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Pinterest: is it worth your time and effort?

May07
2012
Leave a Comment Written by Charlotte Hendriks

It’s one of those things people are currently calling an “obsession.”  Suddenly you hear it on the streets; and news sites can’t stop discussing it; it seems to have popped up out of thin air as the next big social networking movement. What am I talking about?  Pinterest of course.  By now, hardly anyone remotely social media savvy hasn’t given this a try. The new social media site has become overly popular in the last couple of months. In fact, the network has grown over 2,000% last year and has more referral traffic than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn all combined. We get that it’s a fun way to spend, perhaps waste time, but can it work as a business tool too?

Although it hasn’t been around that long, some users have already established an iconic name on Pinterest. Wholefoods, The Wall Street Journal and Mashable are some of the businesses that have their marketing strategies updated to the latest trends such as Pinterest, each targeting different audiences and all pursuing different goals by using it. So how is a platform like this used to promote a business one might wonder?  Well, it’s quite easy to say. Like any other social network it’s all about sharing your vision with others and interacting and engaging with established – and hopefully also new – clientele. Now Twitter is mostly about written content and Facebook mixes visuals with words, Pinterest however solely uses visual content like videos and photos.

So how do you go about this new social medium? Creating an account is still by invitation only, but once you have one, your client engagement and brand’s online visualization can begin. You start by creating boards that interest you and fill these with content you ‘like,’ or more appropriately in Pinterest terms, you “pin it.” After pinning something to your board, people (clients) can start commenting on it and repinning it. And that’s where the marketing aspect of Pinterest comes along as well. The more people repin your brand’s images, the more likely your sales will go up. Why? A recent survey showed that 21% of Pinterest users have purchased a product after seeing a picture on the site. Interesting, I would say…

Online shopping website Etsy is probably the most successful example of attracting consumers and driving new sales. With every new image they pin, potential customers are directly influenced and can be sent to their main site. That’s one way to do it. Other brands are using the social network to run contests or introduce new product lines. Pinterest is a great way to show your brand’s creative side to your customers. With many brands and companies creating a page, I’m sure many marketers with come up with other unique ways to use Pinterest in order to create a worthy reputation and in the end even generate more sales.

But like every other social media site, keeping track of the trends, engaging with clients and representing your brand’s vision can be very time consuming. Pinterest is no exception to that, although I do have to say that boards and pins are easily created and maintained in it seems like this trend is still climbing. If you aren’t on Pinterest already, it might be time to start hopping on this high speed social media train.

Posted in Uncategorized

Identification crisis: should you mix your personal and business social media accounts?

May02
2012
Leave a Comment Written by Claudia Teijgeler

With all the different social media platforms that are bombarding us today, it can take a great amount of effort to maintain your personal identity alongside of your business identity. Some recommend, don’t keep multiple accounts but integrate everything into one and edit your personality where needed. Nevertheless, others, such as Richard Cummings, argue that one size doesn’t fit all and the accounts and they should be separated in order for businesses to develop their proprietary online personality. We find that more often than not, things that you find relevant and worth sharing, are also worth sharing for your business. However, as the following examples demonstrate, it remains case dependent whether it’s a good idea or not to mash up your identities.

Last year, cellphone news and review website PhoneDog  sued the blogger Noah Kravitz,  @Phonedog_Noah, for $340,000 for the 17,000 Twitter followers he kept after he left the company. That amounts up to a stunning $2.50 per follower and occurred only because Kravitz created his Twitter handle while being employed by the company. It was Kravitz’s function to communicate with the public, and keeping the public after he left was a loss to PhoneDog.

A great social media icon, Twitter personality Aliza Licht, better known as DKNY PR GIRL, has up to 385,000 followers.  She portrays a better case for matching business to personality, as she chose to conceal her identity to the public until recently. The persona behind the account was essential for its success, as Aliza was committed to frequent updates and authentic conversation. Yet she still recognizes that the handle is synonymous with her name, but still belongs to the company.

Twitter does provide a solution for those in a public speaking function, as it has two identification fields: your name and your handle. Our advice? You can change your handle to the company, but keep your own name to retain your own brand on Twitter. That way the switch from one company to another can occur without a hassle and with no loss of reputation.

The bottom line is people in the online world are looking for conversation and engagement. No one is solely interested in what glorious stories businesses have to tell about their products, but they are seeking businesses with personality, that show that they care about more than just themselves and are ready to engage in conversation. So if your business is celebrated for its controversial view, it may be wise to mix up some accounts, however for all the others, some editing usually will just do the trick!

Posted in Social Media, Social Networking - Tagged networking, social media

$1 Billion Worth of Photos

Apr11
2012
Leave a Comment Written by Charlotte Hendriks

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth 1,000 words“, and the public has plenty of words to share about Facebook’s recent acquisition of the popular photo sharing program Instagram. With almost 800 million users Facebook’s every move is followed by nearly everyone around the globe, and yesterday’s news of Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for $1 billion created a frenzied buzz of mixed reactions across the internet.

Explaining the acquisition in his post on Facebook Timeline, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the reason for the merger was to, “offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests”. In his post, he also writes that Facebook intends to keep the service as it is, saying that the company is “committed to building and growing Instagram independently.” However, many are worried if this will actually be the case. After the announcement, Twitter users were quick to express both their satisfaction and dismay (mostly dismay), many using funny and savvy visual responses via Instagram to back up the sentiment.

