Social Audience Marketing

You Don't Need Foursquare if You Get Beamboard

2013-06-19T20:09:36Z

Ever wish you could get messaging to customers who are in close proximity to one of your locations? Do you like Foursquare, but wish for something a little more personal and interactive? This may be the service you're looking for!

Beamboard is a new service that allows users to connect with friends and businesses in real time.

By simply opting in to a business who uses Beamboard, they can use their mobile devices like a radar to locate one of your locations closest to them.

From there, you can send messaging about any specials that may be going on, current store hours, or similar information.

From a user side, it's free to join and allows the ease of combining all of their connections in one easy place - the board as they refer to it - and makes it easy to connect with friends and favorite companies, no matter where they are.

We had the pleasure of meeting the company owners at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago last month, and we learned quite a bit about their newest service. It's great for companies of all sizes, and easy to set up and use.

The introductory video provides a short and fun overview of the Beamboard service.

While this is new technology, we saw a positive response from show attendees. It's worth investigating to see if it's something your company can benefit from.

I recommend setting up a free personal account first so you can experience what your customers would before deciding to move forward.

How is Your Franchisor Making Google+ Work for You?

2013-06-17T00:19:42Z

Building a strong offline and online presence in local markets is of key importance to every organization that sells products and/or services to a local audience.

For franchises, this is an ever-increasing challenge because as they grow, they expand into more and more local markets. It is a challenge that, if ignored, can lead to devastating results. On the flip side, when addressed properly, it can lead to industry widespread exposure...and that's a good thing.

One important aspect of that is securing a prime spot in the increasingly important map listing results that appear in response to keyword searches on Google.

When that all-powerful map appears, you need to be there.

While Google Local Pages are still active, Google is transitioning priority to Google+ pages, so it's imperative that franchises that need a local presence setup a Google+ page. Not just any page can be setup, however.

In order to appear in local map results, you must setup a Google+ page as a "Local Business" rather than choosing an alternative such as product/brand, company/institution, arts/entertainment/sports or other.

It's also crucial that you then go through the process and complete all the steps in order to take advantage of the power that Google+ offers:

-Specify correct physical location
-Choose the correct categories
-Add a description with keywords
-Adding a website link
-Add a logo and cover photo
-Post a welcoming message

And lastly...verify the page! Without verification the page will not appear in Google results...then the efforts are wasted.

It is important for franchises to determine who is responsible for the setup and maintenance of these pages. Many pages can be setup through a single Google account, which makes it easy for the corporate franchise team to maintain.

Given that in most industries audience engagement on Google+ is not as crucial as it is on other networks such as Facebook or Twitter, corporate management of the pages may be the most practical and make the most sense.

If it is decided that independent franchises will setup their own Google+ pages, then the corporate team should provide them with instructions about how to do so properly in order to maximize results.

Regardless of who sets it up, Google+ is an essential component of establishing a solid online presence for franchises in local markets.

Does Your Franchisor Know How To Fix this Twitter Crisis?

2013-06-17T00:15:58Z

Social media positions are still fairly new in the grand scheme of things. Like all new things, it's good to create a plan before rolling out new services, positions, or products. In the case of a social media manager, one who typically poses as the voice of your company, be sure you have the proper procedures in place should the time come when that person (or department) needs to be laid off or let go.

A while ago I came across an article highlighting this very topic. HMV, a UK brand, was downsizing. Unfortunately, that included their social media staff. From reading the article, it sounds like a termination plan was not put in place, or at least not a complete one.

Before starting the termination process, they neglected to remove access to their social media accounts for those staff. Maybe they thought it was best to wait until they were notified that they were being let go before doing so, or maybe they didn't think the unthinkable would happen.

Unfortunately, the staff being let go included their Twitter followers in on the experience. The official corporate Twitter page was filled with tweets detailing the experience:

"We're tweeting live from HR where we're all being fired! Exciting!"

"There are over 60 of us who are being fired at once! Mass execution, of loyal employees who love the brand."

"Just overheard the Marketing Director ... ask, 'How do I shut down Twitter?'"

As you can imagine, it took some damage control from corporate to fix this one.

It must have taken some time for them to determine how to remove access to their social media accounts, as a now-former employee posted this from her personal account:

"You need to go to 'settings' and revoke my account access as an admin. I'm still able to switch between accounts."

