JSMM Welcomes New Clients
By Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM
We are very excited to announce a few new clients this spring. Welcome Experience Fitness, LLC, Evologic, and Spaces, Inc. Thank you for becoming JSMM’s new clients!
Experience Fitness, LLC is a private fitness studio located in Overland Park, Kan. providing personal training, small group training, youth training and boot camp training. Experience Fitness LLC prides itself on its nationally certified and experienced trainers with the knowledge and attitude to help achieve goals.
Evologic is a complete resource for ever-changing office needs. They specialize in systems furniture installation & re-configuration, space planning & design, relocation services, project management, warehouse & asset management and furniture refurbishment. Their service offering is complemented by office furniture procurement and an architectural product offering for the modular, agile and environmental office of today and tomorrow.
Spaces, Inc. is an interior architectural and space planning firm founded in 1987 in Lenexa, Kan., Spaces specializes in providing solutions for workplace environments. Their philosophy – the cornerstone of our success – remains the same: partnering with their clients to meet the business goals.
Does Social Media Sell? Influencer Over Purchase & ROI
By Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM
Social media marketing can sell, but what about influence over purchase? In this recent article about social media and sales, some brands still believe that social media shouldn’t be utilized for generating revenue. What a conundrum for a CFO: spend more money on social media but don’t use it for sales? JSMM disagrees. Social media should be utilized for sales for B2C brands and B2B brands should still have a ROI strategy, even if it’s just SEO.
Find out how retailers are making money from social media and how to tap influence over purchasing power.
(Image Source: The Guider Group)
Why Fab proves that social media sells
With high profile brands such as Gap, Gamestop and, in the US, JCPenney, having opened and then subsequently closed Facebook stores (presumably because they weren’t delivering ROI) it would be easy to assume that social media is not suitable for sales – too easy, perhaps.
But those who dig a little deeper may find that opportunities abound if social media is leveraged in the right way.
“We haven’t tried to use social as a sales channel at all. It doesn’t suit our demographic and we’re not a discounter,” argues Andrew Curran, chairman at luxury homewares e-tailer Amara. “Having said that, there are examples – take Fab – of retailers for which social is a significant proportion of what they do and drives a large percentage of their business.”
He’s not wrong. E-commerce site Fab, which specialises in “everyday design” items, grew sales by nearly 300% in January 2013 over January 2012. In Europe alone, 50% of its members have come from social sharing and lead to 33% of revenue in the region. Its member base grew to 11m people, up from 1.5m at the start of last year. With social networking sites and mobile apps forming a significant part of its business model, the innovative company has won a raft of awards.
Thanks to Auctioneer Magazine for Publishing Valerie Jennings’ Social Media Marketing Insights
Posted by: Katie Stumpf, Intern at JSMM
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing and Viral Bolt Media, was recently highlighted in Bryan Scribner’s article published in Auctioneer Magazine, the official publication of the National Auctioneers Association. In the article, Jennings gives her thoughts, approaches and strategies on integrating social media into a marketing plan.
Social Media Marketing: Give your customers something to talk about
Thank You to Business 2 Community for Publishing Valerie Jennings’ 2013 Predictions
Posted by: Katie Stumpf, Intern at JSMM
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing and Viral Bolt Media, was recently highlighted for her 2013 social media predictions, along with 50+ other experts, in Brian Rice’s article published on Business 2 Community. Read the article.
The Future of Social Media: 50+ Experts Share Their 2013 Predictions
“Sales and marketing will continue to be impacted by organic SEO and SMO via social media. One major change may be the shift away from exclusively focusing on Facebook as a business sales and marketing tool and moving into more advanced programs including sales and marketing strategies that generate sales on Pinterest, Google+ and even FourSquare. If these platforms do not support sales and marketing strategies, other platforms via social networks will evolve quickly in the marketplace until there is one sold and remarkably profitable solution.”
Kansas City Social Media Marketing Company Shares Top Five Predictions for 2013 Including Pinterest, Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and Google+
By: Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing
These are my top five social media marketing predictions for 2013. This list may not encompass the trends in the next months ahead, but it’s a fairly adequate outline of what the future looks like.
1) Pinterest continues to monetize social media. However, without an open API platform, it’s a little too soon to see its full potential. Overall, I don’t see any reason why all brands across all industries wouldn’t take advantage of this monetization platform. While social media isn’t just about sales, Pinterest offers brands real value via their pinners by building content that they love, feel inspired by and may feel inclined to purchase. It could be the next best e-commerce platform in the social media marketplace. It’s already one of the top social networks for referring website traffic. I would highly recommend it to all brands.
2) Foursquare will continue to offer monetization opportunities for brands via the check in feature. Foursquare’s recent modifications to allow franchise pages to have one brand a page is a nice addition to tracking data analysis, engagement and ROI. If Foursquare can monetize differently, other than rewards via their check in system, allowing for a more integrated social media campaign which effects all other social networks, it would open up the doors for a more targeted location based campaign. This would trigger insights in geographical markets where consumers engage more heavily via Foursquare. This would also allow the brand to have more confidence in a social media presence with a heavier emphasis on Foursquare where insights prove substantial engagement throughout a local zip code. While Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook synchronize, there is still room for improvement to determine a way in which the location-based model integrates more heavily with Twitter including viral tweets in targeted areas where Foursquare is performing very well for a brand. However, this could improve campaign functionality, engagement, monetization and ROI. Foursquare continues to be one of the best location-based tracking platforms in the social media industry for brands.
3) While Facebook continues to be the top social network for businesses, large and small, there are some challenges ahead for this platform. The first issue is that Facebook is trying to be all things to all people and brands, diluting its social network impact across engagement. This is attributed to the fact that the edge rank scoring model has been changed substantially, affecting a brand’s ability to engage with its fans. Even though brands have the option to engage more readily via the promoted posts, sponsored stories and ads, this is still a paid investment versus the natural model of displaying a brand post to those who have liked the page. Lately, we have noticed a distinct decline in the viral nature of organic posts without utilizing one of Facebook’s paid models across all pages, all industries and sizes from publicly traded to small businesses. If Facebook continues to push brands into the paid model to increase its edge rank score, then this is not a pure social channel. Facebook continues to impress my colleagues and myself, and we know that Facebook will evolve over time to improve its algorithm for brands to purely reach, engage and monetize with its user base. Social networks ads are one of the greatest opportunities to reach a new targeted influential and action-oriented audience. We utilize Facebook ads across all clients, industries and brands, both large and small. There is still great value in tapping into Facebook’s resources. We just hope that Facebook continues to recognize the importance of collaborating with its businesses.
4) Twitter will continue to improve its customer service support while maximizing its reach across industries and large and small brands. We see the best value coming from the customer service elements in which it is very easy to track and measure performance on Twitter while engaging with customers. Complaints on Twitter about brands continue to be the best opportunity for businesses to improve its customer relationship with its audience. While Twitter still doesn’t have the full functionality of Facebook for tracking, analysis, engagement and ROI, its short messages break through the clutter with custom hashtags, SMO and engaging with key online influencers. Key online influencers continue to drive engagement for brands, monetization and ROI. Twitter contests are still extremely valuable for large brands that need to improve engagement and rapport with consumers and influencers. However, smaller businesses are still suffering from too much fragmentation across social networks and will need to rely on Twitter for organic SEO, engagement with influencers and maximizing headline news. ROI is still important on Twitter, although it’s been transformed into more of an influencer metric versus an engagement monetization tool.
5) Google+ is here to stay. If we don’t engage on the platform in the near future, Google will probably erase us off the search map.
