As potential donors, volunteers and members increasingly shift their focus to digital channels such as social media and mobile, an effective digital marketing and communications strategy is fundamental to the continued success of any non-profit organization. Panelists will discuss what they see as their primary opportunities, challenges and strategies.

Panelists include:

• Judith Service Montier, VP Marketing & Communications, The United Way of Metro Atlanta
• Tracy Dean, Social Media Managing Editor, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• Amanda Trice, Director of Communications & Public Relations, Southeast United Dairy Industry Association
• Keisha Hines, Director of Public Relations & Communications, Atlanta Zoo
• April Phillips, Southeast Division Biomedical Services, American Red Cross

Who should attend: Business executives, community leaders, non-profit marketing & communications professionals, philanthropists, press and media professionals.

When & Where
Thursday, May 17, 2012
11:30 – 1:00 PM
Maggiano’s Buckhead (Atlanta)

Advance online registration recommended at: www.DMAAtlanta.com

About AIS Media, Inc.
AIS Media (www.aismedia.com) is an award-winning creative digital marketing agency. AIS Media designs engaging online experiences and plans, executes and manages high-performance driven digital marketing programs. AIS Media clients are leading companies, brands, organizations and Fortune 500 corporations.

Atlanta GA – April 2, 2012  – AIS Media, Inc. EVP, Denise Maling will moderate an exclusive Direct Marketing Association of Atlanta event at Maggiano’s Buckhead April 19, 2012. Denise will lead a panel of banking industry marketing executives to share “Top Priorities, Challenges & Strategies for growing their customer base, enhancing customer loyalty and driving profitability in 2012″. The executive panel includes:

• Mary Hooper, Marketing Channel Manager, Synovus Financial
• Jimmy Trimble, Director of Private Banking, Fidelity Bank
• Hemant Deulkar, Group Vice President – Direct & Digital Marketing, SunTrust Bank
• Rod Witmond, SVP of Product Management and & Marketing, Cardlytics, Inc.

“It is a privilege to moderate this distinguished panel of bank marketing executives and lead the discussion on such a highly relevant topic”, said Denise Maling. “Forward-thinking bank marketing executives today recognize that their consumers are eager to embrace digital self-services platforms, social media and mobile, which provides banks a unique opportunity to reduce expenses while enhancing the customer experience. Our exert panel will share their unique challenges, insights and digital plans.

Seating is limited. Advance registration recommended. Register to attend the event at DMA Atlanta April 19th.

Denise Maling was selected to moderate this executive after recently serving as a presenter at the Georgia Banker’s Association. Denise has a long history working in the banking and financial services industries, having served as a featured speaker at numerous conferences including the Florida Credit Union League. As Executive Vice President at AIS Media, Inc., Denise leads the agency’s banking and financial services client initiatives. Denise has also co-authored the whitepaper: “Top 5 Capital Methods for Banks to Drive Marketing Performance in the Digital Era”, which can be downloaded here: http://aismedia.com/bankreport

AIS Media
Founded in 1997, AIS Media (http://www.aismedia.com) is an award-winning digital marketing and creative agency specializing in the planning, creation, execution and management of performance-driven digital media programs. AIS Media’s competencies include design, application development, search marketing, email marketing, social media and mobile marketing.

AIS Media, Inc.
3340 Peachtree Rd, NE Suite 750
Atlanta, Georgia 30326
www.aismedia.com | 404-751-1043

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – March 13, 2012 – Award-winning digital agency AIS Media, Inc. today announced that Executive Vice President, Denise Maling, will serve as a guest speaker at the Georgia Bankers Association’s Marketing & Communications Conference March 23, 2012 at The Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.

Session Details
With consumer behavior and technology constantly changing, how do banks—especially community banks—stay relevant? Banking is no longer about a place you go. Banking is something you do. Today’s consumers are using multiple devices to support their banking and financial needs, anytime and anyplace they want to conduct a transaction. It is time to think beyond individual products and services, and position your bank as a relevant institution that reaches consumers where and how they live.

