Use Pinterest to Market for Your Company

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Jessica Morrow

Pinterest is a site that has everything from grandma’s old-fashioned recipes to an array of wedding gowns. People use the Pinterest application to search for products and processes that they wish to use in the future to enhance their life. Companies should use Pinterest to market their products because consumers are already searching for products.

Photo via Pinterest

Companies such as Anthropologie, Etsy, Home Depot, and Target are Pinterest users. They post their product prices and step-by-step ways to use them. These companies chat, connect, visualize, and share their products daily to over 25 million users, many of whom are young females who are well-educated, have disposable income, and are in constant search for new products.

Consumers are coming to the company using Pinterest instead of the typical marketing route where companies seek out consumers. If a company has a product that Pinterest users are looking for they will “repin” (save) the product onto their categorized board, and now all of their followers will see the product too. Products can gain a huge reach when repinned. Companies can even continue to re-pin their original post so frequency can increase.

Pins are very organized. Viewers just click on the pin to increase the image size. If they believe the product is something they would want to use, they can click on the image again which can lead right to the company’s website. This can make it easy for consumers to click, learn, and order products instantly. Even if consumers don’t want to make a purchase at that moment, they can save your product on their boards and go back to them later.

Photo credit: molliesu!

Consumers today thrive on convenience. The ability to learn about and buy something without leaving their home is ideal, and Pinterest provides this conveniency. Consumers are always on the go, so with the Pinterest mobile app they can search for the products they need while they are already out, and stop by the establishment to buy it.

Companies can also use Pinterest to discover who their target audience actually is. By following people who re-pin their products, companies can view that users Pinterest boards. Deeper views onto boards allow companies to see what goals and needs their target audience has and what products they are seeking to accomplish this. Companies also have the ability to interact with their consumers. They can pin information about contests, sweepstakes, giveaways, coupons, sales information, and answer questions so they can be more connected with their target audiences.

Have a product or idea you want to share? Use Pinterest to market your product. This easy to use, easy to share, convenient website can help a company gain the reach and frequency to their target audience easily and efficiently.

Get Your Commute On Ann Arbor

Posted on April 24, 2013 by KrysiaHepatica

May in Ann Arbor means, the Commuter Challenge, and the Interns at Ingenex, a Michigan Social Media Agency, say, Game On! May is National Bike Month, to celebrate this, GetDownTown.org organizes the Commuter Challenge every year where local businesses compete to see which business can engage the most commuters. You can commute by bus, carpool, bike, walking, or even motorcycle. Commuters only have to pledge to commute one day in the month of May to be eligible to sign up.

Photo Credit: Elena Nadtochiy

Studies show that the healthiest people are those that commute to work; they are healthier than even those that commit themselves to the gym 3 times a week. Commuting is also better for the environment, and cost effective because you don’t have to pay for gas (or as much if you are a motorcycle) or worry about parking with all modes except motorcycle.

Are you a local business in Ann Arbor? If so, ask your employer to get involved, even if you don’t have 100% participation, you will still inspire colleagues and maybe they will sign up next year.

Correlation Between Traveling and Happiness via Twitter

Posted on April 18, 2013 by LauraEne

Researchers at the University of Vermont have been studying the relationship between the happiness level of people on Twitter compared to how far they have traveled from their primary locations.

With continued advancement in technology and the amount of personal and emotional information people share via online mediums today, experts can now study human behavior by looking at the sentiment that is expressed via social media. Not only are people providing information about how they are currently feeling, but their location in the world are almost always given as well. Putting all of this together allows researchers to come to a conclusion on how people feel based on where they are.

Photo Credit: epSos.de

“Expressed happiness increases logarithmically with distance from an individual’s average location,” was the ultimate result of the study done by these experts. The research found concluded that people tweet most often from work and home and when they are further away from these locations, most often traveling, they are happier in their tweets.

While this may be a stretch and might not be the most accurate way to measure how happy people are, it is an interesting subject to consider. Are people happier when they are traveling? Do they express their true happiness on social media or do they just want to seem this way to their follows? Its hard to tell but most of us can agree, traveling to the beach compared to sitting in a cubicle would make the average person happier, even on Twitter.

