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Archive for the ‘Marketing Ideas’ Category

Ctrl Z for the Facebook Pages and Places Merger

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

As promised, we said we would keep you up to date on the Facebook Pages and Places Merger!

In early December, we shared with you the news of the merging of Facebook Business Pages and Places. Some businesses had begun merging their Facebook Page with their Place, only to discover that the merge could not be undone! Some early adopters of this merging option were frustrated as some functionality was lost (including the ability to set a custom landing page) and to express their dissatisfaction with Facebook, they did what Facebook techies do best: create a Facebook Page! And Facebook might have heard because you can now UNMERGE!

For those admins who previously merged their Business Page and Place, you should be able to see the “Unmerge all merged Places” feature on your Page. Your Pages will be restored to what it looked like prior to the merge.

Waves of thanks have emerged on the wall of the Unmerge Places & My Business Page Facebook Page (and many happy dances I’m sure) after the option to unmerge started to roll out just before Christmas. It seems numerous pages have already unmerged, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show (you can see a screen shot of the merged version on our post about the merger).

But like gifts from Santa, we don’t always get what we wish for! A few admins are reporting some bugs during the unmerging process:

  • Some have yet to see this unmerge feature.
  • Some say they’ve lost content on their Page.
  • Some say their Business Page or Places Page have disappeared entirely after they unmerged.

For businesses who were considering the merge, you can now experiment with it and undo it later if you decide it is not right for your Page. But be cautious of certain bugs admins are reporting when trying out the merge. If you aren’t in a hurry like The White Rabbit, it might be a good idea to wait awhile until some bugs are worked out.

Still wondering why a merge might be useful for your business? Read more here or give October 17 Media a buzz via phone or email!

Image courtesy of All Facebook

Twibbon: Social Media Bumper Sticker

Posted on by Flora the Intern

Twibbon Examples of Twibbons

Social media marketing is all about virality, and Twibbon is an easy and fun way to help promote awareness about an important cause, event, or a brand. Twibbon allows users to visibly show their support for a cause by overlaying a small icon, or “Twibbon”, on their profile pictures on Twitter and Facebook. If you’ve been hanging around on Twitter for a while, you’ve probably noticed a few already: the red ribbon for World Aids Day, the Vancouver Canucks logo, and the IE 6 Must Die icon are just a few examples of successful Twibbons.

While Twibbons usually take up a small corner of your avatar, a little embellishment goes a long way. Think about it: when you’re stuck in traffic in a sea of cars, you probably don’t pay much attention to the cars around you, unless 1. It’s a Lamborghini, or 2. It’s got a sweet bumper sticker! Whether it’s a fish symbol, a Transformers logo, or a funny quote, people take notice. Now imagine hundreds or thousands of people sporting your “bumper sticker” on their avatars and how that would look on a Twitter or Facebook news feed!

The viral nature of Twibbon can help you increase your following and likes. Want to try it out for free? It’s pretty easy:

  1. Choose a Cause. What are you passionate about? It could be anything from a charity, an upcoming conference, your favourite holiday… pretty much anything! But be sure to check if a Twibbon has already been made for your cause.
  2. Design your own Twibbon. You can choose from the series of stock images that Twibbon provides, or open up Photoshop (or another graphics editing program of your choice) and create your own. Just make sure that it’s 200 x 200 pixels and that the background is transparent so that the rest of the profile picture is visible behind the Twibbon. Save it as a PNG.
  3. Create your Twibbon. Go to http://twibbon.com/create, choose to connect with either Facebook or Twitter, and allow access to your account (don’t worry, we checked for you, it’s safe :) ). Fill in your email, as well as the name and description of your cause.
  4. Upload your Twibbon.
  5. Click “I just want a free campaign”. And tada! Your Twibbon is now created!
  6. Add your Twibbon to your profile picture. Position and preview your Twibbon and click “Show my support now!” The Twibbon will be added to your profile picture and Twibbon will post a tweet on your behalf to promote the cause.

Check out the quick one that we made for October 17 Media and add it to your profile picture if you <3 us: http://twibbon.com/join/October-17-Media

So go on, slap on your virtual bumper sticker… and be sure to share your causes with us!

Manage Your Business’s Social Life

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Online networking has reached another height with the introduction of Hootsuite and Netvibes. Called “social media dashboards” these allow people to manage their internet life all in one place, without having to switch tabs and applications.

NetvibesHootsuiteNetvibes is a free website created in 2005 empowering web users to experience a personalized online and internet life. They allow users to be able to monitor, personalize, and publish all in one dashboard.

With Netvibes you can customize your own page with everything you need for your digital life in one place. You can input photos, videos, pdf files, and more. You can keep up with your favorite social networking sites (such as Facebook and Twitter) and find out what’s new around the Net.

