Starbucks and Little Social Media Wins

In our world, consumers are always slow to give a compliment and quick to complain. If a problem arises, they WILL let you know. Any legitimate problem can result in long hours for a community manager. But sometimes just saying you know there is a problem in existence is enough for your audience. Check out how great Starbucks’ social media team is (OK, well maybe I’m partial). Acknowledgment, people! In social media, it really is the little things. I swoon when I see this type of successful community management. Maybe I’ll celebrate by grabbing a Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte.

Smartphones Used by Over Half of US Consumers

It isn’t often we write about mobile trends. Maybe that is because there usually isn’t too much to report. Well, today is a different day. According to this article on TechCrunch, smartphones are outnumbering more basic devices in the US. As of March, over 50% of consumers in the country were smartphone users. This is apparently a three percent increase since the close of 2011. Android is leading the race, but Apple remains the single biggest smartphone handset brand.

How does this affect marketers reaching their mobile audiences? There is one huge takeaway – optimize your site for mobile!

On-Brand Content Works Best for Facebook

According to Ad Age, Facebook ran a study across over 20 brands to see what content encouraged the most engagement (likes, comments, and shares). Their findings? Content relevant with the brand encouraged the most engagement. This seems obvious, but it’s good for us Facebook addicts to know so that we can mix the right medley of brand-centric posts and general posts. We don’t want to be shoving brand speak down anyone’s throat, after all. Other advice was given, as well. Want to increase shares? Post more photos and videos. Want to increase comments? Ask questions.

We’re putting that into practice. Below is a screenshot from The National Chicken Council’s “Chicken” Facebook page. One of their marketing goals is to get online audiences thinking and talking about chicken. That gives us some freedom to play around a little. Sharing this image resulted in 745 likes, 27 comments, and 171 shares.

It’s interesting to see what kind of “truths” are coming out of social media studies. What’s worked for you?

Facebook Logout Ads Too Expensive for Small Businesses

Let’s just jump right in, shall we? No need to beat around the bush. Facebook wants $710,000 a day for logout ads. Yep, more than half a million sweet hard-earned American dollars. For small businesses, that’s pretty much $709,800 dollars more than most people are probably willing to pay. But I guess if you’re Ford Motor Company, it’s no big thing.

To be honest, these logout ads kind of irk me. Yes, they are sleek, shiny, and beautiful, and yes, I have clicked “play” on this exact ad (Hi, my name is Jocelyn, and I’m an Internet ad clicker…”). And yes, the number of shares on this are astounding. And that’s exactly what irks me.

Facebook by and large leveled the playing field for businesses big and small. While Joe’s Dry Cleaners is never going to buy a Superbowl ad, or maybe any TV spot at all, social media has provided the opportunity to do the consumer engagement thing just as good as Ford, or maybe even better. When big businesses already have a huge leg up in pretty much every other form of media, it’s a sad day when they get it on the great equalizer – the social web – too. It’s like when you find out that the hot quarterback of the football team is nice, rich, and smart, too. Throw the dorky guy a bone, Zuck!

The web, unfortunately, doesn’t always level the playing field, though. Sometimes the highest bidder is the one who is seen. That’s proven in pretty much any ad platform in existence. Sometimes the more money you put into a Facebook ad, the more fans you’ll get. And for smaller businesses, sometimes this just ain’t fair because, after all, small business dollars are a bit more precious than Fortune 500 ones (am I allowed to say that?). And these new Facebook logout ads are kind of the icing on the cake. It might be blasphemous for me to say so, but do we really need more ads talking to us about how sexy the Ford Mustang is, especially after we’ve chosen to leave a site? I just want to logout of Facebook, for Zuck’s sake!

At the end of the day, all I can say is “Pshhht, whatever.” I can sit here and complain about how crap it is that Ford gets a leg up because they have more dinero to spend. Or I can sit here and come up with ways to make my clients’ networks better in different ways. Maybe it’s offering better, faster, smarter customer service to our fans. Maybe it’s building and encouraging a community of likeminded fans and rewarding them for just being awesome. Either way, it gives us smaller companies a chance to flex our muscles, be original, be authentic, and still be badass.

Facebook May Release New Ad Options As Early as Next Week

If you’re anything like us and in and out of Facebook all the live long day, news of new ad options are exciting. Currently, there are a few options for ads. You can choose Facebook Ads or Sponsored Stories, both of which have their place in audience building, buzz, product awareness, or driving traffic from Facebook to another online destination.

