Vidicom CEO on How Facebook's New Look for Pages Will Help Build Brands

Something new is always happening in the social media world and Christy Ferer, Vidicom’s CEO, loves being one of the first to know. Facebook announced earlier this week a new look for Pages. The new design still has two columns, but now the right column is the Page’s timeline and the left contains information about the brand of corporation. Also, the “Invite Your Friends” section has moved to the left side of the screen and the text box for posting moved to the right side. She thinks brand will benefit from the new metrics section on the Page that includes data about ads, Likes and post reach. 

http://mashable.com/2014/03/10/facebook-redesign-pages/

    

Content Marketing is Vital For Brands, Vidicom Thinks it Helps Reach Modern Consumers

The transition from traditional advertising methods to content marketing is becoming increasingly popular as Vidicom’s CEO, Christy Ferer, thinks it is helping brands reach modern consumers. Content marketing has helped leading brands such as Coca-Cola and Red Bull make it to the top. Coca-cola has managed to reach older consumers through story telling as well as teens through experimental microsites with it’s Content 2020 approach. Red Bull has been able to reach millions of consumers by launching a magazine.

http://mashable.com/2014/02/25/cpg-content-marketing-brandspeak/

Facebook Buying a Drone Company Will Benefit Brands

Keeping up with social media is something Christy Ferer loves to do. It was recently reported that Facebook is considering buying a drone company in order to bring Internet access to people all over the world who don’t already have it. Facebook is looking to spend $60 million on Titan Aerospace, which makes huge unmanned aerial vehicles. Zuckerburg said in an interview with CNN last year that Facebook had a “rough plan for what we think we’re going to need to do” in order to bring 5 billion more people online.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/facebook-drones_n_4895983.html?utm_hp_ref=social-media

Content Marketing Increases Consumer Engagement for Brands Says Christy Ferer

In a world powered by content and social media, brands need to adapt in order to maintain consumer engagement. CEO of Vidicom, Christy Ferer, thinks content marketing is the key to success for brands. Some brands that are mastering the content marketing game include, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, and Oreo.  With a clear strategy and a commitment to content and the infrastructure to succeed, Christy Ferer thinks other brands can make it to the top. Some key topics brands should consider as they develop content marketing include, distribution advances, publisher partnerships, and traditional media gaps.

http://www.adweek.com/brandshare/these-consumer-brands-are-transforming-marketing-155958

Christy Ferer Helps Brands Develop Branded Video Content

Content marketing is on the rise for brands today. Christy Ferer, Vidicom’s CEO, particularly likes branded video content as it attracts consumers and keeps them engaged. The Vidicom team is extremely skillful at creating branded video content. Here are some tips for brands that want to create their own:

1.     Produce timely content: A good way to get a lot of views is to develop your video at the same time as a major event such as the Super Bowl or the Oscars and assert your brands creative viewpoint.

2.     Choose the best format: It’s important to choose the best format for your brand message.  30-second spot, product tutorial, or longform)

3.     Avoid being too branded: A video in which a brand talks about how great they are will steer customers away. 

http://mashable.com/2013/11/29/video-views-completion-metrics/

Christy Ferer's Vidicom Helps Brands Built Loyalty

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer, stresses the importance of loyalty and consumer engagement for brands. However, it can be difficult to build loyalty for brands that can’t depend on inherited emotional connections to fuel a long lasting consumer relationship. Here are some ways to help brands build loyalty:  

1.     Don’t be a one-hit wonder: She strongly believes that it takes time, investment and consistency across every consumer interaction to have lasting consumer engagement. Brands can generate interactions by producing online videos and games, mobile apps, and compelling content for social media.

2.      Get feedback directly from customers: In order to learn about your audiences experience with your brand, it is essential to get feedback directly from your customers. Brands can receive customer feedback in stores, online, via mobile and social media.

3.     Make your one-man band a super group: Brand partnerships allow your business to provide a larger and exciting variety of rewards and incentives.

4.     Vary your playlist: Brands can appeal to various segments and customers as well as keep consumers engaged over time by offering different types of rewards

      http://www.inc.com/irving-fain/ways-to-create-super-fans-for-your-brand.html

Vidicom Helps Brands Create Content that Sticks

Vidicom thinks branded video content helps build brands and gets consumers more engaged. However, creating content that stands out and sticks with consumers isn’t always easy. The Vidicom team thinks these 5 ways can help brands create content that will grow their audience:

1.     Become familiar with the content that surrounds your target market  

2.     Establish your brand’s particular niche and unique offering

3.     Make your content stronger through multimedia storytelling elements, taking things “live” or by adjusting the frequency of content to maintain consumer engagement

4.     Your brand can keep consumers engaged by enlisting the users who are already engaging in your site

5.     Be different. With the 27 million pieces of content that are shared everyday, your competition is huge. Making your branded content different and unique will help you stand out and cut through all the clutter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/differentiate-content-marketing_n_3957521.html

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/

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/

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/

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/

Christy Ferer Recommends Brands to Become Familiar with the Four Types of Holiday Shoppers

Not only is Black Friday a big day for shoppers, but it is also an important day for businesses/retailers. Vision Critical, a market research and technology firm, defines four types of Black Friday shopper personas: the Modern-Day Coupon Queen, the Millennial Generation Shopper, the Mobile Tech Embracer, and the Single Cyber Male. Vidicom and Christy Ferer suggests brands to become familiar with the four major personas when marketing to them.

1.     Modern-Day Coupon Queen: This persona is typically a mom in her forties who spends the least amount of money on herself during the holidays. The Modern-Day Coupon Queen is likely to line up for doorbuster Black Friday Sales.

2.     Millennial Generation Shopper: Usually in their mid 20s, the majority of Millennial Generation Shoppers admit to impulse buying and about 2/3 are not in-store when shopping on mobile devices.

