Madison Marquette

Pricing for Promoted Updates has not been released, but when this feature and its pricing are released for public use, I will make sure to update everyone.  

 

7.27.12 - New Event View (Facebook)

Today I wanted to update you on a change that Facebook made this week for personal accounts that many users seem to be talking about.  Previously, when you visited the Events tab on Facebook (in the upper left hand side of your newsfeed), you may remember that all of your upcoming events were in chronological order, but not grouped by date, or arranged thoughtfully.

Now, when you visited the events tab, you will see that there is now a calendar on the left and a list of upcoming events on the right (show below on the left).  Even better?  You have the option of changing to “Calendar” view, which organizes your events on a calendar layout.  Also, the clever feature highlights friends’ birthday by placing their profile picture on the date of their birthday (shown below on the right). 

Overall, the look and feel of this new section seems much more organized and easier to see upcoming events.  Also, at the top of your events page you can export your friends’ birthdays or upcoming events into Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar.  You’ll never miss a birthday again!

While this new feature is mostly for personal use, it can help your brand page’s events be seen by more of your fans.  Facebook will recommend events to your fans that you are hosting, making it easier to spread the word about your upcoming events.

7.20.12 - Pinterest Update

I’d like to take a minute today to update you on one of the newest (and now, most popular) social media sites, Pinterest.  My previous email concerning Pinterest provided the demographics of the newly-popular site, but now the continued and shockingly high rate of new users makes it a hot topic once again.

Accordingly to a report from Experian, “Pinterest is now the third largest social network. It’s ahead of both Linkedin and Google+.”  This new revelation is shocking seeing as it was only launched in 2010.  Pinterest reached 10 million+ users in early 2012, making it the fastest-growing independent site in history.

The use of Pinterest by large brands has become more prevalent and includes major brands like West Elm, Lowe’s, Whole Foods, Gap, and Nordstrom.  The large brands are flocking to the image-driven site because it’s a more shopper-friendly network (meaning users are more likely to pay attention to brands who are trying to sell to them than when on other networks).

If you want to learn a little bit more about Pinterest, The Dealey Group will be hosting an ICSC Webinar this Wednesday, July 25, at 2pm ET.  You can sign up here to participate.  We’ll discuss the positives and negatives of the popular site and examine its effectiveness for shopping centers.

6.29.12 - The Importance of Promotions

Today I’m writing on the importance of implementing periodic promotions on your Facebook page.  An important statistic we’ve found is that fans follow your brand for various reasons, but the leading reason is to get specific offers or deals.  As you can see in the infographic below, almost 37% of users follow a brand on Facebook and 43% follow brands on Twitter specifically for deals and offers.  Does that statistic surprise you?  

We aren’t telling you to go out and give things away on your page constantly, quite the opposite.  The Dealey Group recommends one promotion per quarter as to keep fans from getting burnt out on constant offers and/or promotions.

TDG offers quarterly corporate-wide promotions for all its Madison Marquette clients for a reduced fee.  Take advantage of the next promotion we suggest and see for yourself how your fans react.  Past promotions have seen great success, many increasing their fan bases up to 14% with one single promotion, and all increasing fan engagement.  Numbers aside, fans appreciate being rewarded for being loyal to a brand on social sites, and rewarding them with deals and offers is a great way to do so.

If you’d like more information on future corporate-wide promotions, Lindsey and I would be glad to speak with you about them.

6.22.12 - Editing Comments (Facebook)

6.8.12 - #allnew4sq

5.25.12

5.11.12

5.4.12

Some of my properties’ Foursquare accounts have already been closed and reopened as brand pages, but some have not.  Over the next month, I will create and populate brand pages for all of my centers to engage and communicate with fans.  If you have any questions, we can discuss further on your upcoming calls. 




4.20.12

Are you trying to attract a new retailer to your center?  Consider unleashing the power of your social platforms to help - your fans are just that, your fans, and are a support system for your leasing efforts. 

Custom application:

Full creative suite:

4.12.12 - Foursquare Day is Monday!

The location-based game has celebrated every year on 4/16 (get it?) since 2010.  Across the country, social media nuts (like yours truly) will check-in, meet up, and tweet up a storm just to get the new Foursquare Day badge (2011’s badge can be seen below), claim specials, and just be downright nerdy.

