About Who? About me!

Updated the old about.me page. Thoughts? Check it out at: http://about.me/daniraley

And while we're on that note, here's my Mozart inspired video résumé (via animoto),

The 2 best uses of post-its?

I think I've been bitten by the wedding bug. Eek! Regardless, I love the idea of this commercial. Not only because it's incredibly sweet but because it uses two of my favorite objects in the whole world (and they're obviously the true stars) -- post-it notes and sharpie markers.

However, as much as I love post-it notes I don't think the delivery of the proposal was that great. He had spent all this amazing time drawing out all the adorable things he loves about his hopefully soon-to-be fiance, and then just smacked them onto a wall? I think the creatives could have taken it maybe a step further and done something more visually striking.

Watch the spot to judge for yourself.


While we're on this style of art. I'd like to call your attention to the most beautiful use of the original "best thing". Sliced bread.


And just for kicks and giggles, another great use of post-it notes:

Bing!

Even though I'm a Google fanatic to the max, and therefore don't use Bing, I like this commercial. I like how quickly they used the new online chat feature on Facebook (as seen in the following image).

I enjoy that they get "friendships" ("I didn't mention Cancun in my Best Man's speech!"), but most importantly, I love the Toucan. And therefore will give my accolades to Bing! So, without further ado, here is the "Facebook and Bing: Chromeo" spot.


Side note, Kate Hudson and Matt Bellamy recently named their newborn son, Bingham. Bing for short. Which inspired me to start thinking about my first born's name. I'm thinking Googleheim or Googleford...

Campaign I'm Digging

I am absolutely in love with this spot by McKinney. With the hilarious and spot-on copy I should have expected my agency-crush to have spit out this beauty:



The "biddly boop" version is also fabulous, but I can't help but adore the banter between the parents.

Side Note: I interviewed with McKinney last summer, but didn't land the gig. Everyone (understandably) wants a planner with years of experience under the belt. Never-the-less I feel incredibly blessed that my resume and cover letter even broke through the clutter. Here's to hoping I get another shot! 

About.Me

Check out my about.me profile

Resume Add-On

How to get social media to work for your clients...

I was recently asked, "How would you make sure our clients have a successful social media presence?" This was my response...

As a Millennial and more specifically a 2005 High School graduate I have had the opportunity to experience social media in a way that only a small amount of people have been able to. I was able to join the train far before many others had the opportunity. Therefore, in addition to my education and internship experiences, I have a keen understanding of how social media works and the capabilities it has now as well as what it potentially will have.

Social media accounts for businesses are one of the most exciting opportunities agencies have currently. I believe the most important rule that people must remember is that it is not a one-approach-fit- all world out there. It is extremely crucial for a company to understand their audience and target market, and to allow that (as well as the medium) to be the crux of their campaign.

Take the Vikings for example. Sports teams are this amazing microculture that provide an often profound bond between fans, as well as shared experiences (I might not know who VikingVick21 is but I can probably assume he too is ready for Favre to retire, no offense to Favre). Sports fans are territorial and they like to defend their team and are not appreciative of any naysayers, even if they’re thinking it too. So with social media accounts you need to make sure all of your posts are in a positive light of your team, thus no bad-mouthing Favre when he throws another interception. With sports, you also have the ability to be a little loud and obnoxious, unlike if you were promoting…libraries?

You need to understand the mediums through which you are working in as well. If you are managing a Twitter account you are not going to want every tweet to be a link to the website blog. Twitter users enjoy the ability to gain insight in an instant. Pictures seem to be the exception as they are the most clicked through of links on Twitter. You tweet some behind the scenes snapshots of Asher Allen at practice and you are golden. You tweet a picture of Favre’s busted chin before or after the stitches and you, my friend, have just hit jackpot!