AllFacebook has it rumored that Facebook will alter and expand their ad options as early as next Wednesday, February 29 at their marketing conference in New York. (Side note: also rumored to be discussed is Facebook timeline for businesses). According to a recent article, the following are what the new ad options might look like:

• Status updates: Up to 150 characters of text, no additional media;
• Photos: Up to 90 characters of text, 185-pixel-by-104-pixel thumbnail, 16:9 aspect ratio
• Videos: Up to 90 characters of text, 185-pixel-by-104-pixel thumbnail, 16:9 aspect ratio;
• Links: Up to 90 characters of text, 75-pixel-by-75-pixel thumbnail;
• Questions: Four answers will be displayed — three, plus a “see more” link; and
• Events: Up to 90 characters of text, 75-pixel-by-75-pixel thumbnail.

Since Facebook ads have been an effective tool for a majority of our word of mouth clients, these new ad options are encouraging. The ads provide for additional (and interesting) ways to interact with the people we are trying to reach, as well as an increased opportunity for brand exposure.

5 Quick(ish) Tips for Better Facebook Content

You scream, I scream, we all scream… for Facebook.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best intro to this blog post. For that, I apologize. But obviously, today I am going to talk to you about Facebook content ideas and how to make your Facebook statuses (statii?) way more awesome. Since a majority of our clients are active on the ‘Book, we’re pretty familiar with what people love, hate, and share with their friends. We’re also pretty familiar with what doesn’t work. So without further ado (and even more bad jokes), here are 5 Quick(ish) Tips for Better Facebook Content.

1. Videos

Videos are more interactive than words. That seems obvious, but your audience may appreciate the break from reading every now and then, especially if it is something that interests them. Say you’re Starbucks and you’re releasing a new ad campaign. Maybe you can give a preview to your Facebook fans to see before anyone else. It’ll help solidify brand-consumer relationships and make each fan feel like they are getting something from liking the page.

2. Photos

Again, photos are more interactive than words. It also breaks up the blocks of text you might have on your page. Whether you are a food product, a luxury brand, or a service oriented organization, you can show a lot about your brand by tossing some pics up every now and again. Show your new line of shoes coming out in the fall and ask people to comment on their favorite designs. Display pictures from a recent factory tour that you sent your fan of the month on. Put up a funny comic or two to make your fans laugh. It’s all about getting people to engage with your page in new and interesting ways, and photos help you do that.

3. Direct Your Audience’s Answers

It’s sad to say, but sometimes you need to connect the dots for your audience. They might not know what you want them to do. Just because you provide a link doesn’t mean they are more likely to click. Just because you show them a picture doesn’t necessarily entice them to comment. Guide their actions by giving instructions, like this: “Click this link if you love great chicken recipes. This Thai Chicken Extravaganza is the perfect meal to end a long day.”

4. Questions / Fill in the Blank

Posting can sometimes get monotonous on pages. It’s learning X about a product on Tuesday and seeing Y about it on Thursday. Quit just giving people facts and information. Boring Facebook pages say things like, “The Ultimate Vortex Hairdryer dries your hair in under 2 nanoseconds flat.” In truth, try something like, “The Ultimate Vortex Hairdryer dries your hair in under 2 nanoseconds flat! What are you going to do with all that extra time you’ll have in the morning?” or “Fill in the blank. I love my Ultimate Vortex Hairdryer because it gives me more time to _____________.”

5. Promotions / Free Sh*!

Seriously, people love free stuff. Like, LOVE it. Even OBSESS over it. Better yet, they love it so much, they’d hunt you down and find you if they don’t get their free stuff in a timely manner. This free stuff can be anything from coupon codes to samples to discounts, and more. But keep in mind that incentives don’t work in every scenario. After all, people aren’t going to go insane for a $2 coupon off a book-on-cassette-tape about Mary Todd Lincoln.

Tubalr: Totally Awesome Music Playing Thingy

A friend suggested Tubalr to me yesterday and I’ve been telling everyone about it since. It’s an app that plays high quality videos back to back based on a search term or phrase. For example, “The Rolling Stones” entry brings up an endless stream of tunes and videos of Mick Jagger, his lips, and Stones’ concerts (see below). You can choose to listen to only the Stones, or similar artists as well. You can register to star your favorites if you are one who loves a customized listening experience.

Sure, it’s kind of like Pandora. Sure, it’s kind of like Spotify. Sure, it’s kind of like YouTube playlists. But regardless, it’s a simple, effortless way to get the tunes and videos you are looking for without any work on your part. Needless to say, we love simple ideas that solve a unique (and very lazy American) problem. Two thumbs up. You can bet you’ll find me over there all day, listening to showtunes The Black Keys.

10 Social Media Lessons from 2011

I learned a lot in 2011, both about my life and my profession. Mostly, I’ve come to appreciate how work is more than just being satisfied with what you complete at the end of the day. It’s also about relationships, creative expression, stability, intellectual freedom, and yes, being satisfied with all you get done by 5 PM (or sometimes 6 PM).

I’ve also come to appreciate the sense of stability that has come back to our industry. It’s given our word of mouth team a chance to take all we’ve learned since social media transformed the scene a few years ago and change it into a formula, a practice, and a system that works for us. We’ve learned some great lessons throughout the year, some the hard way.

So we thought we’d share them all with you. After all, there’s no better way to kick off a new year than to look back on all you’ve learned in the previous year. Here’s 10 Social Media Lessons from 2011.

1. There’s no such thing as over-preparing. There IS such a thing as under-preparing and it’ll bite you in the butt.
2. Updating or tweeting every 5 seconds will not solidify your expertise. It will just annoy people.
3. There’s nothing worse than a huge block of text. Break it up! Bullet points, headers, and pics are good things.
4. Sometimes campaigns don’t go as well as planned. Do your best to fix the problem and then MOVE ON.
5. Don’t stress out over things you cannot control.
6. Think outside the Internet. Learn all there is to know about marketing.
7. Surround yourself with a team you trust. You can’t do it all by yourself.
8. Let your team be accountable for their own work. Mistakes made are lessons learned, and autonomy equals trust.
9. Sometimes you have to buck up and do that one thing you simply don’t want to do.
10. Sometimes the only thing people want to hear from a company is, “I’m Sorry.”

Ad Agency Necessity: Social Media Contingency Plans

The social media realm has required us to have a different set of rules. Everything from strategy to implementation has changed. That even extends to who does what in which department. A blessing of a small agency is that everyone on our social media team works closely together. And while we are all pretty well versed in the ins and outs of each client, we’ve each individually got our niche.

But while we are all well versed in each client, we’ve got to have a back up plan to ensure that all necessary work gets completed (and done the right way) if the point person on the account is out sick or on vacation. Because in social media, there are no sick days.  So here’s how we do it.

1. Check the Driver’s Manual

First things first, you need the proper documents. We work in pretty close quarters here at Cyphers, but we can’t all know every minute detail of every client. That’s where our internal social media documents come in handy. We prepare them before launching a new client and it gives our team the tools each person might need if someone is MIA. They’ve got everything from social media tone and voice to answers to common questions.

2. Have a Snow Day Phone Tree

When someone is out sick, running late, or on vacation, a communication plan is vital to ensuring that work gets done (and that the person that is out can breathe easy). Okay, so maybe it isn’t your traditional phone tree, but there is enough communication so that someone can step up and into the missing person’s shoes. All necessary team members or account executives are included in this communication plan so everyone is on the same page. All in all, discuss a plan so that each person knows how their role is altered when someone else is out.

3. Rinse and Repeat

Your back up plans aren’t always going to go off without a hitch, but once you’ve been through it once or twice, you’ll be good to go. Make changes as necessary. Also, always think of the worst situation and plan accordingly. That way, should the worst happen, you’re more than prepared to deal with it.

Having a social media contingency plan in place helps ensure that all work gets done, all social networks are managed or maintained, and that nothing slips through the cracks. It can give a proactive peace of mind to a sometimes stressful agency setting.

Social Media / Word of Mouth Marketing Internship

The Cyphers Agency (TCA) is looking for a social media intern to add to our Word of Mouth Marketing Department. We are seeking a dynamic, creative, fun, and interesting intern who wants nothing more than to dig into the wide world of social media.

A large portion of this FULL-TIME PAID social media internship will focus on community management for one of our clients. There will also be additional tasks and responsibilities that come with working at a full service advertising agency. These duties include general administrative tasks, research, account assistance, and more.

We are looking for someone with a thorough understanding of: 

• Basic Marketing Principles
• Internet Research
• Blogging – both in writing and familiarity in platforms
• Relationship Building
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, FourSquare, Google+, Tumblr, Groupon, Living Social, Review Sites, etc.

Requirements: 

• In college or a recent graduate
• Advertising, PR, or Marketing majors are preferred
• Must be able to work well in a team environment
• Able to work 40 hours a week (this is a full-time paid internship) for 3 months minimum
• Personal social presence and affinity for all things Internet
• Prior professional social media experience (jobs or internships) is a bonus

Wanna show you are super awesome?

• Connect with us to show your online presence – think personal blog, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Here’s how you can start:
• @ us at @AdsAtTCA, even if it’s just to say, “Hello.”
• Like us on Facebook and leave a comment.
• Send us some writing samples that show your style and voice.
• Share with us some of your favorite blogs, articles, or funny cat videos. Bonus if we haven’t read, heard, or seen them yet.
• Get others to talk about why you should be the next WOM intern. Comments on this post are a great start. Hashtags never hurt either… (#HireMeTCA)
• Show us how you’ve used social media to get results (for school, work, or personal purposes).
• Tell us what YOU think is an awesome example of an effective campaign that used social media and word of mouth marketing. Negative ten points if you say “Old Spice.”

As for that cover letter and resume, you can send it to jocelyn@thecyphersagency.com. Look forward to hearing from you!