Category: Blog
Windsor-Essex Celebrates Social Media Day!
All around the world people are coming together to celebrate social media. Today is a celebration of how social media has shaped our communities and created a fundamental shift in communication. It’s a day to celebrate our connectivity and to honour the platforms that have changed the way the world shares information. To get in on the action, Daryna Kulya, a business and computer science graduate from the University of Windsor and a local tech-savvy social networking advocate, supplied a location and began promoting the event. Local business, citizens and social media advocates such as ourselves have stepped up to help promote the event and organize a fun gathering for like-minded individuals.
As part of Social Media Day, WEtech Alliance, an organization focused on helping Windsor-Essex technology-centric companies succeed, spoke to multiple entrepreneurs who rely on social media services every day. The article mentions local businesses such as Spry, Spotvin, WindsorEats, Red Piston and of course, Blab! Media. Conducting our interview via Skype, we spoke with WEtech Intern Jason Viau, and had a chance to discuss how social media impacts our business and why it’s so important for other businesses to utilize its services. To read more and see what other local businesses have to say, click here for the full article.
While social media is alive and well in Windsor, there are still naysayers and traditional marketing professionals who are hesitant to explore this vast medium of possibilities. Education and a general knowledge of how social media works and what it offers could greatly benefit many Windsor-Essex businesses. In the future, Blab! Media will strive to provide the information these businesses so desperately need but for the time being, social media day is about sharing ideas and inspiration to help Windsor-Essex move forward.
The meetup will take place tonight (June 30th) at 6:00pm. It’s being held at Vermouth (333 Ouellette Ave) and anyone who wishes to attend is welcome! Please click here for more details.
Can I Be Your Friend? Viral Video Promotes English Opera
Every once and a while a viral video on Youtube makes a big impact. Just last week I came across this promotional video for The English National Opera. The video is being used to promote a new opera entitled Two Boys and the performance is said to “lift the lid on the risks of life online.” To spread their message, they created an entertaining video that features one man roaming around and approaching strangers in public to ask them questions. The video is intended to open our eyes so, as social media users, we become aware that the way we’ve been conditioned to act online isn’t necessarily normal or safe. Sometimes it takes a video to make us realize that online interaction does not translate to human interaction as seamlessly as we’d like to think. Watch the video below and let us know what you think.
MobManager Helps Business Organize, Track and Analyze Daily Deals
When we wrote about Groupon a few weeks ago, we were happy to pass along the concept of preparedness to ensure that any group buying transaction pushes your business forward. In the process of researching, we’ve come across an online tool directed at businesses participating in group buying deals and it’s definitely worth a closer look.
As expected, the group buying industry has seen its fair share of growth recently. It’s no secret that consumers love a good deal and that more people are jumping on the bandwagon to save money. What fails to make news, however, is the industry’s downside. Businesses worldwide are beginning to open up to the concept of group buying and many have already begun experimenting by launching deals in their local area. The problem is that many of these businesses are slowly loosing what seems like a hopeless fight. In order for this industry to survive and continue to thrive in the future, merchants need tools and support to succeed. If the businesses can’t make it work, then there are no deals to be had! Cue the solution.
In June 2010, small business owner David Wachtendonk decided to take Groupon for a spin. At the time, there were no tools available to merchants so they could manage their own deals online. In search of more substance, David pulled together his own team and created some tools to solve his problems.
“I wanted to have more control and these new tools helped me achieve my goals,” said David, “Later on I realized that what I’d created to make my life easier could help other people as well!”
Frustrated with the lack of concern exhibited by popular group buying sites, David and business partner Christopher Lee set out to offer their services to other struggling merchants. And just like that, MobManager was born! Finally, merchants offering group buying discounts had a place to evaluate, analyze and plan for the future to ensure success for their business.
MobManager allows merchants to manage redemption, track ROI and even offers a loyalty feature that lets them follow-up with deal participants. The loyalty feature utilizes permission-based marketing, creating automated, opt-in, drip marketing campaigns. In addition, business managers can get a better understanding of their daily deal campaigns by using MobManager’s dashboards and reporting capabilities to answer questions like, “How much revenue is being generated per customer?” or “Is this daily deal campaign profitable?”
In the future, MobManager hopes to become part of a standard redemption process that will provide customers and merchants with a better experience and, in turn, positively impact the industry itself. Only time will tell if group buying is here to stay but in the meantime, services like MobManager are making the process a lot more painless for merchants that are interested in exploring new territory. To learn more about what services MobManager offers and how they can help your business, be sure to visit their website.
