Optimize Magazine - Fall 2014 by Hopkins Printing

FALL 2014

IDEAS FOR MARKETING AND CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS

SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMINER’S

MICHAEL STELZNER

IS “STILL JUST A NORMAL DUDE.”

Low Cost / No Cost Ways to Get Started Using Augmented Reality in Your Marketing Is Twitter Destroying the Pyramid of Influence? 15 Key Elements of a Brand Book

ENTER TO WIN

TODAY!

hopkinsprinting.com/register-today “ This book is not only a complete overview of [visual storytelling] but, most importantly, the key to doing it right, a total Right Hook!”

• Human brain processes visuals 60,000x faster than text • W eb posts with visuals drive up to 180% more engagement than those without

— G ARY VAYNERCHUK New York Times bestselling author of Crush It! and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook

“ A valuable guide to understanding how to develop powerful marketing programs using the art of visual storytelling.”

— G UY KAWASAKI Author of APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur and former chief evangelist of Apple

• Viewers spend 100% more time on web pages with videos Filled with full-color images and thought-provoking examples from leading companies, The Power of Visual Storytelling explains how to grow your business and strengthen your brand by leveraging photos, videos, infographics, presentations, and other rich media. The book delivers a powerful road map for getting started, while inspiring new levels of creativity within organizations of all types and sizes.

Enter today and receive a complimentary copy of our “Social Media Playbook”, an interactive guide to organize and deploy your social media marketing.

“ The Power of Visual Storytelling is the new marketing bible!”

— N ANCY BHAGAT Vice President, Global Marketing Strategy and Campaigns, Intel

Capture the QR Code with your smart device and register online now or visit hopkinsprinting.com/register-today

WELCOME

Fall 2014

EXPERT OPINION Read insights from the following contributors in this issue:

Welcome to the Fall issue of Optimize In this issue, we look at all things social, and interview Mr. Social Media Examiner himself, Michael Stelzner.

are we say it? Okay, we will. Don’t forget to register for our The end of the year will be here quarterly giveaway for a chance to win before you know it, and it’s a copy of The Power of Visual Storytelling. always a great time to show appreciation With creating original visual content to your clients and partners. We found topping the charts as one of the hottest a few exceptional campaigns that really trending marketing topics, the book has rocked our world, and share them with been called “the new marketing bible” by you as inspiration to think about your the VP of Global Marketing for Intel. We own projects. also feature the books’ authors in our Twitter – people either love it or hate it. 5-Minute Expert column. We dig into the question of how Twitter Finally, learn how to build your brand is affecting the traditional Marketing and improve how you’re seen in the Pyramid of Influence, and give you ten market. Scan the QR code to create your marketers we love to follow. Speaking of own brand book and you’ll receive a love/hate relationships, if complimentary copy of our you love your job, but hate Social Media Playbook. This all the time you spend in easy guide will help organize meetings, the Marketing and develop your social media Director of the Professional topics and titles in preparation Photographers of America for posting and sharing. Enjoy this issue of association and Mike Optimize, and let us Stelzner (Social Media know how we’re doing. Examiner) both tell us how Roy Waterhouse they reclaimed their time President, Hopkins Printing and now get more done.

facebook.com/HopkinsSolutions

@hopksolutions

Ekaterina Walter Business and marketing innovator and noted author, Ekaterina explains the importance of visual storytelling as part of your marketing strategy.

Andrew Coate A professional community and content manager tells us how to use the social platforms that most effectively support your business objectives.

Carla Plouin The Director of Marketing & Communications at a 27,000-member organization reveals how she organizes, coaches, and grows with her team.

linkedin.com/company/hopkins-printing

Optimize is printed on 100# U Velvet Cover/ 100# U Velvet Text paper

01 Welcome

Letter from the President, plus a selection of the key contributors writing in this issue.

10 15 Key Elements of a Brand Book

How to work on your brand to improve your perception in the market.

02 Insights

12 Augmented Reality on a Budget

Ideas, opinions, news, and trends.

How to use Augmented Reality in your print marketing without breaking the bank.

06 Michael Stelzner Interview

16 My Working Day

The Social Media Examiner founder explains how free content can transform your business model.

Say cheese! Carla Plouin, Marketing and Communications Director of Professional Photographers of America (PPA), explains the challenges of marketing for an association.

Executive Editor

Cindy Woods, cmoteam.com Contributing Writers

Carro Ford, Susan Fraiser, Patrick Henry, Tim Sweeney Design

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Fall 2014

INSIGHTS

NEWS | REVIEWS | IDEAS | OPINION |

TALKING POINTS »

Is Twitter Destroying the Pyramid of Influence? n August 1997, Tom Peters wrote a noteworthy story for Fast Company Magazine titled “The Brand Called You,” in which his closing lines advised readers: “You are a brand. And there is no one right way to create the brand called You. Except this: Start today. Or else.” Seventeen years later, it appears Peters was a prophet. Social media, namely Twitter, has given individuals the opportunity to brand ourselves like never before. With numerous platforms to voice our opinions, our ability to influence and persuade has never been greater. As a result, the longtaught Pyramid of Influence—with brands and their leaders stationed at the top, shoveling information to (or at) consumers at the bottom—has been flipped on its head, or at least shaken up. No longer are consumers swayed only by the advertisements and juicy PR hits brands want them to see. Today, much of the influencing is done by fellow consumers sharing their experiences. Twitter users pore over topics trending by hashtag, then tweet their own thoughts or retweet the opinions of others. Many are turning to Twitter not only to gain information, but also to obtain faster customer service. BBC program, The One Show, found that customer service requests submitted through Twitter were responded to in little more than an hour, versus the 24 hours it took companies to respond to emailed requests. The Pyramid of Influence is shifting as consumers realize the weapon of bad publicity in their hands.

