Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Digital Media Summit- Canada's Premier Social Media and Interactive Marketing Conference at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. Infinity had the privilege of working with the Digital Media Summit since December of 2011, running their social media campaign, along with traditional PR and media relations. Now I'm not just saying (notice the clever pun) this because we were involved with the event, but it really was an amazing two days. Got to hear from lots of amazing speakers, make some great network connections and top it all of with a closing keynote address from Arianna Huffington. 

I wanted to share an interesting thought with you that I picked up at DMS courtesy of Facebook's Steve Irvine, who was definitely one of the highlight speakers. Steve talked a lot about how social media has the power to take a brand that may seem very disconnected from the human experience and capture those special moments in life that the brand has always been a part of. 

Take something as basic as nails: boring, cold, come in assorted cases at your local Home Depot for a couple of dollars. How could 'Example' Nails, as a brand have any sort of resonance with everyday life? What's the point in creating a Facebook page for nails- it's not as if people are nail enthusiasts or take great pride in the brand of nails they identify with. Yet nails can be a part of many special moments throughout our lives. The first time you built something with your dad or grandpa- hitting those nails into the wood and loving it no matter how crooked they were, that time you built a bird house as a gift for mom on mother's day, your first house- and how you and your friends renovated it on your own because you couldn't afford to hire a professional to help,the volunteers that come together to rebuild houses that have been destroyed by floods, tornados and fires and that tree house you built for your grandkids just because you could. (Are you teary eyed yet?)

I apologize for making the last part read like a bad Disney script, but this was just a short list of the many plausible "story" scenarios where something as bland as couple of nails become a part of a meaningful and memorable life experience. The brand now has power to project those moments via social media by creating a space where the stories can come to the forefront and remind the audience how that given brand now fits into their story. 

Just a thought. Until next time*

David Siekanowicz

There are many trending topics happening this week.  I could discuss this year’s best Super Bowl ad.  The return of Ferris Bueller – hands down, am I right?  Seriously... I think I’ll just watch FBDO for the 1,000^th time on Sunday instead of the Super Bowl.  Why aren’t my days off half as glamorous as that one?  Must be the car…

Anyways, today I’ll be talking about Infographics.  Infographics are everywhere.  Just go on Mashable and every other entry contains an Infographic.  There are Infographics about what people look up on Facebook, how we use Twitter, the economy, the election…there are even infographics about infographics...lots of them

Wouldn’t all this information be better presented in a list?  I know you’d love that Dave….

Some people just love Infographics.... here's what Blue Wheel Media says about them:

"Infographics have the ability to transform a boring collection of statistics, facts and figures, into a stunning masterpiece that you won't be able to keep to yourself.  Upon finding a great infographic, the reader is overcome with a thrill of discovery - almost like an adrenaline rush, triggering desire to share."

So if this is true, how can you apply this latest trend to your business and have the biggest impact with your documents?  If I had any design talent, I would create my own infographic with pie charts, symbols, squiggly lines and shiny colours, but I’ll just have to do a list

People respond to visuals – so don’t be too texty.

Keep it short

People are busy, we have lots of things to do and we get distracted easily.  So if you want us to read your quarterly sales report, keep it short…because after page 1, I’ll be bouncing over to YouTube or checking out Perez Hilton.

And it the same vein:

Keep it simple

Avoid jargon, fancy abbreviations or acronyms.  Don’t use 4 words when 1 would suffice.  Forget complicated – use simple, direct, easy-to-understand words that every single one of your audience will get.  No one wants to feel condescended to when reading that ubiquitous sales pitch. Indubitably!

Don’t just dress it up, back it up

See what I did there? Very tongue in cheek (if I do say so myself). 

This blog is a combination rant,commentary and airing of grievances all in one. As part of my daily research to keep up-to-date with all things social, digital and PR, I go through a bookmarked list of blogs that feature the latest posts related to said areas of interest. I then check my Twitter lists to see what the important people are Tweeting about. Since Twitter is a great sharing platform I figure any worthwhile stories, blogs and articles will eventually be tweeted. 

And I must report that I have noticed an annoying trend. Let me know if you see it:

• 5 Tips for First Time Managers
• 5 Ways Social Media is like a Networking Event 
• 5 Facts You Didn't Know About Facebook Edge Rank
• 7 Reasons Every Job Seeker Should Have a Blog
• 11 Things That Annoy Journalists and Bloggers

In my previous post we established the nature of this ‘weird devil’ known by many names but living under the umbrella term of “Social Media”. Our attempt at managing the digital strategies that go into a successful social media plan concluded with something that looked like an evil math equation (yes, yes- I know, ALL math is evil; but this equation is super evil!): Over 1000 “known” SMS+ less than 1% matter to your business+ that 1% also matters to 95% of your competitors= high risk of getting lost in the clutter.

In hopes of cutting through everyone else’s clutter (because of course your business is the only one that matters), it’s crucial that you manage your 1% at 100% capacity. But wait, where is YOUR 1% located? It’s easy to hop on the popularity bandwagon and do what everyone else is doing, but what if that’s not what’s best for your business? Sure Facebook is important to most businesses, but if you’re located anywhere in Brazil or India then forget about Facebook and focus on Orkut. This Google owned platform has exploded in Brazil since 2004, where it is now the top social networking website. What better way to reach your Brazilian audience then by switching to a Social Media platform they have embraced?

No biggie, after all you are located in Canada right? So you should go ahead and put all your effort on Twitter, but wait- your business is a restaurant. Well if you’re a restaurant then you will find that your 1% should focus on Yelp! Yelp, is a food/restaurant review social media website that encourages user generated content. Your customers can post reviews, highlight favourite menu items, post videos or pictures of the food and most importantly connect with other foodies via a platform that is popular in the foodie community.

One more? Alright, your business is a high-quality boutique film production studio interested in showcasing the highest standards of video to an exclusive community that can appreciate the work, effort and quality you put into every project. You had the bright idea of putting up your vides on MySpace, STOP- oh I jest, no one uses MySpace anymore. You had the idea of uploading your videos to YouTube, alright that’s pretty good- or maybe not. How about Vimeo? Vimeo is a video based social media platform that has less ads than YouTube, features higher viewing quality, nicer branding/graphics and most importantly has a community of passionate film makers who feel they are too good for YouTube. Boom- there’s audience. Vimeo it is.

The moral of the blog- to maximize your 1% don’t necessarily go running with the wolves. Instead find out which pack your audience is running with and go there (wow that’s a terrible analogy). Sorry about the length of this one, join me next time for Cutting Through The Clutter: You’re Supposed to be Social, SAY SOMETHING!

Dave Siekanowicz  

It’s been said before, but this is something worth bringing up again as it’s becoming more relevant: as our level of connectivity increases, the lines of distinction between the social web and the real world are blurred accordingly.  

One interesting statistic that emerged over the past week is that Facebook users uploaded 750 million pictures in a single weekend. I’m guessing that a lot of this was done on the go, as users posted pictures of that fun New Years Eve party that was happening as they welcomed in 2011.

On New Years Eve, Twitter exploded the world over, with users greeting each other a Happy New Year at the stroke of midnight. Most notably, Japan’s New Year celebrations logged a record-breaking estimate of nearly 7,000 tweets a second. Again, something like this wouldn’t be happening from the front of a PC or laptop, but as users rang in the New Year with family and friends. In terms of year-end statistics, Twitter saw 100 million new Twitter accounts created over the past 12 months and roughly 25 billion tweets.

But how does this tie in to what I mentioned about our levels of connectivity increasing? 2010 saw a plethora of social media apps created for mobile use.  These apps helped us stay in touch and keep our friends and family in the loop (for better or for worse) about the goings-on in our lives.

With this in mind, one thing that was definitely big for me was the emergence of location-based applications that allowed users to tell friends where they were at a given moment. Foursquare, the popular location service, released an update towards the end of 2010 that gave users the ability to post comments and pictures of places where they checked-in. Need menu suggestions at a restaurant? Forget asking the waiter. Instead, consult Foursquare, see if any friends visited the location before you, and check out their food selection along with pictures of the dish.

Augmented Reality technology also stood out with Layar, a smartphone application that makes use of a phone’s camera and GPS capabilities to create a visual “layer” (a collection of information that corresponds to a given location) on a phone's screen. Different “layers” exist, each providing a different type of information, from restaurant and hotel locations to entertainment ideas and even historic tips. If you're in an unfamiliar city and looking for a coffee, put away your travel guide and pull out Layar to find the closest coffee shop and point you in the right direction. The newest update to Layar now supports interactive “layers” that are designed to enhance a user's experience with the physical world. You’ve heard of Internet browsers before? Layar is a Reality Browser.

Location-based and augmented social media seem poised to change the way we see and experience things in the real world, and also (if it already hasn't) the way we conduct business. So it’s 2011! The future’s here, and while it may not include the flying cars that we saw in the Jetsons, it’s an exciting time in the world of social technology.