Social Media You Should Be Using

Social media reaches large numbers of individuals with only a few key strokes. You can connect with a wide-range of individuals, differentiate your brand and distribute codes and promotional codes with relative ease at little to no cost. If you are looking to reach a maximum amount of people without exerting all of your time and energy into social media marketing, there are sites you need to be using. By now you have probably got the basic down — Twitter and Facebook. However, there are many other social media outlets out there to help you appeal to the masses.

Trying “bumping” with your customers or clients. Bump is a mobile application that gives users the ability to exchange contact information, pictures, social networking information and calendars. All you need to do is bump another individual using the application on your mobile phone.

Share unique photos with customers using Hipstamatic. This is an application available for iPhone and Android users. You can take pictures using unique lenses, flashes and films. You can then upload your pictures to Facebook or Flickr. You can even enter contests with your picture on the Hipstamatic application.

Manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts with one application known as Hootsuite. Hootsuite is a clean interface that allows you to tweet, like and update your statuses from one convenient location. You can schedule updates, set up columns to monitor tags and translate your tweets and updates into other languages allowing you to reach individuals around the globe.

Send text messages to all your customers at once using Mass Text Message. You can create custom contact groups based on the types of customers you are trying to reach. You can then send out a mass text message with your message, promotion or discount code.

The world of mobile application continues to grow. Many mobile applications are directly linked to social media. Search through the applications on your smartphone, you may be surprised at the applications out there that can help your business.

Super Bowl Social Media……

Football players and coaches are not the only individuals to come out big at the end of a Super Bowl match-up. The Super Bowl XLV winners are the Greenbay Packers and the National Football League. Aside from the obvious revenue from tickets, merchandise sales and advertising, the NFL was able to benefit from the use of social media.

Social media gave those who were not so lucky to have a ticket a peek at what it was like to be inside Cowboy Stadium. Avid Twitter, Facebook and bloggers shared photos and tweets directly from inside the stadium. Taking advantage of applications including Blogger and Flickr, the Super Bowl became a popular event through mobile application use. You could receive real time updates from you friends through the use of your mobile phone applications.

The Super Bowl introduced a new social media site known as Heapr.com. This site combines Google and Twitter searches on to one page, which presents the information you want and need much faster than having to search two different websites.

Some of the most popular searches: Steelers, Packers, National Anthem, Super Bowl, Half Time, Usher, Black Eyed Peas, Win, Game, Halftime Show.

Additionally, real time blogging has become a thing of the past. Journalists have turned to Twitter and updated their followers with 140 character updates of the game. After all, do you really need an entire blog entry to say Touchdown, Packers or Sack, Steelers ? Probably not.

Preparing Your Site For 2011

With the new year here, it is about time you make sure your website is up to par with all the trends 2011 brings. Make 2011 the year of giving your customers exactly what they want. If possible, send out a customer satisfaction survey. This way you will know exactly what you customers are looking for and how to please them. Until you are able to find out exactly what they want, here is our list of what you should be doing to keep business booming in 2011.

Continue with the social media. Social media may just more than a trend. Its been around for quite some time now and does not seem to be going anywhere. In fact, social media appears to be reaching a larger crowd then ever. Social media has branched out long beyond your college scene is no reaching a younger and older crowd than ever before. Virtually any product or service can be marketed through the use of social media.

Use mobile marketing. With the Android, iPhone, iPad and a zillion other smart phones, mobile marketing can be just about anything you want it to be. You can use mobile marketing to allow individuals to know what is going on with your business. Sales, deals and promotions can easily be known through mobile marketing via an application, the mobile web or through a text message. Additionally, give mobile shopping a try. Individuals can shop anywhere at anytime, convenience is a major factor for consumers.

Integrate multi-media viewing into your projects. Allow customers to pan, zoom and view all angles of a product from their home computer or mobile device. Provide customers with a life-like experience without having to ever step foot in a brick and mortar establishment.

Develop your content. Refine your content to meet the demands of your consumers. Avoid long, drawn out paragraphs of text. Keep it simple and get your point across. Do not just stop at text, pictures, videos, audio and pod casts can play an integral role in the success of your website. Additionally, make it SEO friendly. You want your page to show up at the top of a search engine results page.