Lessons to take away from this?

1. Know your accounts, and who has access: especially with larger companies who have multiple social media accounts, upper management needs a clear understanding of who has access to which accounts. They also need to understand all of the social media accounts the company is using, at least on a basic level, so that they can access the accounts themselves should they need to, as in the case of staff changes.

2. Create a termination plan: this may vary for each company, and could possibly vary based on each situation. It's best to have a plan in place though for termination situations, disgruntled employees who have direct access to social media accounts, and even extended leaves of abscence/sudden illness.

Things to think about include: when an employee will be terminated, what is the process for removing their access from social site? Who will take over in the interim? What will happen with the social media sites once the staff responsible are no longer employed by the company?

3. Even in good times, monitor accounts: it's not a favorite task by any means, but periodically reviewing social sites for your company will ensure that things are going as they should, and the staff representing your company are doing so based on the standards and guidelines you set forth.

Following the tips above can potentially avoid an internal social media disaster situation. Being proactive will help in the long term to help with sticky situations in the future. It's difficult to recover from a social media situation and takes more time, effort, and stress than most people would like to deal with. Having a plan in place can alleviate some of that and make life a bit easier.

How We tell Our Client's Stories

2013-06-12T20:15:12Z

At the Face 2 Face conference put on by Progress Media this year, we were challenged to consider our stories, refine them and learn to share them as part of our business growth strategy.

Story is a huge component of what my team and I do every day, however the importance of my own story and how that shapes my company's growth has never resonated with me quite so clearly.

My story begins in Texas, where I was raised. In the 5 years after I graduated with a BS in Education, I worked as a teacher and on the side honed my song writing skills, performing and recording two CD's as the lead singer in a local band. I also managed to write a non-fiction book called Lord, Help Me...I'm Single, which was published in 2006, about life as a single girl after university.

Stories. They were intertwined in everything I did...in my teaching, my writing, my songs. And I wanted more.

So I left Texas on an adventure. I moved to St. John's, Newfoundland to study folklore, which essentially is the study of how cultures communicate their belief systems and tell their stories through varied mediums. For my thesis I traveled to Louisiana and studied the local lore surrounding a humanoid primate (aka "bigfoot" type creature) known as the Honey Island Swamp Monster.

I collected stories the natives told, and I witnessed how they wove those stories in a variety of ways to sell them, to sell the belief to the public, and to make money. To this day I have the t-shirt, books, DVD's and plaster cast footprint as keepsakes of my experiences...in addition to my thesis, of course.

At the time I didn't realize that experience would shape my future in the marketing industry, however it has done just that.

After moving with my husband (a Canadian who I met when we played in a band together in St. John's) to Winnipeg and then to Oxford, Mississippi, we made our way back up to Atlantic Canada and settled in Halifax.

With a young daughter and no work visa, I started learning ways to use the Internet to bring in an income from home. And so I entered the field of Internet marketing, and it fit like a glove. I didn't realize why until much later, but I now know that it's my passion for telling stories that made it click.

When I opened Wired Flare in 2011, I had 4 years of experience in marketing but a lifetime of experience in telling stories. And at Wired Flare, that's exactly what we do.

We have the privilege and honour each day of telling our clients' stories. They entrust us with this great task, and to do it well we make our clients' stories our own. Their stories become ours, and we use our voice to tell them out loud, to put them to work for our clients...to communicate their stories and their beliefs in such a way that their audiences become part of the stories we're telling.

What we do is about much more than helping our clients make money...it's about getting to the core of why our clients do what they do and helping them achieve their end goals...which have a far greater impact than money.

Those end goals, the visions, the ultimate impact on the world that our collective stories make...that becomes legend, and legend lives on forever.

How Do You Feel about Kmart's Edgy New Marketing?

2013-06-11T19:47:39Z

Kmart is another company that has been limping along for some time now.

However, a recent advertising campaign has gone viral, sparking conversation around the company by people of all ages.

Truth be told, I first heard of their newest commercials from my pre-teen daughter and her friends, probably because the play on words made them feel like they were saying things they shouldn't and was hilarious to them.

The first commercial, entitled "Ship My Pants" highlights Kmart's newer service of being able to ship any item within the store.

