5 ways associations can use Facebook for content marketing

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Sunday, November 13, 2011

We work with a lot of associations at SpinWeb. We enjoy helping them use digital tools to communicate with members and recruit in order to grow the organization. Some associations are seeing the value of content marketing to provide education and earn gradually increasing levels of commitment until the conversion goal of signing a new member is reached.

Facebook can be a powerful tool for content marketing. There are a number of ways that an association's Facebook page can be used to attract prospective members and engage existing members. Here are a few ideas.

1. Use a "Like gate" to earn permission. A Like gate is a tactic in which someone who is not yet subscribed to your page can get something of value in exchange for Liking the page. For example, you could write an educational e-book or report that is relevant to your members and allow a download once they have clicked the Like button. Or you could provide a 10% discount code for the next upcoming educational event that is only revealed after a Like. Check out this short tutorial for more info.

2. Set a theme for the page that promote value. By stating a specific purpose for your page, you are assigning a theme to it that may have value for your members. For example, what if you stated that your association's Facebook page was set up specifically for employment networking? You could promote it as the place within your profession to network and find a job in your profession. Or maybe it is designed to be a place for your office staff to answer questions and give advice. If your Facebook page became known as a strong professional resource for members (and prospective members!) to get professional advice, how great would be it at attracting new followers?

3. Use it as a distribution system for you blog. A professional blog is a great content marketing tool. If you use your Facebook page to post your weekly educational blog, your members will soon learn that following your Facebook page has value and will share it with others, too. This gives you opportunities to nudge your subscribers further up the content marketing ladder to an educational event or a webinar.

4. Ask questions and poll your members. A Facebook page can be a great way to hear directly from your members and gather feedback. It can lead to some interesting discussions that can provide a lot of value. Try asking a new question every day and see what happens.

5. Use video to educate. Capturing video is easier than ever. iPhones and Droids have built-in video camera and offer excellent quality. Consider interviewing your members on a regular basis (like AMTA-Indiana does here) and posting these videos on your Facebook page. Also interview presenters and other industry experts in a "TV show" format. Ask questions that are relevant to those in your profession and get useful advice from your subjects. Your members and prospective members will appreciate getting exclusive information from being a follower of your association on Facebook.

If you think of your association's Facebook page as a resource for your members, it has the potential to become more heavily used and can also become a great recruiting tool for attracting prospective members. Have some ideas of your own? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!

The value of an event landing page

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, November 7, 2011

So you've got a great event set up - maybe it's a seminar, webinar, conference, or networking event. You've got your agenda set, your speakers, and all the others details. Now it's time to get people to come.

There are many ways to promote your event. Having a great permission-based email database will give you an audience to invite, and social media can also be a great channel for promotion. But there is one piece of the puzzle that I often see forgotten, even by large organizations.

Do you have a well-optimized event landing page?

A landing page is a key component in marketing your event. I see lots of organizations that miss this part of the equation. They send out emails with a PDF attached, or announce the event at meetings, but they don't give their audiences a call to action that drives them to the next step. When someone gets an email with a PDF attached announcing the event, they have a few options: add it to a calendar, delete the email, file it away for later processing, ignore it, RSVP by calling or emailing, and/or forwarding it to someone else. None of these things are very difficult, but when placed in the context of a busy inbox full of other competing email, delete often becomes the path of least resistance.

Even worse is the verbal announcement. I can't remember the last time I actually attended an event that was only verbally announced to me. It's just not worth the effort of researching the event information and adding it to my calendar based on bits and pieces that I hear at a meeting.

However, there is one action that people can take that is easier than all of the other options: a click.

Every call to action within an announcement should be a click that leads to an event landing page on your website. An event landing page gives your constituents all the necessary information to make a fast decision about attending, and also gives them the option to quickly register online on the spot. This removes friction. Most of us are faced with decision fatigue every day and anything that removed friction from a decision will help your constituents make a commitment.

