By Aubrey Watts | January 5, 2010

Thanks for coming back! We'd really like to hear what you think of this post, so don't be shy with the comments!

While driving through town on your way to work, you notice a billboard advertising a new coffee shop somewhere in the city. In great need of morning blend, but passing the sign too quickly to write down the web address, you seize the next chance you get to pull out your phone and do a mobile web search for the coffee shop.

Within the search results you not only get a link to Google maps for directions, but a link to the coffee shop’s site. Upon entering their website you are automatically eligible for a mobile discount: a free latte, which is redeemable at the register by simply showing the mobile coupon code you will receive in a text message.

Does your website work for mobile?

Does this scenario seem a little crazy or far-fetched to you? Well, it is more realistic than you might think. In fact, it’s already happening.

Mobile Marketing Today

Mobile websites are not only used as a quick way to find information, but they have become yet another avenue for marketing campaigns. …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | October 15, 2009

I wrote the other day that you already “do” marketing by having a presence in the marketplace – your storefront. From there, all your business activity is, or should be, focused on bringing customers in the door.

Your website is the marketing hub

So unless you’re an online business, your brick-and-mortar store is the hub of your marketing efforts. Your website, then, should be the hub for your online marketing, and in turn, should point customers to your store.

If you sell products directly from your website, customers are already “at” your store. But even if you don’t have that e-commerce element, you’re still making a pitch of some sort to your web visitors, and trying to convince them to take an action. …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | September 11, 2009

Hey everyone, big thanks to those of you who attended our IM seminar over lunch on Wednesday. We had a blast, and hope you enjoyed it and found it helpful. Thanks to the Howard Johnson Inn & Suites in Rapid City for hosting the event.

We’ve embedded the slide deck below for your reference, and also included some key takeaways from what we talked about. As always, if you have any questions leave a comment or get in touch with us in whatever way you prefer. ;)

We’re also going to be posting some more related info in the coming weeks that should help clarify some things we discussed, so stay tuned for that. Go ahead and subscribe if you like, so you don’t have to remember to check back!  We are always open to suggestions for new blog posts.  If there is something you would like us to write about or if you have any questions, feel free to comment below.

…Read more »

By Jillian Anderson | August 28, 2009

Join us for lunch at the RSA Interactive Marketing luncheon!

I’m posting a quick update to let everyone know that we will be presenting an interactive marketing seminar over lunch from 11:30am-1:00pm on September 9th at the Howard Johnson Inn & Suites in Rapid City, SD. Whew… that was a mouth full.

Kyle, Natalie and myself will be talking about web marketing for small business – why you need it and how you can use it.

If you’re in Rapid City or the Black Hills area, I hope you can join us for the Small Business Interactive Marketing Luncheon.

“You don’t have to do everything, just do something.” -Robert Sharp

The registration deadline was September 1st. If you’re reading this and it is after September 1st but you still want in or would like to know more, please feel free to contact us – comment, email or call 605-341-5226.

***We’re putting together a re-cap of our September 9th interactive marketing presentation to be posted by September 11.  Check back for the followup.***

(Image credit:  adactio)

By tscheich | July 28, 2009

The web has changed the way we communicate, presenting brands the ability to reach a worldwide range of people in ways never before possible. Businesses, both large and small, can harness the power of the web to not only reach more people than ever before, but they can also extend the user experience by encouraging people to interact with their brand – making the brand more available to their audience.

Sounds good, but why does this matter? Why is this important? …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | July 21, 2009

This is your website (credit: machity)

An old, rickety car slowly pulled into the car dealership lot and parked. It belched black smoke as the clunky engine finally backfired and gave up. A man got out of the car and strolled into the office. The salesman met him there, asking if he could be of any assistance.

The conversation went something like this:

Salesman: “Hi, how are you doing? What can I help you with?”

Customer: “I need a new car.”

S: “Ah, I see! Well you’ve come to the right place. We have plenty of cars on the lot, and can order anything you might want that we don’t already have. Any idea what you’re looking for?”

C: “Yes, you see I am a salesman myself, and I spend a lot of time driving to see customers and prospects. But my car is rather old, and the engine barely works. In fact, I can only drive in first gear!”

S: “Wow! I bet that makes it hard to visit many customers in a day. Can I interest you in this brand new Complete Car? It’s well-rounded with a great engine, good looks, comfortable interior, and will certainly connect you with your customers.” …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | June 10, 2009

The RSA Interactive team recently presented, “Hands on Social Media” during the South Dakota Telecommunications Association’s (SDTA) annual meeting in Deadwood, SD.

Our focus was to demonstrate the use of various social tools and spaces – Google Reader, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and iGoogle – as well as show our audience how to integrate these social spaces and streamline their online efforts for both business and personal use. Though most of the presentation was “hands-on,” here are a few takeaways: …Read more »

By Kyle McCabe | May 14, 2009

We're not supposed to talk about how great we are. (photo by JSolomon)

Time to take a step back.

Time to take a good look at what we’re doing here at RSA. The economy is down – way down, and people are cutting advertising and marketing budgets, big time. Looks like 2009 is shaping up to be a “building year,” right?

Maybe not. The problem is, we’re still as busy as ever, and I guess that’s less of a problem and more a relief. Some might call it good luck; I call it hard work and a passion for what we do. And a passion for having food to eat, there’s also that.

And yet we have been building as well. Since late last year we’ve added new departments, new staff, and new teams. We’ve got a new website on deck, and are partnering with new clients weekly. …Read more »

By Ken | March 6, 2009

Have you seen it?  Youtube has opened up a fun little feature to its members.  It’s called Annotations.

Remember watching VH1 back around 1996-2000 when they had ‘Pop-up’ video?  It was the biggest thing going for a little while.  Basically, VH1 would take music videos from all genres and play them with fun little pop-up cartoon bubbles that showed funny little comments like trivia, wardrobe style comments (or lack thereof), and mocking the plot of the video.  It was always very entertaining, sort of like a music video ‘roast’.

In June of 2008, Youtube started playing with the idea of Annotation, based on the same concept as pop-up bubbles except these are INTERACTIVE (if you want).  Users who uploaded videos have the ability add pop-up bubbles or invisible ‘hot spots’ to their youtube videos on their youtube channel. Why is this a big deal?  It’s INTERACTIVE!  Users can create hotlinks from their video to other videos in their archive or elsewhere on Youtube. …Read more »