Say the phrase "Ship My Pants" quickly enough, and, well....there you have it. It's funny to almost everyone.

Seeing that as a success (or maybe it was pre-planned), they came out with a second commercial entitled, "Big Gas Man." Again, say that really quickly

I have to admit it was a good tactic - it got people talking about the brand again, in a positive way.

People have even joined in the word play when commenting on videos and posts about these commercials. I think the most notable one I've seen yet is: "These big gas prices made me ship my pants."

The commercials have been hitting YouTube, Facebook, and even Instagram accounts, which only helped spread the word.

However, was it enough to get people back into the stores?

We'll have to wait to see how the numbers play out, but in the meantime, it's nice to see the company try something new, funny, and a bit edgier to generate buzz and hopefully regain some customer traffic.

Do You Know this Easy Way to Get 49% More Foot-Traffic to Your Franchise?

2013-06-11T19:44:33Z

Mobile search has fast become consumers' preferred method when searching for local businesses.

In fact, 50% of Google mobile searches are local. The data is clear--mobile search is surging as desktop search continues to decline.

Having a mobile optimized website is now a must for local businesses that want to be found by the millions of local consumers who are routinely conducting mobile local searches from their smartphones and tablets. Mobile optimization--and the related building blocks of local SEO--is nearly as essential for a local business as having a business phone number.

And yet, most small and medium-sized businesses, many of which are local businesses, are not well positioned to be found by mobile searchers. According to data from SMB DigitalScape, 94.5 percent of U.S. SMB websites are not mobile optimized.

It's time for local businesses to get serious about mobile, or risk losing ground to mobile-ready competitors.

1. Is Mobile Really So Important for My Local Business?

Among the advantages of mobile search is that it's newer; therefore mobile search results are a lot less cluttered than desktop search results. This lack of competition in the results gives a local businesses even greater visibility in searches.

If that doesn't offer sufficient motivation to start thinking seriously about mobile, there's a growing mountain of data to support the urgency to get mobile optimized...now.

Consider that:

Mobile searchers convert faster, with 55% responding within one hour of a search. ***
Mobile optimized websites have 11.5 percent higher click-through rates. *
25% of mobile users who search for a local business make an in-store purchase. **
49% of mobile users who search for a local business location search for it on a map. **
One out of three smartphone users search specifically for contact information, such as phone numbers, maps and driving directions. ****

2. I'm Mobile Optimized, But I'm Still Not Showing Up in Mobile Searches

Optimizing a website for mobile devices is only one piece of a local business' mobile strategy. The smaller screen size means a business has to show up among the top listings for its particular product or service, otherwise the customer will never see the business' listing. Therefore, search engine optimization is a critical component for visibility in mobile searches.

Local businesses must ensure they not only claim their online business listings, they must also make sure their basic business information - name, address, phone number - is accurate and consistent, everywhere it appears online.

3. Where's My Google Map Pin?

Local search is broken on most major directory apps. For example, when performing a local search on Google, your business may not show up - even if you are standing inside your business location.

Once again, to show up on the Google map in a local search, you need to make sure your business listing is claimed, the data is accurate and the location pin is in the correct place.

So, Just Do It

Smartphones have clearly changed the way we perform everyday tasks.

For local businesses, mobile is no longer something to push off until next year. If you want to remain competitive in your local marketplace, your business has to be visible to the growing number of mobile local consumers.

Move local SEO and mobile website optimization to the top of your to do list. And just do it.

* Google-Nielsen Study

** Startapp

*** Google Smartphone Study

**** Mobile Path to Purchase Study by Telmetrics and xAd

Do You Know How Easy Your Video Marketing Can Be?

2013-06-10T17:31:14Z

I love video. I've been working with video for over thirty years and for over half of that time I've been involved in putting video on the internet. However I've usually used video to accomplish a specific goal. The goal may be trivial but I've always had a hard time making video unless it has a purpose. Over the next few blogs we are going to look at some specific goals and how video may help achieve those goals.

If generating traffic to your web site or converting customers is not as important as raising the awareness of the brand or cause then consider using off-site or viral videos. These are videos that are promoted and distributed on YouTube and Facebook. The idea is to get a lot of people to see the video not to get people to come to your web site. You want exposure but not necessarily new customers.

