Social Media Boot Camps April 4
In this era of rapid change in the way we communicate both personally and professionally, it is important to learn new skills and techniques every day.
To encourage social media engagement, we are hosting two Social Media Boot Camps on Wednesday, April 4 at the Senator Inn & Spa in Augusta for businesses and organizations looking to increase their social media presence.
There will be two boot camps designed for different levels of expertise.
1.) The beginners’ session from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. is intended for people with a general social media understanding and who are currently using one or more social media networks.
2.) Those attending the advanced session from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. must have a thorough knowledge of Facebook and have already created an active presence on one or more other social media websites.
Both sessions’ attendees are invited for a complimentary lunch from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Senator.
Pre-registration is required by Friday, March 23.
To register, visit bootcamp.marshallpr.com/register. Each session is limited to 30 attendees on a first come, first served basis.
In the spirit of capitalizing on social media as a tool to engage and share, I encourage you to use the event’s Twitter hashtag #NMCsmbc to discuss the boot camps before, during, and after April 4.
This Social Media Boot Camp will help keep you on the cutting edge!
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: Social Media Boot Camp
Happy Wednesday! Last night, NMC account executive Greg Glynn and I presented a “Social Media Boot Camp” in Carrabassett Valley to a group of diverse businesses. It was an interactive and intimate meeting of people who were both advanced social media users looking to further capitalize on their efforts and social media novices who understood the need to learn more.
Greg and I discussed everything from Facebook business pages and advertising, who to follow on Twitter, advancements in location-based applications, and more. While lots of material was covered, each participant set a goal at the beginning of the workshop that they strove and met throughout the three hour meeting.
Some key takeaways from the boot camp:
- Social media is not a trend– it isn’t going anywhere; it isn’t a question of whether or not to get involved with it but when…and the time is now.
- Be strategic when posting– don’t be thoughtless with your posts; know your audience and work to engage them.
- Set goals– think about what you are looking to accomplish by engaging with social media.
There are lots of social media networks out there for you to join. Take the time to look at your goals and be realistic about your capacity. Pick the networks that are right for you and your business, and do those well.
Greg and I had a great time sharing our expertise about social media and helping fellow business owners learn more. Thank you to the Greater Franklin Development Corporation for organizing the workshop. Stay tuned for information about future boot camps!
Download our presentation by clicking here: Social Media Boot Camp.
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: The Business of Foursquare
Happy Wednesday! Today’s Witty Wisdom comes from NMC account executive Anna McDermott regarding businesses utilizing the location-based social media application Foursquare. Whether people are checking in at museums or looking for recommendations at restaurants,this geographical social media’s influence is spreading!
Foursquare is one of the newest social media platforms that’s growing every day – right now over 10 million people use it worldwide. But many people are not yet familiar with this geographical location-based social network that you can use via Facebook, Twitter or your smart phone.
Here’s Foursquare 101: it uses the GPS coordinates of businesses and other locations, such as parks and landmarks, so for example when you are at your favorite coffee shop, you can “check in” and earn user points. With Foursquare you can get insider tips, and unlock discounts and rewards. If you check into a venue on more days than anyone else in the past two months, you are crowned “Mayor.”
From a business’s perspective, Foursquare tips are great. They are basically free advertising for your company. Customers leave tips about what they like (or dislike) about your store, restaurant, hotel, etc. “Try the butternut squash ravioli – amazing!” It’s a great way to easily engage with current or potential customers.
You can claim a venue as your own, and manage it on Foursquare. Then you can leave tips for customers like “On Tuesdays, all entrees are half off if you check in on Foursquare!” As of September 2011, over 500,000 businesses use Foursquare’s Merchant Platform; for more information click here: foursquare.com/business.
As you can see below, the Hurricane Café has claimed their venue and offer a Mayor Special – 10% off the Mayor’s order. This is a great incentive for repeat business – who wouldn’t want to be Mayor of this café!
Search Foursquare for your business today and see what people are saying – it’s free to claim your venue and if people are using it to review your business, shouldn’t you join the conversation?
NMC Presents: Social Media Boot Camp, Tuesday, Oct. 25!
In my line of work, my colleagues and I have to stay on top of the latest trends in marketing and PR. One tool that is proving increasingly more important is social media. While I make sure that my employees and I are up to date on the latest technologies, I run into far too many other business owners who aren’t sure how to use social media or don’t use it to its full capacity.
For this reason, I am very excited to share that the Greater Franklin Development Corporation and NMC have decided to partner up and show other Maine businesses and organizations that not only is social media multi-faceted, but that anyone can and should use it!
Tuesday, Oct. 25, several of my staff members and I will be presenting a social media boot camp at the Carrabassett Valley Public Library from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
This interactive workshop will focus on techniques to increase engagement and the use of paid online advertising to promote products and services through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. We will also be discussing the rise of mobile marketing and location-based media. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop, but laptops can be provided (please specify if you need one when you register).
To qualify for this workshop, we ask that participants are able to answer yes to the following questions:
- Do you have a personal Facebook profile already set up?