Choose from thousands of widgets that suits your daily use within a catalog of content and applications. Keep track of your favorite subject, whether it be business, brands or sports, in real time with its dashboard search feature. Get access to the most current news and blogs on varying topics with just one dashboard click. Keep it personalized with their private profile or share a public profile across the web where you can share anything in your dashboard to friends and many more.

Another similar application is provided by a local Vancouver, BC company: Hootsuite. It functions much like Netvibes, but with some varying features. Created by Invoke media, Hootsuite was targeted to a wide user market, but marketing groups, business companies, and social groups found it a useful tool to launch their campaigns and keep track of their statuses online.

Hootsuite has a wide range of features, including the Klout tool where you can gauge your social influence and reputation throughout the web. Higher Klout scores mean more influence. Keep track and review visualization link statistics results in real-time with its click-through statistics and easy report exporting feature. Collaborating with a team, picking new members and removing some could be easily done. You can manage several account members and contributors, share data access without knowing each others passwords, and assign and follow up on each team members from a single centralized dashboard.

With the many social networking sites that you can work with on one page (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress, and more), you can update, post, and broadcast to multiple accounts all at the same time. Create searches for your company or brand name and gather intelligence by monitoring mentions of your brand, search terms, and company.

This advancement in social media use has great advantages to many internet users across the globe. It makes your life easier and keeps you organized. With the use of only one main page which has all essential tools and sites in it, you can do away with multiple applications and tabs open at the same time. Both have user friendly interface and have a wide selection of themes and profiles that suits everyone’s preference. Nowadays, many companies, popular social groups, artists, and even government agencies are using these social media dashboards. It provides impressive help to users which keeps them updated in real-time.

Keeping your social networking life organized and tracking your brand can be a big job, and tools like these help you. Want to learn more about this and how it can help your brand? October 17 Media can tell you how Internet Marketing and Social Networking can work best for your company. We’d be happy to consult with you, just drop us a line!

Got a blog? Add this new LinkedIN share button!

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Yesterday LinkedIN announced the launch of their very own ‘Share’ button!

Now, with just a few lines of code, publishers, bloggers and businesses can easily include a button on their site that lets readers and visitors “Share on LinkedIn”.

Do you have a blog or space on your website that you think visitors might want to share with their connections on LinkedIN? You probably do! We’re about to add it to our own blog and wanted to share the news so you can be up to date on the latest in social media.

Need help installing it? Give us a bell. It’s a quick and easy job.

linkedIN Share Button

The new LinkedIN Share Button

Facebook Places Soaring in Canada

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Facebook has launched one of its newest features that allows you to broadcast wherever you are to your closest (Facebook) friends. The Facebook Places feature is comparable to other networking sites like Foursquare and Gowalla which are also location-based services. With over five million users worldwide, Facebook has posed a threat to its competitors like Foursquare. The feature was first launched in August in the United States, followed by UK and Japan and finally in September, Canada became the fourth country to launch Places.

Facebook Places is a geo-location service in which a Facebook user can “check in” at a specific place he or she is currently located. The application can be accessed though the web at touch.facebook.com or using the Facebook iPhone application on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. You can update your status and check in at the location to let everyone, or just your friends, know where you are. You can also tag friends who are with you at the same location.

Alternately, you can see where your friends have checked in and with whom. A list of available locations can be viewed from other people’s check ins or you can also add your own location. Hanging around downtown Granville Street and trying on some new finds at the Pacific Centre Mall? Your friends will catch you there in no time.

Many users adore Facebook Places, but even businesses have a reason to love it! Restaurant owners, hotels, spas, and many other establishments can make use of the feature to advertise and promote their products and services. The L’Hermitage Hotel on Richards Street, for example, would benefit when a patron checks in and lets the entire community know how well they treat their guests. Many businesses are using this opportunity to reach out to more potential customers.

Despite its benefits and its many users, some have concerns over privacy issues. Facebook continues to respond to and resolve the issue by revising its privacy and security settings. In addition, there are options for users to edit the settings of the feature and even turn it off. Many do not like how you can check in or tag other people with you at a location as they find it invasive in terms of their privacy and security.

With Facebook Places, there is more to just letting everyone know where you are, right this instant. By letting friends and others know where you are and where you’ve been, you’re essentially sharing your personal places of interest and possibly even creating an opportunity to meet new friends who frequent the same places. So, if you’re hankering for some delicious seafood, and decide to stop by the Blue Water Café (Hamilton Street) check in and instantly let your friends know – maybe they’ll come by straight away to join you. You won’t have to eat dinner alone with Places. :)

Need help setting up Facebook Places? We can set it up for you and offer consulting around it’s use. Give us a call!

October 17 Media specializes in website development, paid search advertising, social media and viral marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and email marketing.