May 2010 | Ohio Marketing Company

Interactive Design, Marketing Strategy, Social Media, Web Development

Customizing Social Media

Using social media channels is a great way to promote your business. But a lot of companies view social media only as a means to an end – as a way to push people to their own website.

From my perspective, these companies are missing a key point about social media: the fact that most people don’t want to be redirected. They’re on Facebook or Twitter or YouTube for a reason. They want to be entertained. To catch up on the news. To interact, comment, get in on the conversation.

With that in mind, smart companies are focusing less on getting people away from social media sites – and more on establishing a strong brand presence within them.

Here are some great ways to do that.

Facebook. Facebook pages aren’t fully customizable, but they do have some strong features. You can create custom tabs on your Facebook page and sell things using PayPal. You can also create custom landing pages. If you search for “Starbucks” on FB, for example, you’ll go straight to their Starbucks Card tab, rather than their Wall. All of this customization is done using FBML, Facebook’s proprietary markup language.And although this isn’t exactly customization, some companies are using FB as a customer service portal. Look at the posts and comments on Best Buy’s page, for example. Best Buy is resolving customer complains within FB – not wasting time redirecting customers to its home page. What a great concept.
Twitter. Like Facebook, Twitter also lets you customize your page to reflect your brand. Atomic’s Twitter page, for example, is decked out with our logo, contact information, and brand colors. We’ve also included with headshots of our staff and their Twitter handles.
YouTube. YouTube allows for elaborate customization – look how Coca-Cola has designed its YouTube channel to reflect its current “Celebration” campaign. Dr Pepper hasn’t done quite as much work – its “I’m a doctor” campaign videos run on a standard Dr Pepper background. But still, the channel is customized. That means you don’t have to go to these companies’ websites to experience their brand; they’ve brought their brand to you.

Here at Atomic, we’ve been helping lots of companies take their website presence and apply it to social media sites. Ready to do the same?

May 13, 2010

Culture, Project Management

Moving Forward, Looking Back

One of the things I love about working at Atomic Interactive is that every project gives me a chance to learn something new. That’s because the culture here is not about hanging on to old processes just because “that’s how we’ve always done things.” Instead, it’s about being open to new ideas and expanding our minds!

For me, a key part of that is going back after a project has been completed to analyze what we could have done better. Maybe we could have worked more efficiently, or used a different tool. Maybe we could have communicated more clearly with the client – or even within our own team.

Mind you, this review isn’t about finger-pointing. It’s all about understanding that, no matter how good we are, there’s always something we can improve upon. (As a dear friend of mine used to say, “the biggest room in the world is room for improvement.”) That’s especially true in the interactive environment where new technologies pop up daily. It’s our job to try them out – and if they’re promising, becoming familiar with them and adding them to our toolbox.

Sometimes being innovative means rejecting new technology. As Atomic’s project manager, I’ve started organizing all our project information in binders. Yes, I mean an ugly, old-school, three-ring binder. Of course, we use an online project management system, too – but sometimes it’s easier to grab a binder and head to the desk of a designer or a developer with site maps, wire frames or other information in hand. Hey, if a tool helps us work more efficiently, we’ll use it. Even if it’s not flashy or new.

On the other hand, if I discover that a tool is not working, I’m not afraid to pitch it. Sometimes you can get stuck trying to tweak a process to death – when what you really need to do is scrap it entirely and start fresh.

So if you see me bent over my notebook long after a project is completed, you’ll know what I’m doing. Revisiting the project one last time and refining the process that works best for Team Atomic and our customers.

May 13, 2010

Culture, Interactive Design, Web Development

Cubicle Envy

Atomic Interactive‘s new space was well thought out and planned, creating an environment optimized for productivity and creativity. We explored options, looked at swatches, and came up with a unique end product that surpassed expectations (the same thing we do for our clients every day).

Here is a little taste of some of the thought that went into creating our awesome, super-sweet space that has created much more than just a little jealousy.

taurine-free energy

In an attempt to create some natural energy and reduce our addiction to energy drinks, we took advantage of the talents of interior designer Heidi Miller. Heidi helped Atomic balance an organic feel and modern design in a space with an industrial appearance. The balance is one of the first things you notice when you enter the studio – exposed ceilings, brick walls, plants, lots of natural light, modern (yet comfortable) furniture. Yucca Cane and Golden Pothos plants were added for their beauty and because researchers have suggested these plants are capable of reducing air born pollutants caused by office equipment and produce above average amounts of oxygen, which helps feed our brains. Our collaboration with Heidi ensured that our team would be positioned in a loose framework and bathed in natural light every day to avoid turning into “cubeville.”

hippie tree huggers

We’ve switched to using energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs to reduce our energy consumption. A majority of the new furniture we purchased is made from manufacturing companies with low carbon footprints and we integrated refurbished furniture, which otherwise would have been thrown in a landfill. Even our bean bags are stuffed with environmentally friendly materials! You can call us crazy…and you’d be right, we’re crazy…crazy about the environment.

don’t feed the creatives

Our new space has ten foot ceilings, which researchers determined increases creativity. Upon learning that researchers at Ohio State University concluded that lemon balm plants help increase creative thought, we placed these plants above the desks of our designers and developers. All of Atomic’s employees have access to the community library, which contains books ranging in topic from logo design to CMS development to Ogilvy on Advertising. We even have a nice collection of cheesy self-help books. Our employees have also added their own personal touches, from a mustachioed cactus to a time-traveling DeLorean that help make our office more like our home.

love, peace & ping pong

Along with our happiness and creativity-inducing plants and natural light, we have a number of recreational resources at our disposal that serve as much-needed stress relievers. Namely, our ping pong table, Foosball table, big screen television and Nintendo Wii. Nothing allows you to get away from it all like an overhand smash against your greatest office ping pong rival. For celebrating victories after hours, we have a Red Bull mini fridge stocked with energy drinks and a certain liquor that goes well with energy drinks.

Atomic firmly adheres to the “work hard, play hard” mantra. We believe that ensuring that every one of our team members enjoys coming to work will allow us to continue to create award-winning, industry-leading design work.

so there you have it

A bunch of research + a lot of planning + a team that knows how to get stuff done = the coolest 3,500 square feet in Dayton, Ohio…maybe even the world (excluding all places that have roller coasters which were slightly outside of our budget).

If you’ve read all this, you might be interested in calling us and setting up a tour. Don’t be surprised if you get stuck here.

May 13, 2010

Marketing Strategy

Good News Dayton!

We kept getting comments last week about a great radio commentary about Atomic on the local radio station WHIO from friends and family. Much to our surprise it was true. Our internal private eye Richard Kaiser tracked down the clip to share all our atomic fans.

WHIO Radio – Good News Dayton

Thanks Grunder Landscaping!

May 12, 2010