Starbucks has developed an interesting online marketing technique to engage their customers in an interactive online tool. My Starbucks Idea is a platform for people to post ideas about new products they think would work for Starbucks, and people can vote on cool ideas they would like to see.
This is an interesting concept. Why pay marketers 6 figures a year to come up with new products when you could just ask the people who actually BUY the products. The objective being just that, people who buy the products would know more about what they want. Genius.
People are their marketing technique and the premise being that social media can allow anyone from anywhere with an amazing idea to share it with the world. An Starbucks actually puts them into action.
The most recent idea, mini Starbucks re loadable cards that fit on your key chain. Yes those handy little cards was a Starbucks customer's idea.
This is social media (FREE) marketing at its finest. If you want to know more about this unique idea including some drawbacks check out these blogs:
If you haven't heard about the new social media application Formspring, you soon will.
Formspring is a site that allows anonymous users to ask questions about people you may be interested in. The questions range from what is your favourite colour to what are your life's ambitions. Users can post questions under the guise of anonymity. You have the choice to publish your answers to certain questions, or ignore them.
Recently, Formspring came under fire after a press release spread wildly across the Internet that the two creators were conspiring to sell your private information to other Internet sources. The press release came from the Associated Press, a seemingly credible source.
The scam was a scam. This story not only proved to be completely untrue but proof that anybody can post anything and people WILL believe it. It probed people to question the legitimacy of the sites they use and the applications they choose to divulge their information and at the same time proving that just because a credible name is attached doesn't make it true (sound familiar? Wikipedia's source credibility is questioned constantly)
Do you believe everything you read on the Internet? Does this make you less likely to post your personal information to these 'harmless' sites?
Formspring me! But don't ask me questions you wouldn't want to know.
When I started PR school, I never would have imagined that social media could have such an influence on the industry. However, I quickly learned that to communicate effectively you need to go where the audiences are, online. PR has started to transform from talking to people to talking with people. A dialogue opened up online, and the PR industry started to see it was working. I also took notice, and so began the narrative of my social media journey...
“Just tweet me later.” Gone are the days of simply phoning a friend, social media has created an entirely new platform for friendship making and networking. Two months ago you would never have seen me on Twitter. I was adamantly opposed to putting myself online, worried too many people would see my picture, or heaven forbid, actually want to follow me. The problem really was fear of the unknown.
Here’s a great video that helped me understand what social media is really all about:
So I dug my heels into the ground and I got a blog. I started by looking at other people’s blogs to give myself a point of reference. Here are my favourites: Casie Stewart, Mitch Joel, Brian Solis and blog TO. Then I went to blogger.com, it was really easy to sign up for.
Recently I went to Brand Camp in Toronto to learn how to better my online presence. It was an incredibly valuable experience. Blogging, tweeting, flickring, tumblring and facebooking are becoming essential to successful PR practitioners. But to create this online presence you need to “brand yourself”. Here is what I learned about online identity from Personal Brand Camp:
1. Write about things you are most passionate about. 2. Be honest about who you are. 3. Employers will Google your name before interviewing you. 4. Don’t use your blog to complain or vent, people appreciate positivity. 5. A successful blog can land you your dream job in PR or marketing, 6. PR is about image, so protect and uphold yours online. 7. When people search you on the internet, your blog should be the destination. 8. Network online 9. LinkedIn, is a professional version of facebook. 10. BE YOURSELF
After finally being able to embrace social media, I have compiled a few online profiles to optimize my online presence: LinkedIn, Facebook, Ning and Twitter, with many more to come.
So next time you want to get in touch, tweet me! Happy online trails to you.
When you think about viral video, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? YouTube? But have you heard about Clip Shack? Originally this site was built and branded for businesses to manage and share their videos and ideas. It was an online tool used by corporations to market their ideas and products on a reliable online platform. The site's creators quickly realized there was a broader market for online video content and extended their services to individuals. I know what you’re thinking? It sounds familiar to YouTube. Well, it is but isn’t that the whole idea of social media, choices? The internet is filled with choices and places to stream your content. Clip Shack is one of those choices.
Here are some benefits to make those choices easier:
-The content is organized into Topics instead of related videos. For example, say you want to check out a skateboard video they have a nicely organized topics page where you can find these videos, and, currently, 327 others just like it.
-Unlike YouTube, material cannot be obscene or offensive “adult material” Clip Shack’s Terms of Use clearly outlines that their site is not to be used for such material and membership to the site requires that you are 18 years of age or older
-Clip Shack has recently incorporated a Google Maps application where you can organize content based on location.
Clip Shack has not received the recognition and viewership of YouTube, but it is a safe and reliable place where friends and family, colleagues and companies can share videophiles.
Technologically challenged? I get it! That was me a few weeks ago, before Twitter and my new blog. But I promise you it’s easy and Google will save your life.
Social media has evolved from sending a quick e-mail or instant message to creating an interactive online social network. With all this internet clutter something really has to jump down your throat in order for you to pay attention. This is why creating a blog space that includes videos is so important in the day and age of short attention spans. So if you were able to create your blog your first baby step is over! Next: Embedding your video.
Here’s how-to: 1. On the right hand side of the YouTube video you will see an About This Video box, with a URL that says 'Embed'. 2. Copy this URL: Drag your mouse over it and right click, then select Copy. 3. Go to your blog and paste the video where you want it to go by right clicking again and selecting Paste. 4. Your done!
That wasn’t so bad, was it? There are so many easy how-to steps in creating your personalized online presence, for other tips on embedding videos, check out these blogs: Ali, Zack, Julie
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