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The Dos and Don’ts of Web Design

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

By Natalia Rodriguez

Sayings like never judge a book by its cover and what really matters is what’s on the inside are values that many people should live by, but unfortunately, this is not something that works in the world of digital marketing.

Like it or not, people do judge a book by its cover, and in the digital world, the importance of beauty is magnified. In this world, people only have their eyes to formulate an opinion about the product and the brand. That’s why it’s so important for organizations to invest time and resources in their website.

As a marketing agency with clients in the United States, South Florida and Latin America, we understand that having a well-designed and user-friendly website is a must for the success of your business.

What did it have that mine didn’t?

The appearance of a website is highly important. It can be the factor that can make your audience leave or stay on your website.  It doesn’t matter how credible and honest you know your business is. If your website doesn’t look the part, it’s likely people won’t want to buy from it.

The layout of your website needs to be clean. It needs to have the right amount of white space and high-quality images. In other words, it has to look as if time and effort was put into it. The only thing worse than not having a website is having a website that is poorly done.

Let’s eat grandpa vs. Let’s eat, grandpa

Grammar is a big part of credibility. If your website is full of grammatical and spelling errors, it tells your audience that you don’t know what you are doing. In the real-world, people measure your educational and intelligence level by the way you speak, in the online world, it’s by the way you write.

Take the time to carefully proofread everything you write and to make sure that there are no spelling and/or grammatical errors.

If you’re not nice to me, then we can’t be friends

The third and most important factor is how user friendly your website is. If you have the most beautiful website in the world and it’s not easy to navigate, chances are people will get sick and move on to the next thing. The last thing people want is to try to figure out how to navigate your website. Keep the goal of your website in mind and make sure that your website meets that goal. If the goal of your website is to sell a product or services, make sure that the buying process is easy for customers.

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that your website is the face of your organization in the online world. Your website should be an asset to your business. If it’s not helping you, then you should consider making changes to it.

Tell us, as a user what’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to websites?

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Posted in 2012 Trends, Businesses, Current Events, Everything iSource, Uncategorized, Web Design | 1 Comment »

What to Expect from a “Public” Facebook

Friday, May 18th, 2012


By: Keilany Inciarte

If you haven’t heard the term “Facebook is going public” in the last couple of weeks, you may be one of the rare individuals who hasn’t joined the flourishing world of social media.
Many experts predict that once Facebook goes public, Facebook will have one of the largest initial public offerings (IPO) in history. IPO is the first sale of stock by a previously private company to the public. Today it was confirmed that Facebook shares will be sold at $38 per share. So what will be different?

Facebook will most likely become an even larger company from the capital raised from their IPO. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook will raise $77 billion to $96 billion by selling shares to the public.
Well, why didn’t they do this earlier if the company will profit from it? Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, wanted to keep the company private as long as possible because he believes this is the best way to help build the company. With Facebook’s rapid growth in the last eight years since its invention, the company became too large and surpassed 500 shareholders, a milestone that Zuckerberg has been trying to avoid. Zuckerberg has stated in the past that becoming public may impair innovations within the company in return for meeting shareholders’ demands and boosting stock prices.

The Securities and Exchange Commission rule of 1964 states that any private company with more than 500 shareholders needs to abide by the same financial disclosure requirements that a public company does. To put it in a simpler, more straightforward way, Zuckerberg was basically forced into going public, but realistically, it is a great move for the company.

There are several changes that experts say the average user may encounter due to Facebook’s IPO.

Facebook wants to build a stronger mobile presence among its users, possibly leading to the invention of new mobile applications or the acquisition of existing ones. Some say Facebook has reached its peak and that new memberships will start to gradually decelerate, providing a need for other forms of revenue. New inventions will not only be limited to mobile as Facebook is said to experiment with new products, such as the possible introduction of a search engine, one of the most efficient ways to advertise, into Facebook itself. In addition, Facebook will rely heavily on profits from advertisements, leading to the placement of more ads throughout the site. With the addition of applications, brands and media updates to a Facebook user’s news feed, only 12 percent of your friends see your average updates, as reported by Facebook. A possible integration of a paid service in exchange for more exposure on status updates is also being rumored.

Facebook now has approximately 845 million members and has become much more than a social network, serving as a successful media platform for businesses as well.Recently, Facebook has acquired smaller companies like the popular photo-sharing mobile application known as Instagram for $1 billion.

As Facebook approaches a new phase in its history, it’s important to remember that Facebook is not a publisher but a platform.

