August 2010
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Why are you following us?
Lauren Kahner - Team Leader
Social media is all the rage in the marketing world, but what do consumers really want out of "liking" or "following" your brand?
While it's true that most consumers expect to receive some sort of special offer, many - including the most active users - also want a high level of interaction.
Two recent studies indicate that sales and specials continue to be the prime motivator for those who "follow" or "like" a brand online. But what's recently come to light is that the importance of savings is followed closely by a desire to learn about new products, features or services.
On average, social media power users (those with at least 500 social connections) were less interested in getting deals. Instead, they cared about new products and company culture.
Whether on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace, providing the deeper engagement expected by these types of users will help you truly connect with your brand advocates - leading the way for success.
For more information, read eMarketer's What Social Followers Want.
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Who gives a <bleep> about the Oxford comma?
Kristen Thomas - Public Relations Specialist
Who says no one cares about punctuation anymore? When indie rock band Vampire Weekend made a recent appearance on "The Colbert Report," the host took the group to task for its song "Oxford Comma," which opens with, "Who gives a <bleep> about the Oxford comma?" Who does? Stephen Colbert, for one.
The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is the final comma in a series (e.g., "I'll have a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich"). It's been subject to great debate ever since the highly influential "The Elements of Style" (pro-OC) and the Associated Press Stylebook (anti-OC) first divided on the issue.
Journalist Lynne Truss, author of "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" went as far as to state, "A passage peppered with commas - which in the past would have indicated painstaking and authoritative editorial attention - smacks simply of... out-of-date reference books."
Ouch. Take that, Colbert.
Even in an era of truncated texts and tweets, punctuation remains important to communications. But that doesn't mean the rules can't (and don't) change.
A moment of silence for the Oxford comma...
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Four simple tips for writing online
Harvey Kaner - Account Management
1. Don't overshare - People post too much information. Twitter and Facebook make it easy to dash off a tweet or status update and you may not think about possible ramifications. Tweeting about confidential or personal information can backfire.
2. It's business - Social media allows you to have a more personal connection with colleagues and business associates, so your posts can be friendly, but not as casual or edgy as you'd send to a friend. Tweets don't allow much room for nuance, normally expressed with a look or voice inflection.
3. Double check - Once upon a time, no business communication ever went out without being scrutinized for errors. This is still crucial today, as sloppiness can have severe consequences. Check for typos, misspellings or grammatical mistakes. Make sure you're sending to the intended target. The auto-fill isn't always your friend, and be sure you're not replying to all unintentionally.
4. Write correctly - Don't use texting language for business emails. It makes sense on Twitter, given its truncated format, but try to avoid this. In an email, use proper capitalization and spelling, and no emoticons or cute abbreviations. c what i mean? omg :)
Keep it professional, people. Write on.
From "Four Fatal Online Writing Mistakes" Lifestyle, American Express
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Supercharge your brand with online video
Maria Brenner - Video Production Specialist
According to Nielsen, more than 9 billion video streams were viewed in the U.S. in March, and demand is growing. Here are some tools to get those eyes on your video.
Aggregators: Sites like YouTube, Vimeo and funnyordie stream your video and make it searchable. Tip: Follow all upload instructions for maximum quality and add tags for searchability.
Mobile Programming: Smartphones give your video on-the-go viewership. Tip: For the most mobile-friendly content, swap flash formats for .3GP and use compatible aggregators.
Viral Seeding: Promote your video using aggregators, social bookmarks, blog/video comments and social networks. Tip: Keep it relevant. Viewers can smell an empty sales pitch a mile away.
Branded Entertainment: Create original programs that focus on a softer-sell approach via sponsorship and product placement. Tip: Don't micro-manage - too strict of a message can make it feel contrived.
Good news about some of our great clients
| | The islands of Tahiti provided a breathtaking backdrop as Ali Fedotowsky ended her quest to find love on the season finale of the hit primetime romance reality series The Bachelorette. The final episodes were filmed on the islands of Taha'a and Bora Bora.
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| | Panera Bread is busy "rising" throughout Southern California with the recent opening of bakery-cafés in Camarillo, Cerritos, La Canada and La Habra, where an official breaking of the baguette was held to commemorate the grand opening.
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| | NuSil Technology LLC, a cutting-edge manufacturer of silicone-based materials for aerospace, aircraft, electronics and photonics industries, recently announced that it had received a "2009 Silver Boeing Performance Excellence Award." The Boeing Company issues the award annually to recognize suppliers who have achieved superior performance.
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| | Goodwill Southern California recently opened its newest location in Temecula, California, giving treasure-seekers another hunting ground for clothes, jewelry, books, collectibles and more. The generous donations sold in every Goodwill retail store help fund their job placement programs, which place someone in a job every 45 seconds of every business day.
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| | The first-ever Gen7 modular classrooms were delivered to Bolsa Knolls Middle School in Salinas, California. In just two months, American Modular Systems custom-built six eco-friendly Gen7 schoolrooms, designed to meet and exceed the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) criteria for learning environments that are healthy, comfortable, resource-efficient and easy to maintain.
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| | Dunn-Edwards Paints, the #1 choice of painting professionals, is also the #1 choice of the residents of Pacific Beach and Mission Beach in San Diego. Voted "Best Paint Store" in the Beach & Bay Press 2010 Readers' Choice Awards, Dunn-Edwards is known as the "neighborhood paint store."
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| | U.S.News & World Report unveiled their "2010 Best Hospitals" lists and, once again, City of Hope ranked among the top for the cancer and urology specialties.
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Creative Strategies is written to deliver marketing philosophies and tips for our clients and agency friends. Email us and tell us how we can improve it.
The Phelps Group is a marketing communications company organized in client-based teams of advertising, PR, promotion, direct and interactive specialists, delivering integrated programs from a full-feedback environment. Our mission is to create great work for deserving clients, in a healthy working environment, to realize our clients' goals and our potential.
