Marketing isn’t always about promoting a brand – sometimes, marketing promotes a cause. Like with all types of marketing, social media is a valuable tool to increase awareness and engage people, but there are good and bad ways to use social media for cause marketing. These companies and charities are doing a good job using social media for cause marketing.

1. Chase Community Giving

The Chase Community Giving project is a great example of cause marketing in social media because it relies solely on interaction. Since 2009, the cause has called on its Facebook fans to vote for their favorite charity or non-profit to receive a donation from Chase bank.

Chase Community Giving also uses current events and holidays to spread the word about related charities – such as Military-related charities for National Military Appreciation Month and the Arbor Day Foundation on Arbor Day.

2. Johnson’s Mother’s Day Campaign

Johnson’s Baby also timed a social media cause marketing campaign with an upcoming holiday. The company is donating a dollar to Save the Children for every like or share on one of their Mother’s Day cards.

This technique works well for cause marketing in social media because it encourages people to like and share the organization’s posts for a good cause. Plus, by sharing the posts, Facebook users can also wish a Happy Mother’s Day to their family and friends in a way that is much more meaningful than a simple “Happy Mother’s Day” on someone’s Facebook wall.

3. Kellogg’s “Share Breakfast” Campaign

Kellogg’s set a goal to serve one million breakfasts to children who are in need of food. In order to reach this goal, the company created a Facebook post, a set Tweet using the hashtag #sharebreakfast, and a pin on Pinterest, and promised to feed one child breakfast for every share.

This style of social media cause marketing works well because it goes across multiple social media channels. The donations are not limited to shares and likes – people can Pin, Tweet, and Post as much as they want to contribute to the cause. However, each post still links back to the organization, allowing them to track how many donations they’ve earned.

4. Panera “Food Chain Reaction”

Panera Bread is partnering with Feeding America to provide soup for the hungry. The campaign encourages uses to invite friends to join “circles” in a Facebook application. For every completed circle of five people, Panera donates one bowl of soup.

The “Food Chain Reaction” relies on Facebook users connecting their friends to the cause and encouraging them to help out, but does so in a way that is far more unique than the typical “Share this post” or “Like this page” strategy. Though Shares and Likes do go a long way, standing out and doing something different on social media is a good way to grab people’s attention.

5. Elizabeth Arden’s “Pin it to Give It” Campaign

The cosmetics line Elizabeth Arden and the Look Good Feel Better campaign teamed up to bring “Pin it to Give It” – a campaign to donate eyeliner to women with cancer through Pinterest.

“Pin it to Give It” is a good social media cause marketing campaign because its target audience aligns with the main demographics of the site it uses – Pinterest users are mostly female, and Look Good Feel Better benefits females. The inspirational message behind the cause is one that many Pinners can understand – sometimes, feeling beautiful on the outside also makes you feel beautiful on the inside.

For more examples of social media cause marketing, contact Markitors.

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Any type of non-profit can employ these three social networking tips to gain followers and increase donations. The good thing about a non-profit is that it exists solely to benefit others. Your organization has a purpose – your job is to tell the world what you’re doing and make them care.

Nowadays, most companies have their own Facebook pages or Twitter accounts. So how do you get your page to stand out above all the competition, and ultimately use social networking to help fund your non-profit?

Here are three ways you can use social media to help fund your non-profit.

1) Establish a personal connection. People are more willing to give to a non-profit if they feel a personal connection to its work. Social media is a great way to connect with people. Reply to followers who send you tweets or direct messages, and be sure to provide an answer when a follower or a fan asks you a question.

But no relationship works if only one side initiates the conversation. This goes for social media, as well. You have to start conversations, too. Ask your followers questions about your organization or related issues, and encourage responses.

2) Reach out to others. Generating conversation is good, but in order to engage your followers, you have to have followers. To help your organization gain followers, reach out to organizations similar to your own. They are not necessarily your “competition” – they are organizations made up of people who want to help others, just like you. They could share your cause with their followers, which could expose you to more potential fans and donors.

Don’t forget to reach out to people who establish a connection with your cause on their profiles. For example: if your non-profit raises money for schools in impoverished countries, reach out to educators who express an interest in global issues. If they like the work you do, maybe they’ll like your page or donate. If they don’t? Well, they’ll probably just ignore you. No harm done.

