5 Facebook Posting Pet Peeves

Aside from the typical grammar pet peeves, like the proper use of “their, there and they’re,” I have a few peevable moments for Facebook including the most preferable ways to post as a brand page. Rather than a rant, this list of top five should be viewed as quick tips to make the most pristine postings!

1. Tag tag tag! If you have a company that you are working with, tag them! This posts it to their page and notifies the other company to show you have mentioned them. It helps to encourage further interaction and promotion of your event or your partnership with their company. Warning: A maximum of 6 pages may be tagged in one post.

2. When you are adding a hyperlink, copy and paste it into the status field. Wait a second for it to load with the photo and description of the link. Then delete that ugly long hyperlink. The link will stay there and you are free to comment on it! Then click post!

3. If you are posting from a personal account and mentioning a company, make sure the post is “public.” This enables the post to appear on the other company’s wall. Otherwise it will simply be a link that is only visible to your friends. The drop down for each post’s privacy settings is to the left of the post button.

4. If something monumental happens to your company, make it a “Milestone.” This is the purpose of the new timeline format. It gives the posting more attention in your feed. You can post old milestones and add photos to show your company history.

5. Photos are SUPER important now more than ever. They appear large and are more likely to have interactions. As many times as you can, post photos along with your status update because they tell a better story than just a text update (and you wonder why Instagram and Pinterest are exploding socially!)

As always, tweet me @ChelseaVanArnam

5 Ways Social Media Can Supercharge Your Next Event

Spring is here and it is officially event season! If you’re the event planner like me then you’re up to your ears in checklists and timelines right? But have you thought to make a timeline and strategy for your social media plan? It’s easy to say “Oh ya we’re tweeting and telling our fans about the event,” but it takes another degree of planning to really make your event social. RipeOrange just wrapped up the OC Family Summer Camp & Activities Fair at the Irvine Spectrum and I wanted to share a few fun tips we learned after this event!

1. First make the plan

Start with your pre-event promotion and break out your specific action items by date. The farther away, the more vague your promotion descriptions may be. However the week leading up to the event, make sure you have a plan for each day with a mixture of postings and types of promotions. All of your planning surrounding the event will be kicked into high gear, so the less thinking you have to do socially will help you out big time! Copying and pasting pre-written posts will save you! Mix up your promotion with general information postings. Use Twitter hashtag promotion, giveaways if applicable, photos of your event planning process, sneak peeks of swag bags, and sponsor promotion with tags to their Facebook pages or mentions in Tweets.

2. Find your best Tweeter

Designate a social media manager for the day of the event. They will be responsible for posting images, checking in, tweeting and encouraging others to do the same. Share the plan with this person so they understand the greater picture. Ours was Suzanne Broughton pictured above!

3. Create a Tweet Cheat Sheet (try saying that 5 times fast)

Spend 10 minutes prior to the event researching (and following) Twitter handles for your sponsors, exhibitors, and other key players in your event. Then keep it in your back pocket on the day of the event to make sure you are connecting with each person or company via Twitter.

4. Be Check-In Specific

Create a foursquare check-in that is event specific. If you’re having your event at the Irvine Spectrum like we did, use the Irvine Spectrum’s address, but make a check in that says “OC Family Camp Fair” to promote the event the day of. You can’t have your guests just checking in to the Irvine Spectrum, right?!

5. Promote yourself

One of my favorite ideas that came from this year’s Camp Fair is to create a large foam core board or banner with your social media names/urls. This not only reminds your guests to get on social media at your event, but also become friends with you and tweet you, post a picture on your Facebook wall, follow you on Pinterest, check-in to the event on Foursquare.

Have you used any of these ideas before? Let me know @ChelseaVanArnam.

Twitter Wall 101

Twitter walls are the hottest new trend at mixers, conferences and events. They bring the proper degree of social media to a room and make your event current and up-to-speed with social event trends. By using an event “hashtag” to track the conversation, a Twitter Wall creates a real-time, constant stream of tweets mentioning your event.

Why Twitter Walls Rock!

1. They remind your audience to use social media at the event and create a conversation with others in the room.
2. They encourage networking, discussion of the latest happenings at the event, and provide entertainment for those who may be attending but don’t tweet.
3. They also act as promotion for your company or event by turning your event guests into brand ambassadors to their social networks.

How To Make it Happen!

You will need a projector, a projector screen, a laptop or tablet device, a Twitter Wall feed generator like the ones listed below and great internet/wireless service in the event room/space.

