New York Internet Week is upon us again, and Kaplow’s Kdrive social media team (@chaimhaas @rgedarov @beasocial @whoaadreambig @badashdesigns) have been busy attending as many events as possible.

On Monday morning, I attended a panel hosted at the Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Chelsea titled, “The Social Media Simplicity Toolkit: How to Avoid Over Complicating your Brand Online”.

The panel consisted of Stephen Zangre, Manager of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook; Jared Feldman, CEO & Founder of Mashwork, a social media listening software solution; Myles Kleeger, General Manager of Strategic Brand Partnerships at Buddy Media; and Chris Phenner, Vice President of Business Development at digital advertising firm TBG Digital. Karen Robinovitz, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Digital Brand Architects acted as moderator.

The majority of the interactive discussion focused on brand presence on Facebook. Here are a few of my top takeaways from the discussion:

1. Less is More

All the panelists agreed: brands that keep things simple garner the most engagement. “More complicated is not the best course,” Zangre said. He noted than a simple, sharable consumer experience is often better than an advanced, complicated custom application. For contests, promotions and sweepstakes, the lower the barrier for entry is, the greater the engagement from consumers will be.

Kleeger also reinforced that brevity is aligned with success. In a recent study conducted by Buddy Media, Facebook Wall updates that were under 80 characters in length received 27% more engagement from consumers.

2. Don’t Sell, Engage

“Hard selling is a big mistake,” said Zangre. “Brands, it’s not all about you here [on Facebook].”
Brands have to give their target consumers something useful and interactive to continually win over their attention on the platform and hopefully turn them into brand advocates. Brands should be cultivating relationships with their consumers, not barraging them by simply broadcasting only self-serving messages.

Feldman put it best with an interesting quote: “You don’t follow a comedian’s page because they are funny – you follow them because you want to laugh.”

3. Know Your Target Audience

The inevitable question of “how does my brand get more Likes” was asked. Phenner, a self-professed ‘Likes arms dealer’, discussed how knowing who your audience is and what their interests are is key. Research is paramount. “Know what the people you want to target are interested in, and then give it to them,” Kleeger added.

4. Be Able to Answer the Question, “Why are we on this Platform?”

It sounds like a simple question, but many brands jump into Facebook and other social media platforms (due to hype, because their competitors are there, because they saw an article about it) without being able to answer, “What does your brand want to accomplish by being on Facebook?”

The answer can vary widely based on the brand’s greater business goals, but there needs to be a clear underlying purpose for that brand’s presence on a social media platform that can then be measured against. All the panelists agreed that brands need to have goals and a comprehensive content strategy that caters to those goals before their Facebook presence even launches.

With the hot button topics of social media and measurement top of mind, Kaplow is pleased to announce advancements on both fronts.

Kaplow has strengthened and expanded its Kdrive digital services with new leadership and the opening of Kstudio.  In addition to leading Kaplow’s Technology & Emerging Media Practice, Chaim Haas assumed the role of Executive Director of Kdrive, Kaplow’s social media services division.  He will provide thought leadership and expertise to Kaplow clients in developing and executing strategic social media programs that push PR beyond the edges of traditional media in order to build word of mouth about brands and fuel conversations where they occur.

Vice President Dana Glaser brings her Emmy award-winning production experience to her expanded role as Executive Producer of Kstudio, Kaplow’s hub for content creation, production and distribution.  Kstudio merges video services with PR know-how to build brand buzz.  Kstudio features:

• The Skype station, where established and new media (bloggers) can remotely interview Kaplow clients’ experts and spokespeople.  This allows for real-time interviews without the high costs of travel.

• A green-screen/filming area for original video content creation.  This production facility enables Kaplow to film client videos for a variety of purposes (e.g., spokesperson, awareness, how-to and online/viral videos) – all in-house.  Kaplow will utilize its network of specialized videographers and editors to produce content in the fields of beauty, fashion, healthcare, technology and more.

• The content distribution center for the development and customization of a list of key influencers – including journalists, bloggers, tweeters and vloggers – for each client.  Videos are distributed to the influencers who drive conversations.

“Over the past two decades, Kaplow has been the place to connect brands to the most influential media,” says Liz Kaplow, President and CEO.  “Through our Kdrive division and now Kstudio, we are balancing that connection by developing new channels that enable our clients to tell their stories directly to consumers through social networks and the communities where they naturally gather.”

Recently promoted to Executive Vice President, Leah Schmerl will take on a leadership role in a range of client-service activities, including the evaluation of Kaplow’s measurement processes.  With the recent announcement of the Barcelona Principles – the new industry standards on measurement – Schmerl will work within the recommended guidelines and review the revised standards to bring state-of-the-art measurement tactics to our clients. She will also continue to lead Kaplow’s Internet and E-Commerce Practice.

At Kaplow, we strive to help our clients directly reach their consumers and change their brand’s conversation. Thus, we expanded our services to include video production and multi-media development.

Leading this new division is Dana Glaser, Vice President of Media Strategies at Kaplow. Glaser is an Emmy Award-winning former TODAY show producer.

Our services include concepting, storyboarding, research, script development and writing, videography/photography, graphic design, editing and cross platform distribution. Each video is customized with the intention of repurposing it for established media, social media and internal client corporate use.

We can produce:

- How-to videos
- Unscripted vlogs or casual videos
- Multi-media news releases
- Trade show videos
- Highlights or sizzle reels
- B-roll packages

Interested in learning more about our video production services? Contact Dana Glaser at 212.221.1713.

Social media maven Stephanie Schwab joins Kaplow in a new role as SVP of K:Drive, Executive Director of Digital Services. With more than 15 years of experience in social media, e-commerce, retail and technology, Stephanie’s skills will strengthen and enhance the agency’s robust digital division.

Before joining Kaplow, Stephanie helped leading business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies navigate emerging communications technologies to connect with consumers. Her teams have been honored with social media industry awards including a WOMMIE award, a PRNews Platinum award, and an OMMA award.

An active participant in social media, Stephanie can be found tweeting at http://twitter.com/stephanies, blogging at her houseblog www.yonked.com and spinning yarns on www.ravelry.com, a knit and crochet community. Stephanie also contributes to Kaplow’s Twitter, Facebook and blog.