E-Marketing Associates

Facebook Turns the Interaction Between Users and Brands into Ads

Jacquelynn Mendez by
on January 31st, 2011

With the rising popularity of social recommendations and the “Like” button, Facebook has developed a new ad platform, called “Sponsored Stories,” that utilizes the relationship between users and a brand to help businesses build awareness to attract new fans.

What is a Sponsored Story?
Sponsored stories are a new form of Facebook ads that rely on the interaction between users and a brand. With the rising popularity of the “Like” button, checkins and app downloads, Facebook has decided to take its profitable advertising platform to a new social level (Go figure!) by utilizing these actions. This means that businesses have the option to purchase ads that will broadcast social recommendations from each user’s unique network of friends.

A little more detail…
For example, if Levi’s buys a “sponsored story” ad, a user who “likes”, checks-in to or downloads an app through Levi’s’ Facebook page will have his/her social interaction appear on the newsfeed, as usual, and also on the right side of the screen in an ad unit space. Below is an example of what an ad would look like:

The advertiser is given the choice between four possible actions to purchase: Page “Likes”, check-ins, application play and page posts. With these options, businesses can choose the interactions that attract the largest audience and best represent their brand’s image. Currently, this new feature is only available to managed accounts, but in a matter of time it is expected to be accessible through a self service option. As of now, a number of major brands including Coke, Levi’s and Unicef are already on board with these new social shout outs.

The Value of the Sponsored Story
Although the social aspect of the Sponsored Story ad sounds like an attractive offer, it creates a bit of redundancy on the Facebook platform. The same message found in these new social ads also show up in the newsfeed (At no cost!) …so if people are checking out the story on their feeds, then why pay to display the same message on ad space? If anything, I would argue that this product should be free and included as part of the Facebook business page platform.

What are your opinions on Facebook’s new Sponsored Stories?

Image Source: Adage

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Google Offers Shakes Up The Local Coupon Industry

David Sotelo by
on January 26th, 2011

Not too long ago the company Groupon rejected a buyout offer of $6 billion by Google. At the time many people, myself included, wondered how anyone could reject that much money. Well Groupon just recently stated they will be going forward with their plans for an initial public offering (IPO) that has been valued to be around $15 billion. So I guess that explains the reason for the rejection. Well surprise, Google just announced they will be coming out with their own local deal service called Google Offers.

The information is limited at this point because Google has yet to make an official public announcement but some of the information so far is enticing. It will work very similar to Groupon or LivingSocial in that you will receive an email with a local deal of the day and then you will have a certain period of time to accept the offer (usually 24hrs). Once enough people have made the purchase, Google offers are triggered and the buyers will receive either their coupon or voucher.

From an advertisers or business owners side the process is pretty simple. There are 5 easy steps.

1)      Create Your Offer: Identify an enticing item or service that you would like to promote and discount. This includes limits on quantity.

2)      Market Your Offer: Google’s writing team will actually come up with an inducing offer that best represents your business if you so choose. You approve the offer and decide when you would like it to run.

3)      Run Your Offer: Your deal will then be sent to local subscribers. They will be advertised across Google ad networks as well as on the Google Offers website. Whether they purchase the deal or not you gain brand awareness at no out of pocket cost to you.

4)      Collect Your Money: Once your deal goes live, Google will deduct their fee from the deal revenue and you will get your cash from the offer approximately three days after the offer runs.

5)      Serve Your Customers: Shortly after the offer runs, customer will receive their offer. They can either bring in a printed copy or use a mobile version. With the mobile version they can either scan the barcode or redemption id.

There are already some hotel offers via Google Offers that are circulating the web. Below is a hotel deal in San Diego however the information is limited.

This should get interesting since Google has the resources, brand power and a vast reach to make a serious run at the local deal of the day coupon space. On the other hand, I don’t foresee either Groupon or LivingSocial going away anytime soon. The more competition the better I say.

