Get Ready For FreebeeCards!

Posted on by
Reply

A new startup in town is helping consumers put a little honey back in their wallets. If you enjoy free money for everyday purchases (and who doesn’t?), you’ll want to bookmark the FreebeeCards site.

Starting May 15 you can go to FreebeeCards and reserve a promotional card from any of the merchants listed, at no cost to you! The twist? You won’t know the value of your FreebeeCard until you visit the merchant and redeem the card by showing it on your mobile phone or a printed copy.

Everyone wins with FreebeeCards, unlike Groupon where there is cost associated for the consumer to receive the deal, and a risky investment for the merchant. “FreebeeCards allows shoppers to save money on purchases without paying in advance. And our electronic punch card loyalty programs set the stage for you to enjoy future incentives from your favorite local merchants and online stores,” says Todd Razor, director of communications and multimedia at FreebeeCards. Another huge plus is that the consumer is not bombarded with entry barriers such as upfront costs, or requests for credit card and personal information. The merchant benefits by attracting, retaining and engaging with a new and existing consumer base.

After attending the FreebeeCards ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, we really think this company is going to do big things in Des Moines. “We want to build long-standing relationships between merchants and shoppers, and we think the Greater Des Moines area is an ideal market to roll out our unique style of daily offers,” says Razor.

Congrats to our friends at FreebeeCards, and be sure to secure your FreebeeCard online starting tomorrow! Don’t forget to also connect and interact with FreebeeCards on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Is Your Business Ready For Pinterest?

Posted on by
3

Most Americans will tell you that time is not on their side. The vast majority will timidly admit that they don’t have time to read a book, garden or go for a stroll. However, the typical American who wishes they had more hours in the day is spending an average of 77 precious minutes per day on Pinterest.  Pinterest may not be ranked king of social media, but with more than a 145% spike in unique visitors since January 2011 (roughly 4 million unique visits per day), it is certainly becoming significant.

As with any social media site, businesses know they should invest in Pinterest, but are not sure how to tactfully incorporate it into their marketing plan. One suggestion for beginning down this path is to find a mentor; a brand that is successfully utilizing Pinterest. Better Homes and Gardens was one of the first brands to effectively integrate Pinterest into their social media strategy. With 72% of Pinterest’s users being women age 25 to 54, Better Homes and Gardens’ focal demographic was already. So, after noticing photos surfacing within the home décor category of Pinterest, the publication’s digital editors began to execute a strategy which involved the launch of the Better Homes and Gardens Pinterest account in July 2011.

Kaelin Zawilinski

With the help of Kaelin Zawilinski, digital editorial manager for Better Homes and Gardens, I was able to formulate several tips to help mentor companies and brands that are ready to invest time on Pinterest.

1. Have a purpose. All too often, businesses establish a presence on social media sites because “everyone is doing it”. That excuse didn’t hold up well when you were a teenager, and it definitely won’t now. For Better Homes and Gardens, establishing a presence on Pinterest wasn’t necessarily about increasing magazine sales. According to Zawilinski, its primary goal simply was to be present on a platform their readers were already using. Determine why you want to be on Pinterest and what you want to get out of it, and if you can’t do that, then Pinterest is probably not for you.

2. Make time. When forming your strategy, you will want to include plenty of management time. “The best thing you can do to grow your following is to be active and pin daily. Most large brands are pinning 15-20 times a day,” says Zawilinski. For smaller brands and businesses, you may not be pinning quite as frequently spending an average of 2-3 hours a day on the site like Better Homes and Gardens, but it is still important to update as regularly as possible.

3. Track traffic. “With Pinterest our editors are able to identify trends and see what our readers love better than other social platforms,” says Zawilinski. Because Pinterest is a very visual networking site, it tends to be much easier to track basic analytics. However, if you want to make your life a whole lot easier, you can now use PinReach to track analytics like pins, repins, followers and reach scores.

4. Be creative. Pinning photos is great, but there are so many other ways you can use Pinterest for your business and brand. Better Homes and Gardens is currently wrapping up a “Pin & Win” contest which asks users to pin their favorite Better Homes and Gardens images to a “dream home” board created on their own Pinterest profile.  “We’ve had over 10,000 entries and our editors have had a really fun time seeing how our readers envision their dream homes,” says Zawilinski.

5. Optimize with keywords and links. Search engines love social media sites because of their popularity. Google now catalogues Pinterest boards and profiles, so the more your incorporate relevant keywords and links back to your site through your pins, boards and Pinterest profile, the better your odds of showing up in search results. Remember to use keywords that users will type into a search engine, and try to incorporate long tail keywords (keywords with three or more terms:  i.e. cooking on a budget) as much as possible.

6. Give it time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Better Homes and Gardens’ Pinterest presence. If you expect immediate results, you’re setting up your Pinterest platform for immediate failure. Just as Better Homes and Gardens did when it first launched its account, gradually guide current Facebook and Twitter followers to Pinterest. “We had a lot of users who were unaware of the platform, but in the course of a month they were using Pinterest as much as we were and started giving us board suggestions,” said Zawilinski.

“Pinterest isn’t the perfect platform for everyone,” cautions Zawilinski. She is right; early on in the game Pinterest established itself as a very unique networking site with a highly engaged community. If you’re still unsure if Pinterest is right for your business or brand, take a quiz to find out. If you would like to learn more about Pinterest, you can register to hear Zawilinski speak at PR News’ two-day Social Media Summit.

For more information on using social media to grow your brand call Spindustry at 515.225.0920 or visit www.digitalmarketingagent.com.

A big “thank you” goes out to Kaelin Zawilinski and Better Homes and Gardens for taking the time to offer contributions to this article. If you haven’t already, please visit the Better Homes and Gardens Pinterest account; they have some really creative ideas for the upcoming summer months!

A 34 Year Promise Comes True

Posted on by
1

Four of the five!

On an early spring morning in 1978, five freshmen from Naperville Central High School (Naperville, IL) sat outside a classroom awaiting their first hour teacher.  This was a regular routine for these guys.  I know… I was one of them.

On this particular morning our talk turned to philosophy.  Where might we all end up “in the future?”  For whatever reason, the five of us decided it would be a good idea to make a pact and meet someday.  Today, I honestly don’t remember why we picked 2012–the same date just 34 years forward–but we did.  One of us closed his eyes and pointed to a random destination on a wall map posted along a nearby classroom glass window.  Beaver, Utah.  A tiny town located in the middle of nowhere would be the meeting place.  34 years from that date.  April 19, 2012.

Long before the Internet, I wrote to the Chamber of Commerce in Beaver and received a small brochure soon thereafter, touting the highlights of this small town.  On the cover of the leaflet, a fountain was pictured.  With some additional discussion, days after the original plan was made, we all agreed to meet at 12 noon at the fountain, April 19, 2012.

A few months after this pact was made one of us, Tim Frantz, moved to California.  I remember exchanging letters for a short time but then life got in the way and we lost touch.  After our junior year another member of this group moved to Atlanta.  We lost touch as well.  The three of us remaining graduated and went our separate ways.  I didn’t see or hear from Bob Teeter after that.  Eric Ford, another of our group, and I have been best friends since 7th grade.  We have kept in touch, traveled a few times to places around the world, have seen our families grow up from a distance as he lives in suburban Washington DC and I reside in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Mayor, city council, travel council and reporter joining in the fun!

Eric and I have reminded each other of our pact over the years.  The date has been on my Outlook calendar for more than 10 years.  We honestly doubted, however, that the others would remember.

This past summer I made a serious effort to try and find the others.  It was a challenge since I really had no idea where the other three had gone over the years.  Through the Internet I found a Dr. Tim Frantz in northern California.  I had remembered, vaguely, of his interest in medicine.  I sent a rather lengthy message to this Tim Frantz through his office’s website.  I asked if he remembered me, our pact, etc.  When no reply came I figured either I had the wrong guy or he thought I was some crazy guy.

A couple of weeks later I decided to give it one more try.  I printed out the previous email and faxed it to his office.  Later that day came his reply.  He had, indeed, remembered the whole story.  He said he’d often thought about just going to Beaver to see if anyone would really show up.  He said he was definitely “in!”

With that exciting news I turned to Brian Waller.  He had moved away before we graduated and again I had no idea where he might be today.  Through LinkedIn I found someone who fit the name, lived in GA and whose picture resembled the Brian I remember.  After 30-plus years, though, who knew?  Rather than send the long story, this time I decided to just ask if he was the Brian Waller who went to Naperville Central High School before moving to Georgia.  Within a few minutes I received his reply, “Hey Man, it’s me and I can prove it.  Beaver, Utah 2012.”  I almost fell out of my chair.  After such a long time and no communication since the late ‘70s I just figured he’d have no recollection.  He did and vowed to join us.

So now we had four of the five rounded up and committed to fulfill the promise.  The final guy, Bob Teeter, was really the needle in a haystack.  I tried all of the possibilities but no one knew where he was.  Late in the summer of 2011 I turned to our high school class’s 30th reunion Facebook page.  Unfortunately Bob had not joined that group but I shared the story and asked the class if anyone knew how to contact him.  No one knew.  Feeling disappointed that we wouldn’t find him, I was resigned to the fact that there would just be four of us.  Then, shortly thereafter Bob contacted the reunion Facebook page administrator and asked if he could join the group.  He was accepted and advised that “people are looking for you!”

After an email exchange we confirmed that Bob and his family live in the San Diego area and that he remembered and would be joining in the reunion.

34 years ago this Thursday – April 19, 1978 –  five young kids made a pact to meet and to recall our promise to mark the milestone of “the future.”   This Thursday, the five will fulfill the promise and meet at the fountain in Beaver, Utah at 12 noon.  Sharp.

 

Win a Restaurant Contest

Posted on by
Reply

There’s always a new contest around the corner.  You can win an iPad at almost any trade show, or a new car at every golf tournament.  There are giveaways for cash, televisions, memberships, gift cards, and on and on.  But one recent contest caught my attention more than any other.  In the little (and really cool) town of Grinnell, Iowa… you can win a restaurant!

This is mesmerizing, For those of us who are obsessed with the Food Network, actually own an immersion blender, and get excited about plating our food. Not only will you win cash, free rent, equipment, supplies, etc., but you also get personal coaching from one of the most successful restaurateurs in the Midwest.  Mr. Paul Rottenberg invented the classic Centro in downtown Des Moines, and he followed it with Django, a brasserie-style restaurant.  He recently launched one of the most exciting burger joints I’ve ever experienced: Zombie Burger!  I especially enjoy the “drink lab.”  Mr. Rottenberg has pledge one year of professional consulting to help the winner get established.

Perhaps the coolest thing about this contest is its virtual structure found at www.iowasbestbite.com.  You enter by completing the form on the site including a description, resume, etc.  Then you film a two-minute video making the argument for your restaurant.  The best videos will be posted on the website, and viewers can vote on their favorite.  The “viewers’ choice” winner automatically makes the finals.

Visit the site and check out the contest.  Heck, you may even want to enter!  I can’t think of a better way to fulfill your dream and bring yet another amazing business to the thriving and quaint downtown landscape of Grinnell, Iowa.  Congratulations to all involved!

14 Hours Next to THAT Guy???!!!

Posted on by
Reply

By Stephen Fry, Co-Founder, Spindustry

For those who may still be wondering if the social media craze is a fad or not, here’s another real-life application that is, indeed, here to stay.

Ever been on a long flight only to have the man or woman seated next to you drive you crazy for hours on end?  The Dutch airline KLM, part of the SkyTeam Alliance, has a clever solution for this unfortunate but all too common situation.   KLM is piloting (pun intended) a new program that offers passengers on some long haul flights the opportunity to select their travel companions using social media.

Here’s how it works;  anytime between 2 days and 3 months before your flight, you simply login to the KLM website and share your Facebook or LinkedIn profile.  Once you have done that, you can view other passengers’ social media profile details.  Based on this information you can choose who you want to have sitting next to you on that next long flight.  According to KLM the initial feedback is very favorable and as of March 27th they have expanded this unique offering to all flights to/from the US.

Imagine how your business might be able to leverage this same kind of service.  When connecting people of like minds, you can achieve a much higher level of customer satisfaction.

Check out KLM’s Meet & Seat Program for yourself.

 

Todd Reding with Ryko Solutions at the Heartland Carwash Association Trade Show

Posted on by
Reply

Todd Reding at ICCFA Convention & Expo with Homesteaders Life.

Posted on by
Reply

SEO #Winning!

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever heard of the saying, “If you don’t take a chance, you don’t stand a chance”? Or what about Wayne Gretzky’s classic quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Unfortunately, some businesses are missing their shot on the web by not taking it. When it comes to search results, some companies and organizations won’t have the opportunity to be considered by their consumers because they aren’t putting in the effort to even show up for the race.

A few months ago we had a prospective client come into our office.  I am a newbie to Iowa, but I had heard of this company several times through traditional advertising efforts.  Because of the weight they placed on traditional media, I thought their digital strategy would be impeccable. During the meeting, we pulled up Google and began typing in a few geographic specific terms  terms that should have easily included this company in search results – only they weren’t.  Surprised, the person frantically scanned the list, and they were nowhere to be found.

Think about it this way:

  • You need an oil change but are new to town; what do you do? Google.
  • You’re buying a new TV and want the best quality for the best price; what do you do? Google.

Spindustry results with social media sections in red

In this digital era, most of the information we access is directly from search engines. According to CNN Tech, sixty-one percent of Americans get their news from the internet, and three-fourths of Americans find information through social media updates.  These stats speak volumes: if you’re not popping up on the first few pages of results for key industry terms, then you don’t stand a chance in the digital world.

We often find that clients undervalue the impact a well-defined social media strategy can have on search engine rankings. Even though algorithms constantly change, they do so in order to ensure popular content is connected with user interest. Due to the increasing importance placed on social media interaction, you can improve your chances of showing up in search results by increasing the number of social media platforms you’re involved with, interacting and engaging with your clients more via social media, and utilizing more keywords on these platforms.

One of the smartest ways you can improve your rankings is through YouTube.  In 2006 YouTube was purchased by Google, and can you guess what Google did? They decided to increase the weight of YouTube videos in search results. This may come as a surprise to most, since Facebook seems like the logical first step into social media because of its popularity. But purely from a search engine optimization (SEO) standpoint, you always want to have YouTube on your team.

Spindustry offers a variety of services to help your business with SEO.

  • The Marketing Assurance Program (M.A.P.) is an in-depth analysis of your digital strategy and reputation monitoring, combined with recommendations to help you improve things like your search engine ranking.
  • For those who don’t have a social media presence yet, you can attend our Social Media Basics for Business workshop. You’ll learn everything from setting up a page to content strategy.
  • We can help you set up a pay-per-click ad campaign. This assures that you show up for targeted words on Google.

Showing up to the race is important. If you don’t show up, you won’t have the opportunity to win – and in business, I would say winning consumers is pretty important.

Is it really that hard? The extra few seconds are really worth it.

Posted on by
Reply

Stephen Fry, Chief Operating Officer

This week while visiting a client in a not-to-be-named southern state, my associates and I had the opportunity to try a new restaurant.  We didn’t know anything about it, but as we drove down restaurant row, this spot looked pretty good.  The building was well-kept, and the overall look of the place was inviting. So we pulled in.

As we walked through the door, we waited for the young woman at the hostess stand to look up from her cell phone.  No one else was in the lobby, though there were a few guests scattered around the restaurant.  Finally, we were asked in a rather monotone voice, “How many?”  We were then escorted to a table and handed silverware and a menu.  The woman walked away without saying another word.

For the next several minutes at our table, we talked about how simple customer care is and how so many people fail to get it.  Imagine if the greeting were something more like, “Hello!  How are you all this evening?”  Yes, it would have taken an extra second or two to say it, but the entire tone of our dinner experience would have been better.  Further, had the hostess engaged those who walked through the door, she would surely feel better about coming to work.  No doubt this job was just a paycheck for her.

We then spent time pondering how much the owner of the restaurant had invested in the business.  It was a nice building in an upscale restaurant.  The food was good.  The crowd was light during the dinner hour.  It’s worth noting that our server wasn’t much friendlier either.  He did his job, took our order and served our food, but didn’t bother to engage beyond the mundane process.

The bottom line is that it all really comes down to how you treat your customers.  If they feel good about walking through your door—physically or virtually—they’ll come back again and again.  The extra investment in training will be returned many times over when your team makes your customers feel good about choosing your business.

Next time we’re in town, we will be trying a different place.

Enhance Your Event With A Digital Dialogue

Posted on by
2

When discussing social media engagement, I often ask people to rewind to the days when they were still in school. Most students won’t answer questions or participate in discussions until someone else has volunteered to be the first to begin the dialogue. Much like a classroom of students, many adults are still afraid to be the first to “raise their hand” during a presentation or when utilizing social media.

Because participation and engagement often gauges how well an event goes, it is important to offer forms of communication which are friendly to the audience and relatable.  One of my favorite ways of engaging audiences in conversation during an event is to create a live Twitter feed. A live Twitter feed allows your audience to contribute and participate in event discussion without facing the intimidation of speaking up in front of others. Here is a small sample of a live Twitter feed from a Spindustry Camp Collaboration event:
While a live Twitter feed is fairly easy to manage, you may want to consider a few tricks to capitalize on the conversation.  Here are a few tips I have learned through my own experiences and mistakes when utilizing a live Twitter feed during an event:

1. The very first step in developing a live Twitter feed begins with creating a creative and easy to remember hashtag. Keep it short, and try to leave out numbers. I will admit that I have created overly complicated hashtags before which people mistype and struggle to remember – myself included!  Here are some examples of a poor hashtag, and good hashtags:

Overly complicated and difficult to remember:  #LdnPubCon11

Short and memorable: #TechBrew or #LostEgypt

2. After you have your event hashtag confirmed, you will want to begin building your community. This begins long before the event. Anytime you’re promoting your event, you should also promote your hashtag as well. You can also increase participation by integrating a contest or giveaway into the feed, such as: the first person to answer this trivia questions gets a free gift certificate, or the first person to find a retweet a post you mentioned earlier.

3. Once the event begins, continue to promote the live Twitter feed by encouraging attendees to use the hashtag during the event and by adding it to any materials that they receive as a reminder.

4. Have some of your own content contributions prepared ahead of time. Depending on how social media savvy your audience is, you need to be prepared for a possible flood of interaction. Save yourself the headache and prearrange some of your tweet material.

5. Participate in the conversation as the company hosting the event. Designate someone who is consistently monitoring, responding, thanking attendees and tweeting during the event. Let your attendees know you are listening by retweeting and replying to questions or intriguing comments.

6. Take advantage of having potential clients all in one place and add them to your network. It’s better to do this manually than using a tool that automatically participates in the conversation designated by your event hashtag. With these tools, you run the risk of having your Twitter account suspended because Twitter recognizes this as an automated system, which it generally does not appreciate. So play it safe and opt to manually follow those participating in the conversation. It’s tedious, but it could pay off!

Live Twitter feeds are great for maximizing exposure for your company, and boosting your virality through engagement. If you plan to bring event discussion online through a live Twitter feed, plan ahead, implement my suggestions and remember that you must be present to really reap the benefits of digital discussion.

If you have any other suggestions which would optimize the use of a live Twitter feed, please share. Or if you have any questions, I am happy to help!