Brand Boost Podcast: Marketing, Vlogging, Influence, Social Media, Strategy News

This day and age, many, if not most, businesses understand that there is a great power in social media. Unfortunately, those same business owners think it's ok to hire a young kid or someone fresh out of college because they "know how to tweet". 

Yikes!

Decisions like these, however, can cost you.

Building a working relationship with a legitimate digital marketing agency will provide a strategy to generate ROI, not just a spattering of random posts on social media sites.

Many feel that because social media is vastly free, why spend money to manage what you can do for nothing? Remember, time and effort are commodities that have no price tag, costing you more in the long run, never mind the countless headaches, large learning curves and oftentimes, failure.

Just because I can screw in a light bulb doesn’t mean I’m an electrician.

Let’s take a look as to how a digital marketing agency is the right move for your business.

This is the most obvious one.

We have the experience that you don’t.

Hashtag, SEO, synergy, klout, viral, trending… do these words sound Greek to you? They won’t, and shouldn’t, to an agency.

It’s easy to set up a Facebook or a Twitter account as well as asking your family and friends to follow you, but that’s not the key to growing your follower base or creating engagement. Knowledge of each platform and how users respond to content is something that comes with time and experience.

A digital agency should not only increase your customer base, but also the value of each of those customers. Are you measuring your customer base, your company’s social reach and the value it’s bringing to your business? What strategies work and which fell flat when you thought they were surefire tricks? How can you learn from those social media mishaps?

If not for any other reason, a digital agency will save you time (if you hire the right one). No doubt, we all could use more time to develop our business, engage clients and close deals. 

But social media is a living, breathing thing.

Customers are constantly online, always searching, and if you aren’t there, you can lose them. Yes, it happens that quickly. What better way to manage that engagement, while looking professional and organized, than hiring an agency.

Staying on top of the latest and greatest social media is time-consuming and confusing. Which social profile does my business need? Why is Twitter different than Facebook and Google Plus? Is LinkedIn just for business relationships? On top of that, there are many tools to help you manage your accounts. Do you know which tools are the best in terms of listening? Engagement? Posting optimization?

I have a dozen websites that I read every morning and hundreds of people I follow on Twitter to keep up with the constant flow of new information, ideas, strategies, and tools in the social media industry. It’s a digital marketing agency’s job to keep up with the latest trends so that it doesn’t have to be your job, too.

How much time are you saving by not needing to put in the legwork on a daily basis executing your social media tactics, not to mention keeping up with industry news and new social media tools? That alone can help you determine if spending money on a digital marketing agency is worth it for you.

How has your business grown because of social media? Are you reaching more people and raising your brand awareness? Have you been able to leverage social media campaigns and contests into new customers? Are you regularly bringing back customers for return business by engaging them through

How does Priceline seem to always keep your attention?   

Whether it's a funny commercial or a Twitter chat, Priceline always has an answer to what their audience wants.

How do they do it? Listening of course! Today, social media manager, Karianne Stinson, joins us and discusses exactly that.

Andiamo!

About Karianne Stinson

Karianne is the Social Media Manager at Priceline.com. She is a lover of coffee and wine, a karaoke superstar and has an incurable case of wanderlust, which fits her well, considering where she works.

Tweet with her: @karianne

About Priceline.com

Priceline first became known for its Name Your Own Price system, where travelers would name their price for airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals and vacation packages. While the purchaser can select a general location, service level and price; the hotel, rental car company and/or airline (as well as the exact location of the hotel and the exact flight itinerary) is disclosed only after the purchase has gone through, with no rights to cancel.

Priceline's cut of the proceeds is the difference between the price an individual named and the price charged by the service establishment. More recently, it has added a more traditional model, called Express Deals, where travelers are presented prices but are not told the name of the establishment. Travelers can still choose to name their price for airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars. The number of airlines, hotels and car rental company participants in the name your own price program has increased as these suppliers utilize this opaque market Priceline created to sell their perishable inventory without lowering prices through other traditional sales channels. Priceline now also sells discounted cruises, as well as tours and attractions.

In 2002 Priceline licensed its "Name Your Own Price" travel system to eBay.

During November 2007, Priceline “permanently” eliminated all booking fees on published airfares.

In April 2014, Priceline.com Incorporated announced that it has changed its name to "the Priceline Group Inc." This corporate name change was intended to create a clear delineation between the global Priceline business. Now, Priceline.com is one of six primary brands of the Priceline Group.

Priceline announced in May 2015 that it would invest an additional $250 million in Chinese online travel company Ctrip to tap the fast-growing China market.

Vincenzo’s Italian Lesson of the Day:

"Non vedo l'ora" = I can't wait.

Literally, “I can’t see the hour,” this is the phrase you use for looking forward to something. As in, non vedo l’ora di tornare in Italia — “I can’t wait to go back to Italy.” 

