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Archive for October, 2009



Jessica Carlson

10/29/2009

What is mundane for your organization could be the next viral video for your audience
05:40 pm by Jessica Carlson

picture-13DuPont has been the latest brand to take the Internet by storm. The brand has a 200-year history and many loyal consumers, however, they were lacking a connection with younger audiences. Their strategy to reach out to the Gen Y and Gen X crowd? Share what they’ve always been doing: testing their products.

In a series of videos called “DuPont Science Stories,” they showcase old footage of testing products and describe the science behind each one. Now while performing these tests could seem like a daily activity to the employees of the company, to consumers, they’re really engaging and worth sharing with friends and family. Especially those interested in science, or things burning and being destroyed…

It’s important to look at the routine and mundane within your organization with a fresh perspective to determine if it could potentially tell a very viral story.

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Doug Pecht

10/27/2009

Web trends for 2009
11:50 am by Doug Pecht

Web trends for 2009 according to SmashingMagazine.com

Like many other things in life, web design is trendy – what’s in now isn’t always in for long.  For now though, there are several design trends making a splash.  SmashingMagazine.com had a great article and even they couldn’t stop at 10 – they collected 25!  Today we’re going to briefly explore 4 of the top 10 listed in the first part of their Design Trends of 2009 series.

1).  Rich User Interfaces – Websites are becoming more responsive, offering more interaction between the user and the web applications – and more immediate feedback.  The user now has more visual cues to let them know how they are interacting with the website – buttons change after being selected, having a “pressed” look; menus expand, collapse, and move from front to back – all the while giving the user yet another chance to click on something and make a selection.  In all these interactions, there is a sense of familiarity as many web applications remind users of traditional desktop applications.   Ajax and Flash are just two programs that allow designers to build rich user interfaces; and rich user interfaces are what allow users to have more personalized experiences.

2).  Huge Typography – Big typography is an example of a design trend that is here to stay.  What constitutes big typography?  Big pixels.  As the font size often goes beyond 36 pixels, the most important messages on a website are more easily communicated.  The “big typography” trend doesn’t stop at font size; designers are also paying more attention to leading, line height, and font choice.  Together, these elements help drive key information to the user.

3).  Magazine Look – The look and feel of traditional print media has been modified and adopted by blogs.  As you peruse some blogs, take note of how the posts are arranged on the page; the use of typography; and illustrations.  Even more noticeable is text alignment; the resemblance between traditional print text alignment and blogs is quite visible.

4).  Carousels (slideshows) – Carousels are a particular form of slideshows.  In the carousel format, the navigation is such that content rotates vertically or horizontally.  Instead of user clicking through the website, the user is able to scroll through using the available toggle element (often an arrow going up/down or right/left).  Carousel navigation eliminates extraneous movements (be it scrolling or clicking), saving time and helping the user focus on the slideshow content.   This is a great example of a design element that provides the user with an interactive experience and helps them get the most out of the content on the website.

These are four of the top 10 trends as identified by SmashingMagazine.com.  To see the rest or learn more about these in detail, visit:  http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/14/web-design-trends-for-2009/

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Jessica Carlson

10/20/2009

Start thinking about your Return On Influence, too
01:35 pm by Jessica Carlson

iJustineWhether you’re a political organization or a business, everyone can create brand advocates. The digital world offers a magnitude of mediums for your organization to reach out to people and potentially create brand advocates.

But what happens if everyone with in your network really just doesn’t care that much? Sure, they like your tweets and Facebook photos, but they really aren’t too keen on relaying your message to their network because they’re lacking the true passion for what you do. What happens if your biggest potential brand advocates don’t even know you exist?

Luckily, IWS is teaming up with Radian6 to help determine the biggest influencers in any given arena. This comprehensive social media and Internet activity aggregator helps us determine those key influencers who can help promote your organization’s message. Whether it’s a @TwitterUser with thousands of followers or an independent blogger with a following the size of a modest city, IWS can help you get your message out to an even larger audience than you currently are reaching.

