FuseCreates » Social Media

How Smart Companies Get People Talking

FuseCreates — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:06:49 +0000

Business Marketing Association (BMA) hosts luncheon with Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing.

Andy made marketing sound easy at this event and discussion. His straightforward advice sounds like common sense, but thousands of businesses are overlooking the simple steps that take marketing viral. His #1 tip: the best marketing is free marketing. In his book we learn that a company’s best marketer are their customers and they are also free marketers. There are 5 essential steps that make word of mouth marketing work:

Talkers – Find people who will talk about you
Topics – Give people a reason to talk
Tools – Help the message spread faster and farther
Taking Part – Join the conversation
Tracking – Measure and understand what people are saying

Sounds simple right? But with so much noise pointed at consumers everyday, it is difficult to make your conversation break through the clutter. So to help push you in the right direction, Andy provides the Word of Mouth Marketing Manifesto:

Ethics come first.
Happy customers are your best advertising. Make people happy.
Marketing is easy. Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers. They will do your marketing for you, for free.
Great service starts great conversations.
Marketing is what you do, not what you say.
Negative word of mouth marketing is an opportunity to listen and learn.
People are already talking. Your only option is to join the conversation.
Be interesting or be invisible.
If it’s not worth talking about, it’s not worth doing.
Make the story of your company a good one.
It’s more fun to work at a company that people want to talk about.
Use the power of word of mouth to make businesses treat people better.
Honest marketing makes more money.

Have a luxury product? Then forget Pinterest…

FuseCreates — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 19:35:18 +0000

The battle wages: Pinterest vs. The Fancy

Which image bookmarking site is right for your brand?

The biggest takeaway from this comparison is that Pinterest is where you go for referral traffic, whereas Fancy is a place to sell directly to the consumer. Understanding your target audience, is the key in understanding which marketing platform is right for your brand.

While Fancy is purely an e-commerce site, it still utilizes bookmarking (Fancy It!) to show case items that user would like to own or already owns, facilitating conversation among members. Common brands found on Fancy: Urban Cricket, Boticca, cristianop, etc.

Pinterest, on the other hand, is focused on the conversation and referral traffic. So in addition to products, it also features DIY ideas, memorable quotes, exercise tips, etc. that read much more like a magazine. By “pinning” a user’s interest, they are starting a conversation about a brand and allowing other users to make the decision on whether to click the link or not. Common brands found on Pinterest: Lowe’s, Whole Foods, Redbook, etc.

This infographic from SearchEnabler helps decipher which platform is right for your brand.

To Pin or Fancy?

Have you been pinning your interests? Pinterest is a marketer’s dream.

FuseCreates — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:55:15 +0000

Pinterest is a social bulletin board where people can easily post visuals they’d like to save and share. Pinterest has built up an impressive following in the stylish scrap-booker set in a short period of time. The space is:

Visually stimulating
Inspiring
Sharable

All things marketers need to produce engaging content on the web. Not only are individuals sharing photos, products, links, recipes, etc. with their friends via Pinterest but they are get shared over and over again to thousands of their friends. Pinterest is of interest to business to consumer companies that create the engaging content that will get shared: perfectly paired outfits, unique finger nail designs, new recipes, work out routines, etc. As Pinterest continues to expand, I wouldn’t expect it to be long before we are seeing “Pin it” buttons on websites and branded business pages on Pinterest.

New Twitter Brand Pages!

FuseCreates — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:21:23 +0000

Have you heard about the new Twitter brand pages? That’s right, Twitter is quickly following in the footsteps of Facebook and Google+ by making prominent brand spaces. This new addition to Twitter features:

Header: The new expanded header on brand pages will allow for better “advertising” space. This header will be prominent above the twitter feed and can feature customizable text and images.
Featured Tweets: The featured tweet allows brand to advertise specific campaigns, promotions or products.
Organization: Brands can now separate the @replies from @mentions allowing for more effective communication with its audience.

Branded Twitter pages are still limited to prominent brands, but should launch to all companies within the new year!

Google+ Defined

FuseCreates — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:24:31 +0000

One of the hardest parts of learning a new social network is the lingo! Each one has to have their own “terms” referring to the same thing. Here is the download on the definitions for Google+, so you can get started with ease. Circles: enable users to organize contacts into groups for sharing. The user defines their circles through a drag-and-drop interface. Hangouts: An area used to facilitate group video chat (with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout at any point in time). However, anyone on the web could potentially join the “Hangout” if they happen to possess the unique URL of the Hangout. Clicking on the Share button under any YouTube video reveals an icon that suggests watching the video with friends in a Google+ hangout. Hangouts On-Air: Give users the ability to create instant webcasts over Google+. The broadcasts can also be recorded for later retrieval. This feature is currently limited to select video-cast personalities. Messenger: This feature is available to Android, iPhone, and SMS devices for communicating through instant messaging within circles. Instant Upload: This feature is specific to Android mobile devices; it stores photos or videos in a private album for sharing later. Sparks: Are a front-end to Google Search, enabling users to identify topics they might be interested in sharing with others. “Featured interests” sparks are also available, based on topics others globally are finding interesting. Stream: This platform displays updates from those users in their circles. The input box allows users to enter a status update or use icons to upload and share photos and videos. +1 button: This button allows people to recommend sites and articles to their circles. This feature also assists business in increasing SEO, by incorporating it on their sites. Data liberation: Provides the ability to download one’s content from Google+. Hashtags: Which involve the appending a number sign to the beginning of a word, are hyperlinked to the most recent or highest-trending search results within Google+ containing the word. Badges: Are sidebar widgets which embed “Add to Circles” buttons and drop-down lists into off-site websites and blogs, similar to Facebook’s Like Box widgets.

What is Google+ (G+)?

FuseCreates — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:18:31 +0000

Launched in June 2011, Google+ is a new social network that has attracted the attention of marketers. In just a few months, the platform amassed more than 40 million users, nearly one third of LinkedIn’s 135 million membership base. Despite this impressive growth, the adoption of Google+ doesn’t yet compare to that of Facebook, which has more than 800 million users. Ever since its launch, Google+ has been open to individuals to share stories with their Circles, get involved in discussions, post photos, and participate in video conference calls (called Hangouts). In early November, Google+ finally rolled out business pages. This is just another step forward in how Google intends to penetrate not only the social market, but also alter all forms of web communication. Continue to follow the Fuse Marketing blog for an unbiased and educational view of the new Google+ and other Google products. Changes are being made to Google+ on a daily basis that effect consumers and business. We will keep you up to date on the pros and cons, the ins and outs, and the best used of Google+. Happy Sharing!