From a sociology perspective, social media is an incredibly fascinating study. People are now connected almost directly to their favorite brands, celebrities, and teams. Becoming a “fan” or “liking” a page isn’t much different than old school fan mail. The whole underlying purpose of writing a letter to David Cassidy was in hopes that he would personally respond, that your existence would be validated and confirmed because at one point in your life there was an actual connection and transaction between you and that dreamy Partridge brother. Social media is exactly the same. Fans don’t just write on a wall for the pure amusement of typing the letters and pressing “post”, they do it so others will read what they wrote and connect to it. We, as a society (or at least a large percentage of social media users) crave that connection and pseudo-popularity. So, back to the Vikings and the “Show Your Horns” campaign: fans at the games are without fail going to dress in their team colors proudly promoting their Vikings, but how do you get them to follow the Vikings on Facebook? Well, what if you have fans upload a picture of them showing their horns onto the Minnesota Vikings profile wall and every game day you choose the fan with the most spirit and originality, you then make their photo the profile picture for both the Facebook and Twitter account on game day. You just generated interest, interaction, competition, and satisfied their desire for validation. At the end of the season you can even go one step further and have fans vote on who their favorite enthusiast was during the season and provide the ultimate winner with the ultimate gift—kickass seats to a game, meet the players, or even attend a practice.

For a social media account to remain popular and to be used as a source of information the content needs to remain interesting and what the user is seeking. This, I believe, is where a lot of small businesses make their mistake. For example, they will try to keep their business on an exclusively professional basis and post mundane stuff like store hours, rather than trying to engage their customer and provide information they are actually seeking. If my client is a hair salon then I am going to want to discuss things that are relevant to hair (obviously), but also all things beauty and image related. If I am willing to pay $200+ on getting my hair cut and colored you best believe that I am somewhat interested in what the rest of me looks like too! Small businesses also have the amazing opportunity to remain relevant to the community, to engage in the daily life of the locals. When I began working with The Spa at the Foundry Park Inn on their Facebook account I gave the spa director a laundry list of ideas she could use to engage potential clients, but she was nervous it was straying too far from the information she found important (the business hours and the prices of services). She missed the boat on being able to interact with Athenians on what was going on throughout the vibrant community—bike races, football games, music festivals, etc. Fortunately, the subsequent spa director totally agreed with me and implemented the changes I suggested and gained more followers.

Then there is the monitoring and tracking. Social media is a fabulous source to find out what consumers are actually saying about your product. Scouring the blogs and twitter feeds is essential in learning how people truly feel. This needs to be done in perspective though, since people are more likely to write a blog post about a negative experience versus an amazing one, since “good” is supposed to be the norm. But even with the negative posts it gives you the opportunity to correct a bad situation, apologize, and possibly win back their affection. I am a firm believer that engaging with consumers is one of the best ways to make them a loyal brand advocate, and that ultimately is the goal.

So, back to your original question; how does one make sure your clients have a successful social media presence?

 Step 1: Research. Know who your target market and audience are.

Step 2: Understanding. Once you know who you are appealing to find out what they want to know, see, read, and hear. Find out how they are using social media already and then get their attention. Your brand can be doing all the right things already, but it is useless if they don’t know it exists.

Step 3: Engage. Amuse your followers, talk to them, reply to them, provide them with content they will get excited about and want to share with others. Make sure the content is appropriate for the medium, brand, and the audience.

Step 4: Monitor. Respond to negative posts and apologize for the unfortunate experience. Most importantly though, listen to what they are saying and adjust your campaign to satisfy their wants and needs. Social media is dynamic, and you need a campaign that can thrive in a constantly evolving climate—change is not to be feared and does not mean a mistake was made, it just means that the climate is not what it once was and you need to dress accordingly.

One last thing, never ever be scared to step outside the box. Innovation is now an expected part of the world of technology and advertising. Consumers like to be surprised and amazed and they reward people who do so through this amazing little thing called word-of-mouth (viral videos, anyone?). Plus, free publicity is a win-win for everyone and if you create something so original that the local and national news want to report it and/or your grandparents email you about it, you just exposed yourself to hundreds if not thousands of unanticipated connections. It is imperative to remember though, that sometimes keeping things simple is just as effective as an extremely elaborate campaign…knowing the difference is what sets your agency apart from the rest of the pack.