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By: Susan Frantz
Online Communication Assistant
How many times a day or week are you inclined to watch a video posted on a social media site? Once a day? According to The Social Skinny and their recent stats, about 3 billion hours of video watching happens on YouTube each month! 3 billion hours… Do you know what that means? It means that it’s imperative for to incorporate video into your social media effort. Here are our top 4 reasons why video and social media go hand in hand – and why you should incorporate it into your social media mix.
- Video gives your brand a voice. It gives your audience a way to connect with your brand in a simple and tangible way, providing a quality, personal interaction. Your fans will be seeing and hearing what your brand has to say, thus allowing them to connect.
- People like videos more than photos and simple status updates. It’s a simple fact. The virility of a video post is much higher than that of a photo or status update. (Photos with content are still better than basic posts, though.)
- What happens when people like videos? They share them. A video can “go viral” in the blink of the eye when people like the content. Not every great or funny video gets millions of views or shares, but many good videos still get hundreds or even thousands – and that’s more than you’ll get if you don’t try.
- It’s easy. Thanks to all the tech savvy, smart phone creators, it’s easy to shoot video now. Taking a video is as easy as swiping your thumb on the screen of a phone or pushing a button. Video editing can even be done on a mobile phone, tablet or on easily-available software for a laptop or desktop.
Check out one of our recent social media videos.
Incorporating video into your social media effort will provide qualitative and quantitative results. It’ll offer richer, deeper connections with your audience and provide measurement opportunities for your reach and engagement.
Have questions about integrating video into your social media plan? Give us a call. Happy filming!
Stay tuned for next week’s blog. We will share how to make a successful video for your social media effort.
By: Susan Frantz
Online Communications Assistant
How many of you use your smart phone to take photos of what you’re eating, what you’re wearing and whom you’re with? If your thinking in your head, I do that everyday – keep on reading. Many of you are probably uploading these photos on Facebook to share photos of that mouth watering Thanksgiving dinner. Well now there is an alternative to Facebook… don’t panic, we’re not replacing Facebook. It could be considered an addition.
Instagram, is a fun and easy way to share your life with your friends, through a series of photos. Even better is that it allows you to be your own photog extraordinaire by giving you the ability to edit the way your photos look. Here is a great example of the first music video to be filmed via Instagram.
Instagram has just been acquired by Facebook and as such are beginning to integrate ways to be more accessible to businesses. Recently, they have unveiled Instagram profiles, which allow the user or business to showcase their pages, and establish a more complete identity, through their photos. Another way they are becoming more business friendly is through the use of website badges. Similar to what currently exists for Facebook and Twitter, you can now add an Instagram badge to your website to link the user directly to your Instagram page. And the best part, Instagram is measurable. You can measure your audience size, comments, follows, and engagement.
So are you ready to jump on the Instagram bandwagon? Here are some tips of the trade that might help you;
- Use #hashtags! Similar to Twitter, Instagram gives you the ability to use hashtags to target a specific audience, or area.
- Be relevant. Instagram is meant to be a way to describe yourself or your brand through photos, so take advantage through photos of new products and events.
Once you’ve set up your Instagram page, be sure to tweet us your profile page link. We’re loving this new social channel and are so excited to see it used in multiple different facets.
P.S. Like my new head shot? We had new staff pics taken by Brian Tietz. View them all on our Facebook page!
By: Susan Frantz
Online Communication Assistant
One of the hottest topics is today’s marketing world is how to effectively measure a business’ return on investment (ROI) with regard to social media. Most business owners/leadership want to be able to quantify the time and money being spent on activities like Facebook page posts, LinkedIn Group discussions and tweets. Or, also common, they question if there is any ROI to be had at all.
We’re here to tell you THERE IS! Here are 5 tips to help you start measuring ROI for social media.
1. Audience
Most marketers are at the very least familiar with this level of measurement. Audience can be measured through “likes”, mentions, retweets and shares. However there are ways to take this even further. Naturally, through an increase in audience size, you are gaining the ability to connect with and learn about your customers/clients. Once you know what they like and don’t like you can gear your posting towards this. The relationship you are establishing creates the ability for you to influence your audience to do something, whether that may be going to your event or visiting your website. Those actions are then measurable as well.
