image from ryanrocketship
A great example of social media integration with offline marketing is the recent rise in scavenger hunts! Along the lines of a traditional scavenger hunt, a list of clues are provided online and users must solve the clue and receive the rewards by visiting the venue.
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photo by ale2000
We often talk about how to convert conversations into sales and fans into customers when working within the social space. Digital innovations have shortened the path between online discovery and cart check-out, but even these pieces can leave consumers without a lasting impression, much less a new purchase.
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As you may know, this year’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSWi) opens this week in Austin, Texas and along with it comes its usual torrent of conferences, countless booths showcasing the latest proofs of concept technologies and of course, the legendary SXSW parties. And while Internet company CEOs and Web celebrities, students and people from the press hobbled around from one hallway to another in what is considered as the annual hub of the next hottest Web app, Twitter CEO Evan Williams sat casually as he previewed in his keynote the microblogging giant’s latest brainchild, @anywhere.
@anywhere is a new platform that allows for a deeper integration with other Web sites. This would allow users quick access to their Twitter profiles without actually leaving the current site their browsers are on. Moreover, it will let Web publishers and developers of partner sites to funnel in relevant tweets to their Web sites by simply inserting a few lines of javascript into the page’s code instead of wrestling with the complexities of personalizing the Twitter API (application program interface) to their needs.
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As Joseph Yi pointed out in his article about Skittles’ innovative but ultimately unsuccessful into social media aggregation, the problem with the campaign was that it didn’t offer fans a chance to communicate with the brand itself. They could have conversations about it, and potentially catch those comments on the Twitter Chatter or on one of the other aggregates, but there was no way to actually have a two-way conversation. As we’ve talked about time and again here at Social Media Marketing, conversation is key. Well, it seems Skittles is finally moving in the right direction.
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Photo by Wendy Piersall
Social media can become even more powerful when you combine it with offline PR efforts and use it to supercharge your real-world business networking.
Probably the most important benefit for a lot of people getting on social media is the people you’ll meet, interact with, and start to build relationships with. I’ve met hundreds of interesting individuals since I started blogging in 2006—many of whom have become friends, mentors, clients, and business partners. But nothing beats meeting these people face-to-face.
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Photo by Jazmin Million
In the first piece we looked at a few ways to get your events listed on popular event sharing sites to optimize the events visibility. In this post we are going to look at a few ways to promote your event and interact with the participants before they are blown away at your event. Let’s jump right in.
The easiest way to track activities online about your event is to use a universal hashtag for your event. This hashtag can be used on Twitter, within Flickr photos and even on blog posts with the tags area. Using a hashtag you can set up searches on Twitter Search, Google Alerts and other services to be notified when someone is talking about your event. It also allows your guests to track conversations about your event to see what is going on, get updates and other notifications.
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Photo by Coded
With more than 350 million active users, Facebook has become a natural extension for many campaigns. The self-reporting users conveniently help you target and the entertaining facets of the site ensure that users will check in regularly—about 50% of all active users log in each day. So if you’re thinking about using Facebook as the next step for your campaign, take a look below at some of your options.
Buy ad space
Facebook ads are the easiest way to advertise on Facebook. When you create your ad, select keywords relevant to your intended audience to help target. The Facebook ad designer will also allow you to segment the overall community by age, sex, education, and more, and allow you to schedule the time of day you want your ads to launch. You can even specifically target folks who are connected to groups or fan pages. Finally, you can choose to pay per click or pay per impression depending upon your specific needs and budget.
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