“Okay, point out which of your Facebook friends have AIDS.”

We may laugh at the typical ignorance of Europeans when it comes to talking about South Africa but the truth of the matter is, we have the highest number of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in the world. Countless non-profit organisations have sprung up in order to support people in need of antiretroviral, housing and financial-stability during their fight against the infamous and as-yet-incurable virus. Now, they’re becoming social-media savvy and recruiting members the twenty-first-century way; online.

If you search HIV/AIDS on Facebook, hundreds of groups and communities will pop up in a convenient list on your computer screen. Causes, communities, local drives and many more different types of AIDS support mechanisms are embracing how effective social media involvement can be. They’re raising funds, updating their pages with the latest research and advertising worldwide events to spread awareness and reduce ignorance.

And yet, most of these groups are based in the USA. Admittedly, America also has a large number of HIV infections to contend with but they’re coping well and meeting the virus head-on. South Africa, on the other hand, who is in dire need of assistance with educating people on how AIDS spreads and providing treatment to those who can’t afford it, seems to have been largely left behind. Campaigns to rally supporters for drives such as GlennRunns.com, a one-man mission to provide housing for AIDS orphans by running the Comrades Marathon, have a shockingly low number of fans and members.

The reason for this is our cultivated callousness when it comes to talking about HIV/AIDS. We have become so desensitised to the reality of the disease that we completely ignore efforts to decrease its spread across our country. This could be partly due to the idea that we have no way of truly assisting the cause – an idea that has little basis in reality.

Technology has given us all the tools we need to effectively support AIDS awareness without sacrificing any level of personal comfort. All you need to do in order to spread the word about local initiatives is like their Facebook page and share it on your profile. It enables the minimum amount of effort to possibly yield a much larger response. Once people have overcome the mindset that says helping an AIDS cause requires a heart like Mother Teresa’s or a very hands-on and involved approach, the online campaign to keep up-to-date with research developments and local charities trying to aid those in need can begin and probably spread like wildfire. The one thing we all love about social media is how convenient it is – what’s more convenient than liking a Facebook page?

Click a button. Post a link. Raise awareness.

For an entirely unique perspective on all things digital, please feel free to visit our blog:  http://dbdblogs.wordpress.com/

We are also always interested to hear what our friends (both new and old) have to say, so please have the courage to engage with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DigitalByDesignSA

To begin with, companies now have the available advantage of social media to express their content to a larger audience, more easily than they could have say ten years ago.

GOING GREEN

Most companies these days take the “green” approach, to show people that they are actively contributing to the very planet we live in by reducing their carbon footprint. However, the public at large would be otherwise unaware if it weren’t for cost effective campaigns broadcasting the green initiative, made possible through social media.

ACTS OF CHARITY

Companies can make the world a better place in practically any way by sponsoring one or more charities through social media. Again, social media creates awareness and promotes direct interactivity that other forms of media lack.

BIG PARTIES

Companies can create events that are fun and that would guarantee traffic and interactivity between social groups if the event promised say a weekend event of live music and entertainment, spearheaded by chart-topping performing acts. Common target audiences are identified more easily if say the event was hosted in downtown Johannesburg, because then the content can be pushed by all the youth living in one single city alone simply through sharing, promoting and liking a cool event.

KILLING THREE BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

The best part however, would be to intertwine the aforementioned. Create a social media campaign starting with identifying a gigantic audience that frequents events hosted in the centre of town. Invite the companies in question to sponsor the event, and explain that proceeds and royalties produced by a single event in one weekend will go towards any charity available (be it for rhino poaching, HIV/AIDS treatment, poverty or disease). Proceeds would also go to sponsoring environmental initiatives such as recycling waste materials, or cutting down on detrimental materials like copper or lead for example.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Everybody wins in these circumstances: the planet, charities, social groups and the brand awareness of companies.

A concept such as this can flourish through social media because it’s exciting, intriguing, socially beneficial and will guarantee a following so long as events which raise proceeds are entertaining enough for people to want to come back for more; which they will be provided chart-topping performing acts play a partial role in the social media campaign that will ultimately influence a company’s brand awareness.

