Weekly Five Things You Might Have Missed Archives

September 6, 2014 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

Five Things You Might Have Missed!

Happy Friday! From Facebook pages gone ugly to blunt billboards, we’ve rounded up all the social media marketing, digital branding and online marketing news on a list we call our Five Things You Might Have Missed.

1.) Blogapalooza: Topping our list is a new study from Neilsen that is music to our ears: Blogging is back and bigger than ever. According to Neilsen, blogging is on the rise and the three major platforms — Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr — account for 80 million unique views in October 2011 alone. This is great news for blog writers and blog readers and more proof that if you blog it, they will come.

2.) ‘Sync. Tweet. Save: This brilliant Twitter marketing campaign from AmEx is a game changer. For the first time, the brand will use specially-created hashtags to reward card holders with bonuses. Each time AmEx customers tweet about using their card to buy coffee or get gas, for example, their cards get bonus points. It’s social media savvy meets rewarding customer loyalty.

3.) Pretty Ugly: The unpretty side of social media reared its ugly head this week in a controversial and popular Facebook contest called “The Most Beautiful Teen.” Parents were horrified when news of the page, which calls upon teens to sound off on the appearance of other teenagers, surfaced. Teens being teens, the comments got out of control and Facebook shut down the site — but not before the media hopped on the story at lightening speed.

4.) Hot Dogs in Hot Water: Those rascals from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine are at it again. This time, it’s a billboard that states Hot Dogs Cause Butt Cancer. (Alrighty then.) Sometimes it’s the blunt and simple messages people remember most.

5.) The Fed Tries Twitter: And finally, the Federal Reserve took to Twitter to clear up its much-maligned messages and image. We say bravo, Fed. If Twitter marketing can work for Charlie Sheen, then anything is possible!

July 25, 2014 By Dawn Walnoha Leave a Comment

5 Reasons Every Business Should Be on Twitter

The internet is full of social media platforms and it seems difficult and sometimes impossible for a business to keep up with all of the latest trends. To make matters more difficult, social media consultants never seem to agree on what the best approach is for a business, which adds another level of complexity. When determining the best social media strategy, many business owners fail to realize that Twitter can be one of the most powerful tools to use.

The List

Branding: Twitter is very personal. Presenting information in 140 characters or less is not always easily accomplished, which makes tweeting a creative process. By using Twitter properly, a business owner can greatly enhance and build upon its brand’s image.

Viral Promotions: Though social media isn’t always the best at new client acquisition, Twitter’s unique structure can actually help bring people in. With the social aspect of Twitter and the re-tweet feature, customers can share promotions with their friends on Twitter, which can actually help to draw in new potential buyers.

Competitive Insight: By monitoring the Twitter feed of competitors, an individual can see what that company’s clients are saying about its services. This can allow a business owner to tailor his or her own marketing and branding efforts in a more effective fashion.

Build Loyalty: Once again, Twitter is a personal platform. Staying in touch with customers in this fashion helps people feel closer to a business. Rather than seeming like a distant company, people begin to perceive these brands as unique individuals capable of personal communication.

Receive Immediate Feedback: Because of its unique presentation and personal feel, Twitter allows for immediate feedback from clients. By simply putting the “@” symbol before a business’s Twitter handle, an individual can tweet directly to that business and say whatever he or she wants. Unlike an e-mail or phone call, this makes the customer feel like he or she is directly in contact with the person that matters.

Understanding the Importance

For most businesses, these advantages can be a significant game changer, especially if it involves repeat business. The reality is that most social media platforms will not directly affect new client acquisition very much, but it can make a real difference in keeping existing clients. Furthermore, it can build awareness for what your company does on a daily basis, which can go a long way to helping your business grow.

July 18, 2014 By Dawn Walnoha Leave a Comment

Value First, Business Later

In the digital world that we live in today, effective content creation makes up the cornerstone of a powerful marketing concept. This is why finding an experienced content manager has become such a high priority for so many large companies, and also why businesses of all sizes need to start looking towards the web as their number one marketing tool. The internet has unlocked an abundance of free information for consumers, and when they are considering any buying decision, content is always king.

Many companies think that they can stick to the old marketing model: tell the consumer what it offers and how it is better than the competition. Instead, today’s content manager needs to take a new approach. The real secret in today’s marketing is to show, not tell. For content creation, the old adage that “actions speak louder than words,” rings absolutely true.

What does this mean to the modern business owner?

If you are worried that you might have to give something away for free, then you are right. Remember, the internet has made everything more convenient for consumers, including the availability of information. Buyers have come to expect something of value before they are willing to invest their hard-earned money in anything. Staying competitive in today’s market means offering value first, and if you can’t stomach that, then get used to watching your competition from behind.

How do you start giving away this value?

