My morning routine comes with several very simple steps. Shower. Get dressed. Grab my keys, wallet, and cell phone. Kiss my fiancé goodbye and head out for another eventful day. If I’ve somehow made it to my car without my phone, I may as well have walked there without my pants on. The feeling is the same.

That is exactly how some companies want you to feel. Over the past few years, your favorite products/companies have been trying to tap a rapidly growing market in advertising: mobile devices. Whether you enjoy surfing the Web on your phone or flinging disgruntled avian cartoons through the air on your iPod, you are being exposed to advertisements probably more than you know. According to a recent MediaPost.com article, mobile media spending will increase by 30% in 2012 to about $55 billion. This means that advertisers are spending more money to reach their target market: YOU.

Ten years ago, the easiest way to reach you was calling you at home on a land line (dang telemarketers). Five years ago, it was calling your mobile phone. Today, you can text, email, call, video chat all to and from your mobile device. The possiblities are endless and who knows what tomorrow has in store. This is why advertisers are trying to get in on the ground level. On average, your mobile phone is in your hands for 16 hours a day, 365 days a year. More than likely, you are going to see a banner ad, SMS message containing a promotion, or you may have pinched some pennies and downloaded a free app that is riddled with advertisements that cover the screen. Either way, you are taking part in the fastest growing advertising stream in the world.

What can we expect for the next few years? Expect to see an even bigger spike in mobile advertising. Building a relationship with the consumer is a huge communications goal for many companies and the agencies that handle their advertising. What better way to connect with the target than reach out to them on an interactive device that is in their hands for most of the day? Some people may not like the amount of advertising on mobile devices now, but the fact is it is the most efficient way to reach you. And admit it, you enjoy the text containing a promo code for a free pizza if you order online.

I, for one, will not let the growing number of ads affect the way I use my mobile devices. I love the fact that advertisers are working harder to reach me and make sure I get the best deals on the products that I enjoy. I can appreciate somebody working hard for me for a change. Maybe I’m all by myself in that feeling… maybe not, but it’s just a View From the Intern.

By Adam the Intern

Google+ unveiled its new feature, Google+ Pages. It may seem familiar to you because it is exactly like Facebook’s fan pages. Google+ Pages can be created for brands, businesses, and organizations. Actually, you can create a Google+ Page for anything.

Some interesting tidbits about Google+ Pages:
1. Pages can’t interact with you unless you invite them into your circle.
2. If you unfollow a Page, it automatically unfollows you.
3. Pages will be deeply rooted in Google search, obviously…
4. Google+ created a search command setting that acts as a shortcut to following a Page. For example if you search for +Nike, you can opt to automatically connect with that Page. This of course can be turned on or off in the user’s settings.

On the flipside:
1. Google+ doesn’t have geotagging and Facebook does.
2. As of right now, there are no analytics to measure the success of a Google+ Page but I’m sure that will change very soon.
3. Who exactly is on Google+? Facebook reaches far more people as of right now, 800 million + to be exact.

If I were trying to decide whether my company should create a Google+ Page, I would wait and see what happens. Google+ Pages offer nothing drastically different from Facebook pages and it is basically uncharted territory.

On the other hand, Google+ Pages could be beneficial to smaller companies with little to no internet presence. With Google+ Pages being embedded into Google search, it could be advantageous to create one in order to drive potential customers to your business.

As of right now, I am unsure how Google+ Pages is going to fare against Facebook but with the help of Google’s search and analytic capabilities, Google+ Pages could be that next best thing that companies are always looking for.

Companies need to become a YOUtility to be successful in the ever changing marketing world, according to Jay Baer and his recent blog post “Is YOUtility the Future of Marketing.”

YOUtility is not just selling something, but instead you are serving as a utility that helps your customers. Geek Squad is the perfect example, because they provide tutorials on their YouTube channel showing their customers how to solve common problems like how to set your DVR and change out your hard drive. Marketing has moved past the typical “look what we have to sell” mindset.

I think the idea of YOUtility is brilliant and on trend with social media and its capabilities. YOUtility creates a sense that companies genuinely care for you and want to offer their help. My generation often ignores advertising but with new technologies like apps and YouTube, companies can effectively reach my generation and master YOUtility.