Paratweet.com
Paratweet is a hashtag feed service I used this at OC METRO’s HOT 25 Event and we found it very helpful for screening tweets and maintaining a constant stream of tweets that can cycle through and continuously feed.

*Can be added into a custom presentation
*Free trial option and or paid option with minimal fees
*Opportunity to moderate from one computer or not moderate at all

TwitterWallPro.com
Another website used to generate Twitter Walls, ideal for a large conference or events with a large budget and have a strong value on a Twitter Wall.

*A pay-to-play site with advanced capabilities
*Opportunity to have a presentation alongside your tweets
*Moderating tools to display only tweets you choose

AVOID DISASTER!

Choose one of the above-mentioned sites. The dangers of not being able to screen tweets that appear on your Twitter wall can be disastrous.

Check the Wireless Service
Check on the wireless service beforehand to make sure it will be strong enough. If you are in a large cavernous ballroom deep within a hotel or something of that nature, check out a company like Signalshare.net who offers a service called Live-Fi that provides WiFi service for large events. Their event capabilities also go beyond just expanding WiFi and can be really helpful to further develop social networking through digital platforms at your event.

Have you used a Twitter Wall at your event? Let me know your thoughts on how it worked for you! Chat with me on Twitter (@ChelseaVanArnam).

5 Tips to Branding on Pinterest

So you know you need to use Pinterest, but how do you get the most out of it? Here are my 5 quick tips to Pinterest for your brand be it personal branding or company branding.

After you’ve created your profile along with a couple boards creatively named, make sure to add the “pin it” button to your bookmark toolbar to allow you to easily pin images from the web. This can be found under the About tab as “Pin It Button” and you’re ready to go!

1. Create valuable, SEO-driving descriptions.

Pinterest just last week put a 500-character limit on image captions. This tells us they value keeping your pin’s description succinct while using keywords that will allow the search function to find your specific pin.

-     Similar to Twitter, use #hashtags to flag certain keywords

-     Use the ‘@YourFriendsName’ similar to Facebook and Twitter to mention someone in a Pin’s description. This alerts the person you mentioned them and drives them to your pin.

-     If you are an online retailer, add the price to the description using the ‘$’. This will automatically categorize it in the gifts section.

*Notice how we’ve used each option in the pin’s description below…

2. Pin content steadily.

This keeps your name constantly in a followers feed and helps them remember you.  It is perfectly acceptable to pin multiple images in a manner of minutes whereas if you did this on Twitter or Facebook you may have people who stop following you. Maintain a mixture of pinning your own found content along with “repins” (a visual version of a Twitter retweet if you will) with “likes” that resemble the likes of Facebook. When you are pinning new content, make sure you are pinning from the original source to give the proper person credit. For example if you find an image you like on Google, make sure to click through to the original site to pin the image.

3. Use visually interesting images on your website and blog.

Intermix pins from your own company’s website that are visually interesting. Keep in mind the 80/20 balance of self-promotion so that your Pinterest does not come across as spam. Create your own using collages and watermark them so that the credit (and site traffic) go back to you. Bright colors or a picture with a detail that a person wants to see larger will cause them to click on the image and potentially click through to your website from Pinterest.  For fun, you can check out who has already pinned from your website by visiting http://pinterest.com/source/yourwebsitehere. Hint: You may want to start following those who pinned you (aka your fans).

4. Integrate Pinterest with your social media platforms.

On Facebook, show images of your favorite pins to your fans. Provide an easy mixture of links, fun status updates and your favorite pins. Make a custom Facebook tab for Pinterest (see ours below!). I found a blog post that cleverly integrates Pinterest using a pin icon as a tab. Here you can showcase your entire Pinterest profile or one specific board and all you need is the hyperlink! You can currently link your Pinterest to your personal page, but not yet to a brand page. This is something that may come in the near future but has not yet happened. On Pinterest, link to your Twitter page and tweet a favorite pin while you are pinning it. Post the link to your Pinterest page and let your followers know that you are on Pinterest and want to follow them!

5. Include a Pinterest “who to follow” spotlight in your e-marketing.

OC METRO has started doing a “who to follow” and favorite posts for Facebook and Twitter in the print magazine. This makes the individuals and companies feel special which in turn makes them promote OC METRO through their own channels. OC Family is also on Pinterest and I’m fairly certain a Pinterest “who to follow” and “best pins” page is not far behind! You can easily add this section to a sidebar of your e-newsletter that shows you are being social and promoting others, not just your brand.

