Your business has finally decided to take the plunge into the realm of social media and you’re wondering where to go from here. But where do you start in your efforts to engage your fans? Obviously, you want to be as creative and exciting as possible. What if you could offer a prize to increase traffic to your page by getting your fans to create buzz by posting pictures and videos? Great idea, right?
This is the same question many of our clients here at Serendipit have been asking us. We think this could be hugely beneficial for your company if implemented correctly also, but since the most recent changes to the Facebook Promotions Guidelines back in December, we all have to be a little more careful about how we market on the social network.
As Caroline McCarthy pointed out in her CNET article, “Facebook just got a little less free.” An approval process to run your business’ contest or promotion through Facebook must be followed and is a new revenue stream for the advertising department.
What exactly are the changes? Here are some important changes and guidelines to follow before going through with a contest or promotion on Facebook:
Gain written approval from Facebook before beginning a contest. Before running a contest, you must “apply” by filling out a contact form that requests your advertising budget. In order to run a contest, you must be able to purchase ad space as well.
If you again approval from Facebook:
Contests must be run on third party applications. Any contests or promotions that require responses, postings or status changes must link to an outside application where fans can post their entry.
Entry to contest cannot be automatic upon becoming a fan of the page. However, if you make the promotion or contest only viewable to fans of your page, you are able to link to a third party website where fans can enter.
Access to the promotion must be limited. Users are only able to enter the promotion through the canvas page of an application on Facebook Platform or an application box in a tab on a Fan Page.
Now that guidelines might be a little easier to understand, you can decide if a Facebook contest is right for your business.
Many of our clients ask us why their brand needs to have a presence on Twitter or Facebook. They want to know why anyone would care to follow or friend their brands.
Another study, conducted by Razorfish in August 2009, concluded that exclusive deals were the top reason people followed brands on Twitter. It also showed that people who friended a brand on Facebook or Myspace more likely to be a current customer of that brand than those who became of fan of a brand on Twitter.
It’s a new year, and we’ve got tons of new great news here at Serendipit!
First off, we have had some amazing things happening with our clients. We’ve had some exciting, hands-on training sessions with Ultimate Student Living (Campus Suites & College Suites) across the country. So far we’ve been working with Murray State, Western Kentucky University, Miami University of Ohio and Purdue University. Tomorrow, we head to South Carolina for training sessions with the University of South Carolina, then back to Tempe for training at Arizona State.
We have also been working on the brand new Trillium Residential website, set to launch in mid-February. For Safeguard Security, we’ve done some great social media training seminars with their team and we’ve gotten tons of media attention. And, our fave tech client, Axosoft, is about to get some huge media attention (we’ll link to those as soon as they are published!). Keep reading →
With the holidays upon us, it’s sometimes easy to lose focus of business goals. With a struggling economy that has hopefully reached a plateau, if you’re not in the retail business, November and December can be tough months for your company. It’s the end of year and 2010 is right around the corner.
Now is not the time, however, to become complacent and blame your lower revenues on the holidays. You have to continue to think outside the box and even step up your game to end the year with a bang. Here are five ways we’ve come up with to give your company the boost it needs to start 2010 with fireworks!
After doing a bit of research for one of our clients today, I found a stat that shocked me: 54% of U.S. companies ban social media in the workplace…according to a study done by Robert Half Technology (an IT staffing company).
It’s shocking because, in my opinion, the value and benefits of encouraging the use of social media far exceed the negatives. If your employees are properly trained, they can be increasing your brand awareness, driving traffic to your website and showing company comrade, all through social media.
Of course it’s scary to think about what your employees could say about your company in the social media world if they are frustrated, but as long as you have a social media policy in the place and a solid training program, you can minimize that risk.
If you need help coordinating these classes, feel free to call us! We’re doing it for our clients, and we’d be happy to help you! E-mail us at melissa@serendipitconsulting.com or call 480.250.4315.
After reading an eMarketer article, “Americans Want Brands That Inform, But Don’t Get Too Friendly” I realized how important it is for businesses to utilize their marketing strategy to provide their audience with news. If your brand can be a reliable source of information, you will succeed in winning your clients’ trust and loyalty.
So what makes news? As a journalism degree holder, I can tell you that news incorporates seven different qualifiers: timeliness, impact, proximity, controversy, prominence, currency and oddity. You can read more about each qualifier here, an article from the Handbook of Independent Journalism.
Social Media, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs and YouTube to name a few, has revolutionized how companies stay in contact with their customers. It has proven an effective marketing and customer service tool in many case studies. And as more and more people join the Social Media arena, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to incorporate Social Media into their marketing plans. But is it the right thing for all businesses? Even a small business?
The fact of the matter is that small businesses typically have a smaller marketing budget than their larger corporate competitors. With Social Media, you can exert the grass roots power of your fans to grow new business! What’s not to love about an unpaid sales force?
Have you ever had an experience with a business that was so refreshing or inspiring that you couldn’t wait to see what they did next? Maybe you received outstanding service, or the ambiance was amazing, or they offered a unique service and you wanted a way to stay connected to them post-experience.
We’re always super pumped for our clients when they get great TV placements, and we recently had quite a few great segments run for The Taste of the NFL, a partnership between E&J Gallo Winerey and St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance. Our client, Alliance Beverage, didn’t ask for any play out of the story, just that the community was made aware of the program and the increased need at St. Mary’s Food Bank this year.
In any successful business, you’ll find a good mix of risk-taking and caution. Both are equally as important, and too much of one without an even balance of the other can be detrimental.
Luckily, here at Serendipit, we have a great mix of both! I was reminded of this when we took a day-long boating trip with our fiances to Canyon Lake, in Phoenix’s East Valley. After a fun, relaxing day in the sun, Alexis decided that it would be fun to attach a giant tube to the back of the boat so that we could be towed by the boys. I agreed, but was silently freaking out. What if they went too fast? What if I was thrown into a cliff? What if I drown?
Videos like this make businesses who are unaware of the true benefits of Facebook, question if “social media” is right for their business. However, I thought these guys are hilarious and definitely worth sharing.
What exactly are the changes? Here are some important changes and guidelines to follow before going through with a contest or promotion on Facebook:
Well, here’s a great starting point. A recent study (conducted in December 2009) by 
After reading an 
Social Media, including Facebook, 
