Being able to manage your online content is not a luxury anymore. No longer should you have to email your web developer with a change to a line of copy and hope that he’s not snowboarding on the weekend. A Content Management System (CMS) is standard and they range from the free applications to boutique custom solutions. Here are 4 questions you should ask when deciding what engine you want to put under the hood.

1. Will this just manage my website or everything I have online?

Online Content management is exactly that: managing your online content. It shouldn’t matter if you are displaying it on a website, mobile device, TV or car dashboard. At its core, content consists of text, video images and documents and how it’s displayed is irrelevant. Or at least it should be. Your CMS can even manage your offline content too such as staff bios and company write-ups. The fact that it’s not displayed on your site is fine as it’s accessible when you need it.

WordPress is a good example of a one-to-one relationship where its content manager exists purely to power your WordPress site. If you wanted to display that same content elsewhere then it’s a matter of populating a new manager for a different purpose. Fine if that’s all you want to do but it can get limiting as you grow.

2. What is the learning curve?

Third party content managers are loaded with features. Sometimes those features are overwhelming. Take a look at the dashboard via screenshots or demos to see if it makes sense. If the learning curve is high then it defeats the purpose of a Content Manager. Your CMS should make your life easier not harder.

3. What happens if we want to customize it?

Companies are unique and evolving constantly and so are their online needs. It’s expected that their CMS will need to evolve with them. If you are using an off-the-shelf package, you can find yourself hitting a wall where you want it to do something and it can’t. The only options at that point are to request a new feature in the next release or to get a programmer to hack into the code. Neither option is ideal. Regardless of what you choose, you need to find out if that package is going to meet your needs now and those in the future. Obviously, these issues are easier with a custom built CMS (depending on the developer) but can also be expensive if they have to build everything from scratch.

4. Is it transferable if we change developers?

Getting a custom built CMS is a great way to get the features you want but can also be dangerous. The risk is that the developer you are using quits or leaves the project leaving you to pick up the pieces. Your content is your property. Make sure you know where it’s being hosted and that you have access to the logins and passwords should anything happen. If you do find yourself changing developers, depending on how the CMS is built, it can be an easy process or one where you have to start all over again. Some of the more standard products like Joomla and WordPress can make it easier to find developers willing to pick up the reins as long as the code hasn’t been too creative.

After much anticipation, Facebook announced on February 29 that they are rolling out Timeline for brand pages. While brands can work on the changes behind-the-scenes, by March 30 – all pages must make the switch.

There are major changes in 4 key areas that brands should be familiar with to update their page:

#1) Profile Images: Cover Photo & Tile

The new profile display allows a brand to be much more creative with their design, but there are a few things to keep in mind with the new cover and profile images.

Cover photo:

• Specs are 850 x 315 pixels.
• The photo must NOT contain any marketing actions – no pricing/purchasing info, no contact info, no references to Facebook actions (e.g. like or share), no calls-to-action.

Profile image:

• Square tile displays as 180 x 180 pixels (plus a border).
• This image serves as the avatar – displaying the brand’s logo is recommended.

#2) The “About” Section

Under the cover photo is an area where a brand can share a bit of key information. There is a limit of 150 characters. Depending on the nature of the brand, there is also an area to include contact information – such as address and hours of operation.

#3) Tabs for Applications and iFrames

While brands can still build custom applications and iFrame tabs, the layout has drastically changed. Rather than being listed on the left-hand side, tabs will now have “buttons” – allowing a brand to be more visually creative.

Application buttons:

• Specs for these buttons are 110 x 74 pixels.
• 4 buttons will display under the cover photo, but the view can be expanded. The first button will ALWAYS be Photos (and the most recent photo displays as the button). The rest – such as the map (if the brand has claimed Places), a brand’s likes, and additional apps can be sorted by the brand.

New tab views:

• Ideal specs are now 810 pixels wide. There are no limits to the length, but keeping important information above the fold is always a good idea.
• There is no longer a welcome tab. ALL users will land on the wall, unless a brand directs them to an app. This means marketers have to think of new strategies for like- or fan-gating. You can read more in this article from Business 2 Community.

#4) The Timeline

The Timeline layout allows a brand to go back to when it was founded and fill out key dates with information, photos and more. Brands should tell their story to fans through timeline to create an engaging experience. For example, Coca-Cola’s page dates back to 1886 and includes a scan of their original founding certificate.

In addition to backdating, there are a couple new features brands can take advantage of to highlight important posts and content:

• To draw attention to an important message, brands can “pin” a post. This means it will stay on the top left feed of the Timeline for 7 days.
• Brands can also call out certain posts by “highlighting” or starring them. This means they will take up the entire width (not just one column) on the Timeline.