These types of videos may be used in a broader marketing plan where for the first phase you raise awareness and the next phase you have a call to action. Perhaps you want to align your brand with a certain topic or issue and the video will be used to tie the two together so that when someone looks for a specific topic your video, and your name show up.

Videos that help achieve awareness often have these attributes:

Short Length: Usually under 2 minutes. If you want people to watch it, and spread it, on the internet you cannot take time coming to the point and you can't waste people's time. The shorter the better.

Compelling: The video must have a compelling message or be very funny. Why would anyone watch it? Not to find out about the features of your software. Ask why would someone who doesn't know you want to show this video to their friends?

Social Media Friendly: The video must be easily shared and promoted in social media. You should be able to embed the video in a blog, post it to Facebook and send out a tweet about it.

Relevant: It must be relevant or related to your brand or cause. Why would people think about the video and your brand? I was once working with a nonprofit when the Haitian earthquake hit. Suddenly people wanted to do a video about Haiti. That is fine but there was no relationship between the earthquake and the goals of the nonprofit.

Measurable: Even if you are not trying to generate leads or sales you should have a way to measure your success. YouTube, for example, has ways of measuring how many people see a video. Have some way to measure your success.

Quality: Quality is often one of those "in the eye of the beholder" type of debates. I would concede that quality for viral videos is not as important as message but poor quality should not hinder message. If the message is obscured or quality prevents people from watching the video you have not achieved your goals.

Branding: You may or may not have a call to action but if you are trying to raise awareness of your brand or cause your brand should be very clear.

Even if your goal is not to increase web traffic to your site or convert visitors to customers you must have a plan on how you will use video on line.

You can download a Free e-book about different types of online videos and how to use them on the internet. Just follow this link for: 10 things you can do with video on the Internet.

Is Yelp Holding Your Franchise Brand Hostage?

2013-06-09T23:50:26Z

I recently talked with a restaurant owner at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago last month. He shared his story of his frustration with Yelp, stating that he wasn't quite sure how to overcome negative posts. I asked him more about the story to get a better understanding of what was happening, and in it was a good lesson and example of how to make the most out of online reviews.

He said that he started seeing negative reviews come up on some of his locations; some of them were true issues that he was able to resolve, and some were less pertinent complaints, with some comments seemingly from people who are generally unhappy and tend to complain about everything.

Concerned that negative reviews would overshadow positive ones, he started a campaign in his restaurants to encourage people to leave positive reviews on Yelp after their dining experience. He received a good response in general, though when he reviewed his Yelp pages, he noticed that the reviews were skewed as far as which were being posted. After some digging, he found that all of the reviews written were published; however, some (notably many of the positive ones) were more or less buried.

Frustrated, he contacted Yelp for assistance, and learned that he could get help with this, for a price. As budget constraints didn't allow for this, he took matters into his own hands. He was sure to continue to encourage customers to leave positive reviews when they were pleased with their experience, but he also made a personal connection with those that left negative reviews.

In addition to publicly addressing concerns and making them right, whether that be to offer a discount on a future visit, apologize in a sincere manner, or whatever would make the situation better, he and his managers were notified whenever a customer redeemed these "negative situation coupons."

By taking this extra step and making the personal connection, he reported that many customers not only gave the restaurant a second chance, but they became regular customers, who, interestingly enough, started leaving positive reviews on Yelp and other similar sites.

Negative reviews can be daunting and worrisome, especially to smaller to mid-size companies, but, as you can see, handled the right way, these reviews can really turn things around and save dissatisfied customers.

I enjoyed hearing this story and seeing how his efforts really paid off. What has worked for you?

Is Your Sales Staff Leaking Dollars and Washing out Your Profit?

2013-06-09T23:46:14Z

If you ever trained a puppy, you learned how to negotiate. "SIT!" "Good boy." "Here's a treat." That's negotiation.

We negotiate with our KIDS every day. "If /when you finish your veggies, you can have the ice cream." That's negotiation.

And what about our spouses? "Honey, if I go out to the paint store and pick up the paint, will you paint the kitchen?" That's negotiation.

Point being while negotiation is thought of as a SALES SKILL, it really is an everyday life skill we use a lot more than we realize.

