Advertising Agency Blog

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:00:26 +0000

2012 is well underway, and if you haven’t made the switch to narrowbanding, this is the opportune time to do it. Under the new FCC law, businesses and organizations have until December 31^st, 2012 to make the switch to narrowbanding for their two-way radios and communications. Anyone currently licensed at 25 KHz will need to be licensed at 12.5 KHz or less. If anyone fails to switch, you can be fined for upwards of $16,000 per violation each day of violation! The transition from 25 KHz to 12.5 Khz takes some time. Stream Companies can help you reach your customers so that they can avoid any frustration and added expenses in the future. Stream Companies has had extensive experience informing customers about the narrowbanding change. If you do not currently have a website, this is the perfect time for Stream Companies to build and maintain one for you. If you already have a website up and running, Stream Companies will create a tab that is specifically focused on narrowbanding. Using other forms of media such as e-mail and direct mail, Stream Companies will help you reach your customers in a multitude of ways. In your advertising, you can reassure customers that your full range of Motorola radios and staff radio repair technicians will make the transition fast and easy. Here are a number of resources that can tell you more about narrowbanding:

Contact Tiffanie Leos at Stream (610.644.8637 x247 – tiffanie@streamcompanies.com) to learn about the best way to communicate with your customer base on the narrowband switch!

On-Site SEO vs. Off-Site SEO

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:46:50 +0000

Want to be number one in Google Search? Want to beat out your competitor in Google Ranking? Your website might have the best graphics and user experience in town, but does it have the correct foundation? Setting up a SEO friendly website is important in ranking for the keywords your visitors are searching for. If you want your website to be found easily by both search engines and potential visitors, your website needs SEO. Let’s look at some definitions of some broad SEO terms so you can get comfortable with the terms used in this blog. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of your website in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing via the “free” or “organic“ search results. Stream Companies uses many tools and techniques in order to achieve a higher Google Rank for your company. Stream uses “On Site” SEO and “Off-Site” SEO to get your company noticed by Search Engine bots and ranked. On-site SEO refers to techniques Stream can perform on your site to improve your website so that search engines rank it higher Off-site SEO refers to techniques Stream can perform that is not part of your website, but that contributes to your PageRank and therefore SEO When Stream Companies performs SEO for a client, it focuses on both on-site SEO and off-site SEO. On-site SEO On-site SEO includes meaningful, targeted and well-thought out keyword tags, title tags and description tags. Stream Companies goes through image alt tags and anchor texts for links and makes sure these tags include targeted keywords and have meaningful context. Stream Companies then goes into the content of the website and creates quality content that is both easy to read for visitors and is easy to read from Search Engine Bots. Title Tags are exceptionally important: Your page title is the link that will appear within search results. Since it is what people click on in the search results and is the first thing people see about your site, search engines place significant weight on it. Description Tags are important: Many search engines use the meta description tag in their search results. Good meta description tags can help improve your click through rate. Off-Site SEO Off-Site SEO is where most of your referral traffic will come from. This technique is key in generating more traffic to your website and ultimately gaining a greater Page Rank resulting in a high Google Rank in Google Search. Off- Site SEO includes using Social Media, landing pages, web directories, blog sites, article and press releases and Google Places to create back-linking and popularity to your products or brand and/or company name. We’ve highlighted a few important off-site SEO components: Link Building & Keyword Driven Content- Create links with link anchor tags going from a high ranking webpage to your website. Use directories, social bookmarking, article and press releases are big way to increase your link building. Create high quality, keyword driven content that attracts the visitors and is readable by the search engine bots. Landing Pages- Single page websites that focus information targeted toward a specific user. Landing pages should achieve these 5 things; getting a visitor to click, buy, fill out a form, tell a friend and or learn something. Here is an example of a landing page created by Stream Companies for a client :

Auto Buyers Blog- Stream Companies also suggests creating a Wordpress blog that would provide fresh content to engage the customers with multiple links going back and forth to your company’s website. Google Places- Stream Companies understands it is important to build your local listings in your community. It is key to start with Google Places. Using Google Places, you can “claim” your business in Google and customize your listing on Google Maps and other Google Applications. If you have ever done a search for a local business on Google, you’ve probably noticed the Google Places listings at the top of the search results. They appear before the standard results, making them especially lucrative.

Stream Companies Wins 8 AVA Awards!

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:16:06 +0000

Award season is in full swing—and Stream Companies has brought home an impressive 8 AVA Awards for 2011! The AVA Awards is a global competition that recognizes outstanding achievements by creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design, and production of media. Interestingly enough, if you turn the number 8 on its side, it becomes the symbol for infinite. And infinite is Stream's appreciation for our creative team's amazing, award-winning work seen below:

Platinum Award Winners:

“Jack Williams 82nd Anniversary Sale” – Jack Williams Tire and Auto Service Centers

Jack Williams Tire & Auto Center – Anniversary A from Stream Companies on Vimeo.

"Semos the Crazy Greek" - Lynnes Hyundai

Lynnes Hyundai-CrazyAThon from Stream Companies on Vimeo.

“The Most Fascinating Car Dealer in the World” – Lynnes Nissan

The Most Interesting Nissan Dealer In The World - Lynnes Nissan from Stream Companies on Vimeo.

Gold Award Winners:

"Certa-Lok Pipe" - Certainteed

Certainteed Certa-Lok Pipe video from Jeff Crowe on Vimeo.

"Wizard of Todd" - McCafferty Ford

McCafferty Ford – Wizard of Oz from Stream Companies on Vimeo.

Honorable Mention Award Winners:

"FredBeans.com” – Fred Beans Family of Dealerships "Automotive Super Savers" - Lynnes Nissan

Lynnes Super Savers from Jeff Crowe on Vimeo.

Versus: Pro Pinterest

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:15:56 +0000

In recent months, Pinterest has gained significant traffic, raising questions about its long-term viability for advertisers. I don’t have a crystal ball in front of me—in fact, it’s packed away with all my other prognostication devices, but according to my recently downloaded ‘Magic 8 Ball App’, I should “Ask again later.” For now, I’ll tell you a little about the service, and the potential behind it. Pinterest is a collaborative photo sharing network that allows users to create, share, and manage boards based on particular interests. Pinterest is similar to tumblr, but they’ve gone a step further—they’ve made their platform fun, intuitive, and very attractive to brands.

Pinterest appeals to the sensibilities of scrapbookers and mood boarders of yore—the dull procedure of clipping photos of your Aunt Debbie has been replaced with digitally pinning expensive handbags and outfits that Debbie ought to consider. Pinterest has pushed the scrapbooking function further by allowing you to manage and share boards with people—creating conversations and communities around shared interests. Pinterest, in this sense, succeeds over tumblr’s reblogging functions, which allows little in way of dialogue. This is part of the reason why Pinterest’s user base is growing at an exponential rate, and why advertisers are flocking to it.

Tumblr has gone on record as saying it’s opposed to advertising, and this could hurt them in the long run because brands have been proliferating and profiting off of Pinterest’s tumblr-like format. Certainly, in the same fashion that Facebook was able to cut into MySpace’s userbase, we’re going to see the same dynamic occur with Pinterest and tumblr in the months ahead. One reason for this shift is Pinterest’s focus on the user experience and a friendly interface. Pinterest has made their dashboard feel alive with its focus on user collaboration—its aesthetics have a unified feel; each user’s profile page looks the same, making it feel like they've taken a page right out of Facebook’s 'simple profile design' playbook. Pinterest has also made image scanning conducive with its side-to-side book reading approach, while tumblr remains content with its clunky, archaic top-to-bottom scrolling interface. Tumblr still offers a decent blogging component currently missing from Pinterest’s interface. However, blogging isn’t the focus here; Pinterest knows what it wants to be. Now go make your Aunt Debbie happy. Start pinning away.

Versus: Pro Tumblr

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:37:18 +0000

Since 2007, Tumblr has been rocking the world of online media. After all, with over 15 billion posts by its 40+ million bloggers, it has earned the right to brag.

