With more than 1 billion people on Facebook and more than 500 million Twitter users, the potential reach of social media is too big to ignore. To appeal to this broad audience, companies need to have a wide variety of communication channels that they can use. Our new product launch research has shown that launch consumers need as many as seven sources of information, or brand touch points, before making a purchasing decision. In other words, they will not remember the product until they have heard about it at least seven times. This can apply to professional services firms, too. Social media provides firms with the extra channels to shape and share key messages. It’s creating a “surround sound experience” for key stakeholders, sharing a message multiple times on multiple platforms.

Social media also helps individual members of firms to stand out by allowing them to position themselves as thought leaders. Employees who cultivate their own social media presence by frequently posting about topics relevant to their business can enhance their own reputation and the reputation of the firm.

Having employees who are active on social media also helps followers put faces to the company’s names, creating stronger relationships by allowing followers to engage with individuals, not just the brand. Launching a social media presence helps companies to build a business that is based on relationships, not just profits. Relationships can stand the test of time, and they can help professional services organizations stand the test of time, too.

In addition to its ability to foster relationships, social media is also a valuable tool for online lead generation. It drives traffic to your company’s website, traffic that competitors without social media will not receive. It increases your company’s visibility, and a unique, well-planned social media approach sets you apart from the crowd. In a crowded digital marketplace, standing out is a good thing. Social media has helped our professional services clients let their voices be heard, even when so many other companies are talking at once.

Although we could go on giving more reasons why professional services companies should use social media, we know that we will still get asked the same questions: “Do we really need to use it? Will it really help us?” Our answer is, and will remain, a firm “yes.” It’s time for professional services firms to launch themselves into 2013.

By Cassidy Lawson, Account Executive on the Corporate, Non-Profit and Education team

In a world where we are constantly updating our profile pictures, trying to get our favorite celebrities to retweet us and being overloaded with unnecessary information, it makes sense that we should want to cut down the noise and step back from this e-circus.  In steps MeeLocal, bringing us back to reality and hopefully saving us from ourselves.  This new moble app, launched by founder Stephen Danelian from L.A., has the potential to be the next big innovation in social media and reconnect us with (gasp!) real world activities and experiences.

MeeLocal is based entirely off user-generated content, which you can filter based on location, proximity, category, and most importantly and innovatively, demographic.  As a 20-something young professional, the last place I want to end up is a smelly, sticky college bar (although the occasional return to Maryann’s for a BC football game is not out of the question), and MeeLocal helps me find a spot more geared towards the people I want to be surrounded by, in a location that is accessible and interesting.  This is especially helpful for people like me who find it difficult to stop returning over and over again to the same places each weekend night.  MeeLocal allows users to immediately post photos and comments for places they have been, letting others in their demographic and location know how great (or not so great) these establishments are. The impact an app like this can have in the consumer review space is big, since apps like Yelp tend to foster limited kinds of reviews or social sharing and tend to have a concentration in the restaurant or service industry.

If you are easily overwhelmed—by the absurd amount of noise coming from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—or merely by having to choose where to eat on Friday night, MeeLocal is shaping up to be the best streamlined platform in online content sharing.  The photo sharing capabilities provide incentives to visit brick and mortar locations, not just virtual shopping and distance sharing. With plans to unveil a dashboard for businesses, MeeLocal will allow local businesses to bring in new customers as well as more seamlessly interact with, and potentially reward, loyal patrons. There’s just one problem.  Because MeeLocal is currently based purely off what people are posting, and because the app is so new, Boston listings are limited.  So for my sake, Boston, get out there, download this app, and help me be more fun and adventurous!

By Catherine Kellogg, Account Coordinator, Public Affairs

Public relations is all about putting the right message in front of the right people at the right time.  Traditional media is one of the main channels we use to drive our clients’ messages, but, while a great tool, articles can often dilute the clients’ messages.

Enter the byline.  Byline articles, guest columns and op-eds are great ways to get your clients’ messages directly to their audiences without any third party interference.  Bylines are a great tool for PR, but they can also be stressful for practitioners who may not have a journalism writing background. By following a few simple tips you can successfully write and place a byline and position your client as a leader in their field.

1.    Have a target in mind

Choose a publication before you draft anything.  The outlet will help drive the content of the byline, while providing guidelines for length and style.  If you don’t decide where you want to place a story before you write it, it may end up collecting dust rather than reaching your audience.

2.   You aren’t the expert – your client is

Tap into your clients’ expertise for bylines.  Hop on a call to chat about the subject, email them questions to pick their brains or include prompts in a draft of the piece.  This will improve the byline’s content and lessen the chance of massive edits on the client’s end.

3.   Be mindful of length

One of the first things a paper’s editor will tell you is the word length.  Pay attention to it.  You can say a lot more with 1,500 words than you can with 500, so knowing from the beginning will help you get your points in without going over the limit.  Also, save room for your client, who may add 100-200 words during the editing process.

