Talent Evolution - Digital Marketing and Social Media Consulting » John Walker

Video is a natural fit for mobile marketing

John Walker — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:41:33 +0000

Discussions around mobile marketing are being to take our online world by storm. As more people rely on their mobile devices to make purchases, connect with brands and socialize it is become in more critical for small business owners of all types to at least be aware of this growing mobile marketing phenomenon.

A major component of what makes mobile marketing effective is the use of video and recently in the MediaPost Vidblog I found an interesting article, Mobile Video Ads Growing Fast; Will Mobile Video Trump Online Pre-Rolls? , The part that really stood out to me was this..

Mobile phones generate a much higher click through – 4.5 times – than that of online video, according to a new report from video vendor Videology. On mobile phones the messaging is often more targeted, the calls to action are stronger, and consumers are also more connected to their phones, Videology said. A mobile phone feels personal and thus can elicit more response.

Video is just a natural fit for mobile devices and if you have been sitting on the fence about investing a little time and money in producing video for your small business maybe now is the time to jump right in.

SmallBusinessTrends.com has some great tips. Here is my favorite.

1. Make it personal.

If your video doesn’t have a personality, then neither does your business – at least not as far as the viewer is concerned. Generic shots of b-roll office environments and stock photography tell viewers that your company is just that – a generic, stock, unoriginal service. People want professional, but they don’t want boring. Don’t be afraid to show footage of actual employees – maybe a few seconds of greeting from your CEO if possible. This will yield a more personal feel and a better connection with potential clients. A sense of humor can also establish a sense of personality – but don’t overdo it! You don’t have to be doing standup comedy in your office, but a few quirky scenes or funny lines can be what keep your viewers from clicking away.

Chicago Cabbie grows business with Twitter

John Walker — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:21:42 +0000

I read an interesting article today about Chicago area cab driver, Rashid Temuri, who struck gold using Twitter to connect with his customers and community. If you have ever wondered about how to use Twitter in your own business please read on. You don’t have to create a Twitter marketing plan to be successful, sometimes it just takes a leap of social media faith to see where it takes you. Like Rashid, you might be surprised!

Here is what Rashid Temuri said about his Twitter experience.

“Honestly, I never looked at it as marketing nor I had that in mind when I started @ChicagoCabbie account,” Temuri told Ars. “I started Twitter thinking I’ll talk to people about taxi industry of Chicago. I feel there is a gap between taxi drivers and customers and there are lots of misunderstandings. They both are in such a defensive mode. They both feel like they have to protect themselves from the other and it’s just so wrong. I joined Twitter to eliminate the gap between a taxi customer and taxi driver.”

Rashid is a wonderful example of someone who sees social media as a way to connect with his customers and really that’s what it’s all about. It’s not always about the discount or sale, just connecting and sharing.

Please read the full story here to see how impactful social media has been for @ChicagoCabbie and follow him on Twitter, to see how he makes those personal connects that lead to repeat and new business!

If I am ever in Chicago, I know who I am going to connect with for a ride!

Read the full ars technica article…

Use QR Codes for tradeshows and conferences

John Walker — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:03:16 +0000

We recently attended a small business expo put on by Constant Contact in Los Angeles. We brought a large poster of a QR Code to display at our table as a way to draw people to our table and perhaps be a conversation starter. We were happy to discover not only was it a conversation starter, people did actually scan it with their smartphones. Our QR Code pointed people to a mobile version of a page on our site that described what QR Codes are and how a small business owner can use them. They are catching on.

I just read an article on QR Codes “Use QR Codes so You Don’t Get Thrown Away After Tradeshow” discussing all the creative ways you can use them during a tradeshow.

QR codes are catching on quickly in the US now that more than 35% of American adults own smartphones. In fact,QR code usage shot up 4,549% in Q1 of 2011 alone, with 9 out of 10 scans being done to find more information about a product or service.

Here is a great tip from the article;

TIP: Instead of distributing hard copies of marketing materials, you can distribute electronic copies via email. Simply create a QR code that triggers an automatic email when it is scanned by a smartphone. The email can contain a preformatted message from your company along with links to your sales materials.

What has been your experience using QR Codes in your small business? Share your stories of success, failure or confusion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

John Walker — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:20:48 +0000

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

“Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.”
~William Shakespeare

Google Plus for brands hits the streets

John Walker — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:18:36 +0000

Google+ for brands is out and I am creating our page to see what all the fuss is about. It looks like something that could compete with Facebook Pages but will brands make the switch or maintain both? I wonder. Before we make any recommendations to our clients, we will thoroughly explore all the features and benefits. We’ll report back you as soon as we have made our analysis.

Here is what AdAge said about Google+ pages today.

Google announced on Monday that it will offer Google+ “Pages” to brands, businesses, and celebrities, so that they can trumpet themselves across the search giant’s fledgling social network.

Much like Facebook Pages, these Google+ destinations are places where commercial names can not only broadcast news and propaganda to the world at large, but also interact with their fans and critics. You can sign up here at the new Google+ business site.

