Posts Tagged ‘Online Communities’

 

Six Social Media Tricks You Might Be Missing

Monday, October 1st, 2012

1. Facebook: Edit Comments

Problem: you made a comment on someone’s post and you a) misspelled something, b) were incorrect, or c) are filled with regret and want to entirely change to comment.

Solution: just hover your cursor/mouse pointer over the comment and a small edit button will appear, allowing you to delete or edit your comment. So yes, you can stop adding an extra comment to correct mistakes. Just edit instead.

2. YouTube: Questions, Polls and Quizzes

Problem: Until recently, you had to redirect users on YouTube via the description box below the video to Survey Monkey or a Google document.

Solution: This tutorial by Jacob Curtis walks you step-by-step through the beta of this new YouTube feature, making more complete use of the annotation feature and engaging your video viewer. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

3. Google Maps: Go Underwater

Problem: To go scuba diving you had to… go scuba diving.

Solution: Instead of just dropping the little yellow ‘street-view’ guy onto the beach of the Great Barrier Reef, why not drop him right in the water. Check out this video! Armchair scuba divers unite!

4. Facebook: Schedule Your Posts on Facebook

Problem: If you wanted to schedule a post to your Facebook page, you had to use third-party tools like Hootsuite, Buffer or Timely.

Solution: Facebook now lets you schedule posts right on your page. Simply click the clock icon and select the month, date, hour, and minute! Easy.

 

5. Google and YouTube: Download Your Videos

Problem: You uploaded a video to YouTube and lost the original video but want to recover it from YouTube in its original format.

Solution: Tech Crunch reported on this feature recently and noted that, while downloading videos from YouTube is not new, the Google Takeout service now allows users to download videos in their original format, sans transcoding.

6. Twitter: Pay with a Tweet

Problem: You have to pay money for things with actual money. For people without money, this is nearly impossible.

Solution: Tweet for eats. the Kellog’s company opened a shop in London where the currency is, yes, you guessed it, a tweet! The company gerates some buzz for their products and customers get a free snack. Win win? Read more about the program here. 

Whole Foods Shows Brands How to Use Pinterest

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Pinterest has been generating quite a bit of chatter lately, and for good reason.  The social site that allows you to “pin” your latest findings from around the web now has over 4 million users.

With a user base that big, it’s only natural for brands to start thinking of ways to market there.

But, Pinterest is somewhat of an anomaly when it comes to social networking sites.  For starters, 70% of its users are women.  Also, there is an established etiquette that frowns upon the act of self-promotion.  Basically, if you blatantly set out to plug your products, you’ll begin to feel the wrath from the other users.

Whole Foods, on the other hand, has found a way to tip-toe the line and establish a viable presence on the site.

Instead of posting things like their weekly newspaper insert to advertise sales, Whole Foods has taken the opportunity to enhance its brand image instead.

Take a look at their pinboards below:

Notice that they aren’t pinning items that are directly available in their store, but, rather, they are pinning items that relate to a lifestyle that can be achieved by shopping at their store.  They want to inspire you to be creative with organic food, entertaining guests, and being eco friendly, all of which are central themes to the Whole Foods brand.

So, before you jump too quickly to establish a brand presence on Pinterest, take some time to get a feel for what draws in the user base and what turns them off.  It’s very different from Facebook or Twitter, and it requires a certain touch to get it right.  But, if you do your homework and think of your fellow Pinners first, you can use Pinterest to really focus on the image that your brand wants to portray.