,â? BrandYourself Co-founder Patrick Ambron tells Mashable. That one thing â?" boosting positive links in search results â?" has been proven to be important. According to a 2009 study commissioned by Microsoft, of the almost 80% of U.S. hiring managers who had searched for candidates online, 70% of them said they had rejected a candidate based on what they found in his or her search results. While other products such as Reputation.com offer to manage online reputation, they are significantly more expensive and tend to focus on crisis control. BrandYourself is just helping you do your own SEO, but even its premium version is a justifiable maintenance cost. â?oThe whole reason we made this product is because everybody should be managing and improving their search results,â? Ambron says. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Maravic |
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