Denise Maling’s session, Cross Channel Digital Marketing, commences at 8:30 a.m. Registration is $350. Exhibit rates are $500.

Related
New whitepaper: “Top 5 Capital Methods for Banks to Drive Marketing Performance in the Digital Era – updated for 2012″. Now available for download: http://bit.ly/AuxUbE

About AIS Media, Inc.
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, AIS Media plans, designs, executes and manages performance-driven digital and social media marketing solutions for leading companies, brands, and organizations. For details, visit: http://www.aismedia.com

Updated for 2012

Online banking started out as a social experiment in 1981 through videotext, an early forerunner in distance banking and precursor to modern Internet banking. Although videotext was not universally adopted, it did prove that banking customers could be served online.

Fast forward 30 years. The banking industry is in a state of crisis. With industry profits down over 50%, banks have faced strong headwinds from new regulation and an ailing economy. A fundamental restructuring of operations and marketing is required to improve performance.

Fortunately, this crisis comes at a time when consumers are eager to embrace digital self-service platforms, providing banks a unique window of opportunity to reduce expenses while enhancing the customer experience.

This whitepaper explores how banks can leverage the latest digital trends to drive businesses.

Contents

1. Embrace Digital Trends
2. Becoming a “Socially Savvy” Bank
3. Capitalize on Induty Disruption to Capture Competitors’ Customers
4. What Attracts New Banking Customer?
5. Implement a Cross-Channel Markeitng Strategy to Attract New Customers
6. How to Implement a Cross Channel Marketing Program
7. Summary
8. How AIS Media Can Help

Download a complementary copy of the whitepaper

Of course, that was before the advent of social media and websites like Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter. Now the paradigm has shifted.

Today, the keyboard is where the action is.

Consumers have learned to both praise and weaponize those hashtags that companies and candidates like to use.

It is instant feedback that even mega-companies cannot ignore.

“A Fortune 500 company or a local grocer can leverage that social media platform and communicate with consumers,” said Thomas Harpointner, CEO of AIS Media. “Of course, they all want good things; they all want positive things. Sometimes there’s a negative backlash. It also gives them the opportunity to respond.”

And that’s exactly what many of them are doing. Full story (VIDEO): http://on.11alive.com/wG7b39 

About
Thomas Harpointner is CEO of  Atlanta-based award-winning digital marketing agency AIS Media, Inc.. Thomas is a public speaker, author and is routinely featured in the press and news media. Connect with Thomas: www.About.Me/ThomasHarpointner

AIS Media consults, designs, executes and manages performance-driven digital marketing programs for leading brands and organizations. Capabilities include design & application development, search marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing.

At $3.5 million for a single 30 second spot, stakes for advertisers are high so more are aiming to leverage the viral power of social media to increase customer reach, penetration and marketing ROI.

“Integrating traditional advertising with digital media channels makes perfect sense” says AIS Media, Inc. CEO, Thomas Harpointner. “A large majority of TV viewers today interact with their smart phones and tablet PCs. And publishing ads on Facebook, YouTube and Google Plus further increases reach at a relative low cost.”

About

Thomas Harpointner is CEO at AIS Media, Inc., an Atlanta-based award-winning digital strategy and creative agency. Thomas is a public speaker, author and has been featured in the global press and news media. Learn more about and connect with Thomas: www.About.Me/ThomasHarpointner

AIS Media consults, designs, executes and manages performance-driven digital marketing programs for leading companies and organizations. Capabilities include design & application development, search marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Atlanta GA – Jan 20, 2012  –AIS Media, Inc. CEO, Thomas Harpointner, today moderated an executive marketing panel, “Marketing Trends of the Future” at the Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia (PIAG)” headquarters. Panelists included:

• Ellen Lewis, Chief Creative Officer, IBM Interactive Atlanta
• Louis Sawyer, Chief Strategy Officer, Brummer
• Sanarr McLaughlin, Performance Marketing Manager fo Web & Interactive, Intercontinental Hotels Group
• Ed Farley, SVP Marketing & Corporate Communications, Unisource Worldwide
• Sue Friesen, Marketing Director, Broadspire (a Crawford company)

“It was a privilege to moderate this distinguished panel of marketing experts and lead the discussion on such a highly relevant topic”, said Thomas Harpointner. “The future of marketing consists of deeply integrated digital and traditional channels and we look forward to our continued relationship with the PIAG and its members.”