There are some areas that are non-negotiable. For example, try getting a discount at a department store. Unless it's on sale, the price is the price. In some industries, negotiation is the norm - real estate for example.

What about a car? It's a known fact there's a window sticker price and the price that you pay; a negotiated price.

That's an 'up front' negotiation. It's expected. And sometimes it doesn't go well. One side won't budge or won't negotiate to your satisfaction, so someone loses. Usually both parties.

For negotiation to be successful, both parties need to feel good at the conclusion. But if you're in sales, price cutting is normally a daily negotiation.

Tips to make you better at negotiating:

1. Never, ever discount the price right off the bat. Often a price cut will get the salesperson more excited than the prospect. You may think going in with a lower price will make the prospect grateful and give you an easy 'go' right away. It usually won't. If they take your offer of the lower price, that indicates they might have taken it at the rate card price which is where you SHOULD be quoting from to start with.

2. When you talk price be strong and confident. A weak or hesitant delivery makes the salesperson sound soft. Then the price sounds soft and thereby invites a lower offer.

3. Delay giving concessions until the end of the conversation. A concession given too early is just a 'giveaway.' Save it for closing the sale by saying, "That's an interesting idea. Let's come back to that a bit later."

4. When there is a request for a price concession, have a nice way to reject it. Just because they have dealt with other weak salespeople doesn't mean you need to be that way. We can use a very effective, "I wish we could; however, that's not an option we have" technique. Or you can say, "Since you only have $4,000 and the project is $5,500, we can work to remove a few parts of the package.

5. Never underestimate your strength in a negotiating situation. Some prospects assume a salesperson is in the position of weakness. If you fall for that, that will weaken your resolve and soften your backbone. Understand this: If the prospect is bargaining with you or even discussing the proposal with you, that's an indicator of interest; a buying sign. Their actions are telling you without saying it outright you have something they need or want.

6. When do negotiations begin? When you say hello. Negotiations, in general, are ongoing all day long at work and at home. And it's often a subtle thing. Recognizing you're constantly involved in negotiation gives you an advantage. Be aware that life itself is a series of negotiating situations. You often are negotiating without realizing it.

7. Avoid goodwill conceding. (Thank you Gavin Kennedy - Everything is Negotiable for this concept.) The principle of "goodwill conceding" is this: The salesperson thinks that if they are nice and give a price concession to the other side, the other side will reciprocate with a concession back to you. In other words, they'll buy.

Nice idea. Only it backfires with a professional buyer. What they do is take what you offer and try to get more. (After all you're giving things away.)

8. When you give - GET. When you do give a price concession, use the 'if/then' technique so that you get something in return. "Mr. Jones, if I can get you the widgets at that price, are you able to give me the go-ahead today (or can we do business today)?" or "Mr. Jones, if I can give you that price, can I get a referral from you?"

There are dozens of other "gets" when you give. Salespeople don't mind giving when they are getting something in return. But perhaps the most important reason to take something back when you give a concession is this: It puts a 'price' on your concession. No longer are concession requests free. By asking for something in return, it keeps you from getting additional requests for concessions.

9. Why is it important to be a good negotiator? Because a bad negotiator leaks dollars and reduces the all important profit to the company. Profit is what's needed to run a company. No profit, no company.

Now, one closing suggestion: Whenever you can, substitute the word 'investment' for the word price. In most cases, the prospect is making an investment, and a good one at that.

Nancy Friedman is available to speak at your next meeting. Call & talk with her at 314.291.1012 or email moc.rotcodenohpeletnull@fycnan

A Short Checklist for a Superior Online Marketing for Franchising

2013-06-06T17:43:56Z

In order to set your franchise system and your franchisees up for long-term online success, it's crucial to create a well-defined online marketing model that identifies how the Internet will be used in marketing and who is responsible for various components of that process.

Unfortunately, this is an element that is often overlooked.

1. Search Engine Marketing

It's important to consider the search engine marketing components as well as the social networking components.

How will the Internet be used to ensure the franchise website lands on Page 1 for relevant searches in all of its local markets?
Who will ensure that happens... franchisor or franchisee?
How will social networking be utilized? Only at the brand level or to help local franchises engage with their markets? How many pages and profiles are required to do this?
Who is responsible for setting up and maintaining those social media networks?

