CaliberPulse

Today Twitter joined the ranks of fellow social media networks Facebook and LinkedIn when they announced their plans for an advertising Application Programming Interface (API). This step will allow brands to create, optimize and measure Twitter ad campaigns using third-party advertising management providers instead of purchasing individual ads from Twitter and uploading them one at a time. In short it means advertisers will have more control of their Twitter ad campaigns.

We’ve conducted our fair share of social media bootcamp sessions with clients from a variety of industries and two basic questions seem to always arise, “which social media platforms should I be using and how do you expect me to find time to do all of this?”

This year, as we celebrate 15 years in business, we’ve made self-promotion a higher priority here at Caliber. We’re guilty of the same crime that many agencies fall victim to – not practicing what we preach.

Hashtags became a part of everyday lingo for active Twitter users, but now they are popping up in the strangest places. You are likely to find them on your television screen while you are watching your favorite shows, on printed pieces arriving in your mailbox, splashed across other social networks (Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram), and prominently displayed on event banners, billboards, websites, etc. So what is a hashtag and how do you successfully implement this tactic for your brand?

Successfully pitching a story to the media and achieving the coverage you hoped for is tough. Even the seasoned public relations pro know there’s no guarantee their pitch will make it to print or television. Reporters are bombarded with story ideas and, along with their editors; they must sift through the story suggestions (not to mention cover the stories that are banging at their doors) and find the ones newsworthy enough to follow.

Two recent op-ed pieces featured by Mashable presented opposing opinions on the value of LinkedIn’s relatively new endorsement feature. One article, written by Todd Wasserman, called it “meaningless,” while David Berkowitz’s rebuttal article argued that it is “…one of the best uses of game mechanics online...” So which is true?

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, achieved 1 billion users in September 2012. Why then, would anyone opt out of advertising with a company that has captured the attention of such a large percentage of the world’s population?

Have you taken our editing challenge? There's still time to test your skills now! Our in-house editing guru prepared this passage full of errors. This paragraph was written (or meant to be) in AP style. Can you spot all the grammar, spelling and AP style errors? There may be more than you think! There’s also some really bad writing in here that could use some help. What would you fix and how?

It doesn’t matter how slick your design, engaging your photos or thorough your information – if you have a glaring typo, a stumble-inducing sentence or any other poor writing, your product is going look amateur in the end.

More often than not, we are able to understand and present both sides of an argument, allowing our audience to make their own decision about the correct path to follow. There are rare instances when the negatives of a certain topic grossly outweigh any perceived positives, making it difficult to present an unbiased debate. The policy of purchasing Twitter followers, in our opinion, is one such case.

With the continuous rise of technology and digital accessibility, the marketing industry has found itself in the heat of what could be called the ‘Gilded Age,’ for mobile marketing. What can be attributed to the massive increase in mobile ad spending and mobile device use? Accessibility, accessibility, accessibility! Marketers know their audience well. Generation C, those between the ages of 18-34, accounts for 23% of the population, and they thrive on connectivity 24/7. What better way to get your message in the hands of these connected consumers than through the medium that never leaves their hands in the first place?

Facebook changed their format for brand pages to the Timeline a week ago today. What do you think of it so far? Are you using it to your brand’s advantage? Some of the updates are behind the scenes, but most are featured on your page. We've pulled together a list of the top five changes to brand pages: