CDG Interactive Blog

Over the past week, there’s been a lot of digital ink spilled over Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood, and its swift about face.

Taking the politics out of the situation, Komen has provided a textbook example of how to severely—and possibly irrevocably—damage your brand. Its bungling of the original announcement, its initial silence (while Planned Parenthood went on a PR/social media offensive), its feeble attempt to reframe its policy decision, and finally its sheepish reversal, had the cumulative effect of tarnishing its image as a non-partisan advocate for women’s health and angering supporters on both sides of the issue.

But rather than piling on about the mistakes made by Komen, we wanted to focus on an organization that did all the right things last week in terms of messaging, outreach, and brand positioning: The Ms. Foundation for Women. This high-visibility non-profit organization took swift and immediate action to address the situation in a way that promoted their organizational goals and advanced their cause.

After Komen’s initial announcement, the Ms. Foundation worked quickly to figure the most effective way to shape its message, reach its supporters, and inspire them to take action. In less than 72 hours, Ms. Foundation supporters had a message urging them to donate to “The Ms. Foundation Stands with Planned Parenthood.” Supporters learned that Ms. would match their donations dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $40,000.

Launching the campaign involved a great deal of planning and fast-thinking. “Rapid response involves a lot of moving parts,” said Kelly Parisi, Vice President, Marketing and Communications for the Ms. Foundation. “With the Ms Foundation stands with Planned Parenthood, there were so many elements . . .  from identifying what we were going to call this campaign, to how we were going to message our response, and getting the website up and able to accept donations correctly. Adding the element of a matching campaign proved another layer of complication, because there were a lot of pieces that needed to get lined up before we could launch it and put the press release out.”

The campaign proved to be highly effective. Within 30 minutes of sending the initial email, the Ms. Foundation had received 27 donations. Yes, you read that correctly—nearly one donation per minute. And donations continue to roll in.

“It was a really galvanizing issue for people,” said Parisi, “And also I think the immediacy of it was helpful. People who are very passionate about this issue were excited about the ability to take their dollars even further.”

Given that the Komen Foundation reversed its decision the following day, it’s safe to say that immediacy was the most essential key to the Ms. Foundation’s success. With an effective message, a clear mission, and a rapid, disciplined response, the Ms. Foundation was able to transform its supporters’ outrage into action—and dollars—for Planned Parenthood.

If your company has an opportunity to launch a successful, time-sensitive campaign, follow the Ms. Foundation's example:

1. Develop a simple, coherent message and call to action
2. Have the technology in place to launch a rapid response
3. Reach out to your audience as quickly and thoroughly as possible

If you need help with your online marketing strategies or technology platform, contact CDG. We'll help you get everything in place so you're ready to react.

With a phenomenal growth rate in the last 6 months to 3.3 million users and counting—and a mostly female user base—the young photo-based social network Pinterest has suddenly grabbed a lot of attention.

As a result, brands and businesses are wondering how (and whether) they can use Pinterest for marketing. Some initial case studies are showing the way.

But first: what the heck is Pinterest, anyway?

How Pinterest Works

An online version of a pinboard or wall corkboard, Pinterest allows users to organize photos into collections called boards, each of which can be categorized by type of image.

Photos are added to Pinterest either by uploading them or “pinning” them from a website using a browser bookmarklet (snippet of code).

As on all social networks, users on Pinterest can follow other users. The main page of Pinterest presents a feed of all of the images that have been pinned by users you follow, which you can then “like” or easily repin to one of your own boards. (This activity may feel familiar to users of Tumblr which has a similar ease-of-use for resharing content.)

Individual “pins” can also be commented on. When they’ve been pinned from an originating source, there’s a link from the image back to that website.

How to Use Pinterest to Market Your Business

There are a variety of specific ways to use Pinterest, from holding contests to conducting market research and creating boards of photos from a property for sale. (See the articles in the Further Reading section, below, to read some great case studies.)

No matter what specific use is best for your business, a few principles apply when marketing via Pinterest.

• Don’t just promote yourself. This is a best practice for all social media, but it pays to remember it here. Pinterest provides a unique opportunity to build an image around your brand or business, so look for complementary pins that connote the same ideas as your business. Bergdorf Goodman’s pins both product images to trend boards and book covers to a board called “The Books on Our Shelves.”
• Showcase your image content. Seems obvious right? But it’s not just about beautiful photography you took or of your products. NBC’s Today Show, for example, pins photos of travel destinations it has featured on the show.
• Be strategic with your boards. Group pins in ways that appeal to your audience(s). Reaching moms? Have boards for kids’ items, parenting advice, mommy quotes or any other subject matter relevant to them, and to you.
• Engage with users. Keep in mind that people on Pinterest may already be pinning images from your business. When you find them, comment on them, repin them to your own boards, and follow the users.
• Show your process. Use Pinterest to brainstorm ideas with internal teams, letting followers (and potential customers) in on the process. They’ll be more invested in the final product you create at the end.

Further Reading About Pinterest

These articles provide a wealth of specific uses, individual use cases, and companies to follow on Pinterest once you join.

• “7 Creative Ways Your Brand Can Use Pinterest,” Search Engine Watch
• “Chobani Yogurt Tickles the Tastes of Pinterest Addicts, and So Can Your Brand,” Fast Company
• “Pinterest for Brands: 5 Hot Tips,” American Express OPEN Forum Blog
• “Online Pinboards: Is This the New Way to Facebook?” Search Engine Watch 
• “10 Tips for Playing on Pinterest,” Let’s Lasso the Moon blog
• Update 1.30.12: "Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers," Mashable

Your Turn

• Are you on Pinterest yet?
• How are you using it, and why?

Wondering if Pinterest is right for your business? CDG Interactive helps companies like yours choose the best social media channels to support their marketing strategies. Contact us today to get started.

A new evolution of this feature

Rather than collect links throughout the week and wait until Friday to share them, it makes more sense to share them as we find them and when they are most timely for our readers.

From now on, you will find shared articles and ideas on the CDG Interactive Google + page throughout the week, so we invite you to join us there.

At the end of our post last month on “5 Things To Know About Google+ Pages for Business,” we wrote “participating in Google+ [is] almost a necessity for search engine optimization. Ignore it at your peril.”

Just weeks later, you can scratch “almost” from that sentence. Google+ matters for SEO, period.

Why Google+ Matters for SEO

Earlier this month on Social Media Examiner, author Kristi Hines presented a convincing case for the impact a robust Google+ presence has on search results for her name and business: her rankings in the search results were not only affected by having a Google+ profile, but were actually different for people who were following that profile on Google+.

In other words, you rank more highly in Google when your logged-in Google+ followers search for keywords related to your business.

Then on Jan. 10 Google announced an actual integration of information from your Google+ social graph into its search results which it calls “Search, plus Your World.” (“Search, plus”—get it?)

Now you’ll get what it calls Personal Results integrated into your search results when you’re signed in to Google, including information that was shared only with you—via Google+ of course.

As Mashable explained the next day in the aptly titled “Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut,” “Google+ circles, photos, posts and more will be integrated into search in ways other social platforms can only dream about.” (And by "other social platforms," they mostly mean Twitter and Facebook.)

Oh, and Google+ profiles are now part of the search query box when you’re signed in. Type in someone’s name and matches through your Circles on Google+ will pop up first.

What You Can Do About It

Hines’ Social Media Examiner article has good, step-by-step instructions on how to leverage Google+ to your advantage, both for your own profile and your business’s page. We recommend reading through them carefully.

The bottom line is this: If your business is not on Google+, now is the time to start. Even if you only have a few minutes a day to spend, give it some attention.

The “Search, plus” integration is only going to get stronger.

Need help sorting through the brave new world of Google+? Let CDG help you navigate the waters. Get your life line today.

