Category Archives: Blog With BEB

Twitter Hashtags – Dos & Don’ts

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Twitter Hastags: Do’s & Don’ts Straight from the “Birdies Mouth”

Hashtags can be an great way to grow your reach, encourage engagement, and get discovered on Twitter.   Here are 10 Do’s and Don’ts (straight from the birdies mouth)!

  • Make it easy to remember AND easy to spell.  Typos will leave your hashtag undiscovered.
  • Be realistic. Don’t expect people to start using your hashtag in their Tweets if it doesn’t fit naturally and there is no incentive for them to do so.
  • Do your research. This is big.  Check and see if  people are already using the hashtag and make sure it is being used in a manner you want your brand associated with.
  • Give people a reason to use your hashtag.  You can offer a prize, recognition in the form of a Retweet, (your audience will respond better when it’s a mutually beneficial relationship), or something others would want to share from an educational perspective.
  • Partner with influencers.  Influencers are usually fast to engage and you can gain exposure and visibility for your hashtag if they start using it.

  • Over hashtag. One to two relevant hashtags per Tweet is the sweet spot. Remember, this isn’t Instagram: character count matters.
  • Expect your brand slogan to translate to a hashtag. A hashtag is meant to be inclusive, shareable, and easy to discover. If it doesn’t organically fit within a Tweet, it’ll feel forced and lose its intended purpose.
  • Expect people to use your hashtag without a reason or incentive. The best hashtags have the ability to draw people in and invoke curiosity to explore and join in on the conversation.
  • Neglect to educate on what it is and how to use it. Make sure you’re clearly communicating the hashtag and more importantly, why someone would want to include it in their own Tweet.
  • Use all CAPS LOCK. Unless it’s an acronym, this feels like shouting and also adds unnecessary work.

 

BEB WINS Graphic Excellence Award

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We are honored to report that BEB is the proud recipient of the Best Of Digital Calendars Award in this year’s Printing Industries of the Gulf Coast Graphic Excellence Awards (GEA)!  Our entry of the 2018 BEB Interactive Calendar brings us this fantastic honor for the fourth year in a row.

Judging is based on creativity, style, composition, print presentation, color balance, and reviewed for flaws. Judges have varied technical, design, and layout expertise.  They serve as judges not only for the PIGC Awards, but other regional, national, and international premier print awards competitions.

We also snagged an Award of Excellence for a wide-format project (window graphics for a Central Care Clinic location).  This is a relatively new service for us which makes the recognition super satisfying.

Considered the premier print event of Houston, the 2019 Graphic Excellence Awards Competition recognizes the best in technology, and craftsmanship from the regions printing, imaging, finishing, and creative community.  The competition was stiff this year with over 300 entries vying for a coveted award.  We are proud to be a part of the Amazing amazing Gulf Coast Printing Community and this gala is great place to see how so many are pushing the envelope on superb quality, inspiring detail, and output in imaginative ways.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

 

 

GDPR What is it?

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May 25, 2018 introduces a sweeping new directive that goes into effect in the European Union (EU) called the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. It represents the biggest change ever to data privacy laws. The new law effects US users as well.

The law protects residents of the EU including US citizens  living abroad.  Under the GDPR, all companies that have an Internet presence including large US companies including Google, Microsoft and Facebook, have to comply.

To simplify things, the basic purpose the GDPR is to expand what counts as personal data and your rights over that data.  Examples of “your data” are things such as  posts on social media, electronic medical records and even your IP address (the unique ID numbers used to identify your smartphone or laptop), as well as GPS location.

The directive says people have to give permission for a company to collect their data. A company can’t just sign you up without explicitly asking. And the more personal the data  the ask must be even more clear.

Europeans have a right to have their data deleted if they don’t want a company to keep it. Companies have to delete the data without undue delay, or face stiff penalties.

I’m certain that you have noticed an increase in emails from your apps and other digital correspondence outlining new privacy notices that allow for you to request them to delete personal data they have stored.

A recent blog for NPR by Aarti Shahani quoted Minnesota attorney Micheal R. Cohen as saying “there’s nothing binding about (the request),” He went on to say that “In the U.S., the business model is pretty much, companies can do what they want, so long as there isn’t a specific law prohibiting it.” The U.S. has laws protecting data privacy for health and financial records, and and for children. “Other than that, we’re pretty much the Wild West,”

This is only the beginning of the personal data privacy debate. Over 80 countries and independent territories, including nearly every country in Europe and many in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa, have now adopted comprehensive data protection laws.  The United States is notable for not having adopted a comprehensive information privacy law, but rather having adopted limited sectoral laws in some areas.

These laws are based on The Fair Information Practice that was first developed in the United States in the 1970s by the Department for Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). Some of the basic principles of data protection are:

  • For all data collected there should be a stated purpose
  • Information collected by an individual cannot be disclosed to other organizations or individuals unless specifically authorized by law or by consent of the individual
  • Records kept on an individual should be accurate and up to date
  • There should be mechanisms for individuals to review data about them, to ensure accuracy
  • Data should be deleted when it is no longer needed for the stated purpose

 

BBB Honors BEB

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We are so excited receive an Awards for Excellence from the Houston BBB for the fourth year in a row!

