flickr

Vancouver Social Media Day & Canada Day

This past week has been full of celebrations. If you missed out, here’s a recap for you.

On June 24, Victoria, British Columbia became the first city to proclaim June 30 as Social Media Day. See the signed Social Media Day Proclamation. Vancouver was not far behind as you can see in this photo of Pete Cashmore holding the Vancouver Social Media Day Proclamation.

On June 30, people around the world celebrated Social Media Day, which was initiated by Mashable on June 8. Check out what people did to celebrate on Flickr and on YouTube.

Of course, Social Media wasn’t the only big event that happened this week. Canadians across the country took some time to celebrate Canada Day on July 1. Everyone had their own way of celebrating which were shared through photos and videos.

Through online media, these two celebrations, one in its inaugural year and the other being the 143rd year, allowed people to share, connect and communicate across boundaries, time zones and cultures. The way we celebrate together today is vastly different from what was possible, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, let alone 143 years ago.

The world has changed.

Victor
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: canada day, flickr, online media, social media day, Vancouver, what's cool, youtube

How to Create a Flickr Schedule

Flickr is one of the most popular photo sharing networks. According to Compete.com, Flickr received over 26 million unique visitors in January 2010. Tapping into this network can be both fun and beneficial for your company. However, many of us are caught in our busy schedules and simply can’t find the time to engage on Flickr. After creating a Twitter Schedule, I realized that making manageable schedules is a great tool for engaging, interacting and maintaining an active presence on any social network.

In many cases 15 minute a day is all you need. Like they say, 15 minutes a day keeps the cobwebs away…well maybe “they” is just me.

Each person’s individual schedules will vary, but below is my proposed schedule for engaging on Flickr on a consistent basis.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Improve your “Flickr” life.

Victor
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: engaging, flickr, guide, how to, schedule

Get In The Game: Re-evaluate How You Use Social Media For Business

Credit: Stefan Baudy

Many businesses are now entering the social media realm to meet current and future customers. But before your company creates a social media presence, you must first ask yourself, “What does my company want to achieve through social media?”.

The instinctual answer for most people is to increase customers, increase sales and increase profit. Therefore, some of them start setting up shop in their newly created Twitter account and begin tweeting about how great their own company is and repeatedly sending the same link to their online product catalogue.

Other companies might want to educate people about their industry and offer information to customers when they need help. The overall objective is still to increase customers, increase sales and increase profits, but this approach is anchored at providing the community with value – value that is appreciated.

However, sometimes by simply providing links to valuable industry news, tips, guides, and other information, your presence may become a bit dry, stale or dare I say, boring. So why not add a twist to engage your audience?

Your company’s social media presence does not have to be one dimensional. Think of different ways to engage or interact with your audience. You could ask a question, create a poll, start a contest or even, “play a game”.

Rarely do you hear of companies that simply play a game with their audience. This is most probably because it is hard to justify it against direct sales or profits. However, if your company’s goals are to engage your audience, create loyal customers and increase brand awareness, creating mini-games for your audience is a great way to achieve those objectives.

On Flickr for example, there is a group called, Guess Where Vancouver. Members of this group upload photos taken from Vancouver and other people try to guess where the photo was taken. The game is simple but effective for engaging members and creating conversations.

Can you think of a way to spin the game so it is relevant to your company?
Can you think of a way to adapt the game on different social media channels like Facebook, Twitter or even your company website?

Victor Chan
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: Business, engagement, flickr, game, Social Media

Canada Day in Social Media

Photo Credit:wburris

Yesterday was July 1st, Canada Day. For 142 years, Canadians have enjoyed the true north, strong and free! Throughout Canada, people took part in celebrations in different provinces, different cities and different events, but through social media and the Internet, we can find out what the day was like for all Canadians, near and far, celebrating as one.

Do a quick search on Twitter , FriendFeed and OneRiot and you’ll see a real-time stream of what people got up to on Canada Day. (Note: these links lead to the search results).

Do a quick search on Flickr and see the many photos of concerts, fireworks, parties and of course, people decked out in Canadian flags.

Do a quick search on YouTube and Vimeo and you can watch the celebrations in cities that you have yet to visit.

Do a quick search on Technorati and BlogPulse and you can read the bloggers’ take on Canada Day.

Social media tools are connecting communities and their power lies in how these tools allow users to make their own connections. Imagine if we took the search beyond Canada Day and looked for conversations around your company event or your company brand? What would you see? What would you learn?

Listening and monitoring is a fundamental step in any online strategy. Are you making it a priority?

Victor
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: blogpulse, canada day, flickr, friendfeed, listening, monitoring, oneriot, Social Media, technorati, Twitter, vimeo, youtube