The playbook of advertising is constantly evolving and in many ways is turning inside out. Facebook has augmented the social web experience in ways we never imagined a decade ago. The amount of content available for immediate sharing is overwhelming. In time, marketers learned that social sites would provide the widest audiences possible, so they started an outbound marketing strategy by flooding YouTube and Facebook with ads. Sounds like a good idea, right?  After all, that is where most people spend their time online. Not necessarily. These channels are a…

Building an online presence via Google+ is now possible for more than just individuals. The social-networking site launched “Google+ Pages” today as a means of providing profiles for businesses, brands, places, teams and other non-entities. Page holders enjoy most of the same features that are included in personal profiles but are allowed additional features like “direct connect,” where users can type a “+” symbol into Google before a business name and be instantly directed to that business’ Google+ page. Google+, which moved out of its beta testing phase in late…

As many of you know, Madison+Main is committed to working towards a world free of Multiple Sclerosis. And as a big supporter of the Central Virginia Chapter of the MS Society, we have volunteered our time and services to help promote their fundraising events. This past spring, several of the Madison+Mainiacs took part in the MS Walk, and our very own Art Director, Jeff Smack, participated in the MS Ride, a two-day, 150-mile bike ride from Richmond to Williamsburg and back. Jeff not only surpassed his fundraising goal of $1,000,…

According to a recent survey in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, only half of the 150 charities surveyed were generating any revenue from social media. Bucking the trend was the National MS Society, which raised an impressive $4.3 Million in 2010, directly through social media. We all know that social media is vital in today’s marketing world, but how do you achieve similar results for your business or non-profit? During the last few years large corporations jumped on the social media bandwagon, but more small businesses and non-profits are recognizing the…

Twitter produces thousands of tweets per second, but did you know that this real-time, social media platform can actually spread news faster than the speed of seismic waves? That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday, August 23, 2011. Around 1:50pm, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that originated in Mineral, VA shook the ground, causing glass to rattle, buildings to shake and people all along the East Coast to freak out. And what was the first thing people did during the 30-second rumbling? They tweeted. Posts of the earthquake that hit Richmond, as…

Amidst much fanfare, Spotify launched its services in the United States on Thursday July 14th, offering a massive library of streaming music and, some might say, yet another nail in the coffin for record store employees with lush knowledge of obscure music. Though Spotify offers little more than Grooveshark – a similar music platform which launched in 2007 – its U.S. launch has been heralded by music and tech blogs as a victory over the music industry, which has often butted heads with the Internet’s rapidly evolving digital landscape (remember…

Google+ is the biggest party of the year and everyone’s going. If you haven’t received an invitation to join Google’s newly launched social networking site, then ask us for one because this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. For the Facebook loyalists and those who are still unsure about Google+, we’d like you to consider all of the great benefits that this new online community has to offer. From a clean, minimalist and easy-to-navigate design to the ability to manage content through the use of “Circles,” Google+ offers…

The 2010 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards were announced Friday, November 5th at the Stanford Park Hotel in Menlo Park California, and Madison + Main’s 2010 integrated marketing campaign for eSmartTax.com was selected as a winner in the Use of Multiple Platforms/Integrated Initiatives category. These prestigious awards honor the work of individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and media outlets that are pioneering the use of social media. The Society for New Communications Research is a global501(c)(3) nonprofit research, education foundation and think tank dedicated to the advanced study…

Netflix just released their iPhone app. “What took so long?” we wondered. I opened it up expecting to simply have a queue manager. It allows you to stream entire movies from your Instant Queue on your device. I’m still impressed by the streaming Netflix app on my Wii and then this, at no additional cost. My intention here is not to drool all over Netflix or to deconstruct the shortcomings with their various apps or to discuss the looming bankruptcy of Blockbuster. It’s simply to muse a little bit on…

This is not a new topic but we continue encountering sites like FFFFound and Vi.sualize.us in natural search results and elsewhere on an increasingly regular basis. This draws the conclusion that image bookmarking is gaining traction in a much broader web audience through a handful of platforms. Web users across the board love image searching and meme nonsense. We enjoy browsing bookmarking sites for new content, digging through sites like buzzfeed, delicio.us, stumbleupon and “liking” things on Facebook etc… Our options for “collecting” our interests on the web are finally easy…

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