If we had all the time in the world, we would blog three times a day on the latest digital marketing news and updates. But just because we aren’t pushing updates to you as they happen doesn’t mean we aren’t paying attention for your sake.

We’ve kept tabs on this year’s latest tools and tricks and felt the following tidbits were worth sharing with you. If you have questions or want to know more about any of these topics, please let your account manager know or call us at (843) 216-0442!

• Google AdWords offers new coupon component:
  Many of our clients utilize Google AdWords in their SEO campaigns. This new update from the Google mammoth will allow your ads to contain coupon elements. It doesn’t look like it will increase your price-per-click, and those who do click land on a unique page with your printable coupon. We’ll watch this as it rolls out and suggest it when appropriate.
• Facebook Gifts & Cards:
  Facebook has began to push their new Gift platform - and we’re buying! This is a fun, easy way to brighten someone’s day – for a birthday, holiday or just because. It’s incredibly easy and fast. From the business viewpoint, you can now submit a request to have your product offered in their ‘gift shop’.
  Facebook also wants to claim a physical place in your wallet. They are slowly unveiling a Facebook Card that will work like a mega re-usable gift card to multiple vendors. We have some employees that love this concept but would like to see it as an app instead of a physical card. Starbucks App anyone?
• Advertising on Twitter:
  Twitter has also begun to vamp up its efforts to boost profitability. While promoted tweets have been an option for the ‘elite’ Twitter users, a new advertising platform is being tested now and will soon be more accessible. We’ll keep you informed on the latest.
  If you’re an avid Twitter user, you may have noticed you have a slightly shortened window to share your message. If you attach a link to your tweet, you are now limited to 118 characters. Read why (and don’t blame us).

We’ll pause here and let the vertigo subside. We are happy to ‘steady’ you at any point and have a quick chat on what you – individually – should be paying attention to or forgetting about.

Learn from other designers and their artwork
There are so many talented artists to explore, especially in a city like Charleston, and their work can explode with inspiration. From the colors they use, the technique they chose, to their perspective or even your perspective on the piece, viewing other artists’ work can be extremely influential on your own design process. Bad design can inspire you too. Analyze it and work up ways you could enhance the piece to better meet the needs of the viewer.

Understand your audience and know your competition
Research your target audience and truly dig deep to understand them completely. Brainstorm, mind map, collaborate with coworkers or perform surveys. Just do whatever it takes to equip yourself with the knowledge and tools you may need to capture the inspiration that sparks the project and points it in the right direction. In the design world, it’s important to study the competition just as much as you study your target audience. Gain ideas from competitors of what not to do if their idea isn’t working. See what they are doing that is successful and absorb a new perspective on the concept. Make it your own to mold to the needs of the project at hand.

Surf the web
The web in its enormity can be a very handy tool to utilize when gathering inspiration. With a new project, I usually start off by creating a mood board and gathering all of the images that inspire me in any way relating to the specific client/project at hand. It can include colors, textures, line strokes and type faces. Pinterest has been very instrumental for me when brainstorming for new projects. You can find plenty of inspiration on this site along with ways to organize your own ideas. Whatever catches that creative eye of yours, place it on a mood board or in a file designated for your creative juices to flow. Also, always see what your client’s competition is doing so you can find ways to make your work stand out in comparison to similar organizations out there. Take a look at their logo, website and social media outlets to get a better idea of how they market themselves.

Be aware of and appreciate your everyday life
Stop and smell the roses. Take a second every day to absorb the world around you. Your environment can be very inspirational. Stop and listen to surrounding noises, or to your favorite music, look at life in a different perspective. Go into the wild and check out nature or explore architecture. Travel, sketch, write in your journal, read quotes, laugh or just get out there and try something new. Sometimes it’s hard to absorb inspiration this way as it slips through the cracks of the routine of life, but if you take a second to step outside the routine, it can be very motivational in the design world.

Do mindless things
Take a break – let your mind unwind. Sometimes walking away from a project can trigger inspiration. Meet up with friends, walk the dog, do anything that gets your mind off what your concentrating on and new ideas are sure to come about. Or, like we do here at TRIO, eat chocolate.

All in all, new experiences make the mind stronger. Learning new things could inspire something for you to use in the future. Always keep an open mind and keep yourself well inspired!

