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By now most companies have established a social media presence. However, they often don’t know whose attention they’re getting, and if it’s the kind of attention they want. There is a lot of chatter right now about how NOT to use social marketing, (see 10 Ways to Screw Up Your SEO by David McAnally, and Top 6 Social Media Mistakes and How to Fix Them, by Kristi Hines). However most analysts have skipped over the most important element: the social element, the customers you hope to attract by engaging in social media in the first place! Who are they, where are they, and how do you reach them?

After reading several different top-ten or top -six lists, it seems to us like there are three key and all-too-common pitfalls in social media that need to be fixed to make sure that the social media element of your company’s marketing is getting to the audience you want:

1. Your social media is disconnected from your company’s message. Many companies simply start a Facebook page or Twitter account and assume that will be enough to keep the conversation alive between them and their customers. Well, SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) has been blindly sending out radio signals for 50 years, and we’ve seen the results: so far, no one’s responded.

But more importantly, what are you saying on those social networks? Are you promoting your new product, or are you tweeting about that new gizmo (worse, someone else’s product!) that you just have to have! Not connecting your message online with the rest of your marketing sends a mixed signal to your audience and makes them less likely to engage in your brand.Having a social media strategy is key to make sure that what you are saying in the social media sphere is coherent with what you’re saying in the rest of your marketing message. See the article on 7 Steps for a Successful Social Media Strategy (More Top-Ten style lists!), or read our own take on it in a blog post from April.

2. Not connecting with the right audiences. Who is your audience? Who do you want them to be?  It is important to make sure that your content is reaching the correct people. The audience that you want to connect with via search engine is usually the same people you want to connect with using social media. Both these can be accomplished with good SEO (search engine optimization). Using Activity Streams or tracking the user data from RSS Feeds can give you a better idea of who’s already engaging in your brand. In an article for Association Media & Publishing, Jacqui Cook suggests deciding who you want to impress. Then go to Google, use keywords you think they might use, and see what comes up. And don’t confuse terminology and keywords with industry jargon.

3. No value-add for social media users. Good customer service is good marketing. Think of social media as a customer service. How does your social media serve your customers?

As Harris Diamond wrote in a column for Forbes Magazine, “Brands today are actively harnessing social media platforms to create content and communities to find their brand loyalists or advocates… The new model of targeting brand ambassadors is about two-way, open, social engagement and not just top-down and inside-out pushing of products.”

What’s in it for your customers to engage in social media with your company? What do they get out of it? By offering insider information, early releases, and other perks, customers will engage and remain loyal to your brand. Company CEOs (or their assistants) often tweet previews of a speech right before a conference or event. Diamond points out “Once identified and engaged with, brand advocates do the marketing campaigns for them.” It can’t get much easier than that!

So there you have it, three pitfalls that many companies make when trying to find their social media audience, and how your company can avoid them.

The Northwest’s premier food festival, Bite of Seattle, kicked off today at Seattle Center. Lucky for us that is only a block from our office and with all that great food being at our finger tips we undoubtedly had to check it out. So the Plexi team took a lunch time excursion to try our best to eat our way through the Bite. Here are some pics highlighting some of the culinary excellence we enjoyed:

Some of the team enjoying the most anticipated culinary concoction, deep-fried mac and cheese. General consensus: although it seemed to be made from boxed mac and cheese it was still delicious.

Seriously, I am at a loss for words. The food is so good Tina and Steph are that excited.

Andy lost in the explosion of flavor from the deep-fried mac and cheese, while Jared and Tina show of the free samples waiting in line for 15 minutes will get you.

Easily the highlight of this lunch time adventure, Steph fist pumps to her airbrushed, bedazzled “Girl Power” tattoo.

What a great way to spend a lunch hour. Here is what I learned at the Bite:

• Deep-fried = delicious;
• You will be heckled by vendors especially teenage girls selling crab cakes
• People dressed as Foster-Farm’s chickens are frightening   
• Police love food and firearms are not allowed at this event
• Watching your co-worker get an airbrush tattoo, priceless    

The Bite of Seattle will be going on all weekend with live music and great food, so if you are in the area stop by to experience some local Seattle flavor.

The 8th annual A Drink For The Kids benefit for The Vera Project kicked off this week in Seattle. This benefit gives Seattleites the opportunity to show their support for all-ages music and art at The Vera Project by simply enjoying some live music and some tasty beverages. Here is how it works: when you purchase one of the Pyramid Ales or one of the designated drink specials at the participating locations the proceeds go directly to The Vera Project. For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Vera Project it “is a non-profit, all-ages music and arts space at Seattle Center that fosters a participatory creative culture through popular music concerts, arts programs, experiential learning and volunteer opportunities for all-ages, especially young people.”

Tonight July 16th at 6pm our neighbor the Solo Bar in Lower Queen Anne are nice enough to be hosting a music night to support this great program! DJ sets from some of your favorite hosts will kick-off at 6pm including Damien Jurado headlining at 8pm! So if you are looking for something fun to do tonight this is a great chance to have a few drinks, enjoy some good music, and support a great cause. You plus friends, drink specials, and live music equals a great time!