2. Lead Generation
This is the end goal; The real measurement that translates effectively to the bosses. It’s what you are convincing your users to do. A “lead” could be defined as anyone who visits your website or social media channel with interest in (buying or using) your products or services. They are by nature, prospective customers and most of them do their research online and use social media. If your company has a business Facebook page, they could be engaging with you already. You didn’t know? Be ahead of your competition and even your colleagues. It’s time to start measuring social media conversions just like we measure website conversions!
According to the MarketingSherpa “2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report,” only 54% of marketers monitor and measure the number of leads generated by social media, while 70% monitor website traffic from social media.
3. Increased Web Traffic and Conversions
With an increase in your audience and lead generation there should be an organic increase in your web traffic, which let’s be honest, is what everyone wants (in addition to sales). The more views, and clicks on your website the more awareness about your product, business, or event. And hopefully, the more sales or “contact us” form completions.
4. Increased Awareness and Increased Likelihood to Buy
Awareness, it’s a magic word for business, and we’ve already mentioned it a few times so I’m sure that you can tell it is one of our favorites. As you connect and create great content to be shared, you are creating an avenue to interact with your users. This does not mean that you have to be posting about things directly related to your product. It could be industry or geography based. Simply, there are three types of social media posts/engagement which can generate leads: entertaining, informative, or newsworthy.
“Social media plays an important role in raising peoples’ awareness of alternate options, with 28% [of shoppers] saying sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter help them learn about new brands and products” (Diana, A., Info Week).
As you continue to cultivate these relationships, your users will begin to think of your interactions and relate them to your business. Which leads us to our 5th tip.
5. Word of Mouth
Social media and the interactions you conduct on the various channels create a buzz. People will begin talking about your product, online and in person, the more they interact with your page. Happy users tend to become advocates for you/your company, bringing more users, followers, fans and eventually customers to your “web door.”
We hope these tips are helpful as you look to understand social media, how it be measured and why it’s an important part of the marketing mix. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at Pushing the Envelope at, 239.221.2858 or info(at)getpushing.com.
By: Susan Frantz
Online Communication Assistant
In today’s bustling business world marketers (PTE included) try to bring awareness to our clients in the best and most efficient ways we can. One of the best ways we’ve found to reach out to the consumer is through e-mail marketing. I have compiled the top 5 most important things to do when you are engaging in email marketing.
1. Create a Clean Email List
I bet you’re asking, what exactly is a clean list? Do they want me to Lysol the list of emails I’ve gathered? A clean list is one that had a minimal amount of undeliverable emails. In the industry this is called having a low bounce rate. It is ideal to keep your bounce rate under 5%. If you have too many emails bounce back, the email provider/host may block or limit your business’ ability to send emails.
2. Maintain Brand Relevancy
Make sure when people open up your email they will know exactly where it came from. You can do this by including your company’s logo and colors in the email. If a person doesn’t know where their emails are coming from, they are more likely to unsubscribe, which is the opposite of what you want.
3. Get their Attention!
In order to make sure your customers are reading your email you need to get their attention. Make sure to use photos that are eye catching as well as exciting terms in the subject line and headers of your emails. The open rate is the percentage of people that open your email out of the total people the email was sent to. This varies per industry from about 15-20%. If you use attention grabbing subjects and photos perhaps you can be at the top of this statistic.
4. Create a Call to Action
What do you want from the people you are emailing? Do you want them to attend your event, or visit your webpage? Make sure you include this in your email content! While it seems simple, it’s often overlooked. People get caught up in the look and when the email will go out, forgetting the most basic ingredient – a call to action. One way to draw your customers to your event or webpage is to create an incentive. For instance, “Click on our webpage for the chance to be entered to win a gift certificate…”
5. Send a Test Email
No one wants to receive an email with typos or incorrect information. In order to prevent this, make sure you send a test email to more than just yourself. It is always helpful to have extra eyes look over what you are sending and make sure it opens correctly (does it work the same on PCs and Macs?), is grammatically correct, and has accurate information (dates, times, phone numbers, addresses, etc.).
So there you have it! I hope these tips will help you to put together a great email to help your customer base connect to your company. You can use these tips as a checklist the next time you go to send out an email reminder. Want to learn more? Check out MailChimp and EmailMarketing.com – or contact us!