Ok, ok – let’s be honest. Who would run to work? Especially when you can skip there.

The team at TRIO wants to be certain that you – our clients, partners, families and friends – know that we are thankful for, well, you. You make what we do possible and we love every minute of it. (Except when the printer acts up or the internet goes down.) From our humble beginnings as a company starting out more than 10 years ago, to where we are today, we positively dig each and every opportunity to see our work and creative skills make a difference in our community and ultimately the world. Meaningful work is at the core of the TRIO world. Without it, our jobs would seem worthless and empty. Our mission, vision and philosophy drive everything that we create, develop and produce.

I asked each of our team members what they are thankful for, outside of our time at TRIO. We hope you are able to make some time to relax and soak in uninterrupted time with your family and friends this Thanksgiving and truly reflect on what it is in your life right now that fills you with gratitude.

“I am thankful for…

• … the life I have been given. Today and every day.” – Jessica
• … music. No matter how you’re feeling or what the occasion is, it’s always there for you.” – Jennifer
• … peace, love, and happiness! And of course all the wonderful people that surround my life!” – Caitlin W.
• … each and every day (carpe diem!), my health, loving family, wonderful friends, BUSTER and Pandora.” – Caitlin R.
• … my loving family and surrogate Thanksgiving family. I’m also thankful for Amazon.com.” – Melissa
• … that I get to live/work in the best city in the world! #chs” – Alison
• … my husband, my health, my iPhone, my dog, and my family.” – Brooke
• … my daughter’s health and for Dora the Explorer, to whom I owe my sanity at times.” - Brad
• … my mom. And Sherman.” – Lucy
• … Timefox! I mean.. time with my family, and for this beautiful city we get to call home.” – Jordan

It’s that time of the year again – the holidays are among us! And this year, the TRIO crew would like to encourage our friends, family and associates to consider what you can do as an organization or individual to make a difference in our world, our country, our community or even just in one person’s life. It’s true what they say, you know. A little really does go a long way.

I feel very fortunate to work at a place where not only does our company promote a strong culture of giving back but on an individual level, each member of our team has their own personal philanthropic spirit that shines throughout the year.

For Thanksgiving, we decided to support one of our favorite nonprofits – East Cooper Meals on Wheels. We donated a couple turkeys and a slew of side items that will create meals for many of our local homebound seniors. We were thrilled to have the opportunity support East Cooper Meals on Wheels and appreciate everything they do for our community!

Of course, it’s great to be able to give back all year round but during the holidays, when so many have so little, it does seem like the perfect time to warm the hearts of those around us and do what we can to help. Giving to others can be a huge motivator for ourselves, the companies we work at and during these incredibly challenging times, it can really help put things into perspective and show us what really matters the most in life.

There are so many ways to give and it doesn’t always have to be money. Your time can be just as valuable.

Here are 10 suggestions on ways you can give back this holiday season:

• Visit a nursing home. It may not seem like the most exciting or fun thing to do but visiting a local nursing home might be more rewarding than you realize. Your visits can lift someone’s spirits for days on end. A simple touch or showing interest in someone’s life means more than you know. And believe it or not, these folks have plenty to offer us as well! A glimpse into history, advice from those who have been there, funny stories and just so much love. Give it a shot – you just might find that you get more than you give. I got to Mount Pleasant Manor but there are several other nursing homes in the area to choose from. PS – can you tell what cause is closest to my heart?

• Support the Newtown, Connecticut community. After such a heart-wrenching tragedy as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, perhaps you are led to donate to the community and allow them to rebuild and find hope once more. The United Way of United Way of Western Connecticut is accepting donations that will provide support and resources where and when they become identified and needed. The ’Sandy Hook School Support Fund’ was created to provide support services to the families and community that has been affected.

• Help victims of Hurricane Sandy. Lowcountry officials established the Charleston Cares: Sandy Relief Program as a response to local residents who want to help the victims up north whose lives have been devastated by this tremendous storm. In addition to monetary donations, items such as non-perishable food, diapers, bottled water, batteries, tools, cleaning supplies and much more are being accepted at various drop-off locations around the Charleston area.

• Share blessings and change lives. That’s what our friends at Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach do every day and you can support their mission to provide basic human needs while encouraging self-sufficiency through various programs including food and clothing services, dental and prenatal women’s healthcare, life skills and budget classes, summer camp for kids and so much more!