If you like, put a pin in it

Pinterest is the new rage in social media as participants “put a pin” in images, ideas, and concepts that inspire them. Others can follow, like, comment and re-pin. Unsurprisingly, businesses aren’t far behind, wondering how this can work for them. Open Form offers tips for brands interested in Pinterest. And a jewelry maker shares her own experience on how she has successfully used Pinterest to generate interest in her bracelets.

Twitter can’t fix your debit card

Many of us turn to Twitter for customer service assistance – especially when faced with baffling phone tree menus. But according to the New York Times, tweeting your bank won’t help at all and will likely get you referred right back to that customer service phone number.

Learn an instrument online

Can’t find a teacher that plays the ukulele or the bagpipes near you? Never fear! Now you can take music lessons online. Now that people have better bandwidth at home, it allows for better video chats and music lessons with teachers anywhere. Students can take master classes without leaving their own homes and adult students can find teachers available when they are.

Listen with your friends

Facebook is rolling out a new music service that allows you to listen along to the same music on their online music service (such as Spotify). Just look for the musical notes in the chat sidebar and you’ll have the option to listen along. We’ll reserve judgment as to whether it’s creepy or cool.

CDG is looking for some new talent - specifically a new senior designer and a user experience architect/designer. Know someone or want to apply? Send your resume and links to jobs@cdginteractive.com.

Senior Designer

CDG Interactive is looking for Senior Designer to join our award-winning creative team. We’re looking for someone with a strong creative perspective, a drive to innovate, and the ability to work collaboratively with clients and co-workers. 5+ years of graphic design experience and formal design training is required. 

As senior designer, you’ll be responsible for conceiving, designing, and executing innovative visual environments for landing pages, banners, email campaigns, interactive demos, microsites, mobile website and full website builds. You’ll need the flexibility and imagination to develop a range of concepts and designs for projects, and the ability to exercise creativity within constraints (i.e., respect client brand guidelines, technical requirements, etc.) .

Also required: right-brain/left-brain balance, as you’ll work with creative, marketing and technical types to ensure your design is transformed into an effective interactive execution.

Skills:

• Black-belt mastery of Photoshop, Illustrator & related programs.
• Orange-belt understanding of Dreamweaver to create presentation postings. Understanding of Flash, After Effects, and Video production is a plus.
• A sense of humor as big as—or preferably larger than—your ego.
• An overall understanding of web production and the capabilities within digital channels.
• The curiosity to learn, discover, and grow as a digital designer.

User Experience Architect/Designer

CDG Interactive is also searching for a seasoned User Experience Architect/Designer to round out our award-winning creative team. The ideal candidate will possess confidence and ingenuity developed over 5-10 years in the interactive industry. We expect you to challenge conventional wisdom and help us develop brilliant interactive environments that delight the end user.

Initiative, enthusiasm, and experience working with large corporate clients/organizations are a must. A background in design or experience in a creative environment is a plus.

Skills:

• Think creatively to transform the caterpillar of functionality into the butterfly of amazingly usable graphic interfaces.
• Possess in-depth knowledge of user experience rules and best practices-and have the guts to break them when you need to.
• Quickly understand a range of client organizations and their business and organizational challenges. Our clients are like snowflakes. Respect their uniqueness.
• Collaborate enthusiastically and effectively with clients and the creative team. (Passion is great. Arrogance, not so much.)
• Be a believer in CDG and what we're trying to do. Help us create interactive environments that break ground, blaze trails, and achieve great things.

About CDG:

CDG is recognized as an industry leader in the creation, implementation, and marketing of interactive environments that enable our clients to grow their business. Our innovation efforts are focused on achieving our clients' goals through user-centered design. In all aspects of its work, CDG seeks to help our clients deliver high value to end-users.

Working at CDG, you’ll find we’re serious about what we do, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Perks and benefits include: generous vacation leave, health insurance (with flexible spending account), Metro-accessible office, casual dress code, free soda and snacks, and the best-looking co-workers in the DC-Metro area. Interested? Send your resume and a link to your online portfolio to jobs@cdginteractive.com.