Trick or Tweet

While searching for Halloween costume DOs I stumbled upon a few social media DON’Ts deemed scary year round in an article on The Brainy Yard. The article lists 10 terrifying mistakes to avoid when networking on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Here are the top three that make me cringe.

1. TMI

Too much information makes me think of too much costume makeup. One would assume that too much costume makeup is offensive in face to face conversation, Halloween being the only exception. Likewise, too much of the wrong information is offensive to your personal and professional followers who seek relevant and interesting content on your site.

2. A quick trigger finger

How much thought have you put towards a Halloween costume this year? Now compare that to how much thought you put behind a status update before you click share. There are very few things more embarrassing than a failed Halloween costume. Don't let your news feed embarrass you. Think before you post.

3. Untended social presence

   I won't be trick-or-treating at your house if the only decoration on your front porch is a bowl of candy with a note reading, “One piece only.” Just because you put out candy doesn't mean people will take it. Similarly, your followers won't be stopping on you site if you don't interact with them. Don't miss the opportunity to be the best site they visit.

In the spirit of all things spooky, here are a few social media inspired pumpkin carvings I found on Mashable.

Happy Halloween!

Written by: Christine Young

Marketer's get a little spooky

For marketers everywhere, Halloween is more than just a bag of candy. This day gives creativity to a new level everywhere. Halloween is an annual day that people go over the top with costumes and fun activities, and marketers have been joining in the fun too.

This year, there was one specific Halloween ad campaign that caught my attention. The popular and well known, Mike’s Hard Lemonade came up with a Facebook application called the “Zombifier.” This application gave users a fun activity to upload a photo of themselves and modify their imange into a zombie using different features. The user can change everything from their eyes, mouths, wounds, teeth, and even add blood stains. Each user that creates a “zombie” is then added to the Mike’s Hard Lemonade Gallery. Every day a photo from the gallery is used as the company’s profile picture.

This is an awesome idea to get people active on Facebook and other social media sites. It gives the user incentive to keep going to their Facebook page too in hopes that their zombie will be used that day for their profile. This is an excellent campaign to keep users engaged in the company and allows a personal relationship between the consumer and company. Pretty neat, right?! So get into the spooky mood and “zombify” yourself! Who knows? Maybe you will be the next Mike's Hard Lemonade profile zombie! Happy Halloween!

Social Media Faux Pas

A headline from Regan's PR Daily caught my attention the other day and I knew it was something that needed to be shared with the masses. The headline was "The worst-ever advice about social media." As I went on to read the article I couldn't count on one hand the number of rules I had broken and how many things on the list I have been told to do during my education as a PR major. I have highlighted some of the bad pieces of advice that I know I have taken in the past.

Number 2: Put the intern in charge of social media. Guess what a main part of my job description is at my internship? You got it, social media. But reading further, it makes perfect sense. Interns come and go. You need someone in charge that is completely invested in the organization or company and who can keep posting and updating long term. Plus you probably don't want to give a college student access to Facebook or Twitter during the work day. Talk about unproductive!



Number 7: Automatically incorporate blog posts onto Twitter. 'Automation is not social; it's the opposite of social,' quotes the article. I think that is hitting the nail on the head. The people that follow you on Twitter or are your Facebook fan are probably already on your mailing list for your newsletter or are subscribed to your blog. You shouldn't be advertising, you should be interacting. Tweet about interesting current events in the news, (that aren't controversial or hot-button issues... number five!) or about exciting things that are going on. Make people want to check out your link.

Number 3: Follow a ton of people on Twitter so you get followers in return. I am pretty sure day one of my internship I sat down to an inactive Twitter account and started following anything even remotely related to my organization. It is true that the followers that come naturally are more likely to be active and stand the test of Twitter time because they have genuine interest in your company or organization. Adding 30945720 new followers will only bog down your feed.

I know that I will certainly be weary before I take advice about how to get more fans on Facebook or how to get someone to re-tweet my organization. My eyes have been opened to my wicked ways on the web. Check out all ten no-no's in the full article.

by Katy Chubin