Posts Tagged ‘Coles PR’

Capitalize the first word in a sentence. Sure, you knew that, right?

But what about capitalizing titles that appear before names, but not after? You’ll learn that and much more in one of the articles in our most recent BuzzWise newsletter!

We’ll also give you an inside look at one of the increasingly popular tools keeping our Coles creative team busy … VIDEO!

And what’s being dubbed content marketing’s quiet giant? It’s SlideShare! Find out more!

Take a look at our May BuzzWise newsletter … and sign up to join our mailing list today!

#whatisahashtag? They are everywhere and are an essential element to the Twitter experience!

If you haven’t already found a way to connect people through hashtags by directing them back to your website where you can control the conversation, then it’s only a matter of time.

Best to get a-Tweetin’ sooner than later. That’s just one of the articles in our most recent BuzzWise newsletter!

Plus, how do you keep your digital sanity in a world where people may not get back to you soon … or even at all? We’ll give you an inside look.

And it’s time to get your computer and social media channels spiffy in a jiffy! Get some spring cleaning tips to clean out the clutter.

Check out our April BuzzWise newsletter … and sign up to join our mailing list today! #BuzzWise #ColesMarketing

Coles Marketing Communications is proud to be a sponsor of the 2013 Discovery Ball benefitting the American Cancer Society (ACS) . In 2012, the gala event in Indianapolis raised over $315,000 in the fight against cancer. This year, the event will help celebrate ACS’s 100th year. For more information on how you can volunteer or donate to the event, click here: www.indydiscoveryball.org

Coles Marketing Communications is pleased to announce it will be a hole sponsor for our client’s yearly event: the Christel House Open. Be sure to check out the 2013 event: www.chopen.org

Coles Marketing Communications is a proud supporter of the Miracle Drive benefitting Riley Hospital for Children. Find out more here: www.MiracleRide.net

I will not check my email as soon as I get out of bed. (whoops, I did)

I will not look at my phone for the next 10 minutes. (uh oh, it was 5 minutes)

I will not post anything to Facebook today via my smartphone. (um, yeah right)

Well, I tried, right? Actually, smartphone owners ages 18 to 44 spend more than two hours a day communicating and using social media on their devices, according to a new IDC Research report. Eighty percent check their smartphones within 15 minutes of waking up.

Sound familiar? Take a look at this article from PR Daily, which states “despite the hours we dedicate to our phones each day, the smartphone users surveyed don’t associate their devices with feeling stressed out or lonely as much as they do with feelings of ‘connectedness’ and ‘productivity.’”

Here are some other revealing numbers from the report, which Facebook sponsored:

• 49 percent of the entire U.S. population uses a smartphone, according to previous research from IDC. By 2017, the percent of smartphone users is expected to reach 68 percent.
• 132 minutes is the average amount of time each day that smartphone users spend communicating and using social media on their phones. Over the weekend, Friday through Sunday, that number increases to 163 minutes. Monday through Thursday, it drops to 87 minutes.
• 70 percent of smartphone users check Facebook on their phones; 61 percent check it every day. The average number of times respondents check Facebook on their phones is 14.
• 50 percent of smartphone users check Facebook at the movies.
• Four out of five smartphone users check their phones within the first 15 minutes of waking up. Among them, 80 percent say it’s the first thing they do in the morning.
• 79 percent of smartphone users have their phone on or near them for all but two hours of their waking day—63 percent keep it with them for all but one hour. One-fourth couldn’t recall a time of the day when their phone wasn’t in the same room as them.

Yep, I’m in that “one-fourth” who couldn’t recall a time of the day when their phone wasn’t in the same room as them. Well, unless you count when I was in the living room and my phone was in the kitchen … but that’s a moo point.

Courtesy of PR Daily

I dread the day every year … April Fools’ Day. Well, maybe not “dread,” but I don’t look forward to it. I get worried about what pranks people will play on me … hopefully more fun and less humiliation or embarrassment.

And April Fools’ Day isn’t just for person-to-person jokes. Even brands got in on the fun with some very creative pranks this week.

Google unveils a suite of pranks. The search giant put out a video saying YouTube was shutting down. It also debuted Google Nose, the new scentsation in search.

Twitter launches consonants only site, Twttr.  The original Twitter (or what it calls “premium”) — with consonants and vowels — will cost users $5 a month.

Sharpie tries out food-themed colors. Look out for the limited-edition “Catsup Red, Cheddar Orange, Buns Beige, Beefy Brown and Pickle Green” markers!

Sony rolls out headphones for cats. The target was “pet owners who want to provide unique entertainment experiences for their furry, four-legged family members.” MEOW!

Try American Eagle’s skinny skinny jeans. Are skinny jeans skinny enough? You be the judge.

