No, you’re not going out dressed like that
If your biz is engaged in social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or a blog, you know its not something you can just set-and-forget. It takes a significant chunk of your time to cultivate your online personna. Whether for personal branding or for your business, staying on top of your outreach keeps you on the radar of your desired audience.
So why is it a surprise that when some of these social platforms, specifically and lately Facebook, change up their M.O. and suddenly your fan page needs to change dimensions or settings? By surprise I mean adjustments need to be done stat, right now. When those tasks involve your designer or web geek, be prepared to receive an invoice if the work extends beyond a contractual agreement. Read more
To blog or not to blog
A recent article posted by Hotel Marketing Strategies prompted some deep thoughts about social media participation within the hotel industry. The post, written by Daniel Edward Craig, offers 8 good reasons why ‘less is more’ when diving into the social arena.
Granted the information is geared specifically for hotels, these points (all but one) are par for the course for any business in probably any industry considering a social media marketing strategy on limited time.
The “one” point I simply can’t get past is “Should you start a blog? Probably not.” Huh? Seems to makes sense from a time-expense perspective, but its the follow-up point, and last, that make the purpose of a blog so important and useful: “Turn guests into advocates.”
Sure your guests can post little anecdotes on your Facebook page and upload images of their adventures on your photo sharing website. But how about keeping some of that search engine (keyword, tagged) gold for yourself by indulging a handful of your guests’ incredible experiences – the full story – on your own blog.
Makes sense to me. What do you think?
Case Study: Foursquare and local business
This article is also posted over on my Twitter for Restaurants blog »
This past Friday, April 16 presented an opportunity for Foursquare enthusiasts to join their counterparts across the U.S. in celebrating National Foursquare Day. Locally, big cities and even smaller communities (like here in Burlington, VT) were able to organize resident Foursquare players and businesses to rally around this ‘holiday’.
For business, it meant offering discounts or nominal freebies. For folks with smart phones like iPhones, Blackberries and Droids, it meant logging into the application and checking in to these establishments to get deals and accumulate badges – a fun and frivolous aspect of the app. The app itself even created a special Nat’l Foursquare Day badge to commemorate the activity for that day. Read more
Falling off the social media bandwagon
For the regular visitors to DeepDishCreative.com, you may have noticed a few gaping voids in content over the past 3 months or so. There are a few valid reasons for that, but still, no excuse really. Especially with tools like Hootsuite (Twitter dashboard) and the fact that this website is built on a WordPress platform (plant loads of posts and schedule them for release).
That said, I’ll reveal the reasons for my infrequent activity, and how I might have better handled my “social” life during that time. Its my goal to help you avoid the same sporadic activity as you become more involved with your brand online. Read more
How to write a useful restaurant review
Have you ever gone online to read a restaurant’s reviews before making a decision about where to go for dinner? Millions of others have and for good reason. Folks tend to trust the opinions of their peers and like-minded consumers more than any advertising message. If Ms. Jones found it a particular resto a great choice for brunch, but not so much for her business meetings, that’s good information for others looking for the same.
There are a host of restaurant review web sites that offer information on past experiences by patrons. Sites like Yelp! and TripAdvisor also have mobile applications for the on-the-go dining decision maker. Other mobile apps that are becoming invaluable for diners are Foursquare, GoWalla, BrightKite, and MyTown. While not review web sites, at least one of these apps (Foursquare at this writing) has features that allow users to tap into tips about venues – in the style of mini- non-rateable reviews. Read more