There are many options for creating a model that fits each franchise system's unique needs. Some franchisors prefer to control the use of online marketing and social media entirely. Some encourage their franchisees to engage online locally using social networking, search marketing or both. Some franchisors control all of the content and customer services, whereas others leave that entirely to the franchisees. Many franchise systems utilize a mix of both.

2. How to Make it Run Smoothly

While we have our opinions as to what works best based on the franchises we've worked with, what's important is to identify the system that works best for your franchise and then specify the ins and outs of how that's going to work, along with guidelines to make sure it all runs smoothly.

Elements to consider include:

How to maintain brand consistency.
How to monitoring and respond to customer feedback in a consistent and positive way.
How to implement a crisis media plan so everyone involves knows how to respond to serious online issues and prevent the rapid spreading of negative customer feedback.

In the event that the responsibility lies largely with franchisees, it is very important to specific y in advance the online expectations and boundaries by which those expectations should be achieved. Items to consider here include:

Will social media participation be mandatory, and if so what measures of success will be put in place and what level of interaction would be required?
How much time would franchisees be expected to spend on social media in order to accomplish necessary goals?
What costs would be incurred to achieve these goals? Time or money or both?
Would franchisors recommend outsourcing as an option, and if so how would that be funded?

These are just some of the aspects to consider when designing an Internet Marketing model that meets the needs of your franchise. Each franchise is unique, and it's important to create a tailored model that benefits both franchisor and franchisees.

Also, remember that whether your franchise is a start-up or is well-established with many franchisees, it is never too late to implement a model that will support your online success.

Is JC Penney Really Dying as a Brand?

2013-06-05T18:57:20Z

JC Penney has had its share of struggles, between changing staff, changing sales policy (and then reverting back to the original ways), and a myriad of other situations that have come up in recent years. Many wonder if the retailer will be able to hang on through it all.

I came across a somewhat humorous article entitled, "7 Reasons JC Penney's Social Media Team is Probably on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." The article gives 7 examples of situations their social media team has faced recently, including negative press, rumors, and the like. The fifth reason made me laugh out loud for some reason, and made me really feel for the social media team:

I probably shouldn't have laughed, because I do feel for them - they are fighting a tough battle, and when the chips are down, people sure are free with their thoughts and aren't afraid to share them with the world.

On a more serious note, though, this point from the article confused me a bit:

Personally, I thought the response to their advertising #JCP Listens was fantastic! The commercial iteself went viral and was being widely discussed, and to see the number of likes and comments shows that people ARE engaging with the brand and want to be heard. Of course, this is likely a nightmare to manage and respond to, but hopefully the company was proactive in its planning before launching this campaign.

With the right social media strategy in place, I think JC Penney's social media team will do just fine. Communication and continued support for the brand will be helpful when determining the future of the company. However, in the meantime, if someone wants to buy the team a round of drinks, I'm sure they wouldn't mind!

Great New Tool to Increase Sales

2013-06-02T23:42:03Z

Local Market Launch today introduced a local visibility audit tool that enables national brands and multi-location businesses to gauge the local online presence (across search, local directories, and social media) of all their locations--whether they have two, hundreds or even thousands of locations.

Until now, managing the local online presence of multiple locations has been a resource-intensive undertaking for national and regional brands, often yielding mediocre results.

Our new tool allows brands to efficiently identify locations with underperforming aspects of online presence, such as inconsistent or incomplete business listing information in online directories, a factor that can diminish a location's findability in online and mobile searches.

Manual approaches to managing the ever-increasing number of digital channels that publish local business information are simply ineffective.

Our new local visibility audit tool enables multi-location businesses to get a handle on local online presence, control brand assets across their organization, and ultimately help increase traffic to their local operations. We look forward to introducing our new tool to attendees of next week's Street Fight Summit West.

Distinguishing features of the tool include:

Ability to input a business location phone number and view associated directory listings in real time
Widgetized for easy sharing of the same functionality with another website
Ability for multiple businesses with the same name (e.g., Rusty's), or for businesses that can't be found with their phone number (e.g., new businesses) to be found
Currently actively scans the top 25-plus directory websites, with additional directory sites continuing to be integrated into the tool
"A select group of agency partners have been using the tool in beta release with their national brand clients to review their local online visibility across search, local directories, and social media," said Jeff Hoyer, VP of sales, Local Market Launch. "Feedback indicates it is a compelling pre-sales tool that agencies and resellers can use to effectively demonstrate the overall value of our business listings and reputation management solutions."

