It takes a few minutes to see who is accessing your accounts. Using mypermissions you can see who has access to your:

• Facebook account
• Twitter account
• Google account
• Yahoo account
• LinkedIn account
• DropBox account
• Instagram account and
• Flickr account

Mypermissions brings you right to the places in your accounts where you can view who is accessing them and you can Edit or Remove them. You might want to take a look!

The cheese burger I had for lunch is causing me some acid, actually it’s making me wish I had some Pepto Bismol.

As a kid I never liked the taste of it, pink, slimy, and slightly minty. In fact, it reminded me of the pink candies my Nana’s not-so-secret boyfriend used to bring her. She kept them in a glass jar on her table. Whenever he would leave her home the jar would be filled with these round pink chalky candies. Perhaps it was some sort of parting kiss that us grandkids shouldn’t have known about…

Enough of me reminiscing about lovely Nana…I started this story with one goal, to tell you about my amazing experience with Pepto Bismol, masters of Pink.

About six months ago I started following Pepto Bismol on Facebook because I somehow came across their fan page. I thought it would be interesting to see what they talked about and see how they interacted with their fans. Almost immediately I was impressed with their snarky attitude and willingness to poke fun at their gas preventing, fart squashing, pink slime juice.

The first post I noticed exclaimed “We make parties better.” It had roughly 110 responses from their followers everything from the expected “I chug bottles of this stuff” to folks just chiming in and agreeing with the Pink. Every person who interacted with Pepto was acknowledged and not a single comment disregarded. I was totally impressed and soon I found myself interacting with Pepto because I wanted to be part of the fun.

One afternoon I even tagged Pepto in my status begging them to bring me a bottle after a traditional Maine Beans and Weenie dinner I had consumed the night before. They acknowledged my tag and even commented back. I felt even more connected with the brand I once overlooked as a child. What really won me over was what happened next…

One unsuspecting afternoon I opened my email and there before me was a message from my Pink pals. It said “David, we appreciate you interacting with us and we would like to thank you for your friendship, may we have your mailing address?” At first I was suspicious of it being a scam but judging by the email address it came from and other legitimate items in the email I responded in kind, with my mailing address.

Three weeks later a box arrived. Inside of this box was all things pink:

• A pink insulated lunch bag,
• a Pink LL Bean beach towel,
• a Pink LL Bean Canvas Tote Bag,
• and a handwritten note in pink from Pepto that read -
  

  “Thanks for being our friend and interacting with us.
  Enjoy this gift and stay Pink.”

I was so impressed I immediately took all the stuff laid it out on my couch and began snapping pictures for Facebook and Twitter – tagging Pepto in every post. Soon roughly 1,000 of my closest friends were seeing Pepto pink in their Facebook and Twitter Feeds.

Guess what else happened? My friends and followers began asking me about Pepto… and I began telling them about Pepto. Before I knew it I was the Benny Hinn of the acid reduction world. Pepto Bismol had made me a product evangelist for just the price of the few items listed above and for acknowledging my comments.

The next week at Shaw’s I found myself noticing Pepto advertisements, and I even bought a bottle for the upstairs bathroom just in case my acid acted up again. Being a man of larger carriage I knew that Doritos consumed tonight meant Doritos consumed tomorrow morning also. Quite unexpectedly I found myself wanting to support Pepto and wanting to tell my friends to do the same.

There are many lessons to be learned here. One of which is don’t melt sharp cheddar cheese on Cool Ranch Doritos at 11pm, or the Pink stuff will be a must by 3am. But the other lessons are a bit more fun.

• Lesson #1 is that Pepto posted fun content that made me want to interact with them.
• Lesson #2 is that Pepto acknowledged the followers who commented back and continued the conversation.
• Lesson #3 is that Pepto saw someone who was excited about their conversations and capitalized on it by making that person (me) feel even more connected to their brand. In return I made sure my friends knew that Pepto – for lack of a better term – is the shit. (Couldn’t resist).

