Starting today you’ll be seeing less from us on the blog (that’s actually been happening for quite some time) and more through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and whatever comes next.

Given the proper commitment and dedication, blogging can be a powerful marketing tool. Frankly, we’re busy creating super cool Web sites, videos and print material and like working out, blogging is hard work. Social media on the other hand is quick, engaging and honestly a lot more fun.

While the medium may have evolved (subtle tagline plug)…our message remains the same. We’ll just be presenting it through more concise, timely and relevant media. After all, that’s what you’ve asked for and if nothing else we’re accommodating folks.

As always, your blog comments, Facebook posts and retweets are welcome.

#wmweds or West Michigan Wednesday is a way in which people recommend local users to follow on Twitter. First a bit of background.

Background

West Michigan Wednesday was inspired by FollowFriday. Started by Micah Baldwin in January of 2009, FollowFriday was a way to recommend Twitter users worth following to his friends. Mykl Roventine suggested the hashtag #followfriday. The rest is Twitter history.

So what the heck is a hashtag?

Because Twitter provided no easy way to group tweets or add extra data, the Twitter community came up with their own way: hashtags. A hashtag adds additional context and metadata to a tweet. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag. More information.

How to play #wmweds:

1) Login to Twitter. Not on Twitter yet? Create an account. It’s easy and fun not to mention an amazing way to market your business. Think of Twitter as status updates on Facebook.

2) Search for #wmweds at http://search.twitter.com.

3) Recommend your favorite West Michigan Twitter users with a #wmweds and the @username in your tweets. For example:

4) Have fun!

#wmweds works because it’s easy, local and fun to recommend people to follow. Give it a try this Wednesday and help build a following for your favorite West Michigan Twitter users!

1) Go to the FBML page and select “Add to my page”.

2) Next, go to your page and click “Edit Page”.

3) Title your FBML “box” and add the content for your new tab. This is where you need to know a little code.  Paste in your HTML and “Save Changes”.

4) Go back to your page and click the (+) icon.

5) You now have a fancy, new FBML tab that is sure to impress your Facebook fans.

Check out FBML in action on the Qonverge Facebook page. Enjoy!

1) Careerbuilder: Casual Friday
Way too casual Friday. Pants down the best ad of the game.

2) Snickers: You’re Not You When You’re Hungry
You can’t go wrong with Betty White. Throw in Abe Vigoda and I want to eat a candy bar.

3) Dove
There’s something about funny songs that make me want to use girls soap.

4) Coke: Hard Times (featuring the Simpsons)
Even Montgomery Burns can’t escape this economy. At least he’s got Coke.

5) Audi: Green Police
I like that they kept us guessing who the ad was for until the end.

Dishonorable Mention – Google
I don’t know why the pundits are gushing over this ad. Everyone over 4 years old knows how to use Google. You could have saved yourself $6 million by not running this spot.

Your feedback is welcome. Check out last year’s picks or let us know your thoughts on this year’s Super Bowl ads.

A more functional popularity contest
Social media sites were the most popular online activity, surpassing e-mail and search engines in 2009. In fact, there are more exchanges of information on Facebook than any other platform on the Internet.

Today, social media harnesses the theory of “never do anything alone,” by offering users a community of opinions, advice, information, reviews and the answers to questions we have always wanted to ask.  This wealth of information is not only accessible by companies, but also easy to infiltrate (using the right strategies from Q, of course).

Social media can no longer be looked at as a popularity contest, there are conversations occurring everyday that companies must become involved in.

Don’t just stand there, do something
This revolution of a new mass medium is well within the reach of businesses small and large. The ability to connect with consumers has never been easier or more measurable. Not only can you connect with former customers (retention) and their friends (acquisition), but you can see what they are saying about you (customer feedback) and your competitors (competitive analysis) all on a site maintained by your company!

No need to dig up your business model and switch your marketing ideas, some of your old fashioned techniques still come in handy, but instead of sending an old client a fruit basket, write a note on their wall. Instead of congratulating them on a feature article in the paper, @them on Twitter and post a link to the story. As a company, you are still relevant to your consumer, but you have to be able to effectively reach them on their medium of choice.

Yes, I’m listeni… ooooh shiny!
You’ll be lucky to get an average American to sit through a minute-long advertising spot, yet users spend hours a day interacting with fellow customers, employees and affiliates discussing companies, products and services. This level of engagement is something that has never been possible with traditional media.

Traffic on company social media pages can often times rival that of commercial Web sites that charge for advertising. Not only are you saving money on your banner ads, but your consumers (who have learned the positioning of your leaderboards and buttons) will appreciate a more in-depth perspective of your company.

Bottom line
Personal connections with consumers has never been more attainable through a mass medium, and if you want to get a real pulse of what people are saying, you have to get in the mix!

• Download Presentation

The presentation covers the following topics:

• What is Social Media?
• A Practical Guide to Social Media
• Getting Social

Social media is content created by people and distributed via the Internet using tools like social networks, micro-blogs, social news services, wikis, and video and photo sharing sites.

Enjoy the presentation! Feedback is welcome.

• What Apple, Google and Zappos do that you can too.
• Low cost and no cost marketing ideas.
• Leveraging social media to connect with customers.

Presentation Tips

1) Select full screen view:

2) Use the forward arrow icon to navigate through the presentation:

3) Enjoy!