While these may be some of the things everyone else is doing. They work! Be creative and make these ideas your own. Standing out in the crowd is the best way to get noticed and see success as a business.

How to Boost Your Online Business?

The popularity of online shopping continues to grow and grow. With so many online stores selling similar products, standing out in the online shopping world is a must. Here’s how to boost your business and stand out from the crowd.

• Develop an SEO campaign. Keywords will direct traffic to your website.  When a customer places keywords in a search engine, using the right keywords will place you on top of the competition.
• Develop a user-friendly website. A user-friendly website should load quickly and be easy to navigate. If a potential customer becomes frustrated with the loading time or has difficulty navigating your online store, they are likely to move on to the next site.
• Make a deal no one can refuse. Offer free shipping, sales, clearance items, free gifts with purchase and promotional codes. Every consumer loves a good sale.
• Use e-mail marketing. Let loyal customers know about your sales and promotions. Use e-mail marketing to send sale reminders, promotional codes and information on new products.
• Use social media. Facebook and Twitter is a great way to get your name out there. You can use these media outlets for promotions and lead generation. Offer contests through the use of social media.
• Create a blog. Let shoppers know what your company is all about. Use a blog to explain company events and to mark company milestones. Blogs can also provide reviews and demonstrations of products for sale on your website.

Designs that Gets Results

A blog might be blog, but without any call to action you may risk losing readers. If your goal is to activate or mobilize, you may very well be missing out on your goals.

A call to action is anything that encourages your reader to act. A call to action may include signing up for e-mail updates, following you on Twitter, or forwarding information about your blog onto a friend. Political groups and non-profit organizations may also use call to actions to encourage readers to donate, write letter, or even register to vote.

The most effective methods of getting results include:

• Social media. Encourage readers to check you out on social media. Encourage them to follow your Twitter feed or become a friend or fan on face book.
• Create e-mail updates. Remember to reserve a place on your blog to encourage readers to sign up for your e-mail updates. Make the sign-up for simple, just ask for a name and e-mail address.
• Don’t over do Twitter. If you want individuals to follow you on Twitter, they know how to find you. You do not need to go all out to advertise your Twitter page.
• RSS. A majority of modern browsers offer a way to identify your site with RSS feeds. It does not hurt to offer readers an easy-to-find image linking to your feed.
• When asking readers to register, contribute, or donate, make it simple for them do to what you are asking. If you are asking for donations, have a simple Paypal donate button.

When designing the layout of your blog consider:

• Utilizing negative space. Do not leave empty white spaces. Use these spaces to place call to actions.
• Contrast your colors. All quality websites should have a color scheme. Choose a contrasting color scheme with a theme. Use your color schemes to draw attention to your call to actions.
• Utilize the size of your page. Larger elements will help attract your readers to your call to actions. You can always tweak this items as you see fit. Utilizing larger elements will allow readers to see your requests regardless of why they visited your site.
• Font matters. Choose a font and size that is web friendly and easy to read.
• Follow the eye. People tend to read left to right and top to bottom. Strategically place information keeping that bit of information in mind.

What is Rich Media?

Rich media is a term that is synonymous with interactive media. Interactive media generally refers to products or services that are found on digital computer-based system, which responses to the actions of users by presenting content such as text, animation, graphics, audio, video, etc.

Rich media is a welcome change from the older, more mainstream media solutions. By using rich media, companies can create one of a kind ways to draw consumers in. Rich media can be used online or even through mobile devices.

Rich media can be a streaming video with a scene from a movie or television show, an imaged mouse cursor, a bannered ad that captures the user’s filled-in person information, ads that change when a user scrolls over them. Simply put, rich media is a means of interacting with the user. The possibilities for interaction are endless. Companies have more creative freedom and the power to make their advertisements pop out to the user.

Rich media advertisements drive and measure the engagement of their users. Rich media can send a targeted message to specific users paged on demographics and other online habits. By using rich media, companies are able to decide what works and does not work as an advertising or marketing method.