If you have any questions, concerns or comments about the 2013 predictions, please reach out to Valerie Jennings via email valerie@jenningsocialmedia.com or via Twitter @ValerieJennings. As always, feel free to leave a comment.
Jennings Social Media Marketing Kicks Off the Holiday Season With Facebook Contest: Enter for a Chance to Win $15,000 in Social Media Services
By Allison McGown, producer of Viral Bolt Media
Jennings Social Media Marketing (JSMM), a full-service, custom social media agency, is pleased to announce its Facebook campaign in time for the holidays. Enter for a chance to win $15,000 in social media services.
ENTER NOW. To be eligible, review the contest rules.
According to Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM, the contest is designed to attract business owners, marketing professionals and digital media strategists, who want to play in social media without making a serious investment right out of the gate. ”We want to give those naysayers a chance to win with social media without investing any money. The naysayers out there, wherever you are: play the game, enter for a chance to win and see if you get to experience social media for free. Happy holidays!”
Entries must be received by Monday, December 10, 2012.
Thank you Media Post for Covering the Jennings Social Media Marketing Holiday Contest!
Posted By: Allison McGown, producer of Viral Bolt Media
Media Post released an article last week, covering the JSMM Holiday Contest.
Here is the article: Jennings Offers $15,000 In Free Social Media Services
“Jennings Social Media Marketing, a Kansas City, Mo. social media agency, is betting marketing pros and digital strategists want $15,000 in social media services. The JSMM Facebook campaign is designed for those “who want to play in social media without making a serious investment right out of the gate.”
Win Social Media
JSMM Reviews Record Setting Increase of Social Media Interaction During 2012 Presidential Debate
Posted by: Chelsea Lewis, social media manager at Jennings Social Media Marketing
The use of social networks for political issues was a fairly new concept during the 2008 presidential debate. The first presidential debate of 2012 already set a record on Twitter, but it’s not the only social network with increased activity. The New York Times examined the increase in social media interaction surrounding politics.
Facebook (and Twitter) create “authentic, two-way communication,” according to Adam Fetcher, deputy press secretary for the Obama campaign. Flickr and Instagram are virtual campaign scrapbooks while Tumblr and Pinterest highlight photos and other material from supporters.
Read the article.
In 2012, it is not enough for candidates to shake some hands, kiss a baby or two and run some TV ads. They also need to be posting funny little animations on the blogging site Tumblr.
If the presidential campaigns of 2008 were dipping a toe into social media like Facebook and Twitter, their 2012 versions are well into the deep end. They are taking to fields of online battle that might seem obscure to the non-Internet-obsessed — sharing song playlists on Spotify, adding frosted pumpkin bread recipes to Pinterest and posting the candidates’ moments at home with the children on Instagram.
Viral Bolt Media, a YouTube Video Production & Social-Sharing Company, Announces Launch Party at OfficePort
Posted by: Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager of Jennings Social Media Marketing
Viral Bolt Media (VBM), a YouTube video production and social-sharing company, is hosting a launch party at OfficePort on Thursday, October 25, 2012 from 6-7:30 p.m.
Valerie Jennings, CEO and founder, is excited to invite many prestigious businesses in the local area to celebrate the new company. ”We are so excited to announce Viral Bolt Media in Kansas City, and want to thank everyone who has already demonstrated their support, enthusiasm and signed contracts with our new business. VBM will be an extremely complementary company to Jennings Social Media Marketing, which I have owned for more than nine years. Please join us in celebrating this next endeavor,” said Jennings.
Hosts include Greg Kratofil, shareholder and attorney at Polsinelli Shughart; Greg Elliott, director of business development at 1102 GRAND; and Kurt Ruf, principal of Ruf Strategic Solutions.
To RSVP, call 816.221.1040 or send an email to info@jenningssocialmedia.com.
By: Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager at JSMM
Courtney Iovanovich is the social media marketing intern for Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager of JSMM. Iovanovich recently earned her Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from Wayne State University.