Other Important Changes

In addition to the changes listed above, there are a few more features brands should consider when using Timeline:

1. Fans can now private message a brand. This is good for customer service – brands can refer people to message them in order to share contact information or resolve issues. A brand cannot initiate contact with their followers.
2. Brands can now apply a setting to approve user comments before they post on the wall. While this may be tempting for many brands to reduce negative comments, it also takes away from the page’s transparency.
3. Page analytics will now be public. This means your competitors can see you, and you can see your competitors.
4. Facebook is also adding a new premium ad format to their offering. You can read more about these new social ads in this article via Fast Company.

A number of brands have already made the switch to Timeline, such as: Facebook, Lexus and Red Bull. Check out what they’re doing for more examples and inspiration.

Does anyone have more great examples of brands that have already made the switch?

Our competitor is on Facebook. We must get on there. Now.

In the past year it seems that multiple businesses have scrambled to utilize the latest social media platforms simply because everyone else is doing it. Sure, with over 800 million users, Facebook is an attractive platform – but should tossing up a Fan Page be the first move? Like anything else in marketing, you need to start with a plan.

Here’s a 5-step process to make sure you’re heading in the right direction:

1. Know what’s already being said about your brand.

Do you have Google Alerts set up, or even better – Google Reader? Do you use an online monitoring tool to discover what’s being said about your brand, and where? If you’ve answered no to these questions – then this is a critical first step in order to know what negative comments might come up, what positive comments you might capitalize on, where conversations about your brand are taking place, and so on.

2. Define your objectives.

With traditional advertising campaigns, organizations typically have a list of objectives. “We want to drive sales by 10%.” “We want to change behaviour.” Yet when it comes to jumping on the social bandwagon, some businesses seem to forget about asking this essential first question – what do we want to achieve? Perhaps it’s to educate customers on a product. And/or maybe it’s to provide another channel for customer service. Whatever your reason – write it down, remember it, work toward it.

3. Know your audience. Know the platforms.

Now that you know what’s being said about your brand and what you want to achieve, it’s time to look at your target audience and the available social media platforms.  Does your audience create or just comment on content? What are the limitations and rules for specific platforms? How do people use them? Answering these questions will help you tailor your day-to-day messages, campaigns, and contests in order to provide better value to your audience.

4. Develop a content plan.

To develop a good content plan, reiterate steps 1 to 3 into your plan. What is your brand’s objective? What is the current perception of your brand online? Where is your audience and how do they act on various social platforms? This knowledge serves as the backbone for your content plan. Using this information, develop a personality for your brand that will emotionally connect with your audience to start building a relationship online. Then, consider the types of posts you should be publishing to keep them interested. But remember, a good content plan is flexible. Which leads me to…

5. Rollout, review, revise and repeat.

This is where having a social media management tool (see the blog post I previously wrote about these tools) is especially useful. With one tool, not only can you monitor your brand, but you can also respond to, write, schedule and review the effectiveness of your posts. Revise your content plan as needed to improve social efforts and continue growing your online communities.

The work doesn’t stop once you have developed a strategy document. It begins.

Once a plan has been developed, there are many more actions you’ll need to take. Integration into your website, SEO considerations, visual assets for your social profiles, an internal social media policy, and maintaining the platforms day-today are just a few examples. A social media plan is different for each organization – dependant on things like the brand, business goals, key audiences, and internal capabilities.

Remember, social media isn’t “free” like some companies might think – it requires time and thoughtfulness from the initial planning, to development, to ongoing maintenance and reviewing. If you’re going to do it – do it well.

Are you the best coffee maker in the office? Do you always show up early to work? Are your time-sheets so accurate you can cut yourself on them? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you are one of the many unsung heroes that usually go unrecognized.

Not anymore.

Here at ZGM, we’ve unraveled achievements as a way to show our appreciation to the staff member who consistently shampoos their hair to a glossy shine, who sends the most tweets about what they had for breakfast and who wears a smile on their face while working Saturdays. Some are automatically awarded like best bowler after staff events or years of service while others are more subjective like best smile etc.

Every month we release a few badges that are created by our social committee and then voted on via an online poll. That person is awarded their badge in a ceremony every Thursday that usually consists of beer and nachos where it’s proudly displayed on their profile page up on our site in a glorious 20 pixel high icon.

