MarketingMel

MarketingMel talks with Carl and Bob on WJCW’s Thinking Out Loud

What are some examples of customer service you’ve seen in connection with social media that have worked well and worked effectively? That’s one of the topics we address on this  WJCW AM910 podcast of “Thinking Out Loud” with Carl and Bob (normally Carl N’ Dave but Dave was on vacation.)

I share a story of twitter being used to effectively manage customer service and a story of Facebook being used effectively on a political campaign.

Dave mentions Referral Key connecting him with potential voice talent work. We also discuss my “Three Ways to be a Shoo-in in Business and Politics.”

Enjoy this 12 minute podcast and please share with us some of your favorite customer service via social media stories.

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It was great to chat with Sue Painter, The Confident Marketer, on her podcast about staying in business 5 years.

A huge shout out of thanks to Sue Painter, the Confident Marketer, for interviewing me this week on the occasion of MarketingMel’s fifth year in business. Sue is a marketing and business coach and business coach for women whom I have known for several years. We have shared a couple of social media tribes together and have been reading each others blogs for quite awhile. Sue asked me for tips that have kept me going as well as some of the “big mistakes” I’ve learned from along the way in order for us to help her listeners including other entrepreneurs. One of my main tips for Sue: the importance of creating a business plan, an annual strategic plan and goal setting.

Here is the link to the podcast along with a special gift of the first four (brief) chapters of my upcoming e-book “88 Tips from a Marketing and PR Pro.”  Enjoy!

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Old Glory waves at our Tennessee home

What could be more All-American than ice cream, apple pie and changing trends? Yes a fickle public is probably as common in the U.S. as watermelon on the 4th of July.

Recently WFHG Supertalk Radio Host Steve Hawkins called to ask me to discuss the latest trends in both social media and interpersonal communications. Just click on the top link next to Steve’s face and crank up your speakers a bit to hear the podcast of our interview since it took place from my mobile phone.

Steve and I cover the gamut,from what to post and what not to post online, what to watch in youth trends and what to wear on camera! Now that we’re officially at the half way point in the year let’s take a moment to reflect on our successes and enjoy. Have a wonderful 4th of July week friends!

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Digital Strategist Crawford Miller shared great tips and free resources with Ad Club.

Crawford Miller, Digital Strategist for Centro in Birmingham, recently spoke to our Northeast Tennessee Ad Club luncheon. Crawford has worked with high-profile clients such as FedEx, Regions Bank, State Farm, and Indiana Tourism. Not only did I enjoy his presentation and learn a lot from Crawford, but I corresponded with him afterward to glean “the best of” from his talk in order to share those resources with you.

1. Here are some of his favorite sites for advertising content and marketing. One of the most interesting concepts is that of  “native advertising,” a term used to describe content that behaves more like what we public relations pro’s once called “advertorials.” It is generally the content that is selected for us (based on our profiles) and fed to us in our news feeds, etc. (Anyone on Facebook or twitter is familiar with this concept, perhaps without knowing the exact terminology.) You can learn more at this great advertising related podcast resource: http://www.thebeancast.com/
2. A terrifically fun web site for looking up advertising on any major brand is moat.com. Just plug in your favorite big brand and a plethora of advertising appears. http://www.moat.com/  The best part is it shows you where and when the ad was last displayed. (Frankly a search on “Starbucks” made me crave a passion tea!) Three other of Crawford’s favorite resources are: (quotes are his descriptions):
3. http://www.ghostery.com/ – Who’s tracking your online data and why? (Aside from the NSA of course!) Crawford says this site “allows you to see tracking pixels on web pages.”
4. http://www.digiday.com/ – Crawford calls this the “best natural digital new resource – covers all sides.”
5. http://www.lumapartners.com/resource-center/- A great “big picture” resource for consumer, advertising and media landscape. According to Luma, they map “the digital media ecosystem — how it works and where it’s going.” Nice graphic displays.

What are some of your favorite free resources and tools for advertising and marketing? Please share them with us here.

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Editor’s note: The following blog post was written by MarketingMel Associate Sarah Kinsler. (Sarah and Mel tried out the Vine app in the lobby of  WJCW Radio last month before going on the air to talk about social media trends.)

Mary Ellen Miller and Sarah Kinsler at the Tri-Cities TN/VA PRSA awards.

You can break a bull riding record, cross three state lines or experience an amazing “he’s the one” kiss. You can also post your adorable toddler’s toe-tapping hoe-down to international acclaim.

Now Twitter founders have introduced a way to capture these six second memories and share them! Vine, an app that allows users to shoot, combine and loop video is now the #1 app on iTunes. This app is quickly becoming the preferred outlet of social interaction amongst young adults and teens. However, large corporations and brands are jumping on the bandwagon as well.

But here’s the real question: Can brands tell their full story in six seconds? Maybe not the full narrative, but it is a  definite way to get a person intrigued. Including Vine in your marketing plan can increase brand awareness and add some personality to your updates and news. While a Vine video is only one-fifth of a typical commercial, it can generate buzz to a specific audience that would otherwise ignore alternative media outlets.

Which brings me to my next question: With apps such as Vine, Snapchat and Twitter, delivering information in a such a quick and effortless way is becoming the norm. What does that mean for the future of print media? Are our short attention spans going to change the process of how we get our news? What do you  think?

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(Editor’s note: This article is co-authored by Mary Ellen Miller and Sarah Kinsler, a recent ETSU Public Relations graduate and assistant to MarketingMel.)

Sarah Kinsler,MarketingMel assistant and Mel’s intern Kristen Pierce, leaders in the next gen social networkers.

The once great love affair between America’s youth and Facebook  is over.  The social network, once the “craze” for teens a few years back, has slowly turned into a ghost town when it comes to high school aged kids.

Why you ask? It’s simple. Now that Facebook has become the chosen network for the middle aged and even seniors, teens are feeling a little “crowded.”  Now they aren’t sharing info, updates, jokes with just their friends, but with Grandma too! Another reason of course is teens are all about chasing new trends and being involved in the newest networks. So adios Facebook and Hello Snapchat, vine and Tumblr.

Snapchat, a mobile app sharing service, lets users take short video and photos, then allows users to send as a message.The unique thing about this app however is that once the message is seen, for a very short amount of time, it self destructs (or so teens believe). This is huge right now because teens find it fun that they can live in the moment and not worry about the consequences of a photo/video being taken for a permanent record.

Another popular app right now (number one on iTunes actually)  is called Vine. The is app was created by Twitter to take short video clips and mash it into one looping six second short video.  (Sarah and Mary Ellen created this video on Vine while waiting to be interviewed about recent youth trends at WJCW radio last week.)

Tumblr is also very big right now. This app is for photo blogging and creating fun profiles that represent the user. It provides teens with a since of creativity without the extended family watching their every move.

To listen to more of our discussion on youth and social media trends please listen to our podcast.  Prior to the podcast Mary Ellen posted on both her Facebook business and personal pages about youth leaving Facebook and got a resounding “yes” from parents who agreed. What trends are you seeing in social networking and youth communications these days?

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MarketingMel Discussing Personal Branding with REALTORS

What are your New Year’s resolutions? When I conducted some video “man-on-the-street” interviews people fell into a couple of categories:

1- People who do not like to talk about resolutions. Most likely it’s because they remind them of broken promises but I’m going to share with you some tips you can act on right away and feel good about yourself in the New Year!

2- People don’t want to talk on camera. Some people obsess about their clothes, hair, make-up, etc. (This goes for men as well as women.) I created an award-winning video on “Ten Tips to Feel Comfortable on Camera” that can help you feel better on camera in the New Year.

No matter how you feel about resolutions, this is a great time of year to assess our personal brand. What we can do to better ourselves in 2013? Here are some tips to help you. I’ll be sharing more on personal branding as a speaker at the SoloPR Summit in Atlanta in February 2013. Hope you can join us!

1. Google yourself– What do you find? Is it fresh? Is it negative? Does it need a PR boost?
2. Does your image transfer to mobile? With more cell phones than toothbrushes in the world people will be on their phones more than ever in 2013. I recently optimized this site for mobile. You can check out your sites mobile likability by running it through http://www.mobilegrader.com/
3. Who is your target audience? What communications channels are they using? Do you have your elevator speech planned for the next time you bump into Future Big Client X?
4. How do you plan to promote your brand in 2013? Through guest media appearances? Your blog? Podcasts? Social media? Your e-mail signature? Video?
5. Do you have an editorial calendar planned for 2013? Remember, you are a publisher. Now is the time to think seasonal and timely in your future writing and publishing. I posted a few social media calendar examples on the MarketingMel P.R. Facebook business page.

All the best of luck to you in 2013 and remember, your personal brand is always with you!

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Personal Branding on Facebook: Are your friends driving you crazy?

Recently I conducted a poll on my MarketingMel Facebook business page called “What do your friends do that drives you Crazy on Facebook?” It was a fun exercise with many of the questions provided by WFHG Radio Talk Show Host Steve Hawkins and others provided by myself and the MarketingMel Facebook business page users (thanks everyone!) including those who follow my social media for business column in Out N’ About Magazine. I then shared the results on air in a lively three-way conversation with Steve and Jennifer Hayes (you can listen to the podcast here.)

Please note, we are not saying that people shouldn’t do any of these things, all we’re pointing out is that too much of any one thing can drive your friends crazy! Just as we wouldn’t want to eat too much rich food; just remember to post in moderation.

The results of the poll were as follows (in order of items that received the most votes for driving other people crazy on Facebook.)

1. “Fishing for a compliment: sexy photo, lost weight, etc.: You know the kind! That friend who’s always posting the super sexy photos of themselves or giving us the play by play (or pound by pound and photo by photo) on their recent weight loss!

2. Complainers that whine about everything:(Let’s remember the power of personal branding here. If you’re always complaining, it shines through on your digital footprint. If you need help with your personal brand be sure to check out the free webinar I co-created with Maria Peagler of SocialMediaOnlineClasses.com. You can view it at www.personalbrandinghowto.com

3. Political commentaries: (This one is really hard to avoid this time of year but I have friends on both sides of the political fence and want to keep them after the election is over!) My advice: Be kind.

4. Intolerance toward opinions: This was added by a user and I’d love to hear more about what they were thinking with this one!

Other categories that  received NO negative votes; Cute cat and cute baby photos. Awww….guess my friends are like me on this one and enjoy the babies and kittens. There must be a reason Keyboard cat’s been around all this time!

What about you? What do your Facebook friends do to drive you crazy? Feel free to vote in the poll and add your own categories, or comment on this blog post!
photo credit: pepe50 via photopin cc

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