4.   Don’t be afraid to censor the client

While the client is the expert on the topic, you are the expert on the media, so don’t be afraid to share your opinions.  If something doesn’t fit in the byline, say so, but be sure to offer an alternative solution, such as a blog post or video on the new topic.

5.   Do your research

Make your byline as timely as possible by connecting it to breaking news, current events or holidays.  This will make your piece more interesting to your target audience and up the chances of them reading the byline.

Once you’ve written and placed a byline, the work isn’t quite over!  To get the most bang for your buck, make sure you’re sharing the placement through all of the client’s social media channels, writing a blog post on the topic, exploring other outlets for additional coverage or recording a video of the client discussing the topic.  This placement is your opportunity to get the right message across to the right audience – so make sure you’re getting the word out there!

Infographics are all the rage. Some are useful, some aren’t. File the one below under useful, especially if you’re a communications or marketing professional working in Higher Education.

The EdTech Times published the infographic that outlines the pros and cons of social media in education. It dives into what types of social networks schools have used since 2008 through 2011; what ways they are using social media; how well they are using it; and highlights which schools are the most social savvy in the country.

The data presented in the infographic comes from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s latest “Social Media Adoption study, where 100 percent of the colleges and universities studied are using some form of social media.

In our work with higher education clients, we guide them in their use of social media to enhance the brand’s reputation, drive student enrollment and engagement and impact alumni giving (outlined in section two of the infographic).

As the infographic shows, social media use is growing across most channels. However, the way in which colleges and universities use this digital marketing channel varies.

This is where the help of an agency like ours comes in to play. Rather than trying to boil the ocean, school’s should segment their efforts to drive leads (enrollment and alumni giving), conversation (raising brand awareness for the school and programs), engagement (student retention) and website traffic (getting their target audience engaged on owned properties).

For those of you working in higher education, how are you leveraging social media?

Infographic Credit

Post by Don Martelli, Director of Digital Integration and Social Business at Schneider Associates.

1. Avoid launching a new product during an election year: Sixty-seven percent (67%) of consumers surveyed could not recall a single new product launched in 2012. This is the second lowest recall rate of the decade, trumped only by the 69% unable to recall a new product launch in 2008—another election year. Repeated low recall rates during election years suggests that it is harder for brands to break through the proliferation of political ad clutter to gain consumer attention.

2. Political ads push new product ads from consumers minds: Respondents said that four out of the last ten commercials they could remember contained political messages. This shows that in an election year, consumers are less likely to recall new product ads, either because there are simply more political ads, or that the political ads make more of a lasting impression.

3. Domestically-made products are more popular than ever: “Made in The USA” was cited by 62% of consumers as influencing their purchasing decision, a five percent increase from two years ago.  “Made Locally” experienced a similar boost in influence, with 52% of respondents influenced by it, up from 48% in 2011 and 46% in 2010. MMNPL data from the past decade shows that attributes such as “Made in the USA”  spike in influence during presidential election years.

4. Amazon Kindle Fire still hot after nearly a year: Amazon’s Kindle Fire topped the Most Memorable New Product Launches list with 30% of surveyed consumers remembering the launch. Other products that made the top ten were Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco (#2, 18.8%), Tide Pods (#3, 15.6%), Pepsi Next (#4, 13%), Samsung Galaxy Note (#5, 11.7%), the all-new iPod Nano (#6, 10.6%), Nintendo’s Wii U (#7, 8.2%), Taco Bell Cantina Bowl (#8, 7.1%), Duncan Hines Frosting Creations (#9, 5.7%), and McDonadl’s Chicken McBites (#10, 4.9%).

5. Young & healthy at heart: Millenials are more concerned about product attributes such as high fructose corn syrup, trans fat, organic and low soidum than any other age bracket.

6. Dads are the new moms: More men are making household purchasing decisions than ever with 49% of  male respondents identifying themselves as the decision-makers. And increase of nearly ten percent since 2009.

To find out other key trends that emerged from our survey data, watch the video below. To download the 2012 MMNPL Data deck, click here.

 

Register FREE ($60 value) with shareable code: 2012TopTen 

It’s never been more difficult to launch a new product. Consumers are more fragmented than ever.  With 40,000 products launched each year, how can marketers make sure their launch will stand out?Join us in this Google+ Hangout with brand experts from the 11^th Annual Most Memorable New Product Launches who will share how they leveraged earned, owned and paid media spend to create a launch that captivated consumers and led to incredible sales.

Launch Expert and Author, Julie Hall, Behavioral Research Expert Aaron Reid, and moderator the Founder of The CMO Club Pete Krainik and brand representatives from Taco Bell, Pepsi, and McDonald’s will talk about the 2012 Most memorable new Product Launch findings, like:

• How “Men Are The New Women’ on Madison Avenue
• Why “Made in the USA” is more important than ever
• How social media may not be considered “earned media” anymore
• Don’t launch your new product in an election year, and
• A look back on the best launches of the past decade what marketers can learn from them

It’s the middle of your junior year and you and a friend are looking for that one great internship to complete your nearly perfect résumés. You have the grades, the work ethic, and the writing chops, and you’ve whisked cover letters and CVs into the inboxes of every internship coordinator in a 50-mile radius. Your friend is called in for an interview, but you’re still waiting for a response. What gives? It could be something as simple as your Facebook photo.

