Envano Interactive Marketing Agency

Interactive Marketing

On February 29th, Facebook announced a “leap” to the new Timeline format for Branded pages.  In a nutshell, here are the Top Ten Changes for Brands on Facebook Timeline.  As visual case studies, we will reference Red Bull, UPS and our own Envano Timeline pages.  Drumroll please…

10. Customizable “About” Box: prominent placement allows admins to place custom content (we recommend a tagline and a website link)

9.  Highlight a Post: stretches a post across the entire length of your page (great for milestones in your organization’s or industry’s history)

8.  Pin a Post: locks a significant post to the top of your post listing (use for promotions or significant announcements)

7.  Admin Panel: integrates important information into a dashboard view

6.  Default Landing Page Setting: unfortunately….this functionality does not exist anymore in the new Timeline layout

5.  Tab Width Increases: allowing more real estate for custom promotions

4.  Private Messaging:  unfortunately, page admins can only send messages to fans who’ve contacted your Page

3.  New Tab Location and…2. Custom Tab Icons: higher visibility and customization for your tabs

And the #1 change to Facebook Timelines for Brands….Custom Cover Photo & Badge!  Much more real estate to work with, providing a very dynamic landing image for your fan page.

Honorable mention – these changes will automatically occur on March 30th, so update your pages and convert now!

Categories: All Posts, Social Media

As a project manager for an Interactive Marketing Agency, I am always looking for ways to make my job easier.  In today’s cloud-based world, it seems like every day there are new tools available that make it easier, quicker and cheaper than their PC-based competitors.  Here are 3 tools I use on a daily basis and why I think they are swell!

Skitch

Skitch is a screenshot tool that allows you to capture, edit, and annotate images from anywhere on the web.  Here’s what I like:

• Easily accessed from a browser plug-in
• Quick editing tools available within the Skitch pop-up editor
• Click & Drag to save or send, especially in Gmail or Google Docs
• Owned by and integrates easily with Evernote
• Mobile version that supports multiple devices
• And lastly…It’s FREE!

Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a cloud-based light-to-medium project management tool that is like a spreadsheet on steroids. Here’s what I like:

• The user interface is intuitive and has adaptable templates
• Gantt Charting feature produces client-ready timelines
• Share projects with others online or export in a number of formats
• Can include line-item comments and attachments such as documents
• Integrates with Gmail, Google Docs, and Box.com
• Mobile versions for iPhone, Android and Blackberry
• Free 30 day trial!

Google+ Hangouts

Google Hangouts is the newest tool in our interactive toolbox.  It is a video chat tool that is integrated with Google+ and is great for communicating with co-workers who work remotely or in a separate building or floor.  Here’s what I like:

• Can see all your hangout buddies in preview thumbnails on the dashboard
• Main viewer automagically switches to the person who is talking
• Easily share and view screens with others in the hangout
• Share and watch YouTube videos and use Group Chat
• “Hangouts With Extras” integrates Google Docs and has shared notes/sketchpad

Tags: g+, Google, project management, skitch, smartsheet, tools

Categories: Social Media, Tech Talk

Social Media is the buzz of today’s business landscape. If you are in B2B sales, you may be wondering if Social Media is worth all the visibility it receives. If so, how can you use it to increase sales success? Is it really useful or just a waste of time? The answer is that Social Media can greatly enhance your ability to make a sale – the tricky part is that it takes some work on your part.

If you have been selling for awhile, you would probably agree that selling is the act of aligning your “solution” with another’s “problem”. This is easier said that done and the path to a sale, can be fraught with traps and blind alleys – equating to wasted time. The more you can learn about a prospective company in advance of your pitch, the easier you can determine if there is favorable alignment. Sales people that seek opportunities without a sales strategy are prone to wasting valuable time. So you are always seeking ways you can efficiently connect with potential customers.

We live in an age of abundant information. I remember my elementary education when “comprehension” was as important as “reading speed”. Likewise consuming content is necessary but using that information in a meaningful way can be the difference between sales success or sales mediocrity.

Sales leaders have the aptitude to not only fish where the fish are, but know where to find hungry fish. In other words, there are suspects and then there are prospects. Prospects are the ones that fit that special profile, that display compatibility with your organization and services/products. How can you tell which are a likely fit? One way is to determine how they engage with their customers. Social Media can provide a good deal of insight about a prospect. Are they active online, do they engage their customers, is there web site intriguing? It is likely that companies that place value on engaging with customers also value fresh ideas and innovation – seeking partnerships that support their mission.

Understanding Social Media is a “must have” to today’s sales professional. Knowing where to look and what to look for provides those clues that tell the sales pro which suspects can quickly become prospects – leading to increased sales. Solid research is essential to sales success and using social media can turn a cold call into a warm call.

So invest some time with Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Linkedin – and fill your pipeline with opportunities that you can effectively align with. More tips to follow in future posts.

Categories: All Posts, Interactive Advertising, Marketing Strategy, Social Media

A combined 55.8% of online consumers rate Facebook pages influential (32.9%), very influential (16.7%) or extremely influential (6.2%) in making purchases from the retailer or consumer goods company behind the page, according to data collected by Compete in April and May 2011.

A combined 26% of online consumers visit the Facebook page of a retailer/consumer product company once a month or more.  This is an important statistics to remind companies that posting on Facebook regularly can increase awareness and sales.

A company Facebook Page must be compelling, visually stimulating, and have real-time engagement.  It is all about the fans, not about your company. The audience on Facebook is expressive, loyal, and active and also has a big influence on brands.

Final note: know your audience and have a Facebook strategy in order to build relationships, which will help increase brand recognition and sales.