3.29.12 - Timeline Increases Fan Engagement

Tomorrow is D-Day for the former Facebook format and the dawn of the brand page Timeline format.  After speaking with each of you about the changes to brand pages on Facebook, I sense a feeling of skepticism about the conversion.  I looked into the trends that some pages were seeing after the switch, and was pleasantly surprised by the results that other pages were reporting.  I hope the following information is reassuring to you.

After monitoring 15 large brand pages, researchers from Simply Measured found that, after the conversion of the pages in the study, fan engagement on those pages increased by an average of 46%.  46%?! 

While the number seems somewhat unbelievable, the stunning number makes sense when thought out.  In each of the scoop sheets you receive, you will notice TDG includes a picture to pair with your post as often as possible.  The reason?  People are drawn to pictures in their newsfeeds and, therefore, more likely to give notice to your post.  (We’ll also throw in the fact that using pictures increases the likelihood that your post will appear in your fans’ newsfeeds thanks to Facebook’s EdgeRank.)  With the larger picture and video display in Timeline, users who visit your page will be more likely to engage if there are pictures available.

Take a look at the graphs below to see the change.

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3.9.12 - Social Media Demographics

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2.10.12 - Klout

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1.23.12

I wanted to share a graphic one of my co-workers passed on to me last week.  You’ll see in the graphic below Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  In 1943, Abraham Maslow, a psychology theorist, said that humans have five levels of needs (physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization) in his paper A Theory of Human Motivation. 

While the physiological needs cannot be met by the simplicity of social networks (yet), Maslow holds that the subsequent needs can and are met through various social networks.  As you see in the graphic:

• LinkedIn can help us find employment (and therefore, safety)
• Facebook can give us a feeling of belonging (through connections and “friendships”)
• Twitter can help users gain (or in some cases, lose) respect from others and therefore, build his/her self-esteem
• Blogging platforms give users the opportunity to display their work and realize their potential

I’m confident Maslow didn’t have in mind a social network where communication occurs in 140 characters or less when he created his hierarchy of needs.  However, this proves that the world of social media is offering us more than we initially thought.

This email was just to share with you a bit of theoretical mumbo-jumbo about social networking.  You can rest assured that TDG’s work on your social networks not only entertains, but satisfies your fans and followers innate needs. 

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1.13.12

There’s a new addiction plaguing the nation - no, not a new drug - it’s Pinterest (that’s “interest” with a “P”).  Pinterest is a new social web platform that allows users to curate theme-based virtual vision boards.  The platform is strongly image-driven. 

Do you want to have a group of recipes you’d like to try in one place?  Just create a “Yummy Recipes” board.  Are you redecorating a room?  Create a “New Study” board.  As you can see in the image below, you can virtually “pin” things to each board and keep them in order and at your fingertips.

“Pinners” can either curate their own pins or “repin” from a friend or feed of general users (organized by theme).  SincePinterest currently does not have privacy limitations, anyone can join Pinterest and any user can follow and be followed by any other user.

What does this mean for you?  If you think your shopping center has the voice of a “tastemaker” in the community, we can create an account and begin to curate pins with pertinent boards.

Do you want to see if you’re “Pinteresting”?  Just ask me and I’ll send you an invitation to join the site.

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1.9.12

Now that your schedule has settled down after the holidays, we want to plant a seed in your mind for a potential tool to use on your page.  You’ve surely noticed the line of pictures along the top of your center’s Facebook page, but did you notice that these pictures are recently posted pictures from the center’s newsfeed?

So, why not take advantage of this real estate?

As you can see in the screen shots below, we can utilize this stream of pictures for your center.  This space offers an opportunity to customize your page to mirror your branding efforts on property.  Or, think of any big, upcoming events your center is hosting or a new retailer coming in.  Wouldn’t it be nice to give a little recognition to them that won’t float down the page as more posts populate?

The string of pictures populates randomly from your recently uploaded images (both pictures and wall posts), so with a bit of work on our end, we can keep your desired group of pictures at the top of your page.  Since they are set in a random order, we can determine how to use the pictures so they don’t have to be in a certain order.

We gave you the seed, now let’s water it!  We can brainstorm ways to utilize this stream of photos to make your page more intriguing to visitors over the next few weeks.
 

