Friday, November 25, 2011

Groupon can work for small businesses but...

Apparently, Groupon offers can work for small businesses ...but you must be prepared to hold up your end of the bargain.

http://mashable.com/2011/11/23/groupon-cupcakes/

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Has Facebook made the world smaller?

This Mashable post suggests that Facebook may have made the world smaller by changing the "6 degrees of separation" to only "4 degrees of separation."

http://mashable.com/2011/11/22/facebook-six-degrees/

"Augmented Reality" by Layar

"Augmented Reality" by Layar appears to be very cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16K2e08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW9gU_4AUCA

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

"Brandjacking" of Bank of America on Google+

This post talks about how Bank of America has been "brandjacked" on Google+.

http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/bank-of-americas-google-plus-page-appears-brandjacked.php

CouponFactory.com

Check out the 5th item from the top about coupon factory.
http://adage.com/article/special-report-media-vanguard-awards/media-vanguard-awards-marketer-media-spotlight/230923/

As the text indicates, “CouponFactory is about keeping things easy -- for marketers and for consumers. The turn-key system, which Rockfish Interactive launched in April, allows marketers to create and distribute digital coupons using simple templates, and then embed them anywhere (including Facebook); consumers can print them out without special software -- and whenever the coupons are redeemed, CouponFactory serves up rich analytics that can be used to tweak future campaigns. National brands using CouponFactory so far include Schick, Mentos, Mott's, Glade, Boston Market and Tyson.”

Monday, November 7, 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The use of social media by the Fortune 500 companies

These are interesting statistics about the Fortune 500 companies' use of social media.

http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2011/6271/fortune-500-adoption-of-social-media-slowing

GasPedal blog post on "How to respond to negative word of mouth."

This GasPedal blog post gives great advice on "How to respond to negative word of mouth."

http://gaspedal.com/blog/


#256: How to respond to negative word of mouth


Negative word of mouth happens to every company. Nobody is immune. But great brands have a plan that helps them convert a lot of the angry critics into happy fans. What you should do:

1. Act quickly


2. Be human


3. Write for the record


1. Act quickly

When a customer is upset, you need to act fast. A quick response (even if it's just to say, "I'm sorry, I hear you -- let me get back to you") helps soothe the original critic and also helps avoid an outbreak of more negative sentiment from others. It's common sense, but it's also been proven in studies: In one experiment, when a single table complained about food in a crowded restaurant, 26% of guests made similar complaints.

2. Be human

A canned response is worse than no response at all. Identify yourself, speak like a real person, and give them a way to follow-up with you. No frustrated customer has ever been won over with corporate speak, and there's no reason to expect it to start working anytime soon.

3. Write for the record

When you're responding -- especially in online forums -- remember that you're not just writing for the original critic, but for everyone else who reads it later. You want people to see that you tried to make things right. Even if you can't fix the problem, it's important to show that you're listening and that you care about keeping customers happy.