Category: Social media

The next level of social media interaction

Posted on by Brian Lee

Customer interaction through social media platforms gives users a greater sense of connection with the company. Whether it be through social media contests, answering questions or a simple shout-out, people thrive for these types of social interactions. According to a recent study by the market-research firm Ipsos, 52 percent of consumers are motivated to stay connected with a brand by contests.

Taco Bell’s recent ‘Breakfast Phone’ campaign is a great example. The fast food chain sent 1,000 highly influential Twitter users “Breakfast Phones” (see photos and a story) to utilize in Taco Bell’s social media contests. The Samsung T404G phones received calls and text messages that gave directions for the next social media challenge for a chance to win prizes.

These social media challenges were a way for Taco Bell to start promoting its new breakfast menu on Twitter.  The influencers in turn spread the word and generated a lot of buzz on social media hyping up the new menu.

Challenges included answering a question, posting a picture, sharing a Taco Bell related meme, etc. on social networks using the companies-related hashtags.  For every challenge, a select few phone holders were selected to win prizes.

Taco Bell truly engaged with their social media followers to make the contest fun and personal.  The selected phone users were consistantly being involved in the Taco Bell brand, which made them fans of the whole campaign.

Social Media Contests for Marketing

  1. Know What’s Popular. The type of social media contests that work well are the ones that are constantly changing.  Do your research and then tailor your contest accordingly.
  2. Stick to Your Guns. Will this campaign benefit your brand? If the answer is yes, it is important to know what your brand is aiming to achieve from the contest.  Don’t get lost in the end goal you set at the beginning of the process.
  3. Research Your Social Media Influencers. Taco Bell didn’t just pick 1,000 random Twitter users, it strategically chose 1,000 Twitter users who have a big following. Why target 10,000 people when you can target 10 people who each have 1,000 followers?

The Secret’s Out – the New Social Media App

Posted on by Brian Lee

Instagram shows your whole network how much fun you’re having. Twitter announces your thoughts or whereabouts to your followers. Facebook shows your “likes” and highlights to all your friends. But what if we took away the name attached to your information – what if there was an app that simply allowed you to speak your mind, anonymously? The newest social media app does just that.

Rightly named “Secret” takes a different approach to sharing. Instead of posting updates with your name attached, this app allows you to publish your stories “semi-anonymously,” meaning your name is not included but the post only goes to your contact’s feeds. Your contacts can see that one of their friends posted it – just not which friend it was. The main idea is to get people to be more “real” online.

Founders of the app, Chrys Bader and David Byttow, believe that anonymity may be the answer to making that happen. Under a thin layer of anonymity, they think people will be more likely to share what’s on their mind.

The app also has a feature that allows your thoughts to spread. When your friends “love” a secret, it will appear on the newsfeeds of their friends, and so on. In this way, the secrets that many people identify with could end up spreading far and wide.

The idea of the secrets spreading is interesting. If this gains popularity, it could be a subtle tool for social media marketers to post secrets pertaining to their demographic, their products or their services and monitor how far it spreads and how many people contribute to the spreading.

Of course, with anonymity comes a risk of misuse. The creators are working to prevent this app from being shut down like other anonymous apps before it. The app is designed to be a safe place for thoughts, and the “semi-anonymous” nature is intended to provide a buffer from the app getting out of control.

Using Secret for Marketing

There are several things your brand can do to avoid misusing this app. Avoid mentioning individuals and competitors and do not promote any potentially inappropriate or harmful secrets. Though the app is anonymous, your email address and phone number are attached to your account. Maintaining integrity is always your priority, so do not promote or post anything that you would not post with your name attached.

Rather, to use the app successfully, you can post facts, tips or anecdotes related to the interests of your demographic or to your product. Keep a watch on how far the “secret” spreads and use this information to gauge your public’s interest. This app has powerful potential, and it will be intriguing to see how useful – or harmful – it can be.

How Community and Technical Colleges Should Use Social Media

Posted on by Brian Lee

There are thousands of community and technical colleges in the United States, so how can administrators and marketers make their school stand out from their competition to reach their target markets? Here’s how community and technical colleges can use social media effectively:

  1. Use targeted marketing. Avoid a one-size-fits-all-approach in which you blast the same message to all your target audiences through all channels. Instead, use each social media platform for different purposes. For example, Pinterest could be used as a showcase for student projects and activities, while Twitter could be beneficial when announcing upcoming events for the entire school.
  2. Don’t be a used car salesman when promoting your institution. The best course is to provide value in the form of information or entertainment to your audiences. For example, rather than saying “Sign up for Health 101,” try talking about (and show examples of) how the class has benefited students.
  3. Be accessible to students. Although it would be helpful to have a large department to run social media effectively, you can get by with one or two dedicated rock stars. Simply putting up a page on Facebook isn’t enough these days. Active, frequent communication and moderator participation are key to engaging your current, prospective and former students.

This was our strategy when we consulted with Madison Area Technical College. Contact us to learn more about using social media tools to promote your community or technical college.