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Posted in 2012 Trends, Businesses, Current Events, Events in Review, Everything iSource, Facebook, Facebook trends, Social Media Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Creating a Social Media Campaign

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

By Natalia Rodriguez

Luck may exist in life, but not in social media marketing.

As an interactive marketing agency in South Florida, here at iSource Digital, we understand that having a successful social media campaign it’s not about luck, but about the content, strategy and understanding of the target audience.

One of the biggest mistakes many organizations make when embarking onto a social media campaign is that they go into it with little understanding of how social media works and with unrealistic goals and expectations. They think that to gain people’s interest the only thing they have to do is post random content on their Twitter or Facebook page. But social media doesn’t work like that.

To create a successful social media campaign, there needs to be a concrete strategy in mind. Organizations should establish goals and objectives that are relevant to their organization’s needs.

For our most recent social media campaign for BenQ Latin America (BenQ Latam), the first thing we did was establish a strategy relevant to their target audience. Our objectives and goals were relevant and realistic. We dedicated important resources to the campaign. Thus far (the campaign is still in progress), this resulted in more than 10,000 likes on BenQ Latam’s Facebook page in less than a week, and that number keeps on growing.

“Kony 2012” is another great example of a successful social media campaign. The short film, created and produced by Invisible Children, was launched on March 5, 2012. It didn’t take long for the video to go viral. As of March 30, 2012, the video has been viewed 80 million times on Youtube. By creating concrete goals and strong content and by keeping followers updated and active, the campaign has been able to acquire the interest of the public and the press.

Don’t just embark onto a social media campaign if you are not willing to dedicate the resources and time that it needs. That will only lead to failure, and it could do more harm than good. Concentrate, research and communicate correctly to obtain better results.

Social media can do great things for an organization. It’s one of the best tools out there. Give it the attention and resources it needs, and you will see a great improvement.

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Posted in 2012 Trends, Businesses, Current Events, Events in Review, Everything iSource, Facebook, Facebook trends, Social Media, Social Media Tips, SocialNitro, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Facebook Timeline for Your Business

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

By: Carolina Perello

The idea of switching to the new Facebook Timeline may come uneasy to some businesses. As an interactive agency in South Florida, here at iSource Digital we understand that changes can be nerve-wracking, but it is an investment that’s worth it.

Unlike the previous Facebook set up, Timeline allows your business to represent itself in a more personalized way using features like interactive posts and the new cover photo. Timeline has also made it easier for businesses to keep track of how many people “like” the page and how well they are interacting with it. Additional advantages include milestones to capture significant moments over time along with the feature and pin options that allow you to draw the visitors’ attention. This all may sound complicated (and scary), but no need to worry! I’ll explain in a brief breakdown all of Timeline’s new features and how they will each benefit your business.

The first thing you need to do is choose a profile and cover photo. Think of this process as building the brand identity for you Facebook page. The Profile picture is ideally the company logo or what represents your business best. Along with the Profile picture, the cover photo is also essential in characterizing your business.  Keep in mind that the cover picture is the first thing people will see when visiting your page. There is also a section at the top of your page that includes your “likes,” photos and other additional apps that can be incorporated into your business page.  These features serve as visual aids to the public so they can paint a better image of what your business is about.

In the Timeline itself, people can see the current activities following your business, and this allows them to feel more connected with your business using your profile posts in a timely order. It’s all about staying connected in this fast-paced world where people (especially in cities like Miami) no longer have time to sit down and read a page full of words. Your latest update is what catches the audience attention. Your post is not only what promotes you but what connects with your followers. For example, at iSource we are trying to personalize our posts so followers recognize that there are actual people they can connect with working here and not just robots that type all day and answer calls. Some other features on Timeline are also good to keep in mind, like a pinned post. Pinned posts allow you to keep the most important message at the top of your page for up to seven days, making sure it gathers more attention than other posts. It is also good to take advantage of larger stories to use pictures and videos to capture attention and build interaction. You can also keep track of when people engage most with your content by using Timeline’s insight. This way you know when the best time is to post certain items on your page.

Don’t think of Timeline as the monster under your bed who is out to get you. Instead, think of all the benefits your business will receive from it. Not only will you gain more followers and recognition, but you will also have a chance to develop a meaningful connection with your target audience that no amount of research can give you. We’ve been able to manage iSource Digital’s Facebook much easier since switching to Timeline, and you can use it as an example so that you have a better idea of everything explained on this blog. Don’t be afraid and make the switch!