3) Share how your organization is changing the world. No one likes to be begged. If all you do on social media is ask your followers for money, you start to look desperate pretty quickly. Instead of looking at social media as just a way to increase donations, look at it as a way to further your cause. Take pictures or post articles that show off what your organization has done – with your donors’ help – to make the world better. Thank donors for helping you do x, y, and z.

The people who follow you already like your work, so you don’t have to sell them on your goal. Instead, show off your accomplishments. If you stress the impact donations have, then donations will come.

Coming soon, we’ll tell you about some organizations that do a great job using some of these social networking techniques.

The post How To Use Social Media To Help Fund Your Non-Profit appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Phoenix, AZ | Markitors.

Below are some scenarios that you’ll find yourself in at Markitors. Please respond with an example tweet you’d post for each scenario.

1. Photos of Carmen Electra licking an ice cream cone in her underwear, high heels, and our client’s t-shirt.

2. We need to fill a venue in NYC that seats 500 people for a movie premiere.

3. We’re releasing an iPhone app for the Phoenix Light Rail.

4. Celebrity fitness chef wants to market new healthy recipes.

5. Executive search firm wants local job seekers to apply for jobs.

6. Chemical free cleaning supply company wants to market to prego mommies.

65. The number 65.

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This post lists out 5 social media mistakes executives commonly and make, with action items on how to avoid making these mistakes.

Lack of A Strategy

Too many executives have created a Twitter account without a social media strategy. Social media is not a website. You can’t set it and forget it. Instead, when executives create their social media profiles, there should be a plan in place that will produce a variety of content to engage followers.

Action item: Develop a social media strategy before you create a Twitter profile, Pinterest account, or Facebook page. The social media strategy should include:

• Tone and Voice of the executive
• Digital outreach plan of attack
• Content schedule
• Concepts for connecting with customers
• Tracking your digital success: Key Metrics | Competitors

Selling

Executives have a natural tendency to broadcast sales messages on social media. While pitching products can be expected of an executive who promotes their business or themselves online, there has to be a healthy variety of messages to keep your following engaged.

Action item: Make sure that only about 10% of all your outgoing messages are “sales focused.” This will keep your following more engaged, because no one likes to be sold to all the time.

One Way Communication

Social media offers an incredible opportunity to get close to your customers. But, a lot of executives continue to use social media as a one way street. The executives that do use social media as a two way street have more loyal customers and enjoy innovative ideas from their community.

Action itemCheck out Arizona Diamondback President Derrick Hall’s monthly chat that he holds with fans. Then, take a look at how Boyd Tinsley of Dave Matthews Band uses Twitter. These are two excellent examples of executives who use social media well.

Consistent Personal Branding

People research executives online before they decide to do business with them. The social media mistakes executives make is not having a consistent brand across their social media channels. If business owners filled out their Linkedin profile completely and developed a consistent bio for Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, they’d improve their personal and company brand.

Action item: Develop a consistent bio that fits into 160 characters. Use the bio for every social media account. Fill out each profile completely with links back to your website, or whatever you’d like to promote. Use the same headshot across all platforms. Make sure things are consistent.

Overestimating The ROI

Another social media mistake executives commonly make is thinking that social media will bring immediate results. In fact, the impact social media has on sales is pretty minimal in most cases. The better reason for being on social media is for branding purposes. Social media has the ability to shape the perception people have about the organization.

Action item: Do a gut check as to why you want to use social media. The fact is, people are curious about the people who make up the company they support. If your motivation to be on social media is to increase the transparency of your company by being visible, then we’d say that’s a good reason to get started.

Markitors is spelled with an “i/o” for input output. We’re an analytical digital marketing agency in Phoenix that blends marketing and auditing to help executives improve their online presence. Contact us to see how Markitors can help create an executive branding strategy for your organization.

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Entrepreneurs and small business owners always have the question of how to get your product into stores. Here’s five tips to help answer the question.

Tip 1: Have online marketing assets.

Build up your online marketing assets. Stores look at a company’s ability to support the marketing efforts for the products you’re carrying. If you have the ability to drive customers to the store, the store will be that much more interested in carrying your product.

Action item: get started developing a Facebook fan base and a Twitter following.

Tip 2: Have an existing customer base that loves your product.

Before approaching a store, your product should have some momentum. There should be pre-existing revenue and orders coming in the door. When you can show a store that your product is selling to an existing customer base, that greatly increases your chances of being carried in a store.

Action item: Build a revenue stream, whether that’s online, in a local market, or on your local street corner.

