Proximity Marketing for Retail Stores with Google Beacons

3 Tactics Brands Are Using This St. Patrick’s Day On Social Media

Holidays are an especially engaging time for brands on social media. In fact, in 2011, 36% of retailers said they planned on spending most of their holiday marketing budget on social media (Source).

Sure, most of the attention and money went towards Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas sales, but who said that the smaller holidays like St. Patrick’s Day couldn’t be engaging?  (more…)

The Benefit of Using Triberr for Your Blog

Every day, thousands upon thousands of interesting, creative, and newsworthy stories are written by bloggers from around the world. But with so much content circulating in the blogosphere, often times those wonderful stories get buried in the archives, ceasing to reach the great potential they’re capable of achieving.

Fortunately, there’s a social networking secret weapon that can help you take your blogging power to all new heights: Triberr. (more…)

Get Inspired: 3 Ted Talks Every Digital Marketer Needs to Watch

I just love TED Talks: I listen to a new one least three times a week while I’m getting ready for work. Not only are they a great way to kick-start your day with a little inspiration and motivation, but I also always end up learning something new and awesomely profound. In essence, they’re kind of like the career-oriented adult version of Bill Nye the Science Guy. But better!

Having listened to dozens upon dozens of Ted Talks from some of the greatest thought leaders around the world, I’ve decided to compile a list of my three favorite presentations that every digital marketer could learn a thing or two from. So take your lunch break, grab your sandwich, plop down in front of your computer, and get ready to have your marketing mind blown.

(1) Your Elusive Creative Genius by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is one of the first Talks I ever listened to – I know, I was a little late jumping on the TED bandwagon! – and I can watch it over and over without getting bored. Maybe it’s because I’ve been a writer since the day I knew how to put pen to paper. Or maybe it’s that I really, really enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love. Either way, Gilbert is highly captivating in this short, but powerful talk about how you can embrace your genius and not let it stifle your creative muse.

(2) Why Videos Go Viral by Kevin Allocca

“Why does some content go viral and other content flop?” This is a universal question all social media marketers ask themselves. Luckily, Allocca is a professional YouTube watcher (for real!) and has figured out the three key components for why viral content becomes, well, viral. If you already know the answer, give this video a watch anyway to lighten up your day with some sweet double rainbow action.

(3) The Clues to a Great Story by Andrew Stanton

 As the writer of all three Toy Story movies and the writer/director of WALL-E, it’s safe to say that Andrew Stanton knows a thing or two about effective storytelling. In this short (and hilarious, might I add!) presentation, Stanton draws on both his personal experiences and his time at Pixar to explain what makes a gripping story and why an audience wants to be put to work.

What Ted Talks inspire you to be a better marketer and storyteller? Tell us in the comments below or give us a shout at @BPSocial.

Pinterest Etiquette: 5 Things Brands Should Never Do

Pinterest is one of my favorite social media platforms for retail businesses because it offers an excellent medium for them to market their brand in an aesthetically pleasing way. Not to mention, it’s a whole lot of fun.

However, the number of brands that pin and populate boards without putting a strategy in place has become rather painful to witness.

As much as we all love drooling over “Yummy Recipes” or repinning pics of cute, cuddly critters all day long, let’s face it: that’s not going to get your brand any feasible recognition. In fact, brands should take due diligence to make sure they’re always pinning properly and following the right etiquette.

With that being said, I’m here to give you 5 quick tips to help you improve your Pinterest marketing strategy so you don’t wind up looking like a total social media noob.

#1: Don’t Use Default Board Titles

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing businesses that don’t take the time to come up with unique names for their boards. Picking one of the defaults like “Food” or “My Style” looks incredibly lazy. Not to mention, it’s not going to make a consumer want to engage with your brand.

One of my favorite examples of creativity comes from Whole Foods.

Aside from my major affinity with cheese, I absolutely love this board because it’s so fun and clever. They could have taken the easy route and simply named the board “Cheese,” but how would that have set them apart from any other grocery store chain?

Moral of the story: Before you rush to throw up a mess of random boards, take the time to get creative. If you come up with something fresh and fun that your consumers can relate to, you’re guaranteed to keep their interest.

#2: Don’t Have a Hodgepodge of Illogical Categories  

Unorganized, chaotic boards that have zero relation to a brand are stressful. Being that Branding Personality is a marketing agency, we would look pretty silly having Pinterest boards labeled “Good Eats” or “Wedding Inspiration,” wouldn’t we? Sure, it would be fun, but it doesn’t relate to our brand strategy in any way whatsoever.