• Volunteer at a homeless shelter. Help organizations like Crisis Ministries do what they do best – provide shelter, food and most of all, hope to individuals that have fallen on hard times. You can donate funds or take some time to help prepare food. Bring a friend or get a team of co-workers together to support this worthwhile cause.

• Party with a purpose. Because who doesn’t love a good party? Invite your friends or put on a work party and ask everyone to make a small donation that will go to a charity of your choice. Alone we might not be able to give much but together, we can give a lot. And there’s certainly no shortage of nonprofits in the Charleston area so choose one and get down with your bad self.

• Reach out to a children’s hospital. Find out what their needs are and how you can help spread some holiday cheer to the kids who will be stuck in the hospital over Christmas. Or check in with our friends at Gabe’s Chemo Duck Program and sponsor a hospital or donate a duck for a child living with cancer.

• Leave an extra generous tip. Whether it’s for a waitress at your favorite restaurant, the mailman or your hair stylist – leaving a little something extra shows your appreciation and can really brighten the person’s day. If you’ve ever been in the service industry, you totally get it. If you haven’t, just trust us.

• Help repair or build a home for a family. Contact Habitat for Humanity and see how you can help an individual or family who cannot afford to repair their home. Lend a hand to create a safe, stable environment and for those who may be living in dangerous conditions with no means to fix it. There are several Habitats in the Lowcountry so give them a call if building is your thing!

• Pray for someone. Give the gift of prayer. And if you’re a believer, don’t just talk about it – do it. How often do we say that we’ll keep someone in our prayers but then get so busy with our own lives that we innocently forget? Keep a notepad or little prayer book in your nightstand, purse or in your car and write down the names of the people you intend to pray for so you don’t forget. Then, before you fall asleep at night or while you’re stuck in traffic, break out your notes and get your prayer on!

The opportunities to give back are endless. There’s so much that we can do as a group or on our own so give it some thought and do what you can. No matter how big or small the “give” may be – you can trust that a good deed goes a long way.

The latest important piece to this algorithm is wrapped up in the form of ‘interest lists’. These lists put the power of post views in the hands of the fans. Your pages’ fans can now choose if they want to see our posts or not in their news feed. If they value your content, they can now add you or your page to an interest list. These lists, as Facebook describes, “are an optional way to organize the content you’re interested in on Facebook. You can create your own interest lists based on the things you care about, or subscribe to other people’s lists.”

Not only is this important to pay attention to as a page admin, but it’s a powerful tool for individuals to utilize both personally and professionally. For example, I have created an interest list that contains Charleston media outlets’ pages as well as reporter’s professional fan pages. This way, if I want a quick glance at the latest news for Charleston, I can click on this interest list and only see the most recent posts from these outlets. I can continue to edit and add to this list. And for fun, I’ve created lists for such things as live music in the area and biking in Charleston. Lists can be set as private, for friends-only or viewable by the entire public. If the list is open to friends or the public, they can be subscribed to and shared. If you or your business page is added to your fan’s interest list(s), your posts will show up in their news feed.

So, where do you find said lists? And how do you get started? You can create or search for lists from the bottom section of the left-hand column on your home page on Facebook. And if you’re still confused, you can give me a call (843-216-0442), send me an email, message me on Facebook or tweet to me.

–

• Green Heart Project – cultivating character and success in kids through the power of an urban garden
• HALOS – working to improve the lives of abused and neglected children
• Healing Farms – providing programs for adults with developmental disabilities and their families
• One Less Meal – tackling hunger by asking others to give up one meal
• Respite Care of Charleston – helping families who face the challenges of living with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia

Want to see what we created? Stay tuned. We have to share with our recipients first. We’ll post the fruits of our labor over the course of Monday and Tuesday next week. In the meantime, we’re going to get some much-needed rest. Catch ya’ on the flip side! – Team TRIO

Brooke Casey provides administrative support to the team as TRIO’s new office manager. Originally from Warrenton, VA, Brooke received her bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Georgia and has lived in Mount Pleasant since 2007. Before joining Trio, Brooke was the vice president of business development and office manager of LongerDays.com, a U.S.-based virtual assistance company. She and her husband are avid travelers, but love the beach lifestyle Charleston has to offer and don’t plan on leaving the south. She’s also quite the dog lover – her yellow lab, Maverick, is always by her side.