Tip 3: Start a campaign that has customers calling the store for your product.

Crowdfunding is a great way to raise the profile for your product. If you go on Kickstarter, you’ll be able to find products raising money for prototypes, packaging, and other funds that are getting them ready for a large retailer. When you have customers invested in your product, they’ll work to help get your product in the store.

Action item: Go on Kickstarter and research some product driven campaigns. If you think your product would fit well on Kickstarter, start a campaign for yourself.

Tip 4: Have your record speak for itself

Entrepreneurs need to decrease the risk a store takes when they carry your product. You need to show that you’ve got a successful track record, even if this is your first time. Create a Linkedin profile that discusses your experience. Seek out testimonials that support your expertise. Make your online presence fit accordingly with your expertise. When a retailer Googles you, what shows up?

Action item: Google yourself. Write blog posts that position you as an expert. Spruce up your Linkedin profile to position yourself as an expert.

Tip 5: Sell the brand, not the product

Retailers like brands that connect with customers. No matter how good your product, if your brand doesn’t peak a customer’s curiosity, then it does the retailer no good to carry your product.

Action item: Ask yourself, does my packaging represent my product? Does my website? Does my Facebook page? Does my copy? Does every customer touchpoint stay consistent with what I want this product to stand for?

Do you have other advice you’d give someone looking to get a physical product into a retail store? Contact us, and we’ll add to the list.

Markitors is spelled with an “i/o” for input output. We’re an analytical digital marketing agency in Phoenix that blends marketing and auditing to help retail companies improve their online presence. Contact us to see how Markitors can help create an social media strategy for your organization.

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A good way to market your iPhone app is to employ a SEO strategy. That way, when people Google terms like “Phoenix Light Rail app,” they’ll discover your iPhone app and go download it. With that said, a big component to any SEO strategy is building links to your website. Here is a list of iPhone app directories that you can submit your website to.

Crunchbase
CrunchBase is the free directory of technology companies, people, and investors that anyone can edit.

StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon helps you explore new and interesting things from every corner of the Web.

Killer Startups
KillerStartups is dedicated to sharing more than just the hottest new startups. They want to share the stories of the PEOPLE behind the successful companies and their advice for other internet entrepreneurs.

Rate My Startup
Founders can share their ideas and get helpful feedback on your startup or website.

Digg
Digg delivers the most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet right now.

Technorati
You’ll have to verify your claim token afterwards with a code like this: RQARSS6N9X3U

Ziipa
Discover the best web and mobile apps for you!

Listio
Have you uncovered a web 2.0 gem that is not yet listed on Listio for Web 2.0? Please submit your find emailing submissions (at) listio.com.

Startup Booster
Just fill out the form below with necessary information about your new venture.

Feed My App
web & mobile apps reviewed

Go2Web20
online tools and applications

Rev2
weblog dedicated to profiling the best web apps & services and tracking new emerging trends in this space.

Webdev2.0
submit a site or an app

New Startups
requirements for a successful submission include: a) a visually appealing website or product image (as judged by our senior staff) b) an idea that we believe, is suitable for sharing with our readers.

Startup Wizz
Startup evaluation

Wikindu
Get free exposure by submitting your startup for review to Wikindu.com. Submitting your startup is free of charge.

Hacker News
Technical startup crowd.

DMOZ
If your app is going to be around for awhile…

Tech Bliss Online
Details of any technology product or web start up can be submitted here.

Beta List
Get free exposure to thousands of early adopters by submitting your startup for review.

Make Use Of
features cool websites, computer tips, and downloads that make you more productive.

Americans at Work
Please try to support American Worker’s Jobs by submitting additional products to add to the directory.

Pages Inventory
Webmasters can add own sites to the directory

The post iPhone App Directories appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Phoenix, AZ | Markitors.

Markitors movie trailer marketing approach:

Faces In The Mirror is an indie film that looked to Markitors to do some movie trailer marketing. With less than a month until the movie premiered, Markitors identified the following objectives to best leverage the trailer:

• Establish the movie trailer as the “anchor” so other videos from the film could be more easily marketed
• Optimize the movie trailer for Youtube and Google search terms so fans could immediately engage with the film
• Strategically distribute and embed the movie trailer on movie and music blogs to reach a larger audience

With these marketing objectives in mind, Markitors gathered more than 25,000 Youtube views for the trailer and got the video to the #1 search spot on Youtube. The film also was one of the most popular Indie films on iTunes for the first two weekends after it’s online release.