Analysis firm Crimson Hexagon looked at 200,000 tweets that mentioned the deal and the results say only 12% of all the tweets showed any sort of approval of the acquisition. Some 18% of users were simply in shock and a whopping 35% were furious, mostly at Facebook. On top of that, roughly 40,000 Twitter users declared that they had deleted their Instagram account or removed the app from their phone following the acquisition announcement.

This is not the first time that Facebook has raised eyebrows with its monopoly-like acquisitions of popular social networks and services. Many attribute the failure of Friendfeed to Facebook’s acquisition of the aggregator, and more recently Gowalla was shut down only three months after the mega-social network bought it . The reactions of Facebook taking over Instagram seem to be not merely emotional; history has proven that it could either go right or wrong.

In the ever-evolving social media landscape where brilliant new social sharing techniques and services are constantly springing up, acquisitions by existing all-powerful tech companies are sure continue, but is it something we should be happy about? Are we indeed being provided with the best technology for our sake or are companies, especially Facebook, gaining too much power in the social media – and world at large? Let us know how you feel about the acquisition in the comments.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Social Media Era: the challenge of established behavior

Apr07
2012
Leave a Comment Written by Claudia Teijgeler

Warren Buffet once said: It takes years to build a reputation and only five minutes to ruin it. In the social media era we are experiencing today, nothing could be truer. Be it good or bad, thanks to the web, news spreads quicker than ever.

Individual opinions have the potential to reach wide audiences; no need to say that once a group forms an opinion, its reach can explode. With constant interaction, people worldwide are monitoring each other’s behavior- criticizing, approving, or praising it.  There are many examples of this, such as the popular Kony video ads for the Super Bowl which aired on YouTube to create buzz before the actual event.

The example we would like to focus on occurred late last Monday night, after the University of Kentucky won the March Madness crown. Vicious riots broke out in Kentucky following the final match, leaving a trail of injured people and destruction of personal property. However, a mess that couldn’t be cleaned up is the one the Lexington Police accidentally created. Thanks to our advancing technology, the TuneIn app allowed people to literally tune in on what the Lexington police were saying to each other as the riots were happening.

Getting to the point where transparency reaches its highest level, the police were being monitored in real-time while interacting with each other on their daily jobs. After some jokes and sarcasm about the riot, things started to escalade. The public found this level of access shocking and found the manner in which the riot was being discussed internally by Lexington police disturbing. There amongst the angst, the #LexingtonPoliceScanner Twitter handle was born. The hash tag first quoted what the police where saying, until words evolved and comments blended in. It reached the point of becoming public entertainment and will not soon be forgotten, neither by the public nor the police. We can’t help but wonder – will the Lexington Police still dare to act the same way ever again or will they forever fear being monitored? Is social media finally challenging established behaviors that until now have happened behind closed doors?

Posted in Uncategorized

Facebook Timeline: Create an Emotional Connection

Mar26
2012
Leave a Comment Written by Claudia Teijgeler

Much like any other change Facebook has made to their design, the new Timeline has not gone without sparking a worldwide debate- but it doesn’t matter if you love or hate it because as of Saturday March 31st, Timeline is here to stay. Your fans will be viewing your brand from a completely different perspective and if you haven’t considered a new Timeline layout, or drastically rethought your social media strategy, now is the time. Below are some guidelines that will help your brand benefit from the new layout by creating a more authentic and engaging space.

Optimize your cover photo: The most obvious change Timeline makes for your brand is creating a more visual space. The new cover photo gives a dynamic first impression of the brand and should be chosen carefully. In addition, changing the cover photo frequently will keep things interesting for returning visitors, enticing them to look at the brand in a different manner each time.

Tell a story: Your brand’s page will now chronologically show the passage of time. This provides the opportunity to emphasize content and give your fans a chance to appreciate the milestones achieved in the company history. The new Timeline also allows a brand to pin certain content to the top of the page ensuring that this will be the first post visitors see. Use this great tool to your advantage to highlight engaging content that develops your brand’s story.

Choose your tabs wisely: A change less obvious to the public, but just as important for brands, is the reduced tab visibility. Rather than having many different tabs on the left side panel, only four tabs are now visible in Timeline.  Needless to say these tabs should be picked carefully to engage the public and shape the perception of your brand, as it is one of the first things a visitor sees when landing on the page.  Strategically, brands should be putting less emphasis on customized tab development and more on creating exciting content.

Message your Fans: Another important new feature is the ability for brands to send and receive private messages. This can be a great way for a brand to interact with its fans but can also be a downfall, because for some brands there are more effective ways to deal with this kind of traffic. Brands will need to find a balance between helping customers with questions and keeping a clean message board.

Facebook is moving forward and allowing your brand to tell its authentic story by developing much more prominent information along the way. The new Timeline creates the perfect chance to humanize a brand and make people feel emotionally connected to it- which is what we strive for after all, isn’t it?

Posted in Uncategorized
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Goldstein Communications is a full-service social media, traditional public relations, event planning, marketing, advertising, sponsorship and celebrity endorsement agency. Our goal is to work with unique companies that we believe in; we look for passionate individuals who are excited about their brand and are willing to collaborate with us in order to achieve optimum visibility. Click here to read more...

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