I’ve grown up with advertising all around me, so it doesn’t even faze me anymore. It’s ironic that I’m now a senior in college majoring in advertising. I would love for a shoe company to create an app or use YouTube to teach me how to save a pair of damaged heels. I would be way more inclined to buy from that company again because they helped me doctor up my heels for a few more wears.

I honestly don’t understand why YOUtility hasn’t been put into practice more. It’s a simple concept really, offer someone help and they will help you in return.

Liz and Ryan represented Right Place Media at one of our favorite conferences – Exacttarget’s Connections Conference in 2011. Liz was there for Email Marketing and Ryan for Social Media and other digital goodies.  Here’s a small summary of what we learned in bullet points for your short attention span.

• Content is everything. If you don’t think you would share it, why bother creating it?
• 8 Emails are rejected for every 1 email accepted to the Yahoo! Inbox.
• Don’t increase email frequency suddenly. You are asking to get a spam complaint or unsubscribed.
• There’s tons of players in the Social Media game, the key is to find ones where your demo fits and stick with them as long as your users are present and active.
• From the get go set your Key Performance Indicators
• Losing subscribers is not always bad for the cause of re-engagement
• One easy way to do it is to section off unengaged members and provide them a separate offer/campaign to try to reengage them. Isolate and exclude them from entire list emails so you focus on those subscribers that are engaged with your brand.
• Do something nutty to get them to engage (example: upside down email)

For some good pics of the event visit their Photos

P.S. Soledad O’Brien is pretty cool, she presented. she was great. the end.

Competition for the most innovative way to share music is heating up. Pandora and iTunes beware. Spotify is the hottest new way to share music and it’s FREE. This UK based company is bringing back music sharing without the piracy, and so far they have been successful. Relationships with record labels, publishers, and collecting societies make this library of free music possible. Spotify opened up its invite-only access, so now anyone can become a member. The easiest way to become a member is through Facebook, which I recently just did. As a poor college student anything that is “Free” definitely gets my attention. I instantly became fascinated with this new music sharing service and spent most of my night browsing its capabilities.

Spotify partnered with Facebook to increase the social aspect of music sharing. News feeds now have a music tab that displays the songs your friends are listening to. It links directly with your Facebook account, so your activity on Spotify feeds to your profile. I wasn’t sure if I would like this feature, but I actually found it rather helpful. What’s an easier way to discover new music than seeing what your friends are listening to? Just click on the song your best friend is listening to and it instantly starts playing via Spotify.

What you need to know about Spotify:
• Membership options: Free, $4.99/month, and $9.99/month. The paid subscriptions get you commercial free music and greater access to Spotify’s 15 million song library.
• The free service allows you unlimited access to Spotify’s library for 6 months. Once the 6 months is up there are some limits on the free access: 10 hours of listening per month and you can only listen to the same song no more than 5 times.
• Available for Windows, Mac, home audio systems, and cell phones.
• Create playlists to share with friends.
• Directly import your music library that is already on your computer.
• Send music to friends with a simple drag of your mouse.
• Receive full bios on all of your favorite artists.
• Listen to your favorite artists’ radio.
• No need to wait for a download, Spotify streams live.

Overall, I think Spotify is going to be extremely successful, because it’s a great way to find new music while still listening to all of your favorites. I mean, what can be better than free music?

To learn more go to spotify.com

Here is a Graph from Compete.com showing Tumblr.com Traffic Trending Up! (Twitter Still Looking Up too)

Thinking about advertising on Twitter? Here is a small breakdown of Twitter advertising that may help you decide.

1. Promoted Trends

There is only one thing to say about promoted trends. It is way too expensive. It costs a minimum of $100k/day. Although promoted trends will get a lot of exposure, it just doesn’t seem worth it to me.

2. Promoted Tweets

Of the 600 companies partnered with Twitter, RPM advertises for one of them. With this company, promoted tweets weren’t receiving much engagement and didn’t produce any significant results. My advice would be to experiment with promoted tweets. Send out one or two and see how people respond. It may not work for some, but I think it may have potential to work for others.

3. Promoted Accounts

Here is where the real magic happens. With promoted accounts, companies will see a significant jump in followers, especially with the verified checkmark. This little baby verifies that your twitter account is official. It will appear in the promoted accounts advertising and people will be more inclined to follow you. Also, unlike promoted trends, promoted accounts is relatively cheap. Gaining new followers can be as cheap as ¢60 per follower. Not bad if you ask me. Also, geotargeting is available, so you can gain followers from the right locations. This is where I would invest my money.