In the business world, where CEOs and marketing execs were once the sole disseminators of information, tools like Twitter have changed the power structure. Information now flows freely from the masses to the executives, and they’d better be listening. The evolving pyramid requires brands to move their message. They must be where the conversations are taking place and make use of influential tweeters who have become—you guessed it— their very own brands. To direct the conversation, brands must now provide the information that consumers demand.

Professional content creators and brand ambassadors have become crucial. They must also treat the public with respect and respond to their commentary in real time. Nearly two decades ago, Peters said that the key to a personal branding campaign was word-of-mouth networking among our most important marketing vehicles— our friends, colleagues, clients, and customers. “The big trick to building your brand,” he wrote, “is to find ways to nurture your network of colleagues consciously.” Little did Peters know how true this would be for personal and corporate brands alike.

SELF-BRANDING VIA TWITTER These three individuals ply their trade in different arenas, but all use Twitter to build their personal brand in a way that large corporations with the most learned social media teams would envy. Shaquille O’Neal – @SHAQ Retired NBA Star – 8.6M followers

Darren Rovell – @darrenrovell ESPN Sports Business Reporter and Business Correspondent, ABC News – 488K followers

Stephen Fry – @stephenfry Actor, Comedian, Author, Radio Host – 7M followers

Famous well before Twitter existed,

Even with his varied work schedule,

Shaq is now an old pro at building

Rovell has carved a niche reporting

the outspoken Brit makes time to

his brand. With his Random

on the business of sports, and his

wield astounding influence on

Acts of Shaqness, he’s tweeted

influence is enormous. When

Twitter. He passionately promotes

the locations of autographed

sports-related brands promote

charities and publicizes unknown

sneakers for people to find. He

their campaigns or products,

artists, sometimes causing their

once tweeted his own location,

a Rovell tweet is one of their PR

websites to crash. It’s not easy to

then pretended to be a statue for

goals. His article “100 Twitter

do, but his tweets are both thought

an hour as the crowds and

Rules to Live By” is Twitter 101.

provoking and funny.

media gathered.

INSIGHTS

Fall 2014

OPINION » SAVVY SOCIAL MARKETER

WHAT’S ON MY MIND

4 EXTRAORDINARY

SLIDESHARE PRESENTATIONS YOU’LL WANT TO SEE

Three online community managers talk about the tricks of the social media trade. Pulling away from the crowd.

PowerPoint presentations have come a long way. These days, the best ones are almost like stop-motion films designed to amuse the eye, stimulate the brain, and leave you feeling inspired. Here are four we think every marketer should watch.

ANDREW COATE Community & Content Manager, Kapost

“My life and job tend to be very fast paced and chaotic; however, sticking firmly to certain routines makes sure that there is stability in the chaos. New tech and new methods develop all the time, and it can be really hard to keep up. The key is to have a solid understanding of your business objectives and to know what matters to you, what affects how you work, and what does not. For example, in my current position, Facebook is not of as great a value as other social media channels. The ability to adjust efforts that aren’t working is the real key here. I focus elsewhere—on more productive pursuits—and get great results that way.”

Resolving a tense situation

Everyone talks about the importance of content marketing in the era of obsessive second screening, but the enormous volume of content streamed via a growing number of channels can leave messaging strategies fragmented and ignored. This presentation reveals how content has changed—and how marketers need to change with it.

Everyone says that social media is crucial for building your brand and business success—but is the person with 50,000 Twitter followers really any more successful than the person with 5,000? This is a great examination of better ways to measure—and use—social media.

“SHUT UP AND TALK ABOUT ME.” BY 22SQUARED0

“WHAT MAKES A GREAT BRAND?”, BY WE ARE SOCIAL SINGAPORE

Top marketers were asked for their thoughts on what defines great brands, and they identified the same factors again and again. This is a quick-skim piece but a good reminder that brands are more than just the sum of their parts.

“WHY FOLLOWER COUNT IS BULL ____.” BY MACKENZIE FOGELSON

“WHAT THE ‘INTERNET OF THINGS’ REALLY MEANS,” BY THINK INTERACTIVE, INC.

Sure, you’re familiar with the term “internet of things,” but do you really know what it means, and what it means for marketing in the next decade? This presentation is guaranteed to get you thinking about where technology is going, how advertising will change, and what your career could look like as a result.

“A must-have skill for this role is to be able to keep a cool head in the middle of a crisis. There is always going to be a situation where someone is angry—be it a customer, client, or some random person who heard something about your company from their greataunt’s next-door neighbor. It’s your job to keep calm, talk them off the ledge, and resolve the situation. You can’t let your emotions get in the way of trying to diffuse a tense situation; as we’ve all seen, the wrong move can take something from a bad experience to a PR nightmare really quickly.”

MARY MALLARD Social Media & Community Specialist, Grasshopper

Moving our consumers “If your potential base of users already congregates on a particular online community, getting them to move over to a branded platform will take some work. Make your community about your members, not about your brand. This is probably the biggest factor determining whether online communities sink or swim. Learn to advocate for your members from day one; they are the ones that will drive the LINDSAY STARKE community, not your product or service—no matter how Online Community amazing. Any online community where the engagement Coordinator, strategy revolves around brand jingoism is doomed. Building Professional an engaged audience is a slow process, but one that has long-term Photographers of America benefits in terms of brand loyalty and identification.”

Fall 2014

INSIGHTS

NEWS | REVIEWS | IDEAS | OPINION |

DIGITAL MARKETING »

Top 10 Marketers You Need to

Follow on Twitter

ho would have thought that a social media platform built around a 140-character message could say so much? Obviously, these writers “got it.” We think their content is some of the best.