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11.11.11

The bi-weekly questions are helping the shoppers get excited for the new tenant and interact with the page.  All questions are either straightforward or are easily answered with a simple Google search (and more easily answered if you aren’t first - see the example from yesterday’s post).

Do you have a new store or shop coming to your center?  Let me know and we can brainstorm a way to hype it on your page, too!

10.21.11

“The goal of Pages Insights for Page admins is to understand what drives that number and how they can best engage their advocates, so that they can get a sense of how to optimize their Page content to increase the people they’re reaching with their messages. Which means that no matter the size of your Page’s audience, you can really get a good sense for which posts spread and get shared with others.”

10.07.11

As a mall manager, nothing is worse than looking at an empty storefront.  So, how about using it as a free marketing space?  At TDG, we like to think outside of the box; and when faced with the task of using existing blank space to entice shoppers to become Facebook fans, we did just that.  

MarketFair Mall in Princeton, New Jersey invited shoppers to be a part of history with their “Faces of MarketFair” promotion.  Through an eblast and Facebook promotion, shoppers were encouraged to submit a photo to be featured on an in-mall Facebook fan wall. (The eblast example is below).   MarketFair sweetened the deal by offering two random winners a $500 and $50 mall gift card.  Submitted photos are now being coordinated into a final wall design that will be produced into a barricade displaying MarketFair’s Facebook fans!

At Monroe Crossing in Monroe, North Carolina, we recently started designing another type of in-mall Facebook tie-in – a barricade resembling the center’s kids club tab on their Facebook page.  The in-mall “Just Kid-ding Around” wall will display information about the club, while offering a flyer-type takeaway for parents.  Shoppers will be encouraged to snap a QR code displayed on the wall which will direct them to “Like” the Facebook page.  

Do you have an empty storefront, barricade, or blank wall space that needs some love?  We’d love to brainstorm with you to come up with some ideas of ways to make fans of shoppers, and shoppers of fans!

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9.19.11

Social media is a new notion to the general public; thinking back, social media hardly existed six years ago.  Now, people not only communicate with each other on social networks, they also connect and communicate with brands on a daily basis.

People interact with their favorite brands on Facebook far more than on any other social network, according to a recent study of online consumer behavior by Constant Contact and research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey.  They analyzed the behavior of 1,491 U.S. users (ages 18 and older) and created a slideshow which I have linked at the bottom of this email. 

We found a few things that raised our eyebrows:

• 77% of consumers said they interact with brands on Facebook primarily through reading posts and updates from the brands (most likely through the News Feed)
• Only 17% of respondents said they interact with brands by sharing experiences and news stories with others about the brand
• Only 13% said they post updates about brands they like
• 56% of consumers said they are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan on Facebook

Before you read the slideshow in its entirety, we feel it’s important to note that new studies about social media are coming out daily by the dozens, and sometimes the data shown in one is contradictory to another.  That being said, take what you learn with a grain of salt and continue to feed TDG engaging content to share with your fans.

Take a look at the complete study here: http://www.slideshare.net/ConstantContact/10-quick-facts-you-should-know-about-consumer-behavior-on-facebook

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9.12.11

If you remember my last email, I wrote about the phasing out of Facebook Places.  While we are losing one form of a location-based social network, another, Foursquare, has begun to extend its offerings.

Each of your centers currently has a venue (for shoppers to “check-in” at) and an account (in which the center itself could make connections and leave tips).  However, this is somewhat limiting since an account only allows a certain number of connections (about 1,000).  

For some time, Foursquare has been in a “testing stage” with certain brand pages that would not limit the amount of connections a typical account does.  Recently, the opportunity to create brand pages has been opened up to the masses and Foursquare has made them easier for users to develop.

Given the new offering, I’d like to take advantage of it for each of my centers.  In the next month, I will be transferring each of your center’s accounts to brand pages which will allow as many people as would like to follow your center to do so.

Please see the example of a brand page below.  As you can see, VisitPA can curate lists with tips.  Also, there is a section marked “followers”, which demonstrates the difference between a brand page and account.

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9.1.11

Places check-in feature from its mobile app.  Due to the large number of people already on Facebook, the introduction of this feature was originally thought to signal the demise of the other location-based gaming apps like Foursquare and Gowalla.  However, by last October, only about 6% of mobile users were “checking-in”.

