Digital Summit (a.k.a. #dsum13) was so much fun this year. We met a ton of awesome folks in Atlanta, saw lots of Instagrams and tweets from people loving their Emma swag (thank you!) and generally had an awesome time. That wasn't the only fun to be had this week, though. Just take a look back at some of the best social posts...
Digital Summit is this upcoming Tuesday, and we're getting ready by packing up tons of Emma goodies to bring to the masses. If you want your own little piece of Emma swag, but won't be able to meet us in Atlanta, just leave a comment here. We'd be happy to oblige!
Now that you've just added to your wardrobe, go ahead and add to your knowledge base with a look at what went down in social this past week:
We celebrated some fun staffer moments on Instagram this week: Christine got cookies for Administrative Professionals' Day, Katie got a Twitter shoutout from a cool customer, Clint donned boxing gloves for an impromptu photo shoot, and Gus the dog accompanied Kyle to the office, where he was promptly put to work on support emails.
So what notable moments happened in the world of social this week? Here's our roundup:
Have you noticed all the buzz around hashtags recently?
You're used to seeing 'em on Twitter, G+ and Instagram. They pop up on the screen when you're watching your favorite TV show (read: Shark Tank) or the commericals that air in between contestants' business pitches to the sharks. (We're still talking about Shark Tank, right?)
Vine, the latest arrival on the social media scene, now uses hashtags more prominently on its Explore page to help surface popular topics, and news broke last month that hashtags on Facebook are immiment.
Take a look at your own social feeds. Some people – and brands – embrace hashtags, while others avoid them altogether. Whether you love them or hate them, it seems like hashtags are here to stay. And to help you make the most of them, I've outlined a few considerations for your hashtag use.
Search social sites to discover which relevant tags are the most popular before choosing what to use in your tweet. Content curators may be searching for popular tags, and you want your content to surface.
Create a unique tag for special events or campaigns. Pick one that's logical and not super-long (you don't want to impede RTs), and make it public so folks at home can play along. When we launched our Brainiac Guide to Images in Email, we tagged some posts with #Brainiac. It's a great way for all of our Brainiac content to surface in one search.
Never punctuate hashtags or include spaces – you'll break the tag and look like a social amateur. If you're looking to make the tag more legible, capitalizing the first letter of each word may help. #LikeThis
Are you a #hashtag #convert, or are you hoping they'll go the way of Tamagotchi pets? Leave a comment and let us know!
Emma is headquartered in the Nashville district known as SoBro (that's South of Broadway if you're mashup-averse). It's a growing hub for technology companies and startups, and we get together with our neighbors from time to time for drinks, snacks, socializing and general merriment. What other social happenings went down this week? Here's a roundup from our Twitter and Facebook feeds:
And lastly, a favorite find from our own Twitter feed
This post was so compelling, I downloaded the app right away. Crowdsourcing city images makes weather fun. Do you have the app? Tell me what you think!
It's been a busy week here at the Emma shop. We caught some folks hanging around our Kanban board, which sits front and center in the atrium-style room of whiteboards Emma staffers call "The Thunderdome." It's where we track the progress of new features and account enhancements that we can't wait to share with you – including a cool announcement we'll make next week.
In the meantime, check out the happenings from the World Wide Web, and if there are any other Kanban fans in the house, leave a comment and let us know!
And lastly, a favorite find from our own Twitter feed
This post reminds us how the competitive landscape changes as you refine the definition of your brand, and the leading graphic is sure to make you LOL.
Have your fantasy baseball teams been off to a great start? Over here in the Emma shop, Big League Chewie, Wookie Season and #FreeCharlieHustle are swinging for the fences. (That strategy sounds a lot like: "Should I be starting a new pitcher every day?")
If fantasy baseball is a bit off base for you, We've got you covered with a different type of strategy: the digital type to be exact. Check out some links we pitched this week, and walk into the weekend with home run advice. See what I did there?
And lastly, a favorite find from our own Twitter feed
Sure, everyone loves a freebie, but what makes Imogene and Willie's giveaway so great is that they share the personal story behind it. What a great way to connect people with your brand on a personal level.
When savvy shopper W. Mark Whitlock took to the Twittersphere earlier this week, he had a goal in mind: Find out if he's partnering with the right email service provider.
That's something that you see pretty often on social media, and asking for advice on Twitter is a great way to get recommendations from peers. It's also a great way to feel out brands that take great care of customers over social media.
We have alerts set up to notify us when @emmaemail is mentioned on Twitter, so whenever we see our name included amongst some of our biggest competitors, we can't help but respond and throw a vote in the hat!
Turns out, we were the only one in the group of ESPs listed to respond. That meant something to Mr. Whitlock, and he decided that being with Emma was the right fit for him. And we're certainly excited to have him in our community!
The takeaway: Don't be afraid to jump into the conversation when your brand can benefit. When done right, the payoff is big.
Around the Emma offices we like to work hard, and we've been known to play pretty hard, too. This week we set up streaming capabilities in our bistro so we can get our March Madness on with the best of them. I'm pulling for Gonzaga – but mostly because it sounds like "gorgonzola" and I love cheese. No matter which team you're rooting for, we've listed this week's slam dunks from the web.
And lastly, a favorite find from our own Twitter feed
Even if basketball isn't your thing, you can get into bracket-mania with Garden & Gun's southern food bracket. We're rooting for Cheerwine. No, wait. We want MoonPie... Er, how are we supposed to choose one winner?! Leave us a comment and let us know who you're rooting for. (It's Texas Pete, isn't it?)
We've been having a lot of fun with stock images from BigStock this month. Et tu, Brute?
The Ides of March are upon us, folks. The biggest thing you should beware? Our BigStock giveaway expiring before you get your five images (yep, we're footing the bill). You've got about two weeks left for the freebie! Before you go fretting about which baby panda photo to purchase (you'll probably want to get 'em all anyway), relax and take a look back at all the wonderful things the world wide web had to offer you this past week:
And lastly, a favorite find from our own Twitter feed
To retailers, March Madness is all about sales. To die-hard fans – brackets. To the IT folks, it's about throttling your streaming capabilities. Cheers to you, IT peeps. Or as we like to call you: purveyors of productivity.