Rich Media can include:

• High quality images.
• Multiple streaming videos.
• Videos recorded from a webcam or smartphone.
• The use of Twitter.
• Using Facebook to post images and video.
• Information collection from the user.

Rich media platforms (such as offered by Preface Media) can:

• Improve the overall online of experience of customers.
• Aid in boosting sales.
• Provide a defined company image.

Rich media is a powerful advertising tool. Companies, large and small, should not be afraid to explore their rich media options. Rich media is effective, creative, engaging, and the results can easily be measured.

Need help creating a rich media campaign? Contact Preface Media. Let Preface Media create your rich media solution.

Merry Mobile Shopping!

As Smartphones essentially become smarter and smarter, the market for mobile shopping is really taking off. Mobile commerce applications and mobile websites are changing the way retailers do business and the way consumers shop.

With a rise of retailers users social media, mobile applications, and mobile web, mobile activity is destine to play a role in the 2010 holiday shopping season. In a study conducted by Deloitte, retailers are seeking to deliver tightly integrated and consistent merchandise, inventory, and promotional messages to their customers via mobile web, applications, and social media. There is also expected to be a between web based and physical storefront promotions and sales. Phone applications are tying online and store shopping together in more ways than ever before.

Consumers use their mobile phones to run price comparison searches and search for the products they want most. In the Deloitte study, conducted earlier this year, 21 percent of smartphone users state they have used their phones to locate stores, find product information, shop, and comparison shop. Shoppers are even insistent that their mobile phones will assist them with their holiday shopping.

Why mobile shopping? The question is more likely to be: why not mobile shopping. Mobile shopping is convenient. You can shop on your phone regardless of who you are, where you are, and what kind of time you have. Shoppers can beat the holiday crowds anywhere at any time. Shoppers have the opportunity to shop on the bus, while waiting in a doctor’s office, between classes, etc. Mobile shopping has the potential to make last minute holiday shopping a thing of the past.

With rich media, mobile shopping is equivalent to shopping online. Preface Media offers 360 degrees shopping experiences for mobile devices. Any user with an iPhone or smartphone is able to view all items at a full 360 degree view. Users can zoom, pan, and rotate products all with the click of a button on their phone. Technology has made mobile phone shopping easy. Shoppers can purchase products without having to worry about not liking what the actual product looks like.

Should retailers expect to see a huge sales surge courtesy of the mobile web and applications? The answer is a likely no. New technology is likely to only provide a small increase in sales. Given the current economy, consumers are still watching their funds closely and are remaining focused on increasing their savings and paying off any debt they may have. Consumers are not ready to max out their credit cards again.

Testing Rich Media

Testing your rich media site is a great way to gain invaluable feedback and insights into what potential consumers want. What better way to test the functionality of your rich media than allowing actual consumers to access the beta version of your site?

By allowing actual consumers to test the beta version of your rich media site, feedback and insights are 100% accurate. Additionally, using actual or potential customers to test of the functionality of a rich media pages costs a company nothing.

A great way to get customers involved in testing a beta site is to use social media. Twitter followers and Facebook fans make for great test markets. Social media is free and will provide you with a large number of individuals from diverse backgrounds to partake in your test. Keep in mind that just because someone is your friend or follower on a social media site, it does not mean that they have actually used your products before. This is also a great way to get potential customers interested in purchasing from you. Place a link on your social media page to your beta site. This will direct fans and followers to take a look at the beta site. Encourage users to post comments about your rich media beta site. Ask them what they like, what they don’t like, and what they feel could be approved upon.

Here’s one example. Javis Davis offered Facebook users the opportunity to test their beta site. By providing users with a secret and important duty of testing their beta site, Javis Davis got quit the response. This small Alabama bedding store had fans engaged and excited to be participating. Javis Davis treated fans to a preview of it’s new collection and allowed them to use a design configurator to experiment with different fabrics and styles.

Testing rich media sites using social media is an effective and affordable means of getting the job done. Don’t have a rich media page? Visit Preface Media’s Rich Media Solutions.