If you are using a good Content Management System (CMS), building an event landing page should be very easy. Your CMS should allow you to set up all the necessary elements for your landing page.

Some elements of a well-optimized landing page include:

Location information with map link. This should be obvious but I often see event pages that just give a generic venue name like "The City Center Building" or something. Don't make people look up addresses or guess. Include the venue name, complete address, and a link to a Google Map to make it easy to get directions on the spot.

Online registration. Assuming you are requesting an RSVP or a registration (which most professional events do), capturing online registration is a must. Your landing page needs to make registration quick, easy, and painless. If payment is required for the event, your constituents should be able to pay online with a credit card.

Social sharing widgets. One advantage of an event landing page is the fact that it serves as a centralized "hub" on the web that others can share and drive traffic to. By placing re-tweet buttons, Facebook Like buttons, and other share buttons on the landing page, you make it easy for others to share the event with their networks. This is a good thing, as it can increase exposure and registrations.

Well-written event description. A good landing page includes clear, articulate information about the event. Clear start times and end times, speaker bios and details, and narrative about the content will all help your constituents make a more rapid decision about attending the event.

Short event URL. Every email or post you send out should drive people to your landing page with a single click. If you plan to announce the event verbally or place the URL on print material, the URL should be short, such as "www.domain.com/summit" or something similar. A short, easy to remember event URL will make it easier to market verbally and in print because it makes it easier for people to type it in to get more information.

Once you have a strong event landing page built, you can use that as your centralized location that all of your promotional efforts point to. To see some examples of SpinWeb's landing pages, feel free to visit our events section and click on the title of any event.

Hopefully this helps offer some insight into how to create an optimized event landing page. If you have any comments or tips of your own, please feel free to post them below.

How to create a QR code scavenger hunt

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, October 31, 2011

I recently had the pleasure of working with the Massage Therapy Foundation as it participated in the AMTA National Convention in Portland, Oregon. The Massage Therapy Foundation advances the knowledge and practice of massage therapy by supporting scientific research, education, and community service and does some outstanding work for the massage profession. The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) is the founding partner of the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) and the two organizations work closely together.

The AMTA holds a great convention every year with a large exhibit hall. Exhibitors from all over the country set up at the convention and fill the hall with all sorts of interesting products and services for the massage community.

The Massage Therapy Foundation also exhibits at the AMTA National Convention. This year, we worked with the Massage Therapy Foundation to set up a QR code scavenger hunt. 

If you're not familiar with QR codes, head on over to our QR codes 101 post for some background information.

The goals for our QR code scavenger hunt were: 

• To increase understanding of what the MTF does
• To increase foot traffic for MTF donors at the exhibit hall
• To introduce QR technology to AMTA members
• To encourage traffic and donations at the MTF booth
• To create a fun experience for MTF donors and AMTA members

 We set up the scavenger hunt with the following rules:

• The MTF created six questions that asked for a specific fact about an aspect of one of the Foundation's projects
• Convention attendees could stop by the MTF booth to pick up a sheet of questions
• Each exhibitor who was a donor to the MTF would get a special QR code sign at their booth
• When each QR code was scanned with a smart phone, it would pull up a YouTube video with a Foundation volunteer stating a short fact about the MTF - this statement contained the answer to one of the questions
• Attendees who answered all six questions correctly could turn in their answer sheets at the MTF booth
• A drawing was held for all the participants who turned in a completed answer sheet and the winner was awarded an Amazon Kindle (donated by SpinWeb)

 In order to get the campaign and QR codes ready we used the following process:

• Create insightful, powerful short stories using facts from the MTF annual report
• Create questions from those stories
• Recruit six volunteers, assign them each a story, and ask them to record it on video
• Upload each video to YouTube and mark it as "unlisted" so it can't be found without the URL (this keeps the answers from getting out before the convention)
• Create a QR code for each video using the Google URL shortener
• Create labels with the QR codes on them and place them on branded MTF signs
• Place the signs at each exhibitor who made a donation to the Foundation (check out these photos of the signs as well as this video featuring an exhibitor)
• Write a post on the MTF Blog explaining the rules and proving links to QR scanners to help attendees get ready for the campaign 

So how did it turn out? It was a big hit! Convention attendees had a great time hunting for QR codes, scanning them, and answering the questions. Congratulations to Katie Stewart on winning the Kindle!