Image Source: Tnooz & Search Engine Land

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3 Popular Mobile Apps for Managing Tasks

Jacquelynn Mendez by
on January 25th, 2011

Do you ever have trouble managing that never ending to-do list for work, home and your social life? It’s time to make life a little easier. In today’s mobile friendly world, there are a wide variety of mobile applications available to help any business professional tackle that nearly impossible list of tasks. Unfortunately, with so many apps on the market, researching the best task managing program can take a lot of time, so we’ve decided to do the hard work for you. Below is a list of three popular mobile apps that can help boost productivity and make everyday work, social and personal tasks easy to manage.

All of these efficient, user friendly mobile apps have received high ratings and remarkable reviews from a number of users.

Remember the Milk
http://www.rememberthemilk.com
This mobile app is on a number of reviewer’s “must have” lists. Remember the Milk allows users to create multiple lists at a time and offers a variety of options when inputting tasks including priorities, due dates, tags, repeating tasks, time estimates, location, URL and notes. This app has an easy to use task bar that displays today’s, tomorrow’s and this week’s lists this way you won’t feel too overwhelmed with what’s ahead. One of the best features of Remember the Milk is that it syncs with a wide variety of popular platforms/websites, including Gmail, Twitter, Google Calendar and Outlook, so you’ll always be on task. This mobile app is available on iPhone and Android phones, and also syncs with Blackberry and Windows Mobile.

Utrack
http://www.tenpearls.com
uTrack is an award-winning mobile application that organizes tasks in a fun, virtual “wall” format. For all the post-it note lovers of the world, this is the perfect app to keep tasks organized. This easy to use and easy to read program helps users keep track of tasks through a “virtual wall” with four easily manageable columns: To-Do, In Progress, Verify and Done. Each wall can be grouped by project. Additionally, Utrack also allows users to take snapshots at any given time and send them via email. For the largest variety of options and storage, mobile users will need to download the “pro” version of this app. Utrack is available on iPhone and Android phones.

ReQall
http://www.reqall.com
This app is recommended for on-the-go type of individuals. This innovative program offers a number of ways to capture a task as quick as possible through text, e-mail or a phone call. After capturing a task, each item can be organized by time, things and people, and users can easily share reminders with friends, family or colleagues. And if that isn’t enough, one cool feature of reQall is that it analyzes what you’ve typed or said and organizes your item for you based on the words you’ve used. If you’re interested in this app, ReQall is available for iPhone, Blackberry and Android.

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IMGuest and their Social Networking Plans for Business Travelers

David Sotelo by
on January 19th, 2011

As a hotel you get guest from every walk of life and in just about every type of business. Business travelers although may not make up the majority of your bookings do have an impact on your bottom line. IMGuest has released a service that caters to these business travelers that stay at hotels. It is a product that really shouldn’t surprise you that it has come out since it plays upon the social media networking phenomenon. So what is it? It is a social network for hotels. So what does that mean exactly? Well let me explain.

It is a social networking service for hotel guest to share ideas, concepts, skills, and interactions with other guest who have similar interest. So let’s say you’re traveling and staying at a hotel and going to a big mortgage seminar about short sales. Once you’re at the hotel you can sign in to your facebook or twitter account and once logged in you will simply type in the reason for your stay and who you would like to meet and what types of things are of interest to you while you are there. So going back to our mortgage guest. He or she would type in he’s going to a mortgage conference about short sales. You can then type that you would like to chat with other hotel guest that may be in the mortgage business that deals with short sales. You can even meet face to face. Who knows you may get a referral, business contact, or just get some really good ideas about short sales. The main focus is on the interaction and connections with like minded guest if you so choose.

If this sounds like location based service you are partially correct. The big difference is that when you’re at a hotel for business your usually there for several days. This gives you an opportunity to “check around” as opposed to just “checking in”. You have more time to really accomplish something such as meeting business contacts or nurturing a prospect. Maybe you will meet your new business partner there and be the next Google! There really are no boundaries when it comes to social networking.

IMGuest looks like they have tried to stick with the must haves of any successful social media network.

  • It is in real time so you can be notified instantly.
  • Does not cost anything.
  • Has a database of over 140,000 hotels worldwide.
  • Search guest by age, gender, country, activities and interest.

So there you have it, the first social network specifically for hotel business travelers. So hotel managers go out and add this to your social media campaign and for business travelers go out and start meeting some new people and watch your business prosper.

Written By: David S

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Google’s Helping Guests Keep an Eye on Your Hotel’s Reviews & Ratings

Jacquelynn Mendez by
on January 18th, 2011

In late October 2010, Google introduced a new feature called “Place Search,” and although it has been available for several months, many hoteliers still haven’t noticed the significant changes it has made to search results. Since this new feature was introduced, detailed information including reviews, ratings and pictures are all included directly on the results page for local searches. Google made these changes with the customer in mind, hoping that this can help people make easy comparisons and faster, more informed decisions. For industries that rely relatively heavy on reviews, like hospitality, these modifications should not be taken lightly.

How do the New Changes Look?
In the picture below, there are quite a few differences that immediately catch the eye.

Below is what an old “Places” results page looked like…

As you can see, ratings and reviews are now an eye catching, noteworthy element to the results, which gives hoteliers even more reason to listen to the customer and take some action.

Planning for the Future
Even though customers have been checking reviews for years on sites like TripAdvisor, Expedia and Yelp, Google’s Place Search just took ratings one step further. Hotel, restaurant and local reviews are no longer hidden in a limited space within the web, but instead, are now clearly exposed on one of the most used search engines on the Internet. Although most of us are aware that some reviews should not be taken too serious or that ratings could be a little misleading, it’s still important to see where you stand against the competition, listen to what your customers are saying and join the conversation taking place about your property.

With the rise of social media and the introduction of Bing’s more personalized social search engine, there is no doubt that popular social networks will eventually play a major role in both Google search results and overall hotel ratings. That being said, there is no time like the present to build a social presence and take control of your property’s reputation before your ratings take control of you.

Written by Jacquelynn M.

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Tweservation Expands The Marketing Opportunities for Restaurants and Hotels.

David Sotelo by
on January 11th, 2011

I wanted to introduce you to something that I ran across that I thought was interesting. It is a service called tweservation and it provides real time reservations and promotions for restaurants using twitter. It initially caught my attention obviously because it is within the realm of social media marketing, but also because I thought it was an interesting concept that may be a helpful tool for generating more reservations and eventually bookings for hotels. The idea itself is pretty simple, use one of the most popular social networking and micro blogging services in the world to allow users to contact and book a table at their favorite restaurant.

The creative forces behind this new service are James Bryant and Susumu Takao. They are both tech savvy and have the entrepreneurial spirit to continue expanding the opportunities of social media for both business and personal use. The nice part about this application is the optimization opportunities for mobile devices. I am sure we all are aware by now that smart phones and mobile devices are taking over the world, but seriously their consumption is spreading at a very fast rate. Mobile devices are such a key part on how an application can be integrated seamlessly and conveniently for the every day user and is one of the best ways to get people to use it. The Twitter platform allows for real time communication which means that restaurants can not only book and confirm reservations but promote deals and specials to new and existing diners. This builds awareness and can act as a broadcast to people instantly and help generate more traffic to your business. Imagine someone receiving a special for a dinner or hotel room and tweets it to several people they know who would be interested and then they tweet it to people they know and so on. Nice!

As of now the application can be found on most of the major smart phone operating systems such as android, blackberry, and apple.  If tweservation is a success you can bet that the hotel business will be one of the first industries to receive the benefits of an application such as this. The founders have already had talks with several major hotels and as the hotel business begins to see the benefits of twitter as a channel to generate revenue as opposed to just a customer service platform, there is no doubt that this application will be adopted. Can’t wait to see if this catches on and to see hotels taking reservations through an application such as tweservation.