Reference: Mashable: Twitter Happiness Soars as People Travel Further From Home

Politics of the Future: Digital and Social Media

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Jennifer Sibert

What if President Obama held press conferences not in the White House, but on Google Hangout? What if he answered questions asked by the American people, rather than the news correspondents? Earlier this month India’s Finance Minister P Chidambaram did just that. The minister participated in a live video conference that lasted hour, but the conference sparked conversations that lasted quite longer (e.g. #askthefm).

“People have been calling this era of computers, the Internet, and telecommunications the ‘information age’ … What we’re really in now is the empowerment age…This power is shifting…to a new paradigm of power that is democratically distributed and shared by all of us.” - Joe Trippi, author of Revolution Will Not be Televised

President Obama’s current Facebook banner.

Today everyone and everything is going social. Barack Obama and Fançois Hollande are on Facebook, and even The White House, the WTO, and the United Nations tweet.Digital media has become a new form of infrastructure. The United Kingdom offers virtual tours of Parliament buildings. The EU website has an Audiovisual Newsroom. Online presence is a public expectation.

The virtual world has a very real influence.The last two years proved digital and social media’s power to mobilize entire nations (i.e. revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria). Minister Chidambaram’s conference is further evidence of a growing desire to not only pay attention to the man (or woman) behind the curtain, but to eliminate the curtain altogether.

Motor City News: Jeep’s Effort to Broaden Brand Reach

Posted on March 27, 2013 by emilywalsh

Auto enthusiasts around the world are buzzing about Jeep’s futuristic new look and nameplate. Not surprisingly, Jeep’s sleek new design and nameplate is causing quite the stir in social media, especially among loyal Jeep customers.

Photo by: Chrysler-Group

The new crossover vehicle represents a radical departure from the previous Jeep designs and is designed to broaden the Jeep brand’s reach. The brand’s nameplate, which dates back nearly 40 years, is a highlight that is hard to ignore and followers are not shy to voice their concerns about the new look.

Critics report via Twitter that the new design is “ugly” and that the vehicle looks too much like a sports car and not like a Jeep. While this change in design could potentially appeal to a new set of customers, various Jeep supporters feel that the company is making a mistake.

Photo by: Automotive Rhythms

Will all this social media hype surrounding the crossover’s debut help to market the 2014 Jeep Cherokee? One can predict that conversation about the brand will at least generate awareness, making it likely that people will check out the product and decide for themselves what they think.

The 2014 Jeep Cherokee makes its public debut at the New York International Auto Show this week and goes on sales at U.S. dealers late this summer.

Spring 2013 TED Conference

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Elena Nadtochiy

Our apologies for being silent about Spring 2013 TED Conference that happened 17 days ago in its hometown Long Beach, CA. We’ve just been busy a little bit, however, TED Conference is one of those events that cannot be missed or left uncovered.

Photo by matteopenzo

What is TED?

TED is a non-profit organization that nearly 30 years is bringing together the world’s greatest thinkers and doers. They present their ideas that are definitely worth spreading to more than thousand people who attend the event. TED Conference is the main event of the year, so if you consider attending it next year, you better hurry up, as it usually sells out a year in advance. But if tickets are far out of your budget, it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to attend. There is no live streaming, however, all talks are recorded and shared on TED’s website within short period of time.

Spring 2013 TED Conference Overview

5 days and more than 70 speakers made this spring event an unforgettable one. People from 3 different worlds – Technology, Entertainment and Design gathered together to deliver their views and ideas on very diverse topics: from poverty and mental health issues in Ghana to eco innovations and school learning, etc. One blog post won’t be enough to mention all great research topics and presentations that have been discussed at the event. However, there was one special talk, so inspiring and brilliant, that it won TED 2013 Prize. “To build a school in the cloud” was a wish of the TED’s prizewinner Sugata Mitra – an educational researcher, the author of “Hole In the Wall” experiments. His idea to design the future of learning by supporting children all over the world might change the entire education system to something very different and unusual.

In the meantime, while listening to great thinkers about their views on “future everything”, you can contribute right now by learning and expanding your knowledge on everyday basis. Our eco-friendly tip for you: try to take maximum from everything in life – college, professional internship or a presentation you attended few days ago. And remember that learning is a lifetime process.

Michigan Jobs are Going Green

Posted on March 7, 2013 by emilywalsh

Good news for the Mitten: the state of Michigan ranks fifth in the nation for the highest number of clean energy and transportation jobs created in 2012.