So what were some of the benefits to this QR code scavenger hunt?

For starters, the Massage Therapy Foundation booth was hopping with traffic! There were very few times when the booth was not packed with people either making a donation or getting information about the scavenger hunt.

Another benefit to the MTF was that each person who scanned a QR code and watched a video was exposed to a brief statement explaining a significant Foundation project and how it impacted the massage profession, as well as those in need. This created greater awareness of what the MTF does and brought the specifics of its work into sharper relief. Take a look at a few of the videos:

• Whitney Lowe talks about bringing massage to rural workers in Mexico
• Allisa Haines on massage for special needs children
• Ann Blair Kennedy discussed massage for orhpans in Uzbekistan

Next, the campaign brought value to the exhibitors who participated. The QR code campaign brought people to the exhibitors who had donated to the MTF and increased their foot traffic at the convention. It was also a great way for the Massage Therapy Foundation to show appreciation to those exhibitors who were donors.

Another nice side benefit to the American Massage Therapy Association was that we were able to introduce QR code technology to AMTA members who might otherwise not understand it. Following this campaign, many more AMTA members now have QR scanners on their phones which will allow AMTA to utilize this technology for future campaigns more successfully.

Finally, it was fun! We got great feedback that a lot of people were having fun hunting for codes, striking up conversations with exhibitors, and participating in the contest.

So while it was a bit of work to set up, we found that the QR code scavenger hunt was a big success and fun way to use new technology. If you are looking for some interesting ways to generate excitement and traffic at your next conference, a QR code scavenger hunt might be worth a look. Some guidelines:

• Keep the videos short (30 - 45 seconds)
• Give people instructions in advance (perhaps through a blog post)
• Make sure you have people on hand at the event who can help people install QR apps for people
• Give away something awesome (Kindle, iPad, etc.)

Questions? Comments? Please post below.

It's not just about social media

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, October 24, 2011

The term "social media" is everywhere. It's shiny, it's trendy, and everyone either wants to hear more about it or is already tired of it. Social media is a great way to communicate. I love the technology that allows me to stay in touch with people from all over the world and share information, media, and content.

Social media is also good for businesses (and non-profits). However, a lot of organizations are jumping into social media with blinders on. They seem to have decided that Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the silver bullets that will cause their organizations to become overnight successes, and that they will automatically get more customers by asking for more "Likes" on Facebook.

I typically encourage my clients to think bigger.

Social tools can be a key component in a successful digital marketing system. However, it's only one component. A successful strategy also includes other key components - things like email, your website, QR codes, presentations, print (yes - sometimes print!), podcasts, and especially content.

More importantly is how you tie it all together. You can set up Facebook pages, ask for likes, tweet links, and generally "show up" on social media all day but unless you have a clear vision of how it fits together and how your content marketing system is structured, your marketing will not reach it's full potential.

Try thinking of social media as one piece of the pie. Explore some ideas for how you can tie social media to email, video, articles, and other types of content. Where do you want to guide your constituents? What specifically do you want your Twitter followers or Facebook fans to do next? What would motivate them to follow you?

By creating a plan for how it all fits together, you will begin to see the big picture and can optimize each segment more efficiently. This will help your organization go from "jumping into" social media to executing a strategic digital marketing plan.

P.S. This Friday's webinar would be a great place to start.