MIKE ALLTON Small to medium businesses, take heed. Mike Allton’s tweets are must-reads! His specialty? Leveraging content to increase website traffic and convert leads into sales and customers. As editor at The Social Media Hat, he regularly shares articles on social media, SEO, and more. Follow Mike @mike_allton

RAND FISHKIN After cofounding one of the world’s fastest growing software companies, Moz, Rand served as its CEO from 1997 to early 2014. Today he’s a contributor focused on product and marketing, both internally and externally. Fortunately, he finds time to share his rich reservoir of marketing wisdom through blogs and tweets. Follow Rand @randfish

BRIAN CLARK You can always expect The Copyblogger to dispense practical, “been there” wisdom on all things dealing with online marketing techniques. Brian built three successful service businesses using the very tools he espouses. Since then, he’s moved to a completely online business model, a perfect example of empowering success. Follow Brian @brianclark

SETH GODIN Author of 15 international best sellers, entrepreneur Seth Godin is equally expressive in the short form (say, 140 characters?). Take everything he writes to heart. After Yahoo! purchased his ethical email marketing firm, Seth served as the service’s VP of marketing, then went on to found other companies. We can all learn from this man. Follow Seth @NotGodinREPOSTs

BRYAN EISENBERG Talk about your impressive authority! Better yet, read him. Keynote speaker, advisor, and #1 WSJ best-selling author Bryan Eisenberg tweets on topics ranging from design to persona marketing. He’s also one of the top 10 User Experience Gurus in the business. Follow Bryan @theGrok

ANN HANDLEY Forbes named her the most influential woman in Social Media and one of the top 20 women bloggers. Little wonder Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, where she enlightens the largest community of marketers in the training and education category. Follow Ann @marketingprofs

INSIGHTS

Fall 2014

FIVE-MINUTE EXPERT »

Visual Storytelling Ekaterina Walter is a business and marketing innovator, international speaker, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Think Like Zuck. Jessica Gioglio, Social Media Manager for Dunkin’ Donuts, coauthored The Power of Visual Storytelling with Ekaterina Walter.

AVINASH KAUSHIK This expert (the Analytics Evangelist for Google) is definitely one to follow! Avinash’s books Web Analytics: An Hour a Day and Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability & Science of Customer Centricity translate into easy science that any online marketer can use— and compete with like gangbusters. Follow Avinash @avinash

PAM MOORE Forbes named her a Top 10 Social Media Power Influencer, and for good reason. This keynote speaker, best-selling author, and strategist has the “guts to tell you what you may not want to hear, but must know to drive results.” As CEO and founder of Marketing Nutz, Pam is an expert at developing and executing strategies that drive revenue. Follow Pam @PamMktgNut

LAURA E. PENCE President of Social Savvy Geek, LLC and leading consultant, Laura’s one of those people for whom computing and social networking come naturally. Aren’t we lucky that she shares her passion! Read her tweets on using social media as an extension of your business practices. Follow Laura @SocialSavvyGeek

ADAM SHERK It’s hard to pin just one label on Adam. He does a great job of sending along gems from many sources. As the VP of SEO and Social Media for Define Media Group, he brings clients (and us!) new slants on everything, from social media tactics to audience development. Follow Adam @adamsherk

Q: What is visual storytelling?

Ekaterina Walter:

Visual storytelling is defined as the use of images, videos, infographics, presentations, and other visuals on social media platforms to craft a graphical story around key brand values and offerings. Consider this: I put the word “girl” in front of you. What do you think of? We all have a different image that comes to mind, including some from our own memories. But when you see a picture of a girl, you shape a story around it—why is she there, is she happy, what is she thinking?

Q: What companies are doing this well? EW: RedBull is always creating visuals that align with their brand. Extreme sports, taking the risk, going “all out.” They use images and videos to build excitement and engagement prior to events. They are storytelling masters. Dunkin’ Donuts does not have huge budgets. However, they masterfully use behindthe-scenes pictures and videos, with images such as employees’ fingernails painted orange with DD on them or a chef trying out a new recipe for Dunkin’.

Q: Can you finish this question: “When I think about visual storytelling for my brand, I should think about …“?

come out in droves to submit pictures of themselves in places all around the world with their Dunkin’ coffee.

EW: Design. As you are

Q: How does a brand get started?

building your visual strategy, consider your existing visual brand elements. How can those be used in creative ways, or with subtlety, in other forms of visuals? Visuals with real-time attachment. Think about daily events and unplanned events. For example, if you had a snowstorm in your city, capture how you responded to it. Show, “We are here. We are part of this community.” User-generated visuals. Encourage people to participate. Dunkin’ began a Facebook “Fan of the Week” Page, and people

EW: Visual storytelling is

not a high-cost strategy. You don’t have to have the highest-quality visual content. Start with your brand. Don’t look at products or services, look at who you are. Are you helping the environment? Why are your employees passionate about your company? Can you extend that passion externally? Are you engaged in the community? Market the story and people behind the brand. Show reality happening inside your company. n

Pictured: Ekaterina Walter (Blog: ekaterinawalter.com) and Jessica Gioglio (Blog: thesavvybostonian.com), coauthors of The Power of Visual Storytelling.

Get Inspired! Register to win a copy of The Power of Visual Storytelling. Visit hopkinsprinting.com/register-today

Fall 2014

COVER STORY

Michael Stelzner â&#x20AC;&#x201C; CEO/Founder, Social Media Examiner and MyKidsAdventures.com; author of Launch and Writing White Papers

INTERVIEW

THE MICHAEL STELZNER BUSINESS MODEL Give It Away, Do a Few Things Very Well, and Connect

Fall 2014

Q: What lessons from your days as an expert in the printed white paper have you carried forward to the digital world?