This service can also help determine if your competition is screaming over you and dominating the conversation – and better yet, we have the expertise to help you get back on top. We’re also able to determine the overall sentiment behind all the chatter about your brand and generate leads and conduct customer service and support on your behalf.

Now, not only can we easily track your return on investment, but we can also show your return on influence.

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Maura DeBartoli

10/15/2009

Predicted Social Network Users By 2013: 114.6 Million
07:56 pm by Maura DeBartoli

It seems that everyone keeps raising the question, “Is social media replacing Email? Is it? What is the next step?” Social media may be changing they way we use the medium, but we’ll still be logging into Flickr and Facebook with our work and school email addresses. Plus, Gmail, for instance, is continuously improving the features that are offered. New ways to organize, get unlimited storage, and receive Push email notifications directly to your mobile device. We’ve spoken about the value in Email Marketing before, but just as a reminder to you, it is still the most popular channel for consumers today, according to eMarketer.

The bottom line is that in an industry where new digital communications make it easier to send a variety of messages, it’s imperative that marketers not only send the right message, to the right person, at the right time, but that they use the right channel as well.

For any business people that don’t see the ROI in social media, there are tools like Radian6, that have the ability to take all the information out there that is being said about a company’s brand, and put all of it on a platform that let’s you “listen, share, learn, and engage”. Just as you would test any other marketing tool, test different social media venues and see what works best, and decide what the healthiest community is for your brand identity. Be flexible and hopefully soon you will be “suggesting friends” to your old friends and co-workers who were afraid of a “fad”. You won’t be the one scratching your head.

This YouTube video (originally published by the popular social media site, Mashable) features Virgin America’s Vice President of Marketing, Porter Gale.  She discusses how she finds social media to be a great engagement strategy and brand-builder.  Let us know your own thoughts in the comments.

Virgin America Interview

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Max Fose

10/15/2009

10 Years for IWS
06:41 pm by Max Fose

At the end of this year, IWS will celebrate our 10th birthday.  

I have been thinking a lot about the last ten years in business — our clients, the people who have worked here to help make IWS successful, the ups and downs of running a business, our content management system that is 2nd to none, being proud when our clients are successful and the terrible feeling of “what else could we have done” when they are not. 

I remember flying back into DC and freezing as I stood at the BWI train station about two months after the tragedy of September 11; just about broke, and not being sure if IWS was going to be able to pay our bills. The mail wasn’t moving, client’s budgets were non-existent, and the world had been changed.  

I have also been thinking about the impact we have had over the years. We communicate hundreds of millions of messages a year for our clients.  Just this year alone we have helped facilitate over 600,000 contacts to Congress and I am confident that nearly every voter in Arizona has been touched by what IWS has produced. 

We have made a difference and will continue to do so. 

We have also tried to make a difference by giving back. This includes supporting groups like Make-A-Wish, Esperanca, COAR, the Arizona Food Banks, ADL and March of Dimes.  

I am proud that IWS is able to support these organizations. 

So what’s next? 

First, IWS is taking care of business by continuing to be a strategic partner with our clients.  Providing the very best service to our clients is and always will be our number one priority. 

Second, even though about 30 percent of our current business is online general marketing, we are focusing on expanding more into this area and have built the infrastructure to do so. 

Third, IWS continues to expand our reach with the addition of the Fluent – a full service online marketing agency, and JoyCom – a traditional public affairs firm. 

Finally, if I could give an online toast to everyone reading this post it would be this: 

To our clients who hire us, our mentors who have guided us along, our friends who sent us business – we thank you for your trust, your wisdom and your friendship.  We wouldn’t be here without you and we sincerely thank you.  Here’s to another 10 years!

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Donnie Riggs

10/13/2009

What Marketers are Missing…
03:35 pm by Donnie Riggs

Did you know that 46% of U.S. online retailers are missing out on the best, most time-tested way to spread their message? It’s true. Based on an August 2009 survey by Smith-Harmon, 46% of email marketers aren’t asking their audience to spread the word.

Sharing OptionsWord of mouth is still the most popular way to receive information about a product or campaign. With the rise of social networking, this has become even easier, yet only 6% of the marketing emails sampled  asked their audience to share with your social network. 41% had some type of ‘Forward to a Friend’ message or feature.