As with all marketing endeavors, you want to make sure your marketing strategy is cohesive across all channels. Never confuse your audience with the irrelevant. Offer them valuable content that is compatible with your brand and they will be much more encouraged to repin.

#3: Don’t Leave the Descriptions Blank

Imagine putting a visual on Facebook or Twitter and not including a description with it. It would look ridiculous and rather insufficient, wouldn’t it? Well, the same etiquette goes for Pinterest.

Pinners want to know exactly what it is they are looking at. Otherwise you chance losing their attention. Your descriptions don’t have to be a mini novel (in fact, you shouldn’t do that because it comes across as spammy), but you should always take the time to write out a short, informative description that encourage Pinterest users to click on the address of the pin.

#4: Don’t Go Pin Crazy

Trust me, I of all people know how fun (and extremely addicting) Pinterest can be. But that doesn’t mean you have to take it to the extreme. In fact, it’s counterproductive for your brand.

How would a pinner expect to know what content is truly important to you if you’re overloading their feed with a gazillion images every hour, on the hour? Even if the content were super awesome (and by awesome I mean a half-naked-Ryan-Gosling-riding-into-the-sunset-on-a-real-life-unicorn-awesome) no one would want to be bombarded with something over and over and over. Space it out and give people time to absorb information before you pin something new.

#5: Don’t Be a Bore

I think we can all agree that Pinterest is a place to have fun. Yet, it surprises me how often I come across brands that completely forget this absolutely crucial factor.

One brand that I absolutely love on Pinterest is Random House, Inc. Not only do they have a whopping 1.4 million followers, they also know how to create a wealth of fantastic content to keep those followers entertained. From Bookish Nooks to Novel Nail Art, their content is extremely creative and unique. Not to mention, they take the entire book literary experience to fun, new heights.

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed about getting started with your Pinterest marketing strategy, we’re here to help! If you have any questions, comment below or send us an email. We’d love to propel your brand forward and help you reach your social media marketing goals for 2014.

How To Extend The Halo Effect Through A Brand Ambassador Program

Would you like to not just create a halo effect, but also keep it going for an entire year? In other words: How would you like to create a constant flow of new followers and customers?

Justin Bieber is so famous because he is constantly in the news. Had he been in the news once, he would have gotten some attention. But because he’s covered constantly and everywhere, he’s got millions of followers all over the world. Having content about you out there is extremely important, and if you can make it shareable and findable, then that’s the way to go. So, how do you do that?

Articles, social media, and blogs are the top three and most effective ways to create content that is both findable and shareable. In the post “Create a Halo Effect Through,” I wrote about the value of bloggers and how to get your brand or product onto the right blog and on their social media. So let’s see how to take this a step further and extend this reach to keep it going all year. You will not just get seen, found, and shared once, but all year long! (more…)

Create a Halo Effect for Your Brand Through the Power Of Bloggers

When working with bloggers, you create a halo effect. In other words, you are borrowing someone else’s fame and influence to reach a specific audience. It works with celebrities in the same way. If Justin Bieber wears Marc Jacobs, millions of girls are going to start buying Marc Jacobs. Translate this principle to bloggers: Take Dino Dogan, Ana Hoffman, Chris Voss – each of these bloggers is unique and has a loyal audience that loves them and looks up to them.

When a mom’s favorite blogger says the newest laundry detergent is the latest and greatest, and gives a specific reason as to why that is so, that mom is likely to try it out. If your laundry detergent then delivers on that promise made by the blogger, you, as a brand, made a new fan, and a new longterm customer.

The hot niche within the blogger community is the so called mommy bloggers. They write about a wide array of topics as long as they are of interest to moms (and let’s face it: that’s a lot!). Because of that, almost any brand will be successful in marketing their name through mommy bloggers. Moms are also the main decision makers as to how daily spending is allocated. They make most purchasing decisions in a household and they like trusted brands. Naturally, this is the biggest audience most brands want to reach.

Readers love to hear what the next thing is that these bloggers are going to share, and then they re-share it on social media. These bloggers are trusted journalists, they have credibility and readers love them and their content. Bloggers have turned into online celebrities themselves. A blogger vouching for a product or company can immediately get customers running to the store.

These bloggers get it.

They are trusted.

They are (like) friends.

They have the audience your brand wants to reach.

