Now the best way to use this service is to integrate it into your Twitter account, allowing your newspaper to be updated daily and tweeted to your followers. Now, unlike the majority of tweets which are seen only by your followers, this service can really ensure new potential followers see your tweet.

How? Well, when you create your paper you can select certain #tags, twitter search words, Twitter users or a number of ‘streams’ that will add stories to your paper. For example, for our paper The Marketing Mix Daily I have selected #marketing #perth #advertising and #socialmedia to pull stories. But the most important part is what happens next. When you promote your paper (this can be automatically selected when creating or editing your paper) the top stories by twitter users are @mentioned. For example:

The Marketing Mix Daily is out! bit.ly/IIPSoa ▸ Top stories today via @carsguide

— The Marketing Mix (@_Marketing_Mix) April 17, 2012

Now Cars Guide will get this notification and may retweet us to their followers (increasing our reach) or follow us back. As you edit and target your paper further, more people are @mentioned and will hopefully follow and retweet you. Not only does this mean more followers for your business but it also means more targetedfollowers. The people who see your paper will be people interested in your topic/s and people in your industry. And these are the people you want following you. You can also embed your entire paper in your blog or website, pretty cool huh? This is ours below.

So what are you waiting for? Head to Paper.il and start building your daily newspaper. Just remember to think about who you want to target and create a paper that’s going to pull the right info and stories to engage those people. Also ensure you make it specific to your industry – otherwise you may confuse people and it also means you don’t have authority on the subject (even though you don’t write the stories yourself!) Good luck and happy publishing!

To read the Paper.il blog click here and to learn more about growing your Twitter followers read this article by The Social Media Examiner.

Now Instagram if you haven’t heard of it before now (like Pinterest it’s newly reached huge user numbers) is kind of like Twitter for photos. It allows users to post photos taken on their smart phone, edit it a little with a nice filter and post it to the world-wide net. Like Twitter you have an account with all your photos that other users can choose to ‘follow’ and get all your pictures sent to their feed. You can also choose to #tag your photos like you would your tweets. Yet also like Facebook, users can ‘like’ or ‘comment’ on each of your photos.

So Instagram sort of has a bit of Twitter and a bit of Facebook. You can follow friends, celebrities, bands and random ‘photographers’ you like. Now it seems like Facebook, brands and companies are getting in on the Instagram craze. Starbucks Coffee for example has an Instagram account encouraging users to post photos of their coffee and hash-tag it #starbucks. Instagram is not yet as popular with brands as its social media counterparts Facebook and Twitter but with the takeover by Mark Zuckerberg this could change in the future.

Instagram certainly has the potential to join the likes of the other social media giants in number of users. And with that comes the question – should my brand/business be on there? Certainly you would need to have the right sort of product or service that would lend itself to the photo-world. Car dealers for example could upload their new/used cars and encourage customers to upload images of themselves with their car. Car manufacturers too could ask users to upload their vintage and new model Fords, Holdens or Mazdas. It would work well for a photography company, a florist, a pet store or even a restaurant. The possibilities are endless, and I think in the future this sort of ‘marketing’ will have a strong foothold.

The most popular photos are displayed in the 'Popular' feed.

But right now? Maybe not right at this instant, no. Having your brand on Instagram probably won’t make much impact until more people start using the service. But with Facebook’s purchase of the company and their substantial advertising dollar the users could easily skyrocket. After all Zuckerbeg has said he wants to continue to run Instagram independently from Facebook.

“We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.” (thanks to the Herald Sun for this quote).

It doesn’t look like Instagram will be going away any time soon and eventually it might be the place for brands to be. So keep your eyes and ears peeled because soon might come the day when an Instagram account is as an important marketing tool as Facebook or Twitter!

TMM are always researching new social media marketing, but not every single one is for you! Talk to us for advise about which social networks you should be on and which may not be the way to go for your particular product or service.

New TVC we produced for @Brighton_Mazda We hope you enjoy it! facebook.com/photo.php?v=16… #mazda #Brighton #TVC

— The Marketing Mix (@_Marketing_Mix) March 14, 2012

So this is the new ‘embeddable tweet’ released by Twitter and it allows you to expand your Twitter reach to more of your online community by embedding fully functioning tweets into your blog or website. It means those who read your blog or see your company’s website can immediately reply to one of your embedded tweets and join in the conversation. So by ‘fully functioning’ I mean that the tweet is totally interactive and click-able, as you can see above. Users can instantly follow you, retweet you, view your profile and repy to the tweet in question. That is providing they’ve remained signed into their twitter account, and I think we all pretty much do seeing as no-one as come up with the frape for Twitter yet.

And fingers crossed that they do not.