This alarming statistic is courtesy of eMarketer.com.  This great service has statistics for everything. Want to know what type of information U.S. Female Internet Users With and Without Children are Most Interested in Receiving via Email? They have it.  Want to know which free email platforms have the highest open rates? Now IWS can provide its clients this service thanks to our partnership with eMarketer.

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Brian Michael

10/12/2009

Brian and Phillies Nation In the News
12:22 am by Brian Michael

The Delaware County Daily Times – out of my old stomping grounds of southeastern Pennsylvania – did piece on my web site last week in conjunction with the Phillies quest to win a second consecutive World Series.

They can be found in Denver pubs, the cafes of Rome and in the sports bar at the Gen. Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany.

And Brian Michael will tell you their numbers are growing.

“You can go to pretty much anywhere and you will find Phillies fans,” said Michael, the 28-year-old founder of PhilliesNation.com

Thanks to Michael and his 10,000-plus subscribers, those fans have had a place to share insights, frustrations and love of all things Phillies since the site went live a few months after Citizens Bank Park opened in 2004.

“I grew up in Philly and had moved away to Washington, D.C.,” Michael said. “I was finding it hard to get all my Phillies information, so I decided to put it all in one place.”

Read the entire “Phillies Nation growing through Web site” article…

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Jessica Carlson

10/09/2009

YouTube celebrates 1 billion views per day, so we have some tips
01:16 pm by Jessica Carlson

youtubelogoHead over to YouTube right now and you’ll see just how excited they are about reaching this huge milestone. While it might seem like only a minor change to modify their logo, if you check out the file name, “logo_holy_crap_1bn_a_day,” it’s clear to see that they’re just as impressed as most of us are. So in honor of their 365 billion views a year from here on out, we decided to provide some tips on how to become the next big YouTuber, or at least to ensure that your videos are being seen by a larger audience than your mom.

  • Be entertaining. While some people check out YouTube to catch up on the latest news in the world, the majority of visitors are there to get a laugh, be surprised or feel some other sort of emotion aside from boredom. Whether you’re a politician or a company, it’s important to get at least a few videos up that showcase your sense of humor and personality.
  • Collaborate. The likes of Carl’s Jr. and Intel have all used the power of YouTube users with a much bigger audience than them. Find out who’s huge on YouTube and is relevant to your audience and reach out to them asking to make a video about your organization or company (but, most of them won’t do this for free, so stock up on schwag or prepare to shell out their rent for the month). This will not only give people a fresh perspective of your organization, but it will most likely reach an entirely new audience. Can’t find anyone that fits with your organization? Than reach out to your existing audience and promote user generated content, so it’s not always about you.
  • Optimize your content. Many videos are found via search, so make sure that you’re utilizing appropriate and related keywords. Also, take advantage of other tools YouTube offers, such as adding other videos as video responses to your latest video and providing links to your other relevant networks in the sidebar.
  • Send your videos to your mother. In order to increase views and attempt to go viral, you have to start sharing your content, and not always with just your preexisting audience. Send videos that are worthy of spreading to people within your network and encourage them to share with their networks. Include your latest video’s link in your email signature. Pitch your videos to bloggers, asking that they blog about your organization and include an embedded video.

 

These are just a few simple tips that can help you increase your views and grow your audience. While, you might not get a billion views per day like our friends at YouTube, you’ll definitely watch your success increase.

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Maura DeBartoli

10/01/2009

A Digital Trend
07:22 pm by Maura DeBartoli

According to eMarketer, social networking is one of the most important – in addition to popular – activities, both online and off. The only activity that could one-up social media was email, still. Both categories ranked above chatting and just plain web browsing. Email marketing, old and wise, done well means offline dollars for you.

Unsurprisingly, the number one activity on social networking sites was posting photos. People love it – they’re really getting engaged, with 81% of respondents taking part. People link, “like”, watch, share and love to spend their time consuming content– So no, Facebook photos aren’t solely an enabling form of voyeurism.

More over, the second highest ranked activity users take part in, is responding to other content people post. Ah yes, two, three and four-way communication.

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