She earned multiple national championship titles while on the women’s swim team at WSU. Iovanovich is also the public relations intern at Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit, a free cancer support community for anyone affected by cancer. She enjoys the fast-paced, social media industry and is always ready to learn. Iovanovich is happily married and the mother of a beautiful baby girl.
Micah Pratt Promoted to President of Jennings Social Media Marketing
By Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager of Jennings Social Media Marketing
Congratulations to Micah Pratt! Pratt has been promoted from director to president of Jennings Social Media Marketing.
Pratt is excited about the new opportunities this promotion will bring. “I am very honored to be given this opportunity to further do what I love. Working at JSMM has been such a blessing and I look forward to advancing my role in the company in this new position,” said Pratt.
Jennings Social Media Marketing Attends KCnext Summer Networking Event 2012
By Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager of Jennings Social Media Marketing
The technology industry in Kansas City has significantly evolved since its inception. Jennings Social Media Marketing is proud to be a part of the Kansas City community and is honored to see how far Silicon Prairie has come!
There was a lot to celebrate and discuss at this year’s KCnext summer networking event, ranging from Google Fiber, arriving in Kansas City, to what is next for the technology community.
Each year we look forward to attending this networking event. It gives us the chance to see old friends while making new ones. We would like to extend a big thank you to KCnext for hosting this event and we are already looking forward to next year!
Pictured above, Micah Pratt, director of Jennings Social Media Marketing, Steve Roatch, CEO of Twentyseven Global and Allison McGown, executive administrative assistant at Jennings Social Media Marketing
Viral Bolt Media, a YouTube Video Production & Social-Sharing Company, Launches in July
By Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM
I’m excited to announce my second company, Viral Bolt Media. We have been producing YouTube videos for years, but we needed a separate company to push new YouTube services. This company will drive YouTube videos for various channels, contests, SEO/SMO and even PR campaigns. We are thrilled to be able to launch another amazing brand before the end of the year.
Viral Bolt Media (VBM) is a YouTube video production and social-sharing company. The business serves as a catalyst for brands that want to intrigue customers with new and exciting products via videos. Services include video production, editing, contests, SEO, SMO, channel strategies and even robust public relations campaigns for YouTube. For additional details, please contact info@jenningssocialmedia.com or 816.221.1040.
JSMM Hosts Training Summit for Team in Kansas City
By: Cassie Stubbs, Intern
Alli Heitzenrater, Intern; Tumara Bosnell, Social Media Marketer; Chelsea Lee-Lewis, Social Media Marketing Manager ; Cassie Stubbs, Intern
This week in Kansas City, Jennings Social Media Marketing (JSMM) held a summit for training team members in the ever-changing social media world. As a business that lives and breathes social media, the team needs to stay up-to-date on all things social media. The summit went over Facebook marketing, Twitter features, the professional use of blogging and the importance of SEO. JSMM welcomed three new members to its team this week, eager to learn the trade. To enhance social media standards, JSMM Skype’d with two team members who could not make it to the summit.
Jennings Social Media Marketing Reviews Best Practices for Managing Online Reviews
Written by: Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager, of Jennings Social Media Marketing
United Airlines learned a few things when sonsofmaxwell posted a YouTube video about their company. The video was a catchy song that addressed the fact that the airline had broken his guitar. The video now has over 12 million hits. United Airlines learned the hard way how important it is to manage reviews, comments and posts made about your company.
When creating a social media campaign, companies have to think about every single detail. Ranging from what kind of picture to use on a Facebook post to how to manage and review comments made about your company online. If one negative comment is over looked or not addressed it could spell disaster.
Rody Moore recently wrote an article for Mashable, detailing the top four ways to manage online reviews. The simple fact is, consumers read reviews and the more postive reviews the more success a company can reach. The top four strategies included; companies need to pay attention to what customers say, how often reviews are being posted, promote your reputation on the web and respond to every review personally. Companies need to manage and monitor their online reviews before they end up owing someone a whole lot of guitars.
