Over the past few weeks, there have been quite a few events in town. One of the events was the CTE (Children’s Theater of Elgin) performance of  “Sleeping Beauty“. I happened to be a member of the promotional committee. At the last meeting, which is when I became involved. I discovered a few things which I know will help you in marketing your events.

1. When creating an event, always do it from your Facebook Page. This will ensure your page will be promoted when people invite others or share your event.
2. Always, always, always, use an image when creating the event.  Facebook states the small-sized profile picture for the event can have a maximum width of 50px and a maximum height of 150px. There is also a medium-sized profile picture for an event  can have a maximum width of 100px and a maximum height of 300px.
3. After your Facebook Page creates the event, make sure to share it on your own profile AND invite your friends.
4. Only promote the ONE EVENT! Many people in groups and organizations like to “help” by creating an event of their own and invite their own friends. This dilutes the effectiveness of only having one event.
5. Answer questions and engage people on the event page. I have seen, many times, where people really want to go to an event and have a question like: “Is this kid friendly?”  Not answering this question will deter people from going because they don’t know if they need a sitter or may think they don’t care to answer. Always answer questions… always!

The five steps above are the basics of any and all events you are holding or involved with. By following the five basic steps, you’ll increase your virality potential. When people go to an event page, they see who has been invited, who is going and who said maybe. They also see comments and engagement from the event organizers.

People like to do what others are doing and it really does get more people to your event. “Wow, look at all those people who are going! This is going to be a great event, not to miss.”

1. Event Description: in the first 250 characters of your description, make it exciting and enticing. Make that little teaser be the part that will hook people into coming to your event. The first 250 characters are what’s seen before someone has to click the “see more” link.
2. Make sure you upload the photo for your event image, in the “photo” section too.
3. Move your clickable “Events Button” next to your Photos. It will draw double the attention to the event.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below. Go ahead and share this with the organizations you’re involved with. They can greatly benefit from this information.

- Michael S. Copeland

This is just the first of many.

When you create Facebook Events, always, always, always, use an image in the setup process.

If you don’t have one, make one before you create the event.

That event image will be like a “button” on your Facebook Business page.  That image is what is seen when people share the event and when they invite their friends.

Learn about Facebook Pages Timeline 

There have been a lot of people asking me about Facebook’s change.  Basically they have changed all the Facebook pages to timeline. Well they will all be switched to timeline on March 30th.

This is a pretty big change for marketers, like myself, and my clients. Personally I like it. It will allow people to interact with brands and businesses in a way that makes it more social. I did this by creating Facebook Apps for my clients previously, but now some of that functionality is native! On the app side, things have gotten better too! Now we can do a lot more for our clients.

Check out this tutorial and learn about Facebook Pages:

http://www.learnfacebookpages.com/

The answers may surprise you in this Infographic from HowtoMBA.com.

I received an email this evening from Blair Gardner over at HowtoMBA. They wanted me to check out this new infographic. With their permission, I have added it here.

Check it out and let me know what surprised you.

Brought to you by HowToMBA.com with Online MBA info

Is social media for small business?

The answer is YES!

I’ve been doing a lot of work for small businesses lately. The main benefit they see is not only an increase in sales, but an increase in customer loyalty too. This is extremely great for restaurants, salons, and any other place with a lot of repeat business.

The big thing is, they see an increase in income as soon as I start working with them. Social media marketing is free and if you know how to do it right, it will make your business grow.  However,  if you do it wrong or have the wrong mindset, it can hurt your business.

Most small businesses don’t have the money to hire an employee to handle their social media management. Even if they did, they wouldn’t know how to train that new employee.  If you look at the chart below, you’ll see the average salary for social media jobs in the USA.

For a fraction of the cost, you can outsource your social media management to someone who knows what they’re doing, can create a strategy and goals, like me.

 

© 2012 Onward Search

I will be hosting a Free Training Webinar about iPhone apps, iPad apps, and Android Apps.
On this Brand New Webinar, we will go over the 4 “Streams of Income” you can easily
implement immediately and start profiting by.
I’m talking about creating and marketing mobile apps to small businesses to use to connect to their customers.

You’ll be amazed at the many ways you can make money with this.

There are 5.2 Billion mobile phone users out there.

Apps are quickly replacing web sites!

iPhones, iPads and Androids are replacing computers!

Advances in technology have mobilized us and now we find ourselves living in a
Mobile World.

Many people all over the world are making a fortune with iPhone Apps because of
it.

You’ll learn that is you can send an email, make a document in Word, or make a
post in a blog – then you can make money and profit in the Mobile App Revolution!

My guest, Mobile & Marketing expert, Jeff Mills, shows show you the many different ways
you can cash in on this remarkable new opportunity!