One of the simplest ways to get this value to your potential customers is to set up a weekly blog. You can post once or twice a week or even more often if resources permit. Make the topics relevant to your customer base. If you are a home improvement company, have someone write articles on simple DIY innovation projects. Or, if you run an auto shop, consider posting tips or videos on how to do very simple mechanic work, even as basic as checking and adding motor oil. The truth is, you don’t have to give away your deeply guarded secrets, but you do have to provide value.

Is blogging something you would like to get started on? If so, check to see how Brandsplat can provide quality ghostwriters to help get your message across and start delivering that value you need today. Remember, a little added value today can mean a lot of business tomorrow.

February 8, 2014 By Dawn Walnoha Leave a Comment

Blog Writing: We Call it a Life

“Ask for money, and get advice/Ask for advice, get money twice”

We’re feeling some Pitbull love today at Brandsplat. We love the first line of this song, which has some kind of magical staying power on the radio station we tune into at our office even though it was released more than a year ago. And lately it’s become a sort of battle cry for the blog writers. We change it up a bit, though:

“Write your own blog, and get a Like/Get us to write, go live your life”

OK, so we’re not mega-ultra-lightening-awesome rap freestylers. But we’ve noticed a trend: Clients come to us to help grow their business by improving their SEO or explaining their products/services through regular blogs. They come to us because they want to connect in a more meaningful way with their target audience.

And we’re great at that. We get all up in their business, asking questions about why people should choose them and how we can best explain their point of differentiation over the competition. We find new and helpful ways to talk about their business from the fresh perspective of someone who doesn’t already know everything about it. We do it on schedule and under budget. We do it with finesse and a bit of humor, where appropriate. And we win them business.

But that’s not why they stay. Time after time (another great song!), we hear this from clients: “I feel so good knowing the blog is in good hands. It’s one more thing off my plate — one less thing to worry about. Now I have my life back.”

Delegating blog management to us means more time for our clients to focus, or even to stop constantly executing long enough to think, create and plan. (Think you don’t need it? Our friend Juliet Funt at WhiteSpace has some great takeaways on that.)

It’s really a win-win. Why? Because this is totally fun for us. We’re freaks, we admit it. Most people hate writing blogs. A select few like it just fine but their workload doesn’t allow them the time to sit down and do it regularly. In any case, they’re not blogging professionals, but they hold themselves and their blog to that standard. Yikes much?

If it leaks, you call a plumber. If it crashes, you call IT. Why would you attempt to manage your own blog needs? Call the experts. This is what we do.

Y’all call it a moment, but we call it a life.

January 6, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

Full-width Post

This is some dummy copy. You’re not really supposed to read this dummy copy, it is just a place holder for people who need some type to visualize what the actual copy might look like if it were real content.

If you want to read, I might suggest a good book, perhaps Hemingway or Melville. That’s why they call it, the dummy copy. This, of course, is not the real copy for this entry. Rest assured, the words will expand the concept. With clarity. Conviction. And a little wit.

In today’s competitive market environment, the body copy of your entry must lead the reader through a series of disarmingly simple thoughts.

All your supporting arguments must be communicated with simplicity and charm. And in such a way that the reader will read on. (After all, that’s a reader’s job: to read, isn’t it?) And by the time your readers have reached this point in the finished copy, you will have convinced them that you not only respect their intelligence, but you also understand their needs as consumers.

As a result of which, your entry will repay your efforts. Take your sales; simply put, they will rise. Likewise your credibility. There’s every chance your competitors will wish they’d placed this entry, not you. While your customers will have probably forgotten that your competitors even exist. Which brings us, by a somewhat circuitous route, to another small point, but one which we feel should be raised.

Long copy or short – You decide

As a marketer, you probably don’t even believe in body copy. Let alone long body copy. (Unless you have a long body yourself.) Well, truth is, who‘s to blame you? Fact is, too much long body copy is dotted with such indulgent little phrases like truth is, fact is, and who’s to blame you. Trust us: we guarantee, with a hand over our heart, that no such indulgent rubbish will appear in your entry. That’s why God gave us big blue pencils. So we can expunge every example of witted waffle.

For you, the skies will be blue, the birds will sing, and your copy will be crafted by a dedicated little man whose wife will be sitting at home, knitting, wondering why your entry demands more of her husband‘s time than it should.

But you will know why, won‘t you? You will have given her husband a chance to immortalize himself in print, writing some of the most persuasive prose on behalf of a truly enlightened purveyor of widgets. And so, while your dedicated reader, enslaved to each mellifluous paragraph, clutches his newspaper with increasing interest and intention to purchase, you can count all your increased profits and take pots of money to your bank. Sadly, this is not the real copy for this entry. But it could well be. All you have to do is look at the account executive sitting across your desk (the fellow with the lugubrious face and the calf-like eyes), and say ”Yes! Yes! Yes!“ And anything you want, body copy, dinners, women, will be yours. Couldn’t be fairer than that, could we?

January 6, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment