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Author Archives: Hillary Brown
Twitter’s Promoted Tweets hit the Main Stream
Yesterday Twitter announced that they’ll be rolling out Promoted Tweets in your main Twitter timeline. By definition, Promoted Tweets are ordinary Tweets paid for by advertisers in order to reach a wide group of users or spark engagement from their existing followers. Per the post on Twitter’s blog, the promoted ads are a new way to ensure that users can easily access the most important Tweets from the organizations they follow directly.
The Promoted Tweets will only appear in your timeline if you’re already following the account that has paid for the placement. According to Twitter, the Promoted Tweets will scroll through the timeline like any other Tweet and will appear in your timeline just once. The ads will clearly be marked as “Promoted” with an orange arrow icon below the tweet (the same way Promoted Trends and Promoted Tweets are currently displayed on the sidebar or in search). You can also easily dismiss or remove Promoted Tweets from your timeline with a single click.
Where will Promoted Tweets be displayed?
At the top of relevant search results pages on twitter.com.
In your main timeline if you follow the Advertiser.
In Related Tweets shown on the Details pane.
In the search results for a Promoted Trend.
In third-party apps like HootSuite and TweetDeck.
Twitter is also currently testing syndication of Promoted Products within HootSuite and TweetDeck. Promoted Tweets could appear in searches and user timelines in both of these third party applications.
Twitter will be testing and rolling out Promoted Tweets over the next several weeks with a select group of partners, including Best Western, Dell, Gatorade, Groupon, HBO,JetBlue, LivingSocial, Microsoft Xbox, Red Bull, Sephora, Starbucks, Summit Entertainment’s “50/50”, TNT and Virgin America and a handful of non-profit organizations, including charity: water, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Room to Read, The American Red Cross and Water.org.
So, how are Promoted Tweets different from other online ads? Twitter’s take is that since all Promoted Tweets start out as regular Tweets, they are an organic part of Twitter, which is distinct from both traditional search advertising and more recent social advertising. What are your thoughts on Promoted Tweets? Leave us a comment below!
Facebook Pages Redesign: Implications and Opportunities
On Thursday, March 31st, we’ll be hosting the third session of our Lava Lunch educational series. The topic is Facebook Pages Redesign: Implications and Opportunities. In February, Facebook announced a major redesign and expansion of the functionality of its Pages for businesses, brands, media, and public figures, bringing them closer to individual user profiles in look and functionality.
This presentation will answer the following questions:
- What are the implications and opportunities for businesses presented by the new Facebook Pages Redesign?
- How can your business ensure that your Facebook Page is optimized for the new design and additional functionality?
- How do these updates improve your ability as a Page administrator to connect with audiences?
- What are some marketing strategies and best practices for leveraging the new design and expanded features?
- What are some examples and case studies of brands taking advantage of the new Facebook Pages Redesign?
Tickets are $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the Eventbrite fee and pay us with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.
Three creative uses of QR codes
Over the last year or so, we’ve seen increased integration of QR codes in traditional and digital marketing campaigns in the U.S. and even on a local level. You might commonly see QR codes in your local newspaper, on print ads, in magazines, at point-of-purchase, and on product packaging. Since QR, or ‘quick-response’ codes can hold more information than standard linear bar codes and can be read by mobile phones with the correct applications installed, the possibilities of how these codes are utilized are endless.
Below are three examples of creative and effective uses of QR codes. Note that these campaigns are all from overseas where brands have been using QR codes for years. While many brands may want to jump on the QR code bandwagon because it seems cool and innovative, it’s important to remember that QR codes should provide some kind of value to the user. QR codes are still relatively new in the U.S., and you will likely need to provide additional information to educate your audience on how to scan the QR code and help instruct them on where they can grab scanner apps.
Zoo Records in Hong Kong uses QR codes as a platform to sell alternative music.
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) the largest mobile phone operator in Russia promotes its Red Energy tariff plan in Moscow with a QR Code treasure hunt.
The N Building in the Tachikawa district of Tokyo displays a QR code on the whole side of the building facing the street that uncovers information about the stores inside and special offers to those scanning.
What are some creative uses of QR codes that you’ve seen? How were the QR code campaigns marketed?
Facebook Credits gift cards available at a Target near you
In early September, Target announced that it would begin selling Facebook Credits gift cards nationwide, allowing users to buy pre-paid cards for Facebook’s virtual currency, Credits, within 1,743 Target retail locations across the U.S. and online. This past weekend I witnessed a mega display for the new virtual goods gift cards in the electronics department at my local Target store for the first time.
While Facebook is not the first company to offer virtual goods credits – Zynga, Playdom and other social gaming companies have been doing it for a while – Facebook credits are becoming increasingly more popular, and most of the major social game developers have adopted them as part of their games in some form. Facebook Credits are currently supported by over 150 popular social games and applications and are gaining ground as an alternative payment option on the social network for social games like Zynga titles FarmVille and Mafia Wars. This number is expected to continue to grow, contributing to Facebook’s rumored $2 Billion in revenue this year.
Facebook Credits gift cards became available at Target stores on September 5 and come in three values: $15 (exclusive to Target), $25, and $50. While Target was the first brick-and-mortar retailer to offer the gift cards, they will not be the exclusive provider. The $15 gift cards will remain exclusive to Target, while gift cards in other price points will be coming to other retailers. With virtual goods and social gaming becoming more popular in mainstream society, I see Facebook Credits making a big play in the coming year, and to further support my suspicions that Nathan Wright is “social media psychic,” take a look at thoughts on Facebook Credits from back in June.
What are your thoughts on Facebook Credits gift cards? Would you buy a Facebook Credits gift card for yourself, a friend, or family member who likes to play social games on Facebook?
TextualAds brings SMS marketing to Facebook
It’s no surprise that our online social media and mobile worlds are merging as we access social networks like Twitter and Facebook more frequently from our phones. Facebook users have been able to text their favorite Facebook Fan Pages since 2009 via their “Get More Fans with SMS” feature to let them know that they “like” their business/brand, and now those businesses can text their fans.
A new app called TextualAds launched yesterday that lets marketers ask for their fans’ phone numbers and send them targeted text messages. It was only a matter of time before an application was created to enable business-to-fan outbound marketing messages via SMS. In fact, Nathan Wright predicted this a year ago. The only unexpected development is that the SMS feature is being offered by a third party application vs. Facebook building the feature into the Facebook Fan Page functionality (maybe this will happen down the road).
How it works:
TextualAds uses Facebook profile and demographic data to target SMS ads to fans (who opt-in) based on their age, gender, country, city or exact geo-location (available with Plus Plan $25/mo). For example, a local restaurant or bar could offer drink specials to women 21+ for “ladies night,” or a business could send a text to any fan who happens to be walking in the vicinity of their brick and mortar location. Businesses can create a custom tab on their fan page that allows fans to submit their cell phone numbers. The app provides a dashboard on the backend where businesses can manage their SMS campaigns and view reports of the total number of page fans/mobile fans and a breakdown of fans by gender and location.
What types of brands/companies would you give your phone number to on Facebook if you had the option to receive SMS messages from them? What types of messages would you want to receive (exclusive deals, direct coupons, secret sales, etc.)?