Local Market Launch will showcase the new tool and the company's full range of local online presence solutions for SMBs, franchisees and multi-location businesses, as a sponsor of next week's Street Fight Summit West, which takes place June 4, at the Bentley Reserve, in Downtown San Francisco.

Local Market Launch's Coryat will take to the conference stage to introduce a panel discussion titled, "How Mobile Analytics and Mapping are Transforming Local," featuring Street Fight columnist Matt Sokoloff.

On the eve of the conference, Monday, June 3, Local Market Launch will host an invitation-only wine tasting event offering conference attendees "A Taste of Santa Barbara" and the opportunity to jumpstart the networking with their peers in the hyperlocal industry. To request an invitation to the event, contact Angela Tan at angela(at)localmarketlaunch(dot)com.

How to Make it Easy for People to Buy From You

2013-05-30T18:19:36Z

Users have demonstrated that they prefer mobile for their communications because they see it as a two way street where they can both self-select and receive individualized content.

But many brands and companies are still harboring the "If the experts say mobile helps drive sales then we'll use mobile to drive sales".

That's the kind of strategy that banks get 'dinged' for in TV commercials all the time. All jokes aside, even if banks get a bad reputation for not caring enough for their customers, they sure have done exactly what their customers have asked for by allowing mobile deposits through their banking apps- and it's really paid off.

Consumers are embracing mobile devices for the ease and convenience they bring to everyday activities, such as using smartphones and tablets to deposit more than $40 billion into their accounts by snapping a picture of a check, according to Mitek, a provider of mobile imaging services that enable the mobile deposit features of banking apps. And, you know that when personal finance management via mobile apps is entrusted by millions that you've hit the jackpot for proving that there is enormous potential for consumers to trust mobile for every activity and interaction.

Now, you have to stop and ask yourself, how did the banks realize this point of convenience would be so admirably appreciated by consumers? Even more so, imagine what barriers would have been difficult for banks to overcome to reach such an innovative idea. For one, coming up with an innovative idea like mobile check deposits isn't something the bank would HAVE to improve upon- the fact that banks have already invested in ATM and branch locations throughout their geographic footprint means that there was not a gap in the services. The idea of going to the bank to deposit your checks had been working fine for literally hundreds of years. Today, it's now just another thing we expect from our banks- proven by the high adoption rate and the billions of dollars in deposits that have been entrusted in the care of mobile banking apps.

Plus, another study conducted by Quicken found that 15% of those surveyed say they prefer to check their financial accounts on a smartphone or tablet and that number is only going to grow in the next five to ten years, according to Barry Saik, vice president and general manager at Quicken. Additionally, more than 50% of users check their financial account balances on their smartphone monthly.

What are the implications for your brand or business? When you think about mobile, challenge yourself not to think inside the box (re-designing your current desktop web assets for mobile) but allow yourself time to think bigger.

Are there any areas of your business that perform customer facing functions that would be easier and more fun to do on mobile? Our clients have unanimously agreed that old paper and desktop web and email surveys are not quite as engaging, so they've moved their customer feedback program to our system to give their customers a refreshingly simple mobile experience for giving feedback. Since the ability to feel that one's opinion has been heard and is appreciated improves customer loyalty, it's a double win for you! Your other win for customer loyalty is adapting user experience to be simple and snazzy on mobile, but more on that in a little bit.

When it's easy to do on the go, people will do it. In the graph to the left from Google's Our Mobile Planet you can see than an overwhelming majority of US smartphone users say that they use the internet on their smartphone to pass time while waiting (around 70%) and to answer questions quickly (around 60%) and that behavior doesn't really change at all between the 18-year old and 49-year old users.

Ultimately, it's important to keep in mind what consumers really expect. The percentage of smartphone users that expect websites to be as easy to use as on a computer is already over 60% and it continues to grow. Consumers expect your web experience to be seamless on mobile- even if you think it's an unreasonable expectation from the brand's perspective. It takes a serious investment of time and resources to be mobile friendly but it's worth it!