Giving back to the community has always been at the very essence of TRIO. From the start, our philosophy has dictated that we truly have a responsibility to give back – a responsibility to make a difference. We feel honored to be able to donate our time each year to five unique and deserving nonprofits, many which have little or no marketing budgets.

CreateAthon was the brainchild of Teresa Coles, founder of RIGGS advertising agency in Columbia, South Carolina. What began in 1998 as a way for one group of creative professionals to give back has now grown into a global marathon that takes place every September. Numerous companies have joined the exclusive CreateAthon family, holding CreateAthon events in their cities around the globe. Collectively, CreateAthon agencies have benefited more than 1,275 nonprofit organizations with more than 3,100 projects exceeding $15 million in value. TRIO has the distinct privilege of being the official CreateAthon agency for the Lowcountry region of South Carolina.

If you’re in the area, drop by to show your support and have dinner with the team Thursday, September 20. Caitlin Ramsey for more information.

After having the opportunity to help plan a variety of events at TRIO, I’ve learned four key lessons that are engrained in my brain. I’m certain I’ll  remember these throughout my future event planning endeavors. Although I may not have years of experience in this field, I think remembering these four lessons will help make any event a success.

1.       Know Your Audience.

Knowing your audience may be the most important thing to keep in mind when planning any event. Identify your target audience in the most thorough way possible. Find out what they like, what they don’t like, where they live, what they do and how you can most effectively reach them. Decide if you are narrowing your target group to a niche market or if you’re going more for mass reach. Once you identified your ideal attendee, it’s vital to keep them in mind throughout EVERY future decision you make when planning the event. This will greatly influence the promotional aspect of your event. For example, when TRIO worked with East Cooper Medical Center on a joint pain event, we narrowed our target market to men and women ages 55 and up with an active lifestyle and household income of approximately $75,000. We decided a viable way to reach that market would be through direct mail, talk radio and newspaper ads. Our approach would have been very different if we were trying to reach young adults. With that audience it would be more likely to reach them via mediums such as social media outlets, like Facebook and Twitter, rather than newspaper ads or direct mail.

TAKE AWAYS: Always be aware of who exactly you are pitching your event to. As technology continues to rapidly evolve, so will our methods in which we try to reach our target markets for events. It’s also important to remember to differentiate your audience and build the event atmosphere specifically around them.

2.       Develop Your Event Around Timeliness

Some may feel a little overwhelmed when given the task to plan an entire event from start to finish. You might ask yourself, “Where do I even begin?” A general rule of thumb I’ve learned is to first choose the event date and work your way back. Depending on the size of the event, planning can begin anywhere from 18 months to one or two months out. The amount of planning time you have will determine the scheduling and order in which you’ll complete each aspect of the event. I find it helpful to keep a very thorough and organized timeline that encompasses every event planning detail with a deadline. Deadlines are a must because they help guide you and keep you on track. Don’t be afraid to constantly update the timeline so it reflects new developments or changes throughout the event planning process. This will only keep you more organized. Also, remember to start promoting the event early on so potential guests can plan accordingly.

TAKE AWAY: Once you get closer to the event date, if you are planning an event open to the public, it’s important to promote the event using high reach and high frequency. Reach and frequency are keys to success. One without the other is a waste of money.

3.       Collaboration is Key

Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate!!! When planning an event on a budget you’re always looking for ways to save to ensure you come in or under budget. Partnering with local organizations is a great way to promote your event without having to dig deep into your budget. There are endless opportunities to work with other groups in your community whether it’s advertising in a publication or sharing information with local nonprofits and businesses. It’s common to leverage partners or sponsors to help promote your event in exchange for mentioning them in event promotional materials and/or having a presence the day of the event.

I also learned you can’t underestimate how valuable input from other teammates can be. Working with your coworkers to bounce ideas off one another can lead to innovative designs and a fresh perspective.

TAKE AWAY: With the overwhelming amount of events always going on (especially in a city like Charleston) think of out-of-the-box, cost effective ways to differentiate your event and keep people coming back!