Nothing like this has been seen yet, and no… this is not about making or
developing GAME that you sell – it’s all about helping local businesses!

If you can copy & paste, or create a Word document, you can make this happen!

Go to http://socialnetworkingcall.com to register now!

If you’ve been anywhere on the social media landscape over the last few weeks, you should have heard about SOPA and/or PIPA.

What is SOPA?

[optiner c="749"]

Like this post to reveal the rest of the article.

Many websites including Wikipedia, Google, Youtube, and many more all went “dark” to protest against SOPA and PIPA. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg  jumped on board too, saying he’s against internet censorship.

With all this backlash, it seems like Congress is listening. The people are speaking and being heard. Senators and Representatives are changing their thoughts and are more leaning towards a “NO” Vote. However, it makes me wonder why they are changing their minds.

Are they changing their minds because of the poorly written SOPA and PIPA bills, or is it because they are fearful they will not be reelected next term. I can tell you one thing, if you vote for SOPA and PIPA, you’re not getting my vote. I know many people who say the same thing.

January 24th is the date the vote is supposed to happen. Let’s hope they do the right thing for the right reasons!

Copyright © 2012 Social Media Landscape. All rights reserved.

---

RSS Feed Powered by MaxBlogPress Bring My Blog Visitors Back

]]> http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/what-is-sopa/feed/ 0 http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/what-is-sopa/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/9vGHUABEqMY/ http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/social-fresh-baltimore-5-social-marketing-lessons/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:30:15 +0000 Michael Copeland http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/?p=719 Continue reading →]]> Yesterday and today, I joined social media marketers from around the Baltimore area and the country at Social Fresh Baltimore. I’m posting this blog post halfway through the second day, so if the afternoon talks are left out, my apologies–please help me out and comment with your afternoon takeaways.

Here’s the top five things that stood out for me from this event:

1. Measure the impact of mobile marketing before you dive in. As both @seo_girl and@jeannehopkins spoke to for web, and @meladorri spoke to for email, check your web and email program’s analytics to see which platforms and devices people are using to consume your content. If a lot of your traffic comes from mobile devices–and more importantly, as @seo_girl pointed out, if your mobile bounce rate is high–you’re probably missing opportunities for mobile marketing, or doing something wrong.

2. QR codes can be cool, but they can also be wasteful and ridiculous. Whatever you do, provide multiple options for access. Yes, more and more people are using QR code scanners, but that doesn’t mean you should plaster QR codes everywhere. As @thetimhaydencovered, first, think about how people are actually using their phones–do you really think people are going to be able to scan a QR code from a billboard? To get around this, when possible, provide a link, an SMS option, and a QR code so people can access your content in the way that’s best for them. For a laugh on this count, check out @unmarketing’s video ranting(thanks to @cc_chapman for providing).

3. Don’t forget SMS. According to @justinpgh, with emails, you’re lucky to get a 20-30% open rate. With text messages, 90% of people read the message in the first 15 minutes. I’d love to see the data on this first hand, but basically, for urgent, last minute, and real time marketing, SMS marketing can’t be beat.

4. Earn attention, don’t interrupt. A recurring theme throughout the event is one we harp on all the time @rightsource: don’t interrupt people to get attention, find out where they’re already paying attention and go to them there. In her lunchtime keynote, @maggiefox pointed out new advertising models from media companies such as Digg and StumbleUpon that insert content into users’ organic streams (Reddit and Twitter do this too). That makes advertising content, rather than products, essential for success–but the opportunities to create lasting relationships and grow an audience of fans who love your brand are huge. (Thanks @noordnrycherry for suggesting this point!)

5. Use psychology in your marketing. Even though he had the hard task of waking us up with the first talk of Day 2, @derekhalpern incorporated some really interesting psychological concepts into his talk. I loved his idea of thinking about your customers and potential customers as groups united against a common enemy. Derek used Apple as an example. They didn’t make Mac and PC users feel…snarkiness…toward each other with their “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials. They simply took the innate human tendency to unite in groups against a common enemy and capitalized on it. Brilliant. How can everyone, Derek asked, split our customers and potential customers into group? Then, how can we play those groups against a common enemy in a way that benefits our businesses?

If you’d like a more comprehensive review, check out my open for editing Google notes here.They’ve been a hit–and thanks to @jasonkeath for the free Social Fresh T-shirt!

Last, if you attended, what did you think was a huge takeaway? Which afternoon sessions did it really suck that I left out? If you weren’t there, do you agree with the above points? Let’s talk in the comments.

This post originally appeared on the Marketing Trenches Blog. By Tracy Gold

Related Posts:

• Making your social media marketing plan
• Social Media Marketing Machines – Help me WIN!
• Mining Social Media Communities and Content
• The Social Media Landscape Part 1 of 7 with Adam Baird
• Get Social Media Marketing Machines FREE

Copyright © 2012 Social Media Landscape. All rights reserved.

---

RSS Feed Powered by MaxBlogPress Bring My Blog Visitors Back

]]> http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/social-fresh-baltimore-5-social-marketing-lessons/feed/ 0 http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/social-fresh-baltimore-5-social-marketing-lessons/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/Q-ZZ9NGvsG4/ http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/facebook-f8-developer-conference/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:08:15 +0000 Michael Copeland http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/?p=717 Continue reading →]]> Watch Facebook’s F8 Developer’s conference

Related Posts:

• Know Your First Follower in Twitter with FirstFollower
• Facebook Says Hello to March by Saying Goodbye to App Notifications
• Social Media Success Summit 2011
• UN Uses Social Media to Raise Awareness for Malaria
• Do-it-Yourself Social Media Handbook Hits Shelves

Copyright © 2012 Social Media Landscape. All rights reserved.

---

RSS Feed Powered by MaxBlogPress Bring My Blog Visitors Back

]]> http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/facebook-f8-developer-conference/feed/ 0 http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/facebook-f8-developer-conference/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/vUJNpz0aiTs/ http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/social-media-users-infographic/#comments Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:03:12 +0000 Michael Copeland http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/?p=710 Continue reading →]]> var $jx = jQuery.noConflict();

This infographic is very important to understand, especially for businesses who are not solely online.  I’m talking about brick & mortar businesses where people physically interact with the owner or employees.

Perhaps it is a pizza parlor, a deli, a coffee shop, a local restaurant, dentist, plumber, painter, roofer, realtor, real estate broker, bar, club, print shop, or  bakery, or a trophy shop. Regardless of the type of business you have, you need to have a presence on the social media landscape.

The numbers in this infographic do not lie!

In fact, many experts have said that if you’re on engaging using social media, you will be out of business in 3 to 5 years.

Like this to reveal the hidden content.

Related Posts:

• Social Media Republicans, Surprised?
• The Brilliance of Facebook’s “Reconnect” Strategy
• Twitter Lists Improves
• Facebook Says Hello to March by Saying Goodbye to App Notifications
• Add some OOMPH to your social media activities!

Copyright © 2012 Social Media Landscape. All rights reserved.

---

RSS Feed Powered by MaxBlogPress Bring My Blog Visitors Back

]]> http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/social-media-users-infographic/feed/ 2 http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/social-media-users-infographic/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/-OBE_06OXAs/mscopelandTue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-11-15<ul> <li><a href="http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/new-facebook-announcement-social-mail/">New Facebook Announcement Social Mail</a><br/> Watch the video below for Facebook's announce about their new offering... Social Mail. Very impressive! Watch live streaming video from facebookinnovations at livestream.com</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~4/-OBE_06OXAs" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-11-15http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/wXGhZFJhq3M/mscopelandFri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 PDThttp://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-10-21<ul> <li><a href="http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/one-year-after-getting-laid-off-my-annual-passive-income-report/">One Year After Getting Laid Off &ndash; My Annual Passive Income Report</a></li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~4/wXGhZFJhq3M" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-10-21http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/Y5hyCvNGpnE/mscopelandWed, 20 Oct 2010 00:00:00 PDThttp://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-10-19<ul> <li><a href="http://prsarahevans.com/2010/10/your-social-media-questions-answered/">Your Social Media Questions, Answered</a></li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~4/Y5hyCvNGpnE" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-10-19http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/rRuFVKvA8_Y/mscopelandSun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-03-13<ul> <li><a href="http://socialmedialandscape.com/cms/what-is-moneza-is-moneza-an-mlm/">What is Moneza? Is Moneza an MLM? | Social Media Landscape</a><br/> What is Moneza? Moneza is a social platform designed to help you connect all of your social networking sites in one place.</li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~4/rRuFVKvA8_Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2010-03-13http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/PNSDqvENog0/mscopelandSun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDThttp://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2009-08-29<ul> <li><a href="http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2009/08/pr-marketing-and-advertising-suck-now-what.html">Loic Le Meur Blog: PR, Marketing and Advertising suck, now what?</a></li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~4/PNSDqvENog0" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2009-08-29http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~3/Ew0M5nyJ1pA/mscopelandFri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PSThttp://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2009-01-29<ul> <li><a href="http://www.thepressreleasesite.com/list-of-free-press-release-sites.html">List of Free Press Release Sites |</a></li> </ul><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Socialmedialandscape/~4/Ew0M5nyJ1pA" height="1" width="1"/>http://del.icio.us/mscopeland#2009-01-29