Vidicom CEO Recommends Brands to Mix and Match Different Social Media Platforms to Interact More with Consumers

Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer think the various social media platforms are great tools for brands to utilize to connect with consumers. Brands can grow their audiences and discover new content on social media by mixing and matching the different platforms. Here is a list of the platforms that mix well together:

1.     Instagram + Pinterest: A good way to interact with consumers and generate conversations is by pinning your Instagram pictures.

2.     Twitter + Pinterest: You can share your pins with a new audience by pulling content from your pin boards to Twitter.  Photos also help increase engagement with your followers.
      Facebook + Twitter: A good way to find content to post on Facebook is by using Twitter’s search engine.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/23/social-media-mixology/

Vidicom Helps Small Businesses with Social Media Marketing

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer thinks that utilizing social media is a great marketing strategy for brands. Since it can be a challenge for small businesses to engage an audience via social media, we have provided some tips for building and retaining an audience on social media:

1.     “Pay-to-Play”: Although most of the social media platforms are free, businesses should still allocate a marketing budget for social media.

2.     Pick your platforms wisely: Certain businesses will flourish on visually rich sites such as Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, while others may have more success with Twitter’s 140 character format

3.     Create a community of insiders: Many people “like” a brand on Facebook so that they can be “in-the-know” about events, promotions, and special offers or discounts

4.     Social is 24/7: Since people are on social media at all hours of the day, including off-hours, the ideal social strategy does not shut off completely for hours or days on end.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/24/grow-social-audience/

Christy Ferer Shares a Mashable Article: Tips for Live Blogging

Christy Ferer says we are experts at linking brands with consumers here at Vidicom. A great way to do so is live blogging. Here are some tips for brands that want to start live blogging or are interested in stepping up their live blog game:

1.     Clarify the event/topic you are discussing: Since the range of topics you can blog about is so vast, you should always indicate what topic you are covering.

2.     Tag your live blog appropriately: It is important to tag your live blog correctly and not to add tags of other fandoms or shows in an attempt to get more notes and reblogs as that can annoy people.   

3.     Include reaction GIFs for full effect: You will make your post more eye-catching by using reaction GIFs.

4.      Be detailed but genuine: Be sure to include detailed information to fill readers in about the topic you are covering. However, keep in mind that live blogs are all about genuine reactions, so don’t don’t shy away from them.

5.     Avoid accidentally spamming your followers dash boards: A good way to avoid filling your followers’ dashboards with an excessive number of posts is to collect multiple ideas in one post and then publish it every few minutes. 

http://mashable.com/2013/12/22/tumblr-live-blogging/

Businesses Should Consider Social Media Lessons of 2013 Says Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team read that this was a big year for social media from Twitter making its successful debut on the stock market to China’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba, spending $586 million for a stake in Weibo. Vidicom thinks there are many social media lessons of 2013 that businesses can take away. These lessons include:

Social media can move markets: This was shown when the Dow dropped 150 points seconds after The Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked and broadcasted a fake tweet saying that there were explosions in the White House and Barack Obama was injured.

Social media is increasingly visual: It is clear with Twitter-owned Vine being launched and Facebook responding by enabling video on Instagram that social media is becoming more and more visual.

Social media is for everyone: Global leaders such as Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon even use social media platforms.

Social media advertising is on the rise: Facebook reported in the third quarter of 2013 that revenue grew 60% compared to the previous year, with mobile advertising being a large part of that.

Social media could be TVs biggest ally: In October, Nielsen Ratings displayed a correlation between live-tweeting during TV and having a larger, more engaged audience.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/18/social-media-lessons/

Vidicom Share Tips to Keep Employees Happy

Christy Ferer cares deeply about her employees’ well-being and she always make sure that everyone is happy at Vidicom. It is extremely important for any company to create and maintain a pleasant workplace. Some tips for building employee retention and fostering a happy work environment include:

1.     Establish a mission: People want to feel like they are making a difference. Having a mission will keep employees motivated to keep working hard and stick with your company.

2.     Get employees talking to each other: Encouraging employees to interact will make them feel more connected to and informed about their company and one another. 

3.     Have a culture community: Tasking a team to own “people’s operations” and culture can help make sure your employees are engaged and having fun.

