5 Ways To Connect With Consumers With Pinterest
“Are you on Pinterest?” This question is coming up in more and more conversations by the day. If you answered no, you’re missing out on one of today’s hottest social media platforms. Despite its invite-only status, Pinterest experienced tremendous growth with a 4,000% increase in site visits from 275,000 per week to 11,000,000 in the latter half of 2011. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where users can pin and organize images from around the web to different boards. These boards can help them do everything from collecting recipes for their next dinner party to discovering DIY tips for turning their old cardboard boxes into stylish storage solutions.
Weekly Wrap Up #16 – It’s all about Facebook
This week in Facebook!
Yes, that’s right. This week’s wrap up is all about Facebook. The mega-awesome, all-inspiring, IPO-releasing (eventually…), Facebook.
The Art of Storytelling
We don’t often realize the advertising industry is an intrinsically complex-natured place. Too many times do we attempt to “dumb things down” so that the essence of an idea, or concept, comes through without a hitch. We attempt to make things as simple as possible in order to get our “value proposition” in the right place. We make things simple in order to drive ROI. We make things simple to get better conversions on our landing pages.
As marketers, advertisers, creatives, and interactives we sometimes overlook one of the most beautiful aspects of what we love doing. As we keep delving into more data and more statistics in order to drive a bottom line, we forget to tell a story!
Major Culture Shift and I’m Jumping on the Band Wagon
I’ve been at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC the 15th & 16th of November, and I have to admit I left feeling like a changed woman. As for any conference, the speakers and sessions can be hit or miss. I gained some valuable industry tips on paid search, digital marketing and SEO but the most impactful event for me was the keynote speaker, Gary Vaynerchuk. Prior to the conference, I’d never heard of this guy and now I can’t wait to read his book, The Thank You Economy and use his business practices in my own life.
Worst Ad in America – 2011
According to the readers of Consumerist magazine, the worst ad of 2011 is Luvs Diapers’ “Poop, There It Is.” Can’t say I’m too surprised. There’s something about competitive pooping that’s a bit disturbing to me.
So, one might say that Luvs really sh*t the bed on this TV spot. Or did they? It might not be the most liked ad out there, but it’s drawing plenty of attention. The brand is getting a lot of publicity. Hey, it made its way on this blog, and I assure you, it’s been posted on plenty of other sites too. That raises the old question, is bad/annoying advertising effective? Will Luvs’ stinky commercial move diapers off the shelf? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The Future of Online Video
I’ll be heading to the Internet Summit today and have been researching some of the panels I’ll be attending. One in particular I find very exciting is Online Video. Most of our clients are asking for video and we’ve been working to find outlets to share their message. Forrester Research shows that by 2012, $7.1 Billion in advertising will be spent in the online video environment. This makes perfect sense if marketers are watching the increase in online video consumption.
Weekly Wrap Up #10
It has been another action-packed week here in Raleigh, and another Friday means another weekly wrap up. This week had a lot of great stuff floating around, so here are 5 links for you to check out!
1. Heinz builds on QR code success with new cause-marketing effort
The new 20oz Heinz Ketchup bottles now have a QR code to support the Wounded Warrior Project. With over 1 Million scans from their previous QR code campaign, the expectation for the current project is to have consumers scan the code and be able to send a “Thank You” to soldiers from as part of the Wounded Warrior project, as well as to “Like” the Heinz Facebook Page. For every “Like” or “Thank You” sent, Heinz will donate $0.57 up to a total of $200,000. If you want to read the full article you can find it at Mobile Marketer.
Branding Is The Name of The Game
In the era of booming social playgrounds and countless communication touch-points, it’s a wonder how we, as consumers, can keep up with which companies are selling the latest and greatest products or services. We live in a time when the average person who operates a blog, updates their Facebook or tweets a tweet can be a brand’s biggest spokesman or worst nightmare. With the weight of the external environment growing minute-by-minute around us, the role of branding has become a necessity for increased awareness and overall business performance for a company.
It’s time-old, but there are five necessities all brands should strive to gain our mobile population’s attention and gain their loyalty. More »
RPRS Honors HM&P with Five Awards
We recently came home with five awards from the Raleigh Public Relations Society’s (RPRS) annual Sir Walter Raleigh Awards banquet. The agency was recognized for its successful implementation of strategic public relations, social media and event planning on behalf of Butterball, LLC, BASF Plant Science’s NutriDense® Silage brand, and Precise® Pet Products.
What we won:
- Silver Award in the public relations writing category for the organization and distribution of Butterball’s 2010 Holiday Donations announcement. The donations announcement helped to increase the client’s visibility throughout the holiday season.
- Honorable Mention in the organizational identity and promotion category for the agency’s leadership and support of the Precise Holistic Complete product launch.
- Honorable Mention in the special events category for the coordination of Butterball’s Millionth Bird Events, celebrating the production of the millionth whole bird produced at two facilities and using that milestone to honor a local veteran.
- Honorable Mention in social media for the promotion and outreach efforts of the NutriDense Silage Web Moo.0 Contest.
- Honorable Mention in the audio/visual presentation category for the Precise Pets Products Brand “American Ingenuity” video.
Congratulations to all the folks who participated in these efforts and for continuing to provide clients with great work! Check out the release on the Sir Walter Raleigh Awards.
HM&P Speaks at NCTA Meeting
Our own Scott Piggott, Shavette Purvis and Mariana Pinner recently spoke at a North Carolina Technology Association luncheon. The audience was comprised of marketing professionals who work in the technology sector.
Scott opened up by talking about the marketing funnel – influence, engagement and transition – and how social media is apparent at every part of that funnel. Mariana provided a primer on social media, providing tips as well as real-life examples of companies using different social media techniques successfully. Shavette gave an overview of digital analytics, as well as how and when put tools in place to be able to properly measure online the activity and impact of online efforts. It is important not to forget to track the effectiveness of social media and other digital tactics.
It was a great session where everyone seemed to walk away learning something new about the ever-changing on-line world, which relies so heavily on social media and digital analytics.