Check out some of the other examples of how many notable brands became practical jokesters for a day!

I was recently working on a client’s new LinkedIn Company Page, and it made me wonder what the difference was between Company Pages and Groups. There seem to be so many outlets for promoting people as well as brands that it often gets confusing as to the real purpose of each. Are you using them correctly and in a way that will be most beneficial to you and your company?

Thankfully, there is a ton of information out there detailing the differences and best uses for Pages and Groups on LinkedIn. This article by Juliette Kopecky was most helpful. According to Kopecky, LinkedIn is 277% more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter. WOW! If that isn’t reason enough to get your company or organization going on LinkedIn, I don’t know what is!

Company Pages:  Your company page is the headquarters for all your products, reviews and basic organizational information. Because it is focused on your specific offerings, company pages tend to be further down the funnel in terms of content and information. You have a bit more freedom to talk about yourself. However, company pages typically have fewer views than groups, and so your posts won’t have the same reach. 

Best content: Product releases, promotions, requests for feedback.

Groups:  When you’re just getting started, spend the bulk of your time sharing content to groups. While groups don’t specifically focus on your company, and don’t take well to promotional materials, they do tend to have a larger reach than company pages. People join groups because they are interested in a topic, not a company. Make sure your posts are educational in nature or are discussion-prompts. Being too promotional in a group is not only ineffective; it can get you kicked-out. 

Best content:  Targeted questions, new interesting data, infographics, etc.

Here are some tips about getting the most out of your Company Page or Group:

Company Page

• Set a cover photo.
• Search-optimize your page.
• Post an updae to your followers (and target them!).
• List your products or services (and target them!).

Group

• Join before managing.
• Join complementary groups.
• Use a social media scheduler to scale your efforts.

Take some time to create and add to your Company Page, including all the information someone might be looking for about your company. Then, work on finding and engaging in good groups for your company. It’s a work in progress, but it’s worth the effort!

Now, in my humble opinion, the Facebook changes are getting out of hand. If it seemed difficult to keep up with them before, trying to follow change after change these days is nearly impossible!

Here’s one of the latest changes: Previously, brands could place ads on the right-hand side of Facebook pages viewed on desktop computers. ** And by the time you read this, that may even have changed! But the social network recently unveiled Facebook Exchange (FBX)-targeted ads. This will allow advertisers to “run Page post link ads on the right-hand side of Facebook and in News Feed on desktop. These ads will point back to specific landing pages to help direct-response advertisers drive conversions.”

In his article, Michael Sebastian said, according to Facebook, “Allowing advertisers to reach people in News Feed is important because people spend more time in News Feed than any other part of Facebook.”

Now, the targeted ads are in alpha testing, meaning they’re available to only a limited number of companies and only a select amount of users are seeing the posts. But Facebook plans to roll out the product to more companies in the coming weeks.

But are all these changes really helping Facebook change for the better?

Sebastian also highlighted some stats about Facebook, showing that although the growth of the social media giant in the U.S. has slowed, it still remains a heavyweight in the social media space.

• There are 955 million monthly active users as of June 2012.
• And 552 million daily active users on average in June 2012.
• According to one estimate, the average value of one Facebook account is $115.43.
• The price of a share of Facebook upon its initial public offering was $38.
• The price per share of Facebook at one point in August 2012 was $19.05.
• 81 percent of Facebook’s monthly active users live outside the U.S. and Canada.
• The average number of friends per user is 229, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. (Another study put it at 245 friends.)
• 46 percent of Facebook users are older than 45.
• The average age of Facebook’s board of directors is 49.
• 1 woman sits on Facebook’s board of directors.
• 57 percent of Facebook users are women.
• The total annual carbon footprint per monthly active Facebook user is 269 grams, the equivalent of making and consuming a couple glasses of wine, three bananas, or one medium latte.
• 694,980 status updates occur every minute.
• 7 percent of online purchases are influenced by Facebook.

More than half of Facebook users are women, but there’s only ONE woman on the Facebook board of directors?! REALLY?! THAT needs to be the next Facebook change!

Yes, the groundhog lied … at least if you’re living in Indiana.

Winter has kept its icy hold all the way up to April! People have had the winter blues, accompanied by all the symptoms of the flu, cold and allergies to go along with it. But is it really a bacteria or virus that’s making you sick? Or is it your email?

That’s just one of the articles in our most recent BuzzWise newsletter!

We also have some interesting information on how to manage your online reputation and offer some tools and sites to help make your brand the best it can be.

And ever wondered about banner advertising and how to make the most of it? You’ll find out.

Check out our March BuzzWise newsletter … and sign up to join our mailing list today!

It’s info you need to know!