AMG's Blog

Worst. News. Ever. The joyful days of catalogs piling up on your kitchen counter, sifting through special sections of newspapers and flipping through coupon books may be nearing an end. Remember how fun it used to to be to sit around and go through every coupon, one by one, to find the few that were useful?

…Okay, so maybe not so much. But coupons have their benefits, and from time to time, they can save a ton of moolah. And they’re making a strong comeback, in 21st century form.

Sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, and Google Offers have become popular destinations for consumers wanting to get the best deals possible. Businesses have been lining up for a shot at these services, which offer a chance to expand their market share and brand.

The psychology behind these sites is nothing new, but it is interesting. Everyone wants to save money, but they are even more inclined to do so if there is some sort of limit on when and how they can achieve those cost-cutting measures. The tried and true concepts of scarcity, and social proof can be seen in these social coupon sites. By setting a limit on the amount of coupons available or havingg a countdown on the availability of the coupon, sales can skyrocket. And if everyone else is buying, why shouldn’t you?

Also of note is “transaction utility”, or feeling good about a good deal. If you are actively aware of the savings you are making by taking advantage of a certain offer, it is natural to consider yourself a savvy, forward-thinking consumer.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t some cons to the social coupon structure. Some businesses find that they can’t keep up with the increased demand of their product or services, and others worry that many of their new customers will never return.

These coupons aren’t guaranteed to boost you profits or make your business more successful. But they have potential.

As for dental labs, I think this business model could have some promise too. Does the future hold a potential social coupon offer for your lab or business? It’s certainly a possibility. Talk to us!

New notifications, wall posts, likes, and tweets. The internet seems to be constantly redefining and adding to our dictionaries. But what does it all mean? If you want to make a Twitter and Facebook for your company, what should you include? When should you update? How will you interact with customers?

With more than 800 million active users on Facebook, your business can’t afford to avoid a social media marketing strategy any longer. Fear not, AMG can help! With over 30 active business pages, and 47,824 (and counting) fans connected to those pages, our team of Social Media Ninjas is well-equipped to help you create a strong social media presence.

Start building a better relationship with your current & potential customers today. Call 800.264.7448 or email ben@amgci.com by 10/31/11 to receive two FREE Custom Facebook Tabs with any Social Media Starter Package!

Instead of the ridiculous (and frankly uninteresting) fads of planking and coning, we have started doing somethign much more entertaining: Freeze Frame.

The official office rules (as created by our soon to be famous copywriter, Molly) are as follows:

Anytime you catch a co-worker doing something odd or quirky or just downright goofy (see Molly), you can call Freeze Frame and snap a photo.

At the end of the week we will compile the pictures together and show the world.  Prepare for unimaginable levels of embarrassment. A sample from this week:

87 tools. Eighty-seven tools. Need we say more?

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Oh jeez.

Just when I thought I was done updating my parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, neighbors, and that guy in line front of me at the grocery store about the most used social sites on the internet (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.), Google had to ruin my vacation to show off their newest golden boy, Google+.

By now you’ve probably heard about Google’s venture into the Narnia-esque world that is social networking, but you might not have much of a chance to use it yet. Featuring new lingo like “Sparks”, “Hangouts”, “Huddle”, and “Circles”, it promises to change how users share information on the web.

Still confused? The basics of Google+ are explained in this video:

Making Your Business More Relevant

So how can Google+ help with your business?

One of the primary features of the new social network is letting users separate people and businesses into different groups , or “circles”, which they can use to view the each group’s updates separately. This means that you can add a business to a specific circle and view that circle’s feed every time you want an update on what that business is doing. This focused effect will likely help your customers keep up to date on your Google+ activity more effectively then on sites like Facebook, where everything is pushed into one newsfeed.

Google+ also features the introduction of the “+1″, similar to Facebook’s “Likes”. If a user +1′s a Google+ post or any other link on the internet, it will show up on their Google+ profiles. Their friends will be able to see this and check out the posting or website themselves. The +1 feature may also have a large impact on SEO, with pages that have more +1′s being ranked higher on search results. In theory, get more +1′s from your customers, and you get more traffic to your website through indexed searches.

The Best Is Yet To Come

Currently Google has advised businesses to wait on making their own Google+ profiles. Within the next few months, it is likely Google will release a more dedicated experience for businesses, combining the best Google technologies (Like Analytics) with the rest of their already established social networking features, to create a full-fledged experience that will make marketing easier.

Stay tuned to the AMG blog for more, and we’ll keep you updated!