They have credibility. They are trusted. Readers trust recommendations from a friend more than any other form of marketing.

So how can your brand leverage bloggers?

(more…)

The Social Media Championship: How NFL Teams Stack Up

Super Bowl XLVIII is only a few short weeks away and I couldn’t be more excited. And it’s not only because I’m a major football fanatic (#GoBroncos), but also because it’s one of the biggest social media events of the year.

Real-time marketing has become an absolute necessity not only around the Super Bowl, but the entirety of the NFL season. In recent years, teams and players have caught on to the importance of social media, harnessing its power to dig deep and capture the emotions of their fans and consistently engage with them all year long.

(more…)

Having A Dream: 8 Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Martin Luther King Jr.

There is more to Martin Luther King Jr. Day than a day of rest. Here are 8 lessons marketers can learn from this famous man who gave one of the most famous speeches in world history. (more…)

Social Media Coaching On A Budget – Learn To Do It Right

Do you try hard to be successful on social media but things are just not happening? You are not alone. Navigating social media sounds like an easy process, but it’s really hard work. In fact, it is such hard work that a whole industry has formed around it, with experts in every area and aspect. Social media is no longer a thing kids do to be entertained. It has evolved into hard business, generating millions in sales revenue every year, branding names among an audience that’s not easily reached through any other medium.

Avoid The Bad

When business growth and revenue crucially depend on your online and social media presence, you shouldn’t go this way alone, and you shouldn’t make mistakes. Mistakes are easily made, they are live immediately, and within one second, have reached an audience of possibly millions. Have someone take a screenshot of a tweet gone bad and your name might be tarnished for a long time.

Take this recent example. When the Los Angeles International Airport was recently in the news for an ongoing shooting, the City of Newport Beach’s Twitter account tweeted this:

Even though it was taken down very soon after it was tweeted, the immediate impact was devastating. The backlash was huge, people were quite upset about using a tragedy like that to market a destination (or any product for that matter). The backlash was, in fact, so big that the PR director who tweeted it, got fired. In today’s social media landscape, one must be extremely sensitive and aware of pitfalls and former faux-pas to know what not to do.

Grow Your Business Instead

Let’s forget about crisis for a minute and talk about sales and community growth. When you are on social media and you are not generating the results you want to see, you are wasting your time and money that you could have spent more wisely. How many hours have you spent last month on social media that you could have spent somewhere else more effectively? How much extra revenue, name recognition, and media mentions has it brought you? If you can’t answer these questions satisfactorily, it’s time to make a game plan change.

Here’s a great example of one of our clients. In February 2013, we started working with Goodwill of Orange County. Their social media numbers were dismal, their community was non-existent. Their goal was to go from 700 likes to 20,000 by the end of 2013. Our goal at Branding Personality was to get to those 20,000 likes and also to make those likes meaningful. This meant we wanted to create a community that would actively engage with the Facebook page, share posts and leave comments. When this happens and you get a new audience excited, you convert Facebook likes into new customers.

We exceeded our goal. We hit the 20,000 likes in the end of October, two months before deadline, and our audience is actively engaged with an approximate 15% audience engagement rate at all times (that’s outstanding!). Sales have reflected the community growth accordingly.

Exceed Your Goals

Not only did we reach our goal, however; we actually brought Goodwill of Orange County from the bottom of about 200 Goodwill organizations nationally, to be the number 1 Goodwill! This is the kind of result everyone wants to see – so how did we do it?

Learn How

Branding Personality has created a membership-only coaching program to teach you just that. This program is designed for small to medium-sized businesses who do not have the budget to let us take over completely. This program is designed to teach an in-house person the basics of social media and walks members through strategic approaches and how to achieve goals, on a month by month basis.

This is a social media coaching program for businesses on a budget. With this program, you’ll learn how to do it right and receive the following:

• Monthly webinars + Q&A (recordings archived and accessible through membership area)
• Monthly meetups
• Platform-specific recorded Social Media 101 webinars
• Receive recordings of each webinar
• Social Media Lead Tracking System with video tutorial
• Social Media Lead Follow Up System with video tutorial
• Receive instant social media leads by email
• Analytics of all phone call leads that are generated through social media
• Receive advice from Branding Personality’s social media experts
• Daily social media checklist
• Content calendar template
• Receive weekly email updates
• Special offers
• Access to members’ community for questions, feedback, and support

You can read more about the program and how to become a member of the Social Media Success Training System here. Please feel free to leave a comment with your questions or suggestions.