Check out RipeOrange (Marketing, Design, Events) to see how we’re implementing Pinterest! Chat with me on Twitter (@ChelseaVanArnam).

Should My Company Join Pinterest?

I was in a meeting the other day with the CEO of our company, Steve Churm, who sincerely asked why brands would spend their time on Pinterest? I rattled off the answers I believed were the most apparent but then realized that most companies still do not understand the benefits of joining Pinterest.

Pinterest is a social and visual bookmarking site devoted to beautiful images, funny quotes, helpful tips and tricks, gift ideas and more all organized in category-specific boards. Now valued at an estimated $200 Million and growing, the site drives more traffic to 3^rd party sites than LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Reddit combined. It has quickly climbed the ladder of the most popular social media sites, encroaching on Facebook and Twitter.

There is plenty of value and opportunity to investing your company time in Pinterest. Pinterest allows a company’s brand to build a visual identity and for visitors to get to know individuals in the company. The more a potential client feels like they understand who you are, how you think, and can connect to your individual personality, the more likely they are to do business with you and trust you with their brand. Secondly, what company is not looking to drive website traffic to unique visitors? Users who may never find your company with traditional marketing or the other social media platforms are becoming more likely to find you through Pinterest because of the ease in share-ability from complete strangers worldwide.

So you’re ready to jump on board! Well, not so fast. You first must make sure that you are an appropriate brand for this social media channel. If you are a bank or a law firm, you may want to reconsider investing your time here. Unless you have a very creative angle for your Pinterest account this most likely not going to be a place people go to find a company to represent them in their messy divorce settlement. However, if your brand is not appropriate for Pinterest, then you as an individual should still create your own account. Building your own personal brand will hold great value to your company by identifying your personality and individual taste.

You are the perfect business for Pinterest if you:

1. Have a product or service with anything relating to moms/women (Pinterest’s demographic is majority women)

2. Are a design/photography company

3. Are a marketing company

4. Are an online retailer

5. Are a boutique

6. Are a restaurant or food blogger

7. Are a magazine

Have any questions? Ask me on Twitter or follow me on Pinterest! Check back here next week for my new blog post “My Brand needs to be on Pinterest, but how?”

Expanding Your Event: 5 Tips from the Super Bowl

Every morning I watch the Today Show while I get ready for the daily grind. This year they devoted an entire segment to reviewing specific Super Bowl commercials for two days in a row before the game and even again Monday after the game! One Super Bowl commercial will be seen first on The Today Show, then on the Super Bowl, hyped up on Facebook and Twitter and of course watched and shared over and over again on YouTube. Even more than that, the chatter about the best commercials transcends into everyday conversations.

So we all know that your company’s event is probably not spending $3.5 Million for a 30-second spot in the Super Bowl, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t take the new media framework for a Super Bowl commercial and use it in your event marketing. Now it’s all about being social with your event and using as many relevant channels well before and after to create a buzz.  This builds your brand and ensures event success.

1. Hype up your event with a relevant and memorable Twitter hashtag and promotional teasers. Take pictures of your goodie bag giveaways and Tweet it, Instagram it, make people wonder what is inside and make them want to come find out! With every pre-promotion, use your hashtag in order to keep the conversation focused and help you track your campaign.

2. Talk to your VIP guests and have them promote the event to their followers! Your VIP guests will carry strong weight on any of their promotions and have a greater influence over their followers.

3. Encourage check-ins through Foursquare or Facebook and announce a giveaway on Facebook for the next day after your event to everyone who checked in.  This promotes the event on social media while it is happening and after the event, drives traffic to your Facebook page.

4. Use videos. Even having your event planner give a short spiel about the event spliced with previous photos and footage from the event gives a guest a glimpse into what they are about to embark on. *This also means that if you are planning a first time event, make sure to take video footage of your event! Then use that video footage to promote it out on all social channels. Guests featured in the video are also likely to promote it out to their own social channels, which make it also important to feature your VIP guests.

5. Don’t look past traditional media. Print is not dead with 93% of Americans reading magazines and they even have a longer shelf life than newspapers with 63% of readers using it as “me” time! Find a publication that best suits your market and demographic but make sure that you are planning ahead. Place an advertisement with a few months lead-time so that you have the opportunity to have a longer campaign and get the most out of a publication’s editorial calendar.

Let’s talk about it! Follow me on Twitter!