Social Media

Commercials and Internet Visibility

September 22, 2010 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

What can we learn from the big boys? The big firms with millions and billions of dollars behind them, and how they approach internet visibility.

The case in point is a product called “Old Spice”. You must have heard the name. Old Spice cologne and aftershave has been around since the 1930. It was the scent of America, since it started in the United States.

Through the years, when transport and import became simpler, the market was flooded by European products. Old Spice market share went down drastically.

In 1990 the company was sold to Procter and Gamble. 20 years later, in the middle of 2010, new commercials for “Old Spice” body wash started showing on TV. Many experts were behind it; P&G, an advertising company and a digital media specialist.

They opened a twitter account and a Reddit account for the lead character.
They opened a Facebook page
They opened YouTube channel and started putting out the 15 second spots, one after the other.

The ads went viral on the internet. Google search went up 2000%, Facebook interactions up 800% and 1.5 billion impressions (The count of a delivered basic advertising unit from an ad distribution point, according to “Basic Advertisement Measures”) since February.

The campaign was a combination of the success of social media and viral success. And it didn’t happen overnight. It took them 6 months of adjusting and changing to get to the point that the reaction was getting to where they hope it would be.

The reaction was immediate; sales went up 107% the first month and are still going up in the rate of 55% in the past 3 months.

Lately the company recorded 183 video answers to question posed by Twitter users. They are staying in touch with their followers.

What can we learn from that success story?

– The campaign should be all inclusive. All the possible channels.

– It might take time to develop the correct approach. Some corrections are needed in the middle of the way.

– If the ‘big boys’ do it, and it works for them, why not do it on a smaller scale?

To see what can be done for you and your business in this new era of advertising, you might be best serve if you approach someone that has expertise and knowledge in the area. Companies like Puglisi Consulting Group at http://puglisiconsulting.com/#, that can design a campaign to your budget. Through their internet visibility arm Visibility Acceleration http://www.visibilityacceleration.com, they can advise you how to be visible on the internet and all over the world.

Capitalizing on Social Media: Michigan State University

September 21, 2010 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

“Many MSU alumni have emerged as players in the newly emerging social media, a phenomenon that is revolutionizing traditional notions of marketing, communication and social relationships” (MSU Alumni Magazine 2010 Summer Issue).

This MSU Alum is sold, it seems that while others are content with their status quo, Spartans are starting to dominate the digital world and that includes Social Media. With one of the largest Alumni networks in the world it is no surprise that MSU would be at the front of Social Media, from advertising, recruitment and even alumni relations, it’s clear that MSUAA has hit the ground, flying? That’s right the number of MSU Alumni on Social media is sky high!

Take LinkedIn for example, the MSUAA currently has hundreds of comments about Spartan Alumni Job Opportunities as part of the over 20,000 MSUAA LinkedIn Members. That’s 20,000 where the average Alumni group has only about a third of that! Only the Long Horns boast more with 22,000, where University of Miami, Florida State, Alabama, Penn State, Iowa and more all have under 5,000.

“At the end of the day, you have to find new ways to add value to the world,” said Scott Westerman. “It’s about the friendships and relationships that you have gained” (MSU Alumni Magazine 2010 Summer Issue).

YouTube – LinkedIn – Twitter – UStream – MSUAA Blog

MSU Rides the Social Media Wave!!!

“Think of what half a million people can do.” just a one line statement that exemplifies the experience and network that MSU offers.

“The Day we created an cancer saving drug began like any other” just one of the examples of the global impact that MSU has, had and will continue to make.

How about a campus tour? – What’s it like to live at MSU? – GO GREEN!!!

What about being part of a NCAA Division 1 Athletics program, talk about school spirit!!!

While MSU and the MSUAA seem to bolster a powerhouse of Social Networking opportunities online, let’s not forget that the nearly 500,000 alumni across the earth, which means you are as likely to run into one doing anything from helping an old lady across the street, to serving as a CEO of just about every other major company.

Basil C. Puglisi, is a member of the MSUAA and a Proud Member of the Graduating Class of 2005 from the School of Social Science at Michigan State University.

Social Brand Visibility – All About Hi5

September 21, 2010 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

When you hear the words Social Networking, what comes to mind? Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Linkedin etc. But since 2003 there is another player in the social networking game that generates a lot of buzz; the name of this site is Hi5. In the beginning of 2010, Hi5 acquired a gaming site called Big Six, and is raising money (in the millions) to extend their reach.

When a customer join the Hi5 network, he create a profile that includes his information, interests and he can upload pictures to create a photo album that is all his. He can also play games online and interact with other users. Just like in other social media sites, he can send his friends a friendly request to join, which can be accepted or declined. If the friend accepts the request, they are now connected in the 1^st degree (direct friends). It is possible to be connected in the 2^nd degree with friends of friends or in the 3^rd degree with friends of friends of the direct contact. 67% of the users of Hi5 social network site are between the ages of 18 and 34.

As back as 2008, Hi5 was the third most popular social network, as far as unique visitors go.

Why didn’t you hear about it? Because Hi5 is most popular in other countries outside the United States, especially in South America. It is connected to Gmail and will send an invitation to join to all the Gmail addresses in the user’s address book.

Hi5 enables the user to express yourself, use avatars, share music, find friends, play games, give gifts, and if you so inclined, flirt on line.

Today, there are about 30 million users of Hi5, and about 200 million pages are served up every day.

With so many users worldwide the site offers innovative options and precise targeting with viral marketing techniques.

So what can Hi5 do for you as a small business owner?

– Offers unique and engaged audiences who spend on average 20 minutes a day on the site and view 50 pages per day. It is aims at young audiences that like to share and talk about what they saw.

– The site enables advertisers to target audiences based on interest, demographics, gender, language and other factors.

– A range of advertising products: Banners, media placement, games, video pre-rolls, viral promotions, contests and sweepstakes.

– It allows for homepage takeover, where the background of the sign-in page advertises your company, event of movie.

– Interaction with customers that creates viral awareness.

– You can insert ads that appear directly in conversations.

– Place video ads before online games.

– Mobile ads

– Enables you to create or sponsor an online game.

– It has standard ad units for home page, photo pages, game pages and friend’s pages.

Hi5 is another venue in social media that is able to raise awareness to you product. There are other sites that do that, but to get all the information about your possibilities, it is best to contact a consulting experts who are familiar with all the venues, like Puglisi Consulting Group (http://puglisiconsulting.com/#) and their specialty arm Visibility Acceleration (http://www.visibilityacceleration.com/) who can customize an advertising campaign that fits your budget and needs. They are experts who keep updating their knowledge with all the new methods of online advertising and visibility.

Why do customers turn away from your website?

September 17, 2010 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

Everybody is talking about internet presence and internet visibility and thinking of inventive ways to increase it. But let’s face it – the purpose of your website is not only to get visitors to your site. The purpose of your website is to turn visits into clicks. You not only want to be visible, you want to make commerce.

There are many reasons why customers that get to your site turn away from it, after one page. To understand what is wrong and change it, takes expertise. But it is a change worth making.

Here are some of the reasons why it might happen to your site:

It’s Booooring – like reading a very long advertisement or brochure. Too much technical information, too much information in general turns people away. The customer knows it will be tooting the horn of the business but he can’t find the important information that is relevant to him.

It has Typos – You want to be trusted, don’t you? Having your landing page written by someone who doesn’t speak the language well, is a turn off. Make sure it makes sense and look at it more than once. If you have many pages it might be hard to weed out all of the typos, but you must try.

It is not enticing and not specific enough – It doesn’t say why you are better than your competition.

It has not been updated – The web technology moves very fast and you have to keep up with the innovations. A site that has been up for 5 years needs a facelift. In web-talk it’s your grandfather’s generation.

It’s confusing – and difficult to navigate.

Not enough information – People want to know who you are. “About” page is important as is providing a real address.

There are no pictures and no endorsements – What people say about you is very important to add credibility to your site.

The best course of action for the business person who wants to make sure all the advantages of the internet have been taken, is to contact a company that deals with those solutions, like the Puglisi Consulting Group and their Visibility Acceleration division to get advice and design a campaign that will turn your visitors into clicks and registrations.

Digital Visibility – What is it all About?

September 3, 2010 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

The world is changing very fast, and new trends appear, some to disappear even before they are launched. Businesses had to adjust to the new fast paced world or disappear. It is sometimes hard to believe this or that kind of trend will catch to find out you are completely wrong. And if you are not watching it closely, you might be left in the dust.

Look at what happened with newspapers. For a long time they fought tooth and nail with the internet, waiting for the news part of it to crash and burn. It didn’t happen, and slowly, too slowly for some, the written print started migrating to the electronic news gathering. These days every respectable newspaper has a website with all the news of the day on it, updating much faster than ever before. What used to be the domain of CNN, is now the field of many. New York Times will start charging for its website next year, and everybody is holding their breath to see if it’ll work. If this business model will, the written press might cease to exist all together. If not, they will be looking at other business models.

The music industry went through a major change is purchasing habits. Mega stores went out of business because suddenly there was no need for them. Everybody was downloading their music illegally from the internet. The popular music was still very much in demand, but the internet offered quicker, more diverse and free music. The way the music industry fought it was to reign in the illegal downloads and enable the fans legal downloads for less than a dollar.

The movie and film industry are facing the same problem at the moment. How to reign in the illegal downloads the studios estimate cost them in the billions. Those who legged behind on the download wave, like Blockbuster, are going under. The company is about to announce bankruptcy will a debt of 1 billion dollars. Netflix and its fast turnover had a lot to do with it too.

The advertising industry went through a quite change that was not as dramatic. The ads still work, the television spot (if they are not zapped by TiVo) still bring costumers, but a whole new world opened up called Internet Marketing, and this world is changing in a neck breaking speed.

Websites have become the properties of many. People figured out ways how to advertise without really selling anything, by linking to other sites that did do the selling. The amount of users of the internet far excessed any known medium, and any new program that becomes popular, like Twitter, is securitized and maximized to generate profit.

What seems easy, because it can be done from a home computer, at all hours of the day or night, is anything but. This is a complex of many programs that can be tied to one another and aimed at creating link backs, visibility, presence and commerce.

It is enough to watch the video presentation on a site like Visibility Acceleration http://www.visibilityacceleration.com/ to understand how intricate it is. If you really want to make an impact in today’s market, a company like that one, who is a subsidiary of Puglisi Consulting Group, can show you the way and tailor your campaign to your budget.