Top Stories of the Week Archives - Page 3 of 4

April 14, 2016January 4, 2023

Tips for Students with a Passion for Social Media

By: Amy Cabanas, Matteo Fialdini, Kathrin Hanke, Andrew McClure and Jacqueline Williams
Sarah Dalton works as both a Marketing professor at UMSL, where she graduated with her MBA in digital marketing, as well as in the marketing field. She describes herself as organized and creative, and is an active user across social media platforms, as well as, a blogger on her personal blog www.socialseconds.com.
When Sarah found out about the opening for a social media professor, she took the opportunity to spread her passion about social media to UMSL students. Sarah is excited to be contributing to the UMSL Digital Marketing Conference which will be held on April 21, 2016. We caught up with Sarah to ask her about her career, her love for social media, and her thoughts on St. Louis’ growing digital marketing scene.
Check out the interview below!
1. Do you feel UMSL’s digital marketing MBA program helped in preparation for your current job and teaching?
I don’t think I would be anywhere without my Digital Marketing Certificate. Those classes really took me to another level. When I went to school we didn’t have those classes in undergrad. So, they really rounded out my marketing education and taught me things like blogging, digital marketing, digital strategies, measurement of digital media and of course more social media. Without those subjects I don’t think I would be where I am today.
2. Where do you see St. Louis going in the digital marketing scene, and how does UMSL fit into that?
We are in the Midwest so we might not always be in all the trends like they are on the east and west coast, but I think we are definitely getting much closer. With all the great people around, it’s so easy to collaborate on ideas and with local agencies. I see the digital scene getting stronger and stronger in St. Louis, and UMSL could not be doing any better. You don’t see these kinds of classes at other schools. As UMSL continues to grow these programs and add classes, the UMSL digital marketing students will continue to be a step ahead!
3. You have your own blog, www.socialseconds.com. Do you think having a personal blog is essential for social and digital marketers?
Yes, I think a blog is a great way to spread the word about what you think about social. Even if you don’t necessarily know what to say, you could talk about things you see other people do, provide recaps, or blog about guest speakers. It’s a great place to showcase your writing style and what you care about in social media. If you are too afraid to start a blog or don’t think you have the time to maintain it, you can always publish on LinkedIn Pulse.
Sarah also shared some other interesting thoughts and advice with us marketing students. “Having your own blog really shows companies that you know how to build a WordPress site, that you understand content, and that you have written a few blogs. It’s just a really easy way to showcase yourself,” Sarah said.
Sarah also often references her own marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk, author of Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – “Gary started from the bottom and built up his social media enterprise into what it is today,” said Sarah.
Lastly, Sarah highly recommends marketing students get involved with the AMA St. Louis-The American Marketing Association, and attend the UMSL Digital Marketing conference on April 21, 2016. “MDMC16 will be a full day event of all things digital marketing. People come in from all over the country to speak to us. It’s a better value than any other conference I can think of,” she said. “And it is FREE for UMSL students (but unfortunately now sold out)!”
Follow Sarah on Twitter: Sdaltonstl

April 13, 2016January 4, 2023

#MDMC16 Interview: Jesse Kemling

By: Dan Feeherty
UMSL Digital recently visited the St. Louis Science Center to talk innovation & the Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program. The YES program works with underprivileged youth in the metro St. Louis area to collaborate and peruse careers and innovation within STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics).
Among the 1200+ attendees at MDMC this year will be none other than Jesse Kemling, Senior Educator of Technology for the YES program. Listen to the informational interview below:

Follow @YESslsc on Twitter!

April 6, 2016January 4, 2023

Meet Invisible Applications at #MDMC

By: Jacob Bryant

Invisible Applications formed after winning a start-up competition in November of 2013. The initial application they launched was the Invisible Girlfriend/Boyfriend the application would use information provided by you to craft a fake significant other to convince others that you are currently in a relationship. The concept took off, and just shy of 2 years after its birth the website has nearly half a million visitors that logged on from 193 customers!
The founders of Invisible Applications are Kyle Tabor, Matthew Homann, and Bredon Jones. Kyle is an MBA graduate of Washington University. Matthew earned a Political Science degree from the University of Illinois in 1990 and a J.D. from Washington University. Bredon Jones earned a degree in Spanish from the University of Kentucky in 1998. The original service was conceived by Matt based on his own experience after going through a divorce and wanting to end prying questions from family and friends.Invisible Applications says that thousands take advantage of their service for a variety of different reasons. Reasons include:
“Hoping to buy some time and convince my parents I’m in a relationship until I’m ready to come out.”
“Getting a clingy coworker off my case”
“I’m in the army and want someone to write to”
The Invisible Girlfriend/Boyfriend experience offers 100 texts, 10 voicemails, and a handwritten note from a faux partner who interacts with the customer in real time at a cost of $25 per month.
Invisible Applications will be at the MDMC in the Tech Alley, come talk to them and learn more about their story and experiences!

