Facebook Graph Search – Making Connections on a Whole New Level

Posted On: February 15, 2013

How Graph Search works

Facebook introduced Graph Search to make it easier for people to find personally relevant info. This tool allows users to discover people, places and things by asking pertinent questions. For brands, there’s an opportunity to increase visibility by correctly optimizing their pages.

Here’s an example of how it works: to find yourself a new gym buddy, just ask Facebook which of your friends attend the gym regularly – maybe even the gym you visit.  You can then expand this search to the friends of your friends, narrow it down by age or gender and even explore people’s photos of other nearby gyms.

By joining the waiting list, we were granted early access to Facebook Graph Search, which will soon be available in Canada. After discovering a variety of impractical and sometimes creepy uses of Graph Search, we finally came up with a few ways that this could benefit our clients and other brands online.

Graph Search for brands

One of most effective ways Graph Search can be used for our brands is through Sponsored Results. Just like Facebook Ads, brands will be able to … (Continued) Read More...

Posted In: Advertising,Facebook,Marketing,Social Media
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Let the Social Media Olympics Begin!

Posted On: July 27, 2012

How social media is turning heads and setting records at the 2012 Games

Excitement is building in anticipation of astounding athletic performances, team triumph and among marketers, the world’s first official Social Media Olympics.

Record Setting Stats
Olympic Sized Consumption Inforgraphic

Click to Enlarge

Social Media Olympics is a term coined by the media, referring to the race among brands and media to obtain the most social media exposure during this year’s events.  This title is particularly suitable since the brands that achieve the biggest results will stand on a podium as shining examples for future events of this proportion.

According to the Olympic Sized Consumption infographic by Iprospect, there are 140 million tweets predicted to be exchanged during London 2012, which is a 12,627% jump from the 1.1 million tweets during the 2008 Bejing summer games. The 456% increase in smart phone usage since the last Olympics will be largely responsible for the increase in social media sharing and consumption this year.

Hungry for real-time digital data about the games? Keep score in real-time as ComScore will be sharing a digital Data Gems on their website, social sites or even your inbox!

Athletes: … (Continued) Read More...
Posted In: Advertising,Facebook,Marketing,Social Media,Twitter
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Why You Need An Expert: Social Media

Posted On: July 18, 2012

By now, almost everyone we know has a Facebook account and knows how to post status updates and share photos. Many people know how to operate a car too, but not everyone knows its inner workings well enough to modify, diagnose or repair one.

If your brand’s Facebook page has fewer followers than you do, if your last status update is no longer relevant or if you have no idea what your engagement rate is, it might be time to call a social media specialist.

Easier Said than Tweeted

Weekly Time Commitment

Social media at a corporate level is not as simple as sending out a message every once in a while; doing it well can be a part or full-time job. According to Social Media Examiner’s 2011 State of Social Media Marketing Industry, the majority of marketers commit more than 6 hours per week maintaining their professional social networks and plan on increasing their activity.

To succeed in the social media world, it takes time, effort and a desire to chase a moving target.  Some people balance this well, others realize the value of putting an expert on … (Continued) Read More...

Posted In: Facebook,Marketing,Social Media,Twitter,Web
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Typography Matters

Posted On: June 13, 2012

If your designer doesn’t know why the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, or who the members of the serif family are, your brand might be in need of a makeover.

What is Typography?

Typography is the design and arrangement of words to make language visual. It’s one of many essential design foundations that advertisers need to master. Typography includes everything from the spacing between individual letters, lines and words to the colour, scale and font used.

Typography affects the overall look and feel of any design. It helps set the mood and tone for your brand, and works in harmony with your photos and other visual elements to sell your concept.

Why Does it Matter?

Almost everything around you has an aspect of typeset; meaning that it was designed to look a specific way to serve a particular purpose. Just like you need to dress for your size and body type, any typesetter knows it’s not appropriate to use a display font for the copy of an ad.

Steve Jobs took a class in college on calligraphy and it influenced the design of the first Mac. … (Continued) Read More...