In 1992, the Better Business Bureau Education Foundation and the University of Houston Bauer College of Business Administration formed a partnership to recognize area businesses for their commitment to quality.  Initially called the Spirit of Texas Awards, the Awards for Excellence are modeled after the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.  Today, the BBB Awards for Excellence continue to recognize businesses and non-profits in the Greater Houston area for their achievements and commitment to overall excellence and quality in the workplace.

Applications are judged by volunteers with the Silver Fox  Advisors, a group of former business owners, entrepreneurs and CEOs dedicated to sharing their knowledge, experience and skills, allowing clients to improve their growth and profitability in a cost-effective manner.  All applications were reviewed and scored by a minimum of two different judges.  If additional information was needed customer and vendor referrals were surveyed.

We are one of the oldest members of the Houston Better Business Bureau and we very proud and appreciative of this distinguished honor.

Run for Rama Details

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WHEN:

Saturday, May 5, 2018

WHERE:

MD Anderson Mays Clinic | 1220 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030

TIME:

6:00AM : Event Opens

6:30AM – 7:00AM : Team BEB Meets for pictures near registration and starting line.  We will have signs so it should be easy to find us

7:30AM : 5K Run/Walk Begins

8:30AM – 9:00AM : Presentation and Award Ceremony

9:00AM – 10:00AM : Post-Race Party

10:00AM : Event Closes

PARKING:

FREE PARKING AT MID CAMPUS GARAGE

7007 BERTNER AVENUE, HOUSTON, TX 77030

PACKET PICK UP:

Starting on Wednesday, May 2 thru Friday, May 4, 2018

From 8:30AM to 5:30PM

AT Business Extension Bureau | 4802 Travis St, Houston, TX 77002

COURSE:

CLICK HERE FOR COURSE MAP

WHAT I NEED TO BRING:

  1. Have race packet in your possession PRIOR to the Saturday event
  2. Pin your bib onto the white & purple Run for Rama T-Shirt
  3. Wear comfortable, loose clothing and walking or running shoes
  4. Wear the Run for Rama T-Shirt with your bib
  5. Arrive between 6:30 and 7am, Saturday, May 5, 2018
  6. FREE PARKING at Mid Campus Garage – 7007 Bertner Avenue
  7. You’ll see all of us near the starting line and registration area (we’ll have signs)
  8. HAVE A GREAT TIME!

DONATE TO THE CAUSE:

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

See You There to Celebrate the Life of Our Rama Moore!

The Bureau – April 2018

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Heading to your desk right now, we hope you enjoy the latest version of The Bureau, our award winning company newsletter.  Inside this issue:

Super Charged Informed Delivery

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SUPER CHARGED INFORMED DELIVERY

Informed Delivery allows users to see images of their mail in the form of an email.  The USPS is hoping that marketers will Super Charge those images by bringing them to life through interactive Informed Delivery campaigns.   Interactive campaigns allow you to create a custom image that can be linked to a URL within the recipients email.

Each unique set of customized supplemental content is associated with an individual mail campaign.  Multiple campaigns can be conducted at one time for a single mailing. Each campaign is triggered by and mapped to a single Mailer ID (MID) that is used on the mail piece and can be customized to be active during a defined date range.

The USPS is very excited about this program and hope that marketers take advantage of this new digital channel that ties hardcopy mail to digital content. Because multiple people within a single household can sign up; you get an extra bang for your mail as additional digital impressions will be fed to the other  household members when they open their email. So far, the USPS is experiencing high email open rates, up to 72% daily as of March.

Informed Delivery interactive campaigns provide additional benefits, allowing mailers to enhance the presentation of the scanned mail piece images that consumers are already receiving.

It gives the mail recipient or other household members the opportunity to take action immediately on the     mail piece by clicking on a campaign image/website link –regardless of whether or not they retrieve mail from the physical mailbox.

You can coordinate multi-channel campaigns, and collect information on campaign reach and results (e.g., open rates, click-through rates) through data analytics too.

Virtually any mailer can conduct an Informed Delivery campaign if the following criteria are met:

  • Mail pieces must be automation compatible
  • Mail pieces must contain a valid IMb
  • Mailer or MSP must be IMb certified

At this time, there are no fees associated with conducting  an Informed Delivery campaign.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the program though.  Not everybody is jumping on the bandwagon to opt-in yet.  So far, 50,000 users in the Houston metropolitan area have signed up and 12 million have opted-in to the program nationwide.

Also, packages and flats are not available yet; but should be coming online very soon.

The USPS is leading a huge push to get people signed up and are courting marketers across the nation to experiment with this technology.

Ironically, after signing up some people have reported that they have stopped going to the mailbox every day.  Instead they are using the email to determine the priority of the contents and visiting the mailbox less frequently.

A lot of people are really excited about this program and believe it will “deliver” the post office into a healthy state.  At least it is good to see the USPS  heading in the right direction to try and make mail and digital a powerful and sustaining combination.