4.       Measure Your Success

In order to learn from each event, measuring techniques must be used so you determine how to improve future events. Feedback is crucial in event planning because your main goal is to create an overall memorable experience for your guests, and the only way you’ll know what to change is if you ASK. There are so many ways to measure the success of an event other than just analyzing attendance numbers (although this is also a must). You can measure your event’s success through ways such as the amount of press, web impressions, surveys and social media mentions.

Surveys are a great way to gather in-depth knowledge of your attendees’ overall event experience. Each survey should be tailored specifically to whoever it is intended for. For example, you would craft a different survey for the guests vs. the vendors vs. the sponsors. This way you can gather definite feedback from each and every person involved in the event. Also, the social media world has opened the opportunity for immediate online conversations and led to attendees having higher expectations. The sense of immediacy guests expect for a response is crucial and you must be aware of the online conversations people are having about your event and the variety of experiences they had.

Even though event planning has its stressful moments, the reward of watching your event unfold and making people happy is incredible. I’ve learned that I enjoy working in the fast pace, detail-oriented, ever-changing event planning world and no matter what happens I must remember to, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

PAGE TITLE TAGS

In creating page titles, you want to make sure to create unique names while making sure the names are accurate to the content within. You’ll need to change your page titles within the HTML title tag and each page should have its own unique tag. In the tag you should include the site name as well as the page name. The page name should be short and concise to the page’s content.

So how do page titles actually help your site? Well first off, in search engine results the HTML title tag appears in the first line of your listing in a Google search result. This also helps users determine whether or not your website page is relevant to their search.

DESCRIPTION TAGS

The description tag is a summary of each of your pages. It not only helps search engines determine what is going to be within the page, it helps users as well. While a page’s title should be short, a description is where you will want to give the details about the page. It can be as short as one sentence or as long as a paragraph. You’ll want to create a description that is not only accurate in relation to your page but also something that will capture a user’s attention.

Where are descriptions used? Google will use your page description in its search result under the page title tag. If you have different descriptions on multiple pages they will all show under each page listing in a search result.

SITE STRUCTURE

Not only is a clean site navigation helpful to visitors, it’s also great for search engines. Search engines are a lot like visitors in the fact that they like to be able to find a page quickly and easily. You’ll want to structure your site in multiple levels. Your top-level pages should be organized into folders with subpages listed underneath. All files and images should be contained within their own folders. This will help your users go from general content to more specific sub-pages. Make sure to add pages where it makes sense – but be careful not to cut up your content to multiple pages. This will make it to where a user has to make a lot of clicks to get to specific content.

The best way to present your site structure on your site (other than navigation) is by including a sitemap within your pages. A sitemap lists out the site structure with links to each page. Users can use this as well as search engines. This is actually a search engines’ preferred method of searching though a site.

URLs

Another way to help with SEO is by improving your URLs. If you have accurate, descriptive page URLs and filenames for the documents on your site it’ll help not only keep your site better organized but also it will also help when users try and share your site with others. If you use relevant URL names it will help both search engines and users identify what is going to be within the page.

Some tips to create good URLs? Use words. Try not to use symbols and avoid using a long slew of numbers. URLs should be like page titles, short and concise. Also, make sure that your site folder structure is set up cleanly and accurately. This will determine your URL formation.

CONTENT

Finally we’ll get to the most important aspect of SEO, content! You can have great meta tags and site structure, but without good content your site can’t perform as well with search engines. Interesting and relevant content influences your site in SEO more than any other factors. Your content needs to be fresh and unique. Make sure that your content is easy to read text and that you have no spelling or grammatical errors within. As stated earlier in site structure, you’ll want to break up your content into reasonable bits so that it’s easier to search for and easier to scan and read through.

So, how do you create good content for your site? Research. Use Google’s Keyword Tool to research what users are searching to find the topic your website is based on. You need to think about your users and how they will understand your topic and search for it. The Keyword Tool will provide you with plenty of keyword variations and also gives you the search rate for those words. When writing your content you’ll want to use a mixture of these keywords. That way, when someone searches for your site, it will register in the search engine results that those words were used within the content.

So there you go, some simple tips on optimizing your website for search engines. There are no secret ingredients, only good thought through site development and content. As noted before, always keep in mind that you’re not only optimizing for the search engines but for your end users as well. It doesn’t matter if a user finds your site if it doesn’t turn out to be beneficial to them.

Melissa