Here is a good example of how Envano helped a Brand succeed on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/Millerwelders

Tags: facebook, facebook and consumers, facebook fans, facebook pages, facebook strategy, social media, social networking

Categories: All Posts, Interactive Advertising, Social Media

Email, news, search, and shopping are the top “me time” activities for Moms:

Moms control an estimated 80% of all household spending, or $1.7 trillion a year, and companies must understand how women’s shopping behaviors change when they have children.

Some key stats on Mom’s Smartphone usage:

- Nearly 60 percent of moms have smartphones, and 62 percent of moms access the Web through a mobile device on a regular basis—up from 22 percent just two years ago.

- Moms spend an average of 6.1 hours a day using their smartphones, compared with 2.5 hours for moms who have dumbphones, er, regular phones.

- Moms are checking weather, playing games, connecting through social media sites, listening to music, shopping, and accessing health information on their phones with greater frequency than the general population does.

To target moms, marketers need to have a strategy that is centered around their busy lifestyle.  Traditional marketing is not as effective as it has been in the past.  Moms are social, mobile & connected.

Here is a example of how Envano made “Mom’s life easier”:

If you don’t currently have Microsoft Tag Reader, click here to download the app for your phone.

Tags: moms online, moms shopping, moms social media, moms spending, online shopping

Categories: All Posts, Interactive Advertising, Marketing Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Social Media

Green Bay, WI – Envano, in partnership with e1evation and a large tractor manufacturer, entered the Region V NAMA awards and received two first place awards. The first award was in “Audio/Visual/Electronic Media Tools” and featured the clients Blog. The second was in “Other Social Media” and highlighted a group of social media tools including blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Scribd, UStream and Google Reader.

The Best of NAMA Awards are sponsored by the National Agri-Marketing Association. NAMA is the nation’s largest professional association for marketing and agribusiness professionals. Winning entries in 2010 were selected from among 1,199 entries that qualified for the national awards. The entire list of winners can be found at NAMA’s website. http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/winners.htm

David Sauter, President & CEO of Envano commented, “We are honored to share these prestigious awards with e1evation. Together we implemented a social media eco-system strategy that highlights our client’s thought-leader status in the market.” Sauter added, “We focused on low cost, flexible and fast to implement social media channels with fresh content that educates, informs and entertains our client’s global audience.”

Envano is a unique blend of people with marketing savvy, technology intelligence, and creative design expertise at the forefront of interactive marketing. Envano was created in 2001 to fill an internet marketing service void in the area. It is a privately held company headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The company has grown and expanded its service market to geographic locations within the United States including Wisconsin, Illinois, Atlanta, North Carolina, Ohio, and New York as well as clients with International reach and markets.

Tags: awards, E1evation, eco-system, interactive, NAMA, National Agri-Marketing Association, region V

Categories: All Posts, Social Media

Tags: check-in, local, restaurant

Categories: All Posts, Social Media

Scribd vs Slideshare

When it comes to online document sharing there are many options. The two most popular are Scribd and Slideshare. Scribed allows users to view, print, download and upload documents in a variety of formats including PDF and MS Word. It has an embeddable PDF format which makes it easy to place files into webpages or blogs. It also has a text-to-speech feature where files can be converted to MP3 for play-back purposes.

Slideshare bills itself as the “business media site” for document sharing. As with Scribd, users may view, print, download and upload documents and easily embed them into webpages via Slideshare widgets. Slideshare’s audio feature allows users to synch audio with slideshows.

Both sites are easy to use with robust functionality. Which should you use?

Since Scribd is driven by the Google system, ads cannot be blocked. Currently there is no paid version to eliminate ads but rumor has it that one is on the way.

Slideshare’s paid versions allow users to block ads. Skinned versions cost from $36 to $249 per month and include unlimited uploads, analytics, “buzz” tracking and varying number of leads. The plans differ most with the level of control over the channel.

But monthly traffic is where the biggest difference lies between Scribd and Slideshare. In July 2010, the unique monthly traffic for each was:

Scribd.com – 4,346,540

Slideshare.net – 1,745,535

So, while more control can be achieved with Slideshare, Scribd certainly appeals to a larger audience. Do you know where your audience is? Envano can help you figure that out.

Tags: Document Sharing, Scribd, SlideShare

Categories: All Posts, Social Media

Hearing and addressing an unhappy customer’s concerns will usually swing them over to the very happy customer you desire – Why in the world wouldn’t you ask an “already” happy customer to toot your horn a little?

A few weeks back, I got some work done on my car at a local dealership. In all honesty, I took my car to this particular dealership, because I’m the Mayor of it on Foursquare. Even if I just needed an inspection, why not also use this as another check-in to continue securing my mayorship, right? So why is this important?

There was something very interesting about the bill that I received at the end of my service. Well, not the bill itself, but a postcard that had been stapled to the bill. A very simple postcard – a logo of the dealership, a picture of a VW Jetta, and a message from the Service Manager: “Thanks for your business. If you have a few minutes, please visit any of the sites below and leave a comment or review about us”. Then there was a list of some shortened URLs that led directly to the dealership’s profile on various review sites like Yelp and Google Places.

There’s no reason for you to not being doing this with your customers.

Read more at: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6540/3-Steps-to-Turn-Happy-Customers-into-Cheerleaders.aspx#ixzz0zdbVKD1X

Tags: car, foursquare, survey

Categories: All Posts, Social Media

Tags: apps, coupons, facebook, foursquare, mobile, rewards program, yelp

Categories: All Posts, Interactive Advertising, Social Media