It will be interesting to see who will win on this social media front. Stay tuned.

Read the entire AdAge article.

Facebook Overhauls Facebook Again

John Walker — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:57:17 +0000

By Kristall Lutz

Does your Facebook page look totally different again? Just when you got used to the “new” view, Facebook keeps you on your toes with a new round of changes that affect the way you view and use the social media behemoth. If you’re really upset this time, you’re not alone. Facebook’s 750+ million users have been disgruntled by the latest changes that went into effect at the end of September. Here are few things about the recent changes you might want to know for your personal and professional Facebook use:

1. Instead of defaulting to your friends’ most recent posts, the News Feed (which people hated when it was introduced) is now topped in many cases by what Facebook calls “Top Stories” for you. It uses an algorithm that combines such factors as which friends you interact with most and which friends’ posts have the most comments and “likes” on them.

2. A new addition, scrolling right side of the home page, is what Facebook is calling “The Ticker” and is comprised of ‘likes’, comments and short nuggets of information regarding your friends’ activity.

3. Business pages no longer need 25 likes in order to get a custom URL (we like this change!) and Facebook users can Subscribe to you or your business page to receive updates in their News Feed.

4. Posts that have been shared by others will now include a link you can follow to see who has shared them.

5. There is now a “Friend Activity” feed on business pages so that people can see how their friends interact with your page. (We also like this change since personal referrals influence brand opinon and purchase behavior!)

What is still to come…

Timeline…an opportunity to organize everything you’ve ever posted on Facebook (if you have the time). What is it exactly? Facebook says, “With timeline, now you have a home for all the great stories you’ve already shared. They don’t just vanish as you add new stuff.” Facebook has created a chronological digital album compiling your photos, posts and videos. You can go back to any point in time and remove items from the timeline, as well as choose your timeline’s cover page. Is something missing? Go to your private activity log, where you’ll find everything you shared since you joined Facebook, and add it to your Timeline.

Strategies for Effective Facebook Wall Posts

John Walker — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:44:12 +0000

Posts made between 8 PM and 7 AM receive 20% more user engagement.
On Wednesdays, fan engagement is 8% above average.
Posting one to two times per day produces 40% higher user engagement.
Posting one to four times per week produces 71% higher user engagement.
Posts with 80 characters or less receive 66% higher engagement.
Very concise posts – those between one and 40 characters – generate highest engagement.
Only 5% of all retail brand Wall Posts are less than 40 characters in length, even though these receive 86% higher fan engagement.
Ask questions to spark dialogue – “question” posts generate comment rates double that of “non-question” posts.
Fill in the blank posts receive 9 times more comments than other posts.
Offer fans “$ off” and coupons.Posts containing these offer-related keywords receive the highest engagement.
“$ OFF” offers receive twice the engagement of “% OFF” offers.
Avoid complicated wall posts.
Status-only posts receive 94 % higher than average engagement

Source: Social Media Today, published by Andi Graham on October 4, 2011.

LinkedIn Brand Pages Get More Sharing

John Walker — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:20:18 +0000

Publisher: Clickz

LinkedIn has made its 11-month old Company Pages product more agile for marketers’ needs. The San Francisco Internet company now lets brands update their status and share it with followers on the networking site, which, according to LinkedIn, is home to 2 million company pages.

Similar to the way Twitter works, if users follow a brand, they will begin seeing updates from the company in their LinkedIn feed. The users will be able to comment on the update, “like” it, and share the message with their network. Those who do not follow a brand can still read its updates by tapping an “Overview” button when visiting a firm’s LinkedIn page.

Page administrators can feed out company news through the same Overview tab. Such status updates are limited to 500 characters, while potentially including URLs and multimedia.

Jobs legacy to last for years to come

John Walker — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:46:09 +0000

THE Apple visionary Steve Jobs has left a legacy of innovation and ideas that promise to shape technology for years to come.

Jobs, who died yesterday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, told colleagues that there were at least four years’ worth of products in the pipeline.

In the months before his death he had been working flat out on the iCloud project, which will allow Apple users to remotely store music, video and other data.

But for the next two to three years, the company’s products will also have Jobs’s stamp all over them. He ensured blueprints for new machines were created years in advance, meaning that engineers in Apple’s laboratories in San Francisco are already developing the new iPod, iPhone, iPad and Macbook.

Industry insiders say that the next iPhone, due in late 2012 or early 2013, will be game-changing – a Jobs “legacy device”.

Changes in the Social Sphere From 2009 to 2011

John Walker — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:57:19 +0000

Social Media from MarketWatch

As more people use social media to share information and voice opinions, business leaders need to start using the social sphere to inform strategic decisions and influence the execution of their business objectives, marketing plans, product roadmaps and more. “Social Media Statistics: Changes in the Social Sphere from 2009 to 2011,” a Sysomos report, provides an overview of the changes in social media over the past couple of years. From this report, organizations can get a sense for the overall sentiment about social media, discover the geographic areas experiencing the most social media growth, learn what conversations are taking place in social media about social media and see why monitoring social media conversations is more critical than ever.