It’s served as a mecca for internet creativity, housing such famous memes as Foul Bachelor Frog, Paula Deen Riding Things, and the troll face. Tumblr has also been the birthplace for blockbuster blogs (and now books) including Texts from Last Night and FML.

Conjured up by then 20-year-old homeschooler David Karp, Tumblr serves as a website for dummies, in the sense that is takes little thought process to make one. There’s no HTML knowledge needed, and with page after page of user provided content at your fingertips, you don’t need a single unique thought or word to express your point. Tumblr likes to keep it fairly simple. You don’t see comments on posts or visit a page if you don’t want to. It’s all there, in your dashboard. Want to search for posts about swiss cheese? Go ahead. Want posts about swiss cheese to always show up on your dashboard? Good, go ahead and track that. Want to expand your options and dabble in gorgonzola? Do it! The only problem is, only the posts that are TAGGED with #cheese, #swiss, or #gorgonzola will show up. If the user doesn’t bother tagging it, you won’t see it. Sorry folks. Pinterest switches it up a little bit. Instead of tagging, you put your photos or “pins” onto a “board” that makes sense. For example, name your board “Cheeses” and put a photo of a block of cheddar in there. In essence, it’s just another way to organize your photos. Another factor that draws a line between the two is the fact that Pinterest frowns upon photos with nudity (for now). Tsk tsk! I see it this way… If StumbleUpon, Flickr, and Tumblr all got together and baked a cake, it would be Pinterest. Pinterest cuts out a lot of the text and gets down to what you’re really looking for. Photos, and lots of ‘em. Photos, with links to where they came from. And blogs? Don’t you DARE call it blogging. They call it “pinning.” The dash is wider, clean and doesn’t require much scrolling. But is it that different? I don’t know about you, but I have wasted could waste four, five, six hours on Tumblr. I don’t really need another time sucker in my life. More importantly, I don’t NEED anymore cute cat photos hogging space on my hard drive. Okay…I do. But, Pinterest… if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Tumblr has got this under control. Thanks though! Really, we’re flattered.

Hitch.me

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:20:03 +0000

Is this the future of online dating? Hitch.me is the first and only dating platform for LinkedIn users. The founder of Hitch.Me, Naveed Nadir, has banked on the assumption that single people professionals will deem LinkedIn as a credible source for acceptable partners. You'll find none of that shady business like you would on some of those other dating sites because, of course, everyone on LinkedIn has got to be a nice and decent individual. And since everyone on LinkedIn is a super-smart business guy or gal (or someone unemployed who's looking for a job), everybody's got a healthy paycheck, too. Take a look at Hitch.me's video. Amusing, but kinda pushing the "everyone on LinkedIn went to fancy schools and owns fancy things!" deal: So, how does it work? All you have to do is visit Hitch.me and sign in with your LinkedIn profile. Once you sign in, you're prompted to fill out a personal profile, which doesn't require much:

Your birthday
Personality (which includes shy, social, confident, reserved, insecure, extrovert, introvert and adventurous)
Your education
Your ethnicity
Your religion
Your marital status
If you have children or not
If you're a smoker
If you're a drinker
What you're interested in (a casual date, a soul mate, a friend, a business partner)
About me (under 500 characters)
My perfect match (under 500 characters)
My perfect date
Financial details (income, net worth and vehicle make)

There's no monthly fee, but it works on a credit system. These credits are required in order to unlock profiles and communicate with other Hitch.me users. Once you sign up, you get 200 credits, and you can get 100 more credits per person that signs up via the link you post on your social networks. (And who, may I ask, will post that?) You can also pay $10 for 300, $25 for 1,000 and $50 for 2,500 additional credits. Here's the breakdown for what it takes to interact:

20 credits to unlock a profile or send a smile (without words)
50 credits to send a pitch (250 characters)
100 credits to send a presentation (private images and videos)

I see the value in this, don't get me wrong. It sure skips the step of Googling someone, and I do consider LinkedIn a better source for (hopefully) truthful information. But Hitch.me just seems like yet another site that will have the same weirdo people that happen to have a business profile. The world is a bizarre place -let's be real, crazies/losers/creepers/jerkfaces exist everywhere - even on LinkedIn! Plus, there are a few things that could be helpful - an explanation of how Hitch.me matches you and the ability to set location limitations. However, seeing as Nadir only launched this site yesterday, I'm sure there are some additions to come. However, among other things, Bottom line - there are a few things that separate Hitch.me from all of the other dating sites, but not much. Just because you are using a LinkedIn profile, your dating prospects aren't that much more appealing. I say it's worth a try...because I'm just interested in hearing you dish about it!

Time Is On My Side

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:32:28 +0000

To start off the new year right, this is the perfect opportunity to make sure you’re getting the most out of your work day. When you’re working in sales, there are constant tasks and challenges. It’s up to you to determine how you tackle these day-to-day action items. The Sales Team at Stream Companies recommends you implement the following reminders in an effort to maximize your time management. Prioritize projects You know that some projects are of higher priority. Don’t lose sight of this. You may have 10 deadlines in the near future, but which ones are most important? Address these first and don’t trap yourself in doing the lower priority items. Don't labor over the unimportant There are plenty of small tasks, but when you focus on them, they add up to a huge chunk of your time. It’s easy to belabor every minute detail of each task, but if you do, it can come back to bite you. Finish the most important tasks then go back to the less important. Have a plan to follow Set out a plan and stick to your guns. Slow down and put the schedule you’ve created first. Schedule appropriate selling time We’ve already discussed the qualities of top sellers. One of those traits involves knowing your clients and their products inside and out. Stay aware of how the time of year can work for or against you. Maximize touch windows Prospecting for business is best executed when prospects are most likely available. Don’t squander the golden selling hours of 9AM-11AM and 2PM-4PM. Do your admin work outside of raw selling time Administrative tasks seem like they’re never ending, don’t they? These are also key to your success, but they have a time and a place. Avoid distractions Most people can fall into the trap of procrastination. Talking to a co-worker, surfing the ‘net – they’re easy ways to avoid difficult tasks. This also includes the flood of e-mails you receive each day. The average businessperson feels that about 80% of the messages in his or her Inbox are of little or no value. Checking every e-mail immediately can consume you. Keep those priorities in mind and stick to them. Avoid personal interruptions These are of course important, but it’s important to put them on hold and remain focused on your goals at work.

Radio – Is It An Effective Medium?

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:00:15 +0000

In a world where the US audience has a shorter and shorter attention span and more media choices, is there any loyalty in a medium like radio with so many choices? Let’s be honest; how many of you listen to the same radio station for more than 7 minutes (or until the next commercial break)? Most of us have a minimum of 7-10 stations we “flick” between if we do not like the song or the station is in a commercial break. In fact, the term “P1” (industry term for the listener’s First Preference) has gone extinct. Fleeting are the days we threw on a radio station in the kitchen or kicked back in our rooms listening to our favorite evening DJ. Today’s technology allows us to surf the net to background MP3s or turn on a small television in the kitchen for “background noise.” So, how effective is our :60 second radio commercial? A study conducted in 2005 done by the Radio Ad Lab ran two campaigns in two separate markets. One market ran 100% television at 100 GRPs (Gross Rating Points) and the other market ran 100% radio at 100 GRPs. The overall goal was to track the amount of actual sales produced during the flight of the campaigns. Nothing in the study mentioned the product or the time of the year the study was conducted. Actual sales, as measured by ACNielsen scanner data in paired stores, went up as much in the equal-weight Radio market as they did in the control TV market, controlling analytically for other marketing factors. The radio industry would argue that in the above study, radio was more effective due to the efficiency. Radio is typically less expensive. As a result, an advertiser can afford more GRPs for the same budget as television, making it more effective at driving actual sales. The study goes on to explain this theory; “In addition, in the market with 50% more weight in Radio than in TV, a 50% higher weight of Radio advertising provided a 10.82% higher level of sales than the TV-only market. And that higher weight in Radio still cost less than the TV campaigns.” Arbitron research does not help in this debate. Arbitron’s new research method, Personal People Meter (PPM), is designed to track a listener within any 15 minute period or quarter hour. To qualify, a listener with a PPM, must listen to a specific radio station for 5-7 minutes to be counted as a listener for 15 minutes. Stations know this and set their music breaks for 8-10 minute intervals. As a result, the data delivered from Arbitron is misleading. Listeners can be counted for 15 minutes when they just stopped in listen to a few good tunes before “flicking” to the next station. At the end of the day, each advertiser needs to feel comfortable with the media they are advertising in. It is important to look at demographics, retail locations and your product before choosing a medium. In the 2012 media world, you need to look at these factors over all else and create a media mix to achieve the advertising goals. Most of the time, the answer is not radio or television alone, but a combination of the two, focused on key times throughout the day. In a 2010 study done by The Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, today’s short attention span in children is caused by new technologies and more choices in mediums. As this generation grows older and the choices to advertise get larger, media professionals need to get more focused than ever before.

E-mail Marketing 101

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:27:10 +0000

E-mail is not just a simple form of communication; as a business professional, you have the ability to connect with your customers through e-mail and market your product and brand. A faster and cheaper way to advertise, e-mail marketing has a number of benefits. Here are just a few of them: Fast and Effective Email marketing allows you to communicate at the speed of the Internet. No waiting. Initial campaign response generally occurs within 24 hours of deployment! Far Reaching and Highly Accessible Globally there are 1.4 billion active e-mail addresses and that number is growing. E-Mail just isn't on computers -- 30% of e-mail opens now come on mobile devices. 70 million US consumers accessed email through a mobile device, with 43.5 million doing so on a near-daily basis in 2011, and that number is increasing. Measurable and Trackable Everything in an e-mail can be tracked and analyzed. See how many opened it, who opened it, and what links they clicked on. Know your customers and prospects interests instead of guessing. See just who is engaging with you and who is not. Personal and Grows Relationships E-Mails can be personalized and/or give your customers an inside scoop and exclusive offers so they feel important. You can utilize tracking and segmentation to speak directly to your individual customer's interests in a way no other media can. Keep in direct touch with your customers more often and at less expense. Testable and Changeable Email marketing makes testing different messages quick, simple, and affordable. You can quickly and cost-effectively test a message first in an e-mail campaign and then, if effective, use it in other traditional media with less risk. Maximizes Your Marketing ROI According to the Direct Marketing Association, email is projected to bring in $39.40 for every dollar spent in 2012. List Management Becomes Easy E-mails contain opt-in and opt-out options which help you to shortlist your prospects and customers and reach only the ones genuinely interested in your offerings. Also, customers can update the profiles to tell you more about themselves and what they are interested in. Using e-mail marketing is a simple way of reaching customers. As an added benefit, for Motorola dealers, e-mail marketing is covered by co-op. For more information about e-mail marketing, contact Tiffanie Leos via e-mail at tiffanie@streamcompanies.com or 610-644-8637 x247 or Beth Burke at eburke@streamcompanies.com or 610-644-8637 x103.

Worst Holiday Commercials: Stream Companies’ Naughty List

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:53:04 +0000

We shared our favorites...and here are the television spots we just can't stand! First up - every Lexus commercial during the holidays. Everyone at Stream just LOVES these spots.The jingle sure is catchy, but once you hear it, it's hard not to cringe. In this one, a young 20-something hipster couple can afford to rig an elevator's music! How clever! Speaking of hipsters, Hyundai has been all about Pomplamoose these days. Mike Begley submitted this one: Kate Heskett dislikes all of the generic jewelry ads- they're pretty much all the same, aren't they? But here's an especially awful one: Shaun Daly has to disagree with Jason Brennan. Tone it down, guuurl! (Disclaimer: Those were my words, not Shaun's.) I personally don't like these these Best Buy commercials. Way to be a real jerk to the big man himself! (And by "real jerk" I mean something way worse.) Well, that wraps up our favorite and least favorite holiday commercials. From the Stream Team to you and yours, we hope you have a happy and healthy holiday!