About Vincenzo Landino:

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker, and live streaming strategist. He has worked with brands such as Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, DC United, Tinder and more!

Voice Over Artist, Rachel Creveling

Rachel owns Belle Strategies, a social media marketing company specializing in turning followers into customers. She has been providing voice over talent for 6 years and has recorded for TV, Radio, and Podcasts. Find her at www.bellestrategies.com.

The Brand Boost Podcast mission

The Brand Boost podcast is the show for brands looking to create the

Facebook loves small business again with local advertising!

With the latest Facebook location-based advertising features, small businesses can target users where they are and when they are while feeding them content that is relevant to them...at amazing rates!

Our guest, Lindsey Evans, is the CoAT (Chief of All Things) at the Ohio-based marketing firm, 16th Floor Media.

She talks about how these ads work and what to look for when implementing these into your local business. 

Andiamo!

About Lindsey Evans

Lindsey Evans is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Human Ecology. During her  time at OSU, she completed an internship at a full-service  advertising  agency located in Columbus, Ohio.

Lindsey has worked in sales and marketing for: U.S. Army, a producer of gourmet food, a national bank, a regional mortgage corporation, a video productions company and currently consults for the SBDC – Springfield/Clark County for Online Media.

She has been working with brands for the last 3 years exclusively in online community management. She has consistently gained awareness for her clients, grown their followers and increased their relationships with the key demographics.

In 2013, 16th Floor acquired Monument Square Productions – a local video productions company. Their work resume includes Tech II, CRSI, Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Means Jobs (formerly One-Stop).

Vincenzo’s Italian Lesson of the Day:

"in bocca al lupo" --> good luck!

Literally, “in the mouth of the wolf,” in bocca al lupo is the Italian version of “break a leg.” The reply is crepi il lupo — “may the wolf die.” It’s used religiously in the theater and opera houses, but can also be said to someone about to take a test or engage in any challenging activity.

About Vincenzo Landino:

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker, and live streaming strategist. He has worked with brands such as Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, DC United, Tinder and more!

Voice Over Artist, Rachel Creveling.

Rachel owns Belle Strategies, a social media marketing company specializing in turning followers into customers. She has been providing voice over talent for 6 years and has recorded for TV, Radio, and Podcasts. Find her at www.bellestrategies.com.

The Brand Boost Podcast mission

The Brand Boost podcast is the show for brands looking to create the ’start-up sexy’ marketing ideology all while commanding total brand appeal.

Enjoy the podcast? Give us a rating or a review on iTunes!

Today co-founder of Fifty 2 Creative and the Brand Boost Podcast, Vincenzo Landino hosts another episode of the weekly Marketing Update episode.

The weekly Marketing Update will take some of the top headlines from the week, and deliver them to you with some commentary from Vincenzo and, sometimes, a weekly guest.

This week the biggest story that stood out to me that any business needs to be aware of is that Facebook is rolling out its live streaming feature to the masses. Listen to the thoughts of Vincenzo as he discusses the move by Facebook.

The Facebook press release can be read here.

About Vincenzo Landino:

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker, live streaming strategist and CMO of Fifty 2 Creative. He has worked with brands such as Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

About Cody Stevenson:

Cody Stevenson is an outdoor adventure enthusiast, Entrepreneur, and CEO of Fifty 2 Creative.  He has built successful companies, consulted on world record projects, and served as a United States Marine.

Big thanks to the Brand Boost Voice Over Artist, Rachel Creveling.

Rachel owns Belle Strategies, a social media marketing company specializing in turning followers into customers. She has been providing voice over talent for 6 years and has recorded for TV, Radio and Podcasts. Find her at www.bellestrategies.com.

Enjoy the podcast? Give us a rating or a review on iTunes!

Industry conferences can be a great source of networking, recruitment and business leads.

Today's guest is Conference Manager for Social Fresh, Jason Yarborough. He talks about the opportunities brands have at industry conferences and how to maximize your presence.

He'll talk about:

Andiamo!

About Jason Yarborough 

Jason is the Conference Manager and Director of Strategy at Social Fresh as well as the Founder of The Wild Letters and board member at Social Media Charlotte. Yarby is an avid coffee connoisseur, traveler and has a serious weakness for new experiences.

Social Fresh builds advanced social media training resources for social marketers, at events around the country and online. In 2014, Social Fresh hosted its 15th and 16th social media conferences. Social Fresh began as a social media conference and still hosts the best social marketing events in the industry.

Vincenzo’s Italian Lesson of the Day:

This phrase has origins in Tampa where Jason and I were talking about Patron and their amazing product.

About Vincenzo Landino:

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker and live streaming strategist. He has worked with brands such as, Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

Voice Over Artist, Rachel Creveling.