Starting immedately after the announcement of the discontinuation of Places, a new feature was added where you can optionally add locations to your status updates or pictures (see image below).  We haven’t seen Facebook remove the “Deals” from places offering them, but it’s soon to come.

As you may have guessed, the smaller compeititors are likely toasting each other in a celebratory manner as David beat Goliath this round.  Our thoughts are that there’s probably something that Facebook isn’t telling us – like that Places isn’t as profitable as it is trouble.  After all, 6% of 750 million users (that’s how many people are on Facebook, according to their statistics) is 45 million!  That’s a lot more than Foursquare, which now has over 10 million users.  HubSpot Blog’s raised another interesting thought when they recently posted, “Social media platforms come and go every day.  While it’s important to keep tabs on what’s new on the scene and how it can impact your marketing campaigns, be mindful that not every shiny new toy will serve a meaningful purpose in your marketing mix.” 

Facebook Places was almost a year old before it’s tragic death, the exact date for which hasn’t been released yet.  If you were an avid user (or had to bear with me while we tirelessly tried ten different ways to claim your “place”), our condolences are with you.  

Thanks for your time this week.  For more information on the demise of Places, click here.

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8.24.11

Today’s email is going to highlight a couple of promotions done on pages that have gotten great responses.  Doing regular promotions help your fans feel rewarded, even if they don’t win.  The prize for any promotion doesn’t have to be exorbitant, just enough to entice your fans to participate.

The two promotions below were done with photos of fans from an existing event at the center.  After the fact, the pictures were uploaded and fans were asked to have their friends “vote” on their picture by commenting on it or “liking” it to win XX prize.

The first promotion I ran like this was at MarketFair Mall (Princeton, NJ) before Christmas last year at their Pet Photo Night where their shoppers brought their pets to have pictures taken with Santa.  The prize was a dog gift basked worth about $250.  After the voting period, MarketFair had garnered 104 new fans, a 14% increase.  Contest Album

The second promotion was done just last month at Town Center at Lake Forest Park (Lake Forest Park, WA) during one of their farmers market days.  Again, pictures were snapped and the fans were asked to have their friends comment once per day for the chance to win their friend a $250 VISA gift card.  The result of this promotion was roughly 110 fans, a 37% increase.  Contest Album

As you can see, promotions encouraging fans to gather votes are very successful.  If any of you have an upcoming event that you think could host a promotion, please bring it up on our next call and we can discuss the right promotion to fit the event.

I should mention that technically promotions of this nature are illegal according to the Facebook guidelines.  Facebook frowns upon any promotion which asks its fans to do any action to win something without the use of a third party application (additional fees apply).  That said, I have never experienced nor heard of a page being even so much as admonished for holding a contest and see no qualms using this tool to gather new fans.

On another note, I would like to welcome you all to upload your picture to the Faces of MarketFairpromotion that was launched this week.  MarketFair is asking its Facebook fans to contribute their profile pictures to their first-ever in-mall fan wall.  Read more and submit your picture here.

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8.16.11

You may have heard the recent buzz about the new social network, Google+.  Its launch, which was less than two months ago, garnered a lot of attention as it was offering a service similar to Facebook and the public was eager to see how it matched up to the mega-social network.  Its launch was not only successful, but astonishingly so.  G+ gathered more than 25 million members to their invitation-only site within the first four weeks of launching.
Main features of Google+:

• allows users to share pictures, articles, etc. with “circles” of connections with just a drag of a mouse
• The +1 button (right) is G+’s version of a “LIKE” button   
• “Hangouts” and “huddles” allow video chats with 10 users or less and instant message with groups of users (respectively)
• “Sparks” give users items that they may be interested in based on their profile settings
• Like Facebook, G+ has a stream from your connections that you can interact with (comment, +1, share, etc.)

We are watching G+ very closely as we are keen to join the network on your part as soon as it’s an option.  G+ has asked business owners to refrain from creating a profile for the time being as they are developing a more complete page type for businesses and brands to use.  Please see this article for more information on upcoming G+ business and brand pages.

Thanks for your time this week.  If you aren’t yet on G+ and would like to be, let me know and I’ll send you an invitation!

