First – to Facebook.  The latest social media site to try to sell stock – Facebook has two things going for it that LinkedIn and Groupon didn’t have this past Spring/Summer. 

1)      It’s Facebook – the name recognition is there, people know and understand that it’s been around and isn’t going anywhere

2)      BUZZ – although other social media sites were excited about going public, but Facebook has the advantage of being who they are, doing what they are doing, and the “traditional” media is all over it.

Will Facebook do better with their IPO in March than their predecessors?  Only time will tell what stock sales will do – but as consumers, how do you think stockholder desires will now reflect on services available from the social outlet?  Again…it’s the time thing.

Second – Super Bowl Ads.  Volkswagen has done it again – and while some have said they don’t like it as much as last year’s “Little Vader” ad, our office is all giddy about it and can’t wait for the others.

It’s interesting that VW has chosen to go with the Star Wars theme, although “Little Vader” did them proud last year, there was discussion on whether extending that theme was a good idea.  Because we LOVE this ad so much, we’re going with the fact that it works, and that they’ve transitioned using the dog chasing the bug as the start – just tying it in at the end.

Kudos on ya’ VW for making it happen – we even liked the viral video of the barking dogs in synch with the Imperial March…classic for our office members that geek on that sort of thing.

Keep up with us next time when we give you the scoop on all the ads 2012 Super Bowl can throw at us!

A little background:

• SOPA = Stop Online Piracy Act
• The bill is before congress now
• It’s intended to make it harder for foreign sites to sell counterfeit goods, fake prescription drugs and copyrighted movies, music, and other content
• It’s supported by US Chamber of Commerce, Motion Picture Association of America, Recording Industry Association of America, and others

The Good, The Bad, The Difference
        Good

• Protection of intellectual property
• Stops piracy costing millions to US companies
• Supporters say it’s targeting mainly foreign websites generating income and taking US dollars for fake or stolen property

        Bad

• First real internet censorship if passed
• Generated content on sites like YouTube, Reddit, and Wikipedia could become targeted for what others post through them
• Encourages ISPs and DNS blocking and filtering which many Internet Security Advocates admit is risky

       Difference – the questions we’ve been asking all day:

• Will this Act really protect intellectual property?
• Can piracy issues be stopped by enacting this bill?
• Does the Act bring enough loss prevention to the companies it’s protecting at the cost of censorship it’s in danger of supporting?

While we’re glad we’re not the lawmakers in charge of making these tough decisions, we know these are issues our industry must stay informed of.  Should these changes go into effect, it could mean social media sites will become heavily monitored (which is why a number of them will be going “offline” in protest on January 18), advertising, television, radio, billboards, the works may have to increase in cost to create original material each and every time before going live on the internet.

Whatever happens, know E2 Marketing is here to help keep you in the know and on top of the changing world that is marketing and the law.

The case brings to light two different issues that directly affect businesses.

1) Contract Negotiation – before hiring someone, particularly for social media purposes, it’s important to understand the intended use of the accounts. Are you growing followers? Do you want the social media person to become a personality for your business or would you rather the business take on the personality traits? There are good and bad aspects of each.

2) Social Media worth – to this point we’ve only guestimated dollar equivalence for social media followers using formulaic equations for income generated by nothing more than 21st century word of mouth advertising, which quite frankly is just as hard now as it was then. The last reported dollar amount was about $1.83 for Tweeps per account but either way it’s a tough comparison to try to make.

What we’re recommending to clients on contract negotiation – whether with a marketing firm on a retainer contract per month to handle social media interactions or if hiring an individual to create, follow, and update outlets – make sure part of the contract states the intent and purpose of the business’ social media and who is to retain rights should there be a parting of ways.

There are a number of ways to handle social media and it’s important as a business that you define what you want it to do before even getting started in the network. Each social media portal can have a distinct functionality within your marketing strategy so it’s integral to decide the particulars prior to interweaving it into the daily avenues of business.

IF the lawsuit goes to trial, it could define how social media followers are measured. For the first time a defined amount will be recognized by law to give a specific dollar amount to followers – at least for Twitter. Does knowing each follower’s worth is $2.50 change your outlook on social media and how it works for your company? Let us know your thoughts and if we can help you through these quickly changing times because telling the world is not always as straight-laced as it seems.