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Posted in 2012 Trends, Businesses, Current Events, Everything iSource, Facebook, Facebook trends, Social Media, Social Media Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »

St. Patrick’s Day 2012

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Here at iSource Digital there is nothing that we love more than a holiday where we get to drink beer at the office, thank you Ari!  St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect reminder that life is more than work and that having fun is a must, especially when you live in Miami.

A lot of people think that living in Miami or in South Florida life is all play and no work, but those who live here know that’s not necessarily the case. I’ve been living in Miami for almost a year, and I haven’t been to the beach in moths! Days like this is the perfect opportunity to have some fun and enjoy yourself. Go to your favorite restaurant, let loose, wear the most hideous green outfit you own and enjoy what this beautiful city has to offer.

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Posted in Current Events, Events in Review, Events in Review, Holidays, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Predictions for the 2012 Presidential Election

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

By: Natalia Rodriguez

In the 2008 presidential election, President Obama’s “Yes We Can” campaign made history.  It was the first time a presidential candidate took full advantage of the power of social media platforms  and used them to directly interact and engage voters. Obama went from being an obscured presidential hopeful to becoming America’s president, and his social media campaign is regarded as one of the most successful social media campaigns to date.

The 2012 presidential election promises to bring the same innovations as its predecessor. With the primary election in full force and the general election just around the corner, the iSource Digital team would like to discuss trends we expect to see from the upcoming presidential campaigns, as well as some tips on how business owners in South Florida can apply some of the candidates’ tactics to their marketing and social media strategies.

One of the biggest players making their debut in the 2012 election will be smartphones. According to Nielson Reports, 55 percent of cellphones purchased from March 2011 to May 2011 were smartphones, and this number has only increased in recent months. Due to their portability and accessibility, smartphones have become the go-to device for many people. As the presidential elections take full force, we can expect candidates to start using these devices to target voters.  Some of the strategies that candidates should utilize are the creation of mobile applications and advertising and modification of their websites to a mobile-friendly version.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter will continue to play a vital role in the electoral campaign.  We can expect candidates to use these platforms to engage voters, start conversations, ask questions and get feedback.

New players that candidates should take advantage of are Foursquare and Pinterest. By checking-in to Foursquare, candidates can keep voters up to date on their location, speaking engagements, fundraisers and events they are attending. Pinterest has experienced immense growth in the past few months. This platform allows users to create digital boards by posting pictures of things they like or hope to accomplish. Candidates can take advantage of Pinterest by creating boards that make it easier for voters to see candidates’ policies, goals and what they plan to do if they were to become the next president of the United States.

What can business owners and corporations take from all of this? They should start by paying close attention to the strategies and platforms that candidates are using to engage their voters and try to emulate them the best way they can to engage their consumers. Some key elements to note are the types of messages candidates are using to engage their audience, candidates’ interaction with their audience, key platforms they are using and the design and layout of these platforms (type of apps they use, ascetics of their websites, etc.).

As the presidential election gains momentum, we should expect new mediums to emerge. In the meantime, we advise all business owners in South Florida to pay attention to what these candidates are doing with their social media campaigns and try to apply these tactics to their social media and marketing strategies.

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Posted in 2012 Trends, Current Events, Events in Review, Events in Review, Everything iSource, Social Media, SocialNitro, Uncategorized | No Comments »

iSource Digital CEO Gives Lecture to University of Michigan Students

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Recently, our CEO, Ari Lisjak, spoke with MBA students attending the University of Michigan about the current status of digital marketing. Ari gave the students an inside look at the digital marketing world. See what Sebastian Valencia of Clarkston Consulting said about the experience:

As part of a research study being conducted by Clarkston Consulting and a group of MBA students from the University of Michigan, we had an insightful conversation with Ari Lisjak from iSource Digital. Ari was extremely helpful in discussing the current state of Digital Marketing metrics, return on investment measurement, and the potential gaps to be closed in the near and long term horizon. The perspectives shared by Ari provided not only a complete baseline for the current state but additional insight into what clients are looking for in order to make a better assessment of their digital investment.

- Sebastian Valencia

Clarkston Consulting

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A Man to Remember

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

A Great ManYesterday, the world learned of the untimely death of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Although few people really knew him, today millions will mourn him.

In a written statement, President Obama said, “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

Jobs has forever changed technology and more importantly, the way we use it to communicate. The creation of apps has had an incredible impact on the way we market, and for that, we cannot thank him enough. Jobs was an inspiration for entrepreneurs everywhere. He understood better than most that products would be more successful with a powerful brand behind them. Jobs took the time to build his brand and understand his consumer. He will be remembered for improving the lives of those he never knew in ways never imagined.