Michael Stelzner: One thing I learned is that

you should never save your secret knowledge for your paying customers only. Always give away everything you know, all the time, in every format you can think of. Written form, audio form, and video form. The more you share, the more you realize that you know a lot more than you could ever document. By sharing, you end up learning more, and you become a better craftsperson. That’s what we do all the time with Social Media Examiner. People love great information, and if you have it, you can develop an audience, and if you can develop an audience, you can be free. You become the media by essentially creating content.

Q: You’ve got the books, the social media summits, and the online community. How do you find the time?

MS: To have time you have to make time for what

matters. For example, this morning I scheduled two meetings with myself back-to-back, and no one else could get me. Scheduling time with myself is the key to getting things done. I’ve also got a big team of 42 people behind me now. We just do a very few things extremely well. It’s a simple business model of blogs, podcasts, a website, online conferences, and one physical conference. We only do things we know really work, and we stop doing them if they don’t meet objectives. If something does work, then we staff up to make them sustainable.

Q: Many people want to be seen as social media experts. How is your brand different?

MS: Here’s our corporate mission statement:

“Social Media Examiner is the world’s largest and most respected provider of social media marketing content. We’re known for popular articles, reports, webinars, summits, in-person events and an active community. We constantly strive for excellence in all we do.” We wrote it before we actually achieved it; it was what we aspired to be.

We have extremely sophisticated editorial systems, processes, and a deep staff to maintain accuracy and standards. We don’t do anything half-baked. Seven editors work on every article. Our podcasts are radio quality. Our speakers at our conferences have to be excellent communicators above anything else, and they must have deep domain knowledge. Our mission is to be best in class, and we don’t do something if we can’t be. We do very few things, and do them very well.

Q: You have consistent visual branding. What role does the visual play in social media?

Q: What are common social media mistakes you see people make?

MS: One of the big mistakes is promoting

products and services. Imagine you’re at a party, and you interrupt everyone to wave a flyer in the air and yell, “Come get a coupon!” That doesn’t work so well, does it? Realize that social means being social. When we’re on social networks, we’re actually socializing, not looking for promotions. Instead of a coupon, offer something like a free hour of training in your area of specialty. Give away something of value. It’s the difference between promoting and providing value, and that’s something people will share with friends and colleagues.

MS: There is a huge trend on visuals

as a part of social media. Go to our website and get the latest free Always give away everything you industry report and you’ll see one know, all the time, in every format of the top things that most concerns marketers is how to use visuals in you can think of. By sharing you social. I used to own a design agency end up learning more, and back in the day, and I know that to get to the brain you have to go you become a better craftsperson. through the eyes. I knew that we needed a visual design that was stunning to get people to read our content. We’re sticklers about layout: no super long paragraphs, lots of bolded subheads, visuals, and skimmable content.

Fall 2014

COVER STORY

Q: Measurement is always tricky. How can we apply ROI to social media programs?

MS: That’s a tricky subject and one of the

biggest challenges. The good news is that social is more trackable than almost any form of marketing. Facebook gives you free data, Twitter just opened their analytics, and Google Analytics is free. For example, you can pull up a particular page and learn how many visitors come to that page from social networks. Sophisticated tools like HubSpot and Marketo track everything that influenced a buyer’s process. You can go to Social Media Examiner for expert information and tips on Google Analytics and other tools.

If you are going to measure just one thing, measure conversions. You can set up conversion tracking to see how many people land on a particular thank-you page after filling out a form, for example. Google Analytics will examine all the content on your website and show what percentage of visitors converted from a specific piece of content. You might learn that one article is converting higher, and maybe you should share it more on your social channels to create more leads.

Q: You mix it up with videos, podcasts, webinars, summits, and more. What is your favorite?

MS: Podcasting. It’s impossible to watch

television and read at the same time. It’s very hard to multitask while you’re watching something. But it’s very easy to multitask while you’re listening. You can be driving, at the gym, walking, or doing a very boring thing like washing

Never underestimate the power of connections and where they might lead.

2014 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INDUSTRY REPORT We asked marketers to select the single most important form of content for their business. Because only one choice was allowed, the findings are revealing. More than half of marketers (58%) selected original written content as their most important content, followed by original visual assets (19%) and then original videos (12%).

How will marketers change their future content activities? Marketers plan to increase their use of original written

content (81%); original videos (73%); original visual assets, such as infographics (70%); curation of other people’s content (46%); and original audio (33%), in that order.

Creating original visual assets took first place (68%) as the area that marketers most want to learn about, followed by producing original videos (60%).

Blogging holds the top spot for future plans. A significant 68% of marketers plan on increasing their use of blogging, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2014.

Marketers want to learn most about Google+.

The top two benefits of social media marketing are increasing exposure and increasing traffic.

While 54% of marketers are using Google+, 65% want to learn more about it, and 61% plan on increasing Google+ activities in 2014.

By spending as little as six hours per week, more

A trend to watch: podcasting. Only 6% of marketers are involved with podcasting, yet 21% plan on increasing their podcasting activities in 2014—a more than threefold increase— and 28% of marketers want to learn more about it.

Facebook and LinkedIn are the two most important social networks for marketers. When forced to only select one platform, 54% of marketers selected Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 17%.

than 66% of marketers saw lead generation benefits with social media, and more than half of marketers with at least one year of social media experience were generating leads with social platforms.

Fall 2014

dishes while you’re being educated. It’s an incredible medium that’s also very intimate, because it’s right there in your earbuds. You can consume in your idle moments. Podcasts are episodic content, and, like a Netflix series, anyone can download past episodes. For example, I talked to a guy who went on a bike trip and listened to 40 of my episodes in a row. People who listen to our show listen every week. People spend about one minute on a website, but they spend 45 minutes every week listening to me on my show. Imagine that—the attention of tens of thousands of listeners for 45 minutes every week. They are all over the world and are the most loyal fans ever. People have sent pictures of themselves listening to me in a canoe, on a tractor, and even on an aircraft carrier. Think about that—it’s crazy!