Am I suggesting that all of us who have Facebook Business pages begin mailing stuff to our followers and fans? Can we afford that? Probably not, and we probably don’t have the budget that Pepto has either. What we do have that our friends in Pink also have is personality and the ability to make the members of our community feel special. When I feel such a connection to a brand that when I don’t check their Facebook page I feel like I may be missing out on something, guess what? They’ve done something right.

If a product that focuses on diarrhea, stomach aches, and flatulence can make me feel special – pretty sure I can do the same for the followers of the companies I represent.

I’ll drink (the pink) to that.

Cheeseburger photo credit: TheCulinaryGeek

This feature has always been available but it just moved and freaked a few of us out for a minute.

Previously if you clicked on the # Like This link it would show you the list of the people that like your page. Now if you click on that it brings you right to your Facebook Insights (weird).

New(er) way to see who likes your page

The first thing you need to do to see who likes your Facebook page is to Use the Page AS your page and not as yourself.

Now instead of looking to the left column, look right up in the blue navigation bar. those icons of people are now where you can see who has likes your page. The red notification lets you know how many people have ‘liked’ your page since you were last logged in this way and looked at who has liked your page.

By clicking that people icon you can see who has most recently liked your Facebook page. If you click on See All you can view the full list and scroll through your fans using the scroll bar on the right hand side.

There you go. Now you can see who is liking your Facebook page!

If you want to see what Facebook Pages like your Page you can read this blog or check out the accompanying video.

You are going to like this!!!

EVERY DAY in December we are going to choose one person from our email newsletter list to receive a gift from some of our favorite businesses!

Every afternoon we will announce what the next day’s giveaway will be on our Facebook page. Then the following morning, we will choose a random name from our email newsletter list and contact them (through that email) that they won! Easy right?

All you need to do is make sure you are signed up for our email newsletter list (sign up on the right hand side of any page on this site) and keep an eye on our Facebook page to see what we will be giving away!

We will keep a running tally of the items we give away on this post.

• December 1 – $25 Gift Certificate to Goodwill
• December 2 – Free Beading class at the Beadin’ Path in Freeport and $20 Bead Bucks to spend in the store
• December 3 – Two pairs of STABILicers Ice Cleats from 32north
• December 4 – happyME Soul Searchin’ (Yoga) Ladies Long Sleeve Tee
• December 5 – Junior League of Portland Maine’s Maine Ingredients Cookbook
• December 6 – Nautical themed ornaments and sign from K. Newell Crafts
• December 7 – Gift basket from Old Port Candy
• December 8 – $25 Gift Certificate to Goodwill AND a bag of Lindt Milk Chocoloate truffles
• December 9 – HappyME Bungee Fishin’ – Relaxed Fit Tee AND assorted bag of Lindt Truffles
• December 10 – Copy of the 2012 Sunrise Guide
• December 11 – LoveME Tee and glass from LiveME
• December 12 – $50 Gift Certificate to Goodwill
• December 13 – Tree themed ornaments and signs from K. Newell Crafts
• December 14 – Maine Christmas Cards from Old Port Card Works
• December 15 – Earrings from Kouklamou Designs and a hat from Whitewater Woolies.
• December 16 – BeerME tee, pint glass and sticker from LiveME, Two pairs of STABILicers Ice Cleats from 32north AND a $20 Gift Card to Bard Coffee
• December 17 – A bundle of cleaning products from PROXI
• December 18 – $20 Gift Card to Bard Coffee
• December 19 – Two pairs of STABILicers Ice Cleats from 32north
• December 20 – Custom House Gull Tote from Sea Bags
• December 21 – Bacon gift basket from Old Port Candy Co.
• December 22 – Large cheese basket from Pineland Farms
• December 23 – Lighthouse products from K. Newell Crafts AND two pairs of STABILicers Ice Cleats from 32north
• December 24 – Gift basket of personal care products from PROXI
• December 25 – $25 Gift Certificate to Goodwill
• December 26 – $25 Gift Certificate to Whole Foods and two pairs of STABILicers Ice Cleats from 32north
• December 27 – One Hour Massage from Rickie Bogle, LMT
• December 28 – Two business books – Twitter for Good and Inbound Marketing
• December 29 – Two pairs of STABILicers Ice Cleats from 32north
• December 30 – $25 Gift Certificate to Goodwill and two tickets to the Junior League of Portland’s Freeze Out Hunger Gala and Auction
• December 31 – A package of Visalus Sciences Nutritional Shake Mix from Livin’ the Vi-Life AND a pass to a bootcamp at Dynamics Fitness & Performance!

