Thursday, October 10, 2013

Don't Let Simple Mistakes Sink Your Social Marketing

You've added social media to your marketing mix to capture the interest of customers. But are you wasting resources, or, worse, actually turning off prospects and customers? Check to see if you are making some of the 10 critical social media errors outlined in a helpful post on SmartBlogs. Among them is jumping on more social platforms than you can effectively manage, especially if you are including ones that don't reach many customers. Another no-no is to pump out aggressive sales pitches instead of two-way conversations. If you are posting rarely or erratically, you aren't gong to cut through the social chatter. And if what you say is cold and impersonal (people connect with people, ideas and opinions, not balance sheets), timid (dodging controversies and tough questions), unattractive (no colorful images to grab attention) and lacking allure (people need incentives to follow you, meaning good info and feedback as much as freebies), you're going to be the business at the social marketing party that folks ignore or avoid. For the full article on critical social marketing mistakes, go to http://smartblogs.com/social-media/2013/10/04/10-critical-social-media-mistakes-to-avoid/

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Brands Test Postagram's Social-Direct Mail Blend

Hyatt hotels and Coppertone are two well-known brands testing a Facebook-enhanced platform called Postagram that prints personalized postcards. Through mid-August, the hotelier encouraged guests to personalize up to two complimentary postcards via a Facebook app that's available on Postagram and Hyatt House social pages. In five steps, lodgers could add a photo and a 180-character message to the postcard before entering the name and address of a friend and putting postal service delivery in motion. The Hyatt brand promoted the test of the blend of digital and old school direct mail via social media channels and printed materials in the rooms of the Chicago-based chain. Meanwhile, Coppertone also employed the Postagram platform, including a mobile app available on iPhones, to push branded postcards. Adweek quotes Matt Brezina, CEO of Sincerely, which owns the 2-year-old Postagram: "Most direct mail is boring stuff," declares Brezina. "What we are doing is different because it's personalized. What's more, it's personalized by someone the recipient actually knows. It's not just from some company." Brezina's San Francisco-based Sincerely operation markets a handful of gifting-oriented mobile/web applications and claims 2.7 million mobile users for apps like Popbooth, Ink, Sesame and Ship API. For the Adweek story, go to http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/hyatt-hotels-combines-facebook-snail-mail-150791