From the ISOURCE team we say: “Thank you Steve for making our live’s better and easier. We’ll forever remember you and be thankful. A true inspiration to all of us.”

15 Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

#GettingSchooledOnTwitter

Monday, June 20th, 2011

by Juan Roman, Business Development & Sales

With social media taking the marketing world by storm and quickly replacing outdated ways of communication, I am now surprised that I didn’t turn to Twitter earlier, especially since my degree is in marketing. As a Facebook user, “The little blue bird” represented a confusing mix of “status updates”, containing @ signs and # signs, followed by a million words strung together. I was never really sure who the message was coming from or going to, let alone know what abbreviations like RT or DM meant. For these and other reasons, I resisted twitter for as long as I could. After college, I moved to Miami and began my internship @SocialNitro, working mostly with social media marketing for small to medium-sized businesses in the greater Miami area. As I’ve learned more about social media marketing for restaurants and retail, as well as the integration of social media marketing with digital marketing campaigns, I quickly realized that I had no option but to dive into the Twitter craze.

The whole experience reminded me of the many times I switched schools as a “shawty.” I typed www.twitter.com into the URL bar, feeling slightly reminiscent of the times when I took a bus to a new school. I went in knowing it was a place where I would learn a whole new lingo, meet new tweeters, and form connections with people. Much like I would be assigned a spot in the classroom, I was assigned a profile that, in order to set myself apart from the estimated 200 million users on Twitter, I was able to personalize with different colors, images, and even put my name on it. Since I wasn’t really sure how or what I should Tweet, not wanting to seem “socially awkward” and irrelevant, my first day I just observed other tweeters interact on my home screen. Asking my fellow tweeters for help was not an option. In school, obvious questions never seemed like a great icebreaker; I thought twitter would be no different.

Through observation, I began to find answers to most of my questions. For example, I learned that #AStringofWords was used basically to categorize messages or “trending topics.” Just knowing this meant I no longer had to worry about being irrelevant. Like a “shawty” with newfound confidence, I felt ready to raise my hand and participate. It’s only my 4th week on twitter, and after abstaining from it for a long time, I have rather enjoyed it. Although there’s still a lot to learn, it’s clear that I’ll continue being part of the twitter community for a long time to come. Lastly I came to the conclusion that my school days would have been much better if girls walked around with hashtags on their foreheads announcing their mood… maybe not appealing but certainly helpful.

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Posted in Everything iSource, Social Media, SocialNitro, The Life of an iSource Intern, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Fashion Takes-On Social Media

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

by Christie Barrocas

In the fashion world, “One day you’re in; the next day you’re out.” That’s not the case when it comes to social media platforms. Social media is here to stay, and brands are recapturing the interest of consumers with social networks. Social media is a powerful tool for fashion brands and retailers. It is changing the way the fashion world reaches their audience and markets their brand image. Fashion brands are communicating with their fans and consumers on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Social media has improved the image of the most exclusive brands by focusing on awareness, loyalty and engagement. Also, consumers are rapidly moving toward online and mobile commerce. Fashion brands can’t afford to miss out on the social media revolution, especially since clothing has one of the largest values of all e-commerce businesses. Some of the retailers taking advantage of this revolution are Oscar de la Renta, Victoria’s Secret, Donna Karan, Kate Spade and more.

In order for fashion brands to stay in business, they must convey interest in their customers. By fashion brands being virtually connected, fans and consumers are able to share their experiences and make suggestions. “Companies know when they engage your friends and fans, they should do so care and with a full investment of time. They must be consistent with their social interactions and be emotionally available to their customers. If you don’t empathize with your customers, you’ll become irrelevant to their social lives, and you’ll lose them.” (CBS) An aspect in which this applies is customer service. People voice their experiences with brands through social media, and businesses are able to engage. This allows the company to remedy poor consumer experiences and leverage positive ones as word-of-mouth marketing.

The viral marketing capability of re-tweeting is something an advertising budget cannot buy. Digital marketing through social media is a company’s dream come true. “Women outnumber men on every social media platform, including Twitter and Facebook. Because of this, social retail behavior in the fashion sector has taken off. Fifty-five percent of women use mobile devices to shop, and 59% use social network.” (CBS) One great tool is the “barcode scanner,” a mobile marketing application that allows you to scan an item at the store and search for the cheapest price at any other store. Who doesn’t want to find the best deal in town?

Social media is a company’s hottest fashion accessory and it’s not going to go out of style anytime soon! For more information about social media marketing for retail businesses, contact Christie@socialnitro.com.

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Posted in Everything iSource, Social Media, SocialNitro, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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