DAM, let's talk about that.

I mean the other kind of DAM.

D igital
A sset
M anagement

Digital:

There are multiple forms of creating, storing, and using content. 

The digital space is generally the best medium for most content today. 

It is easy for multiple people to access and translates across different devices, regardless of where you are (as long as you can access the internet).

Asset:

Whether it's your personal art or content owned by the brand you work for, there are all kinds of assets you want to be able to access again.

Management:

Having access to your assets in the digital sphere makes it easier to produce consistent content across platforms and time periods. 

You want to keep track of what assets you are using and check through them on a regular basis to keep them relevant and up to date.

Conclusion:

Whether you are working on maintaining your personal brand or overseeing several teams of social media teams, its important to curate a good portfolio of assets in the digital sphere.

It will make your life much easier.

United Breaks Guitars

It's back!

Here's another post about the "United Breaks Guitars" case study.

I know I've written about or mentioned it a few times, but this is a new take, looking at other aspects of United Airlines and this viral video.

First: a quick and informal audit of United Airline's social media.

@United has a conversational and entertaining tone on its social media platforms, specifically Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.


As an example, the brand's recent posts have featured their new first class seats.                                                                                                                                                      
The brand tries to be funny and engaging while explaining how the new seats have been improved, and why these features are important.


United is most active on Twitter but does a good job of cross-posting the same content on Facebook and Instagram as well. 

The major campaign images and posts appear on all three platforms, while extra details and more posts will be seen on Facebook as compared to Instagram, and on Twitter as compared to Facebook.

United also does a pretty good job of listening to their audiences and followers on social media.                                                                                                        

Their responses are not generic or boring but are instead tailored to individuals, with the same caring and fun tone as their posts, and are signed by the team member responding.


They respond to comments, posts, tweets, and mentions, with usually only a few hours delay.

Now: what if this video was made today?

If Dave had flown on United Airlines today and complained about his guitar being mishandled, United would probably respond quickly and tried to help him in any way they could.

United's customer support has obviously come a long way in seven years and provides much better customer service today than they did when this video was created. 

Hopefully, the initial complaint would not be ignored or overlooked so he would not feel driven to create the video at all.

But if he did create this video today, in our digital age, I believe it would have received a different response.

The Hispanic imagery might be considered mildly offensive to some people, but that would not affect its popularity to a big degree, as the internet is filled with various degrees of offensive content that is popular.

No, the big thing that would affect this video's popularity is the fact that there have already been so many viral videos.

This video was revolutionary in its time, becoming essentially the first truly viral video.

But today, it could easily be just another funny video.

YouTube is filled with music videos, comedians, social commentary, and mixtures of all three. So while this video would probably garner some good attention today, it would likely not be a viral sensation.

Important takeaways:

Thinkers: Don't be afraid to try something new. 

You never know when your brain child might become huge and inspire multitudes of people, so don't be afraid to be the first.

Brands: Be ready to respond to anything.

Whether or not you believe claims or complaints, it's important to react quickly with a prepared team and a unified front. Even if you're facing a false claim, little things can have a big impact.



Planning to look at other case studies now,

The Purple Writer

Baking with alcohol is fun.

I made some alcoholic cupcakes this past weekend.

More specifically, I made White Russian Cupcakes using Kahlua and Vodka!

A friend came over to make some brownies, and while they were in the oven, I went to Pinterest to find a cupcake recipe to whip together. I saw this recipe and just had to make it.

I love this recipe, and when I took them to class, everyone else also loved them, so I decided I should reshare this recipe with the world!

I got the recipe from the great blog Baked Perfection, which also has recipes for Pina Colada Cupcakes, Mint Julep Cupcakes, and Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Now, before you get worried about my using alcohol in cupcakes, I will share what was noted alongside the original recipe: while Kahlua is 20% alcohol by volume, vanilla extract is 35% alcohol by volume.

Therefore, while I put alcohol in the frosting, it was actually less alcohol by volume than the normal vanilla buttercream frosting I make.

White Russian Cupcakes

This made 36 mini cupcakes and 8 regular cupcakes for me.

Oven temp: 350 degrees Fahrenheit

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) of butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 cup Vodka
1/8 cup Kahlua
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


-> Cream the butter and sugar
-> Add the eggs
-> Mix in the vanilla, milk, Vodka and Kahlua.
-> Add the salt, baking powder and flour.

