How to Integrate Social Media to Your Campaign

With the increasing interest in social networks, more and more companies see value in using the medium for its unique brand engagement opportunities. Despite this interest however, there still lingers hesitance, as some companies simply do not know how to approach social platforms Sydney Brooke Simpson. Even though there has been a lot of press and news interest in social media campaigns, for the majority of companies, they struggle to find ways to successfully integrate social networks to their campaigns. Of course, since different companies have different marketing objectives, it would be impossible to have set guidelines on how companies can integrate social media. That said, below we'll explored three key best practices and framework to help companies consider how they can incorporate it to their campaigns.

1) Social media as part of the marketing mix

Even though there have been social media campaigns that have generated a lot of buzz- such as Burger King's 'Whooper Sacrifice' application and more recently, the Old Spice campaign - the truth is that for most companies, social networks are more of a complimentary ingredient. Therefore, companies that do wish to delve into social media should consider it just like any another channel to market and promote brands and products. It is only through this perspective can companies see social media in relation to the whole marketing mix, and less of a single daunting entity of social media networks.

Because the power of social network lies in the ability to engage with customer and increase awareness, companies can experiment tying in offline promotions with online content. For example, they could use high-reach channels such as TV and print to initiate brand awareness, and then supplement this with social media in the later stages of the consumer lifecycle to drive purchases. This way, the company is maximizing social media for its strengths, as this is the platform where consumers are willing to engage further with brands and products.

2) Use social networks to monitor, measure and engage

By nature, social networks are a useful tool to monitor brand and company reputation, as every individual can make their opinions heard. What this means for companies is the unprecedented ability to observe these opinions and try to create opportunities to engage with consumers. Whether it be simply using keyword-tracking for your own company's name or competitors, social media allows companies to measure and track their campaign's progress and give consumer insight into possible areas of improvement. This gives enormous power to companies, since they can measure real time responses on their marketing activities.

3) Channel for feedback

Because every consumer has a voice in social platforms, it means it is a powerful channel for businesses to monitor feedback on their marketing. By listening to feedback, companies can continuously improve on their marketing and business activities, ranging from pricing to customer service to product packaging. And this is not limited to just searching online for what consumers think of your products, as more innovative companies have started to invite and welcome feedback. Starbuck's 'My Starbucks Idea' consumer portal gives consumers the ability to tell Starbucks what they think of the business operations; from product selections to the way coffee is served. With this method, it builds consumer trust so people see that the company wants to improve their service. Because of this, consumers are willing to spend the time helping a company they thus respect. Consumers also like to have their voices heard, and Starbuck's consumer portal does exactly this. Of course, its success lies not only in listening to consumers, but also efficiently executing the ideas consumers have put in.

In order for companies to integrate social media, they must recognise how it can be used for various marketing activities. It is not limited to just engaging audiences or gauging feedback - it is a vastly powerful channel that can drive sales as well as provide useful consumer insights. Regardless of company's objectives, social media invariably has a place in the greater marketing mix. By seeing it as another communication channel, companies will be less afraid to embrace social media with its powerful potential for any company.

Easy Care, Low and No Maintenance Flowers For Your Flower Garden

Methods for the beginner Gardener

Not all Garden flowers are created equal there are a few easy grow easy care flowers that go above and beyond the call of duty, that bloom for months at a stretch florarie florisis. Every sensible Gardener should try to produce these kinds of flowers the foundation of his/her flower garden. When you yourself have regions of color you are able to rely on each season, you've additional time to invest in feature or specimen flowers that often require more specialized attention. Here are some tried and tested long blooming flowers for your home flower garden.