As the Intern Coordinator at Schneider Associates, I told my current interns, “When I hired you, I wanted to know you before I met you.” Internships are an investment by the company and the student and it’s important for both parties to be sure the investment is worthy, which is why both company and intern should check each other out. A candidate may have the chops, but their social media activity can be the deciding vote when it comes to being picked out of the position-seeking crowd.

We’ve asked our staff and star interns to recommend their best social media practices, which include:

The Good:

• Inquiry is the best form of flattery. Send a private LinkedIn message or utilize your university’s alumni database to connect with those in your target career field. Don’t post publicly on a potential employer’s personal pages. Ask to meet for coffee and come prepared with thoughtful questions.
• Be one with your surroundings. Share current events and industry-specific news on your active social pages. When trying to land an interview, frame a company’s struggle or success within a current event or find some interesting industry news and speak to your insight on the topic in your inquiry. This will help you stand out from the crowd and peak their interest.
• Use privacy settings, but don’t shut us out. When we look at your profiles, we should have an idea of your personality, interests and what you’re talking about, but we don’t need to see the photos from your friend’s 21^st. If you do keep your profiles (especially Facebook) open, keep it PG.

The Bad

• Personal space. Only connect on social channels with hiring managers if you’ve interacted previously. If you are going to reach out, stick to LinkedIn or a company email address; we like to keep our personal and professional lives separate, too.
• Research is a two-way street. Hiring managers can research you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find them. Do some digging to identify the right person and avoid using “Dear Sir or Madam.” Also avoid the “one-size-fits-all” approach by ensuring your cover letter is personalized for the company to which you are applying.
• Don’t be a fair-weather fan. You may follow a company on multiple platforms, but are you retweeting, sharing and commenting on their content? Show you’re involved before you join the team.

The Ugly

• Typos. We expect you to proofread and use correct grammar in the office, but it’s always a bummer to find sum1s profile dat luks lyke dis. Your profiles and materials represent your first test, so use spellcheck and proper grammar and go through word by word – “if” looks like “of” looks like “off,” but none will trigger that little red line.
• Say my name, say my name. If you’ve found the hiring manager’s name, be sure you spell it correctly. This seems obvious, but I (Jamie) have been called everything from Jaime to Jaimie to Janice.
• If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it. It’s frustrating to be turned down for that dream position, but keep it off social media. Taking unfortunate developments in stride is a benchmark of professionalism, and you never know – maybe you’ll meet the intern coordinator again down the line. Don’t set yourself up for an awkward situation.

Don’t be afraid to get creative. One of my favorite examples of savvy social media use is Rachael King’s living resume. If you’re just starting out, you may still be working up to your own personal living resume, but these tips and tricks will give you the necessary head start.

Jamie Berman, Account Coordinator, Consumer Group

(Photo courtesy spinechillinghorror.files.wordpress.com)

By Don Martelli, director of Digital Integration and Social Business

Internet memes are fun, crazy, out of this world and sometimes just unexplainable. In terms of their popularity, it is usually gained and lost in a blink of an eye, i.e. the proverbial 15 minutes of fame.

The Harlem Shake is one such meme that some say jumped the shark, a phrase commonly used to signify when something has lost its popularity.

Well, we at Schneider Associates wanted to test a theory: what if you took a dying Internet meme like the Harlem Shake and injected it with social media hype and let word-of-mouth take over?

The answer?

#BostonShake

To get people in Boston to take part in the video, we went to Twitter, asking online influencers such as @BostonTweet and @UniversalHub to promote a flash-mob style Harlem Shake. We used the hashtag #BostonShake, driving consumers to a Facebook events page.

The rest was history.

Not only did we have over 50 people participate, but there were just as many onlookers, including media representatives from WBUR, WHDH-TV (NBC Affiliate), WBZ-TV (CBS Affiliate) and Boston.com.

Guess the Harlem Shake hasn’t jumped the shark yet.

(Photo courtesy phandroid.com)

Yesterday, USA Today featured the results of the 2012 Most Memorable New Product Launch (MMNPL) survey in a snapshot on the front page of the Money section. The snapshot announced the top five most memorable new products of 2012 according to our  survey. Amazon’s Kindle Fire topped the list with a surprising 30% of respondents remembering the product launch, even though it had been almost a year since the Kindle Fire first hit the market. Taco Bell’s comeback was solidified by the Doritos Locos Taco coming in at the number two spot, followed by Tide Pods, a launch whose huge marketing budget clearly made and impression on consumers. Pepsi Next, the reduced calorie soda, and the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone rounded out the top five, showing that soda can still compete with big tech products when it comes to making a connection with consumers.

Stay tuned for the release of the full results of the 2012 MMNPL survey, including key consumer purchasing behavior insights.