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
Social Media for Chambers update
Last fall I posted some thoughts about my decision to not renew my local Chamber of Commerce membership (read it here »).
I had no idea the eyes that post would fall upon, but the response was healthy and seemed to get folks thinking about how and why Chambers either should or shouldn’t embrace social media from a business networking perspective.
Randy McCallum of ChamberVoice.com stumbled across the article and left some nice comments. Turns out he also recorded a brief video describing his interpretation.
My website’s look has changed a bit since this recording, so yes, it’s Deep Dish Creative! Thanks for your thoughts Randy, and best of success with ChamberVoice.com.
Foursquare for Tourism
Chances are you’ve heard of location-based smart phone applications like Foursquare, Yelp, GoWalla, and MyTown, etc. Even if you don’t use a smart phone, know that your visitors are.
Haven’t heard of it? Foursquare is a smart phone application that defines itself as:
Foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so. We do this by combining our friend-finder and social city guide elements with game mechanics – our users earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favorites.
Why would a CVB care about a location app? Consider this:
Provided that Foursquare has the city programmed in (most of the U.S. is now covered), tourists can locate information about the area they are visiting – right when they’re ready to go. They can check Nearby Tips for information on various businesses (like a map and proximity) as well as tips left by other Foursquare users. The Tips tab for each venue is open to all Foursquare users, meaning, anyone can look. The more popular the business, the likelihood of more tips. The Tips feature is where a Visitor Center and CVB can come into play. Read more
Why I love working with biz’s that GET social media
Most of my design clientele, like restaurants, hotels, event marketer-types, have been very slow to get on the Social Media bandwagon. Not for lack of interest (mostly) but for lack of time and inclination. After all, its just one more thing they’ve got to manage in their busy schedules.
As far as they are concerned, the same old marketing actions have been used since the dawn of time, and heck, if they aren’t broke, let’s not fix them. Let’s pretend that something more efficient, economical, and modern doesn’t exist, even though everyone else is using it to maintain their brand’s image and messaging online.
Every once in a while a new client, sometimes even a staple, will contact me all excited that the social media light bulb just went off. They now get it. Congratulations! I can’t help but swell with pride as if I was watching a kid graduate from high school. They’re off to a bright future with the world as their oyster. All the coaxing and convincing I peddled over the past year or so has finally paid off, and I’m not so crazy. These tools really do make a difference in today’s customer service and brand loyalty initiatives.
