SubscribeA Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Making the most out of my internship)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to congratulate Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny who’s on my team here at Marketing Melodie. She recently graduated from SDSU. What a huge accomplishment. She’s an official college graduate! Stephanie is moving on to begin her career in the “real world” but before she leaves, she has some final words of inspiration and insight to share with you on her experience here at Marketing Melodie and why interning is so important. I’ll let Stephanie take it from here. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
It seemed like just yesterday when I asked Melodie about her internship program. It has definitely been such a pleasure working with her. I’ve learned plenty from Melodie, whether it was about social media for businesses or advice on what to say during my interviews . Although people cringe at the thought of having to be an intern, I’ll tell you why interning is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.
- I’ve met so many great people during the time that I’ve worked with Melodie. We all know that the marketing industry is all about who you know. Melodie has hosted many events, which I have attended and it has helped me expand my networks. I love talking to marketing professionals and hearing their stories about how they have gotten to where they are today.
- I’ve gotten exposure. The blog posts that I compose and post here are also posted through Melodie’s social networks. Although I do have my own blog, I get new exposure and more traffic by blogging on another site. Plus, writing these posts help me to deepen my own understanding on why businesses should use certain social networks as a part of their overall marketing plan.
- I had fun and expressed my creativity. Melodie encouraged me to spark my creativity by having me help her create things to post for clients and her own social networks. Some of the ideas included Motivational Monday posts, Melodie Tips, etc.
- The real hands on experience. My internship program gave me a chance to learn through actually doing. The one on one mentoring experience Melodie provided has been really helpful and has allowed me to focus more on what I want to learn. Make it clear to your employer what you want to learn before you start your internship.
- Learning more than just internship stuff. Melodie has helped me better understand where I want to go in my career life. She’s helped me with interviews and given me networking tips – things that I really am going to use in the “real world.” The best part about working with Melodie is that she isn’t just someone you intern for, she’s your mentor who truly does want to see you succeed in the industry. I recommending finding an internship where you can directly interactive with your Manager and ask questions along the way.
I still can’t believe I’m considered to be an alumni now. Yay to graduating and to the class of 2012!
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Instagram Buzz)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to have Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny on my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
With all the hype going on about Instagram, I’ve decided to write a little bit about this mobile app. Instagram is a free photo sharing application that allows users to take photos, apply a digital filter to the photos, and then share the photos with friends and followers. This app was originally available only for the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch when it launched. Two years later, in April 2012, it became available on Android. There were over a million downloads of the Instagram app when it was finally released on the Android system. A few days after that, Facebook acquired Instagram and its 13 employees for $1 billion in cash and stock. Amazing how quickly things change in the digital world, wouldn’t you agree?
Being that Instagram launched in October 2010, now has over 25 million users and is known as one of the most popular mobile-only social networks, why would businesses not consider playing a role on Instagram? You can post fun altered photos of your products and begin a hashtag trend for your followers. Starbucks has already jumped on the wagon and has over 400,000 followers. The point of Instagram is to share photos, so as a business you can share photos of things that relate to your brand personality or just great mobile photos of your products – be creative! Another awesome thing about Instagram is that you are also able to share your photos on Facebook and Twitter. The more social networks the better!
Here are 3 main reasons why your business should join Instagram:
1. Most people are very visual- Instagram is great because it gives us the opportunity to share fun photos of our daily lives. How interesting would it be to your fans to follow unique photos of your business’s life? You can show how much fun you have in the workplace and even take little “sneak peek” photos and have your followers figure out what the photo is. Keep them engaged, that’s why they’re following you! Just remember to keep in mind that Instagrammers don’t want to see product photography, but more artistic photography that’s been filtered.
2. There are millions of users using this app- The digital world is making changes all the time, just make sure you are caught up with the newest fad and stay in the loop. After Instagram became available on the Android, there were millions of downloads through the Android system, that pretty much means that Instagram is sort of a big deal.
3. You can create fun contests- With the usage of hashtags, it makes it easy to track and create contests. Have your fans post a creative photo with a certain hashtag that represents your products or services and give out fun prizes. The more interactive your consumers are, the more they begin to feel like “family” to your brand.
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Klout Perks for Businesses)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to introduce you all to Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny! She’s the newest member of my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
We all influence one another, the question is, how much of an influence are we? In 2008, a social media analytic website called Klout was founded to help us measure our level of influence on our audience. Klout gives each individual a score from 1 to 100, based on the individual’s ability to drive action through their social networks. Actions are considered as how many mentions and retweets you receive on Twitter; comments, wall-posts and likes on Facebook and so on for all the other social media networks that you are able to link Klout to. Klout also gives you an idea of the topics you are influential on, and if the people in your network agree with Klout, they can give you a +K.
Just recently, I discovered Klout Perks. By having a Klout account you are eligible for Klout Perks, but certain perks are targeted to specific users based on their score, influential topics, location and more. The perks consist of free or discounted products and/or services. From analyzing all the Klout Perks that have been offered, I’ve come up with three reasons companies may benefit from offering Klout Perks:
1. It’s great brand exposure.
As individuals are browsing through all the perks because their curiosity got the best of them, and whether or not they qualify for the perk, they are still being exposed to your brand. The best part is, your brand is getting a ton of impressions, but you don’t have to pay the CPI price!
2. It’s a viral opportunity for your business.
Some of the most influential individuals will be redeeming one of your sponsored packages. These individuals are the ones that are highly active in their social networks and will be telling their fans about the fun perks they’ve received through Klout, which means they will be talking about your brand!
3. You can use Klout to measure your outreach success!
Klout gives you a lot of insight in the digital world. See who you influence the most, whether it may be a competitor or a loyal fan. You can also see the topics you are influential on, and how your influence compares to your competitors.