5 Tips To Avoid A Social Media Scandal
In the past week, Republican Anthony Weiner has taught the world some very valuable lessons. Last Friday a lewd photo was sent via his twitter feed to a college student in Seattle. The photo managed to stir up some controversy as Weiner publicly denied posting it, stating that his accounts had been hacked and he was in the process of hiring a lawyer to investigate. At one point, when asked by multiple reporters if the man in the photo was him, he responded saying he wasn’t sure. Throughout this media frenzy, many people began to doubt his sincerity as he dodged questions and denied all claims with a straight face.
Yesterday, during a public press conference, Weiner admitted to sending the photo and confirmed that the man in the photo was him. The congressman said, “Last Friday night I tweeted a photograph of myself that I intended to send as a direct message as part of a joke to a woman in Seattle. Once I realized I had posted to Twitter, I panicked, I took it down and said I had been hacked. I then continued to stick to that story which was a hugely regrettable mistake.”
Surprisingly enough, this is a very common mistake on Twitter. As you may remember, other high profile organizations have been embarrassed by Twitter mistakes before. Earlier this year, a Chrysler employee was terminated after dropping the f-bomb on the automaker’s Twitter account, and a Red Cross social media specialist tweeted drunk on the organization’s behalf after a HootSuite slip up.
In honor of these brand-abolishing mistakes, we’ve put together a list of the top five tips to avoid a social media scandal. After all, a wise man named George Santayana once said, “Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
1) Remember that everything you post online is public whether you set it as “private” or not.
2) The only sure-fire way to ensure that your information, photos etc stay private, is to avoid posting them online.
3) If you know you’ll be out on the town and there’s a possibility that you could use your device while intoxicated, leave it at home. It’s too easy to lose control of inhibitions and internal censors when your judgement is impaired.
4) Always think before you post. No amount of security can protect you from your own thoughts. If you wouldn’t say this in front of a customer, you shouldn’t be tweeting it.
5) If you slip up and make a mistake, admit it, apologize and move on. Lying to cover up an issue just delays the inevitable.
Is Groupon The Right Fit For Your Business?
Coupons are not a new concept. Chances are your family has been saving money for years by cutting out coupons from flyers and as the times changed, printing them from the internet. The truth is, everyone loves to save money and Groupon’s business is built around the public’s desire for a good deal. Group buying has recently become a growing phenomenon. As consumers begin to realize the benefits, businesses are jumping on the bandwagon to offer whatever deals they can.
Each day, Groupon offers a new deal on food, retail merchandise, or experiences in your city. As a user you can purchase these deals online or through their mobile app. Each deal requires a certain number of users to purchase before it “tips” and becomes active. This ensures that businesses participating get the desired minimum amount of users to purchase. Businesses can also set limits in terms of how many coupons are available for purchase, when they expire, how they can be used etc.
The important thing to remember is that while Groupon is a great business with a great concept, it may not be the best fit for you. There are many factors that come into play when organizing a deal through Groupon and as a business, it’s vital that you’re prepared in advanced.
Can You Afford To Offer The Discount?
The first step in determining if Groupon will work for your business is to start crunching some numbers and learning more about how the process works. Upon investigation, businesses will learn that Groupon typically takes 50% of sales. If your business sells 1000 Groupons for $15 each that’s $15,000 in total so Groupon gets $7,500 and you get the other $7,500. If those 1000 people all come into your business and spend exactly $15, you’re left with no other profit whereas those who come in and spend more than the allotted $15, put that money directly into your pocket. It’s very important to figure out how much your business can sacrifice financially in order to really leverage a group buying deal.
How Will You Handle The Traffic?
Imagine that you sold 1000 Groupons that, according to the terms of use you provided, expire in three months. You have to assume that in the next 90 days, these 1000 people will be waling through your doors and significantly increasing your traffic. This is an important factor for smaller businesses who have a very desirable product or service. Often times businesses forget that once the deal is over, they’re now responsible for how it plays out. If they can’t handle the traffic because they have very few employees, a small storefront, or few resources, it could jeopardize the customers experience. The smartest way to eliminate this issue and avoid it from the start is to set a limit on how many Groupons can be sold for your business. This is a great example of how planning ahead can save you a lot of grief!
Are You Prepared To Track Redemptions?
Once your business has made its appearance on Groupon and customers have purchased the deal, it’s your turn to take over the reins. Each Groupon is only redeemable once, so when the barcode is scanned, the customer forfeits the coupon to the business. The process of tracking redemptions can prove very useful. As a business owner it ensures that you’re aware of how many Groupons have been redeemed so you can plan ahead. Tracking Groupon redemptions helps you stay on top of things and ensure the process runs smoothly. What many businesses fail to realize is that tracking these coupons can provide them with loads of interesting information in terms of buying habits. How much did these Groupon customers spend? When did they redeem the coupons? Did they buy any additional as gifts?
Have You Educated Your Staff and Created a Game Plan?
