Tag: Google
Social Media Examples: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet Where to Learn
Be useful, be entertaining, or be ignored. It is an amazing fact … social media has been with us for over a decade now. So there are many social media examples that you can learn from.
Many awesome ones that are useful as well as entertaining. And new ones are being created every day.
Businesses have seized upon this as it matured and in 2013 according to a CMO survey by Duke University is 6.6% of marketing budgets (about $4.6 billion in dollar terms) and is expected to climb to nearly 16% over the next 5 years.
So social media is still a small part of digital and marketing budgets.
But in reality, it has just begun.
When choosing to learn from others’ social media marketing campaign strategies, it is always helpful to choose the best of the best.
Those that are most innovative and very eager to try lots of new and different ideas. And not afraid of a failure or two. Real social media marketing innovators. You want to frequently come up when marketers are discussing the best in social media marketing.
Review this article to learn How to Change Your Social Media Engagement
Social media examples… Twitter
Use images for better response rates. For images implement Twitter cards so that any tweets of your content will include visual media.
Many businesses are including images, not so surprising.
The best ones on Twitter are customizing the title tags. You can attribute content to creators and use images up to 500 by 750 px.
This platform has been our best website referral source over the past 2+ years. You can brand pins with your logo to create visual reminders.
Nordstrom, one of our favorite brands, is the most followed brand on this platform.
One of their most creative ideas is to offer free shipping on most pinned items. This creates both online engagement and in-store sales.
Related post: An Update to Starbucks Creative Ideas and Innovation
Types of social media … Google+
One of our favorite platforms for a variety of reasons. You can cross post between G+ (hangouts) and YouTube videos.
This way the video you have created of the hangout and any comments will automatically show up in the G+ news stream, which is a very good value add.
One of the best examples on this platform is Toyota. They call their hangouts Toyota Collaborator.
A great way to incentivize cooperation with customers … and engage and work with them. Think you could obtain some valuable insights in this manner?
There are many ways to use creative ideas on this platform. Here is one for your consideration: build an interactive resume by adding rich media and detailed descriptions.
Think about including status updates photos, presentations, and demonstrations. Pottery Barn, as an example, showcases images of its products in use illustrating creative menu items.
This does a great job of building more views and engagements.
Not a very good platform for business to business engagement.
But an awesome site for our family to share pictures of grandchildren and interesting activities going on in their daily lives.
350 million pictures uploaded every day. Amazing.
Social media initiative examples … YouTube
Does your business like to use videos and are you looking for more?
Take advantage of YouTube’s video editor and combine some of the existing videos to create new videos that show off your products in action. Use Adobe Premiere pro transitions pack to make your videos dynamic and memorable for viewers.
Our business security system supplier, ADT, has an interesting initiative to consider.
They allow viewers to have a look into the homes of athletes who use the ADT pulse service.
Social media examples … Vine
Are you a frequent viewer of Vine posts? Only 6 seconds to implement ideas, so you have to do well to be great with this initiative.
Lots of applications for this interesting video platform.
One of the best ones we believe is how to do instructions on simple tasks.
Check out some of the ones done by Lowes.
Key takeaway
Building a positive social media community engagement is very similar to making friends. Keep it simple and be genuine.
Being social with a great positive engagement isn’t a new way of marketing; it’s a way of doing business.
Follow these simple initiative examples and you will be leading the way.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your social media marketing or advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on social media lessons from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
10 Essential Components of a Top Notch Website Design
Adapting to Major Changes in the Social Media Climate
An Update to Starbucks Creative Ideas and Innovation
How Steve Jobs Would Change Your Social Media Engagement
Like this short blog? Follow Digital Spark Marketing on LinkedIn or add us to your circles for 3-4 short, interesting blogs, stories per week.
Brand Storytelling Examples … the 6 Best We Could Find
We hear lots of talk these days about the power of brand storytelling—and why it’s so critical for businesses and brands as we continue to rush forth in the digital age. Check out these brand storytelling examples.
Stop interrupting what people are interested in, and be what people are interested in.
But like so much of this other stuff that is discussed in the marketing and branding realm, storytelling has always been important. It has been the essence of the greatest and most successful communications since the beginning of man.
It can be daunting for a marketer to plan out a piece of brand storytelling – and yet it looks so easy when it is done right. The 5 companies below range in popularity but the lessons in there apply to all brands; there is so much to be gained from examining exactly why the stories were so effective.
Guinness I
Guinness is no stranger to effective brand storytelling. This video reached three million views within four days of online release. This is another exercise in concise brand storytelling with a big heart – the concept sees a group of guys playing wheelchair basketball. A simple plot; a game of wheelchair basketball followed by a pint of Guinness.
The twist is that only one of the men in the group is an actual wheelchair user – the rest, it seems, are his friends who are playing wheelchair basketball so that they can all play together.