Rudbeckia (some times known as Black-eyed Susan) Perennial Flowers

USDA Zones: 3 - 9 - Bloom Span: 3 Months mid Summer- Mid Fall

Full Sun-Partial Shade

Rudbeckia flowers make themselves in the home anywhere and many are native to numerous areas of North America you often see their bright yellow flowers growing over the banks of highway ditches. These flowers like well-drained, somewhat poor soil and full sun. Deadheading will extend their blooming period, an advantage is the fact that cut Rudbeckia flowers can last quite a long time in water so make excellent cutting flowers for the cutting garden and to create into your home for vase displays. Their flowers are attractive to butterflies and bees and their seeds may be eaten by birds during the wintertime months. They're relatively long lived plants that require hardly any maintenance and are true easy care flowers, Rudbeckias may be easily multiplied by division. There are many kinds of hybridized Rudbeckia flowers but the best and most hardy is Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm", which are native North American wild flowers. Plants form upright bushy clumps offering a very generous display of brown-eyed, golden-orange daisies from midsummer through the fall. Plants might be easily divided in early spring and transplanted to other garden areas where their bright cheery flowers may add color to a far more dreary spot

Veronica spicata (Spike Speedwell) Perennial Flowers

USDA Zones 3 - 9 - Bloom Span: 3-4 Months

These flowers start blooming in the spring and keep working all the best way to the initial frost. The genus speedwell includes a broad range of flowering plants, but Veronica. spicata is the most popular form chosen for most garden environments. It forms a low growing dense mass of dark green foliage from which arise its flowers in narrow upright spikes, many varieties can be found bearing flowers in shades of blues, reds, pinks, whites and purples. Removing the faded flower spikes will keep the plants flowers in blossom for much longer. Drought tolerant, Veronica prefers a well-drained soil, excellent for cutting; the flowers are a favorite with butterflies. Clumps must certanly be pruned hard when they get floppy and divided when they become bald in the center; time for you to divide these flowers is in the fall or early spring.

My favorite- Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue'

Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist/or sometimes love in a puff) Annual Flowers

The Nigella flowers are delicate, feathery, often blue-flowers but may be obtained in shades of pink, purple and white, an annual, displaying delicate fern like foliage and attractive unusual eye-catching seedpods. They self-seed readily and to my mind this feature along with their incredibible beauty is why these flowers deserve inclusion as an easy care low maintenance flowers .They Enter into bloom very quickly, if successive sowings are manufactured every 2 or 3 weeks in the summertime months by saving a number of the previous years seed as opposed to allowing all of them to self sow and merely scattering the seed on the soils surface, you'll ensure a continuous method of getting beautiful and unusual flowers all summer long, Nigella does well in warm or cool areas but prefers a slightly moist soil. you might not find easier to develop flowers ,I seldom rave over annuals to tell the reality you can find only a few that I give garden space to but love in a mist is one of them they're a must have flowers for any new gardener.

My favorite-Persian Jewels (seeds) offering flowers from all Nigella's color ranges.

Day lily /Tiger Lily/Ditch lily/Hemerocalis fulva (Perennial Flowers)

The omnipresent Day Lily, found almost everywhere in North America, or at the least it is if you live in Ontario since it is one of the very beautiful of Ontario's wild flowers. a profuse propagator in the form of tuberous roots. Transplanting is most beneficial in spring or fall, water generously after transplanting .They do not mind overcrowding, as a matter of fact these flowers look their finest when in bloom in a large, close knit mass planted groups forming patches of bright orange flowers here and there, dotted across the garden .These wild flowers are incredibly easy to develop just try and stop them. They're in the home in nature, or as a straight back drop or foundation flowers for your home garden. These Day lily's require little to no attention. they provide summer and fall interest and once established are a tall impenetrable ground cover I under plant and inter plant mine with other bulbs that display their flowers when the Day Lily isn't blooming, they prefer moist to wet soils, but will grow anywhere sun or shade ,only two years ago I established a large patch in what was largely gravel just off my back patio That's why they grow so well in and near ditches hence one of there common name Ditch Lily, always seems only a little insulting to make reference to beautiful large star shaped orange flowers by this type of demeaning name. Fertilizer isn't necessary, except in the poorest of soils. These flowers do not require winter protection and once established, thrive and increase year after year.