It’s an insight into what makes us unique and a way to say thank you for going the extra mile. So gratz to everyone who’ve already earned them so far! Come take a look at www.zgm.ca/who-we-are/staff/

For Advertising Week 2012, the Calgary Ad Rodeo Association engaged four local schools—ACAD, SAIT, Mount Royal University and University of Calgary—to arrange student tours at Calgary advertising agencies on Tuesday, January 24th. The response was overwhelming, with over 160 students in attendance across seven different agencies, school was in.

Here at ZGM, we were humbled and excited to host 30 hungry young minds interested in the wonderful world of advertising. We took them through a little about us, our culture and the work we do—and tried our best not to scare them.

We introduced all of scholarly friends to our media, advertising and digital departments and walked them through the entire life cycle of a campaign from initial brief to final execution.

Big thanks to all of the students who decided to take time away from their busy schedules and campus bar to come and talk advertising with us. You guys were great!

If we managed to whet your appetite for advertising (fingers crossed), here’s some links to keep you inspired and get you through those long nights in the library:

adsoftheworld.com

creativity-online.com

coloribus.com

underconsideration.com

thefwa.com

thealbertaegotist.com

ihaveanidea.org

Our team had collected an overwhelming amount of a variety of items including: new & used clothes, kitchen equipment, books, food and toys which turned out to fill 3 cars (one giant SUV) with 6 passengers! We were very excited to knock on Rose’s family door with handfuls of presents and to share in her joy and amazement as we began to assemble their new family Christmas tree. She welcomed us with a warm hug, hot tea, smiling faces and her happy 3 year old boy. The amount of things we were able to donate was, when put into their apartment, quite overwhelming and it wasn’t long until Rose was in tears and cherishing our company.

Rose is a beautiful, vibrant and loving 26 year old woman from Afghanistan who moved to Canada 10 years ago with her husband and since then, she has been blessed with three beautiful boys under the age of 4. They all have had an unfortunate year struggling to find a stable full time job to afford a home in a safe neighborhood and to raise a young family. With potentially life threatening and high maintenance health conditions with each family member, regular hospital visits continue to be a major factor in hindering the employment opportunities available for Rose and her husband.

ZGM loved spending time with Rose so much that we have decided to “sponsor” the family for the duration of 2012. We will cherish their healthy days, celebrate their birthday’s, babysit for anniversary dinners and help out financially whenever and wherever we can. Look forward to progress updates and other amazing opportunities ZGM gives this incredibly deserving family in the coming year!

When is it worth it? Granted that education is one of the best investments that you can make in your life, you have to ask yourself, is it really necessary to make towards a profession you seek? If you’re becoming a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer for example, then the answer is yes. When it comes to these types of professions, there’s a definitive route that one must take in order to be identified as such.

In the creative field, based on experience, one can argue that such lengthy education isn’t necessary. Creative individuals that hold titles such as Web Designers, Production Artists, Graphic Designers and Videographers don’t need a degree. This is the beauty of our industry. Your passion for producing great work and a strong portfolio will take you on a fruitful journey. Along the path you’ll come across individuals in the industry who’ll value your experience over education any day. To keep up with the ever changing technology you can take part time courses which show your continuous enthusiasm for learning. The more you can familiarize yourself with multiple creative tools of the trade, the more opportunities will open up for you. Combine that with the whole “practice makes perfect” mantra and you’ll find that the need for a 4 year degree just doesn’t make sense anymore.

Remember that educational institutes will always have their doors open for you but also keep in mind that it would be in your best interest to question your motives in trying to figure out why you’re wanting to attend school and what you hope to get out of it at the end.

This year, we started early and did it right…or as right as we know how. So, what goes into a ZGM Christmas card?

Answer: As much as possible.

Web developers, video editors, account managers, actors, art directors, designers, creative directors and writers all joined forces — as they are prone to do — to create a fully collaborative Christmas extravaganza.

The result: SurpriseBrows^TM — the latest innovation in artificial surprise technology.

See below for the infomercial, product and some behind the scenes action or visit SurpriseBrows.com for the full experience. Don’t worry, we left the Director’s Commentary on the editing room floor. Enjoy!

ZGM celebrated this holiday season at the Grande Rockies Resort in Canmore, AB this past weekend and what a great night it turned out to be. The weather was picture perfect, the food was delicious and the activities were definitely memorable. From the few images we gathered over the evening, you can see our journey was full of great music, drinks, laughs, friendships and holiday cheer!

The Christmas season gives us time to reflect on the past year, set goals for the one ahead and most importantly give thanks to those you love the most. We are all excited to say ZGM has had an incredible 2011 and 2012 will be no exception. This party is just the beginning to many wonderful years ahead!

A shot of the ZGM Cowboys from the Movember wrap up party: