• 67% of those surveyed agree with the statement “A mobile-friendly site makes me more likely to buy a product or use a service.”
• 61% of those surveyed agree with the statement “If I don’t see what I am looking for right away on a mobile site, I’ll quickly move on to another site.”

Google commissioned a study and surveyed just over 1,000 US adult smartphone internet users in July of 2012.  Details can be found here.

At Encompass Marketing we believe in an integrated approach to marketing and outreach. How your brand appears in print, TV, social media, and web needs to be consistent. Failure to properly convey your message in one medium can have a negative impact on your entire company. In the Google survey 52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company. One negative experience means you may have lost this customer.

Going mobile, having your current website recognize the device a visitor is using while looking at your website doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Would you pay for a print ad and have the images askew, columns and text not lined up? Of course not, so don’t let the same thing happen on the web.

More than likely you already have everything you need for your mobile site. It might be a simple matter of shifting around priorities. As we like to say here at Encompass Marketing, prioritizing the website real estate.

Think about what is most important to the mobile visitor, concentrate on 3-4 pieces of information. Is it directions to your office? Contact information or a phone number? Priorities for the on the go mobile user are likely different than the visitor looking at your website from a desk-top computer or laptop.

We’d be happy to discuss mobile opportunities for your business or organization.  We would love to get to know you and share ideas, contact us at any time at will@encompassmarketing.com or (207) 344-3191.

Founded in 1999, Encompass is a group of innovative strategists, creatives, programmers and relationship builders, who enjoy helping quality organizations get noticed for what they do. To learn more visit www.encompassmarketing.com.

Without getting into the dispute between Penn and Kansas City Star, here is our take on the media using information we provide on behalf of our clients.  Will Fessenden from Encompass has worked in several newsrooms and has a background in journalism,  we have been successful at getting earned media coverage for our clients (stories covered by a reporter and/or photographer based on the merits-newsworthiness of the story). On several occasions, TV and print reporters have used information directly from press releases we developed for clients.  Our goal, to find the angle, the nugget that makes it newsworthy and interesting.

There has also been occasions when print publications have taken a press release and/or photo with caption and printed it word for word. (I would suspect every PR firm in Maine has had a similar experience.). We write our press releases in AP style, inverted pyramid. Our hope, in fact we consider it a good day, when the media takes a press release and runs it as it. We work with clients to develop and present content that would require minimal editing. Feel free to take our word press release and run with it. These stories generally appear without a byline.

In the state of Maine with relatively limited daily media coverage, we work with clients to identify two types of stories. The first, that big story, the one (in our opinion) worthy of pitching to the media, crafting in a way that might be of interest for a reporter byline. Crafting in a way that makes it worth the reporter or photographer’s time to cover.  With a shrinking number of column inches available, make the story newsworthy for the editor to assign someone to cover it. Our process generally includes media advisories, press releases, calls and emails to the media.

The second type of story is one that can be told in 300, maybe 400 words or less. Important to the client (aren’t they all?) but having a reporter cover the story might keep them from coming back and covering the “bigger story” (see above). These press releases we write with the hope they will be picked up and run as is. Good impact and return on investment for the client.

At Encompass Marketing we believe it is our responsibility to work with the media to help get our clients noticed. We don’t expect the media to know everything about our client(s), our press releases are designed to shed some light on the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where” and “why”. We have trust in the reporter, photographer, editor, and assignment editors, that they will do their job. If the information we provide meets their journalistic standards and that of their employer, great-use it.

The alternative can be much worse. I doubt there is a PR firm in existence who has had a news crew cover a story, only to be disappointed by the coverage (a lost opportunity). While there might be some middle ground, PR professionals who are jaded by the idea of the media using their work (word for word) may not have the best interest of their client in mind.

“We are truly excited about the addition of this new website to our Camp POSTCARD program for needy Maine fifth and sixth graders,” said June Koegel, President and CEO of Volunteers of America Northern New England. Camp POSTCARD (www.camppostcard.org) is a week long program that focuses on bringing these youth together with volunteer law enforcement and criminal justice professionals for a unique program of traditional camp activities, time spent with strong role models and new and innovative health education and nutrition program called “Fit, Fed and Fun”.

Sponsored by the National Recreation Association, Fit Fed and Fun helps students understand how exercise, combined with smart dietary and other lifestyle choices, can improve their health and change their lives at this important time in their development.

