If you thought social media was a fad. Think again.
Twitter 101 - For Business
Twitter has recently announced a new website specifically for business owners. The Twitter 101 site walks you through how to set up a Twitter account, the Twitter lingo and case studies of companies using Twitter.
Twitter has been a great tool for companies to communicate and listen to their customers. However sometimes brands get it all wrong. Take Best Buys Chief Marketing Officer for example.
Below is the conversation the CMO of Best Buy had with a prominent blogger. The conversation has been seen by millions and has tarnished any marketing done by Best Buy to promote how friendly and supportive their staff are.
(Click the image to view the conversation)
Facebook.com/yournamehere - Vanity URL
We know we said the next few posts would be all about Twitter, but we felt this could not wait.
Facebook has announced that it will be issuing vanity URLs for Facebook accounts.
You may be asking, what is a vanity URL? It is your chance to claim your very own piece of Facebook.
In the past Facebook URLs would be made up of what looks like random numbers. This was very inconvenient for brands who wanted to promote their Facebook page offline, because who would remember "www.Faceboook.com/profile.php?id=123456789" ?
So Facebook has finally followed Twitter, and MySpace and offered a personalized "vanity url" that can now look like this www.facebook.com/brandname
Because nobody can have the same Facebook URL this space is going to go quick, this means you need to move fast. If you have an existing Facebook page, log-in to Facebook and visit the Facebook.com/username website. From there you are given suggestions for your custom Facebook URL. Click the more option to input your own choice. Note: This also works for Facebook brand pages, however you must have over 1000 fans.
If you do not already have a Facebook page for yourself or brand, you are out of luck. New Facebook accounts are not eligible.
Now for my rant.
For brands who have recognized the potential for social media, the new vanity URL is great news. For brands who thought it would be a fad, the news is irrelevant because these brands are not eligible for a custom Facebook URL. Which means by the time they get 1000 Facebook fans, the URL they want will not be available.
Let this be a lesson to those brands still on the social media sidelines. Get out and play! Because if you don't you might never get a chance to.
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*Note: You may have noticed the blog has not been updated regularly. The MarketR team is currently in Europe facilitating online marketing workshops for brands wanting to play the social media game.
The team will be back on June 22nd.
MarketR Main Page
Everyone needs a main page, even MarketR. Today we are excited to announce the soft launch of the MarketR Main Website.
Check it out and let us know what you think. www.marketing-revolution.com
Remix Manifesto
Today is the Vancouver screening of "Remix Manifesto" a documentary about the copyright laws.
The internet allows anyone to collaborate with people from all over the world. The creative content that has been developed thanks to the internet is incredible. Just look at Wikipedia, one of the most popular websites in the world with content generated by people all over the world. In order to fund Wikipedia they asked for donations and were able to raise millions of dollars through small donations.
Unfortunately there are some corporations that don't like the empowerment the internet brings. Mostly because controlling what people can and can't do is how these companies make money.
Check out the trailer for the documentary. Playing March 8th 7pm at Vancity Theater. Also the film is part of opensource cinema. Meaning all video clips were posted online and anyone could collaborate in putting in the background music and clipping the film together.
Leverage = Doing More With Less
MarketR was featured once again on a popular PR blog. Check out the post about leveraging social media.
Again this shows why the internet is so powerful. When done right, publicity about your company can spread like wild fire.
When we developed the marketing strategy for Toni&Guy's W.A.R. show, we knew it was going to be a huge success. We had no idea about the publicity MarketR would get.
The key is to leverage everything. Turn something small that your company does, into something big.
I just had a meeting with a client who donates to local charities on a regular basis. I asked who knew about their donations? The client replied, the company's staff know about the donations and clients when they come visit the store. This is great initiative, as it builds company moral and clients feel great about patronizing a store that gives back to the community.
The internet allows you to take it one step further. By posting the annual donations on a company's twitter account, blog and e-mail newsletter you take it to the next level. Now thousands of people know about your great contributions. Potential clients are more likely to patronize your store and individuals looking for a job in a company that values giving back are likely to give you a call.
Where it gets really good, is when other bloggers and twitter users start talking about your contribution. Now thousands more people are talking about your company's donations and thousand more potential clients know why your company is different from others.
You never know what is going to be picked up by people on the internet, but there is only one way to find out. Remember to leverage everything!
MarketR News
2009 has been a very exciting year for MarketR and it is only 2 months in. We are about to launch a brand new MarketR main website next week, and it looks amazing. The MarketR team is working with a number of new clients to establish online marketing tools such as blogs, websites, social media initiatives, email newsletters and of course search marketing.
We are very excited to launch a new MarketR initiative called PassTheBuddha. Look out for more information coming soon.
Other news:
MarketR featured on PR Couture.com for the incredible Toni&Guy PR 2.0 campaign.