Some of the trends we really liked and will likely incorporate immediately are:

• Mobile Searches and Responsive Design – according to Search Engine Land, 20% of all web searches in 2012 will be from mobile devices.
                - What this means for your business – responsive web design is KEY.  If your current site doesn’t load on a web phone, an IPad, and a big screen TV – you need to have it re-done.
• Individualized Social Media – Facebook has lost 6 million users, and with new updates to come, they expect to lose more – Google+ has absorbed some of the difference, but more and more consumers are looking for other options.
             – What this means for your business – look to interact with your customers where they are – specialized social media sites are becoming more available, even start your own fan “circle” with Google+ or new pages with Twitter – or maybe a site you haven’t discovered yet.
• CRO is the new SEO?  Conversion Rate Optimization is the latest scientific measurement of how many website visitors become customers once they
  land on your page.  More than just knowing how you rank among the competition, it’s knowing how your page is bringing in money for your company.
          – What this means for your business – measuring ROI of your website has become easier, with SEO to know where you rank, CRO is
  the missing link in knowing what’s bringing customers to your site and which numbers of them are becoming paying customers.
• Curves are back – not just the type of gym you attend or the silhouette of your anatomy – the latest greatest in web and graphic design is CURVES.  As consumers, we are apparently tired of definitive lines and we want some circular thrown in for good measure.
           – What this means for your business – if your business is in need of a new look this year, consider any group that brings you curvaceous circles, literally those thinking “outside” the box to bring you designs that aren’t necessarily square.

These are just a couple of things we’re seeing early coming down the pipe.  Please let us know if you need ideas, trends, thoughts, you name it for your marketing needs as we enter the new year.  2012 brings lots of promise and E2 Marketing wants to be a part of your future!

Google+ had a rough start. There was all this hype about it, but then they didn’t make it easy to join, and that kind of blew it for a lot of people. BUT, Google+ is coming around and the business pages they’ve setup work really well when it comes to connecting with like-businesses and consumers.

With Google+ business pages you can:

• Connect with groups and people that are interested in you.
• Be recommended by customers to other people.
• Share with fans or customers in real-time.
• Join or be added to circles of like-businesses and groups or people who share the same interests.
• Get connected with people who are searching for a brand or business through Google.

The latest addition to the social network phenomenon is Twitter’s new Brand Pages. These new pages will resemble Facebook pages a bit and allow advertisers to customize their headers and make logos and taglines more prominent.  Twitter notes on their blog that businesses can “control the message visitors see when they first come to your profile page by promoting a tweet to the top of your page’s timeline,” (more on that in a bit)

These new changes go hand-in-hand with Twitter’s latest design that gives you:

• Photos and videos within the tweet
• Connect instantly with those @replies you have – both mentions and replies
• Find connections within your own interests, not JUST with #hashtags
• Your profile has changed, see how much more, and how much neater, you have become
• Embedding tweets within your page/brand page

With all the new things going on, sometimes it seems tough to keep up, but don’t get lost in the shuffle.  Know that we’re here to help if you need
assistance because your company needs social media to help tell the world!

The Instagram app on the Iphone, along with many more camera applications, allows for photo sharing and comments. Plus, more and more sights like Pintrest are all posts of thumbnails, or ‘pins’. It’s still networking and social media, it’s just moving to a more visual level than the current written one.

Once again businesses will need to update their form of networking or social media in order to keep up with their consumers. It’s not just about tweeting or posting comments anymore, it’s about pinning and repining cute things or activities your interested in, or taking photos of what’s going on in your life, etc.

Think visually. People want to share interests and take little snippets from here and there and then re-share them. So if you want to connect with your audience, post pictures and videos of not only your product but also other objects, places, situations, etc. that your business is interested in or supportive of.

It’s about connecting socially and building a brand personality. You aren’t networking to solely promote your business and it’s product, you’re networking to make connections and build awareness, to meet people who share the same interests with you. By doing this, people, or possibly clients, will find you eventually.

So whether you choose to have E2 Marketing help you launch a social media campaign or not, we are always here to help guide you and you’re business in a positive and proactive direction in order to reach consumers and build a stronger client base.

During the 2008 election, Obama used social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. to gain popularity. In the upcoming election, all parties have caught on and are using social networking and media to their advantage. But once a campaign has online followers, how do they turn them into physical voters?

1.    Involve followers every step of the way.

Upload photos, videos and comments constantly on Twitter and/or Facebook. Make people feel like they are actually in contact with the campaign along the way. They want to hear from the campaigners and know what’s going on behind the scenes. The more involved people feel, the more responsive
and active they will be.

2.     Don’t just post. Communicate.

Engage with people. They want to hear from the candidate. More than that, they want to back a real person, someone who communicates with them. People want to know they are being heard. Let followers post questions for the candidate and have him or her answer them. Being able to directly contact a candidate and/or the campaign affectively is huge in gaining peoples’ votes. The public wants a candidate to listen and act.

