The evolution of social media has stirred up the marketing game and new platforms continue to surface. Which ones are worth your time? . . .

QR codes have arrived on the scene and are making quite an impact. In June 2011, 14 million American consumers scanned QR codes with their mobile devices as reported by bizreport.com. With a vast array of uses and possibilities, these eye-catching bar codes could be the perfect fit to your marketing strategy.

One way to target both potential and current customers is to use two different strategies when creating your QR codes. In order to target potential customers, create QR codes and display them on products at retailers. When the code is scanned the user is taken to a specifically designed mobile page that highlights specs for that product. For current customers, place a QR code within manuals for each specific model that leads the user to a resource page with information on that model’s parts, maintenance, etc. These vastly different approaches will give you the opportunity to successfully target each audience. Is there an opportunity you’re missing?

To find other possibilities for marketing with QR codes as well as keys to success, scan the code with your QR reader or view it in a browser.

No related posts.

The most common updates posted to one’s social network usually revolve around their own life and/or something they plan on doing. The hyper-usage and gross popularity of Facebook and Twitter also revolves around its users’ ability to write up to the second status updates. Foursquare has taken notice of Facebook and Twitter users’ slight narcissism and added features to make up-to-the-minute status updates easier, more compelling, rich, contextual, and locationally relevant. Below are some convincing reasons to latch onto Foursquare and the opportunities of this platform.

RELEVANCE.
The cornerstone of Foursquare is locational relevance, which is provided by using geolocation technology built into many modern cellphones. When a user is logged into Foursquare, businesses that are in the area and have a profile through Foursquare appear as the user enters their vicinity. By offering promotions to nearby users it substantially increases the relevance, and lowers the barriers to user participation, making them more likely to take advantage of the promotion, thus increasing your customer base.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.
Are any of your competitors in the neighborhood? Offer an incentive on Foursquare to entice users into your place of business rather than theirs. In addition to adding an incentive, Foursquare also allows users to leave comments and tips about a business. This feedback is yet another way to attract the user to your business, as word-of-mouth remains a very strong marketing tool. After all, people are most likely to listen to the people they’ve already chosen to listen to.

POTENTIAL.
Since the platform is still developing, there is an immense opportunity for growth. Foursquare has opened their API to developers, which increases the potential for new features, increased relevancy and usefulness.

REFERRALS.
When a user checks into a location they have the option to post to Facebook, Twitter, or both. Posting a ‘check in’ to your social networks will broadcast a recommendation to your social-sphere. Research shows that individuals are more likely to visit a place of business that was recommended by a friend, making Foursquare an excellent outlet for referrals.

Using Foursquare is cost effective and (in most cases) free. The potential reward for a business far outweighs the time and capital commitment necessary to get started and stay up-to-date. Our recommendation is to start using the application for personal use, recognize the potential and then register your business and discover the opportunity.

No related posts.

Facebook wants to make the web more social by allowing you to connect with your Facebook friends and see their recommendations while surfing other websites. Facebook is hoping other sites will implement the “like” button, which enables users to leave a trail of where they have been and what they recommend. Businesses are excited over the potential traffic that could be gained through this new feature, but that’s just the surface: this should also help highlight the interests of their customer base to allow for better targeted, more effective marketing.

Still Confused?
How you implement this feature is up to you. You can start small by adding a “like” button to the top of your blog that, when activated, will feed the visitor’s “likes” onto their friends’ news feeds and will also be stored in their preferences. OR you can dive in by not only inserting the button, but also by adding a widget that will allow the visitor to see other friends activities and likes.

Opinions and Information
CNN discusses the changes in detail.
Business Insider praises Facebook’s ambition, while considering future implications.
LikeButton allows you to explore the feature described above by giving you a sneak peek into what your friends have done online.

What to do?
If you are already involved in social media, keep it going! Continue maintaining interaction and building a base of friends. If social media brings bouts of anxiety, now is the time to reach for the Valium and begin getting social. Even if you are a firm believer in Facebook’s eventual demise, something else social will rise and take its place. See what people are saying about you and talk to others who have experimented with social media.

Enjoy the journey and BE CREATIVE!

Related posts:

1. Qdoba’s Social Media Success

The beauty of social media is its versatility and wide range of applicability. Creativity is highly encouraged within the social realm and evidence of it often determines success or failure. Qdoba’s social media efforts focus on “fan” involvement and incorporate creative games, contest, and promotions to meet this goal.

Recently, I spoke with Doug Thielen, head of non-traditional marketing for Qdoba. During our conversation, we tackled the topics of a starting strategy, audience monitoring, and responding to negativity. Below is our interview, which highlights the key points of our conversation.

How did you immerse social media with your existing marketing?
During the election we started a marketing campaign called Taste Bud Politics. The campaign involved a quiz that connected certain Qdoba foods with a political party or candidate. From the quizzes, we created Facebook pages/groups so that the participants could post videos and engage with one another. Through this marketing initiative, we were able to get a better feel for social media and it also became our activation piece.

From your initial step, how did you decide where to exert your efforts?
Listening was one of the most important parts when making our transition into social media. Using a social media monitoring program, we listened to the conversations occurring in order to see what was being said and where it was happening. With the results of this “digital snapshot,” we made a decision to focus our efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. After getting involved in social media, we realized the importance of extending our efforts with each regional franchise.

How were you able to maintain continuity among franchises?
Before extending our social media initiative to regional franchises, we wanted to empower them with tools to succeed. In order to provide continuity, training was necessary, so we created “Social Media 101-A Guide to Social Media.” Along with the guide, we also included the colors, logos, and backgrounds needed to create a profile, page, etc. With continuity in place, each franchise was then able to become more relevant to their local audiences, but also remain connected to Qdoba as a whole.

How much time do you spend on your social media efforts?
Currently, I am the only one running our social media campaigns. As our fan base has developed and response increased, some of the opportunity was being lost because I was unable to interact as much. Since this increase, we have decided to hire an additional member to facilitate this social demand.

How do you measure the success of your campaign?
Our goal is to engage with people individually, so we often monitor which posts elicit the best customer responses. On Twitter, we utilize hashtags to measure volume and mentions. We also refer to our “digital snapshot” to gauge our progress. This snapshot allows us to measure the ratio of positive to negative comments and to see if our influence has increased.

How do you respond to negativity?
There isn’t one specific way, because it is often dependent on what kind of response we are dealing with. I have found that taking negative comments off isn’t a good practice, because it will often fuel the individual’s anger. If it is a specific complaint about the service or food, we often respond directly to that person to resolve the issue. I have found that responding correctly to a negative situation can often turn a customer into an advocate for the brand.

Qdoba’s most recent campaign, Craft for Life has become quite popular and was even mentioned on Jimmy Kimmel.

*Qdoba is not a client of Starkmedia

Related posts:

1. Building Success Via Social Networking
2. What is Google Social Search?