Don’t Burn Your Brand In Public

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Cynthia

Brands always want customer awareness but how much is too much? Through social media, the connection between a company and its audience becomes a personal one. You are able to read each other’s thoughts and understand each other better. However, it’s important to maintain a great relationship, especially because these messages are seen with the public eye.

There will always be people who disagree with you and those who are not satisfied, but you have to remember to stay positive to keep your business running. By letting others get to them, Amy’s Baking Company Boutique and Bistro burned their brand to the ground. As Gordon Ramsey gave up on this restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz. on his show Kitchen Nightmares, the owners felt the need to defend themselves to the public. However, it wasn’t pleasing to see as they had a massive meltdown in public.

With several Facebook status rants in all caps, it was clear they were freaking out and this drew negative attention towards them.  They also swore and threatened to pursue legal action against Yelp and Reddit, claiming that God was on their side. None of it was pretty and this public breakdown came back to haunt them.

This poor restaurant suffered through the carelessness of owners Amy and Sammy. They demonstrated a valuable lesson for all business owners out there. Through stressful times, it’s important to keep calm, stay proud and think of the positives. Gordon Ramsey may be a renowned chef but he is only one man. If the restaurant had customers coming in, they must’ve done some things right with their business. Stay aware of your actions, especially those on the internet that can are publicly displayed and can easily be spread as well. Don’t burden yourself with even more problems when you only started out with one minor one. It’s impossible to please everyone so just think about how you’re positively affecting others and work from there to make your business grow.

Posted in Digital Advertising, Health & Food, In the News, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Vine: Quirky, Playful Marketing

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Cynthia

A few nights ago, my friends and I gathered together in the local Starbucks and started raving about the newly popular smartphone app, Vine. With six seconds of entertaining potential, I looked through my friend’s Vine feeds and saw videos from a Crunchwrap Surpreme disappearing bite-by-bite to people lip-syncing in a car. Then, I started to see more creative videos that involved different scenes to encompass a larger and more hilarious story plot.

These videos were quirky and felt personally connected to me, regardless of how long it’s been since I’ve seen the person in the video. With this in mind, I realized that videos, more than images, bring actual life to you. It makes you feel like you are there in the action with them and creates a connection between you and those in the video. This feeling makes for marketing potential.

Just as people can follow, comment and like designers and brands on Instagram, people can do so on Vine as well. I watched a few of these videos with different approaches to the quick, yet personal marketing strategies. Gypsy Warrior, an edgy clothing boutique in Ridgewood, NJ, simply showcased a slideshow of their new collection. Well-known fashion designer, Rebecca Minkoff released a message saying “Happy Mother’s Day” with her beloved baby. Dove created a cute, short commercial-like video with a bar of Dove soap crashing into standing Dove liquid soap bottles, knocking them down like pins in a bowling lane. The liquid soap bottles were then facing up, showcasing the scents for the new Dove liquid soap line.

These six-second videos known as “Vines” give way to a new world of opportunities for marketeers. Just like Instagram, people only follow those they are interested in. so they are more inclined to watch what you have to offer. Commercials on television are usually ignored as people flip to other channels or step out of the room for food or to use the bathroom during commercial breaks. By using Vine, your message will reach your audience and not just any audience, but the ones that want what you have to offer. They followed you through interest and will be responsive. On top of all this, people can also share these Vines on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter as well.

From the personal aspect to the interest aspect, marketeers should join the Vine network to reach out to people. Six seconds may not seem like a long time, but you can do so much within that time frame. Also, Vine is FREE. Think about how many things are free in this world? Practically nothing these days. Take advantage and join Vine! I promise you won’t regret it.

Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Digital Advertising, Social Media, Tech | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Content Marketing for the People

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Cynthia

It’s a competitive world out there and everyone is pitching the same crap. From keywords to broad technical pitches, customers are left with little to no information that they are genuinely interested in. In a marketing standpoint, it looks great on paper but from a customer’s standpoint, it’s like “Why do I even care about this?”

People are much more inclined to participate in things worthy of their attention. it’s important to know your audience and understand what they want. Your pitch shouldn’t be for search engines like Google or Bing, but rather for the people and what they want is something of value. Something that says “if you don’t have participate now, you’re going to regret it.”

So what creates value? Certainly not keyword-focused garbage, but rather things like limited call-to-action offers that benefit the people. Think about it. If you always offer this, why would they jump at this opportunity right now? People like feeling special. I know I do. It’s like getting a limited-edition Rebecca Minkoff bag and having someone come up to you asking where you got it from and you going “Oh, it’s a limited-edition and they don’t make these anymore” with a smug look on your face. It makes you feel good knowing you have what others can’t have. That’s what your pitch should be like.

What else makes people jump to opportunities? Simplicity. People in this day and age rely on technology and want things instantly. In a dream fantasy world, people don’t need to do anything but receive everything they’d like to have. That’s not reality but if you can make it close to that dream, people are inclined to take you up on that offer. By doing the strenuous work for people and giving them the chance to sit back and watch all the magic happen is like a dream come true. If you say “I’m going to create a beautifully-designed, responsive website for your store so people can shop on any device and do all the necessary edits for you when asked while you go and have afternoon tea and watch the money roll in,” people will think “Wow, this is an amazing opportunity!” All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but it also makes him a very successful boy.

Think about what you can do for the people that your competitors can’t. Think about what you can do better than anyone else can and start making those substantial pitches. When you think like a customer, you’re bound to relate to the customers more. You aren’t marketing to technology but to actual people. It’s important to understand that while others are still lost in technology limbo. I’m not saying to eliminate things like keyword-marketing because yes, those things do help in a professional marketing standpoint but the most important people to affect are the people themselves.

Posted in Digital Advertising | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Find Your Perfect Home Online

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Cynthia

They say “a picture is a worth a thousand words” so why not let the beautiful images of your properties speak for themselves? The beauty of modern web design is the use of large imagery and simple navigation throughout the pages. These aspects make websites essential to real estate properties as imagery and navigation highlight the best features of a property.

How many times have you blindly trusted a broker who brought you to an apartment that did not meet your needs, only to waste your time, forcing you to make yet another viewing somewhere else? With the ability to see photos, take a tour and have descriptive information online, it’s much easier for those searching for a new home to find the perfect one without wasting any time. Timing is everything in the real estate industry as places are bought and sold in the blink of an eye. The main attraction for property websites is the value of time and how only clients interested in certain properties, after thorough research, are brought in for a viewing.

It’s understandable that there are millions of properties out there. What makes life easier through these sites are the filter options. Whether you want a small studio with one bathroom or a luxury two-bedroom apartment with two bathrooms, there is always an option for you. What you want is out there; you just need to find it (before someone else does). With filter options, you can choose pretty much anything from the number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, square foot size, price, location and so much more. This, once again, saves time and gives you what you’re looking for in the swiftest manner on the web. Once you decide you are interested in such properties, the contact information for its designated brokers are available for you to continue your process.

Not only do individual property sites give you all this and more, but sites like Trulia and Streeteasy make it easy to search throughout a larger database of properties. By placing your property online, the chances of selling or renting it out grows exponentially. It’s a win-win situation for those trying to sell their homes and for those trying to find a new one. In this generation, if something isn’t online or easily accessible, it’s very difficult to find and people these days want things as quick as possible. With lack of patience comes lack of trying so do yourself a favor and start finding your perfect home online.

Posted in Digital Advertising | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off