3.     Mobile Tech Embracer: This type of persona embraces traditional forms of shopping while adopting new ways of purchasing.

4.     Single Cyber Males: This persona generally makes purchases via their computers. Most Single Cyber Males look for gifts ahead of time and are not likely to bother with lines and crowds for in-store holiday promotional sales.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/28/marketing-holiday-shoppers/

Vidicom Suggest Ways for Brands to Bring More Consumers to Their Sites

Here at Vidicom, Christy Ferer stresses the importance of connecting brands and consumers. Bringing consumers to brands’ websites is one way to increase consumer engagement. Brands need to know their referring traffic sources in order to do so.  Some effective ways to analyze and optimize referral traffic include:

1.     Analyze the two types of referrers: The two types of referrals are referring domains and individual referrals.  In order to understand your referral sources, brands should know both metrics.

2.     Track everything: Brands should go into great detail in their data so they know where to invest for the next campaign.

3.     Optimize for social: Social media is a powerful tool that can increase visits, develop brand affinity, and get your brand in the conversation of consumers; all of which will pay off in the long run.

4.     Partner opportunities: You can find potential partners with similar missions and goals by keeping track of your referrals.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/27/referrals-metrics/

Vidicom Provides Brands with Tips to Build Customer Relationships

Christy Ferer agrees that we strongly value customer relationships here at Vidicom. It is a nonstop effort to strengthen our customer relationships as well as help other brands build theirs’. Some useful advice for brands regarding cultivating customer relationships include:

1.     Realize that happy customers are returning customers: When customers are happy, they are more likely to spread a positive message about your brand by speaking to potential customers or posting reviews online about your brand.

2.     Set and manage realistic expectations: To avoid disappointing your customer, it is better to under-promise and over-deliver than to set unrealistic expectations that your brand cannot follow through with.

3.     Be a connector: Your brand will benefit in the long run if you help people fulfill their needs by making connections for them.

4.     Keep track of customer information: Documenting customer details such as names, birthdays, kids’ names, etc. will build your customer relationship and will keep your customers coming back.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/25/customer-relationships/

The New Addition to Instagram will be Beneficial for Brands, Recommended by Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team love discovering what’s new in the social media world. It was recently reported by GigaOm that Instagram will be adding private messaging before 2014. What the messaging function will look like is unclear, but it is likely that a user might be able directly share photos with particular friends or groups instead of posting to the public newsfeed. Private messaging is a efficient tool for brands to use to reach out to consumers as well as potential consumers more directly. Brands should get excited for the new addition as it can enhance consumer relationships!

http://mashable.com/2013/11/22/report-instagram-messaging/

Tumblr Add-ons Help Brands Improve Overall Experience Tumblr, Says Vidicom

As Vidicom previously noted, Tumblr is a great tool for businesses to use to build their brands. Christy Ferer agrees. There are extensions offered for users to improve their overall experience on the social media site. Some of the add-ons include:

1.     Missing e: Provides faster reblogs, a bookmark for your place in the dashboard and enables you to select multiple posts at once.

2.     X Kit: You can add timestamps to posts, improve your inbox experience, reply to notifications, dim posts you have already read, and browse safely in public.

3.     Tumblr Savior: Add words and phrases to a “White” or “Black” list with this Chrome extension. The Black list prevents you from seeing posts containing unwanted words and the White list displays posts on your feed containing the words.

4.     Tumblr Hate: This add-on is similar to Tumblr Savior because you can hide posts that are reblogged over and over again.

Brands Should Use Tumblr to Connect with Consumers

Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team take pride in linking brands to consumers. A sufficient tool for brands to use to connect with consumers is Tumblr. Tumblr can provide brands with great exposure because it highlights strong visual content that can be easily shared to mass audiences. Fortunately, Tumblr’s templates are easy to manage and many are totally free.  Brands that are not yet on Tumblr should check out the following brands that are successfully using the social media site.

1.     Calvin Klein: Tumblr is clean, sexy, and sleek just like their ads.

2.     Disney: The content is visual, recognizable, and commonly shared on the site.

3.     GQ: Tumblr highlights the most sharable content from the magazine.

4.     Lexus: Lexus’s Tumblr is subtle and sends the clear message that Lexus=luxury.  

5.     Adidas: Tumblr is interactive, clean and full of color and personality. The products are put front and center without seeming forceful.

Christy Ferer Thinks Custom Timelines on Twitter are a Great Tool for Brands

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, makes sure her team stays up to date with social media news. The ability to create custom timelines on Twitter was announced last week. Users will be able to develop their own timelines focused on certain events and fill them with tweets from particular users and topics. Users will need Tweetdeck in order to develop a custom timeline. Timelines can also be made by hand by using the Twitter API. Our team recommends brands to create custom timelines about current events as they will grab the attention of consumers and increase engagement.

Vidicom Recommends Ways Brands Can Reach On-the-go Customers

Christy Ferer says helping brands get their names in the conversations of consumers is what we do here at Vidicom. With the major shift to mobile advertising in today’s society, the Vidicom team agrees that it is necessary for brands to have a strategy in place to reach on-the-go customers.  Some effective ways brands can reach customers via mobile advertising include:

1.     Create a native mobile ad: By finding and partnering with relevant blogs and new sites in your niche, you can create low-cost ads and target a more receptive audience. 

2.     Use a mobile display advertising partner:  If you don’t want to create a native mobile ad, then a good alternative is to partner with a mobile display advertising partner. You can create an inventory of products for a relatively low cost and the partner takes care of the hosting.

3.      Make a Foursquare ad: Foursquare ads help personalize local searches for consumers looking for the types of products and services your businesses offer.