You’re potentially bringing in new customers with Groupon and you want their first impression to be amazing so they’re enticed to return without a coupon in the future. Ensuring that your staff is educated and prepared to handle Groupons can make all the difference. Do you know how the staff will ring up the deal on the cash register? Do your employees know how to properly track the incoming Groupons? There are many bases that beed to be covered to provide the best user experience possible but preparing things in advance and staying organized can help the process run smoothly.
Have You Done Your Research?
Researching Groupon’s services and reading business case studies can really help steer you in the right direction. It’s important to remember that there are many responsibilities and risks involved with group buying deals, as there are with almost any aspect of marketing. At the end of the day, it all comes down to making an informed decision so you can ensure that your business will be prepared to take advantage of everything Groupon has to offer.
Calculating The ROI Of Your Mom
Infographics can be very valuable tools and can help you learn more about a specific topic by displaying statistics and important information visually. But sometimes they can be funny too! Everyone is asking us about the ROI of social media when in fact, we should be asking you, “What is the ROI of your mom?”
Transforming The URL Shortener Into A Serious Marketing Tool
At some point in our lives, chances are, we’ve all used the services provided by a URL shortener. They’re a great tool to utilize, especially when posting content to a micro-blogging platform like Twitter where every single character counts! Now it may seem that a URL shortener can’t really get much better, but a new startup called Bre.ad is seeking to change that mindset.
Bre.ad is, as expected, a URL shortener. It shortens links, has the ability to sync to Twitter and Facebook and it provides link analytics. What makes this new startup so unique is that it helps users promote brands, interests and charities through a full-page interface. The difference becomes apparent when you click on the Bre.ad link. You aren’t taken directly to the content, but instead, are re-directed to a webpage that was created by the person who originally shortened the link. These pages display messages left by the person who created them as well as 720 pixel by 300 pixel billboards. The user stays on the page for five seconds before being re-directed to the link he/she originally clicked on.
These pages are delightfully referred to as “Toasts” and they can be used to promote anything from a personal Twitter account, to a charity that you support. As a user, you can upload multiple “Toasts” and when you generate Bre.ad links, they will be chosen from at random.
Bre.ad founder Alan Chan believes that people are always willing to promote causes whether they’re personal or business related so his goal was to find a simple, classy way for them to display their passion. While Bre.ad hasn’t gone public yet, its Beta version will be launched in the next few weeks. In the meantime, Lady Gaga, North Face and many other brands already have Toast pages. The site even features an explore option that lets you see which brands, causes and profiles are the most popular.
It’s difficult to judge public reaction to Bre.ad as it’s yet to be released. The service was designed not to feel like advertising but users could avoid clicking on Bre.ad links because they know they’ll be forced to watch an ad. It’ll be interesting to see if people adopt the technology with open arms and if users can find creative ways to convey their messages through “Toasts”. Who knew URL shorteners had so much to offer?!
Top 10 Youtube Tips For Small Businesses
It’s no secret that Youtube has become a seriously powerful online search engine when it comes to music videos, news stories, cute babies, funny cats and everything in between. We’ve compiled is a list of 10 tips for small businesses that are interested in utilizing Youtube as part of their social media strategy.
1) Customize Your Channel
Having a channel on Youtube is like having a page on Facebook, it needs to be branded! Take the extra time to customize the colours so they compliment your brand, experiment with adding graphics and really make your channel stand out.
2) Utilize Subtitles
Since March 2010, Youtube has provided users with the option to add auto-captioning to their videos. By providing subtitles, you’re allowing the hearing impaired all around the world to engage with your content, something that most companies ignore.
3) Beware Of Annotations
Have you ever watched a video and been annoyed by text appearing over top of the footage? If you have, you’re definitely not alone. Don’t be tempted to go down this route as annotations are very unprofessional and tend to be a big distraction to viewers. You want to grab people’s attention and make a great impression but relying on irrelevant text to do that is not the best strategy.
4) Remove Offensive Comments
While everyone knows you should never delete negative comments from your social media pages, offensive comments can be a tough judgement call. You can’t actually stop people from leaving unfriendly comments on your videos or your channel but you do have the power to remove spammy or offensive remarks. If the comment is negative or critical in nature, it should be left alone, especially if it’s relevant. If the comment uses offensive language, racial slurs or is completely saturated in spam, removal is recommended. Keep in mind you always have the option to moderate comments before they are posted live so this may be a better solution in terms of managing your reputation.
5) Engage With The Youtube Community
Some people forget that Youtube is a social site so it’s important to explore other users’ channels and content. You can favourite videos that you like and are applicable to your business and even make suitable Youtube friends. If you’d prefer to stay away from associating with other individuals or companies, try searching for content or channels that are relative to your local area or a good cause that your company supports. Aside from being social, it’s also important to stay up to date on Youtube’s own news as the site goes though some fairly major changes from time to time and is always adding new features.