QR codes 101

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Sunday, October 16, 2011

Are you seeing a lot more of those little black and white squares everywhere? QR codes are appearing in the wild more and more. They are showing up on postcards, business cards, storefronts, event tickets, billboards, promotional items, and signage. They are sometimes used well and often used poorly. We are getting a lot of questions about QR codes here at SpinWeb so in order to help our clients navigate this new technology, we've put together this guide to QR codes, including what they are, how to scan them, how to use them, and when to use them.

What are QR codes?

First things first. QR stands for "Quick Response" and QR code literally means Quick Response Code. As the name implies, it speeds up a specific transaction by allowing the user to scan a code rather than type in a website address or some other string. QR codes are square barcodes that can be placed on pretty much anything from event tickets to buildings and are very similar to the bar codes that are placed on products in stores.

QR codes are typically scanned using smart phones, such as an iPhone or Android device. Scanning the code sends the user to a specific location on the web. QR codes can also be used to transfer information, such as contact information to be added to the user's address book.

How do I scan a QR code?

There are a number of apps that will allow you to scan QR codes. Here are some of the most popular:

• RedLaser (iPhone/Android)
• Barcode Scanner (Android)
• AT&T Code Scanner (iPhone/Android)
• Quick Reader (Windows)

These apps are free and, once installed, make it very easy to scan QR codes from your smart phone.

How do I create QR codes?

If you would like to create QR codes, it is actually very easy. There are a number of free services that allow you to create them in minutes, including:

• Go QR
• Qurify
• Quickqr
• Hipscan (allows you to change the destination later - very useful!)

Google also includes a QR code generation option in its URL shortening service. After you create a short URL, all you need to do it add ".qr" to the end of it to generate a QR code for that link. We put together a short video that explains how to create a QR code using Google's URL shortener if you want to check it out.

Once you've created your QR code, you can place it on any object or surface you want. You'll want to make sure it's flat, clean, and does not bleed into any other image on that surface. This will ensure that it will get scanned correctly. For more info on testing your QR codes to make sure they work, check out Kevin Mullett's post: Tips for Testing QR Codes for Scannability in Print.

What are some useful ways to use QR codes?

Great question! There are a lot of ways that QR codes can make transactions more efficient. QR codes can also have some marketing value when used creatively. Here are some extremely creative examples:

• Korea’s Tesco reinvents grocery shopping with QR-code “stores”
• The Washington Post makes it easy to share printed articles using QR codes
• No Projector? Use QR Code & SlideShare to Share a Presentation on Smartphones

In general, a QR code is very useful when your audience is away from a computer. For instance, the above example of Korea's Tesco grocery store chain is a great example of how QR codes became very valuable because they allowed Tesco customers to shop while in the subway system. Tesco took note that their customers were likely bored while waiting in the subway, also noted that they were away from their computers and therefore not able to easily shop online, and created a brilliant system that took the real-world experience of picking groceries off a shelf and combined it with QR technology.

If you plan to drive people to your website using a QR code, it's also pretty important make sure your website is optimized for mobile. This ensures that your constituents will have a good experience when they arrive. Also see our previous blog: When to use a QR code.

Some good examples of how QR codes can make transactions more efficient include:

• Placing QR codes on event tickets for easy attendee check-in
• Retail stores can place QR codes in store windows to allow passers-by to get product information after hours
• Non-profits can create QR code "scavenger hunts" that drive home the organization's mission during contests
• Restaurants can use QR codes on menus to allow customers to get nutritional information
• The City of Indianapolis places QR codes on parking meters to make to easy for people to install the parking app on their phones and pay for parking

As you can see, QR codes are very useful when people are on the go. I've seen some poor uses, as well, including placing QR codes on postcards. In general, if your audience is already sitting at a computer, it doesn't make much sense to use a QR code.

Hopefully this helps give you a general overview of what QR codes are, how to use them, and when to use them. As you can see, QR codes can be very useful and can make certain transactions more efficient. Of course we have experience creating effective campaigns using QR and other technologies so if you would like some help, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Enjoy experimenting with this interesting technology. Have some comments, questions, or creative examples of QR codes? Please post them below!