What then, is the difference between this new embedded tweet and the current live Twitter streams we have for blogs and websites? We’ve got one right there on your left. Well, the good thing about the live feed is that it automatically updates with your latest tweets, hence no real work for lazy old you. However it is mostly all text, while embedded tweets look a lot more appealing with the profile image and replica of what you would see signed into Twitter. We all love pretty pictures, right?

The current feed also doesn’t allow you to click on the tweets themselves; only any links you’ve included. You do have a follow me on Twitter link but again it’s not quite as appealing as the lovely follow button you get with the embedded tweet.

Win a free BBQ! Visit our #Facebook page to find out how. Hint: it’s pretty easy. facebook.com/themarketingmix #competitions #BBQ #free

— The Marketing Mix (@_Marketing_Mix) March 13, 2012

Just so adorable. Now, on to the function of the embedded tweet. Why should we go to the effort of putting it up there in the first place? Apart from looking really cool and technologically savvy, the point of embedding a tweet on your website makes sense for a lot of tweets you may receive or send. The one above for us includes a competition for users to enter, which in itself has great clicking potential (in fact after reading this you should click yourself and try to win a BBQ). But the main reason has got to be customer feedback. If someone says something oh-so-nice about your product or service then why not embed it for all to see and share? This could include one off tweets from customers or replies to one of your own tweets. One of the great things about this new feature is if you choose to embed a reply tweet then Twitter automatically includes the original tweet the user commented about. This way reply tweets don’t get lost in translation. For example if we want to embed this reply to one of our tweets it would look like this:

@_Marketing_Mix I like it already- does that count?

— Sara P (@Sar_Wah) November 18, 2011

It really is a great way to highlight customer interaction on your blogs/websites and encourage users to engage with you on Twitter and create new followers. And I think these can be used in conjunction with a live Twitter feed; that way you’ve always got your live Tweets coming through and you can choose to highlight standout tweets; the real gold stars. So by now you’re probably screaming ‘but how do I embed a tweet’ so just follow this link and it will show you step by step. Good luck!

Thanks very much to the Social Media Examiner for the info and instruction manual.

Bye bye Landing Tab

This was quite useful for small businesses as a way to host a promotion and increase your pages Likes by directing new ‘fans’ to a Welcome landing page. TMM have created custom landing pages for clients with contact info, competitions and generally a ‘reason’ for people to hit Like. Click on these clients for a preview:

Brighton Mazda
Gibbons Holden
Prestige Honda

It seems you can still keep these landing pages but they will be located at the top right hand side of your timeline along with your own Likes, Photos etc. This essentially means the page is less accessible in that fans will have to select to click on this option rather than be directed there automatically. For us small businesses this means hosting giveaways, promotions and the like is going to be a little harder. Below is what our landing tab used to look like:

Hello Cover Photo

Instead of a custom landing tab we now have a custom cover photo for our page. Myspace anyone? But seriously, regardless of whether you like it or not it’s now a marketing essential which Facebook are asking us to get creative with, and there are some good ones out there. Check out Fanta’s and you’ll see what I mean.

However interestingly Facebook have added some fairly strict rules about what businesses/brands can include in their timeline cover photo. Here’s a quick summary of what you can’t include:

1. Price/purchase info such as “40%” off or “download it at our website”
2. References to user options such as Like, Share etc
3. Contact info or anything intended for your About section

In other words it’s going to be trickier to give users a real ‘reason’ to Like your page unless you can really offer useful information, lots of interaction and entertainment. For smaller businesses who update far less regularly than big brands this is going to be a challenge. Especially seeing as the new timeline really draws attention to periods of inactivity. You can however, ‘pin’ a post to the top of your page for 7 days to draw attention to it, but again this is only helpful if your promo only goes for a week. I guess you could always re-post and re-pin again?

Push for Facebook paid ads

I think what is happening here is a move from Facebook to increase ‘Facebook ads’ revenue by restricting brand pages own attempts to increase their Likes through competitions and giveaways. It is no longer possible to restrict users from seeing your page before they Like it. You’ll also now be able to pay money to increase your posts’ reach amongst your fans (from 16% to 75% reach). That is, you can pay to get more eyeballs on your status updates.
You’ll also need to get your head around new Facebook premium ads which we’ll dedicate a whole post to as more information comes to light.

Record your business milestones

Another new feature is the Life Events update, which feels to me a lot like I’m playing a version of my own life in The Sims. Still, it can be handy to highlight ‘milestone’ events for your business and it looks quite pretty. I’m sure we’ll all find ways to amuse ourselves and hopefully our fans with this option!

It will be interesting to see if the Life Events are the same for businesses as they are for personal users or if they have been tailored to suit the sort of events businesses would like to post.Only time will tell – March 30 to be exact, which is when the forced rollover will take place. So make sure you’ve got your new cover photo ready to rock!

