Tonisha Landry-Gaines, digital media strategist

You’ve heard how valuable social media can be in building rapport, generating new business and creating brand awareness.  Are you ready to learn how put social networking to work for your company?  If so, we invite you to the ‘Social Media Immersion Experience,’ a practical workshop for the business professional, presented by Tonisha Landry-Gaines, BroadBased’s Digital Media Strategist.

In this session, you will learn messaging and interaction basics for two popular social media sites, as well as how to measure response and impact on your business.

Join us Friday September 17, 2010 at BroadBased Communications – 1301 Riverplace Boulevard, Suite 1830. This two-hour event begins at 8:30 am, and is designed to help you maximize social networking for your business. Seating is limited to the first 12 registrants and includes a continental breakfast. To reserve your seat or to find out more information, dial Tonisha at 398.7279 ext. 14.

Posted in Social Media Planning

Jamie Trayner
Director of Marketing and Communications
The LBA Group
Jacksonville, Florida

How did you decide that now is the right time for your firm to step into social media?

We had been sitting back and watching to be sure it wasn’t just a passing fad. As it became more and more obvious that it is not going away, we made the decision to embrace it and figure out how best to use it for our firm. I also just attended the Annual Summit of the Association for Accounting Marketing and came back with a lot of intelligence as to how social media can best be utilized by an accounting firm.

In what business goals do you see social media assisting you?

In a variety of ways. It is our hope that it will elevate our firm’s brand recognition as the “go to” firm for up-to-the-minute information that is directly relevant to our clients and prospective clients, position us as a resource to our referral sources and promote our culture to current and future employees. We also want to bring attention to the many not-for-profit organizations we support as a firm and through our employees’ volunteer efforts.

How will you measure your success?

In addition to the measurement tools built into the sites themselves, we will also measure based on the number of followers we have and how many new contacts we make through our social media sites.

Are you considering additional forays into social media?

We now have a firm LinkedIn page and a firm Facebook page. Twitter is next. So stay tuned!

Posted in Social Media Planning

The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville recently enlisted BroadBased to give a facelift to their community-based online arts and entertainment website, ExperienceJax.com. ExperienceJax.com is a comprehensive, free resource for Jacksonville events and entertainment. Not only can you search the site to find out what’s going on each week, but users can also post an event for all of Jacksonville to see. Using existing artwork provided by the Cultural Council, BroadBased tweaked the site to be more graphically energetic.

In addition, BroadBased guided ExperienceJax.com in the planning and launch of a new Twitter account: Twitter.com/ExperienceJax. Follow them for advance news of arts, sports, and entertainment events. And the first 100 Twitter followers will be entered to win a pair of tickets to Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, 8 p.m. November 27, courtesy of the Florida Theatre.

ExperienceJax.com is a service provided by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and is sponsored in part through a Culture Builds Florida grant from the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the City of Jacksonville.

Posted in Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development

BroadBased CEO Jan Korb was one of two keynote speakers for North Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) on June 17. Her presentation, “How Are Your Smartest Competitors Using Technology?” was delivered to approximately 50 members and guests and provided specific examples as to how venture capitalists, business brokers and wealth advisors are using social media to grow their reputations and businesses.

Matt Laffey, chapter president, remarked that the content was perfectly tailored for this audience. “I think the content was the most valuable we’ve delivered this year,” said Laffey.

The North Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth is in its twelfth year and is the premier association for professionals involved in middle market corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. ACG brings together North Florida’s top business leaders, providing an opportunity to meet and network, exchange information and opportunities, share strategies for building businesses and attend insightful and relevant programs.

Korb is available to speak on a variety of topics, and the ACG presentation can be viewed on her LinkedIn page.

Posted in BroadBased, Corporate Communications, Public/Media Relations, Social Media Planning

Released in May, Social Media Revolution 2 is an update of the original video with new social media & mobile statistics that you will find hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics, author Erik Qualman writes that “we don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.” The video also asks if social media is a fad, or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution. Take a few minutes to view the video and tell us what you think at our Facebook page under “discussions.”

Posted in BroadBased, Social Media Planning

You’d like to keep in step with the millions of users of social media, but you’re wondering who you should bring to the dance. BroadBased’s Digital Media Strategist Tonisha Landry-Gaines has some suggestions.

“Regardless of whether your purpose is to manage your brand or reputation, or promote your business or yourself, a few simple principles should guide your choice of a social media partner,” says Gaines.

Her suggestions are to choose a partner:

• Who can demonstrate longevity and experience in the role you seek to fill
• Who wants to be knowledgeable of your business objectives and overall marketing strategy
• Who can clearly explain how social media complements your overall strategy
• Who will train you on implementation
• Who can show results

“Of course, we believe that here at BroadBased we are well qualified to meet those requirements,” said Landry-Gaines. “What sets us apart is that we understand social media is a tool – one of many tools in our arsenal – to support our clients’ business objectives. Social media is not a replacement for, but a complementary component of, a marketing strategy.”

