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Social Media Marketing: Big Brands, Big Plans, Big Brother

Posted on by Posted in Online Marketing

Don’t get too excited, we’re not in Orson Welle’s 1984 dystopian apocalypse just yet, but the marketing world is definitely staking its claim to history after the end of 2013’s quarterly revenue stats. As you can see here courtesy of IAB, $9.6 billion all from internet marketing; proof of the effectiveness of targeted marketing. Not that Facebook tailor their ads to people’s ‘pages’ or anything according to this post by the NY Times. No no, they just take everything else about you and tailor their ads that way. I know this after a friend posted a complaint that he was seeing ads for ‘mature dating’ and ‘funeral services’ after hitting his 50th. Coincidence, or just dynamite marketing?

Coca-Cola has popped up in conversation more and more thanks to their latest ad campaign which focuses on ‘sharing’ a coke with a friend via printed names on the bottles. Marketing Week (Olympia Stadium, London 26th – 27th June) posted this article on Coca-Cola’s new buzz, and I for one think it’s absolute genius. The simplicity of the campaign in no way detracts from the effect, and the decision to get them on the shelves before the campaign was established made all the difference.

Back to social media: do you think the success of Coca-Cola’s latest scheme has anything to do with the word ‘share’? You should, you see it a hundred times a day, every day, on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

I have never understood youths who discourage ad campaigns or the companies that launch them. They complain without understanding or reason, and fail to see the potential in a simple idea. Marketing Week’s accredited partners for 2013 include Skyline Whitespace; exhibition stand designers, which you can see examples of by clicking here, who took the trophy in 2012 for the Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Award. This year will see Skyline Whitespace unveiling ‘revolutionary’ new technology aimed at increasing interactivity between customer, product, and subsequently, brand.

While I have utmost confidence in innovative new approaches to target (or ‘more accurate’) marketing from companies like Skyline, there is a concern that the only people benefitting from social media marketing are the same massive companies who have their hands in all kinds of pies.

If you’ve never seen a corporate spider web, here’s your chance to see who actually owns what thanks to this infographic posted on Huffington Post:

Companies

I really do hate it when Google emulates through me, especially when I’m not in front of a screen at all, but as you can see, the web really is what you make of it.

Plan Your Perfect Computer Presentation

Posted on by Posted in IT Solutions

Business presentations are a risky business, get them right and it’s amazing the impact you will make and the doors that will open for you, get it wrong though and it could seriously harm your business and reputation. The first aspect of a business presentation that can set you off on the wrong foot is your equipment, a laptop and projector are perfectly acceptable and can give a very professional look to your presentation but if you are clunky and unsure in its use then your presentation immediately looks oafish and amateur. The most important factor in delivering a professional presentation is preparation, remember if you fail to prepare you are preparing to fail, no matter the length or potential distribution of your presentation it is important that you know it inside and out and are able to deliver it confidently and professionally.

So you’ve got your laptop and projector all set up, you know the presentation and you know how to deliver it, but then you go to start your slideshow and can’t find the file, you finally find it and start, flicking manually through your well made slides convinced that you are doing perfectly well. But ask yourself does somebody manually flicking through power-point slides really look professional? Imagine you are part of the audience and all of a sudden your view of the presentation might change. The trick is to take inspiration from those that are the masters of presentations, huge industries use presentations that are stored on disc and with a simple close of a CD or DVD drawer their presentations are rolling and look smooth and professional. Huge industries even have duplicate CDs and DVDs of their presentations to make sure that they run smoothly and can be distributed throughout their company.

Whatever you are presenting then you can easily do away with the constant clicking of a traditional power-point presentation and have an intricately timed and executed presentation that will be sure to wow. Yes it takes a little more preparation and you will have to learn the timing of the presentation beforehand but when it all comes together it really will be worth the extra time and effort and will ensure that you really make a splash. So if you are planning a presentation then I urge you to do yourself justice, don’t be caught out by a dodgy mouse or constant looking at your laptop, you really won’t regret it.

Updating Websites For Ease Of Access

Posted on by Posted in Web Design

Getting the right design for a website has always been key to success, with attractive websites getting more interest and traffic. Of course, there are websites which go the other way and get traffic because they are so terrible, but if you want your business to be successful online; this is probably not the best tactic!

A few years ago, web design concentrated on designs for websites, but this sometimes ended up with compatibility issues or the website being almost unusable. Some were difficult to navigate, others lacked content, and some had these issues and more. Now it is more important for a website to be easily accessible and usable across different formats. People increasingly view websites when they are on the move – not just through laptops when outside their house, but on mobiles and handheld devices wherever they are. This change in the way websites are viewed has made website design take much more into account.

Getting your website to work across various platforms is vital.

Getting a website which performs well, does everything you need and keeps people on your website can seem difficult, but getting a company with experience – such as Liquid Bubble – to help you design your website. Utilising those who know how to make great websites can really boost your traffic, whilst giving customers easy access to the information and services that they are looking for.

Website design companies now will also ensure that your website can be viewed through the whole range of devices which people use now. From the varieties of web browsers on PCs and Laptops, mobile viewing and even when different devices are connected together. Many people are used to viewing websites through TVs, either using built in programs or connecting other devices through HDMI cables, such as games consoles and the array of internet TV set top boxes available. If you are using the latter, make sure you have the most up to date cables so that you can get the best picture and the full range of functions from your equipment – a website like HDMI cable 4 U has a great range to suit various needs and budgets.

Once you get your website designed and up and running, the real hard part of advertising your site to get people to see it can begin!