Stay tuned for more about how to deal with the new timelines as the date for changeover approaches. To read more, check out this article Tiffany Monhollon at ReachLocal.

TMM will now be very busy creating new custom cover photos for their clients, but we’re still happy to take your queries about social media. Email info@marketingmix.com.au for help.

Queensland brewer Castlemaine Perkins has been forced to defend its latest TV ad for XXXX beer after complaints were made about the commercial containing a song about a school shooting.

You can read the whole article and view the ‘offending’ ad by clicking here.

Now the ad itself is actually quite good, but it’s the music, Foster The People’s popular song ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ that’s the real issue. I’d always wondered what the lyrics of that song were on about;

“All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, better run, better run – out run my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks, better run, better run – faster than my bullet”

Ahh…now I see. Somewhat bleak but a catchy song nonetheless. Also, I think its about a fictitious school shooting not a particular one; but still a song that deals with pretty dark themes.

LA band Foster The People

Now when you decide to pour a whole lot of dollars into your new TVC you certainly need to think long and hard about audio; because in reality it’s half your ad! Not to mention the fact that royalties for music can often be half the cost of the TVC itself. You need to consider both the beat/tune of the music (is it upbeat enough, is it fast enough/slow enough etc) and the lyrics. Do the lyrics reflect your brand and your message?

In the case of XXXX the ‘beat’ suits the commercial but the lyrics certainly don’t. But probably the biggest issue here is the company’s response to the allegations that the song choice was, in short, poor.

“The brewer responded to the criticism with its own post, defending its choice of song, saying the lyrics have “no association” with the ad.” (ninemsn.com.au)

How can you say the lyrics have no association with the ad? It’s playing during the ad, it was chosen for the ad and the point of a music bed is to create a feeling/scenario/enhance the ad. You simply cannot choose a song for your ad then claim it has no association with it. That’s like going to a Collingwood match dressed in your black and white and when they lose claim that you have “no association” with the team.

A simple ‘whoops, our bad, we didn’t really research the song well enough’ from the company would have been a much better reaction. So really there are two lessons to be learned here;

1. Take some time to pick your music bed carefully and;
2. Take responsibility.

Alternatively, get someone in PR to handle the situation because the company’s reaction in this case was downright ridiculous.

Having said that, don’t be afraid of the TVC, it’s one of the funnest and best ways to promote your business. Just make sure you trust your marketing company and don’t overlook audio as the ‘less important’ component.

*TMM love TVCs and have created many ads from animation to real-footage for their clients. They also have a ‘jingle guy’ who writes many of their catchy tunes.

Naturally being written by someone from Ford it is in no way an objective article, but it certainly shows that there really is some hi-tech marketing going on in the automotive industry. Being that aorund 70% of our clients are automotive dealers we like to keep a close watch on new forms of marketing technology; and this campaign for the new Ford Fusion is certainly out-there.

Essentially customers can download an app for their iPhone/iPad which gives them a video-game-like ability to ‘drive’ the new Ford Fusion before it’s official release date. You can do this by finding Ford logos around in print, on your car or online and using you mobile to take a picture. This then launches the game and unlocks new components. Pretty darn cool, right?

Now, iPhone applications are not cheap to make, especially something like the Ford Fusion app. By spending so much on this launch (as well as the regular advertising they will no doubt still be pushing) it really highlights the way marketing is heading now in 2012. Social media, mobile apps and online marketing really are the way things are going.

As a marketing company ourselves we’re always researching new methods of marketing effectively for our clients. The words we’ll be pushing this year? Digital and social!

Austereo lost several huge advertising clients including Holden, Blackmores, The Good Guys, Medibank, Vodaphone and Fantastic Furniture after one of it’s more famous announcers Kyle Sandilands made an aggressive attack on air against News Ltd Sydney journalist Alison Stephenson.

Stephenson wrote a negative review of Sandilands’ new show, Kyle and Jacki O’s Night With The Stars which Kyle took as a ‘personal attack’ and as such launched is own personal attack in which he said:

Three hours ago they succeeded.

One such article is titled 26 Promising Social Media Stats for Small Businesses and it’s well worth a read. We’ll summarise a few of the most important ones here for you though and explain why they’re important; saves a bit of reading time!

1. There are now more than 800 million active Facebook users and over 200 million joined this year alone.
This means social media is on the rise, has a huge audience and therefore is a huge potential marketing avenue.

2. Approximately 40% of social media users access their accounts through mobile devices
This means you need to be mobile optimised so customers can access your website on the go.

3. Nearly 23% of online time is spent on social networks.
This means just having a website is not enough; you need to have a social media presence because this is where all those eyeballs are for a huge percentage of time spent online.

4. The average Facebook user has 130 friends and is connected to 80 pages, events and groups.
This means just securing one LIKE from one person means their entire network has seen the activity; exposing your company to more and more users and potentially more LIKES.