April 5, 2016January 4, 2023

Tips From Your Future Social Community Managers

By: Nicole Atencio, Amy Cabanas, Minji Choi, Matteo Fialdini, Kathrin Hanke, Tira Wilkerson, Jacqueline Williams
We are halfway through our immersion into Social Media Marketing For Business this semester. So far, we have covered content marketing, the impact of blogging on social, Hootsuite as a social manager’s tool, and in-depth discussions of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the Emerging Networks (Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Google+) for business use.
Here are our top takeaways from our social studies thus far:
There is a huge difference between “curating” and” creating” content. Curated content is information generated from other sources (like sharing Forbes or Mashable articles), whereas created content is derived from the creators own resources (like infographics, whitepapers, blog posts, shareable art).
Understand Jabs vs. Right Hooks by Gary V. Is a company trying to sell their product, or just making you aware of information you might be interested in? A “Jab” is content that makes customers laugh, think or play a game, but does not give a strong selling impression. “Right hooks” are content pieces that typically include call-to-actions (CTAs) that lead to actual purchasing.
Use the 4-1-1 Content Rule. This rule states that for every 4 informative content pieces you have, you should have 1 hard and 1 soft sell. The hard-sell provides a strong call-to- action (CTA), and the soft-sell subtly incorporates the brand in the message.
Be attentive. Look for events, causes and shows coming up in order to create content about something other than your business. Be mindful of your account, and make sure you are posting and commenting on a regular schedule. Not having any current activity will lead your followers/customers to believe you are not serious about your business.
Organic reach is estimated to be 2.6% for Facebook pages. With organic reach declining, it is important for businesses to use paid reach. Paid ads are not free, but allow the content to be targeted to non-followers.
Hootsuite is the best social tool you may have never heard of. Hootsuite is a great creation that can assist you in planning and scheduling the posting of your future posts for all your social media channels. Another great free tool is www.canva.com for creating beautiful social media images and graphics.
Align your brand’s social channels. Across the board, you want all your social media channels to incorporate the same logo, descriptions, and messaging, but with the flavor of the channel. The same goes for your personal pages – use the same headshot and handles whenever possible.
All businesses should be on LinkedIn. This social network provides you with credibility, a large network of professionals, sales opportunities, and a marketing platform for your business. There are a multitude of options for ads as well. Sponsored Updates will go to a wider audience than page followers, Dark Posts are ads seen on non-follower newsfeeds (but not in the company timeline) and Sponsored InMails allow you to send a targeted message that appears in a LinkedIn user’s inbox.
Everyone can be a publisher on LinkedIn Pulse. Pulse is a great opportunity to publish relevant articles or blog-like posts without necessarily having to own a separate blog. Pulse can be helpful in increasing LinkedIn followers and inbound site links.
Instagram is key in today’s market. It’s important to remember a few things before posting for your company. Don’t use stock photos – photos should be taken as native because you are going to reach the younger generations who are expecting that. Moreover, use descriptive hashtags in excess as the method to reach the most people looking to discover your brand or business category.
Understand the proper use of pictures. It’s important to make sure that you don’t use pictures from someone else without their permission. It’s best to take or create your own pictures to post on social media than using Google or other search engines.
Use Twitter hashtags. Hashtags tag tweets by topic and make it easier for others with similar interest to find your tweets. Also, hashtags help social media marketers promote and track social campaigns.
What else should we know? What do you wish your entry-level social and content employees were stronger at?
Up next: we’re putting this all together in a social strategy and analyzing for social ROI!

April 4, 2016January 4, 2023

#MDMC16 Speaker Elizabeth Ledbetter Knows Creative Talent

By Elizabeth Snowden

Among many of the interests and questions anticipated at St. Louis’ 2016 Midwest Digital Marketing Conference will ultimately be: how do we remain relevant? As a business, group member, consumer or individual professional, Elizabeth Ledbetter probably has your answer. Continue reading “#MDMC16 Speaker Elizabeth Ledbetter Knows Creative Talent”

April 4, 2016January 4, 2023

#MDMC16 Podcast: A Chat With Unidev

By: Chase Kohler

Among the top talent and sponsor at MDMC this year is none other than Unidev. Not only has the company shown constant support to UMSL Digital over the years, their brand manager Angela LaRocca also serves on the UMSL Digital advisory board. UMSL senior Chase Kohler returned to their Chesterfield HQ for a sequel ‘impromptu’ podcast- recorded only by laughter and a recorder. The interview touches base on how MDMC has become the biggest digital conference in the Midwest, and what attendee’s can look forward to. Unidev also talks about their big product debut, and VP Andrea Bemis gives inspiring comments on embracing the digital landscape.
A special thanks to Angela LaRocca, Andrea Bemis, and the entire Unidev team for their hospitality and laughs. Be sure to stop by there exhibit and the ‘Innovation’ panel at 2:55 P.M.

