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Category Archives: Small Business
Preparing your company for a social media crisis
Social networks are great for amplifying your company’s voice and reach – but they’ve also given a powerful megaphone to your customers, your audience, and the general public. Are you prepared for the inevitable “social media age” crisis that will demand the full attention of your communications team and push them way outside their comfort zone?
In our next Lava Lunch series workshop on Thursday, September 29th, we’ll share examples of how various organizations of all sizes have handled (and mishandled) unexpected crises. We’ll explore different tactics to get your team prepared to tackle everything from disgruntled individuals to full-on doomsday scenarios.
Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.
Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.
Photo: underbiteman via flickr.
Beyond check-ins: writing useful tips on foursquare
On Wednesday, we talked about foursquare’s newly launched brand pages, which allow companies to leave their own tips at other foursquare venues. Today, we’ll discuss a few ways to make your tips stand out — whether you’re posting on behalf of your business or sharing your own personal favorites through an individual account.
If you use foursquare, you’re already familiar with using your smartphone to check in to the venues you visit in real life. You’ve earned a few badges (maybe even the elusive Swarm badge) and taken over a few mayorships. But when was the last time you left a tip?
Tips are notes you leave on a venue for friends and other foursquare users to find. Think of tips as the types of recommendations you’d share with a friend before they visited somewhere for the first time — things to try, things to avoid, best places to park, anything that will make their experience better. When your friend (or someone “following” your brand page) checks into a venue where you’ve left a tip, your tip just might pop up on their phone, where they can add it to their To Do list or say “I’ve done this!”
The best tips have a few things in common:
- They’re actionable. Use action words like “Do this,” “Try this,” or “Order this.” The ultimate goal of leaving tips is to have the largest number of people choose “I’ve done this!” That moves your tip up to the top of the list, making it more likely your tip will be shared with others. If you can’t say “I’ve done this!” to a tip (like this El Bait Shop tip that just says, “Crazy selection of beers on tap”), find a different way to say it.
- They’re specific. Use one tip per recommendation. If that means you have to leave three tips, then leave three tips! Users are much more likely to choose “I’ve done this!” on a tip recommending one menu item, for example, than one recommending half the menu.
- They’re exclusive. Foursquare specials are all about the exclusivity of rewarding people “in the know,” so think of tips the same way. Do you know of a secret menu item or a hidden parking lot that always has a few spots open? Now’s your chance to share it.
- They’re real. Don’t spam foursquare venues with “tips” about your company, your products, your services, your events, or anything else unrelated to the venue itself. The foursquare community will flag these as spam and your tips will be removed. This is not about selling — it’s about sharing your expertise.
Ready to leave a tip? In the foursquare app on your smartphone, simply search for the venue, then click the Tip button in the bottom left corner of the venue page. Or visit foursquare.com from your computer, navigate to the venue’s web page and leave your tip in the text box.
Our challenge for you? Leave tips at three venues you checked in to in the last week. Want a bigger challenge? Scope out other users’ tips when you check in to a venue and see if anything strikes your fancy. Foursquare isn’t just about checking in anymore — it’s time to leave your mark.
Foursquare unveils new self-serve brand pages
Foursquare has long been a fantastic resource for consumers, offering exclusive discounts, recommendations and of course, bragging rights for venue mayors. On Tuesday, foursquare made a leap forward to become an equally strong resource for brands, from bloggers to small businesses to large corporations, with their new self-serve brand pages.
First, a bit of history: foursquare launched its first brand page for Intel in January 2010, offering the company a platform for recommending local Philadelphia favorites to out-of-towners during their annual ISTE conference. As other companies expressed interest in custom-branded pages, foursquare began to build pages for them, too — all built manually by the foursquare team, behind the scenes. The launch of these new self-serve pages gives companies the opportunity to build their own pages, without needing to await approval from the foursquare team.
So what is a brand page, and what value does it offer to a company? A brand page is a custom-branded page on foursquare that allows a company to recommend venues through check-ins and tips left on foursquare. Brands lend their influence and expertise to foursquare users, who “follow” the brands to see their tips; for example, Walgreen’s leaves tips at public transportation stations reminding passengers to wash their hands after train rides to avoid catching the flu. In return for sharing tips with foursquare users, brands gain their followers’ trust by infusing their expert knowledge into their followers’ daily lives. Brand pages can also be connected to your company’s page on Facebook, so your tips can be extended beyond foursquare to reach all of your fans.
It’s important to note that brand pages function differently from typical individual foursquare accounts in a few important ways. Remember that these pages are meant to be used by brands, not as a substitute for a personal foursquare account. Brand pages can’t earn badges, and if your brand has used an individual account in the past to leave tips, all of your friends will be converted to “followers” when you create your page. That means that your company won’t be able to see where its fans check in, but everyone on foursquare will be able to see where your company checks in. It’s like following someone on Twitter — a one-way connection.
Ready to create a brand page for your company? Here’s what you’ll need:
- A header image of 860 x 130 pixels (check out the Walgreen’s brand page for inspiration)
- A small profile image of 185 x 185 pixels
- A description of your brand
- Links to share with your followers (website, Facebook page, Twitter handle, blog, etc.)
Now, just visit https://foursquare.com/create_page and click “Create a Page” to get started!
Once you’ve created your page, you’ll have everything you need to start leaving tips at other foursquare venues you endorse or recommend. Visit our blog later this week for a guide to crafting great tips through your brand page!
Upcoming Lava Row Lunch: QR Codes, Scan Tags and Augmented Reality
Join us on July 28th for this month’s installment of our Lava Lunch series, a discussion about QR codes, scan tags and augmented reality — and how to make these emerging technologies work for your brand or business. As usual, we’ll share examples and case studies of how businesses are currently taking advantage of the these new tools, but we’ll also discuss what makes some campaigns more engaging than others (here’s a hint: it’s more than just sending a customer to an online version of your ad!).
Refreshments and catered lunches will be provided. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 for some good, old-fashioned networking.
Tickets can be purchased at the bottom of this post for $30.00 per person, plus a nominal Eventbrite fee. Or, skip the fee and pay us with Dwolla. Full event details and directions can be found on the Lava Lunch page.
We hope to see you on July 28th!
Drop by our open house this Friday
After a few bruises, a slight hernia, and two near-death electrical shock experiences, we’re all moved in to our new office at the Brown-Camp Lofts building in Downtown Des Moines.
This Friday, November 5th, we’re opening our doors from 6:00-9:00pm and would love it if you stopped by! We’ll provide the cocktails – all you have to do is show up. (Don’t forget to RSVP on Facebook.)
Our space is located at the corner of MLK Parkway and SW 2nd Street, just north of Principal Park and close to The High Life Lounge. We’re in Unit 115.
To find us, use the walk-up sidewalk just off SW 2nd Street at the southwest corner of the building (nearest to the intersection of MLK Parkway and SW 2nd Street). This is our private entrance. There is metered parking along SW 2nd, Market Street and SW 1st. Meters are not enforced after 6pm. Click here for a handy map and directions.
Hope to see you there!
