Top 8 Social Media Stories from 2014

Looking back at 2014, it was a pretty amazing year; it was filled with heart break and overwhelming joy. When it comes to brands and their digital marketing, things were no different. The social media marketing team at our Chicago marketing agency decided to put a list of the top 8 greatest stories to be talked about on social media in the last 12 months- Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. are what generated the stories.

1. Zuckerberg's comeback against trolls. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company was going to partner with UNICEF to help fight Ebola. Their plan was to bring internet connectivity to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and help improve the medical efforts in the region. Trolls said that Facebook was using this as an opportunity to improve the brand's recognition. Zuckerberg fought back. 
2. One man's ability to match with 2,000+ women on Tinder. Blake Jamieson is an up and coming content marketer and utilized his branding abilities to optimize his Tinder profile, a "hot or not" dating app. He matched with over 2000 women because of his efforts. 
3. Tweets at Brazil's expense during the World Cup. When Brazil's team was down 5-0 at the half-point of a match in the 2014 World Cup, the comedians (professional and self-proclaimed) came out of the woodwork on Twitter and launched jokes at the national team. 
4. Reaction of brands during biting incident during World Cup. Uruguay soccer player Luis Suarez bit the Italy's Giorgio Chiellini after the Uruguay team lost the match. Some brands took this as an opportunity to win the internet. This was simply great internet marketing from some brands. 
5. Michelle Phan got sued for copyright infringement. The makeup genius and YouTube star Michelle Phan got sued by Ultra, an electronic dance music label,  when they discovered their music was used in some of her videos without proper licensing. 
6. US Airways Twitter photo incident. When a social media rep for US Airways accidentally sent out a photo of a plane in her…. YouKnowWhat, the mishap went viral. Oops. 
7. Kim K and her nude photo break the internet. Well, at least they tried to. Brands tried to jump on the bandwagon and #BreakTheInternet by creating so much buzz that servers would have to shut down. Did it work? Well, no one at our Chicago marketing company had any internet problems that day. 
8. Ice Bucket Challenge. You couldn't expect this to be left off the list. For almost a month, social media users, brands included, saw and participated ice water being dumped over people to raise awareness for ALS (Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis). 

See, when social media marketing is done correctly, it can have tremendous reach; this is why hiring a Chicago marketing agency is important when your business needs to gain serious exposure. Talk to Integraphix and see how we can help your business gain success! 

Tweet a Photo & Toyota Will Donate Car Seats to Buckle Up for Life

Toyota is taking social media marketing seriously this holiday season with a new digital marketing campaign, paired with Buckle Up for Life and Cincinnati's Children's Hospital.

For every photo that is uploaded to Twitter (and Instagram) with the hashtag, #BuckleUpForLife, Toyota will donate 10 car seats to the Buckle Up for Life organization, through Dec. 31.

In addition to posts on social media, Toyota is also pushing ads on social media that will target Millennial parents and show pets and other objects strapped in, in addition to the children, of course.

Toyota knows that one of the best ways to succeed at social media advertising is to get people involved; by having ordinary people submit their own images and use a simple hashtag, people are more inclined to be involved because the level of commitment is small while the reward for commitment is great. This will also likely get their friends and family to do the same, utilizing word-of-mouth marketing, or WOM. 

Safety and philanthropy are big hits for younger generations of parents, as is social media. It is a perfect strategy for Toyota, we will see how this turns out. The near deadline will encourage people to jump right in, too.

Does your business need a social media campaign and strategy that will make an impact like Toyota's? Then contact Integraphix, our social media team will work with you and help create a plan to succeed at social media marketing. 

Ads to Come to iPhones: Apple Launches New iAds

Apple, a serious player in the tech game, has shown that is is serious about digital advertising with its new mobile ad venture. Apple has recently allowed advertisers access to publish ads for iPhones, iPads, and Macs in hopes of gaining real success with its iAd business.

Over the past year, Apple has been planning programmatic mobile advertising with hopes of serving up some iAds via companies like AdRoll. In the past, iAd was considered to be a high-end marketing tool for businesses with the most cash.

Apple has wanted to have wanted to create mobile ads in-house for a w
hile, hence, their purchase of Quattro Wireless. Now, with partnerships such as Adroll and The Rubicon, they can begin to meet the benchmark set by Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

How will a partnership with AdRoll help? Well, AdRoll is a firm that allows marketing firms to use their own data to supply ads across a variety of platforms.

Higher-ups at Apple and AdRoll believe that this move will reshape and revamp the mobile advertising scene.

Ads will be given data from the iTunes and App store as well as info from Apple Pay so ads will be targeting appropriately. The ads will show up in apps that allow iAds.

How effective will the ads be in terms of getting consumer attention and making Apple a big player in the mobile ad game? Time will tell. As a Chicago marketing company, we're excited to see how this plays out; it could indeed change the landscape.

Do you want to advertise with iAd? Then contact Integraphix -- a digital marketing firm to help you create great ads that you'd be proud to display on Apple's new advertising platform.

5 B2B Marketing Trends for 2015

Here we are in the 9th month of 2014; we are officially 3/4s of the way done with the year. If this was a football or basketball game, we'd be in the 4th quarter. That being said, we in the corporate world are looking at 2015 and wondering what is on the horizon for our industries. When you are in the creative industry, like marketing, then each year brings something different.

So what is in store for 2015 for the marketing and advertising industry?

1. Micro-targeting. Well this one has been on some radar's for a year or so already. It is now time to really get to know your customers and clients. We need to move past the plans and strategies that are one-size fits all and really get into making custom ideas and plans that fit people uniquely. These strategies will find the small, likely profitable, subsets of our target markets. Why go for these consumers? Well, doing so will allow you to capture more market without doing something you shouldn't already be doing. It will require data parsing to make the one on one conversations that we need for micro-targeting. 
1. Get into buyer persona development and learn how the people think, live, and what motivates them. We do this with major target markets but it's time to give that love to subsets. 
2. Paid placement is here for the long-haul. Social networks, as well as some large publishers, are moving away from earned media and towards paid media. This means that great marketing teams will have to spend more money and especially time on paid placement in order to get noticed by consumers. We have all see an increase in promoted Tweets, sponsored Instagram posts, and how few of our posts on Facebook reach nearly the amount they used to (a 44% decline). 
3. Mobile. Mobile. Mobile. Mobile users are rampant now with the incredible access to smart phones and tablets… now even phablets. We are consumers 24/7 now, no matter what time of day or where we are, we are able to buy, view, and talk about anything. The challenge this coming year will be to create amazing digital experiences that will fit with the lifestyles of our target markets. The time has come for mobile-optimized elements and activities as well as dynamic content that offers an incredible, personalized experience in digital form. Mobile marketing is a fantastic place for engagement with consumers and even in real-time. 
4. Marketing automation that changes the game. In the past, marketing was about responding to things that happened; nowadays, we have tools that allow us to stay a move ahead. The term "real-time marketing" is more real than ever. we have tools like CRM, email marketing, content management, search engine optimization, analytics, lead generation tools, etc. that all help us boost our ability to give quality content and in great time. 
5. Quality content. We have seen the shift to content marketing and a more explosive use of tools such as blogging, articles, and social media to get more words out there. We like to connect with consumers and give them stories to enjoy while the brand loyalty gets stronger. This means that the need for professional writers will be put at the forefront instead of just a luxury. 

Getting the right marketing trends and knowing what will happen before it happens can be tricky. This is why so many businesses hire a marketing firm rather than try to devote non-existing time to it. Hire an agency that can help your business stay current and grow. Contact Integraphix.