-> Bake in cupcake liners (approximately 10 minutes for mini cupcakes and 20 minutes for regular cupcakes, but this will vary between ovens and other variants, so keep an eye on them)

Now, you could eat these cupcakes alone, and they would be fine. However, this buttercream frosting is fantastic, so you shouldn't skip it.

The frosting would also probably taste great on top of fudge brownies. . . not that I would know. 

Kahlua Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp Kahlua

1 tbsp Vodka (optional, but recommended)

A pinch of salt

-> Beat the butter until it's creamy

-> Add salt and powdered sugar (slowly, so you don't get a cloud of sugar all over)

-> Add Vodka and Kahlua

-> Taste and adjust as you see fit.

The result:

These cupcakes are delicious and perfect for basically any occasion.

Planning to make these cupcakes again soon,

The Purple Writer

The Sam's Club approach to social media.

This post was written in collaboration with Lyndsey Walton.

We conducted a social media audit of the Sam’s Club brand in class recently. We looked at the platforms they are active on, the content they post, and how they interact with their audiences.

Platforms

Sam’s Club is active on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and Instagram, and have inactive accounts on YouTube and Pinterest.

The brand posts four to seven times a week on its active accounts but has not posted anything for several months on their inactive account.

Sam’s Club has a mobile app but only current members can use this app, so it does not engage with prospective consumers. 

We also don’t know if the app interacts with other platforms.

Content

Sam’s Club does an excellent job producing original content and cross-promoting it on their platforms. 

For example, when they had samples of Sea Cuisine’s fish tacos, they posted an enticing picture in their posts, mentioning the brand @SeaCuisine on applicable platforms.




We did notice that Sam’s Club posted a video about tailgating gear on Facebook but not on YouTube. 

This seems like a missed opportunity of easy cross-promotion.

Interactions

Each Sam’s Club post has a call to action (CTA), encouraging their audiences to engage with the brand. Most of the CTAs are to visit local Sam’s Club locations and try samples or buy products.

Instead of responding to individual posts or tweets, Sam’s Club generally asks those with questions or concerns to directly message the brand so they can respond privately and with personal answers.

Sam’s Club maintains a very professional and concise tone on social media. They use short sentences to convey clear messages, although the brand does use hashtags on Instagram to keep content relevant in current discussions.

Impressions

While Sam’s Club does a great job cross-promoting their original content, we would encourage the brand to utilize a more personal touch, like hashtags and more public engagement with their audience. 

Because Sam’s Club is a retailer and most of the brand’s posts are about products, we also think Pinterest would be an ideal platform for this brand to develop and be more active on.


Ready for us to present our analysis,
The Purple Writer

Why do brands post the same thing on different sites?

Have you ever followed one of your favorite actors, brands or musicians and then been annoyed because they post the same information on everything?

I’m talking about the same post showing up on every social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and email.

You might have a friend who posts the same picture on Instagram and Facebook every day. That can get old pretty quickly, right?

Thankfully, I follow enough people and brands that this really isn’t an issue for me.

My feeds are full of content and I’ll generally miss the repeated messages unless I’m actively looking for them.


But that’s exactly why cross-channel promotion exists.



What is that fancy term, you might ask?

Cross-channel promotion just means the same content or message is posted on multiple platforms.

The majority of people are interested in multiple brands and only check social media during short breaks in their busy schedules.

This means that it can be harder to get someone’s attention, so brands may need to have their content or message show up multiple times for their audience to actually see and engage with it.

There is a nice summary in the Retargeter Blog which explains that users interact with the different social media platforms in different ways.

It is important to understand the unique qualities of the different platforms you have a presence on, and tailor your message for each of those platforms, to create a “far-reaching strategy that users can truly engage with.”

Another important element of promoting your content on multiple channels is to include links. 

These links can be for your accounts on other social media platforms, back to your blog or other relevant blog posts, as long as they provide a way for your followers and audience to connect and engage with you.

As Lori Pendleton stated in her blog post about cross-promotion, “you have to push [your content] out to multiple channels so it's seen by as many people as possible.”


So if you have a message that you want your followers to see, go ahead and post the same content on all your sites.

Just make sure you tailor your content to fit the individual platforms you’re posting on and include links to your content and other platforms.

Make it easy for your audience to engage with you.


About to post on Facebook,
The Purple Writer