References

• 101 No Cost and Low Cost Marketing Ideas
• Evolution of Apple Design
• Google’s 20-Percent Time
• Zappos on Nightline
• Guerrilla Marketing
• Testimonial Videos
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• The Cheese Lady

1) 24 Hour Rule for E-mails, Telephone Calls

2) 800#

3) Answer Your Phone

4) Ask for Referrals

5) Banner Ads

6) Barter

7) Be Creative

8) Become an Expert

9) Blog

10) Board of Directors

11) Chamber of Commerce

12) Community Organizations

13) Contests

14) Copywriting

15) Coupons

16) Craig’s List

17) Cross Promote with Others

18) Cultivate Relationships with Media

19) Customer Loyalty Cards

20) Customers Thank You’s

21) Direct Mail

22) E-commerce

23) E-commerce – Third Party (i.e. – eBay, Etsy)

24) E-mail Signature

25) E-newsletters

26) Educate Your Customers

27) Exclusive, Free Information for Customers

28) Facebook

29) Facebook Advertising

30) Follow the News

31) Forum

32) Free Advice

33) Free Samples

34) Free Tickets

35) Gift Baskets

36) Give Back to the Community

37) Give Referrals

38) Google AdWords

39) Google Local

40) Guerilla Marketing

41) Handwritten Notes

42) Interviews

43) Invite Customers to Lunch and Pick Up the Tab

44) Learn from the Pros

45) Link Exchanges

46) LinkedIn

47) LinkedIn – Answers

48) Local Online Directories

49) Local Online Newspaper Advertising

50) Local Online Television Advertising

51) Make It Easy to Do Business With You

52) Market to Influencers

53) Mentor

54) Message Boards

55) Mystery Shop Competitors

56) Networking

57) Newspaper Clippings

58) Non-Traditional Advertising

59) Online Listings

60) Peer Groups

61) Podcasts

62) Press Releases

63) Press Reprints

64) Pro Bono Work

65) Product Design

66) Product Differentiation

67) Promotional Items

68) WOW Your Customers

69) Public Speaking

70) Publicity Stunts

71) Put Your Web Site URL on Everything

72) Reward Referrals

73) Sales Letters

74) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

75) Seminars

76) Special Offers on Invoices

77) Sponsor a Highly Targeted Radio Show

78) Sponsor a Popular Local Event

79) Sponsor Local High School Events

80) Strategic Partnerships

81) T-shirts

82) Talk to Your Customers

83) Target Local Companies

84) Teach a Class

85) Testimonials – Written and Video

86) Trade Shows

87) Training

88) Twitter

89) Vehicle Graphics

90) Video – Do It Yourself

91) Video – DVD

92) Video – Product Demonstrations

93) Video – Training

94) Viral Marketing

95) Volunteer

96) Web Site

97) Web Site Content Management System (CMS)

98) Write a Book

99) Write Articles

100) Your Time

101) YouTube

Download List

This list is an excerpt from a presentation made at the Muskegon Area Chamber of Commerce on “Marketing on a Shoestring Budget”. View the full presentation at www.qonverge.com/shoestring.

As my husband and I were traveling over the holidays, we started evaluating the billboards along the side of the road. Typography, imagery, composition, relevancy, execution and our personal opinions became the measures of success as we judged each oversized advertisement in our way.

One sign in particular stood out to us for being overtly uninspiring. The billboard depicts a cropped white house showing only the top dome and the statue of liberty to a background of lightning. The words at the top read “The Storm is Coming!” followed by “A Must-Read” in the opposite corner of the billboard. The user is left to make assumptions at this point. I assumed they were advertising a book about politics which is most likely the case however they left too many questions unanswered. Where can someone find the book? What does the book look like? Who wrote the book? What makes this book more desirable to read than the thousands of other books written about politics? With so many questions unanswered, what elicits a reaction from someone to go out and find this book? Out of curiosity (and the possibility that this was a viral marketing joke), I sought out the book. I searched Borders, Barnes & Nobles, Amazon, Google, but no success. I can’t seem to find anything that resembles the idea or depiction of this billboard. Though the billboard was successfully designed and put up in a high traffic location, was it really a success?

This example is a dramatization of what the general public reads, but it serves as a great reminder for those that plan to advertise a business, idea, or event in the future. Is your message clear and concise? Are you speaking appropriately to the people you want to reach? What action do you want people to take when they see your advertising? Is that being achieved? Is the message consistent in print, video and web? These questions would be a great start in defining what should be included and a few ways you can measure the success of your advertising.

Below is the email. Absolutely NO response.  Maybe someone will pick it up?

“My daughters, Emma and Grace Piasecki, are second grade students at Lincoln Park Elementary in Norton Shores. For a school project, the kids mail out “Flat Stanley’s” all over the world to other people to have them decorated in that State or country’s “garb”.  Grace sent hers to Wellington, New Zealand. He came back decorated in a Rugby uniform with lots of great information about the country. Emma’s Flat Stanley went to Reykjavík, Iceland.  He returned with a really cool sweater along with some great photos of the adventures that he took.

Grace’s name was passed along to another student in New Zealand.  She received a “Flat Santa” that we hosted at our house. The goal was to share Michigan holiday traditions.  We brought Flat Santa to the recent Muskegon Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees and even took photos of him in the decorated Hackley Park.  Megan, from New Zealand, was happy to receive these photos and information about the Piasecki family Christmas traditions.

Grace received an email last night from Megan and she would like to be Pen Pals. I thought the whole Flat Stanley/Flat Santa story would cute….plus a spin on the Pen Pal idea.  I remember writing letters to Pen Pals in grade school years ago.  Now, kids can email their Pen Pals that are around the world at the click of a mouse – no postage required. And how easy to type up a quick email to share photos of happenings on a weekly or even daily basis! Grace is anxious to meet her new Pal from New Zealand someday.  I wonder how many schools these days still participate in finding Pen Pals for their students?  Probably not too many and that’s too bad!

If you are interested in this story, we would be happy to share more information with you.  Let us know!

Thanks!”