So what on Earth does this story have to do with Guinness? It is when the voiceover kicks in that the storytelling really ramps up though: “Dedication, loyalty, friendship – the choices we make reveal the true nature of our character,” says a gravelly-voiced chap.
The choice the men in the ad make to play wheelchair basketball is a testament to their character, and so is the choice they make when they are at the beer taps. It almost tells viewers to be the best person they can be, and drink the best quality drink they can get their hands on.
You simply cannot argue with that as a memorable and evocative piece of brand storytelling – and the image of the group walking (and wheeling) away from the court will stick with you.
Guinness II
Have you noticed that the world of marketing is changing? And rapidly. Traditional media vehicles are losing effectiveness as people communicate in new and different ways. Mass audiences are fragmenting into small segments.
Developing a point of difference is harder than ever. This Guinness marketing story demonstrates that Guinness marketing has certainly noticed.
And Guinness marketing has adapted and come up with some cool new marketing stories. This new ad from Guinness proves that beer commercials can be so much more than guys and bars.
“Empty Chair,” tells the story of a bartender who leaves a pint of Guinness at an empty table every night amongst birthday celebrations and sports team’s victories. No one sits at the table, and the woman shoots a dirty look at anyone she catches eyeing one of the empty chairs.
Related: Would This Galaxy S5 Marketing Video Persuade You?
Without fail, the frosted glass is there each and every night. It’s a powerful image that serves as a sign of hope for the bartender. But we aren’t exactly sure who the beer is for until the very end. Everything comes together when a soldier finally returns home to claim his Guinness.
The spot finishes with the tagline “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”
A simple yet powerful way to add meaning to the story.
If you haven’t seen this Google story, you can watch it here …a short 3+ minutes.
The story is this: a man in Delhi tells his granddaughter about his childhood friend, Yusuf. He hasn’t seen Yusuf since the Partition of India in 1947 when India and Pakistan became separate countries and the two friends were forced to separate. The man’s granddaughter arranges for the two to meet again.
This story is about as emotional as it gets. Stories like this provide a chance to experience a variety of emotions without the risk of those emotions themselves. Emotions like wonder, fear, courage, or love can be tested out in the minds of those as they listen to a story.
If you really listen to your customers, like Google has, you can leverage their stories to drive your creativity. By analyzing their stories of how your products and services fit into their lives, you can gain valuable insight into their needs and desires, which can be hugely beneficial to other aspects of your business. Like product design and development and ongoing marketing strategy. The reunion has done that well don’t you think?
The story is simple and direct. It’s beautiful, and honest, and true. The photography is spectacular. The music adds to the very good acting.
Dawn
We recently viewed a Dawn Liquid Detergent story told in one of their advertisements that caught our eye for several reasons. An effective TV ad that combined traditional advertising with advocacy advertising and creative storytelling. Something you don’t see very often.
Have you seen this recent Dawn story in their TV commercial? If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will prove beneficial in reviewing their great story.
Interesting information, well presented, showing emotion, always holds attention, yes? Keep in mind that people don’t watch ads … they watch what interests them. Your stories must be interesting to your target communities.
This story message certainly grabs and holds attention based on emotion, superb visuals, and great issue advocacy.
New Bell of South Africa
Have you seen the remarkable branding story from this South African business? It was created to market and build the brand. It is a very simple story. It advocates learning to read no matter your age or status in society.
To us, it creates pure magic with the story, the visuals, the music, and the emotion. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 2 minutes and it will inspire you. It is certainly easier in our top 5 of all time.
What makes this story so remarkable? Of course, the whole thing was staged. Who cares? It certainly accomplished its objective to build on the brand. Over 1 million views so far for a business from South Africa that most of us have ever heard of. Of course, you can’t design a story for going viral. But you can target for being remarkable and engaging.
Lego Movie
There is no better story example I have ever seen than The Lego Movie. As I sat in the theater to a packed house along with 3 of my grandchildren, I marveled at what I was witnessing. Kids laughed. Everyone was thoroughly entertained.
All because a brand had managed to create a masterful story, using their product as the star, and at the same time created what is the most effective 90 minute commercial for a “toy” we’ve ever seen.
But the reaction of my kids is no surprise really. If one analyzes the film, it’s quite apparent what makes it so very effective:
It’s actually a good movie—incredibly well written— for kids and adults.
The product is the entire movie. Every scene is masterfully created with Legos.
There are deep messages happening within the movie, all of which are uplifting and easy to get behind:
-There is a “builder” within each one of us if we only believe
-We’re only as limited as our imagination allows us to be
-You’re never too old to create magic
The bottom line
Can you see why these brands have hit such huge home runs with their tales? They are quickly becoming the mecca of “storytelling done right” for brands big and small going forward.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing. And put it to good use.
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.