For those of you don’t enjoy the spirited beverage type, but would still like to show your support you can do so by grabbing a coffee at Caffe Vita locations throughout the city. For more info here is the complete A Drink For The Kids schedule.

In this day and age the majority of companies and brands have some form of social media presence. With the abundance of social media channels and the amount of chatter going on public forums, a growing concern for companies is the impact of complaints and negative comments being made through these channels. This concern can be a huge deterrent to brands taking the plunge and fully embracing the world of social and the benefits it can offer.

Even though your company may not be engaged in social media channels, it doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about your brand.  It’s inevitable that not all the conversations are positive either. There will always be critics and negative comments online and offline. It is how a company chooses to react and engage these critics that is most important and can help change a negative into a positive. So what is the most effective approach to dealing with these critics?

Jason Hill discusses his approach to dealing with complainers and combatants and why you don’t have to be as worried as you think in his Social Media Explorer article, “Six Steps for Dealing with Detractors.” Hill’s six step approach:  

1. Acknowledge their right to complain
2. Apologize for their situation, or your mistake (if warranted)
3. Assert clarity in your policy or reasons (if warranted)
4. Asses what will help them feel better
5. Act accordingly
6. Abdicate

Hill offers some great advice, but I think it is key to first examine the particular customer, as well as the context and channel the complaint is being made through. This should effect how and where you choose to engage the customer or “detractor.” Since every channel is different it is important to consider how your response will be viewed by other consumers; will it be more beneficial to respond privately or publically?

These are all good points to consider when identifying your approach to dealing with a disgruntled customer, but I agree with Hill that only through your own experience can you develop a tested process that works best for you. JetBlue is a recent example of a company that was able to do this is by reaching out to a customer who felt they had been unjustly charged a baggage fee for their fold-up bicycle. Within days JetBlue contacted the customer, reversed the charge, and subsequently changed their baggage fee policy. The positive outcome was picked up by the bike blogosphere and Consumerist changing this potential negative situation into a positive.

Every brand is going to have its share of critics and with the growing number social channels their voices are becoming more powerful. By developing a strategy to engage these critics your company will be more prepared to react to future incidents. You may never be able to please everyone, but as long as you try to respond accordingly and respectfully you have a better chance of turning a potentially negative situation into a positive one.

It looks like the summer weather is finally here, so we think it is time to celebrate. Thank you to everyone that joined us for all the shenanigans at our June happy hour! We had such a great time that we are hosting another one this Friday, July 9^th. The Plexipixel team will once again be heading over to The Spectator in Lower Queen Anne at 6:00 pm to enjoy one of the best happy hours in the city. For those of you that missed the last happy hour and have never been to The Spectator, it is nothing too fancy, but it has a great happy hour menu, which includes some of our favorites such as hand-dipped corndogs, mac-n-cheese, pulled-pork sliders and a whole lot more (and don’t worry the happy hour runs till 7).

So if you are looking for away to kick-off the beautiful summer weekend come join the Plexipixel team for some good food, drinks, and good times this Friday at The Spectator. We hope to see you there!  

The Spectator: 529 Queen Ave N., Seattle, WA 98109

With the current economic climate, times have been uncertain in the world of marketing and advertising. Although companies are slowly beginning to open up their pocket books again, many are still playing it close to the vest as they wait to see how things pan out. This has made things increasingly difficult for sales and marketing professionals from all industries and company sizes as they look for new ways to get the job done with increasingly less resources.

With the continued popularity of social networks and growth of social media there is an abundance of tools and resources available for us to leverage in order to connect with potential clients and customers. As more and more companies begin to utilize social networks it presents a new opportunity for you to reach out and network with key people in organizations.

LinkedIn is a professional network that can be hugely beneficial across industries with the sole mission to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” Steve Patrizi, a VP for LinkedIn, shares 15 tips to help you stand out on LinkedIn and leverage this resource for ultimate success in his iMedia article, “How to Stand Out on LinkedIn.” Patrizi provides some great techniques including:

• Join groups that are relevant to your area of expertise as a way to connect with new clients or find a new position.
• Customize your LinkedIn Public Profile URL to help you own your professional brand and Google search results.
• Use LinkedIn Advanced Search to discover the key decision makers at the companies you want to work with.
• Use LinkedIn groups to establish a community for your brand and buildbrand ambassadors.

Many of these tips may seem obvious, but they are important to remember. LinkedIn can be a great tool, but it is not going to do the work for you. If utilized properly it can be an excellent resource to help build your personal brand and company’s brand, as well as enabling you to connect with the key people at the right companies. But just because you signed up doesn’t mean you will automatically start benefiting. Like many social networks and social media channels there is great marketing potential, but you have to take the time, do the research, and put in the work if you want to reap the rewards.

Location-based services and social networks are changing the landscape for marketers, but with all the talk surrounding geotargeting and location marketing where is it actually headed? How will it be utilized and how can marketers take advantage of the geo-location push? In truth, right now no-one is fully sure what the future possibilities are.

