VerticalResponse Product Blog

Get 5 Powerful Boosts with the New Roost by VerticalResponse Mobile App

2012-02-14T06:00:00-08:00

Your social marketing efforts shouldn't be limited to your desktop or laptop computer. In this day and age, you need to be able to post to your social networks when and where it's convenient for you. This is why we're happy to announce the first Roost by VerticalResponse mobile application.

The Roost by VerticalResponse free mobile app for iPhone allows you do a few powerful things:

1.) Post a Status Update to your Facebook Personal Profile, Facebook Business Page, Twitter account and LinkedIn account. The status update can be sent immediately, scheduled for a later date or added to an existing campaign.

2.) Share a photo with your social networks. Again, it can be sent immediately, scheduled in the future or added to an existing campaign.

3.) Review and manage all the posts you have sent or scheduled on the My Post page.

4.) Review the interaction detail of an individual post and obtain an Engagement Score.

5.) Make adjustments to your Roost by VerticalResonse account, access Frequently Asked Questions, review the TOS and Privacy Policy, provide feedback about the app or find out more about Roost.

The Roost by VerticalResponse mobile app is a complementary product that couples with an existing Campaign Creator account, so you need an active account before you can use the app. Sign up for a "FREE" Campaign Creator account by clicking here. You can also obtain more information about what Campaign Creator is and how it works by watching this short video.

We hope you enjoy our new app and we would love your feedback. Start Roosting today!

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

New Event Marketing Features - Copy Events, Cause Marketing, and More!

2012-02-09T11:30:00-08:00

This week we released some new functionality in our Event Marketing product including Cause Marketing & Donations. We also were able to address a few bug fixes that were affecting some customers.

We are excited to offer these improvements to our tool that will enable small businesses to get the most out of event marketing.

Event Copy

Many of you have asked for the ability to make a copy of an existing event to use as a starting point when creating a new one. Well, ask and you shall receive! This feature will save you a lot of time when you host many similar events or if you run the same event every year. To try it out, simply go into your Account Dashboard, locate the event you'd like to copy, and click on it to be taken to the Event Dashboard. From there, click on Copy This Event from the Other Tools section and you'll be ready to go!

Remember, this will copy all of the details of the original event, including event details, receipts, guest questions, etc..., so make sure to double-check all these details before publishing your new event.

Cause Marketing

Many for-profit events give a portion of their proceeds to causes such as charities and community initiatives. To support these events we've added an optional Cause Marketing section when designing an Event Page, allowing the event organizer to feature any causes benefiting from the event.

This new section will look and behave similarly to the Sponsor Block, but only appears if the event is charging attendees.

Then ticket buyers are given the option to make a donation to the causes during checkout.

Fixes

Internet Explorer - A couple of issues affecting customers using one of the latest versions of Internet Explorer have been fixed.
- The "Display Settings" and "Add a Sponsor" links didn't work properly when embedding YouTube videos in the event page [IE Version 9]
- Users will no longer experience a crash or the "spinning ball" when sending test invitations [IE Version 8]
Potential Crash During the Donation Process – Some attendees reported their browser hung after leaving the "confirm email address" field blank when registering for events. This behavior no longer occurs.
Label Field Disappears on Guest Questions - The label field no longer disappears after adding several Guest Questions for an event.
Could not Edit the "Thank You Page Message" - Edits made to the Thank You Page Message for guests under Receipt Setup now work as expected.

We have great things in store for 2012 and you'll see it here and of course, in your VerticalResponse account!

Posted by Jason Whittenberg

Jason Whittenberg is a Product Manager at VerticalResponse and blogs about enhancements and new functionality.

Widen Your Social Marketing Circle with Roost by VerticalResponse

2012-02-09T08:30:00-08:00

With social marketing growing by leaps and bounds, as evidenced by Facebook's filing for an estimated $5 Billion IPO last week, we know that getting social is no longer a choice, but a must. Have no fear, though, your helpful VR marketing buddies are here to make it quick and painless because growing your social marketing circle and the ability to reach a larger audience with your messages has never been easier or quicker.

We've answered your calls for social marketing help with Circles. A handy feature in any Roost by VerticalResponse account, Circles provides you a simple social sharing network. And the good news is, getting started is a cinch. Simply invite your friends and colleagues to your Roost Circle. Then, you can prompt each other to share posts. Plus, each of you have additional content that could be of value to your audiences that's available as you both build your own social campaigns. This helps your marketing message get in front of people who aren't currently in your networks.