Written By: David S.

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The Top Three Digital Marketing Predictions for 2011 from the Experts

Jacquelynn Mendez by
on January 4th, 2011

To start off the new year, a number of admired marketers in the digital field have analyzed trends and studied numbers to make their predictions for what’s to come in 2011. Last week, I read at least 30+ articles with forecasts, warnings and advice for this coming year, so for anyone that missed the influx of blogs, posts and videos, below is a comprehensive list of the top predictions from some of the most respected marketers in the business today.

The Rise of the Social Brand

“As we inch our way toward this brave new ‘many to many’ world, it helps to really embrace the principle that, while you can’t control the engagement itself anymore, you have to control how you participate in community engagements. In other words — welcome to the social brand” – Judy Shapiro, Adage Magazine

“We will all get cleverer with how we communicate online and add a little etiquette as we realize we are not simply communicating with another computer, but a warm-blooded human. Networking and developing relationships online is no different than offline, so let’s stop treating it differently. The Internet has simply increased its scale.” – Linda Coles, Blue Banana

With Mark Zuckerburg named Times Magazine’s “Person of the Year”, it is clear that social media has made a tremendous impact in our world last year and will continue to rise in 2011. Currently, there are over 500 million active Facebook users, an average of 1.3 million tweets per hour, 10+ Foursquare checkins a second and over 2 billion YouTube video views a day. With the exception of the usual early adopters, so many businesses are just learning that social media is about more than just a presence. It’s about engagement, excitement and trust, which goes along with the reputation, image and personality of the brand itself. That being said, most analysts predict that with this realization more businesses will become more engaged or involved in the conversation, slowly creating a social reputation for their brand — which will bring about the rise of the social brand.

Local Advertising will Continue to Grow

“Location-based advertising will continue to grow in 2011 as Facebook expands the technology with its location platform, Places. In addition to Facebook, many other players in the checkin space, including Foursquare, Yelp and Shopkick, last but not least, Google, will condition shoppers to expect a deal or coupon for alerting friends of their whereabouts.” - Jesse Thomas, Mashable

“I believe we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface in the group buying space. Services like Groupon, Living Social and BuyWithMe will continue to grow, spawn competitors and change the way businesses offfer – and customers reap – the benefits of discount deals.” – Christine Gallagher, Social Media Examiner

The best of local advertising is yet to come. With so many big name players trying to dip their hands into this market, there is no doubt that the extra competition will push existing companies to the next level. With new advancements in geo-fencing technology and group buying companies rapidly increasing in popularity, there is no doubt that 2011 will be the year that local advertising will reach an all time high.

More Marketing will Move to Mobile

“I think it’s safe to say that “the year of mobile” was finally realized in 2010. And it won’t slow down in 2011. Every business must have a mobile strategy in 2011, no matter how small it might seem. That could range from a mobile-friendly website or mobile app to simply advertising on mobile devices for lead generation or SMS campaigns.” – Mike Phillips, Website Magazine

“With an ever-increasing number of mobile and social users, now advertisers must deliver content on more platforms, in more formats and account for more contexts. Advertisers will need to look past the website towards investments in mobile applications, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and even sites like Groupon or Google Places. Look for advertisers to increasingly convert users off site, whether via mobile, local or social apps.” – Matt Lawson, Search Engine Land

We all know how much we depend on our mobile phones. Funny thing about that is that we hardly make phone calls anymore. With the rise of both smart phones and tablets, mobile is becoming the new way for our on the go society to conduct research, stay connected and keep themselves entertained. This apparent rise in mobile has now opened a door of opportunity for a large majority of marketers. Although a good number of companies have already made the big move into mobile marketing, most scholars believe 2011 will be the year that an even bigger shift emerges. From never before seen mobile apps to narrowly targeted mobile coupons, there are a number of innovative ideas that are coming our way.

So now it’s your turn to share. What trends do you see in our near future?

Written by Jacquelynn Mendez

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