Twitter Gets a Religious Experience

With more than a billion members, the Catholic Church looks to His Holiness, the pope, for direction and guidance. Now those who wish to find a more intimate relationship with the church don't necessarily need to visit the Vatican City. They can communicate with the head of the church through a social media website they are already familiar with–Twitter.

The Church's acceptance and use of this new form of communication further proves the prevalence of social media in today's world. Consumers and parishioners alike are no longer reaching out to businesses and organizations the way they used to. They now expect those entities to come to them.

This presents several opportunities for the Catholic Church. It has the large opportunity of spreading the word of God and his teachings among their followers. It also may renew an interest in the church and attract new members. This move could renew the faith of those who have lost interest. It also serves as a direct line of communication between the Vatican and the world. Any news can immediately be relayed to the public.

However, the addition of a Twitter account could also pose several problems and threats for the Vatican. The Church faces many opponents and Twitter allows their comments to become much more public. However, as long as these negative comments are handled appropriately and quickly, the Vatican can spread its messages in face of adversity.

The success of the Vatican's new Twitter account will depend on how carefully and quickly representatives respond to questions, positive feedback and address negative comments. A designated staff member from the Catholic Church's communications department should manage this Twitter account full time to ensure vigilant monitoring. As we tell our clients, social media can work wonders for a business but only if it is handled well.

Do you have questions about how to manage your company's social media? Contact us today. We'd be happy to help you out.

Get In the Game

In-Game Advertising is on the Rise

As social media expands and draws bigger audiences, a veteran industry quietly gains strength in advertising. Video gaming, a force since the 1980’s, and online gaming, as old as the Internet itself, have emerged as a powerful advertising alternative.

Because gamers usually concentrate on only one medium while playing, their attention is undivided, and they are more likely to remember the brands within the game. In a day in which TV viewers can fast-forward through commercials, brands have the opportunity to gain more awareness. In fact, a study by BlueNoodle shows that gaming advertising is more effective than traditional TV advertising.

There are several avenues that a company can take to advertise within a game. A business can promote itself directly in the game, such as on a billboard or through a strategic placement in which a character uses the product. For example, some sporting games allow companies to place signs on the playing field or have characters drinking its beverages. A company can also place a basic image advertisement in between games or levels. If clicked on, the user moves to the advertiser’s website. A new trend emphasizes a gamer’s need for currency within some games. A business can convince users to buy its product in exchange for game currency or goods.

While some gamers find the advertisements annoying, most do not mind the small pauses in their games. In fact, in-game advertising keeps most games free, which most users prefer. A study by EA and Activison shows that 82% of gamers find games with ads just as fun as games without them. For the time being, in-game advertising is not only profitable, it’s also safe from deterring gamers.

Businesses can greatly benefit from gaming advertising. However, there are several important points to remember:

• Your placement must make sense in the context of the game. In a sporting game, a beverage advertisement makes much more sense than one for a doll store.
• The advertisement must resonate with the gamer demographic. Games can provide this information before advertisements are developed and purchased, and it’s something to take seriously. If users of a certain game are teenage boys, advertising alcohol is not the best idea.
• A unique angle must be found. While the gamers’ attention is usually fully on the game, a great eye-catching ad will remain in their mind long after the game is over.

If you’d like to learn more about these advertising opportunities, contact the Marketicity team. We’re happy to tell you more about them.

Social Media and Mother Nature

Born and raised in the Midwest, I believe in one way or another we all acquired a keen fascination (or terror) for meteorology and the wrath of Mother Nature. As we saw this week in Joplin, last month in Tuscaloosa and last year in Hammond – destruction of tornadic magnitude is out of our hands. But as we’ve also seen when these disasters hit (whether as severe or not) what we do have in our hands is the power to inform. And we’re informing on social media.

Sunday evening, as I sat on the couch in my South City home, I had the TV on, iPhone in hand, laptop on, well, my lap. Each avenue of technology was delivering the bits of information I was anxiously awaiting. Local TV stations have long been the go-to source for up-to-the-minute weather information and warnings in unstable situations such as those displayed yesterday. But I already knew there were storms coming; I wanted to know what they were doing.

Twitter was abuzz. I follow over 1,000 users, most of who reside in the St. Louis Metro. My Hootsuite feed could barely keep up with the 10 tweets per second. Photos of damage, hail measurements, rain intensity and simply, descriptions of the sky as the storm rolled in. By the time the impending storm reached my neighborhood, we endured a bout of heavy rain and some thunder. But once all was said and done with the evening storms, I wasn’t quite ready to power down my up-to-the-second newsfeed. Joplin was destroyed and I wanted details.

Retweets were flying through my stream faster than I could keep up. People were tweeting to make contact with family and friends in and around Joplin; survivors were clarifying their well-being; Red Cross was directing folks to their Safe and Well site; raw audio and video began erupting; pleas were made to medical personnel to flock to southwest Missouri, and info on crisis center locations were being established.

A Facebook page, Joplin, MO Tornado Recovery, was created that evening on the relief efforts already being set in place. At 9pm on Sunday, it had already gained 6,800 likes. At 9am on Monday, over 50,000 and not even 48 hours after the tornado struck, nearly 150,000. Because of this Facebook page, people have gained contact with loved ones affected by the storm, provided resources to Joplin area residents established opportunities for donation and simply been a way to say, ‘Joplin, we’re with you’.

My respect and fascination with social media takes on a whole new meaning when such monumental national and international events like this occur. Social media is no longer just another option to chat with old friends, potential colleagues and fellow professionals. It’s a commercial-free instantaneous avenue for answers and if you’re not on-board now, you risk being left behind.

To make a donation to the relief efforts taking place in Joplin, please text:

REDCROSS to 90999 for a $10 donation to the American Red Cross

Joplin to 864833 for a $10 donation to the Heart of Missouri United Way

JOPLIN to 80888 for a $10 donation to The Salvation Army