Have fun and don’t be afraid to spread the word!

Rule type stuff:

Not sure if any of you caught Trevor at our SMBME on Highly Regulated Industries or at Social Media FTW but he is very interesting.

At Social Media FTW, Trevor shared a story about the band The Get Out Clause. This unsigned band didn’t have the money to afford a camera crew to shoot their music video so they did the next best thing – utilized some of the 13 thousand CCTV cameras in Britain to shoot their video. They found lots of options to perform in front of. They brought their instruments, including drum kit, and set up in 80 locations all around Manchester and played to the cameras. Then due to the Data Protection Act (or Freedom of Information Act) they were able to appeal to the businesses and municipalities that had control over those cameras for their footage. They took the videos, edited them together and had their music video.

Clever. Since hearing this story, I keep thinking about it and have told a few other people about it so I thought I would share it here as well.

Can’t see the video, you can watch it on YouTube here

What does that have to do with social media? A few things. First, it is about taking content we ‘have’ or have access to and doing interesting and brave new things with it – something many of us are trying to do everyday. It is about knowledge and knowing what this band had access to. It is about being aware of what is private and what is not anymore – offline or online. More than anything though it is a cool creative story. One of those stories that then makes me think about a dozen other things in a new way. I hope you think it is a cool story too.

How It Works:

The preliminary step to text marketing is finding the right provider. Text message marketing providers can range from local agencies, to large national companies, to completely DIY online services. It is important to remember to think to the future and choose a provider that your organization will not out grow. It is also crucial that you choose a provider that is ethical and responsible. The Mobile Marketing Association is arguably the leading authority on SMS practices and they have published a Code of Conduct for Mobile Marketing that is a must read for mobile marketers.

Once you choose and sign-up with your provider, the simplified process of how text message marketing works is as follows:

1. Choose a keyword. Your keyword is the word that users will text to “opt-in” to your text message promotions/announcements. This should be something that people will associate with your brand or the specific mobile marketing campaign you are promoting.
2. Get a short code number. The short code number is the number that users will text the keyword to. It is called “short code” simply because it is shorter than a normal phone number. These are provided by the service provider you are working with. Many times they have one number that they use for all clients.
3. Promote your SMS campaign. Only potential customers who see opting in as a way to get timely value will be interested (see the following sections for much more on this). Remember this in how and to whom you spend time and money promoting.
4. As you promote the SMS campaign, people will begin to “opt-in.” This occurs when they simply text your keyword to your short code number. They then are required to get an automated response alerting them that they have signed up, a few short terms and conditions, and directions for “opting-out.”
5. Once you have a group of subscribers that have opted-in, you can send out your strategic promotions and communications. SMS messages are limited to 160 characters (many providers offer less). Most providers offer you the option to either send the message yourself or have them send it for you.

Our friends at TXT Wave have more useful information on their website to further help you understand how text marketing works.

Why?

Always ask why – don’t jump in to text message marketing simply because it is a new shiny marketing tool. Think strategically – can the same message be just as effective with another communication medium? Many times yes, especially with the increase of smart phones and tablets. Many times an email can serve the purpose. However, I think the competitive advantage of text marketing occurs when timely value meets interested customers.

Text marketing allows your followers to get instant notification with extremely high visibility rates. Even though my smart phone now allows me the option to get my email, facebook, or surf the web anytime, anyplace, I personally am still much more likely to instantly engage with a text message. I find text messages much harder to ignore.