- Do you have a LinkedIn profile set up?
- Do you have a Twitter account set up?
- Are you familiar with Facebook advertising?
- Are you familiar with Cost per Click advertising?
Cost to participate is $150.00 (includes materials and computer use).
For more information and to register, please contact Shelby Childs at schilds@greaterfranklin.com or call (207) 778-5887.
I hope to see you there!
Monday Maine Maven: Greg Dugal
Happy Monday! At NMC we hope you enjoyed another beautiful Maine weekend. Today’s Monday Maven is Greg Dugal. Greg has been the Executive Director of the Maine Innkeepers Association since 2003.
Greg’s involvement in the tourism and hospitality industry spans 25 years, most notably at the Samoset Resort, where he held a variety of positions in his 16-year tenure including Food and Beverage Director and Director of Sales and Marketing. Greg also served as the Executive Director of the Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce. During his time there, he was honored with Chamber Executive of the Year by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce in 2002 and received honors as Restaurateur of the Year in 2000 from the Maine Restaurant Association.
Greg was most recently honored in 2009 to become a member of the Maine Tourism Association Hall of Fame. Greg also serves on the Board of Directors of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland, the Maine Tourism Association, the International Society of Hotel Association Executives and was past chair of the Maine Tourism Commission.
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: The Mobile Marketing Movement
Happy Wednesday! Today’s piece of wisdom is written by Renée Black. Renée has been working in the marketing and advertising industry since 2006. The majority of her career was spent as the marketing director for a well-known jewelry retailer that has been repeatedly and nationally recognized within its industry as being on the cutting-edge of marketing and technology. Renée has recently joined the team at Nancy Marshall Communications as an account coordinator.
People of all ages use their phones to stay connected to their friends, family, business, news, stocks – you name it. The evolution of cell phones and social media has made it more important than ever for marketers to be up-to-date on the latest technology.
Traditional advertising (print, radio, television, direct mail, etc.) is not nearly as effective today as it was ten years ago or even five years ago. The truth is that traditional media is no longer sufficient on its own and to be most effective, it should be supplemented by mobile marketing.
The Internet was the first step in the evolution from traditional media to the new age of “real time” marketing. The catch, however, was that your viewer had to be sitting in front of a computer in order to receive your message. Now with smart phones and the new “super phones,” like the iPhone and Andriod, businesses can reach out to their intended audience in fractions of seconds. With social media applications like Facebook and Twitter (which come pre-installed on many mobile devices), text messages, and even e-mail, mobile users are “plugged in” 24/7.
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: “Content Rules”
This week’s bit of wisdom takes the form of a book review. Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman wrote the book, “Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More)that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business.”
The title says it all. Wouldn’t you like to engage your customers and ignite your business? I sure would!
I’m a big believer in killer content. That’s really what makes the web go around. I’ve always thought that PR people are great content creators since we’ve been trained to create factual, information-rich materials for the press and the public.
We are looking for great photos, videos, products, and factual descriptions every time we go online. Google’s spiders are looking for the same thing when they are ranking sites for their customers who are people doing searches.
This book, written by the Chief Content Officer of www.marketingprofs.com and the founder of www.digitaldads.com, is fullof inspiring content and real-life case studies.
It’s a great read, and it’s laid out in such a way that it’s easy to skim and find the information you’re most interested in.
I highly recommend this book for your summer reading list. Take it to the beach the next time you go….pull up a chaise lounge and an umbrella drink….and enjoy!
To find your own copy of “Content Rules,” see http://www.amazon.com/Content-Rules-Podcasts-Webinars-Customers/dp/0470648287/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309960973&sr=1-1.
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: How to be “Top News” Worthy
Happy Wednesday! This is our first Wednesday Witty Wisdom feature. Every week we hope to bring you something interesting, timely and relevant to help you in your PR and social media marketing efforts. Recently, Greg Glynn from Nancy Marshall Communications attended a Facebook Marketing Conference in New York City and he brought back lots of great information on using Facebook to communicate to customers and prospects to grow your business.
We handle the Facebook page for the Maine Office of Tourism and we have had great success in growing the number of friends who are following our posts there. Check out their Facebook page to see how we have been able to utilize this social media resource.
This week, our witty wisdom is about making sure your posts appear in the “Top News” on Facebook. Some people assume that everything they post will appear on all of their friends’ “Top News” feeds, but actually this won’t happen unless you can understand Facebook’s algorithm. Since 98% of Facebook users open their Facebook page to the “Top News,” you want to know the components of this mathematical formula.
I’m not saying you have to learn higher math in order to show up on the “Top News,” but it helps to know the multipliers involved.
Lessons About Mobile Marketing Learned While Driving Cross Country
My son Craig spent his ‘gap year’ out west competing in ski races prior to attending college this coming fall. He drove out to Lake Tahoe in January and when he was ready to come back in May, I volunteered to share the drive with him. I had a conference to attend in Tucson, so he drove from Lake Tahoe to Tucson to meet me, and on Sunday morning May 8, we set out to drive home to Maine. Continue reading
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