Today marks the last day that I will sit in my little cubicle as an intern. It’s true…all good things must come to an end. My time here has been very memorable, and I will take everything I have learned with me to MUSIC CITY! I can’t lie, I am pretty excited to pack up and move to Nashville, but it is always hard saying goodbye.

During my time at RPM, I have learned that work doesn’t have to be boring. Everyone in this office has such a fun, positive attitude. As I move forward to the next chapter, I hope to work in an atmosphere similar to RPM.

Below is a list of reasons to intern at RPM:
• The staff really thrives to help you succeed
• You will gain real-life agency experience
• Opportunity to work for the best
• Everyone is friendly and willing to teach you new skills
• Networking opportunities
• You will be up-to-date on the latest YouTube sensations (Nyan Cat for example)
• Free tickets to the coolest amusement parks
• You may, or may not see Joel walking around in a Gorilla suit
• You have the opportunity to use your creativity for the “Office Trick Shot” of the week in hopes of 1-upping Insight Media
• You will leave here ready for the NBA (or Harlem Globetrotters)
• If you’re lucky, you will see Ryan sunbathing in his office

And the list goes on…

It’s safe to say I have left my mark at RPM and will always be known as the “gorilla girl.” If you are thinking about interning here, you better be able bring something to the team. RPM is all about teamwork, and your contribution really matters.

I will miss coming in each week, but I think my job here is done.

Peace out.

-Amber the intern

P.S. here is a YouTube video that will always remind me of my time at RPM. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4

Google+ is a new social networking site launched by Google that aims to create a more real life approach to connecting people on the web. In its trial stages, Google+ has gained nearly 18 million users. Already, it is one of the fastest growing social networks to date. But, is it worth your time? I’ve created a list of pros and cons that may help you decide.

I’ll start first with the pros. As a user of other social networking sites such as Facebook and Skype, a few new features offered by Google+ caught my eye. The first was a feature called Hangouts. Hangouts is a way to video chat with multiple people. It is designed so that the person talking will appear as the largest on the screen. The second feature I liked is called Huddle, which is basically a group chat tool, something Facebook has only recently acquired this month. The last feature, called Circles, allows you to organized people into different groups. You can customize your profile and share specific information with each group. I think it is a great way for working professionals to keep separate profiles for their friends and their co-workers. I do caution, however, that this feature could cause problems with a younger generation of users due to bullying and their stronger fixation on cliques. I wouldn’t recommend Google+ for younger kids just yet.

Now for the cons. Google+ is still new so it hasn’t quite been fleshed out yet. There are a few technical problems that need to be fixed and not everything is set in stone. The main problem I have with Google+ is that, aside from the new features I’ve already mentioned, it doesn’t bring anything exceedingly new to the social networking world. Already, Facebook is responding by teaming up with Skype to potentially introduce video chats and by recently providing group chats for users. As of now, I’m not sure if Google+ has enough to compete. The sites seem too similar.

But with that said, I do believe Google+ has potential. It is a solid start from a very reputable company. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the world thinks.

If you are interested in learning more about Google+ go to http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/

Sunday is Father’s Day. And in honor of Father’s Day, I have put together a list of five websites that dad should know about.

1. www.takemefishing.org

This website is for all the fishing fathers out there. It tells you how/where to get a fishing license, fishing rules and regulations for each state, local fishing attractions, how to register your boat, what kind of gear you need, and family activities you can do with your kids. It even has a fishing blog. My dad would LOVE this website.

2. espn.go.com

This website was one of the more obvious choices, but I felt I had to include it because it gives any and all information regarding pro sports. It lists statistics, final scores, live updates, schedules, news clips, and more. Any father who’s a fan of sports should check out this site.

3. www.games.com

If my dad is on the internet, he is probably playing games. This website offers an array of games such as gin rummy, spades, poker, bejeweled, and more. It’s perfect for dad’s who have a little downtime.

4. www.thegolfblog.com

This blog will keep any dad updated on the world of golf. The posts range from important information such as which players are withdrawing from the U.S. Open to more light-hearted information about the quirky lives of players outside of the golf course.

5. www.dadsadventure.com

This website is dedicated to new and expecting dads. It contains articles, blogs, videos, and forums that may answer any questions a new dad may have about fatherhood. Let the adventure begin.

Happy (almost) Father’s Day!