In our last blog post we discussed viral content and the formula it takes to go viral. Keeping with that topic we want to specifically discuss viral videos. Last month was National Humor Month and You Tube saw no shortage of pranks caught on camera. Believe it or not there was a good amount of viral marketing videos posted as well. Our favorite was Hubspot’s Sprocket Vision video posted below. For other examples, check out this Inc.com article – “9 Irresistible Viral Marketing Videos.”

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Before the world had Bieber Fever, we had Beatle Mania. In the 1960s, The Beatles caused pandemonium with screaming and crying fans across the world. The spark they caused hadn’t really been seen before. But, imagine if The Beatles hopped across the pond and landed in America today?

Jimmy Fallon did just that on the ‘Tonight Show.’ He spoofed footage of the iconic band after their appearance on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ 50 years ago. He, acting as a member of the band, told the crowd to like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter and Instagram. He even mentioned that they posted “throwback Thursdays” (#tbt) on Instagram, and to disregard the picture of Ringo’s egg Benedict brunch.

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A bill has been making its way through the New Jersey legislature that would implement a social media curriculum for middle school students. The bill, which passed 37-2 in the Senate this month, would require the course to instruct students on “cyber safety, cyber security, and cyber ethics.”

The New York City Department of Education has also released a media guide for students 13 years old and older. The guide was created after recommendations from students, parents, and school administrations. It aims to instruct students on the same issues as the New Jersey bill.

Another main argument for the social media instruction is that it will teach students how to market themselves. For students, portraying themselves in a positive and professional image will help impress college admission officers, and them to be successful as they enter the career world.

The issue of portraying oneself positively and professionally online doesn’t just lie with students; many adults are guilty of things like over sharing, negativity, and general inappropriateness on social media sites. Our potential and current employers, colleagues, clients, acquaintances are just a few of the people who view our online profiles. For many situations, our social media profiles draw the first impression people have of us. Here are some tips on building your brand and making that impression a positive one:

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Recently co-founder Olivia Hayse and Executive Assistant Kristy Olson attended the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce 25th Annual Business Trade Show at the Civic/Convention Center.

Sharon Miller of the UTSA Small Business Development Center acted as facilitator for the Silver Linings Success Panel. In this panel, 4 business owners who have been successful in New Braunfels for over 25 years shared their advice with us. As an introduction, Sharon explained that 80% of sales begin with an online search. Google truly has become the new store front. In the spirit of “sharing is caring” we illustrated our favorite “silver nuggets” from the panel in the slideshow below, enjoy!

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Recently we read a great article called “The deep, dark secret of SEO” by Bryan Goldberg.  Goldberg poses the question, are you really getting an edge using HTML tags and keywords when that’s the same thing everyone else is using?  He advises “quit stuffing keywords into your content, and start trying to figure out what stories your potential audience of one billion English-speaking readers want to discover.” So how do you determine what content your customers want to read?  Your data will tell you! Facebook and Google give you great insights into your key demographic, and all it takes is a little bit of research to figure out their interests. Goldberg compares this to movie studios and record labels – there’s no reason small businesses shouldn’t also be basing decisions on data!

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Hello!

We are writing to fill you in on all the exciting happenings from the past month or so at Hayse Marketing. April was a whirlwind of a month that included new clients and many events. The best event of all was our wedding! After 8 years of dating we finally tied the knot in front of our friends and family. The event took place on our family’s wheat farm in rural Kansas. With a barn reception following it was truly a dream come true.

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A hot button argument amoung online marketers right now is whether or not SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or Social Media is the better bang for your buck. We recently read a Hubspot publication that said, “It’s better to do one thing well, than two things well.” We must simply disagree. The answer to SEO vs. Social Media is simple: a perfect combination of both is what you need to get your brand seen online. For most businesses it comes down to labor hours; both SEO and Social Media rely on consistently updated relevant content and can take a lot of time. That is where HMMS comes in, we can offer your business the bandwidth to benefit from both tools!

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Recently we were asked, “what is your favorite website?” We immediately thought, “ours of course!” While that truth does still stand we were inspired to really define our style.

While it’s very tempting with a new site to throw out a ton of flying text and graphics, you have to consider the end user. With so many obvious targeted ads online today, it’s important for customers to know without a doubt that you are a professional institution and not a pop up ad. That is why first I believe in cleanliness. Next, do not confuse clean and simple for unsophisticated. We’ve come a long way from old school flash sites and there’s no reason your site can’t be clean and fancy. Last let’s talk functionality. What is the point of being on the world wide web if you’re not going to share information? Think, “what will my customer want or need to know about my service or product?”

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