6) Organize Your Content
It’s tempting to avoid organization, especially on Youtube, but making sure your content is viewer friendly is the most important part. Group together related videos, or stash older content in time-related folders. It’s also important to keep in mind that Youtube offers the ability to embed entire playlists into external sites such as blogs or personal webpages so always keep that feature in mind when organizing content.
7) Don’t Ignore Tags
As well as many other social sites, Youtube’s content is organized on a tag word basis. This is an important facet that many users and businesses fail to recognize. A tag word system works on the basis of logic; what words will people type in to find your product? On the other hand, there are no limits as to how far you take the tag words so if you’re offering a cat food product you can use words like “kitty”, “cat” and “kitten” because you really never know for sure what people will type in. Youtube also offers about 15 categories to classify your content. Try to choose the most relevant but don’t be afraid to experiment if your content falls into more than one category.
8) Promote Your Channel
Don’t always assume that any interested viewers will come to you or automatically know you have a presence on Youtube. Utilize your other social media platforms as well as any external websites or blogs to promote and share your content. Keep in mind that linking social accounts can also help in terms of ensuring that your content is published across as many platforms as possible. There is also an embedding option that allows other users to showcase your video on their own external sites. This is always a benefit to you because the more views you get, the better!
9) Don’t Be Scared Of Analytics
There are many free analytic tools offered directly through Youtube. The information they provide should never be overlooked as they give valuable insight into view stats, demographics, community and most importantly, discovery data which shows you how users found your videos.
10) Stay Active
Don’t mindlessly create content for the sake of staying updated, but realize that its important to stay active. Even if you have no new content to post, continue to respond to comments or friend requests and work on building up a database of favourite videos. If Youtube is a platform you’re very interested in utilizing, don’t let your enthusiasm dwindle after the first few weeks because it’s important to remain active. Come up with a schedule that works best for you and try pre-planning your content for videos so it’s easier to stay organized and up-to date.
TV Check-in App IntoNow Rewards Users That Watch Commercials
A few months ago we posted an article about new entertainment check-in applications like Miso and Get Glue that allow users to check into television shows, music, movies, video games and more. The rewards are mostly stickers unlocked by watching special shoes or networks with the occasional discount for Get Glue users on the network’s website merchandise. IntoNow operates on the same basis except the app rewards users for checking into commercials instead of actual programming. The best part is that the rewards are a lot more valuable than a sticker! The app just launched in January and has partnered with PepsiCo to offer a delicious reward to users.
Here’s how the app works; consumers download the iPhone check-in app IntoNow and hit it while the commercial plays on TV. Audio-fingerprinting technology then recognizes the ad and a coupon gets downloaded to your phone for a free 20-ounce bottle of Pepsi Max. The best part for PepsiCo is that once a coupon has been received users have the option to send out a notification to all their friends on Facebook and Twitter as well as on the app itself. There’s no doubt that this is an experimental move for Pepsi Max but they’ve agreed to honour 50,000 of those coupons while getting a better idea of the potential of interactive ads.
The Pepsi Max television commercial revolves around the theme “Field of Dreams” and features many baseball players from the past and the present. The ad is already available on Youtube and is posted below. It will air during MLB games and through the end of the year. The deal is the first major brand implementation for IntoNow but if consumers catch on, it definitely won’t be the last!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue7b1p_dbE0&feature=player_embedded
IntoNow uses advanced fingerprinting technology so they not only know what consumers are watching, but also if they’re watching it live, recorded on a DVR or on some other recordable device which is very important information to advertisers. It even works if you check-in using the Youtube video! The technology, created by Auditude earlier this year, was initially intended to recognize shows and insert ads online. It takes the technology only four to twelve seconds to recognize a given clip. They have a catalogue built up of ads that have run in the last five years or so, which means chances are, whatever your watching, is recognizable.
Since it’s launch in January 2011, IntoNow already boasts 600,000 downloads and 3 million tags. It was purchased by Yahoo at the end of April for $17 million.
Surprisingly, IntoNow isn’t the first to give consumers a reason to check-in to TV commercials. Mobile music app Shazam partnered with Old Navy to offer the first 1000 users that tagged an original song during an Old Navy commercial a free pair of jeans. The main difference between this mini promotion and IntoNow’s entire foundation is that they offer the ability to check into any and every TV commercial. For advertisers it shows them who is watching their ad and it allows them to reward that attention ultimately driving offline behaviour.
Class of 2011: If Social Media Were a High School
We’ve all been there, flipping through the high school yearbook, drawing devil horns, speech bubbles and hilarious things over the photos of our fellow classmates. Take a second and imagine if social media were a high school. Would Facebook be a jerk? Would Twitter ever stop talking? Luckily for us, the vast world of social media comes with it’s very own stereotypes and this entertaining info graphic reviews them all.
See the original blog post here