3.     Organize a physical meeting.

By ‘meeting’ we don’t mean long table, suits, and a PowerPoint presentation. We mean get your followers together in a physical place, off the Internet. Organize a rally and speak to them in person. Tweet, Facebook and post videos to build awareness for the rally ahead of time to get people excited for it. Organize events in several locations based on the majority of followers in given areas.

Social media works both for business and politics because it’s all about outreach to customers, or in this case followers, supporters, and volunteers. So if you feel like you’re business or campaign is lacking social interest, let E2 Interactive help you communicate with your audience and build awareness within your community.

Think of it as the new face of customer service.  By starting a fan page on Facebook or beginning a new Twitter account, you’re inviting these entire social communities (and trust us when we say these numbers are in the millions) to do business with you.

Typically, how do people choose those with whom they do business?

1)                 Word of mouth – covered, word of mouth is obvious in the world of social networking, but be ready, these mouths are big, varied, and come with lots of friends.

2)                 Field experts – get ready to proclaim that you’re an expert in your field of business, if you don’t claim it, no one else will give you the opportunity to do so, go out showing your war face.

3)                 Earned trust – this is big in the field of social media, why?  Because in this new realm, you get to know your clients before they become clients.  Be ready to communicate with those you don’t know, you can’t afford to be the party’s wallflower.

4)                 Customer service – we use this parallel a lot, but it’s true.  Once upon a time, when storefronts ruled the world, people would “shop” you before they bought anything.  The first time someone entered your store they rarely purchased anything, they were looking for the connection you made with them – now’s your chance to connect with a much larger audience.

5)                 Searching the telephone book – WAY over, no one really uses the yellow pages anymore unless they need to start a fire.  The new search requires great SEO on your part (search engine optimization) – and yes, it is part of social media.

Whether you think you’re ready to get in or just want to dabble a bit until you get your feet wet, E2 Marketing is here to help guide you as you move forward into the social media world.  It can be overwhelming at times, but in today’s world, it’s the price of doing business.

Let us know how we can help you.  Obviously we feel as though it’s vital to the success of your business.  And if you need someone to bounce ideas off of, know we’re here to help you tell the world!

1)                 Each other – we’ve had a few employees celebrate multi-year anniversaries with us, and for smaller offices, that’s pretty exciting.  It’s been a challenging year, filled with good and bad times, and looking back, we’re thankful we had one another to share it with!

2)                 Getting moved – the first part of 2011 was our move to River Street – and what a move it was!  We’re excited to be a part of the family of businesses on Factors Walk.  We’re happy to be a regular staple among the amazing businesses we call neighbors.  We also can’t believe we got it done.  A wild ride as anyone moving knows, it was a haul but it happened!

3)                 Awards – we had quite the award-winning year this year – 19 ADDYs now hang on our wall.  We continue to hear buzz about some of the new sites we’ve launched and hope to receive accolades there as well.  We are honored to work with such talented people and to continue to push one another to become the best versions of ourselves!

4)                 Redecoration – while moving in was one thing, we are currently going through another office transformation and are excited to see what the next phase is going to bring – new equipment, new furniture, new layout…NEW!

5)                 Clients – while we have had multi-year anniversaries this year, so have a number of our clients.  We are so thankful for our businesses that choose E2 to be part of their family and are excited to work with them as we all start planning for 2012 marketing needs.

2011 has been a great year and we know 2012 will only get better as we continue to grow and thrive together.  Let us know if you need new direction for the new year because as always, we’re ready to help you Tell the World!

Much like holiday hires, you’re able to use this time as a trial period.  How you keep them in communication is now more important than ever.

For small businesses, this is particularly important.  How do you keep Top of Mind for these customers specifically?  By giving them a reason to “return,” whether to your brick and mortar or to your website.

A few ideas, create an email list.  Offer new customers to sign up for on-line deals and monthly emails when they’re checking out.  Offer a 5% discount if they sign up.  Assure them  you don’t sell that list – then be sure to actually send a monthly newsletter.  Nothing major, something fun to keep them coming back to your site and to keep you in mind when they are looking for something in your genre.

The key is not to “overburden” these new friends with information.  Only send regular communications monthly – really give new information – and even if it’s not something they’re interested in at the moment, they will either have friends that are, or maybe more interested in something else later.

A number of businesses don’t believe the monthly newsletter is really worth the effort anymore.  It’s not, if you can’t stay relevant with your customers, but it is if you can stay current, keep it light and funny, and give your customer something that’s either awesome for them, or something that’s awesome for someone they care about – and for your currently holiday crowd, they more than likely have someone close to them that will be interested.

Need some ideas, let us know and we’ll be happy to assist.  Also know we can work with you to provide monthly updates if you don’t have the time – that’s why we’re here, to help you Tell the World!