Here is the trailer:

From Our Client:

Our goal was to get people to experience this film. The trailer was a crucial element to beginning that experience, which is why it was so important to market the trailer before the premiere. In a month we went from 0 to 20,000 views to quickly get the word out about the film.

Markitors is spelled with an “i/o” for input output. We’re an analytical digital marketing agency in Phoenix that blends marketing and auditing to help B2C companies improve their online presence. Contact us to see how Markitors can help create a movie trailer marketing strategy for your organization.

The post Movie Trailer Marketing appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Phoenix, AZ | Markitors.

Markitors employer branding strategy approach:

Job Brokers Inc. originally approached Markitors with a dream and a concept. It was our job to take their trademarked tagline – “What’s Your Why?” – and create an employer brand that would be unlike anything else in the staffing industry. To create the blueprint of how this brand would evolve into a leader in the staffing industry, Markitors did the following:

• Conducted a comprehensive evaluation of ten competitors and their employment brand
• Researched relevant insights on the staffing industry, job seekers and the target audience
• Identified opportunities to create a new category in the staffing industry
• Developed the foundation for the new brand according to the opportunities that existed in the industry
• Created ownable points of difference to get to the core of the brand

From the above, Markitors did the following for the brand identity:

• Wrote the brand positioning statement
• Created the brand name
• Designed the logo, business cards, letterhead and powerpoint slides
• Designed the website and social media assets

From Our Client:

Markitors gives you the best bang for your buck without having to go to one of the bigger agencies in town.

Markitors is spelled with an “i/o” for input output. We’re an analytical digital marketing agency in Phoenix that blends marketing and auditing to help B2C companies improve their online presence. Contact us to see how Markitors can help create an employer branding strategy for your organization.

The post Employer Branding Strategy appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Phoenix, AZ | Markitors.

Markitors employment branding strategy approach:

To get the attention of the 75 million Americans who hate their job, we had to do something different. Something BIG. And when you think BIG, what do you think of?

Well, we thought of an RV. Then we thought we’d take this RV around America to interview people who enjoyed what they did for a living. 16,000 miles, 38 states and more than 300 interviews later, we created the Pursue the Passion brand.

Pursue the Passion accomplished the following:

• More than 300 interviews with people who are passionate about their work
• 50+ national and local press appearances
• 100+ keynote speeches from Alaska to Miami Beach
• The creation of an online career education resource in www.pursuethepassion.com
• Best selling book on Amazon

Here’s a PPT describing our Pursue The Passion journey in more detail:

Markitors is spelled with an “i/o” for input output. We’re an analytical digital marketing agency in Phoenix that blends marketing and auditing to help B2C companies improve their online presence. Contact us to see how Markitors can help create a recruitment social media strategy for your organization.

The post Employment Branding Strategy appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Phoenix, AZ | Markitors.

Markitors approach to giving fans an MiLB app for their favorite minor league baseball team:

As sports marketers and baseball fans, Markitors decided to create an iPhone app that engaged minor league baseball fans. The MiLB app would have easily accessible features that fans would love. Our list of features included the following:

• Schedule and Results
• Current Roster
• Purchase Tickets
• Follow the team on Facebook and Twitter
• Stadium Seating Chart
• Map Directions to the ballpark
• Current Weather Forecast
• Team News
• Complete Player Stats
• Standings
• Team Website

In addition to these features, Markitors also developed a feature for fans called “Photo Op,” which allowed fans to insert team props – from a foam finger to the mascot – into their photos and allowed them to share them with friends via Facebook, Twitter, and email. This feature came from another baseball iPhone app we developed called Humm Baby.

Here are some screenshots from the iPhone apps we developed for minor league baseball teams:

Fans can download the MiLB app for their favorite team in the iTunes store. These iPhone apps are FREE for fans. Teams have the ability to brand the apps for additional sponsorship revenue, or incorporate features that produce revenue.

• Harrisburg Senators
• Trenton Thunder
• Stockton Thunder
• Jackson Generals
• Tucson Padres
• Lynchburg Hillcats
• Cedar Rapids Kernels

Please contact us to learn about how Markitors can develop an iPhone app for your company.

Markitors is spelled with an “i/o” for input output. We’re an analytical digital marketing agency in Phoenix that blends marketing and auditing to help B2C companies improve their online presence. Contact us to see how Markitors can help create an iPhone app for your organization.

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