5. Comscore released a study earlier this year that showed how business brands that post at least once every day will reach 22% of their fans in a given week.
This means you need to commit to your Facebook page when you create it; don’t just leave it sitting idly in cyberspace. Update often and give your fans a reason to LIKE your page; offer them competitions, information and connection.

Credit to Comscore and the Social Media Examiner

6. 51% of Facebook users and 64% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from the brands they follow.
This shows that customers are influenced by companies they follow on social networks; so you need to be at the forefront of their mind when they decide to purchase a product or service.

*You can read the entire article here or talk to one of the team at TMM about how to set up your social media strategy.

As a business, Twitter is great because it allows you to send your customers information instantly as well as being able to communication with them one-on-one. George Patterson Y&R have a great article about how best to use social media like Twitter as a corporation. You can download it for free here.

The article gives 7 great strategies for businesses to succeed in the social media world and gives real examples of Australian company’s successes and failures to meet these strategies. Well worth a read, but if you’re feeling lazy we’ll give you a quick summary here!

1. Listening
Monitoring discussion across social media can enable your business to better understand what your consumers are saying about your product, or at least the industry you’re in. So get on Twitter and start listening to what people are saying because it’s the one of the best ways to get honest feedback without the need for customers to fill out surveys.

2. Customer Service
Facebook and Twitter allows personalised, instant customer service without the need for call centers and through a medium they have chosen. It also means this good customer service can be seen by other customers and projected across social networks.

3. Crisis Management
If your business has the misfortune to be in a crisis situation, social media allows you to reach customers and diffuse the situation before it hits mainstream media. Social media provides a platform to provide instant information to customers in a time of need. For example Qantus has been constantly Tweeting updates regarding current industrial action.

4. Content Distribution
Social media is a cost effective way to distribute information and brand updates to a large community of customers. It also allows your business to gather a large database of like-minded people.

5. Recruitment
It’s now easier than ever to show that your business is a great one to work for; by showcasing employees, culture and projects to the community. Social media such as LinkedIn allows you to generate networks and recruit new talent directly.

6. Community Engagement
Brands build positive relationships with their customers by creating branded communities; and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow your customers to collectively discuss their interest in your brand/product. This means more publicity for you and the potential to attract new followers.

7. Internal
Using social media can increase interaction between staff members, leading to co-creation and collaboration in otherwise segmented departments. This means better corporate culture and happy staff.

As you can see there are some huge benefits for company’s in the social media landscape, but you can’t just create an account and expect the customers to roll in. Social media only works if you stay relevent, keep updating and give customers a reason to follow or like you. So watch this space because in our next update we’ll tell you how to do exactly that.

*Still unsure about social media? Call TMM on (08) 9204 3111 and we’ll send you a free copy of our social media package to get you started.

As we’ve developed we have begun to specialise in branding promotional products to maximise the attention for retail or loyalty campaigns. It’s with this in mind that regular trips to China are made by TMM staff in order to source new promotional products and broker deals with suppliers. On TMM’s most recent trip to China, Director Chris McCarthy and Print Coordinator Joshua McCarthy hit five cities in five days.

The five day trip to China was made to ensure that all our orders for  products ranging from new orders of Key Return Keytags, to other promotional products was under control.

Day one saw Chris and Josh visit the TMM office in Shenzhen where they met with TMM’s Office and China Manager, Edward MA. Here they also had meetings scheduled with the Key Return suppliers who manufacture the promotional keytags designed by TMM. Key Return is a partner company of TMM and you can check out examples of client keytags and how they work on their website. The boys visit to Shenzhen also included visits to the factories that manufacture our promotional water bottles and furniture.

Edward and Josh, Shenzhen

Day two was the city of Ningbo, where Chris and Josh met with their contacts at the Sunshade Factory. We’ve used this company in the past to produce promotional sunshades for several of our automotive clients. These sunshades can be given away when cars are sold, or used for promotional reasons in the dealership itself.

On Day three the boys made their way to Hangzhou, where they met with a Textile Factory TMM are looking to do work with. Finally on Day four and five they flew to Hong Kong and Macau for the final leg of the trip. This is also where they got into the business end of the trip – Chinese chili.

Apart from the chili, the trip was relatively pain free and successful. TMM look forward to continuing our good relations with China and our current and new suppliers. By dealing directly with manufacturers in China, TMM are able to cut out the middle man so the creation of value for your customers with your promotional campaign is never eroded by other parties. Not only that, but we know we’re getting our clients the best value options because we are sourcing direct from the factory. Plus, by buying in bulk we can pass all the savings directly on to our clients, and their customers.

*For help with your next promotional campaign, talk to TMM about their importing/exporting products or Key Return International