Hard to Ignore – Easy to Annoy

Don’t be fooled though, the fact that text messages are hard to ignore is a double edged sword. It also means that people will get that much more annoyed by them. This has a few implications on your strategy. One, this will mean that only people who are very interested in your offerings will sign up for your SMS. Thinking about it right now, out of the handful of companies that I get email newsletters from, I would only sign up for maybe one of the companies’ SMS communications. This thins out your text audience a bit. However it also means that the people who actually subscribe to receive your text messages are that much more interested and engaged with your product and brand, and are more likely to convert.

Another implication of the SMS double edged sword is that you must be very thoughtful and strategic with the content that you promote through your text marketing campaign. As mentioned above, your communications must add value to your subscribers and it is also vital that they not be overdone. If you can’t add real value for potential customers with the texts that you send out, then it’s not worth it to them and they will opt-out of your messages. This added value would be something like a generous discount or information/updates that truly matter to your audience at the time they are sent. Sending text marketing messages at just the right time can be a perfect use of the technology.

Think about a pizza joint sending a promotion at the time of day when people are just getting out of work – when most people are tired, hungry, have hungry spouses or kids waiting at home, and don’t feel like cooking dinner. Or a movie theater sending a promotion and movie listings to their teen subscribers on a Friday night just when the teens are trying to decide what to do. Both these examples show timely value meeting an interested customer.

Further examples of how SMS communications can be effective for your business look less like promotions and advertising, and more like informational communications. You can use SMS for appointment reminders, school/event alerts and updates, and other useful communications when time is a crucial factor. There is also a lot of opportunity to get creative with SMS marketing.

Text message marketing may not be for every business, but it surely can benefit those that can find effective ways to create timely value for customers through their SMS communications.

Haters gunna hate

Then there are those people who complain that hashtags are cluttering up their Twitter stream. They are usually the same people that complain about every meal they have, that the weather is too hot and then it is too cold etc.

To the haters and complainers, I would like to offer a hug and a tip – you can actually mute hashtags from your stream! So take a second, read below, delete the hashtags you wish from your stream, enjoy the quieter stream and come see me to redeem your hug!

1. Proxlet is a Chrome extension that lets you block hashtags, extensions (think foursquare updates) and users.
2. Tweetdeck is a popular Twitter app. By going to Setting and then Global Filters you can add people, words or sources you want removed from your twitter stream.
3. If you use Hootsuite you can also set up filters to block unwanted tweets.

Don’t see your favorite Twitter method above? I would suggest doing a quick online search to find out how you too can block unwanted hashtags, tweets and twitterers from your Twitter stream.

Photo credit: eschipul

Twitter recently rolled out their own link shortening service http://t.co. Any link shared on Twitter will be shortened to a t.co link. You may have noticed already when you add a link it says “link will appear shortened” and when the tweet is posted you still see the original URL listed. This is done mostly for your safety and to try to eliminate phishing scams and evil doers.

More importantly to analytics nerds… this is great news if you are trying to measure website traffic you are getting from Twitter!

Previously Twitter showed up two ways in your analytics. First, if someone was coming from the website, twitter.com, you would see the site referrer as twitter.com. The problem was people who use desktop clients like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite were counted as Direct traffic to your website. We were left to make assumptions, use tracking links like bit.ly or just be satisfied with lower traffic from Twitter than we expected.

Now with all links going through t.co, you will see it as a traffic referrer! Pretty cool right?!

Even cooler is in your Analytics, if you open the t.co you can see specifically which links it was that drove the traffic. You can go link to link to see which one directed the most traffic.

Measure away tweeters!

In a huge win for geolocation services like Foursquare and Gowalla, Facebook has quietly said they will be stepping out of the check-in game. Facebook launched it’s checkin service a year ago and it just never caught on like other services had. Facebook users will be able to update their status and tag a location instead of ‘checking-in’.

Some users may be upset but Facebook was reporting that only about 6% of users were using the application the way they had hoped. Early adopters of geolocation say that they weren’t using Facebook places because they were already invested in another geolocation service that offered them more functionality. Some have even said that they didn’t use Facebook check-ins because they were not as close to their Facebook friends as they were to their Foursquare/Gowalla friends and they weren’t sure they needed all of their Facebook friends knowing where they were at any given time.