Q: What’s your process for staying relevant with your audience and on top of all things social?

MS: We survey thousands of readers every

year to know what they’re interested in, and that drives our editorial standards. We have

teams watching to see what’s happening all over the world. When something happens, like a new social network or features like the new “save” button on Facebook, we have an entire team researching it to tell us what the heck it is and what it means to marketers. The hope is that we become the go-to source of knowledge, so readers rely on getting the latest and greatest from us and won’t have to look anywhere else. You become the watering hole when you are able to do that.

Q: Is there a social network that is underutilized?

MS: LinkedIn is a big social network that people

overlook, and it has a publishing platform for you to blog right there. Only 54% of marketers are using Google+, but 65% want to learn more. I think Google+ is the platform everyone is focusing on right now.

Q: “You can only connect the dots in hindsight,” according to Steve Jobs. How do you connect the dots to where

Q: How does print remain relevant

you are today?

for social media marketing?

MS: I’m just a normal dude trying to make

MS: I still read print magazines, and the key thing

a difference. When you meet someone who has “the spark,” and you help them along their path, they’ll love you forever. My three businesses have nothing in common, other than the fact that all were based on relationships. My white paper expertise brought me a lot of visibility, and I taught lots of marketers and built lots of relationships that later bore fruit. Never underestimate the power of connections and where they might lead, and have a servant mentality.

print can do to be social is give people the next step. Fast Company will profile articles from their online publication, using print to circle people back around for more exclusive content online. At the end of every article in Macworld magazine, they send you online for extended coverage. Print can’t develop community because it’s technically a broadcast mechanism, but what it can do is tell readers, “Go here to join our community.” Print encourages people to experience true multimedia.

Q: Where do you go for inspiration and motivation?

MS: I am predominantly an experiential

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogging, Google+, and Pinterest were the top seven platforms used by marketers (in that order).

Sixty-six percent of B2B marketers plan to increase Google+ activities.

Download the FREE Report: 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Michael A. Stelzner (published May 2014) http://bit.ly/1sLaGhw Visit Social Media Examiner at: www.socialmedia examiner.com

learner, so I listen to a lot of podcasts to hear other perspectives. Some that I enjoy might not be obvious shows, such as Dave Ramsey (http://www.daveramsey.com/entreleadership /podcast) for leadership concepts to be a better CEO. I love “Six Pixels of Separation” (http:// www.twistimage.com/podcast/) by Mitch Joel, an extreme intellectual who interviews people in the world of advertising and social media. Also, I listen to Michael Hyatt (http://michael hyatt.com/thisisyourlife) on leadership with a Christian perspective.

Q: At the end of the day, what gives you the most satisfaction?

MS: I love helping people. I love hearing stories from people all around the world whose lives and businesses have changed because of the free stuff we give away. It’s extremely rewarding.

Fall 2014

MARKETING TRENDS

15 KEY ELEMENTS

OF A BRAND BOOK

BRAND NARRATIVE Your narrative is your story. It pulls people in and makes them want to associate themselves with your brand. Employees become ambassadors; media promotes you; and stakeholders want to become a part of your living story..

BRAND HISTORY Every company has been shaped by moments of inspiration and perseverance Your company history should feature the most compelling of these moments, along with significant achievements. These help to lend context and depth to the brand and begin to frame your position. You want the authenticity of the brand to shine through and not sound like a contrived marketing position that has been created, rather than lived. Putting your history in the form of a simple timeline is a great idea! What to include:

• • • •

Why your company was started A brief profile of the founders Major turning points in your company’s life Amusing and inspirational events that have occurred along the way

BRAND IDENTITY Your brand identity is carried throughout all mediums of communications through the intelligent use of color, typography, images, tone of voice, and copy. It is the visible elements of a brand that identify and distinguish the brand in the mind of the consumer. It includes brand values, attributes, personality, and brand position..

CORE BRAND VALUE KEYWORDS Articulating your core values will help everyone in your company become a brand advocate. They are a list of words that are developed and used internally to clarify who you are and what you stand for, direct and influence an organizations conduct, and ground the entire organization in the same behaviors and beliefs. You should have between 4 and 8 brand values that align with your company, your vision and your employees.

BRAND PERSONALITY KEYWORDS Your brand personality is your emotional identity. It surrounds your brand and influences the tone, style, attitude and look of your communications. Brand personalities give consumers something to which they can relate to. Examples include: formal, trendy, urban, passive, casual, earthy, daring, intelligent, imaginative, tough, or subtle.

“ Put simply, your “brand” is what your prospect thinks of when he or she hears your brand name. It’s everything the public thinks it knows about your name brand offering— both factual (e.g. It comes in a robin’s-egg-blue box), and emotional (e.g. It’s romantic). Your brand name exists objectively; people can see it. It’s fixed. But your brand exists only in someone’s mind.” Jerry McLaughlin, Forbes Magazine

BRAND POSITION Brand positioning is the activity of creating a brand offer and identity in a way that it occupies a distinct place and value in the consumers mind. A brand positioning statement should contain four key elements: 1. Larger market (for whom), 2. Market space you compete in (service or product), 3. Brand promise (emotional or rational benefits), 4. Reasons to believe.

COMPANY INFORMATION BOILERPLATE Have a standard boilerplate to be used for all press releases and other media/journalistic references and events.

LOGO STANDARDS Document your logos for print and online work, and specify sizing and placement. Provide variations, clarify how the logos can and can’t be used and provide “use and misuse” examples to show the logos in acceptable form.

