Besides social media, what’s the most important word in the Newport Interactive Marketers vocabulary? That would be “share.” The group shares connections, contacts, information, leads, advice, insight, links, hashtags, business cards, stories, you name it. With social media dominating marketing today, business owners large and small need one another to succeed. So they share – and share often.
Mindfull’s Social Media Training Guru Chip Leakas, specializing in real estate
RI Blood Center’s Social Media Maven Kathy Manchester, who rocked NIM’s Social Media on a Budget panel
Social Media Manager Brian Hodge, who feeds multimedia for GoProvidence.com
The May 17 panel focused on marketing and new media, trading short cuts, hot tips, and best practices that could be implemented by businesses based in Newport and in surrounding locations. Participants came away with their brains chock full of tips they could try immediately and … of course, share via Twitter, Facebook, and all manner of social media platforms.
Events and Social Media
There are 3 phases to any planned event: lead-up, spreading, get others to share, generate buzz during event & post-event
Facebook lets brands schedule ads via an “offers” button right from the brand page
Understanding customers via social comes first; getting them to know you is second
Social Media To-Dos
Update Facebook header image often. Look on Flickr for Creative Commons, which let’s you use photos freely. Highlighted posts cover the width of your Facebook page
Facebook and Twitter move on an momentary basis; be actively engaged or you will lose business
If you’re on Twitter, you need to be monitoring the feed. People expect answers, and they expect their complaints to be answered
Host a Twitter powerhour for social media savvy folks, offer some freebies, or a prize
Restaurants should be sharing menus and specials on Facebook and Twitter
Offer social customers discounts. Create an event, because social media people love to interact in real life, too
Ask customers who have had a great experience to review your business, because testimonials are huge
Encourage people to tag themselves when you feature them in your photo and post it to Facebook
Check privacy settings so you are notified when people post on your Facebook. page
Encourage people to share their photos and post them on your brand page.
Set up a Facebook contest, use Wildfire to help with contests, set up a photo contest during Americas Cup and Tall Ships, offer a gift certificate to the winner
Post events to RI Monthly, Patch, and @NewportBuzz willing to share.
Social Media Resources
Fbcovers.com and similar tools allow you to customize your Facebook header.images
Inboxq is another helpful tool to build campaigns around keywords
Foursquare is a great tool to drive awareness and loyalty
Yelp is a great tool to build awareness, want to be sure you’ve claimed your biz
Google Places (now converted to Google+ pages) give you an opportunity to upload photos and videos. 84% of people use consumer videos when travel planning
QR codes can be really handy, just need to make sure your site is mobile-friendly
Let’s take a look at our websites and social media from a proven sales perspective.
Does your website put customers off? You think your website describes your company and products or services. You think you’re not “in the way” when they come to your site to learn about you — or via social media Read More
1/26/2012 Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
Annette Tonti, CEO of MoFuse, shared mobile web best practices for publishers and advertisers. NIM attendees learned the difference between a mobile app and a mobile site and how to build effective web content.
Newport Interactive Marketers joined the University of Rhode Island for the URI Social Media Social. The NIM speakers provided insights to students and Newport Interactive Marketers about what an intern can do and how social media can boost a business.
Jamie Palmer, the Senior Practitioner at University Business Consultants LLC, taught NIM attendees how to tactfully articulate the brand. Jamie stressed the importance of telling the story and not selling the story. NIM attendees learned how to engage their audience with messages that would resonate.
Panelists Matt Medeiros of Slocum Studios and Michelle Quillin of New England Multimedia shared their insights on Google+ just as it launched. A general consensus was Google+ was not appropriate for all brands at that time. But for those who are concerned about SEO, it’s worth considering.
Chuck Dennis, Vice President and Senior Consultant for Knowledgence Associates, taught NIM how to infuse social media with customer service to boost engagement and ROI. NIM attendees learned how to interact with customers’ concerns and complaints through social media. Tips for detecting and redirecting what could become a PR debacle were also included.
Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts instructor Jay Murphy showed Newport Interactive Marketers how to maximize Google Analytics to drive ROI. NIM attendees learned how to attract people that will actually buy and how to bring in more buyers and prospects.
NIM was thrilled to have Eric Covino of internationally regarded SEO community SeoBook.com and CreativeSignals.com answer questions on Search Engine Optimization and Google rankings. NIM attendees learned tactics to get search engines to rank their sites number one. Eric gave tips on how marketers can boost their websites in just one week! He also explained how SEO differs for service businesses and local retailers.
