Web Design NC

Deerstone recently developed a Facebook campaign with integrated email marketing for Chick-fil-A of Burlington’s Kids Club program.

Community service and character education are the focus of the program offered by both Burlington Chick-fil-A locations. Through the new Facebook page that includes an email registration form, parents may register their children to receive special offers and a monthly Kids Club newsletter for participating.

Visit the Kids Club facebook page at

http://www.facebook.com/mycfaburlington?sk=app_130347183730585

Kids Club Facebook Page

Considering jumping on the social marketing bandwagon? Perhaps you’ve already put together a Facebook business page and are anxiously waiting for orders to roll in. When it comes to social media marketing, many businesses miss the boat because they approach social media in the same manner they do all other forms of advertising. The result? They fail miserably.

Success with social media comes with the right mindset and approach. Mike Stelzner’s new book, Launch, gives you a detailed guide on how to attack the social media front with a winning strategy.

This book is a must read for anyone new to the social marketing scene. I’m recommending it to all my new and existing clients.

From the author’s website…

Do you dream of achieving extraordinary growth and receiving far-reaching recognition?

In order to accomplish this vision, you’re going to need fuel–nuclear fuel to thrust you away from the pull of gravity and primary fuel to keep you moving every day.

The fuel you need comes from content. Not just any content, but the content your customers will crave and share. But content by itself won’t solve your problems. You also need the help of experts. And don’t forget to put away your marketing messages.

Sound easy? Hardly. Worth it? Absolutely!!

I wrote Launch to show you how to mix these ingredients to achieve stellar success!

Launch at Barnes and Noble

Here’s what you’ll find in the book:

A blueprint for attracting people and opportunities to your business—without any selling or active marketing!

A step-by-step guide for creating 10 different varieties of highly combustible content

A tutorial on how to identify and nurture relationships with influential people in your industry

Instruction on how to give your customers and prospects exactly what they want

What are QR Codes?

QR (Quick Response) codes are those funny looking square shaped symbols that are starting to pop up almost everywhere these days. They are similar to bar codes, but they hold much, much more information. You’ve probably seen them in your travels. Well, now you’ll know what to do the next time you run across one.

QR codes were designed to be scanned with your iPhone, Android or other mobile device with an onboard camera. All you need is a QR scanning application (called a reader)  for your device. There are many free QR readers available for most of the common mobile phones on the market. A quick search on “QR code reader” on iTunes will yield many free QR readers for the iPhone.

What’s the Big Deal?

QR codes can be used in a number of ways. Once scanned with a QR reader, these codes can be created to deliver a range of content, as well as access certain native features of your mobile phone. Common uses for QR codes include linking to:

• Product Details
• Contact Details
• Offer Details
• Event Details
• Coupons, Specials, Promotions
• Twitter, Facebook and Mobile Websites
• Email and web links

Where Should You Use QR Codes?

Here are some of the common places you’ll see QR codes:

• Business Cards
• Brochures, Catalogs
• Nametags
• Product Tags
• Displayed in Retail Locations
• T-shirts
• Stickers

How Do I Create a QR Code For My Own Use?

There are many QR code generating websites that will allow you to create your own QR codes for free. Here are a few results from a simple Google search on “QR code generator”:

http://www.qrstuff.com/

http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/

http://www.kaywa.com/

QR Codes Are Here to Stay

Although QR code adoption is still in its early stages here in the US, they’ve been actively used for over ten years in Japan, where they originated. My advice is to not be a late adopter of this technology. Mobile devices are rapidly replacing home computers and laptops as social media, web browsing, email and basic online functions are now available on the go from our smartphones. QR codes are the logical path to entering the new mobile marketing arena.

How Do I Get Started With QR Codes?

It’s easy to get excited about QR codes and start putting them everywhere, but remember they are designed to deliver content to your mobile phone. Your first step should be creating the mobile content that these QR codes will deliver to your end users. Start by assessing your website. Is it mobile friendly? Many companies now have two version of their website: the standard version and the mobile version. With so many users now accessing your website from their smartphones, it’s important that you have a “finger-friendly” version of the site that’s optimized for mobile devices. Once you’ve built your mobile website and generate a QR code to send people to it, the sky’s the limit!

Time to get your marketing plans in order for 2011. Let’s make a resolution to not continue with the same old outdated, non-performing marketing methods this year. Here’s what’s IN and OUT for 2011.

What’s OUT:

• Yellow Pages Advertising
• Excessive Print Media Advertising
• Static Websites
• Boring corporate e-newsletters
• Websites with no call to action
• Free blogging sites

What’s IN:

• A blog that’s integrated with your website
• Mobile Web
• Google Places: You only have a few chances to do this right. DON’T mess this one up!
• Squeeze Pages
• A website that’s fully integrated with your social media sites
• More Twitter followers and more tweets
• Article Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Giving away things for free
• Building your email list
• Drip marketing

Lots of companies get it wrong when it comes to social media. Here’s an article at Social Media Examiner that does a great job explaining the approach you should take with social media marketing.

“The Zen of social media marketing is about understanding the mindset of people who are using social media and then using it to your advantage,” says Kabani. And here’s a clue about that mindset: they’re not interested in buying anything! “Remember, social media is not a selling tool! It is an attracting tool!”

That’s right – Kabani recommends using social media primarily to attract people, not sell to them. Because people don’t use social media to look for something to buy. They use social media to express their unique personality and connect with friends and family.

Read the Full Article