Here is an example of how successful Popchip’s campaign went:
Popchips’ campaign was targeted towards healthy trendsetters. They offered a popchips sample kit, hoping that this would be shared and passed along to friends and family. Only 300 influencers were able to claim the perk but there was 14,819 tweets about the perk along with 46.7 million impressions of the perk.
Are you interested in getting your business involved with Klout? All you’ve got to do is contact Klout here then talk to us at Marketing Melodie and we’ll help you come up with an effective marketing strategy on how to integrate Klout and digital tools.
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Sharing what I’ve learned about Foursquare)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to introduce you all to Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny! She’s the newest member of my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
I’ve recently just started really using my Foursquare account and I had a ton of questions for Melodie. Why should a business have a Foursquare account? What is the point of Foursquare when I can just check-in on Facebook? Apparently, I had much to learn so I’d like to share a few awesome things I recently learned about Foursquare.
Foursquare is a location-based social network used mostly on mobile devices. You use your smart phone to check-in at the venue you’re currently at. Check ins can earn you a new badge, points (that I still don’t know what they’re good for) and some businesses offer special deals when you check-in at their venues. With Foursquare, you can simultaneously post on Facebook and Twitter, something that checking in just on Facebook doesn’t allow. Facebook check-ins which I have been using offer none of these, only a new status update to show your friends where you’re at so I was happy to learn about the foursquare benefits.
As a business, you wouldn’t necessarily create a Foursquare account to be part of the fun. You would claim your business instead. Once the business is claimed, business owners can add specials to help bring in more traffic to the business location. One thing that businesses should keep in mind is that when a special is created, employees need to be aware of the special. This helps avoid confusion when a customer comes in and shows them the unlocked special. It makes the experience less frustrating for the consumer.
I found this Foursquare comedy skit on YouTube, and I thought it was funny so I wanted to share. Also, I drive a Toyota Camry and I noticed that the car the guys are driving is a Camry! Enjoy. 
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
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A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Preparing for the “Real World”)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to introduce you all to Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny! She’s the newest member of my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
I didn’t wait for opportunities to come my way, I went searching for them. Two of the best decisions I’ve made was joining SDSU’s Advertising Club and Ad 2 San Diego. I was so nervous about joining a club and meeting new people by myself, but I am happy I stepped outside my comfort zone. From these two clubs, I’ve made new friends, networked with great people and that made finding an internship much easier. I’ve come to realize that stepping out of your comfort zone is the best way to make your dream come true. Go out there and get as involved as you can, step outside your comfort box and have fun!
I took on multiple internships that were not paid, and I did it with pride. Experience is priceless, remember that. You need to have the right attitude to play in this game. If you are truly passionate about what you plan on doing after college, you will be willing to for the experience in a heartbeat. Haven’t you ever had anyone tell you? “Do what you love, and the money will follow.”
I created my own website and business cards to market myself. This demonstrates that I am digitally savvy and know how to use technology to market myself. If I can’t market myself, how would I expect to market clients for my future employers?
I started a blog to demonstrate my passion marketing. At first my blog was just going to be about my life, just for fun. But then as I began reading more articles about social media, I wanted to start taking notes of things I thought were interesting and helpful. Instead of taking notes on paper, I decided use my blog as a place to share those notes. Things I learn about social media that intrigue me, I include in my blog to share wealth with my peers.
I created a vision board. In order to stay focused on my dreams and goals, I bought a small cork-board where I put up things that would motivate me. I placed this cork-board on a wall that I would see every day as I got up to get ready and so far it’s been doing its job.
(From top left to bottom right: Business card with ‘Senior Social Media Strategiest’ as my title, ‘$100,000 bill’, SDSU Cap/gown, photo of Eiffel Tower, very happy photo of me, photo of the Magic Fountain of Montjuic.)
The business card represents the position I will, one day, hold. The $100,000 bill represents the income I inspire to make. The photo of the cap and gown is my motivation for working hard towards graduation. The photos of the Eiffel Tower and Magic Fountain are the two places I would love to visit again in the near future, and the happy photo of myself reminds me to smile and appreciate life.
I believe that everything you have in your life, you have attracted. If it’s your dream job you want, then you’ve got to attract it by working hard and staying focused. I trust I’ve inspired you to go out there and knock down opportunity doors. Just do it! I dare you. 
and I leave you with a quote that inspires me.
“Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.” ~Kyle Chandler
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Pinning is Winning on Pinterest)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to introduce you all to Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny! She’s the newest member of my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
By now, most of us have heard about Pinterest, the new social media network. Pinterest is a virtual pin board that allows you to pin, repin, like and comment on pictures and videos that your friends or others upload on the site. I know this doesn’t sound very fun, but trust me, it gets addicting. When you go on the website, you are bound to find pictures or videos of things that interest you. Consequently, you are then tempted to pin it to your board so that you may save it for later or just share with your friends. The content that you pin will always lead back to the source it came from, whether it is a blog, a retail site, etc.
But wait, there’s more. As a company, having a Pinterest account may be a good investment, think about it.
1. You’ll get discovered.
People go on Pinterest to find things, whether it’s a new book to read, a new recipe to bake or inspiration for the room they want to redesign. Content gets shared very quickly on Pinterest and that’s a great thing.
2. You keep your customers updated.
Like Twitter, Pinners are able to choose who they want to follow. As you keep your board updated with new pins, your followers are able to stay up to date and can repin the things they love.
3. You let your consumers know the different sides of you.
With the option of having multiple boards, you’re able to show your followers what your personality is like. You can make a boards with content that represent you. One board can have quotes and sayings, another board with your favorite products and a different board with pictures of things that stand for the lifestyle you represent. Yoplait Yogurt is a great example of one of the companies on Pinterest:
Remember: Pinning is winning!
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
