Social Media in South Dakota

With social media growing at a steady rate in South Dakota. I had the chance to talk with co-founder of 9 Clouds, Scott Meyer.

9 Clouds is a company based in the Brookings and Sioux Falls area, that helps you choose and use the most effective online tools to grow your business. The ones that fit your goals and show measurable results, 9 Clouds help businesses through three service offerings: Training, Strategy and Digital Campaigns.

I asked a number of questions all regarding too social media in the state of South Dakota. Scott stated, “Facebook is the number 1 growing social media outlet in South Dakota, with over 52% of the state is using Facebook, while twitter is only around .35%.”

This also gives companies in the state a huge boost in media compared to other states. “South Dakota Companies get a good bump in media because there is not much competition regarding anything social media in the state. Keloland, The Agrus Leader, and other media outlets get excited to talk about it so it only benefits the company that much more.” Scott said.

So if you live in the South Dakota area, look for social media to start growing more and more. Companies are embracing the change for the good, the iPhone is on the two largest cell networks, and the media loves talking about it. Use and embrace social media and make the most out of it.

Foursquare: Not just for kids anymore

What is Foursquare?

The most common answer I hear is, “Isn’t that a game we used to play back in elementary school?”

Yes, it is a childhood game, and no, it is not just for fun anymore.

Foursquare is a location based social media website that has been making noise since its inception just over a year ago.

Foursquare may seem silly and pointless, but this is a tool that businesses and marketers are starting to jump on as a way of advertising as well as for PR opportunities.

It is very simple to use and can be used for fun or for business. All you need is a username, password, and a cell phone with messaging and/or internet capabilities.

Users can create to-do lists of things that they want to do or places they want to go. They can create new venues of places they have been, and compete against their friends to become mayor of different locations while winning badges along the way.

Scheels is a nationwide sports store that uses Foursquare to track and thank customers for coming in and visiting the store.

I checked into the Scheels in Sioux Falls a couple weeks ago, and the next day I got a tweet saying thanks for coming in and they hoped I would be back soon. I replied back to them saying that I’m an advertising major and that I was curious how they knew I was in the store. Sure enough they tracked my Foursquare check-in and started following me on Twitter because of it.

One of the beauties of Foursquare is that it is synced with your Twitter and Facebook. This allows all your social media to run seamlessly together.

This is one example of a large business using new technology to reach a huge audience that is already super connected.