Rachel owns Belle Strategies, a social media marketing company specializing in turning followers into customers. She has been providing voice over talent for 6 years and has recorded for TV, Radio and Podcasts. Find her at www.bellestrategies.com.

The Brand Boost Podcast mission

The Brand Boost podcast is the show for brands looking to create the ’start-up sexy’ marketing ideology all while commanding total brand appeal.

Enjoy the podcast? Give us a rating or a review on iTunes!

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker, and live streaming strategist. He has worked with brands such as Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

Today co-founder of Fifty 2 Creative and the Brand Boost Podcast, Vincenzo Landino hosts another episode of the weekly Marketing Update episode.

The weekly Marketing Update will take some of the top headlines from the week, and deliver them to you with some commentary from Vincenzo and a weekly guest.

This weeks' guest host is Jed Record, CEO of Likeforce. Listen in as we discuss the following topics:

Articles we discuss come from Adweek, here and here.

Who is Jed Record?

Jed Record is the CEO and founder of Likeforce, a digital content and training agency which has the unique distinction of hiring college students and training them to manage social media for businesses in their communities. In addition to being a speaker for college audiences around the country about Likeforce and social media, Jed also speaks on a variety of business and entrepreneurial topics to corporations, associations as well as clubs & groups. 

Jed has earned an MBA in Finance & Strategy from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. As a successful three time entrepreneur, Jed was recognized in 2015 by UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School as an inaugural Adams Apprenticeship Advisor, part of a game-changing mentorship and advisory program designed to pair high performing business school students with innovative, trailblazing entrepreneurs.

Jed’s entrepreneurship experience also includes formal training and real-world execution of the principles of Lean Startup. As a consultant for Moves The Needle, Jed is often called in to facilitate Lean Startup workshops for Fortune 500 companies around the world.

Jed is in the top 0.1% of people speaking about social media, marketing & business as measured by Klout. He has a Klout influence score of 80 and an audience of more than 100,000 followers across his social network profiles. Other influencer measurement organizations also identify Jed as a top influencer including: Klear, Kred and Tap Influence.

Fun fact: At one time Jed was world class wrestler. Wrestling for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, and competing in Freestyle and Greco Roman events in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. He can certainly take command of the room when it’s time to get the attention of a distracted conference audience.

What is Likeforce?

Experts at marketing your business online.  Likeforce hires and trains career-oriented college students to create and manage successful social media campaigns.  Using professional tools like editorial calendars, high-end graphics and photo editing software, advanced analytics, and by listening to your feedback, their social marketers can meet your business objectives on social media.

About Vincenzo Landino:

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker, live streaming strategist and CMO of Fifty 2 Creative. He has worked with brands such as, Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker and live streaming strategist. He has worked with brands such as, Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker and live streaming strategist. He has worked with brands such as, Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

Today co-founder of Fifty 2 Creative and the Brand Boost Podcast, Vincenzo Landino launch the first weekly Marketing Update episode.

The weekly Marketing Update will take some of the top headlines from the week, and deliver them to you with some commentary from Vincenzo and a weekly guest.

This weeks' guest host is Alexa Rose Carlin.

Here are this weeks stories:

About Alexa Rose Carlin:

Alexa Carlin is an entrepreneur, speaker, certified health coach and activist. She started her first business at the age of 17, designing jewelry for the L.A. based fashion company, OmniPeace, where she donated 15% of sales to help build schools in Africa. Alexa’s mission is to empower people to love and believe in themselves so they can accomplish their dreams and make a difference in the world.

Alexa is the Founder of the non-profit movement, Hello Perfect. She has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network and in the Huffington Post, Talking Good, Mashable, The Cut, Lydia Magazine, Beutiful Magazine, and Her Campus among others. She is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner. After almost losing her life to sepsis in January 2013, Alexa is committed to helping others heal themselves through nutrition and the mind.

Alexa graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and minors in mass communications and entrepreneurship.

About Vincenzo Landino:

Vincenzo Landino is a brand correspondent, speaker, live streaming strategist and CMO of Fifty 2 Creative. He has worked with brands such as, Applebee’s, Barilla Pasta, Cinnabon, SocialFresh and more!

About Cody Stevenson:

Cody Stevenson is a outdoor adventure enthusiast, Entrepreneur, and CEO of Fifty 2 Creative.  He has built successful companies, consulted on world record projects, and served as a United States Marine.

Big thanks to the Brand Boost Voice Over Artist, Rachel Creveling.

Rachel owns Belle Strategies, a social media marketing company specializing in turning followers into customers. She has been providing voice over talent for 6 years and has recorded for TV, Radio and Podcasts. Find her at www.bellestrategies.com.

Enjoy the podcast? Give us a rating or a review on iTunes!