Tom Schuyler, Pandemic Labs’ Director of Accounts, shared Facebook best practices and ROI measurement types. NIM attendees gained tools and insights to measure the value of marketing on Facebook. Tom explained how to utilize Facebook analytics to assess weaknesses and opportunities to make brand presence more valuable. Attendees learned the core metrics you can use to determine how much Facebook is doing for your brand/business.
NIM hosted Patrick Hughes and Scott Quillin to share their expert opinions on online video posts. NIM attendees learned why videos are so important to the success of their businesses. The experts explained how to use YouTube and how to start your own brand channel.
Tamara Gruber, the founder of Red Giant Consulting, guided NIM attendees into the mobile marketing world. She explored the difference between mobile apps and mobile sites and how they could optimize their businesses.
Newport Interactive Marketers hosted a panel of social media experts to teach attendees how to optimize social media. Experts shared the best way to connect with customers through social media and discussed the most effective platforms to use.
Newport Interactive Marketers hosted Doug Wilson SEO specialist at Netsense, a Pawtucket-based market leader in outsourced IT, website, and web marketing solutions. NIM attendees received a how-to seminar on search engine optimization insights. Attendees also learned how to boost their Google rankings.
Social Media Answers With Newport Interactive Marketers
NIM hosted nationally known expert Partick O’Malley. Patrick is the former VP of Operations for Northern Light, Google’s former top competitor, and has spoken across the country and nationally. He is an expert on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google. Attendees gained insights to use social media to effectively boost their businesses.
Matthew Mamet of EditMe presented how small businesses and individuals can use a Wiki platform to share information and foster communities. NIM attendees learned how to up their online presence quickly and easily.
As a tourism Mecca, easily reached from Boston and New York metropolitan areas, Newport businesses need to be in the know about mobile. Nearly half of all local searches on a mobile phone result in in-store visits, according to a March 2011 study.
Newport attracts thousands of visitors. What do at least 40% those visitors have in common?
1. Disposable income
2. A smartphone … iPhone, Android, Blackberry
They’re looking for places to eat and things to do and buy. Where are they getting that information? There’s a repository of locations, phone numbers, hours — right in their pockets.
BUT only if your website can be found, this is particularly true for hours. (Yelp, Google Places, etc seem to be not as up-to-date.)
It’s imperative to be there when people want YOU.
Thus, the first Newport Interactive Marketers of 2012 gave attendees an in-depth look at
• What’s happening
• What to do about it with limited time and resources
• How to maximize ROI as a result
Rhode Island-based MoFuse powers mobile websites for a wide variety of customers such as the US State Department, Pandora,Ghiradelli chocolate and numerous local businesses. Similar to WordPress, MoFuse offers a platform for businesses large and small to ensure they’re websites work via mobile phones.
Annette shared her insights with the 40+ Newport Interactive Marketers attendees who gathered at 41 North.
What does MoFuse do?
• Optimizes for thousands of mobile browsers and handsets
• Customers have the option to either use the platform or let MoFuse develop the mobile site
• Can be used to ensure that world languages and character sets will work
• Ensures your site will work on 5,200 mobile devices, iPhone and Android being the major ones.
Mobile Sites Vs. Apps
• Mobile sites are more cost- efficient
• Apps take a lot of upkeep & require different versions for each device type
• Mobile sites are easier to maintain
• Apps are device-specific & harder to find in iTunes or Android Marketplace for example
Lessons Learned
• Context is everything: When searching with your phone, you want it now.
• Mobile is primarily used to create content: Uploading photos, posting to Facebook
• Mobile sites can be SEO optimized: Ensure you’re found in search engines like Google
• Can be a low-cost way for businesses to launch websites or campaign-specific landing pages.
Annette Tonti, CEO of MoFuse, shared mobile web best practices for publishers and advertisers. NIM attendees learned the difference between a mobile app and a mobile site and how to build effective web content.
Prior to Bluestreak, she served as Executive Producer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Laboratory. There she produced the Junior Summit, a global project that linked thousands of kids from around the world. Prior to MIT, Ms. Tonti was vice president, executive director Vanguard, a global marketing and advisory service for senior executives.
She’s one of Mobile Marketer’s “Mobile Women to Watch for 2011”. Also, she served on the board of the Harvard Business School’s Cyberposium. In 2000, Ms. Tonti received the Governor’s IT Achievement Award for Rhode Island. She was selected as a regional finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the year award for 2002. She attended the University of Cincinnati and holds advanced degrees in computer science and mathematics and a B.S. in biological sciences.
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