In fact, it may be what's standing between you and increasing your sales. First impressions are everything with mobile: 44 percent of online shoppers said they would never return to sites that are not mobile friendly, according to a new report from Kentico Software.

"The most surprising finding was the difference in the trust placed in self-selected content such as reviews and natural search versus digital push communications such as banner ads and text messages," said Tracy Stokes, principal analyst at Forrester, Boston.

A new report from Forrester Research on digital push communications showed that less than 15% of U.S. consumers trust text messages from marketers and information on mobile applications. This is important- make sure that you offer options for your customers to connect with you- allow them to have several interactions with your brand via channels of their choice to build their trust. And, above all, find ways to allow your customers to initiate and choose the timing of communication and engagement with your mobile brand assets.

The moral of the story: If you make everything your customers need and want to access seamless on mobile, they'll choose to visit your content again and again. And, you'll become the brand that they're checking out when they're on the go and passing time browsing the web on their smartphone.

Not sure where to start in becoming mobile friendly? Ask your customers! Consider using mobile surveys (like ours here at On The Spot Systems) on your website that are smartphone and tablet friendly and extremely easy for consumers to use.

Ask your customers visiting your website on their smartphones and tablets (you can target showing the mobile experience survey using browser detection) Ask them if they think the experience is mobile friendly, what pages or sections of your site need the most attention to be user-friendly, and what they need to be improved before they consider using your site on mobile frequently.

Then, you'll have a starting point where you can begin your rollout of redesigned mobile web properties with user-experience in mind. Need help? We're here to coach you on delivering your customers the best user experience possible across every device- mobile and otherwise!

Can Facebook Stop the Fake Franchise Brands from Posting?

2013-05-30T18:06:59Z

Facebook is trying to keep imposter pages from luring people into thinking they're following a business page or even celebrity, when they're really following a fake account.

They announced that they are verifying certain pages, namely a handful of high profile celebrities, journalists, and "big brands."

A page will be considered official if it displays the blue checkmark, as shown below:

If you run a business page, should you be concerned with having your page verified? Not really. Facebook states that a page cannot ask to be verified; they are targeting specific pages and authenticating them one by one.

Pages cannot be asked to be verified, though you can report a page that appears to be an imposter if you come across one.

While this may seem like a step in a good direction, I'm not sure it's that big of a deal.

I think we've seen more fake Twitter accounts than we have on Facebook, but it's always good to try to stop imposter pages from popping up.

Facebook is constantly trying to make improvements to the site, with the ultimate goal being to keep users in the social media site as long as possible. They try to make it so that you can do virtually anything you need to without leaving Facebook.

They're a ways off, but we'll see what happens over the next few years.

Speaking of updates Facebook makes, Mashable shared a humorous video depicting how those updates would look in real life - take a look:

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Getting The Right Sort of Attention?

2013-05-29T18:45:40Z

LinkedIn now makes it very easy for users to endorse skills listed by their connections. Typically, as soon as you open your LinkedIn window, there it is...that box with four of your connections asking you to endorse them for specific skills.

LinkedIn makes it very easy to do so. Simply click Endorse all, and you have done just that. Then the box disappears and you can get back to your LinkedIn business. You may also choose to click on individuals if you do not want to endorse them all, and you can search for other endorsement suggestions.

So, here's the sticky point to consider:

While you likely want to support your connections, what does it say about you if you endorse someone for a skill you are not actually certain they possess?

Every endorsement you make of someone else is a reflection of you. While they may be taken less seriously than an official recommendation letter, they still represent you.

Consider that if you do not know first-hand whether someone is truly skilled in an area, providing them with an endorsement may actually be a breach of trust. It can potentially devalue your word and decrease the respect others have for you and your recommendations.

While many on LinkedIn approach endorsements as just a friendly way to lend support, consider that there may be ways to provide support to your connections and still resist the temptation to endorse someone for a skill you truly do not know that they possess.

Sharing their content is one way to do this. Also, if you truly want to be able to endorse them, then perhaps it's time to setup a meeting so you can get to know first-hand what it is that they do and the ways they do it well.

So, the next time that endorsement box pops up, consider carefully whether the recommended endorsements are a true reflection of who and what you would want to recommend.