Social media is present, with no signs of slowing down.

Millions of people, right now, are signing into a social platform and we’re identifying ways for you to reach them. In a world of trends, creativity lacks and can often times be overlooked. But originality is the driving force to building your community and keep them coming back.

A gesture such as rewarding your online community is simple, original, and can be highly effective for your brand.

Reward your online community with these 4 steps:

Recognize your fans, individually- Each week, announce a Facebook “Fan of the Week.” Pick your favorite comment, vote, and then announce that fan. You don’t have to give anything away, but recognizing individual fans shows you value them.  A fun, simple, silly way to show that you’re listening and that you care.

Build a personal relationship- Every business has its regulars. And every social network has its devoted fans. Interact with them! Most people are likely to return when you acknowledge them and build that personal relationship.  Answer their questions immediately, always respond or like their comments and in turn, you’ll have one devoted fan. Easy!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help- The quote, “closed mouths don’t get fed” applies to social media. Asking your fans for help bridges a connection and gives your community the privilege to shape your brand.  You know what your fans like, and they most certainly know what’s appealing to them. Embrace it and use it to your advantage.

Something to think about- According to a recent study, “50% of consumers value a brand’s Facebook page more than its website.” This statistic alone should be a driving force to interact with your fans.

Reward isn’t limited to physicality, but sentimentality as well. If you need help using social media to contribute to your brand’s success, check out our programs here.

Following its January release, we posed the question, is Vine right for your brand.

By popular belief, Vine’s increasing acceptance hasn’t caught on with everyone, just yet. But don’t loose faith; there’s still hope for Vine and your brand.

Vine has already engaged the 18-24 year old audience, but the fact remains, social trends do take time.

“Why isn’t my brand seeing growth through Vine?”

In the social media world where Instagram is the “in” thing, simply put, snapping a photo can be more simple than 6 second video clips. But this is where Vine can be effective.

Vine gives you a chance to do more with less.  If your brand has the time to be highly creative and artistic, take the Vine approach to share your story.  One-6 second video can highlight your day in a way that text and photos cannot.

Proper planning and execution goes into creating good Vines.

If you aren’t seeing results, ask yourself this; how much creativity am I putting into my Vines?

Identify what programs are right for your brand strategy, here.

The power of smell may be the next big thing in advertising.

 From the original scratch-and-sniff, the cotton candy smelling deluxe edition of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album, or the researcher-experimented “smelling screen,” developers alike are now posing the question, “What does your marketing program smell like?”

 In Marc Gobe’s book “Emotional Branding,” he notes that incorporating scent into a branding approach will build a deeper emotional bond with the consumer.

 Sensory stimulation and memory offer a direct relationship and can ultimately affect perception. When you first perceive, you connect, and when there’s a connection, a response will take place.

These connections can happen on a conscious level: The smell of a fragrance might remind you of a particular person. But smell can often times trigger the subconscious and influence moods, often resulting in a certain feeling.

Responses can lead to an action or a sale.

 Marketing aims to get your customer to identify with your service or product in a unique way.  The topic of scent begs a bigger question: “What is the personality of your brand?” Thinking through all possible attributes can make you more relatable to your target audience.

 Learn more about innovations in marketing and how they could apply to your business, here.

How fabulous would it be if as soon as your brand joined all the social media platforms, it immediately and magically grew in popularity and success?

The reality is social media is slow. As the article, Seven Steps to Social Media Success for Small Business, illustrates, there are many ways you can use social media to contribute to success, but these steps take time.

Here are the reasons why you have to wait to see success for your brand’s social media:

• Strategy- Jumping into social media without a strategy is a way to fail. Take the time to plan the best way to use social media for your brand.
• Profile- Taking the time to create profiles that portray your brand in the best light possible, consistent across all your social media channels, will make your brand appealing to potential customers.
• Following- A loyal and influential group of people is not going to like or follow your brand immediately. This process of identifying the correct audience takes time.
• Community- It’s important to be a resource in your community and identify influencers to interact with. This can be a geographical community, like Noblesville, IN or an industry community, like healthcare.
• Engagement- Without engagement, the following and community you took time to create is meaningless. Fortunately, it’s highly possible to engage your audience with some hard work and time.
• Listening- Learning, listening, and responding to dialogues that are occurring around relevant topics are a way for your brand reach the right people. “Quality of connections matter a lot, not the quantity.” You must be patient and aware to find quality conversations.
• Analysis- If you don’t slow down and take the time to analyze your previous efforts, you won’t know if you are headed in the right direction or if you need to stop, reassess and go a different way.

If you need help using social media to contribute to your brand’s success, learn more about our programs here.

People take social media everywhere, including the bathroom. The plus side is this creates a huge audience that can be reached through social media. However, the 24/7, multi-tasking, and instantaneous habits of social media users can create a challenge for your brand.

Here’s why social media in every aspect of our lives can be difficult for your brand:

Your audience is using social media during all hours of the day- This means a 24/7 commitment for your brand. Because people can post whenever and wherever, you must be on alert and monitoring as well.

You don’t have your audience’s full attention- Because your potential audience is often in the bathroom, at a restaurant, hanging with friends or watching TV while they are on social media, your brand must be catchy enough to divert attention to your message instead of what is going on around them.

