Social Media News of the Day: June 30, 2010
June 30, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
Exciting news! Groupon will be coming to Charleston August 2. What kind of deals do you want to see featured? Tell them on Twitter at @Groupon_LMG and don’t forget to register to receive some amazing deals at http://www.groupon.com/charleston/subscriptions/new! All of us here at Step Ahead are super excited and want to thank everyone who requested bringing Groupon to the Holy City!!
Soon you will see Foursquare stickers in many local stores to remind you to check into your favorite locations. Have you seen one already? Where was it? The best part is that if you see a sticker, then you know the store/restaurant/venue is “claimed” and actively participating with Foursquare (ie: they might have some deals)!
Social Media News of the Day: 6/24/10 Twitter Edition!
June 24, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
Twitter is now allowing you to automatically follow your Facebook friends. Awesome, right? Wrong! The application isn’t working yet but when they come together and get the kinks worked out this could be huge for Facebook, Twitter and social media.
I hear a lot of my friends say, “Why are you on Twitter? I signed up and just don’t get it.” It is hard to explain how awesome 140 characters really can be, but now I have this great article that we can all send those friends or colleagues who have just not quite grasped all that Twitter has to offer!
If you are a company using Twitter to reach your customers, then you have without a doubt asked, “How do we measure the values of our tweets?” This is a valid question, but one man is skeptical of measuring this social media tool and his article explains why.
Social Media News of the Day: June 23, 2010
June 23, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
Startup alert! Eventbrite is a provider of online event management and ticketing services. They help anyone from the 10-person Pilates class to the outdoor music festival Bonnaroo! Watch this video to meet co-founders, Julia and Kevin Hart, and their marketing director, Tamara Mendelsohn.
Planning on camping out in front of the AT&T stores tonight to be the first to hold the new iPhone 4 in your hands? Well, don’t waste your time because the actual AT&T stores won’t have them in their stores until June, 29. If you were unable to pre-order and can’t wait until next Tuesday you can try camping out at your local Apple store!
With all the bad press that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have gotten this past month, it’s nice to hear a few good things about the social media phenomenon. Check out this article on the 3 things that Facebook does really well (hint: privacy is not one of them).
Social Media News of the Day: June 22, 2010
June 22, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
No one puts social media in the corner! Dell Inc. incorporated a social media team into their payroll in 2006 and they continue to believe that social media is vital for any company and here’s why.
LinkedIn adds familiar features such as likes, follows and group discussions to their network. Do you think these changes will help LinkedIn compete with other social media outlets?
The iPad is still H-O-T, HOT! Apple has sold more than three million devices in the past three months. How many of you want the iPad and for those lucky enough to already own one, what’s your favorite feature?
Social Media News of the Day: June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
June 30 is Social Media Day! Mashable has planned meetups in 74 different countries and Charleston’s is going to be at Taco Boy on Huger St. All of us at Step Ahead will be there from 5:30–7 p.m. and would love ya’ll to come out!
The Battle of the “tweets” is still in full swing and Stephen Colbert is getting involved. Earlier this week The New York Times put a “ban” on the use of the word tweet in their articles. After much backlash and The New York Times defending their point of view, it was time for some humor. Check out this video from The Colbert Report and start your week off with a laugh!
Social Media News of the Day: June 17, 2010
June 17, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
Have you seen the Samsung commercial with the guy breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest texting? He is using an application called Swype and it will be available for a limited time only to Android customers. Check out this video showcasing Swype’s capabilities and then you can be the fastest texter on the block!
Still not sure what being a Mayor on Foursquare can get you? Well, if you are the mayor at any of the 463 Sports Authority stores nationwide it will get you $10 off your purchase. What other stores and offers would you like to see next?
Social Media News of the Day
June 17, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
Will you be watching France vs. Mexico in the World Cup on ESPN2? Even if you aren’t able to take off work for this 2 p.m. game, check out this NPR story that discusses the impact the World Cup has had on social media.
If you’re a wino then you have to check out vinyou! It‘s an online event venue for wine lovers that locates wine tastings in your area and gives you the opportunity to post your own wine tastings.
The iPhone 4 will be coming out next week, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to preorder. The large number of customers eager to get their hands on this new smart phone has overwhelmed Apple and AT&T. Anyone planning on getting the iPhone 4? Who WANTS to get the iPhone 4?
Social Media News of the Day
June 16, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under All, social media
The wait is over! Starbucks will start providing free WiFi beginning July 1. Click here to see everything the Starbucks Digital Network has to offer to its loyal caffeinated patrons.
Would you like to be able to check out of your Foursquare locations? So does Robert Scoble, read his blog on other ways Foursquare can improve their growing social media network.
Martha Stewart has left the kitchen and entered the world of social marketing. If you are a fan of her cupcakes you might enjoy a taste of her social media tips to promote and grow your business.
Obsessed with clipping coupons? Help Charleston get Groupon!
June 15, 2010 by Bailey
Filed under social media
Are you guilty of waking up early on Sunday morning (the day of rest) in order to clip coupons before anyone else touches the paper? If so, imagine a world where one great deal a day came directly into your inbox; this is the world of Groupons. We are more than excited about this “collective buying power” that services not only the consumer but is a great social media tool for businesses.
Groupon sends a daily email containing an unbeatable deal on the best stuff to do, see, buy and eat in your city. As long as the minimum number of people sign up for the groupon then the deal is on! This is where social media kicks in — if you see a groupon that you just can’t live without you can post it on Facebook and Twitter and invite your friends to buy in as well.
Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, commented at the Mashable Media Summit last week that Groupon is the obvious next big thing in social media. Groupon, however, is only in select cities and our fair city of Charleston has not made the list yet. The more times Charleston is requested on www.groupon.com the better the chances are that we will be able to cash in on these amazing deals.
Visit www.groupon.com , check out the deals happening in other cities, request Charleston and tell us what you think!
BP and the Case of Bad PR
June 15, 2010 by Holly Fisher
Filed under PR, social media
Beyond the horrible images of the Gulf of Mexico drowning in oil, I can’t help but watch yet another disaster hitting BP: a PR nightmare that has ruined its brand. This is a company’s worst fears come true – a disaster impacting an entire nation brought on, it seems, by much of its own doing. Ouch. That PR team has its work cut out for it.
One of the most interesting developments has been the creation of a fake BP Twitter feed, BPGlobalPR, now with more than 163,000 followers and retweets galore thanks to its dry wit (“Investing a lot of time & money into cleaning up our image, but the beaches are next on the to-do list for sure.”) and tweets dripping with sarcasm (“Adopt a BP oil plume! $25 makes you 100% responsible for an oil plume and a ‘bpcares’ shirt!”).
And don’t forget YouTube, home of videos taking BP to task for its reaction to the oil spill. My favorite: BP Spills Coffee.
But BP certainly isn’t the first company to take a beating for its missteps. Lest we not forget Toyota just a few months ago and a bevy of auto executives from Detroit taking a private jet to Washington, D.C., to ask for a government bailout.
Unfortunately, these recent examples won’t be the last. But, today a reputation is destroyed in the time it took me to type this paragraph. (140 characters)
Before your company barely has a chance to catch its breath and craft a statement, blogs are buzzing, Twitter is tweeting and Flip cameras are rolling for a satirical YouTube video. Truly, your only course of action is to be as ahead of the game as you can be. This isn’t the time to say “no comment,” buying a couple hours for the staff to set up a Twitter account and a Facebook page.
In this day of social media and the instantaneous news cycle, you have to stay one – better make that two – steps ahead. If these events teach PR people anything, it’s to cover all your bases and that includes social media.