Here's a walk-through of how it works:

Getting Started with Circles

Click on the My Circle tab at the top of Campaign Creator. You can find it between My Posts and Scorecard in the upper left-hand corner of the site.
Once in the My Circle section, you can invite friends and colleagues to join your Circle via Facebook Connect or email. After you've invited and connected with people, you'll have a network you can start sharing your content with as seen in the example below.

To share your content, all you have to do is visit your My Posts section and click on the Send to My Circle button on the bottom of the individual post(s).

After you click the Send to My Circle button, an overlay box will appear with the members of your Circle. Check the members that you feel will benefit from sharing your content and click Done.

On the other end, when one of your Circle members start to build a social marketing campaign, they will be able to click on the Add Post From My Circle button to see your shared content.

So come on and get started and watch your social marketing circles widen and your content expand.

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

Wondering What to Post in Your Social Media Efforts? Roost to the Rescue!

2012-02-02T06:25:00-08:00

One of the most common challenges we hear from small businesses owners when it comes to social media marketing is how to find great content to post. Let's face it, figuring out what to post takes time and work.

Well one of the terrific things about our new social marketing tool Roost, is that it comes loaded with great content choices you can easily drop into a social campaign. And since it's critical you use content that's relevant to your business...Roost's content library covers over 50 different industries with fresh content every day.

- Question: How do you find all this great suggested content in Roost?

- Answer: Very easily :)

Next time you're creating a Campaign or a Single Post in Roost you'll find content in two places:

1) The "Suggested Links" Library gives you links to tons of articles and blog posts from across the web, and these are refreshed daily!

From the "Add Link" are, simply select the article you want to include in your campaign, read it to make sure you know what it's about and then select it to add.

See below for a screenshot:

2) The "Suggested Quotes" Library gives you a terrific bank of quotes across a wide range of topics that make great conversation and engagement starters. To find it, go to the "Add Quote" module when creating a Single Post or Campaign and it will be one of the options. From there you can browse the different Quote categories and select one to add to your post(s). See screenshot below again:

3) Bonus tip - how to add or revise the content sources that show up in the Links library

Roost has custom content for over 50 industries and areas of interest. To change the content sources you see, all you have to do is hit the "Sources" link in the top right navigation bar and customize to your heart's content!

Did you know that you can even add your own favorite content feeds in here so that they regularly appear in your Suggested Links library?...Just click "Add a Feed" and enter the URL and it will begin appearing in Roost for you.

Posted by: Alex Chang

Alex Chang is the VP of Social Platform at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @AlexChangSF.

The Skinny On Campaign Creator

2012-01-26T09:05:18-08:00

Since the Roost acquisition more than a month ago, our development team has been hard at work making the Campaign Creator the best it can be. We've introduced some great new features and functionality. So with all these new things going on with the product, I thought it would be the perfect time to do a new overview video.

We have a ton of new users now, though, so I didn't want to leave them out in the cold by limiting this video to just the new features. So our typical "Less Than 5" Social Tip video is a little longer than usual. This allows us to show all of our users how to maximize their social marketing efforts with Campaign Creator.

Check out the video and the product and let us know what you think.

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

Big News! VerticalResponse Acquires Roost™ Social Media Marketing Platform

Roost Things We Love - Boost Business with Local Scorecard

Reddit Content in Roost by VerticalResponse Unavailable Until 5 p.m. PST Today

2012-01-18T06:28:36-08:00

Due to Reddit's blackout protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), the content that we source from the company will be unavailable for most of Wednesday 1/18/12. You can see more information on the company's decision for the blackout by going to their website.

Even though the Reddit links will still be visible in our content library, if you chose a Reddit link or have a Reddit link scheduled to post today, the content will be unavailable and will lead you to the blackout homepage on reddit.com.

We apologize for this inconvenience to your social marketing efforts and are confident that the Reddit content will be available later today. Please reach out to support@verticalresponse.com if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

Feather Your Social Nest with New Features from Roost by VerticalResponse

2012-01-16T09:00:00-08:00

Back in December we announced the news that we acquired social marketing leader, Roost. Now, just a few short weeks later, we're excited to share powerful new features to make your social marketing even more engaging.

Here's the scoop on our latest and greatest feature enhancements:

LinkedIn - In addition to being able to create, schedule and publish your campaigns to Facebook and Twitter, we've added LinkedIn to allow you to further the reach of your messages and expand your network.

Top Blog Posts & Breaking News - We've added tons of new, hot content to our Links Library. "Top Blogs" gives you a curated selection of blog posts for your industry and interests providing you engaging content for your posts and campaigns. We've also added breaking news from across the web, so you'll never be at a loss for something compelling to post. Finding and sharing intelligent and engaging content has never been easier.