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8.9.11

This week, I will be sharing information as opposed to a new program, promotion, or feature for your pages.  Many of you are taking advantage of the custom tabs with your center’s events and because of that that, I’m a little bogged down, but very happy that you’re taking advantage of the opportunity!

I’m sure many of you are wondering why your Facebook post are no longer going up only on weekends, rest assured, it’s for a good reason!  A recent study our office came across reported that there has been a shift in the highest customer engagement days and times since the inception of Facebook.  According to recent research, Sundays are the best days to post if you’re looking to engage your customers.  Please see below for the best and worst days to post.

Best Day to Post - Sundays
Worst Day to Post - Thursdays
Best Individual Hour to Post - 11 AM on Saturdays
Worst Individual Hour to Post - 3 PM on Fridays

In light of this information, I have made an attempt to shift posts from Thursdays and Fridays (the worst days) to Saturdays and Sundays (the best days).

 To read more on increasing customer engagement and impressions, please click here.

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7.25.11

Our second MM social media email will focus on a location-based “game” called Foursquare.  Some of you may have used it before, but you all have certainly heard the name from me during our weekly calls when we recap your center’s numbers.  Read the Wikipedia article on Foursquare here.

Foursquare is a mobile application that allows users to “check-in” at a location to get points, badges, win mayorships, and receive specials.  Users may also leave “tips” at a venue to let other users know good/bad things about the venue (e.g., at a restaurant, a user may use a tip suggesting ordering the burger with a special sauce that isn’t on the menu).  Foursquare is free for users and businesses and has grown quickly;the platform reached 10M members just last month, only two years after launching.
While all of your centers have an established Foursquare venue complete with full information, not all of you are taking advantage of the “specials” feature that Foursquare offers.  One case that I will use as an example is Town Center at Lake Forest Park (yay, Jen H.!).  During the summer, TC@LFP hosts a weekly farmer’s market in their parking lot.  The attendance is fantastic at these markets and there is a noticeable jump in Foursquare check-ins on market days, but the foot traffic is rarely drawn inside to give business to the tenants.  Our solution: offer market-goers a special to bring them into the center; as of tomorrow, Subway will be offering shoppers a BOGO sandwich offer (image of check-in screen below) and the results of the special will be carefully tracked to measure the special’s effectiveness.

Specials can be offered to users who check into your venue in the following ways:
- Check-in special: simply give the special to anyone who checks in each time he/she checks in
- Newbie special: give the special to those users who are visiting the venue for the first time
- Flash special: only offers a certain number of specials for checking in (you can dictate how many are issued)
- Swarm special: in a three-hour window, a certain number of users must check in to earn this deal
- Friends special: allows users to check in with their friends (you can dictate how many friends need to check in together to earn the special)
- Mayor special: the user who checks in the most DAYS in the last 60 days is the “mayor” of the venue.  This special allows you to offer only the mayor a special incentive
- Loyalty special: users must check-in a certain amount of times before he/she can earn the special (this is basically a digital punch card).

Can you think of a great offer to give to your shoppers for checking in?  I’d be happy to work with you to determine an appropriate special for your center if you’d like to take advantage of this offer; implementing a Foursquare special will be of no cost to you!

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7.18.11

As my clients, I want to keep you all on the brink of the social media world.  That said, I would like to begin sharing a weekly email with all of you to share a cool tip, trick, social media program, or even promotions or tabs that I am implementing for some properties in the portfolio.  I have also created a tab that will house all weekly emails from this point on that can be accessed here: http://thedealeyo.tumblr.com/Madison_Marquette.

For our first weekly email, I’d like to showcase MarketFair’s “Mommy and Me” tab and Monroe Crossing’s “KIDding Around” tab (pictures below).  These two tabs are either formatted or coded by me on a regular basis with updated information.  MarketFair’s tab features various on-site children’s events while Monroe Crossing’s tab features not only upcoming events, but also tips for parents (e.g. this month’s features are a kid-friendly sloppy joe recipe and a list of the most family-friendly dogs).

These emails are intended to make you think about how these programs or tips could be utilized at your own property. That said, if you think your property’s fan page would benefit from a tab with information such as upcoming events, current sales, or even just a nice picture of you with a bio, let me know and we can work together to find the best format and program to create one for you.