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Social Media Planning

So you’ve convinced the CEO that social media is here to stay and you’ve been given the green light to test a program. Now what? How do you use your internal and external resources most efficiently? Maybe you’re ready to jump in but prefer some guidance before the training wheels come off.

“BroadBased has a protocol to guide you to the right social media channels for your company,” says BroadBased’s Digital Media Strategist Tonisha Landry-Gaines. “Our steps include situation analysis, implementation, content development, customer acquisition, promotion and tracking. And just as with a traditional marketing strategy, there is no cookie-cutter answer that fits every company. Our recommendations are custom.”

Locally, The Blood Alliance is an example of a non-profit organization using social media to stay in touch with its audience. “Twitter and Facebook are just one part of a very comprehensive marketing plan,” says Valerie Collins, COO. “Tonisha has been very helpful in sharing best practices and providing structure and guidance to our team as we grow our efforts.”

Posted in Brand Development, BroadBased, Capabilities, Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development

BroadBased Digital to Focus on Web, Application and Social Media Strategies, Implementation

Tonisha Landry-Gaines, Digital Media Strategist

BroadBased Communications, one of Jacksonville, Florida’s leading marketing and public relations firms, has announced it has expanded with the opening of BroadBased Digital. BroadBased Digital develops and implements web, application (app) and social media strategies and tactics.

“We are responding to the market and trends in our industry,” said Jan Korb, BroadBased founder and CEO. “In a truly integrated environment, we are able to offer our clients the most creative, effective and innovative traditional and non-traditional marketing and PR campaigns.”

Tonisha Landry-Gaines has joined the firm to serve as the division’s digital media strategist. Landry-Gaines focuses on digital strategies for mobile application development, website development and social media strategy.

Landry-Gaines has seven years of experience crafting and executing marketing outreach plans for non-profit organizations using events and both traditional and online media as methods of communication. Tonisha also serves as the director of social media for the First Coast Chapter of IABC (International Association of Business Communicators). She is a native of Panama City, Fla., and holds a B.S. in business economics from Florida A&M University and a certificate in instructional design systems.

BroadBased Digital was born out of client and market need for an organized, strategic, research-based approach to website development, social media, online marketing and mobile application development. The division works alongside the marketing and communications experts at BroadBased, including designers, marketers and public relations pros, to complement client campaigns and drive content for digital programs.

Posted in BroadBased, Corporate Communications, Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development

Traditional News Media and Social Media – they can work hand in hand with marketing and PR

Much has been written lately about how social media is changing business marketing, PR and customer service. It’s also changing the news and media business as more and more social media users are receiving their “news” via Twitter and Facebook.

Traditional media and reporters have embraced social media for breaking news and links to their online stories and websites; it’s even been said that social media is keeping traditional news outlets afloat in this economy.

According to research conducted by Cision and The George Washington University:

Source: Guardian.co.uk

BroadBased’s public relations practice still focuses much of its time on traditional media relations, but we also ensure that clients are giving more life to those traditional media campaigns by using social media where appropriate. This is another tactic for keeping a story “alive” and can also enhance your company’s SEO.

Call Jan or Maria and let us show you how to get the most out of your traditional media relations by expanding your online presence and helping you stretch your media relations efforts’ reach.

Posted in BroadBased, Social Media Planning

BroadBased welcomes Jules Allen as its new Chief Information Officer. His resume reflects his deep passion for what he does and includes titles such as Chief Technology Officer, Director of Internet Strategies through Director of Product Delivery, Security and System Integrity and Vice President of Persuasive Technologies. Also in that line-up is a lengthy stint as a technology correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times, and founder of “The Site Seeing” column, which is still in existence online.

“I have known Jules for nearly 20 years,” says BroadBased CEO Jan Korb, who shares a St. Petersburg, Fla., background with him. “He’s an innovator and strategic thinker in communications and technology. In our new collaboration, he is focused on advanced digital strategy development and implementation for our clients. He will be leading a new niche market for BroadBased that focuses on advanced Internet applications.”

Most recently, Allen was Chief Technology Officer for Widmeyer Communications, a public relations agency with offices in New York City and Washington, DC. Prior to that he was responsible for technical aspects of the Digital Strategies Group at Porter Novelli in Washington, D.C., working for clients such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Heart Association, Penske, IRS and FDIC.

“I see my role at BroadBased as helping to create very, very usable Web site applications — a lot more dynamic applications for clients,” Allen said. “We now offer capabilities — that did not previously exist in-house — to produce creative applications for the iPhone and Android devices. Mobile is huge, and for many these have become the sole ‘smart’ devices with which people interact.”

Allen is a resident of both St. Petersburg and Washington, D.C., and now will be a frequent visitor to Jacksonville. A native Englishman, he became a resident of the U.S. in the late 1980s. He loves travel and food, in addition to a passion for design. So it’s no wonder that on a recent visit to London he sought out two of his favorite destinations there — St. John Bread and Wine and the Design Museum to view the works of the former Braun products designer Dieter Rams.

You can contact Jules at Jules@bbased.com and follow him on Twitter at @JulesAllen.

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development