Plenty of marketers are trying to capture the leprechaun that is social media marketing. But just being on Twitter or Facebook isn’t enough. Businesses need to have a strategy that makes sense for their brand — and they have to follow through on it. The brands that are thriving in the social ecosystem (CNN, Starbucks, Dell) do just that, and are turning brand awareness into brand loyalty.

David Finch offers up some handy rules of thumb in his latest post for Social Media Explorer. Check it out. 

Several weeks ago, my team jumped on a call with Facebook to discuss impending changes to the fan page layout. As our FB rep walked through an example, describing all the ways it would more closely resemble a profile page, I couldn’t help but compare the new structure to a typical sitemap. He then handed over the keys to our test pages and mentioned we’d have until “sometime in March” to play around in the sandbox.

Sure enough, they flipped the switch about a month later — with no further warning. Surprise! Our new fan page was live.
 
We used the new features to our advantage right away, publishing a notification that said, “We’re playing around with our new fan page. Tell us what you think!” Within minutes, dozens of people had shown approval of our little remark with likes and encouraging comments of their own. In an instant, our openness had endeared our audience to the brand that much more.

Which brings us back to the fan page versus website issue. Thanks to page tabs, it’s very possible to essentially recreate your website. But is that the right solution for your brand’s Facebook presence? Combine the revamped structure with enhanced capabilities (ex. publishing content directly to your fans’ news feeds) and you have the potential to evolve your brand’s relationship with its audience in ways a website can’t.

When it comes down to it, we never stop playing around in the Facebook sandbox. To us, it’s the only way to stay on top of an ever-changing environment. What’s your take?

Flash is a powerful tool that, if used correctly, gives you highly interactive and immersive experiences. There are a lot of sites out there that implement Flash poorly, which, in turn, can give Flash (and those who develop with it) a bad rep. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that Flash has no faults/shortcomings, because it does. What I’m saying is that in order to provide the best experience for your audience, you’ve got to keep some things in mind before and during your Flash development.

Before you consider Flash as an option for your project, understand your specific wants and needs. Once you have those established, weigh them against the common issues/drawbacks of Flash. Some of these issues can include:

•    File Size
•    CPU Usage
•    System Memory
•    Bandwidth Allocation
•    Usability
•    Accessibility
•    Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

All of these issues can be addressed in Flash. As a Flash developer, you have to address these issues in a responsible way. For instance, file size can be addressed through proper image optimization, knowing when to use vector graphics vs. bitmap graphics (and vice-versa), and limiting the usage of multiple embedded font styles. CPU usage and system memory can be improved by clean coding practices and limiting gratuitous amounts of effects/animations. Usability, accessibility and SEO issues can be addressed with third-party code libraries such as Cannonball and SWFAddress.

In the end, a Flash application can be built in thousands of different ways, resulting in thousands of different outcomes. Most of the Flash projects that are successful have found elegant solutions to these common issues.

We’ll delve deeper into the issues affecting responsible Flash development in future Insight articles. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, what are you doing to ensure the success of your Flash applications?

Working at a marketing agency can be demanding — even more so when you’re working with clients on an international scale.

Over the past six months or so, our agency has worked with one of our clients, Premiere Global, in an effort to take the branding and content found on its US corporate site to the company’s many international sites. So far, we’ve launched 16 “internationalized” sites — everything from China to Germany and Norway.  More sites are on the way.

When working on a global account, there are a few things to keep in mind: 

  • Get used to your iPhone buzzing all night. Joking, but consider the time zone difference. If you’re working with a team that gets to the office while you’re fast asleep, make sure that they have everything they need to keep the project moving. Failure to do so may result in the loss of an entire workday. By the time you provide any needed clarification, they’ve already left for the day — and your project will probably be put on hold. On the other hand, when teams communicate clearly and directly upfront, they have the potential to work more efficiently when somebody, somewhere in the world, is constantly keeping the ball rolling.
  • Finnishwordsareincrediblylong. When designing a site, consider the other languages it will be translated into. The average English word consists of 4-7 letters, so when you allot a max of 285 pixels for an English header, keep in mind that it may double or triple when translated into, say, Finnish or German.
  • Adapt. Be culturally aware when speaking to people from other countries. For example, it is polite and professional to address someone in Japan by adding “-san” to the end of their name.   
  • It’s all about process. Don’t be afraid to invest time into defining a process with your translation vendor. Although many vendors have a general process for working with agencies, be sure to adjust it to the unique needs of your project. For example, your client may not want product or company names translated. Therefore, it’s important to include a step in the process to define these instances. Doing so saves time and money across the board.
  • The language barrier. Working closely with regional marketing teams is vital when it comes to making sure that “the message” doesn’t become lost in translation. So when an English idiom like the term to be “green” is translated into another language, quotation marks are usually necessary as “environmentally friendly” may not be the first thing that comes to mind. 

As your clientele goes global, you’ll eventually come to the point of repurposing pre-existing websites for international audiences. However, it’s not as easy as “Let’s turn those English words into French and wham! We have a French site.” Polishing the content on your site for international SEO is a key step in order to reach regionalized demographics.

Does Anyone Speak English?
The English language isn’t the most popularly used language on search engines today. Interesting fact: 70% of all worldwide search is not in English. China also loves the search engine, with 2008 stats that show a yearly growth rate of 33.6% for search. Thus, all over the world people are looking for information in their own way. 

Localize It
Naturally, people search in their native idiom. If you’re speaking a different language, you’ll need to localize your content to cater to your audience. Those who have traveled abroad understand the variations in other English-speaking countries when it comes to words.

Consider the following: British speakers prefer references like “queue up” instead of “line up”. This tiny twist in your copy or header is less likely to get buried in millions of page rankings. It also speaks to the handful of countries that follow the British variation of English.

So, think you may need to reassess your content for an international audience? We’ll go a bit deeper in Part 2 about form and function.