A company will be remembered, identified and followed should it successfully promise excitement, a clean planet and charitable organisations constantly receiving donations. This can all be made possible and delivered to masses through social media like no other medium could execute.

Furthermore, the more successful the campaign becomes, the more other companies will want to come on board and become part of a phenomenon made possible only through social media.

Extra notes:

Companies should take note of this initiative to push their product to a large, defined target audience and become renowned for environmental friendliness, with a charitable bearing and an affiliation to event promotions that draw not only lots of cash, but alot of traffic.

To learn more about being socially-interactive, please feel free to visit our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalByDesignSA or our blog at: http://dbdblogs.wordpress.com/  At Digital by Design we always love to make new friends and hear what you have to say!

TELEVISION offers us very little in terms of marketing ourselves, especially when compared to the new but fast rising phenomenon of social media.

Since the introduction of social media, the veil covering the concept of what television really is has become increasingly thinner.

COOL AND UNCOOL

The concept of control comes to mind. Television has an iron first of control, exerted to favour the interests of the rich and powerful, i.e. politicians and capitalists. And so it has been for nearly a century. That is not “cool”.

With the introduction of social media; the ability to mass communicate and broadcast is no longer limited to “the man”, but now free to all who choose to use social media. How the public take advantage of social media determines how they can favour their interests. That is cool.

Television is also not always accessible, and certainly not so in the typical working environment. Who keeps televisions in their pockets, purses or satchels anyway? Social media does not suffer that disadvantage what with smart phones and iPads.

SOCIAL INTERACTIVITY

Unlike social media, television lacks interactivity, posing as a one way street. After all relationship building is about conversations, which nurture loyalty and support. With social media access forums, there are blogs and portals that are specific to particular content, discussions and reviews. You can also use interactive tools to identify conversations.

REACHING A LARGER AUDIENCE

Since we are on the topic of freedom and expression, social media, when implemented correctly reaches a larger target audience. The web allows content to be exposed all over the world at any time whereas television suffers those limitations.

ECONIMIC VIABILITY

Thanks to social media we have broken the shackles of oppressive control. We can engage with others cost effectively (because social media is cheap if not free) and convenient in many ways.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Consider the phenomenon that far more people are exposed to content on social media rather than television and its advantages in interactivity; and it becomes obvious that expressing a message via social media rather than television is far more viable.

Freedom, convenience and public interest is cool. The iron grip of control from Big Brother in the sky or rather in the television is not. Thanks to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the likes, a revolution has begun.

 For more insights into the world of social media and all things ‘digital’ visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalByDesignSA

So you’re not a very talkative person – who cares! The internet is the only place where you can pour your heart out and not be afraid of the repercussions. People still tend to have some kind of inhibition on platforms where they can’t be seen, for some reason – most definitely an advantage since being ‘social’ plays a major part in social media! Let’s take a look at what you really need to know about your social skills with regard to social media platforms…

According to the experts, it’s very important to get to know your fans and followers personally. Although it might be tougher to do on Twitter it’s important to see them offline, perhaps gather them for a workshop, or arrange a fans day. Photos help in this regard because you’re able to see what your clients are doing and perhaps get to know them a bit better. Getting to know them better means seeing their wants and needs on a more personal basis and giving it to them.

As for being social, you’ll want to mind your manners and be the best host of you wall/page/blog, etc. Have a welcoming design, credible content, and take heed of constructive criticism. Make sure you abide to the Netiquette and be prepared to carry your social media skills into the real world. Make sure clients are able to contact you so that they can be sure of your legitimacy. It’s always nice to know the person who you’re dealing with is in fact a real person even though you can’t see them. Be upfront, state the facts, and don’t do anything ‘dodgy’ to jeopardise your credibility – news spreads fast on the net so you’ve got to be your best person online.

Now that you know a bit about socialising for business purposes using social media, take a look at more of the tips from Digital By Design. Learn the basics of Hash-tagging, content writing, and so much more; and look out for our upcoming e-books that are sure to give all the information you need to launch your very own spectacular social media marketing campaign! Forward any queries or questions to us at info@digitalbydesign.co.za or visit our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalByDesignSA and we’ll be sure to solve any of your social media dilemmas!