VOANNE was looking for a safe, family-friendly social media experience for campers to keep in contact with one another as well as the camp counselors after their camp experience. Built around a theme of making healthy choices, campers and counselors each have a unique user name and password and are able to keep track of how much exercise they get, share ideas, make status updates, and engage in chats with each other. “Now the benefits of, and information provided by Fit, Fed and Fun will be available to campers well after camp is over,” said VONNE’s June Koegel.

Encompass Marketing believes in building websites using “Open Source” technology. The Camp POSTCARD site was built using WP Symposium (a social media plug-in for WordPress websites). All Encompass sites are built using WordPress, free from proprietary software, and are easily transferable to other developers and users.

Encompass is a group of innovative strategists, creatives, programmers and relationship builders, who enjoy helping quality organizations get noticed for what they do. To learn more visit, www.encompassmarketing.com.

In short an owner of a massage therapy center worked with both Living Social and Groupon.  900 vouchers, 4,000 massages gone, the owner’s take she received the value of a quarter of the normal massage price.  The incoming cash was nice, but didn’t cover her expenses, to make ends meet the owner borrowed money from banks, friends and family.

The same NPR story highlighted a (somewhat) positive Daily Deal experience.  The upfront cash from selling 16,000 Groupons helped the owner of a pizza restaurant with a remodel project.  The bad, Groupon patrons rated his store lower on Yelp than regular customers.

Be it Groupon, Living Social, Deal Chicken or a radio station half price outlet, Daily Deals aren’t a deal for everyone and are not appropriate for every small business or entrepreneur.

Consider the following:

•  What is the profit margin on the product/service you are offering the deal on?  Can you sell it for 25% of the asking price (which is the net result of most Daily Deal programs)

• If you are a restaurant and your staff relies on tips, will your Daily Deal be un-popular with staff?  If the $100 meal is now $50 and patrons tip based on the $50, this can hurt income of wait and support staff.

• Customer loyalty-people who buy daily deals generally fall into one of two categories.  First, those who are already a customer and really like your product and like a good deal.  Second, those who have no loyalty to you, but like a good deal.  Only a small portion of the second group will convert and become regular customers.  Research and provide incentives to make sure a percentage of the second group become regular customers.

• Daily Deals should be considered a piece of your marketing plan.  The exposure opportunities, getting your brand and name in front of new eyes and ears is important.  Daily Deals won’t likely result in a larger net profit.

At Encompass Marketing we believe Daily Deals and similar programs have their place.  Realizing their role in your overall marketing strategy is an important first step to having a successful experience with them.  For more information or to discuss how Daily Deals may or may not help you, feel free to email will@encompassmarketing.com or call (207) 755-9445 ext. 101.

Far too often social media is viewed as a one way street (how ironic).  Post something, someone will respond or share and hopefully that person will share again…and so on.  Between Hootsuite, social media plugins, and other apps, a business, non-profit or individual can spend their social media life posting, and never actually visit their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest page.   With the addition of the Facebook plugin on WP, it is now even easier than ever to never visit your social pages. Update your blog or website and it automatically goes to your social networks.

At Encompass Marketing when we develop social media plans for clients, it always includes (mandates) interaction (sharing, commenting, re-tweeting, liking…) not just posting.  These are the basics, the basis of a social media campaign.

Embrace technology and innovation, but don’t stray too far the strengths of social media, that is of course, actually being social and engaging with others.

While those in the healthcare field have unique concerns and laws to follow, every company-organization-non-profit or entity should have a workplace social media policy.  With that in mind, some thoughts on what every HR social media policy should contain.

• Describe/outline the reach of the policy:   clearly define how the policy relates to employee time at work (not related to job duties), employee time at work who might engage in social media as part of job duties, and use of social off work time.  Something very important to consider, who may/may not “represent” the company/organization while engaging in social media.
• Social Media Philosophy:  how does the company/organization view social media-what are its goals/objectives.  Providing an outline for how the employer uses social media will help explain why some employees may/may not use it to represent the organization.
• Privacy:  Employees/volunteers should be reminded what they post online is public.  Never assume it is private
• Company Devices vs Personal Devices:  do you have or need to have a separate social media policy for phone/computers issues to employees or volunteers?
• Social Media Policy as part of broader HR policies: how is the social media policy related to other HR policies?  Employees/volunteers should be reminded other policies carry over to social media use (HIPPA for healthcare, sexual harassment, confidentiality….)

These are just some general topics to include/consider in an HR social media policy.  More often than not, many employee complaints don’t come from the actual policy, but more so due to a misunderstanding as to the need for the policy and how it was communicated.

Having a plan for communicating, including employee feedback and input are important to successfully implementing a workplace social media policy.

Interested to hear more on our views regarding workplace social media policy?  Happy to chat further, call Will at (207) 755-9445 ext. 101  or email will@encompassmarketing.com.

Should I have one?  Or.  I want an App, but don’t know what it should do. 

As an agency that believes in a holistic approach where by marketing (both traditional and social), public relations and websites  working together for a common purpose/goal, having an App might not work for everyone.

The May 2012 edition of Website Magazine (www.websitemagazine.com) does a nice job breaking down Apps into three “classes”.

• Entertainment Apps-generally in the form of an interactive game.  Good for raising awareness, not always great as a means to raise revenue and relatively expensive to develop

• Information Apps-If you have content to share, this is the App for you.  Great means to reinforce brand, share upcoming events, blog and news posts.  Usually these apps are an extension of web and/or social media work you are already doing.

• Utility Apps (or anything that doesn’t fit under “Entertainment” or “Information”)-mobile e-commerce, mobile banking, catalog sales.  These apps generally have a very specific objective, do one thing and one thing very well.

The App question is one that virtually every business and non-profit organization should be asking.  Using the above categories as a starting point, review marketing and social media goals.  Will an App help your business or organization accomplish those goals?  The next step is to look at the costs associated with  development and integration.  After considering these and other factors, does and App make sense for you.

Interested in exploring Apps for your business or non-profit group.  It would be our pleasure to chat with you.  Send us an email: will@encompassmarketing.com or call 207.755.9445 ext. 101.

Dr. Jim Helmkamp and Mount Auburn Dental were looking for a website to help brand and market their practice to both established and new customers. The new site www.mountauburndental.com is more user friendly for both patients and staff. Patients are able to access billing, schedule history, and other account information. Dr. Helmkamp and his staff will use the blog function to update the community on industry trends and news from the practice.

Women, Work, and Community Women is the only statewide women’s economic development   organization in Maine. Organized into six regions and serving all 16 Maine counties, their website www.womenworkandcommunity.org had to handle multiple calendars and class listings for locations across the state. The new website’s layout and design allows users to more easily access class, program, and contact information.

Encompass Marketing believes in building websites using “Open Source” technology. Many of their sites are built using Word Press, free from proprietary software, and are easily transferable to other developers and users.

Encompass is a group of innovative strategists, creatives, programmers and relationship builders, who enjoy helping quality organizations get noticed for what they do. To learn more visit www.encompassmarketing.com.

• You (or perhaps your business) can help decide how you appear to Facebook friends when they use Bing
• Because this is connected to Facebook (more on this) your Facebook “friends” can get a better understanding of you
• Link search results pages about you, your business, work you have done

Here is how it works:

• Visit http://www.bing.com/linkedpages and hit the “get started button”
• You will be directed to a Facebook App (follow the instructions)
• Click “Link to Me” as/where you feel appropriate
• When you “Link” to a web page, the page is also posted on your Facebook timeline

If a Facebook “Friend” does a search within “Bing” for my name, they will now see pages, websites, and Links that I have linked to (recommended to Bing).

There are likely to be lots of changes/updates to this.  Please keep in mind, there is room for some privacy issues here.  Your Facebook privacy preferences might not carry over to Bing.  If your “Facebook” friends start using this, some of your links could be shared with others via Bing that wold have otherwise been restricted based on your Facebook privacy settings.

This product has some real potential, especially for those of us who are active on the web and through social media.  I contribute to blogs and websites not at all related to my work, I also keep my work social media presence separate from my personal social media life.  Bing affords us the opportunity to help separate those worlds by showing of work and web presence based on the person who is searching for me.

Should a a Facebook “friend” from my Will Fessenden Encompass page use this product, they will see very different things than one of my “friends” from my personal page.  At Encompass Marketing we use social media and a vibrant web presence to help market ourselves (and work with Maine businesses and non profits to to the same).  For those who take the same approach,  Bing is providing an opportunity to reinforce those efforts.  This won’t work for everyone, but is a tool for some to consider.