Jesse Stanchak in his SmartBrief article “Where next for location marketing”, lays out five key points discussed in a recent debate by location-service big wigs on what the future holds; the most notable point being the technological hurdles that will slow its spread.

“Location services need better hardware support and more standardization across phone platforms before pinpoint accuracy will become viable; in the meantime, the services are likely to remain fuzzy, limiting their ability to serve up precisely targeted promotions. ‘The ideas we’re pushing are more advanced than the technologies that are driving them,’ said Foursquare’s Crowley.”  

Even with the technical limitations that currently exist, location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla are becoming more widely accepted. Even the hit TV show Law and Order: SVU had a recent episode centered around a GPS based dating site. I know this example doesn’t portray these services in the most positive light, but it’s a testament to the location services growing popularity and that more people are taking notice. Sites like Foursquare and Gowalla are no longer for the “geeky” (as Stanchak puts it) social media elite. But this brings up another interesting point; as these services become more mainstream what factor privacy will issues play in their growth and overall effectiveness. People are becoming more concerned with the issue of privacy, which could be a limiting factor in the wide spread growth of location service and their effectiveness as marketing tools.      

Although these current barriers exist, as long as location services continue to spread and user interaction evolves, brands will seek new ways to embrace the fields’ promotional capabilities, utilizing these tools to connect with consumers in hopes of influencing the “influencer” and building brand advocates.

As the industry moves forward, it will be important for marketers to remember that they cannot solely rely on location-based campaigns. Location marketing campaigns will need to be integrated as part of an overall comprehensive marketing strategy to ensure long-term success and value. So how can your brand effectively utilize location marketing? This may not be something that is fully visible yet, but as the services and supporting technology evolves; it will be interesting to see what unfolds.

The Microsoft Tech•Ed team called on Plexipixel for vision and execution of the Tech•Ed online site — a portal to host the wide range of conference video footage from the many Tech•Ed events around the world. We put the Tech•Ed business hat on as well as the users’ shoes so that we could make a user experience that was appropriate for both needs.

We implemented a bit of jQuery and MIX Online’s own .NET CMS solution so that users on the go can view the site without fear of plug-in issues. The animation on the homepage allows featured footage to be highlighted front and center along with an event date listing so that attendees can go straight to the websites for their region of choice. The result is a polished portal that allows users quick and easy access to the content they are looking for.

Are looking for something fun to do after the long work week? Well we have just the thing. Come join the Plexi peeps for a little happy hour and live music this Friday, June 11^th. The Plexipixel team will be heading over to The Spectator in Lower Queen Anne at 6:30 pm to enjoy one of the best happy hours in the city. It is nothing too fancy, but The Spectator has a great happy hour menu, which includes some of our favorites such as hand dipped corn dogs, mac n cheese, tator tots, sliders, and a whole lot more. And don’t worry the happy hour runs until 7!

After happy hour we will be heading over to the Funhouse where our very own Lisa Smith and her band PartMan PartHorse will be performing and having a CD release party! It will be a guaranteed good time. Good people, good food, and some great music; what more could you ask for on a Friday night? So if you are free tomorrow night come join the Plexi team for some drinks, food, and maybe a little fist pumpin’ action! We hope to see you there.

• The Spectator: 529 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
• The Funhouse 206 5th Ave North, Seattle, WA 98109

WordPress started as a small, open-source project built on PHP and MySQL and has widely been deployed to people running Linux and Apache. Up until recently, the process to run WordPress on Windows servers was not very easy because WordPress is hard-coded for MySQL. In an effort to reach out to the open-source community Microsoft has been working to make the MySQL and PHP installation simpler on Windows by utilizing the “Microsoft Web Platform Installer.” This platform walks users through a step by step installation process for all the apps listed in their gallery; including the WordPress installer.  

Through the hard work and dedication of the MIX Online team and in collaboration with WordPress, the process for running WordPress on Microsoft servers has been made easier. What this means is that the MIX Online team will maintain a copy of WordPress that has been reprogrammed specifically for Microsoft SQL, targeting designers and developers to grab the free version of SQL Express to use along with it. This is a huge step forward as part of Microsoft’s continued effort in supporting the open source community.

The MIX Online team enlisted Plexipixel because of our deep WordPress experience to help design and develop a new informational website, WordPress on Microsoft, in order to spread the word throughout the online community.

Here is what our lead developer, Andy Jacobs, had to say about the new site:

 “We built the website to help them market this special, souped up copy of WordPress.  It’s pretty cool because we built the site in WordPress – running on Windows with Microsoft SQL Server.  So we’re dogfooding the whole thing.  That’s pretty cool and the layout is slick.”

The new site also incorporates a slightly custom version of the Incarnate Plug-In we worked on with the MIX Online Labs team late last year. This new version of the plug-in also runs on Microsoft SQL instead of MySQL, so that it can be used with the new WordPress patch.  Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the resident spider!