If popularity is the way to tell what people want to read, then reading blogs on a regular basis will give you a very good idea of what you should do (and what’s taboo) in the online writing world. Successful bloggers write eloquently or whit fully with just the right number of words that you won’t find in the dictionary.

In other words, it’s safe to say that readers are the guys you’ll want to please, and since they’re just itching for an entertaining piece to sink their teeth into it’s a great idea to ‘get jiggy’ with your words and get down to their level.

Hop onto the slang band wagon and fire away! You’ll be happy to know (I’m pretty sure) that slang is quite necessary if you’re aiming to captivate your audience and keep them entertained. Don’t overdo it now – getting in a few short phrases or words is all you need.

Entertainment comes at the cost of formality. And formality is slowly becoming a thing of the past. While the Elitists hold on to the last few strings of their boudoir, even scholars have lost touch with it. In fact the term being ‘scholarly’ has taken a total 360 in recent years!

Blame blogging, blame texting, blame bad teaching practices, blame whatever you like; the English language is changing and in the media and marketing field change has got to be embraced. With arms wide open!

We, at Digital by Design, like to keep up with change and new advances in our field. We’ve also decided to keep you informed and perhaps teach you a thing or two about what we do at Digital by Design.

We are in the process of creating e-booklets that will help you understand what you can expect from us, what social media is exactly, and how we can give you online success. From SEO to Twitter and Linked-In basics and so much more, follow our articles and you’ll be sure to learn something interesting. Get tech-savvy with the help of DByD! Visit us on: www.digitalbydesign.co.za or leave us a comment on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalByDesignSA

Touching a spot on any random wall while walking down the street creates a pop-up screen and allows you to access the web, or pick up an object and the computer you wear around your neck will be able to tell you everything you need to know about it!

If you think that we’re living in an information age now, the future promises access to so much more readily available info!) It won’t happen overnight, we’ll get eased into it surely. Soon, however, you’ll need to have a prominent online profile in order for you to get noticed.

The time to start promoting your brand online is now, whether you’re a corner cafe, a huge firm, or a famous personality, you need to secure your profile name across all platforms (because once a name is taken there’s nothing you can do about it). What’s in a name?  Your reputation, and your brand depend on the name you use online – it’s quite obvious why that’s priority #1.

After that you need to promote your brand completely! Get out on to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, Google Adsense! It’s not just your local regular customers but the entire world that needs to know that you exist. Prepare for a future of imports and exports, global markets, and mailing goods to clients all over.

Get a head start before people suddenly wake up and smell the coffee brewing in some far away land (not so farfetched once you’ve seen the digital designs of the future!).

Visit www.digitalbydesign.co.za for all your digital design inspiration, needs, and commitments. We’ll be there for you long after your transition to the digital world. We’ll manage your online profile, and give you respectable online branding that will last long into the future!

Call us, email us, find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our website. Set up a consultation and secure your businesses transition into the future market. You don’t need a robot, you need Digital by Design!

The informality of Facebook makes on think that campaigners are having a ball of a time getting their brands noticed and their campaigns running successfully, but in all truth it’s a mammoth of a task that requires meticulous planning (for months ahead!) and constancy in executing that plan.

Status updates have to be compelling! It’s okay to talk about the crazy weather we’re having, what’s happening in the news, your favourite quotes, and what you’re doing today once in a while but if you want to do business on Facebook you’ve got to mean it! You need calls to action and you need to be persistent and business-minded in your approach.

Facebook users are looking for something original and exciting to follow. Yes, freebies are an encouragement and competitions make ‘liking’ a page all the more appealing but proper calls to action make your product/brand stand out just as much. You don’t need to be throwing free stuff around in order to get noticed, believe in your brand and promote it as the best on the market.

It’s important to generate respect from your fans so that they feel the need to verbalise their feelings on your Facebook page. In order to achieve this, you need to relay the sound business practices you’ve learnt over the years to your Facebook page. A strong call to action for all of your promotions will get you there.