Follow Them On Twitter!
@angelalarocca
@andi_bemis
@Unidev

April 1, 2016January 4, 2023

#MDMC16 Speaker Feature: Edward Domain

By: Jacob Bryant

Edward Domain: veteran, TV personality, activist, CEO, and a speaker at this year’s MDMC! Edward founded what would become Techli in 2011 and came to St. Louis in 2012 after receiving an Arch Grant. Edwards’s company Techli created the TV show, ‘The Domain Tech Report”, which shows weekly on St. Louis Channel 9. His show discusses innovation news and technology that affects our daily lives, in business and at home. Edward not only created the show, but he hosts it as well. He interviews entrepreneurs and innovators from all over and his show has gained a following in St. Louis and across the nation. Interested viewers tune in online every week to see his show!
The story of how Edward got to his current position is almost as interesting as the man himself. An Army veteran, Edward has worked with the FBI, DEA, Border Patrol and participated in “Operation Bright Star.” Edward also graduated from the Army Airborne School as a paratrooper.
Unfortunately, Edward’s story also includes a negative event that had a large impact on his life. In 2013 Edward was involved in an accident while riding in a cab and was very badly injured. The cab he was riding in was uninsured and the accident landed him in a hospital for 6 months. Edward didn’t want to see what happened to him happen to others, so he became a political activist. Edward campaigned to make the St. Louis Metro Taxi Commission to enforce regulations for cabs having insurance and to make the residing Board Chair step down. He was successful in both ventures. Edward’s work resulted in the commission has doubling their insurance liability limits.
Edward is an extremely talented man and speaker, come see him discuss innovation and more at this year’s MDMC!

Follow Edward on Twitter at @EdwardDomain.

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March 30, 2016January 4, 2023

#MDMC16 Speaker Feature: Jennifer Phillips

By: Robert Aguilar
We would like to introduce you to one of our speakers at the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference, Jennifer Phillips. Jennifer is the Director of Marketing Cloud Excellence at Salesforce. She has been with Salesforce for over 7 years and in the marketing industry for over 15 years. Jennifer partners with higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations to deepen their success with Salesforce marketing / digital products. The goal at Salesforce is to better connect businesses with their consumers. They have developed the world’s #1 CRM platform which is cloud based. In their own words, they “help your customers love you.” We got the chance to interview Jennifer and find out some of her thoughts on the current state and future of digital marketing.
What does content mean to you?
Content is information delivered to add mutual value to organizations and their constituents / customers. Sounds boring, but done right it’s anything but!
What is the digital “word of the year” for 2016?
Measurable. This is something that has been common in many of the communications I have had in preparation for the conference. Many people are discussing and trying to develop more ways to measure your marketing successes and shortcomings.
As everything moves to mobile and social, it seems like the web is dying. Should we still care about the web?
We must care about the platforms important to our constituent / customer groups. If we fail to meet them – in an interesting and fulfilling way – “where they live”, we break their trust. Success is delivered to organizations who know and nurture the platforms their target audiences stand on.
What do you see as the next big disruption in the world of marketing and communications?
Effective 1:1 marketing is creating a new paradigm of the curated consumer experience. Continued evolution on the delivery method of just in time communications, will create the next new normal for consumers – hyper-personalized customer experience.
For more on Jennifer check out her speaker session in the academic/social media track at 2:55 p.m. at the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference 2016. She will be speaking about “Delivering Effective Digital Student Experiences,” something we are very passionate about at UMSLDigital.
We’ll see you in April!

March 29, 2016January 4, 2023

Connected Fitness with Under Armour's Katie Krum

Katie Krum is currently the Director of Digital Marketing at Under Armour and manages the content and engagement for Under Armour’s Connected Fitness ecosystem. This includes MyFitnessPal, MapMyFitness, and Under Armour Record.
Katie graduated with a B.A. in History from Princeton and a M.S. in Integrated Marketing from NYU. Before she worked for Under Armour, she worked in digital marketing at Nickelodeon and Mariott International. Katie’s background comes from start-ups, which is also where she discovered her passion for digital technologies.
Katie also made Brand Innovators “40 under 40” List. A list consisting of young marketing professionals who “have proven they have the ingenuity, leadership, and strategic foresight necessary to perform at the highest levels possible in the in the constantly evolving media and marketing environment.” – David Teicher, editor and chief content officer at Brand Innovators.
In anticipation of her discussion on Social Media we asked her to answer some questions on the future of digital marketing, see her opinions and insights below!
What’s the future of wearable tech? Will it ever become a marketing platform?
Clothing! Shirts and shoes will provide us with the information (and so much more) that bands, glasses, watches and heart rate monitors provide us today… the marketing platform will be in the data we collect.
What does “content” mean to you?
I used to have a much more narrow view of content — related to premium content: long-form content (tv series), blog articles, visual/story-telling slideshows, etc. But in the broadest of terms: commercials are content, images on a retail site might be considered content, instagram posts are content…its so many things. So broad that we probably need to create more precise terms for the future.
What are your top 3 digital metrics?
Related to engagement, I am trying to turn the organization towards quality time spent, which can be measured by: time spent reading, scroll depth, engagement, recirculation, shares, and percentage of article completed.
Come hear Katie talk about why she feels this way and all the other insights she has about digital marketing at the MDMC! Register today, April will be here before you know it!