Your audience receives information immediately- The trending topic on Twitter, a recent article or a friend’s Facebook status can all been seen as soon as they are posted. If your brand isn’t timely and relevant, your audience will know.

This isn’t an argument to dismiss social media as an effective tool for your brand. You must negate the risks of social media and use your audience’s tendencies to your advantage. It’s more risky to not be on social media.

Need help? Learn more about our programs here.

Many companies turn to social media in times of low sales, as Social Media Today highlights. However, it’s not an instantaneous process. Social media can increase sales, but it takes a strategy, constant monitoring and engagement, as well as an awareness of what you are trying to accomplish.

Here’s why social media helps to make people more likely to purchase:

• Increases awareness- social media is another avenue for people to learn more about your brand.
• Eases skepticism and doubts- social media allows you to talk about you brand in a way that positions it positively in your customer’s mind.
• Creates conversation and answers questions- social media lets people talk about your brand and allows you to respond to them.
• Creates opportunity for social promotions- social media is one way people like to learn about deals and coupons for your brand.
• Reward loyal customers- social media allows you to attract new customers as well as stay connected with the customers you already have.

Need help leveraging your sales through social media? Learn more about our programs here.

The following tips are aimed to save the sanity and dignity of the social media world:

1. Always say the magic words

A simple ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ will go a long way. If a fan or follower has liked or commented on your content, they deserve praise for helping your brand grow.

2. Compliments never hurt

We all know how good it feels to receive compliments; the same goes for brands. Whether you’re complimenting a competitor or a business partner, applauding their efforts will help your brand in the long run by increasing reach and credibility.

3. Accept your own faults

If you or your brand has made an error in some way, be sure to apologize promptly. While it’s obviously best to avoid mistakes at all costs, acknowledging them and admitting your gaffe will improve your reputation

4. If you don’t have anything nice to say…

This phrase always spawns eye-rolls, but it’s important to keep in mind when you’re speaking on behalf of your brand. Your content is likely reaching a wide audience, and you can never be sure how they will respond. To avoid offending or harming these individuals, keep your content positive and everyone wins

5. Stand up for your beliefs when necessary

If you are compelled to share your thoughts or opinions on an issue, you have every right to do so. However, do so in an educated manner. Your view may be challenged, but if you have used your social media manners and done your research, then you are entitled to sharing.

Still unsure of where to start? We can help. Learn more about our Social Media Builder Program and how Your Social Move can help your brand grow.

Here’s some ways the two platforms are competing for an audience and a wealth of online information:

• They’re both worldwide- Facebook is the social media platform used by the most countries in the world, but Google is the most used search engine in the world.
• They’re learning more and more about their audiences- This data about their social media platforms users, most useful to marketers, is collected by Facebook and Google+ using search queries, likes and connections.
• They’re both integrated across the web- Both Facebook and Google+ are finding ways to connect people’s information and activities outside of social media to their site. For example, posting reviews on Google is tied to Google+ pages and Facebook is used to sign in to many completely independent websites.

These characteristics make Facebook and Google+ strong contenders for a large share of customer’s attention online.

Who do you think will come out on top? Let us know in the comments.

If you need any help using these two social media channels in your strategy, learn more about our programs here.

Girl Scouts are selling more cookies than ever. “Almost $800 million worth of Thin Mints, Samoas and other coveted flavors were sold during the 2011-2012 selling season.” There hasn’t been a huge downturn in sales because many girls are using social media and other technology not available to the earlier generations of Girl Scouts.

Here’s how to sell your brand like a Girl Scout sells cookies:

1. Take advantage of the technology available to you- Specifically social media and mobile technology. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, now is the time.
2. Don’t travel door to door- Just like Girl Scouts don’t have to go door to door to sell cookies, your brand doesn’t have to spend hours pitching a story. Using social media, the possible reach is enormous.
3. Make sure there is a customer engagement experience- Girl Scout cookies are still not sold entirely online because the organization feels that the girls and their customers benefit from a face-to-face interaction. The same is true for your brand. Even if it’s online, there is a way to let your customers know you are there for them.
4. Tell a story- Girl Scout cookie boxes explain the organizations activities and goals. Use social media to tell your brand’s story and people will have a more personal connection with your brand.
5. Sell something people love- Girl Scouts have this down because they sell delicious cookies, but your brand can still find a way to share something that people want, product or information-wise.

Your brand may not have the appeal of an adorable girl scout, but our programs can help you sell your brand.

Dear Twitter,

Thank you for almost 7 blissful years. It’s hard to believe we’ve come so far in such a short time. I remember when we first met, way back when in March 2006. Your addictive appeal and witty banter was undiscovered; a hidden gem in the Social Media world. Since then, you have given us so much. Now:

• Brands can have their own personalities
• Links and other content can be shared easily with followers
• You can read breaking news stories in 140 characters or less
• Anyone can become a celebrity
• Images can be shared with the world through popular apps such as Instagram

Because of you, brands flourish, relationships grow, and businesses thrive. On behalf of small businesses, national brands, celebrities, and Average Joes everywhere, thank you.

Is your love for Twitter still undiscovered? We can help. Learn more about our programs here.