COLOR STANDARDS Include color palettes and how they should be used. Specify primary and secondary colors. Provide PMS colors, screen build percentages from CMYK, and acceptable screen percentages and gradient screens that can be used if applicable. Also provide any “DOs and DON’Ts” for color combinations.

TYPEFACE STANDARDS Define typefaces and document which types of fonts are used for headline, sub-headlines and in content. Show primary and secondary fonts. Include web typeface standards.

10.

STATIONERY STANDARDS Provide specific layout guidelines for all approved stationery products.

Fall 2014

11.

TONE, VOICE, COPYWRITING STYLE It is critical that your brand voice be consistent across all of your marketing materials and platforms. Define your tone and voice, and provide examples. Remember to refer back to your brand personality and keywords.

12.

WEB-BASED, BUTTONS, TAGS, BADGES, AND ICONS If you’re working closely with web designers and developers, you may consider including items such as small and large icons, tags, tables, arrows, basic buttons and social media buttons.

13.

GOT BRAND? START BUILDING YOUR

BRAND BOOK TODAY

Here at Hopkins Printing, we can’t overemphasize

WEBSITE, E-MAIL AND E-BLAST GUIDELINES Web guidelines provide for consistency across your entire online presence. From button styles to navigation structure, you should provide specifications for layout, styling, typefaces, signatures, links and logo usage in digital formats.

the importance of brand

14.

the consumer and your brand. By any name, a Brand

GRAPHIC IMAGERY GUIDELINES Photographs and images establish and reinforce your brand tone and personality in both print and online. Choices include vector art, illustrations, photography, graphs, grids and layouts. Keep your illustrated style clear, and demonstrate through examples and tips how to construct page layouts using imagery in the context of design.

consistency and having a brand strategy. It increases awareness, and cements an emotional connection between

Let us help you create your own Brand Book. For resources and inspiration visit hopkinsprinting.com/got-brand

SAMPLE BRAND BOOK

Book [Brand Style Guide, Visual Identity System, Brand Standards] is a document that sets the standards for how your brand is presented and referenced in all of your marketing, both online and offline. Brand and Style guides can

15.

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE Page Applications Social media profiles are the latest entry into the Brand Guidelines game. It is very important that these be written following the same voice and tone already established, and also are consistent with the positioning of your brand. Provide a company profile to your employees and brand ambassadors for them to use throughout their personal social media platforms when identifying and describing your company.

range from a single page to dozens of pages. Regardless of the size of your company, the length of the document, or the amount of

BRANDING WORKSHEETS

information required, the most

important rule is to keep it simple,

BRANDING BOOK TEMPLATE FILES

precise and current. We provide all the tools you’ll need to create a Brand Book. Contact us today!

Fall 2014

MULTI-MEDIA MARKETING

How to Use

Augmented Reality on a Budget Enhance your print marketing with augmented and affordable reality.

TRY ME!

By Patrick Henry

Fall 2014

savvy consumer in a New York City subway station aims her smartphone at the daunting transit map and sees a vivid graphical overlay showing train locations and station crowds along her route. Our savvy shopper—let’s call her Sarah—is off on a spending trip, but this will be no brick-andmortar shopping excursion.

AR is becoming more compelling for brand owners, marketers, and creatives to embrace as its difficulty level and price drop.

That’s because the same technology that demystified the subway map will transport her to an upscale retail environment called “home.” Once there, Sarah logs on to a website that lets her try on high-fashion eyewear by gazing into the webcam. The software superimposes images of the glasses, correctly positioned and accurately sized, onto her face. Another site lets her sample makeup and hairstyle combinations on the screen. The possibilities are endless, and so is Sarah’s ability to explore them. Next, Sarah opens a furniture catalog, aims her tablet at a picture of a sofa she likes, and projects an exact replica into just the right spot in her living room. Switching to another app, she turns an apparel catalog into a content-enriched

e-commerce portal that lets her browse and buy what she wants straight from the printed page. Now it’s time to relax. Sarah picks up a magazine that blossoms into a home theater of multimedia entertainment with a few clicks of her mobile camera. Sipping her favorite soft drink, she scans the container to watch a trailer for a movie with a tie-in to the brand. And look, the day’s mail includes a greeting card that literally sings and dances her praises when she unlocks its message with a snap of her device. EVERYONE, EVERY DAY A quick reality check suggests that nobody’s day contains this many hypervisual digital media experiences. But soon, everyone’s daily routine could be chock-full of them. They’re all made possible by augmented reality (AR), a technology that is becoming more compelling for brand owners, marketers, and creatives to embrace as its difficulty level and price drop. “We tell our customers that, because of what’s happening on the device side, consumers will soon expect that everything they come into contact with will have additional content,” says M.J. Anderson, CMO of Trekk, Inc., a multichannel-marketing agency that has made a major commitment to AR. “It will just be the way your phone works.” Andy Gstoll, CMO of AR-solutions developer Wikitude, has a similar belief in AR’s coming ubiquity. In five years, he says, we will see that “anything and anyone can be augmented” and that extracting augmented content from whatever we encounter will be “natural behavior.” Jack Dashwood, senior PR and Marketing Manager (US) for AR-solutions developer Metaio, Inc., points out that AR is irresistible because it

“AR” YOU READY TO GIVE IT A TRY? Look for the icon to test drive AR. Scan the images with “TRY ME!”

DOWNLOAD the free Junaio app from the App Store or Google Play on your smartphone or tablet.