About AIS Media
Founded in 1997, AIS Media (http://www.aismedia.com) is an award-winning digital marketing and creative agency specializing in performance-driven digital strategy, design, execution and management. AIS Media’s competencies include design, application development, search marketing, email marketing, social media and mobile marketing.

Which digital marketing trends are poised to make the greatest impact in 2012? 

This is the “MUST-ATTEND” presentation for any digital marketing professional, executive or educator. As founder and CEO of AIS Media, Inc., Thomas’ insights stem from over 15 years of experience working with leading companies, global brands, governments and organizations.. Thomas’ digital marketing strategies and tactics have been real-world field-tested and proven to produce measurable performance and ROI for companies of all sizes. Thomas’ unique high-energy, hands-on presentation style is known to deliver actionable insights and immediate value in an entertaining format.

NOTE: Bringing your smartphone and/or tablet PC is encouraged to get the most out of this interactive presentation.

Seating is limited. Register: http://bit.ly/AvWUiA

Share your opinion.

Tell me what you think is the TOP digital marketing trend in 2012. Post your opinion in the comment box below and get mentioned in my Jan 19th presentation (be sure to include your twitter handle).

Your company has a social media presence, whether you know it or not.

Most companies today understand the value of social media, at least as it pertains to individuals.  Whether they are on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn many business owners have a profile at least for themselves personally.  However, it’s becoming more and more critical that businesses have an official presence, and not simply something started by a client, employee or (shudder) an unhappy customer.

Bank of America was recently embarrassed when it was revealed that it’s Google+ page was ‘brand-jacked’ and a fake Bank of America page was not only on Google+, but that it had more activity (posts) and 28x the fans than the official Bank of America page.

As a Google+ user, if you searched for Bank of America the first page to come up was the false page.  Because of the traffic to the site, the posts (none of them flattering for Bank of America) were also being indexed and could be found through Google.

Some say Google+ should have better screening for business pages.  Others say the person that posted the page should be blamed.  Some believe Bank of America should police their brand better.  While there are differing camps on who’s to blame for this, it still boils down to an embarrassment for Bank of America.

At a time when more and more customers are using Facebook, Google+ and other social media to find business, read reviews and post their experiences with a brand, it’s critical that companies not only place value on their social media image but that they are the ones managing it.

Your social media presence provides users insight into not only sales and specials, but thoughts and feedback from other customers.  How happy are they?  How an unhappy customer was made happy.  How is your business engaged with the community?

An engaging social media presence tells your customers and clients that you care – not just about your business, but about them.  If a customer can’t find an official page online, and is only left with false pages, it tells them not only don’t you care about your brand, but you don’t care about what people think of it either.

By Sean Jones
Interactive Enthusiast – Digital Geek – Creative Nut
With a background in computer animation, multimedia design and IT technologies Sean is VP of Digital Solutions and Technology at AIS Media, Inc., an award winning digital marketing agency. Sean tweets from http://twitter.com/sjones_aismedia. Connect with Sean on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sean-jones/2/757/47b

Cyber Monday 2011 is on track to be the single highest online shopping day in history with 83% of consumers saying they prefer shopping online over visiting crowded stores during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Holiday online spending is projected to reach $37.6 billion, reaching $37.6 billion online. That’s a 15% increase from 2010, according to comScore Inc. In contrast, brick and mortar retail sales are expected to increase a mere 2.6%.

In 2011, 48% of all retail sales are either online purchases or Web-influenced purchases. More than $1.1 trillion in retail sales could be attributed to “web-influenced” purchases (offline retail sales influenced by online research).

The stakes for retailers are high. Many will generate between 20 and 40 percent of their annual revenue during the next six weeks.

Read the full original story titled: Top 12 Black Friday & Cyber Monday Marketing Tactics for Retailers in 2011.