Posted In: Advertising,Marketing
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Pin It to Win It! The Web’s Latest Contest Craze

Posted On: May 25, 2012

Our February post discussed why retailers should care about Pinterest. Just a few months later, retailers all over the world have acknowledged this photo sharing site! The site presently reaches an average of 1.36 million daily visitors, and has been driving traffic to retail sites in droves! (Mashable)

Some of the savviest brands have begun rewarding Pinterest members for sharing their photos through contests, truly harnessing the power of this fun new platform!

Harnessing the power of Pinterest

Virality is the biggest strength of Pinterest. That is to say, when someone likes your content enough to share it, your photo or video will be distributed to their network in one swift click!

Pinterest Scavenger Hunt

A typical contest brands are running is a “Pinterest Scavenger Hunt”. In this type of contest, participants create a themed board with re-pins of the company’s photos. In some contests, participants are granted extra entries by tweeting about their contest entry or posting about it on their Facebook page; with a mention of the company conducting the contest, of course.

Pinterest Contests that Build Fans on Facebook or Twitter

Contests on Pinterest can … (Continued) Read More...

Posted In: Facebook,Marketing,Social Media,Twitter,Web
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Facebook Offers: Bringing Retail and Social a Little Closer Together!

Posted On: May 16, 2012

Facebook recently unleashed it’s latest and greatest feature: Offers. This is a real game-changer for any business with a product or service to sell.

Using the new Offers feature, brands can publish limited time coupons and exclusive deals to their Facebook fans – which easy for customers to share and to redeem!

Simple and Effective

Facebook offer - Macys

The process is very easy for brands: Decide what your offer is, how many you have to give away, and when it will expire. If you wish, you can even post a thumbnail image and include fine print!

When your fans click to redeem the offer on your page, or in their newsfeed, an email with the offer is sent to the fan’s email address listed on the account with details to redeem. It also makes a post to their newsfeed, so their friends can see the offer they have redeemed.

Best Practices

According to Facebook, the best types of offers include:

  • Discounts bigger than 20%, Free offers
  • Simple redemption details
  • Reasonable expiration date

In addition, we recommend ensuring your staff is aware of the offer & redemption details to avoid confusion and frustration.

Long-Term … (Continued) Read More...
Posted In: Advertising,Facebook,Marketing,Social Media,Web
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The Second Screen Dilemma

Posted On: April 30, 2012

The way people consume media has been shifting dramatically in the past few years. A Nielsen survey conducted in fourth-quarter 2011 found that 45% of Americans who owned tablets used them daily while watching TV. Time Warner learned that its 20-something audience was switching media 27 times per hour -  now that’s channel surfing at a whole new level!

Viewers are increasingly more likely to browse the web on a mobile device during commercial breaks, and in some cases, during the main event!

Smart marketers have realised this new trend is not taking away from the viewing experience, it’s actually enhancing it.

How to engage in the Digital Age

Similar to creating mobile sites, a few things should be considered when branching into mobile platforms:

Ease of use: Make it easy to download, with an intuitive interface and simple instructions. This is especially important if you want people to use your app again.

Multi-Platform accessibility: iOS, Android, Blackberry….the list goes on. Ensure your app or mobile site is compatible with various devices, and that the experience is the same for each.

Quality of content: No matter … (Continued) Read More...

Posted In: Marketing,Multimedia,Technology,Web
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Lessons learned from Kony 2012

Posted On: March 22, 2012

Kony 2012. It’s the latest viral campaign to take over the web. If you thought the Middle Eastern Protests of 2011 was huge, Kony 2012 is growing to be massive on that scale.

Quick overview of the campaign: Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, has been kidnapping children and turning them into war soldiers. The Kony 2012 movement, run by the not-for-profit organization, Invisible Children, wants to stop it by taking to the web in a social media campaign to raise awareness and hopefully drive action. The 30-minute Kony 2012 video asks people to contact key influencers, and to become involved by plastering the world with his image on April 20.

We’re not here to support or criticize the campaign. This article is going to focus on how this campaign managed to spread so effectively.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

One simple, clear message is conveyed

“Make him famous.” That’s the message and goal. It’s easy to understand and measure. Once he’s famous, the next phase of their cause occurs. Everything they communicate stems from this message and is consistent throughout the campaign. … (Continued) Read More...

Posted In: Facebook,Marketing,Social Media,Twitter,Web
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