Quotes Library - We've added a rich Quotes Library to our suggested content section, to provide you a wealth of quotations to use in your campaigns.

Conversations - We've added the ability for you to see and manage all the replies and comments to your posts within the Roost by VerticalResponse interface. No need to go to Facebook or Twitter to reply or comment and get distracted by all the "noise" there. You can do it all from your account. And, you'll get notified of new interactions through a handy little red notification icon (just like in your Facebook account). Learn more in this quickie video.

Here's a screen shot of how the notification will appear.

And here's how it will look when you click on the details button:

It's quick and easy to manage all the interactions that are happening with your posts.

Stay tuned because we're launching our Roost by VerticalResponse mobile app very soon.

And, if you haven't tried Roost by VerticalResponse, take it for a spin - It's Free!

Posted by Kim Stiglitz.

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

Event Marketing Feature Update Including Internet Explorer 9 Support

2012-01-11T07:00:00-08:00

We just completed a release for our Event Marketing tool with a few enhancements, a fix and full support for Internet Explorer 9 users. These enhancements make our Event Marketing tool even easier and faster for you to create sell-out events in the blink of an eye.

Highlights of the release include:

Enhancements

We've updated the editor used for designing event pages, invitations and reminders providing a better user experience and improved functionality.
We've improved the Transaction table which now allows you to click on a name in the table which brings up a window to email the buyer.
We've improved the instructions for editing receipts for ticket sales to make it easier to understand.

Fixes

Internet Explorer 9 issues have been fixed, including:

All backgrounds now display properly in the theme picker under the Design tab.
Drag-and-drop functionality works as expected when adding lists to invitations and reminders.
Deleting a widget is fully functional.
A javascript error no longer appears on the Edit Content tab after creating a new event.

And, when editing new invitations for the first time, instructional text no longer appears within the editor distracting from content creation.

That's it for now, look for more Product news as it happens.

Posted by Jason Whittenberg

Jason Whittenberg is a Product Manager at VerticalResponse and blogs about enhancements and new functionality.

Roost Things We Love - Boost Business with Local Scorecard

2012-01-06T08:30:00-08:00

As you may have heard VerticalResponse recently acquired a leading social media marketing company called Roost. Their signature product, Campaign Creator, allows you to set up a social marketing campaign in minutes from one easy to use dashboard. In addition to Campaign Creator, Roost also has another great tool called Local Scorecard. Roost's Local Scorecard provides insight on how local the "likers" of your Facebook business page are in relation to your business' actual physical location.

You'll get a score from 0 to 100 based on the location of your audience in relation to your physical address. With Local Scorecard you will also learn your Facebook local coverage relative to other businesses and gain suggestions tailored to your profile to help develop your audience.

People love to do business locally. It not only supports the local economy, but is usually more cost effective with less travel and shipping expenses involved. The challenge lies in getting the word out about your business to local residents. The awesome thing about Local Scorecard is that even if you're doing a great job with local social marketing, Roost will provide tips on how to do it even better!

My favorite part about Roost's Local Scorecard is the fact that the insight is truly valuable. In the audience development section for example, suggestions are not only relevant, but they are specific to your business and easy to implement. Knowing your numbers and taking a few minutes out of your week to take the suggested action to improve them can really impact your business postively and increase local engagement and patronage.

Roost has also analyzed the data from more than 800 users of the Local Scorecard to show trends that the Wall Street Journal found very interesting.

Stay tuned for more on our Roost favorites. Next we'll cover what we refer to as the 3C's of Roost: Campaign Creator, Circles and Conversations.

Related posts:

Savannah Stewart is the Partner Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse and blogs here about all things related to marketing and B2B communication. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

Give Your Newsletter a Makeover For the New Year

2012-01-05T14:53:01-08:00

The new year is here and with it, an opportunity to change things up and do things better than before. Time to spice it up, live a little and all that jazz.

When we send out our weekly VR Buzz newsletter we often get asked for a copy of the template we use, so we asked our graphic designer Patrick to create some killer new email newsletter templates to start you off on the right foot for 2012.

Here's a sneak peek of a few:

Happy Newsletter Template

VR Inspired Template

Newsy Template

The new templates include a clean look and feel and also include customizable social network icons, call-to-action buttons, and a table of contents. These templates are fully-editable, so feel free to make them your own. Need some pointers? Check out our recent One Template, Five Different Emails post.

To start creating your newsletter with one of these swanky new templates, just log in and find the template of your choice in your account on under the category, "Newsletters," on page three.

Don't have an account? No worries, we can get you started in less than 30 seconds and you can send your first 100 emails free.

Posted by Kim Stiglitz.

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.