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Using Social Media for Business

Posted on by Brian Lee

Anyone who has ever written a book knows it’s easier said than done. But a vision came true this month as we published our first e-book, Using Social Media for Business. Here’s a description of it:

Social media is an integral part of marketing your business or organization, but which tools should you choose to reach your customers? This book explains how to use 18 different social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, for acquiring and retaining customers and promoting your company’s products and services. The advice provided can be applied to both for-profit and non-profit businesses, as well as member-based organizations and associations.

You can buy it as a PDF or Amazon Kindle format.

T-Mobile’s Test Drive campaign

Posted on by Brian Lee

I admit, I was immediately intrigued when I learned of the T-Mobile Test Drive campaign, in which the company sends you a new iPhone 5S with unlimited calling, data and text messaging to use for one week. Afterward, you return your phone to a T-Mobile store, and there are no strings attached.

First, the campaign had an inauspicious start. I learned about the campaign through a full-page ad in USA TODAY. That ad, as well as the ones in other newspapers, told readers to visit t-mobile.com/7nightstand. However, that site hadn’t been created. It was only after a bit of searching that I found t-mobile.com/testdrive was the correct URL (after a month, T-Mobile has finally created a redirect for /7nightstand).

Second, I discovered Wisconsin is not a T-Mobile-friendly state. You may not return the phone to an authorized dealer; rather, you have to go to a T-Mobile-owned store. The nearest ones to Madison were Brookfield, Wis., and Rockford, Ill. To me, it felt a little ridiculous to drive an hour away just to return a free phone.

Third, T-Mobile doesn’t seem to work on Fridays. That’s when I ordered the phone, but the company didn’t process the order until Monday, and I received it on Thursday.

Just before I received the phone I purchased a protective case. For $20, it helped insure me against damage, which would result in me paying up to $600 for the phone as part of the agreement.

T-Mobile did do a good job in selecting the iPhone 5S as the trial phone. Compared to the iPhone 4 I’ve used, it’s a million times faster. I enjoyed trying apps like Facetime, which I don’t have on my Windows Phone (actually, I basically have no apps for my Windows Phone, because no one will make apps for the platform).

Finally, this experience has taught me how much I value Verizon’s nationwide coverage. In various parts of Wisconsin and Illinois, my Verizon phone would be on 4G LTE, while the T-Mobile phone was on extended network. Sorry, T-Mobile.

What Snapchat’s geofilters mean for brands

Posted on by Brian Lee

Snapchat announced earlier this month a new feature called Geofilters that will add unique filters to photos based on a user’s location. With a quick swipe to the right, users can unlock these filters depending on their current locations and receive a text or graphic sticker overlaying the photo.

So far the new feature has only been available in New York and Los Angeles for testing purposes. During the World Cup, the app offered geofilters for locations in Rio de Janiero, according to TechCrunch. It’s unclear when the feature will be available for other cities.

While Snapchat has said that it is simply excited for users to explore this fun new feature, there is clearly a marketing opportunity for brands and businesses. Based on the introduction video released by Snapchat showing two women shopping at SoulCycle and a couple taking in Disneyland, the possibilities for companies, national parks and any other operation with a specific location to market its brand are obvious. It would be in a brand’s best interest to target millennials, Snapchat’s target demographic, with this tactic.

In fact, the new version of Snapchat with geofilters could be thought of as the millennial version of a postcard. From a marketing perspective, it would make sense for companies to create their own branded filters to leverage this feature. An example in the video shows a woman taking a photo in front of a coffee shop. As soon as she swipes right, a specific filter for the coffee shop appears in the photo.

Snapchat is not getting paid by businesses to feature their filters, according to a spokesperson for the app. Snapchat also was quick to add in its blog that it doesn’t store users’ locations.