Here are the key findings from the article:
When Carmen Popa opened her acne treatment center, Luminosity Acne Skincare in North Carolina, she quickly realized how valuable online reviews were to attracting new customers. “Clients often mentioned that it was the positive reviews that encouraged them to try out my business,” she says.
Research shows that online reviews strongly influence buying behavior, with nearly half of American consumers stating that they are more likely to visit a business after reading a positive online review. That makes review websites such as Yelp, Google Places, and Citysearch online archives of consumer opinions on how a business compares to similar shops.
Jennings Social Media Marketing Celebrates 9 Years in Business in Kansas City
By Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing
In June 2012, Jennings Social Media Marketing (JSMM), will be celebrating its nine year anniversary. It’s been a long road, but we are still here and loving the social media marketing industry. When I began in June 2003, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or that we would manage a team of amazing people from across the country. It is a blessing to look back and see all of the wonderful people we have worked with, recognized, trained and promoted. The knowledge we have acquired during the course of running this company has been phenomenal. Kansas City has been good to me and to the business. I can’t imagine working in any other city. Kansas City is a place where the locals will embrace an up and coming professional from out of town. Thank you, Kansas City.
Regarding our name, we started as Jennings Public Relations and Advertising, and amended the name after working in social media for several years. The evolution of our business drove the transformation of the brand, not the other way around. Now, we can say JSMM has a global portfolio of outstanding clients from tech to entertainment that have made this company unique from the rest in the industry. We were handed opportunities that many would have enjoyed winning, and we embraced them. It’s our blessing to be able write this blog post today. Thank you to everyone who has made an important mark on this company.
Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM with Micah Pratt, director of JSMM, enjoying another day at the office.
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing and Dan Kiser of Google attended the Inside KC Tech event held by FiberKC.
Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM with Micah Pratt director of JSMM on a trip to Florida to work with longtime client, Wyndham Vacation Ownership. JSMM is proud to have such a strong client portfolio.
Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM and T.J. Bloom, COO of MDL Technology.
Facebook Monetizes Pages With Check-In Coupons
By: Chelsea Lewis, social media marketing manager of Jennings Social Media Marketing
Marketers have constantly tried to figure out what is the best way to reach consumers on Facebook. There has never been a clear answer to the Facebook consumer engagement problem, but recently a new solution may have come to light: coupons.
Wildfire Interactive recently performed a study that focused on randomly sampled Facebook campaigns to see which got the highest response rates and earned media.
The report speculated about why such campaigns tend to be more shareable. One possibility is that questions let the user discover an aspect of one’s personality they may have been unaware of. Another is the show-off factor: Quizzes let users display their knowledge of trivia and “pick your favorites” challenges let users express their good taste.
The benefits to creating such widely shared campaigns are that they draw new users into the fold. The chance of a pick your favorites query being clicked by a friend is 27%, while quizzes and trivia contests rate 15% and 13%, respectively. From there, the data is encouraging as well: 82% of friends who click on a News Feed post for a quiz will take the quiz. Some 74% of those who click on a coupon offer in their News Feeds will download the coupon. Overall, the study found that earned media could account for up to a 12% boost in engagement rates.
Though the study highlights broad categories that do well with users, it also advocates adding personality to the offers, getting into the consumers’ heads to see if such an offer might be appealing and working in a gamification element that rewards users for sharing.
To read the entire article click here:
KCnext Event at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park Draws Over 400 Attendees
By: Micah Pratt, director, and Valerie Jennings, CEO
KCnext has been attracting crowds across the metro, specializing in mobile apps, software development, IT and investors. Silicon Prairie has grown up! We had the privilege of attending the event last night with our clients and friends Steve Roatch, CEO of Twentyseven Global; Mark Dryer, president of MDL Technology; T.J. Bloom, COO of MDL Technology; Greg Elliott, business development director at 1102 GRAND; and Todd Applegate, general manager at 1102 GRAND. We also had the honor of meeting with the editor and news editor at The Pitch, speaking with some of the area’s most influential technology pro¹s including Ryan Weber, who was recently named KCnext president.