So what does it mean to call consumers to action – and to call them ‘strongly’? It means (as in the case of your Facebook campaign) you have to make them want to perform some kind of action after reading your promotional status updates – possibly the kind of action that puts some cash in your pocket. They should be left feeling a need to buy your products!

The art of advertising is to create feelings (of happiness mostly) in the consumer’s mind for a particular product. If it makes them happy, they’ll be sure to buy it! Fortunately for you, you don’t have to wait to graduate with a four-year advertising degree in order to achieve marketing success with your Facebook campaign!

Our social media team at Digital by Design has all the passion and expertise to get your campaign up and running successfully – and with the extra hands, in less time than expected! Visit our website www.digitalbydesign.co.za and set up a consultation. You can put your trust in us and we’ll be sure to get you all the Facebook action you desire…!

Why LinkedIn, you might ask. The answer to which is quite extraordinary! It was started in the living room of it’s co-founder Reid Hoffman in 2002, had over 4000 people join its network in the first month, and presently it has professionals joining at a rate of more than two members a second. LinkedIn is a network of professionals and companies, unlike Facebook and Twitter it is much more business orientated.

There is a lot that Linked in can do for your business. There were over 1,100,000 users on the network in April this year, and almost 12000 companies. LinkedIn is ranked the 11^th most popular site that South Africans visit. Stats aside, join a group of experienced business intellectuals and you’re bound to receive ample amounts of free advice; ask high-end achievers the questions you’ve always wanted the answers to; create events for these big guys to attend; find your target market on the LinkedIn network and stay in touch with them (send these leads personalized messages and connect with them on a new level) – just some of the reasons why your business needs to be a part of the LinkedIn network.

Swimming the big blue and white sea that is LinkedIn takes practice and lots of time. It’s one of those things you just have to dedicate yourself to in order to get the hang of it. You want to become the top achiever; the guy who makes sure he gets what he wants from it. Not an easy task, but rewarding in itself once you start. It’s tough out there and you’re going to need to be on top of the game if you’re going to be successful.

Let us make sure of your success. We’ll do everything for you, so that you don’t have to. Our social media team has the expertise to get your business to where you want it to be! We’ll lay out the shark nets, brave the waters, and make sure you come out a winner. Leave your social media and LinkedIn success in our hands; call us, email us, go to our website, www.digitalbydesign and click on the ‘set up a consultation’ bar at the top of our home page.

Take this giant leap and start the New Year with Digital By Design and LinkedIn as means to your businesses success! A new start comes just once a year, and you’ll want to take advantage of this. Make 2012 your year!

A little under two years ago, Inside Digital Media predicted that sponsors would ultimately demand they only pay for video ads that actually get watched. (Thinking the Unthinkable About Video Ads– September 18, 2009). We reasoned the success of the cost-per-action pricing of Google AdWords would force change. Since sponsors only pay Google when viewers “click on” AdWords text, they would ultimately apply such a cost-per-action standard to banner and video ads as well.

Download audio narration to iPhone, iPad, or iPod — seven minutes.

Last week a YouTube executive provided confirmation at WPP Group’s Global Video Summit. WPP Group is a leading advertising and media management company. YouTube’s Product Manager for Video Monetization, Baljeet Singh, was a Summit guest where he forecast half of video ads by 2015 would be cost-per-view. He explained how it is starting on the Internet.

YouTube is offering “TrueView Video Ads” permitting viewers to choose the ads they want to watch. There are two options. In one, after the ad plays for five seconds, viewers get a choice to skip or watch the ad. The advertiser is not charged unless the viewer lets the ad play to completion, or for at least thirty seconds. A second option gives viewers a choice of ads to watch during regular commercial breaks. Sponsors are only charged when their ad is selected.

YouTube reports that sponsors like the format so much they’re willing to pay ten-to-forty times more for them. Such ads are not about merely being funny or clever; they’re about delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. They also provide a wealth of tracking data enabling advertisers to measure accurately what commercials are working best with which demographic. Since YouTube accounts for about forty percent of Internet video streams, it has sufficient market share to influence the entire industry.