The takeaways:

1. Facebook can’t destroy everything. Facebook Places was supposed to destroy Foursquare and Gowalla but they seemed to make it through unscathed. Actually, Foursquare is thriving. Many feel Facebook (and Google) wait to see what applications become popular and then they just launch it themselves.
2. Being the biggest doesn’t mean you are perfect for every application. Facebook may have the problem of being too big. Adding a geolocation service made a lot of people uncomfortable. An online community that has your significant other, best friends, old high school friends, neighbors, old professors, your grandparents and an ex or two – may not be the right audience to tell where you are located at all times.
3. Early adopters are no longer on Facebook. A service like geolocation gets momentum from early adopters but now Facebook is the norm, not something new. Trying new advanced functions may turn off the general Facebook population.

What do you think? Did any of you use Facebook check-ins a lot?

We have heard a few people talk about running Facebook or Twitter contests so when I saw this really well executed Twitter content from CruiseDeals, I knew I wanted to add it to our social media case studies.

The contest

The prize was a Royal Caribbean Alaskan Cruise. To enter you needed to go to the contest rules page, press the Click to Tweet button and then sometime on Friday afternoon between Noon and 5pm @CruiseDeals was going to send out a secret email address that you needed to email to officially enter.

Why I liked the set up:

• Drives people to the website
• The tweet that was sent out from your account was not obnoxious
• It incorporated emailing the company

All three of those are measurable points in the process – website traffic, Tweets about the content and emails sent.

Even with this being three different actions, it didn’t feel like a lot of hoops to jump through to complete the process.

The finesse:

Anyone who has tried to run a campaign or contest, knows things come up and that they are hard to do well. There were a few points in this contest that really impressed me.

• While everyone who wanted to win this contest was glued to the @CruiseDeals Twitter stream, they used humor to connect with their followers. They also educated their followers about their services, other promotions and the rules of the contest – without being annoying. Their tone throughout was consistent.
• The cruise left from Vancouver, CA and the current temperature in Vancouver at the time of this contest was 64 degrees so the 64th emailer would be the winner. Nothing too fancy there just a little finesse – tying in the contest rules with the prize – clever.
• The prize was perfect! Much of the country was going through a heat wave that week. Would this promotion have been as successful if it was a Bahamas vacation? Maybe… but I have to assume the thought of going to Alaska to beat the heat probably sounded pretty darn good to these entrants!

The savvy:

Some of you may know that I have some friends that work at CruiseDeals. They have always done such a good job with social media and it isn’t because they have cool stuff to give away as much as they have the talent to pull it off. I was impressed with some of the business savvy in this contest.

The prize was a 7-night Alaskan Cruise on Royal Caribbean and a whale watching shore excursion! The room was an interior room and you needed your own transportation to get there. That is an awesome prize but not a huge sacrifice to the company. If I would have won that prize, I would have probably even upgraded the room – why not!? So I would have been so excited to win and the company would still make money off me. The prize you give away doesn’t have to be a brand new car or something that completely breaks the bank, but it does have to be something that the winner feels they totally made out on.

This was not a willy nilly contest. CruiseDeals had an objective, goals and data points they were going to measure along the way and a team to execute it. I reached out to my friend Rich to tell him what a great job they did and asked if I could write about it here. I asked him if he could send me some brief stats on how the contest went. Check out this PDF he sent me as a reply. What a perfect snapshot of how this contest went and many of you could do the same thing. He didn’t use expensive measurement software – he used free tools and his own skills to do this wrap up (I think). Now that is something you can bring to a board meeting or your boss and be proud of.

SHOW people that you aren’t just playing around on Facebook all day and that you are seeing real business results!

So thank you again Rich for a great example of how to execute a Twitter contest and for showing us that with a little finesse and business know-how many of us could do the same! Rich and CruiseDeals are a leader in social media marketing. Rich said that they are always looking for social media promotional partners, if you’d like to brainstorm ideas contact him on Twitter or email him: rtucker AT cruisedeals.com.