Anytime you bring together like-minded individuals, you can expect great things to happen. It was great to see how strong the technology community in Kansas City has become and it’s always amazing to see people come together to share ideas on how to transform Kansas City into a technology hotspot. Events like these reinforce why Kansas City is in the running to be named the most entrepreneurial city in America.
I can’t wait until the next KCnext event, and I urge everyone to join! Check out their calendar, follow them on Twitter and “like” them on Facebook.
About KCnext:
KCnext – The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City is the recognized regional technology effort for the Kansas City area. The Technology Council is promoting the region’s tech sector, supporting its members and galvanizing the tech industry.
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing, Featured on Entrepreneur Website MO.com
By: Micah Pratt, director of Jennings Social Media Marketing
I am very excited to announce that Valerie Jennings is now being featured on MO.com, a website that specializes in interviews with entrepreneurs from various industries including online marketing, PR and business development.
Valerie will be a subject matter writer, sharing her expertise and industry news on social media, Internet marketing, SEO and SMO. Valerie’s biography, as well as Jennings Social Media Marketing’s, can be found here. Make sure to bookmark the page below so that you can check her articles out in the future!
MO.com interviews entrepreneurs from all walks, across all industries, and from around the world. We focus on their habits and methods; what makes them tick. The primary focus of MO.com is entrepreneurship.
M.O. is the abbreviation for Modus Operandi or Method of Operating and we interview entrepreneurs to learn about their methods and to share their strategies and business philosophies with our readers.
Jennings Social Media Marketing Announces New Client: Maria Montessori International Academy in Indiana
Posted by: Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing
We are extremely pleased to announce the addition of Maria Montessori International Academy in Indiana. The academy has three locations in Indy, Carmel, and Zionsville that Jennings Social Media Marketing (JSMM) will be launching a social media marketing strategy for. The academy is a private school that serves a variety of ages from infants to 6th grade.
Social media marketing has become the most innovative approach for companies of all sizes and types to seize market share, connect with customers, manage an online brand and reputation and drive organic SEO and SMO. JSMM enjoys representing all types of industries from education to real estate and financial to travel.
Pinterest: Women Key Influencers on Social Networking Site & Purchasing Decisions Says Study
Posted by: Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing
Women are the main decision makers in the homes, making an astonishing 85 percent of all purchasing decisions. Women are also the main users of Pinterest, using the newest social networking site for the latest recipes, crafts, and vacation spots. A recent pole of women shows that Pinterest influences 81 percent of their decision making, as they believe it is a trusted source. If companies want to continue being profitable, they should find new and innovative ways to market to women, as women represent $2.4 trillion of the market! It only makes sense for brand managers to take an interest in Pinterest.
This article written by Steve Olenski for Social Media Today: Why Brand Managers Need to Take an Interest in Pinterest, illustrates the importance of women in the market place, as well as Pinterest influencing decision making for women. There is a lot to be learned through social media, and capitalizing early with Pinterest, could provide large gains for many companies.
Why Brand Managers Need to Take an Interest in Pinterest
Two days ago I told you Why Women Are the Most Powerful Brand Ambassadors In the World.
Well consider this a follow up… you’ll see what I mean.
The person who makes the majority of household purchasing decisions has developed an affinity for the latest and greatest social media platform, Pinterest. And brand managers and brand marketers would be very wise to take note.
Earlier this year I wrote about the findings of a study done by the CMO Council and Lithium which revealed a major disconnect between Between Brands And Consumers In Social Media. That particular study showed that the reason consumers follow a give brand via social media is decidedly different than why brands think they follow them in the first place.