LAUNCH the Junaio app on your device.

builds a bridge between the best of digital media and the best of another universally used communications channel—print. Because AR engagements are trackable, he says, they give print a dimension of measurability it has previously lacked. It’s what Candice Cunliffe, cofounder of AR-technology provider Trigg-AR, calls a “granular identifier” of print’s newfound ability to influence consumers. But Gravity Jack founder Jennifer Richey cautions that, for all its multimedia dazzle and marketing potential, AR won’t come into its own without help. Richey, whose company designs and deploys AR campaigns, says she sometimes struggles with the fact that brand owners and agencies aren’t as energetic as they should be in educating the public about AR and how to take advantage of it. It’s up to marketing professionals to fill the gap, she says, but in a “creative and fun way.” UNIVERSAL AR-ABILITY Theoretically, there’s very little that can’t be transformed into a vehicle for AR. Cunliffe’s list of things that can be “Trigged” (made recognizable by her Trigg-AR browser app) includes T-shirts, banknotes, cans of beer, and images from screens and monitors. But, as Gstoll points out, “print is the most favorable object to recognize,” precisely because it’s two-dimensional and easy to scan. Software in the form of device apps, plug-ins, or back-end applications sets the AR sequence in motion by recognizing a target marker or picking up on a design element acting as the trigger. Satellite-positioning data also can be used; when the GPS-aware phone locks its camera onto a scene with designated coordinates, content related to that location starts to stream. “That’s how you put the giant purple monkey in the middle of Times Square,” observes Richey.

Check out our sources for more information:

HOLD your device over this page for an outrageously cool AR experience!

Gravity Jack, Inc. https://gravityjack.com Metaio GmbH http://www.metaio.com Trekk http://www.trekk.com Trigg-AR http://www.trigg-ar.com Wikitude GmbH http://www.wikitude.com

Fall 2014

AR ON A BUDGET

TRY ME!

Hold your device over this image to rock out to an interactive Augmented Reality music memory game.

BONUS FOR BRANDING AR isn’t exclusively a marketing tool. Physicians have used it to guide them in surgery, and its 3-D overlays have proven highly useful in training and education, architecture, military operations, and other fields. But nowhere are its powers better showcased than in applications designed to foster deeper engagements between consumers and brands. Because AR-enhanced marketing materials provide continuous links to consumers, there’s no industry or business segment that can’t benefit from what they do. Four or five years ago, AR was accessible only to those with esoteric app-building knowledge. Now, anyone with basic computer skills can testdrive the technology with readily downloadable software and apps that make it simple—and often free—to prepare content for AR presentation. The AR service providers that distribute the contentcreation and browsing software also handle the back-end functions, such as streaming, asset management, utilization tracking, and so on, from their respective clouds. TAKE AR FOR A SPIN AR browser apps are free, and it’s similarly possible to take first steps in AR creation without up-front expense. Metaio and Wikitude, for example, offer free trials of their creation software. Another vendor, onvert, currently makes its 3-D virtualprojection AR tools freely available for individual and commercial use. The cost of sustained AR campaigns varies from provider to provider depending on the duration of the project, the number of trigger images created, the volume of augmented content to be served, and other factors.

Metaio Creator sells for $530 in the U.S., including back-end support and access to a channel where content is stored for viewing via Metaio’s Junaio browser. You can publish one AR-enabled image created with Wikitude Studio for free, or you can deploy three images for about $12 per month, 10 for $25, and so on. Other more expensive pricing tiers

apply to the software development kits (SDKs) that professional coders use to assemble branded apps within vendors’ respective AR architectures. Custom-built, turnkey AR projects represent another level of investment. Gravity Jack, for example, will develop, host, and manage 25 AR experiences for $7,500 per year, or an

Fall 2014

unlimited number for $15,000 annually. Richey says that as opportunities multiply to leverage marketing campaigns with AR, it’s important for adopters to begin carving out dedicated budgets for the technology from their overall media spends. DIFFICULT TO PASS UP Part of AR’s ROI is the boost in call-to-action potential it imparts to print. According to Cunliffe, anywhere from one person in 20 to one in two will scan AR-enhanced pages when they see them; nine in 10 of the page scanners will follow through to the product or brand being promoted. Because all the activity is trackable, the back-end can deliver continuous who-what-wherewhen-why analysis of campaign effectiveness. For example, Ikea can learn that its AR-enhanced home furnishings catalog is most frequently browsed on Sunday, something the retailer may have known intuitively, but a fact that now has hard data to back it up. Anderson observes that, by making print more accountable in this way, AR will help hard copy “keep a seat at the table” as media buyers continue to cut back their spending on ink, toner, and paper. COMING TO COLLATERAL NEAR YOU That’s the heart of AR’s appeal for consumers: they get the traditional enjoyment of sitting down with a printed catalog and the convenience of e-shopping in one comfortable and entertaining exercise. Cataloging is one print application where AR developers expect to see strong utilization; others are retail POS/POP, packaging, transpromotional documents, training manuals, and magazine and newspaper advertising. Although it’s impossible to know exactly what users will adopt, AR market projections are growing apace with the rising numbers of people able to make the technology part of their everyday lives. According to Juniper Research, the ranks of AR app users will approach 200 million by 2018. As AR is increasingly deployed in lifestyle, enterprise, and general entertainment applications, says Juniper, each of these sectors should be able to generate annual mobile AR revenues in excess of $1 billion within the next five to six years. Some view the rise of AR as a watershed for marketing communications, with consequences as potentially far-reaching as those wrought by desktop publishing 30 years ago. As a marketing technique, it’s both technically and creatively intriguing, well worth the small initial investment to discover the value it can add to the familiar power of print.

Nowhere are AR’s powers better showcased than in applications designed to foster deeper engagements between consumers and brands.

VIRTUALLY TEST NEW DRIVERS Through the use of Augmented Reality, golf giants TaylorMade and Ping allow readers to “virtually” test new drivers.

HOW AR SAYS, “HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU”

Total Immersion’s TryLive productvisualization system creates “virtual dressing rooms” where shoppers can “try on” the merchandise they have selected, explore style and color options, and purchase the varieties they like. The system detects relevant points on the body and uses that

data to align items in a correct 3-D “fit” that the shopper can see on their PC, smartphone, or tablet. The shopper can change viewing angles and then send images via social media links. AR makes hesitation vanish with accurate previews designed to avert any post-purchase remorse.

Fall 2014

MY WORKING DAY

My Working Day

Managing the Big Picture at a Photographers’ Association Carla Plouin Director of Marketing & Communications, Professional Photographers of America (PPA), Atlanta rofessional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest international nonprofit association created by professional photographers, for professional photographers. It assists more than 27,000 members through protection, education, and resources for their continued success. The Team as an Agency For a nonprofit, PPA has a large marketing team, which has doubled since I arrived two years ago. The team is set up as an agency within the organization, serving the marketing and communications needs of all PPA’s divisions, such as membership, publications, sales, events, education, certification, admin and board of directors, and PPA charities.

one Intern, and one Director (me!). I oversee, guide, push and drive the team so they can proudly deliver value-added pieces of collateral, effective campaigns, and results-triggering initiatives.

Sticky Note Priorities While I can live without my smartphone, I can’t get through the day without sticky notes, Outlook, and my project management system. The sticky notes

Escape from Meeting Hell

About Our Printed Magazine

To make sure I can focus without interruption, I instituted a policy where I schedule meetings with myself half a day, once a week. It’s my time to look at metrics and check progress on the two-year marcom plan. Meeting overload used to be a problem; sometimes I had six to eight per day. Last year I got approval to send a representative or decline a meeting, unless I was really needed. Being selective and delegating attendance has helped immensely. A couple of months ago, PPA leadership also took action against meeting creep by creating “meeting-free” Thursdays every other week.

Our publications team is more independent than any other department at PPA in the sense that they have their own editors and graphic designer. However, my team produces the editorial and graphic content for the PPA-news portion of it. The magazine is currently undergoing a full overhaul, including editorial content and design. I’m very involved in this, as the magazine is one of PPA’s best communications tools. From the RFP and vendor selection to design concepts, my team has been an essential part of this project. The goal is to integrate the magazine into our

“My favorite times are when I see the team implementing ideas I’ve seeded or coming up with new ones.” Here’s how our team of 12 (plus an intern) shakes out: two Project Managers, one SEO & Web Specialist, one Social Media Specialist, one Communications Specialist, one Video Production Manager, one Video Animator, one Creative Services Manager, three Graphic Designers,

help me prioritize. Before going home, whatever I have to do tomorrow goes on the upper-right corner of my monitor. Only three stickies are allowed at a time. If there are more, I stay late to catch up. Each new day starts with tackling an urgent project from my monitor notes. Then the questions and interruptions begin!

WHAT INSPIRES ME? Twitter and Google+ These social networks point to reading material and keep me current with all the marketingrelated people I follow. What feeds me is the diversity. Inspiration comes from Search Engine Land, Dan Pink, Guy Kawasaki, Jeff Bullas, Social Media Examiner, Moz, Rand Fishkin, Colossal, and more.

MarketingProfs PRO I get a webinar/education fix from them every week. TED Talks Both online for video devouring and in person, these events get me jazzed. I volunteer there each year.

Finding Added Value through Coaching and Creativity My schedule includes lots of art direction with the design team. We literally work on 75+ projects at any given time. Daily proofing is also a given to check anything PPA branded. I remind my staff that when we ask someone to proof, it’s not for their personal taste or opinion. We need added value. I try to add value myself by helping others do their jobs. I have a well-balanced mix of both youth and experience on my staff, which means I get to spend time coaching the younger staff while leveraging the experience of the others. My favorite times are when I see the team implementing ideas I’ve seeded or coming up with new ones. They have freedom and creativity to take things into their own hands and add value of their own.

overall marketing scope of work. We also develop extended online-only videos and other content for PPA-related magazine articles each month.

Immersed in Social Media We have a community specialist that handles the closed online community reserved for PPA members. Outside of that, we manage all social marketing and social care. I have a full-time social media specialist for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and our other online forums. I monitor each platform several times a week and usually keep an eye on them on weekends. I set the strategy, metrics, goals, and overall content direction. We also look at analytics to produce and share more of what triggers positive engagement and serves as a resource to photographers.

CALENDAR SHOWCASE Each quarter, Hopkins Printing produces and distributes a quarterly calendar and notepad that have been designed for Hopkins Printing by one of our talented design clients. We are pleased to showcase the design by SUMMERFIELD, for our 2014 Q4 calendar project. Printed on a Heidelberg XL 105 6-color with in-line coating unit ÂŠ

Want to receive the Hopkins Quarterly Calendar?

Printed on a Heidelberg XL 105 6-color with in-line coating unit

Contact your Hopkins Printing Account Executive today or visit www.hopkinsprinting.com/ index.php/optimize/ to place your request.

1-800-319-3352

www.hopkinsprinting.com

Hopkins Printing 2246 CityGate Drive Columbus, Ohio 43219

Over 32% of all brand Tweets contain links. The go-to approach for marketing in 2015 will be mixing media and customization.

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Social Media posts that include photos and links receive up to 150% more engagement than brand averages.

91% of marketers

use LinkedIn, 85% use Twitter, 81% use Facebook in their B2B marketing strategy.

35%

Direct mailâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success rate for new customer acquisition.

Growing companies see the value of Twitter early on. 17% of Forbes Small Companies have 5K+ followers.

2015 will show

more emphasis placed on customer retention and recovery using highly personalized direct mail.