It wasn’t long ago that we wrote about some creative ways you can boost your Brand with Pinterest. The new comer is certainly not to be underestimated.
Did you know that customers who discover a new product via Pinterest are more likely to purchase it than those who find the product via other social networks? There’s no doubt that online consumers are connecting with Pinterest in a huge way.
The proof is in the pudding. Check out this pinteresting infographic from Tamba.
As an adult, Easter is that weekend that allows you to reflect on the first quarter and help get you in the swing of things for long weekends.
As a kid, Easter is all about chocolate bunnies, painting boiled eggs, and of course … the Easter Egg Hunt!
Through this past weekend I thought to myself, is the Easter Egg Hunt really just for kids? Or are some of us still on an Easter Egg Hunt in our Business Development efforts? Waking up every morning, should we be grabbing our basket (or briefcase), and heading out to grab whatever eggs we can find?
Is this the way you want to (or should) be growing your business? Or would it be better to set out with an understanding that you are only interested in purple eggs, or perhaps ones with patterns. Maybe your tastes are best suited for dark chocolate only. Would this identification and selection lead to better outcomes, improved positioning, and all around higher satisfaction?
Good businesses know what they are going after. Great businesses have what they are going after, come to them. Let’s take a look at how digital marketing can help.
Does your website tell customers what you do at a glance, so they know you are right for them? If you’re a professional, does your site convey your personal brand and help answer the question “Why You?”, or does the pattern look like everyone else’s with a template website?
When was the last time you took a close look at your website and considered improvements?
What if you were able to communicate to potential customers, that your business is tailored to their specific needs. Wouldn’t they be more excited to be in your basket (community) rather than your competitors’? What if once they were in that community, there was ample content they could benefit from? They would feel confident that your basket will carry them where they need to go.
Do you have an adequate Social Media presence? Are you getting the feedback you need to direct your community? Most importantly, how are you establishing yourself or your business as a leader in the space?
As you read this, do your days look like an Easter Egg Hunt? If so, we would love the chance to speak with you — are you ready to Spark Conversation™?
PS – If you really want your day made … and are still in the Easter spirit … you have to watch this!
There’s a new Social Media in town and it’s making big waves.
Pinterest is a place where you can “curate and share things you love”. Pinners are loving spending countless hours pinning and repining stuff they find fun, interesting and inspirational, and it didn’t take long for brands to follow suit. Now, more and more businesses are seeing Pinterest as a means to advertise their products and services, increase brand awareness, build community, raise website traffic and grow profits.
One of the reasons why Pinterest has really taken off is because of its simplicity. Pinterest is 100% visual. People are more attracted to images than they are to words. This is why many brands feel that Pinterest isn’t the space for them.
At first glance Pinterest might not seem like a natural fit for your brand’s social strategy. However, while you may not be able to present your brand’s products or services visually, it doesn’t mean you can’t create interesting and shareable content.
Even if you’re not in the business of trendy fashion, interior design or photography, there are many ways to leverage Pinterest and reap the rewards. Consider the following:
You’ve written tons of ebooks and whitepapers, why not share them with your fellow pinners? Pin the cover photo, an infographic or another intriguing image from the document and link back to the PDF or relevant landing page.
Find at least one great shot to enhance your blog articles, then post it to Pinterest and link back to the article. Even if you use a metaphor (like the race to Facebook Timeline for Brands), find a great photo to illustrate it and start pinning!
Take photos at company events and socials and share them on Pinterest. You can even pin images of employees having fun at work or your sweet feng-shui office space. You’re usually all about business and consumers will love seeing your fun side. (Of course, be sure to get any necessary permission first.)
Get your fellow pinners involved by asking them to submit images that relates to your brand. The pinner who submits the most fitting image wins the advertised prize.
Have you used Pinterest to boost your brand’s online presence? Tell us about your experience!
The truth of the matter is that everyone can write a blog post. That’s true of any art! Anyone can do it, but not just anyone can do it well. “How do I write a blog post?” is a question the Spark Boutik team hears all too often. So, here are some tips to get you started.
Imagine the Internet as a giant screaming match. There are hundreds of websites publishing content for the same audience you’re targeting. Your headline needs to be your attention-grabber. In approximately 120 characters or less, you need to hook the reader and pique her interest.
A blog without at least one picture just isn’t complete. You don’t want to turn your blog post into a picture book, but you do want to hold interest with images where appropriate. When the reader clicks your headline, the picture is one of the first things she’ll notice, so it needs to command attention too. Pick an image that really stands out!
The introduction can be one of the trickiest parts of a blog post. It needs to say a lot in a limited number of words. You should lead with a personal observation or anecdote where possible. Then, make your main point quickly. Short and sweet is the way to go.
Now you’re ready for the meat and potatoes (finally). Just like your body should be, this explanation is going to be direct and fluff-free.
Forget what you learned about conclusions in high school and college. You want to conclude with a question or an invitation to engage. For example, for this post, we might ask: “What other blogging tips are out there?”
Now that you have the content, it’s time to seed it into social networks. This is where your 120-character headline comes in. It also just so happens to be the perfect length for a tweet!
Start tweeting and sharing your blog post across your social assets. If you want others to do the same, go ahead and ask. Did you know that adding “Pls RT” to a tweet makes it 4x more likely to actually be retweeted?
So, what other blogging tips are out there?
This post contributed by Jessica Gomez.
Image from: V3im
A respected colleague of mine posed this question of applying PR rules to social media to me recently. Despite the numerous years spent in the industry, I paused and thought…What are the rules to PR? In the past, public relations could symbolically be represented by the one-directional communication vehicle known as the press release. Really though, amongst the array of evolving digital tools, a PR rule generally delves into the scope of expert messaging on all outbound communication for brands. That being said, I am going to keep this simple – yes, PR rules DO apply to social media.
Overall Marketing Strategy
Generally, companies should think of PR functionalities as a part of their overall marketing strategy, and social media should be an important element as such. The line blurs on who should own running social media: your PR agency or in-house marketing? Nonetheless, all individuals who handle any outbound communications should be on the same set of overall company priorities. If the overall communication strategy is not cohesively being channeled through your marketing/PR/social media folks, you can miss important opportunities. For example, potential sales, responding to customer service questions and receiving feedback that could make your company’s products/services evolve from good to great.
Two-directional Communication
Against the backdrop of the social web, PR rules are shifting from one-directional communication models to facilitating, listening and responding models. Listening and responding, or what most industry folks refer to as “engagement,” is being explored on the web through social media. It is an important communication channel to both marketers and publicists, which is why both should be interested in the evolving forums and tools to manage social media if they want to continue to be relevant.
Engagement
Methodologies for engagement are where PR and social media part ways tactically, and the same rules may or may not apply. Generally, being mindful to the different rules for social media and PR lives in the context of the situation. As you would not wear gym clothes to a work interview, you should not use the contextual rules on the web in a formal company press release.
About Jessica Gomez
Jessica’s experience spans over 10 years executing public relations for Los Angeles entertainment clients and more recently over the past 4 years specializing in Silicon Valley high technologies. Jessica enjoys creating conversations for business-to-business (B2B) technologies, which includes software for supply chain management, logistics, legal, green energy, social media technologies, and all things mobile (including Apps for iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tablet & pure mobile application companies). Appear is tech-forward PR agency that specializes in making emerging technologies sexy.