Nonetheless, most of our video watching remains on the TV. Although an increasing number of connected devices allow us to get YouTube and other Internet Video on television sets, we still need a remote control unit at the sofa in order to interact with the ads. More importantly, we still spend most of our time watching conventional TV shows. While a growing percentage have been time-shifted by prior recording on a DVR, they’re still ordinary TV shows and not Internet Video streams.

The CATV industry has promised interactivity as a future innovation ever since it wired urban markets in the early 1980s. But it’s been like Waiting for Godot. The latest industry version is three-year-old Canoe Ventures which has had negligible impact. Thirty years of boasting about a gift it does not give puts the industry in a position of the proverbial clouds and wind that bring no rain.

While the cable industry has delayed, two readily available innovations have emerged that can be adapted to enable interactive TV commercials right now.  One is content identification made possible by digital fingerprints and watermarks. The other is the class of app-centric portable products represented by the smartphone and tablet computer.

Consider watermarks. Currently nearly all domestic network TV programs include an identifying digital watermark in the audio component. The technology was adopted in order to permit Nielsen to provide automated audience measurement by installing sensors in the homes of panel members. The sensor detects the mark automatically thereby improving the efficiency of audience measurement.

However, there’s no reason why TV commercials themselves couldn’t also contain such marks. Not only could they identify the ad, but their payloads could contain additional information such as discount coupons, or calls-to-action for loyalty programs, among other interactive features.

The role of detecting such marks can become one of the many app-enabled functions of smartphones and tablet computers. According to IDC, worldwide smartphone manufactures shipped over one hundred million units in the fourth quarter of 2010 alone, exceeding for the first time the number of computers delivered. Prompted by the milestone, Google’s Eric Schmidt proclaimed “the smartphone is the new PC.” Similarly, Yankee Group predicts over sixty million tablet computers will be in use by 2015.

The key is to provide a television-watching app which is valuable to consumers but also incorporates content detection; something like the Shazam song recognition app except for TV Shows. To date, little has been done to integrate the two, although Yahoo acquired IntoNow which is among the pioneers of the concept. Nonetheless, consumers are showing interest in apps that augment television viewing thereby implying that innovators who add detection to such apps can enable interactive TV commercials.

On example of a TV-watching app attracting significant consumer interest is the Peel TV remote control.  TiVo has a similar one. While we aren’t certain if the specific app examples cited are able to incorporate digital detection, there’s no theoretical reason why functionally equivalent ones produced by others cannot.

Social networking is another potentially attractive app that could benefit from content detection. Over half of us surf the Internet while watching TV. Two of the most popular sites visited are Facebook and Twitter. In this context, an app that identifies TV shows might be useful, like the “Ping” function on iTunes. Such an app could show us what TV programs are popular with our friends. Upon finding a new show we like, such apps might provide a one-button link to share the show on Facebook. Similarly, we might tune-in to the middle of a TV movie, but want to watch it from the beginning. Such apps might include a one-button link to put the movie in our NetFlix cue. If it is available for NetFlix Watch Instantly, we could view the entire show from the beginning presently.

Earlier this year ABC Grey’s Anatomy experimented with a social networking iPad app as demonstrated in this video. It uses the digital watermarks for content identification and illustrates social networking functions other than those noted above.

Interested developers may use the Digimarc Discover portal as a means of getting familiar with using digital watermarks with still photos. (The portal does not yet support the implanting of watermarks in video.) Digimarc is a leading watermarking patent holder and the Discover platform is available for a nominal fee.

Once TV watching apps settle on functions consumers find compelling, the apps will move into the mainstream. At that point, digitally identified TV commercials will have a decisive advantage. Since they will enable consumers to interact with them, they can segue into online merchandise transactions, calls-to-action, and even let viewers choose the ads they want to watch.

In short, the era of interactive TV commercials will be ushered in by content detection on popular multi-function portable devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. The CATV industry is no longer part of that picture.