Not only is Michigan making a difference in both the economy and the environment, the state is home to many companies promoting Green job growth. Based out of Ann Arbor, Ingenex Digital Marketing boasts an internship program designed to train students in Digital Marketing and create environmental awareness.

Image by ifmuth

The Eco-friendly Internship gives college students and recent graduates the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and direction from Derek Mehraban, CEO of Ingenex and instructor of Michigan State University’s New Media Driver’s License course, in addition to other well-established digital marketing professionals.

By providing college students and recent graduates with an opportunity to learn about digital marketing while focusing on sustainability, the Ingenex Eco-Friendly Internship is one of a kind here in the great state of Michigan. If you have a passion for all things digital and the environment or know someone who does, check out the Ingenex webpage for openings for new interns this summer.

Why You Should Become a Blogger

Posted on March 6, 2013 by KrysiaHepatica

So, you want to break into the field of digital media? It can take time, but a great way to gain experience while still in school or working in another field is to start blogging. Choose a specific topic to write about, but try to not keep it too narrow. Maybe you will write about a hobby or passion you have, or maybe it will be a blog about trends in social media, anything that excites you. Once you decide on a category, the next step is to chose a platform.

Photo Credit: CollegeDegrees360

There are many free platforms you can choose like WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr. WordPress and Blogger are more traditional styles while Tumblr is more visually oriented. If your hobby is an outdoor hobby that can be accompanied my many photos, you may to use Tumblr. If your topic is more professionally orientated, Blogger or WordPress may be a better choice.

After that it is time to build up a community on Twitter. If you are not already on Twitter, set up an account. If you are, start following similar users and start reading their blogs, commenting, and retweeting and replying to their tweets. Think of similar bloggers as your allies, not your competition they may be your only audience for a while. Many seasoned Twitter experts advocate for using your own name and having your profile picture be of yourself. It makes it more personal that way, people will be more likely to engage with a person, rather than an icon image.

Getting an audience takes patience and time, but does pay off. The trick is to publish often and regularly. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Once you are established, guest posts are a great way to get more exposure. I was lucky enough to land a guest post on a popular blog with a large readership and my post was re-syndicated on the PR Daily. This would have never happened if I published the same piece on my own blog.

So go ahead, let the world hear your voice speak with authority on a topic you know about. You may enjoy it even more than you though, and it might even land you a job.

Social Media Scandals, Scams and Security Updates

Posted on February 21, 2013 by AshlieForchione

Brands got a rude awakening this week. Turns out, social media is not as secure as the Defense Department. Or even a pre-school, really.

“Twitter has a problem: While the social network is trying to woo brands and advertising money to its platform, companies’ Twitter accounts keep getting hacked.” – CNN Money

Photo by: Photo Giddy

The Twitter “leak fiasco” started back in 2009, when personal accounts of Twitter employees were hacked. With an increasing number of accounts and services related to Twitter it became very difficult to manage the huge amount of data. Therefore, the system without an extra security features appeared to be fragile and easy to break into. It was Fox News’ twitter account next. The portal with more than 2 million followers was hacked in 2011 and, therefore, assassinated.

During the last week, scary news about major brands being hacked came out and now we are all waiting what’s going to happen next. Jeep and Burger King’s Twitter accounts have been broken into.

Social media is by far the best one-on-one experience you can give your customers – no other media allows brands the opportunity to directly communicate with their customers in any sort of efficient manner. But brands seem to have forgotten they didn’t build the social platforms they prize but rather tuned-in to a conversation already in progress. Despite the recent Twitter security update, social platforms are not reinforced with the secrecy and security ad agencies offer that brands have taken for granted for so long.

Marketers should keep in mind the nature of the beast. Social media is a technology meant to gain its own momentum thanks to its viral nature, the same type of draw that lures hackers. Short of social media platforms completely revamping the structure of their site, marketers need to be hyper-mindful of their own security. In case of breach, social media marketing agencies should have a plan in and always remember to maintain a sense of humor and camaraderie in the aftermath of security failures – even with competitors.

— Co-written by Elena Nadtochiy & Ashlie Forchione

Eco-Friendly Digital Marketing Internship

Building Digital Marketing Skills And Helping the Environment

Use Pinterest to Market for Your Company

Get Your Commute On Ann Arbor

Motor City News: Jeep’s Effort to Broaden Brand Reach

Spring 2013 TED Conference

Michigan Jobs are Going Green