By: Samantha Scott, APR
Grand Poobah / Owner
If you work in marketing, PR, or social media how often have you heard someone (not in the industry) ask – “so what is it that you do?” Or, better yet, they tell you what you do – and it’s not close at all. Perhaps there’s a perception that you just badger people (advertising), draw pretty pictures (graphic design), spin news (PR), or create junk mail (direct mail/marketing)…
This happens to us quite often, especially since our company name (Pushing the Envelope, Inc.) doesn’t explicitly outline our business. This blog post will resolve this and explain marketing communications and what PTE is all about.
Defined
Marketing communication encompasses a number of things. So, let’s first define its components (thanks to Dictionary.com and Cutlip & Center’s Effective Public Relations).
- Marketing – the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
- Public Relations – the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the audiences on whom its success or failure depends.
- Advertising – the act or practice of calling public attention to one’s product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards.
- Social Media Marketing – communicating and/or gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts
Services
So, back to the original question – what do you do again? Each marketing or communications firm is different. We pride ourselves in serving a variety of clients in a number of industries. From healthcare to hospitality, retail to restaurants and professional services, we are capable of helping nearly any company communicate their messages and reach their target audiences.
Our services include:
Public relations, publicity, crisis communications/management, copywriting/editing/proofing, branding, blog writing, direct mail, advertising, social media marketing, Internet marketing, web design and maintenance, measurement/analytics, mobile marketing, graphic design, and more.
Culture
Another common misconception relates to culture. People think marketing folk just write jingles and doodle all day. Or, if they watch too much Mad Men, they believe we have 3 hour lunches and martinis daily. Not quite.
At PTE, we pride ourselves in “working to live, not living to work” and having a good time, but we work hard too. We strive to be the best and give our clients the best – what any company looking to succeed should do. We’re also creative and strive to develop new ways of doing things, whether it’s using Facebook to engage Harley riders or get 5,000 people to grand re-opening (yes, we’ve done both). We work hard, we play hard and aim to succeed. How we can we help YOU push the envelope?
By: Annette Venditti
Communications Ally
Remember the famous quote by Napoleon Bonaparte, “A picture is worth a thousand words?” Napoleon was a man before his time as this holds true today as you are somehow moved on a daily basis when you see an amazing photograph or piece of fine art that just leaves you breathless… and you finally walk away knowing that you are the better for having viewed it.
How do photography and art (graphic design) come into the workplace as you market and communicate using tools like print, video and the ever-changing social media sites? Your goal should be to reach your researched target audience and make them trust, feel and connect with the brand, product or service you represent and really understand who the company is and what they stand for.
I want to share a few key points on how to correctly use photography, art and graphic design in your public relations and marketing mix. These tips will give you the tools you need to look at each project and create the best end product and message for your intended audience.
1. Think. Brainstorm. Create. This basic process must never be skipped if you want your message to be the best it can be. Ask your team to participate in a brainstorm session and let them go back and think about the task at hand, process overnight, etc. Compare ideas in an open discussion and see whether photography, art or a combination of the two is the best path to take. Think beyond the obvious and you and your client will be happy you took the time when you see the results.
TIP: As you develop concepts and ideas sketch them on paper. Really look at the text and image mix and be sure it’s simple, crystal clear and wildly creative. Too much of any of these elements in the mix will add up to a catastrophe that will confuse your audience and not win you any design awards. Research top rated print and social media advertising and campaigns and see what makes them stand out from the crowd!
When the chosen photograph, art or graphic combination hit the mark, you will need very little text to support the message and your audience will love you for it!
2. Hire a Pro. Please. When you need photography or art/graphic design (for an ad or for an event) do your research and hire a true professional to work with you and create the best possible images and designs for your needs. Don’t rely on friends or family to supply what you need, the cost of your initial investment will be more than obvious when you compare the finished product to a less expensive version created by your sister-in-law who “knows how to use Photoshop”. Yikes.
3. The Social Mixer. Social media has given us a vast variety of ways to share photography, text, videos and art/graphics on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as Pinterest and Instagram, two image social channels that have changed how you and I see photographs, graphics and personal inspired interests shared. The same principles apply here, use professional images and graphics and be sure they are clearly stating your intended message before you share with your audience. Facebook Ads is another social media tool that allows you to share brand information and connect with potential customers. Take the time to research this ad platform and see if it might work for you and your client’s needs.
Keep in mind that every client (their brand, product or service) and every project you work on is truly unique unto itself. Challenge yourself and your design team to develop and create innovative solutions for every element and I can assure you this will keep your clients happy as larks and your team will walk away reveling in their hip new “creative genius” status.
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