4.     Inspire employees to live the brand: This will remind team why they work for your company and it ignites passions that can be shared with your customers.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/04/employee-retention/

Instagram Direct, Christy Ferer Believes, Can Strengthen Customer Relationships

New features are constantly introduced in the social media world. Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer loves finding ways brands can benefit from the new products that are released. A new set of private and group messaging features was rolled out for Instagram on Thursday morning. Brands will be thrilled to learn ways they can benefit from Instagram Direct. Cofounder and CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, announced that marketers can use the messaging feature to college images for contests. This can help brands deepen relationships with customers as well as increase consumer engagement. Brands can also advance by using direct messaging to handle customer service issues on a one-to-one basis. Brands should try out this new feature to strengthen customer relationships! 

http://mashable.com/2013/12/12/instagram-direct-brands/

The Vidicom Team Help Brands Garner Press Coverage

Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom, says receiving press coverage is an effective way to do so. It’s not always easy for small businesses to get coverage. However there are some ways to help. Here are some tips to garner press coverage:

1.     Editorial Calendars: Many publications offer editorial calendars, which include events they plan to cover, seasonal themes, etc. A good way to get coverage is to find where your business can fit or bring value to the editorial calendar.

2.     Create your own content: Diversifying your content strategy is a great way to garner press coverage for your business.

3.     Good Will: Doing good deeds such as donating or sponsoring can bring attention to your business and connect you to both the media and the public.

4.     Consider other press: Press coverage often snowballs into more press coverage, so pitching to smaller blogs or local news as well as your industry’s leading publication can be very beneficial.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/10/how-to-get-press-coverage/

Tips Shared to Enhance CRM by Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer emphasizes the importance of customer relationships here at Vidicom. In order for businesses to succeed, it is necessary to maintain those relationships. Some tips to help brands manage interactions with current and future customers include:  

1.     Generate word of mouth conversations: In today’s society, word of mouth conversations means online reviews and recommendations.  You can get customer feedback from those already using your site with onsite reviews that translate to qualitative stars like you see on Amazon or Yelp. Social media is your best bet for feedback from newcomers.

2.     Use negative feedback to improve customer experience: By responding to negative feedback in a positive way, you can turn frustrated customers into loyal fans and brand ambassadors.

3.     Be honest:  This is an advantage for small businesses because it’s easier for customers to get in touch with a real person. Small businesses can increase customer loyalty, by capitalizing on being honest.

4.     Maintain customer relationships: It is just as important to keep track of ongoing customer relationships as it is to have a positive customer experience. Some helpful tools to help you keep track of relationships include, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Kovida.is, Close.io, Sugar, or an Excel Doc.

http://mashable.com/2013/12/05/crm-tips/

Most Brands Can Advance with Twitter's New Program, Christy Ferer Agrees

Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer makes sure to stay up to date with social media. There are always opportunities occurring in social media that can help brands advance. Twitter announced on Thursday the introduction of ads based on what users search on the web. Brands can highly benefit from this new program, tailored audiences, because they are now able to target users who have visited their website or “shown an interest” in the brand’s category on and outside of Twitter. With this new program, it is a lot easier for brands to connect with customers in their market. In order for brands to get advertisements, they must go through Twitter partners Adara, AdRoll, BlueKai, Chango, DataXu, Dstillery, Lotame, Quantcast, ValueClick, and [x+1] to do so. 

http://mashable.com/2013/12/05/twitter-ads-browsing-history/

Brands Should Use Snapchat to Enhance Brand Marketing

Christy Ferer says that helping brands strengthen their relationships with customers is what we do best here at Vidicom. One effective way brands can connect with customers is with the mobile app, Snapchat. Snapchat allows brands to interact with customers by way of snaps at little or no cost. In addition to snaps, brands can connect with customers by way of Snapchat Stories. Rolled out in October 2013, Snapchat Stories offers brands a longer conversation format than just 10 seconds. Brands are proving that time-sensitive images can be an asset for brand marketing by using Snapchat. Some brands that are extra chatty on Snapchat include: 16 Handles, Taco Bell, Acura, Karmaloop, GrubHub, and many more. Brands that haven’t already should jump on the bandwagon and start utilizing Snapchat to their marketing advantage!

http://mashable.com/2013/12/05/snapchat-brands/

Vidicom's Christy Ferer Urges Businesses to Start Using Mobile Advertising to Increase Brand Awareness

Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer is always seeking effective ways to increase exposure for brands. Data from this year shows that 17.4% of web traffic comes directly from mobile.  Based on this information, it is clear that companies should develop, if they haven’t already, smart mobile advertising strategies to increase brand awareness. Many businesses have already started using mobile advertising.  Listed below are businesses that are using mobile advertising in effective ways.

1.     Rock/Creek: The outdoor gear and apparel company uses Twitter’s Promoted Accounts to increase awareness and engagement with followers who were interested in their products.

2.     Karaoke Heroes: When the karaoke bar opened in 2012, it was able to reach its target audience via Facebook.

3.     Colombo & Hurd: The Florida law firm was able to get more people into it’s office via Google Adwords.

4.     Just Salad: The salad chain geotargets by using Foursquare ads.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/07/mobile-advertising-wins/