How Can Non-Profits Take Advantage of Pinterest?
Posted by: Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing
I cannot believe how Pinterest has exploded. While it’s been around for a short-time, its user base has amassed quickly, making one wonder about why you should jump on Google+? They are different, but when Pinterest is said to refer more website traffic than Twitter, it’s sort of a no-brainer.
This article written by Mary Wider for Social Media Today: Pin It To Win It: How Non-Profits Can Tell Their Story on Pinterest, does a nice job highlighting how organizations can utilize this fabulous social networking for referring website traffic, momentum, fundraising and maybe recruitment.
Don’t forget to follow the new Jennings Social Media Marketing Pinterest boards.
YOUR MESSAGE
Use a board to explain your work. Put direct links to your website or to news outlets where your work was mentioned. This starts your non-profit story, who you are and what you do. It also gives you a chance to link photos and sites that fit with your message. In other words, you start to build a brand image and association. Building a story is incredibly important for non-profits. People want to know what you stand for and your motivation behind your cause.
EDUCATE
Set up a board that is solely for educating your followers. Resources, statistics and news articles that will let your followers discover more about you.
ACTION BOARD
Set up a separate board with call to action plans for your followers. Let them know how they can get involved with your organization. Spell it out via your pins and direct people directly to websites where they can take action.
COMMUNICATION BOARD – Show what you do.
Use this board to show the results of your work. Share stories from people directly affected by your work or showcase the projects you have worked on. If you can pin to a story in the word’s of people affected by your work, it’s an even better way to sum up your story.
Using these four board ideas creates a storyboard for your organization. Some more board ideas to add to your story include:
- Where We Work: show places in the world where your organization operates
- Faces: If you can share the faces and stories of people you work with, even better. When running a non-profit is it better to put faces and stories to your work. Hook followers in with an emotional connection.
- Donate or Purchase Board: If your organization focuses on donations or selling items that go towards monetary donations, use a separate board to set that up, sort of like the gift shop at the end of your story.
Above all, non-profits should start taking advantage of Pinterest and its ability to drive direct traffic to websites. Direct traffic drives up the search results for your site as well. It’s time non-profits started using all the social media tools at their disposal to spread their message and communicate with people globally. Pin it to win it.
Jennings Social Media Marketing Thanks Client Wyndham Vacation Ownership for 3 Amazing Years & Looks Forward To Future
By Valerie Jennings, CEO of JSMM
Wyndham Vacation Ownership and JSMM have been working together since 2009. We started on a small test project with Extra Holidays by Wyndham which grew into an amazing business relationship over the years. To date, Extra Holidays by Wyndham has increased its Facebook page “likes” from 0 to approximately 11,000 in a few months; grown the Twitter following to 842; and monetized all of the social media channels, contributing to revenue.
I think the new challenges with Facebook Timeline and the lack of attention to new monetization strategies by larger brands have held a lot of companies back, but Wyndham Vacation Ownership is going to excel in this space with its new pages coming soon. Thank you, WVO and Extra Holidays by Wyndham, for working with JSMM!
How to Use QR Codes and SMS with Social Media Marketing Campaigns
Posted by: Micah Pratt, director of social networking R&D
Jennings Social Media Marketing (JSMM) has incorporated QR codes and text messaging into its services. The company’s official announcement was included in a new Web video, featuring Frank Ancona Honda, KickaNotch Mobile and CEO of JSMM Valerie Jennings.
Jennings said that with the increase of smartphone users and the recent estimate on engagement with those who are using social media and scanning QR codes, the company found it imperative to add mobile to its services. “With the success of leveraging monetization with QR codes and text messaging through offers and the promotions through our channels we are hoping for some amazing results and we are looking forward to seeing this new technology as it improves and the usage goes up,” said Jennings.
“Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @valeriejennings to stay updated on what is going on at JSMM!
Valerie Jennings 
Cassie Stubs
Katie Stumpf
