So this question we asked ourselves, "If you could only have one type of meal for the rest of your life — and HAD to pick RIGHT THIS SECOND — what would it be and why?"

Here's what a few members of our staff came up with:

Timeline’s visual layout and historical navigation open up a host of opportunities for brands to exploit; here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Brand Coverage
At 850 x 350 pixels, cover photos offer oodles of screen real estate to make a branding statement. Have a beautiful product to show off? Drop a well-shot photo right at the top of your Page for the entire world to ogle. Or try merging some graphic design into the space to show off a killer service. Here’s my take on it:

2. Rich Culture
Use that cover photo to expose your clients and customers to the parts that really make your business run; your employees! A team photo would work great here, or perhaps you rotate a nice employee photo with a graphical bio periodically. You could even use it as an incentive for your staff – Employee of the Month gets the cover!

3. Get Wacky
If Brand Pages end up allowing for a cover photo and a profile pic, the way personal accounts now do, then you can get really clever. By strategically shooting and placing photographs in each bucket, you can develop fun, interactive profile/cover pic collages that radiate humor, smarts and personality. Here are some personal accounts that do this well.

4. Know Your History
Timeline’s namesake feature is a great way to tell the story of your brand. By adding in important dates and events throughout your Page’s Timeline, you can walk customers and prospects through the history and evolution of your business.

5. Get Visual
Timeline displays photos and videos in a much more visually appealing layout now. Take advantage of this by uploading plenty of rich media. Brand Pages that share more dynamic content will create a more compelling looking and interesting Timeline, and drive users deeper into their Page.

Once a month, we gather together for a Hunch Free Lunch and Learn. One staff member prepares a lesson from their area of expertise, and shares that knowledge with the rest of the crew. We get to learn a little bit more about all the digital marketing disciplines through these casual classes, plus we usually eat some good food and share some laughs. Do you have any type of continual learning programs where you work? How does your company go about it?

Here are 6 cool features that can help get attention (and repins!)

1. Pinterest Hashtags work. 

Hashtags work on Pinterest

They appear as clickable links to all pins with the same hashtag or word in them. It’s an easy-to-use tool to help other users find your pins!

2. Tweet Pins w/ Hashtags!

Tweet Pins with Hashtags

If you really want oomph from your pins, send hashtagged posts to Twitter too; they work just like regular hashtags there.

Pinterest Hashtags work just the same as Twitter Hashtags!

3. Add a Price!

 Include Price in a Pinterest Pin!

Lots of users make wishlists on Pinterest. If getting yours to as many people as possible is important, be sure to include the price in the description; this puts the price ribbon in the upper left corner and also includes it in the Pinterest Gifts section!

4. Use URLs in Descriptions!

URLs in Pinterest descriptions turn into links

Whatever the reason, some websites just don’t play well with Pinterest (like my Nintendo coffee table pin above. The picture loads fine, but only if you link directly to the picture). If you need to make a pin that points to somewhere else besides the picture, you can put a URL into the description and it will automatically turn into a link when you pin it!

 5. Mention / Tag anyone in comments and descriptions with the @ Symbol

You can Mention and Tag Friends with @ Symbols

Something users may have missed (because of the hard to read gray text that only appears once you start typing) is that the @ symbol works just like it does on Facebook and Twitter; start typing after an @ symbol and a list shows of all the friends you can tag!

Get your friend's attention in descriptions too!

This is great for getting their attention. Better yet, it also works in descriptions!

6. Pin Anything with the "Pin It" Bookmark

A simple link that works in any browser!

By visiting the Pinterest Goodies section, you can get a “Pin It” button of your own. It makes putting together a board quickly and quietly easy by living right in your browser! When you’re on a page you want to pin, click the “Pin it” button to immediately go to Pinterest’s pin page.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of our Pinterest Series!

Check out our Hunch Free Boards on Pinterest. Not yet on Pinterest? Mention us on Twitter (@hunchfree) or post on our Facebook wall and we’ll do our best to hook you up!

How are you doing with your resolutions? Hopefully you're killing them. What about your website's performance? If your site could use some love, or if you need help with tracking and improving any of your digital marketing, drop us a line – we’d be happy to help.

Happy weekend, loyal Hunch Free follower. How's your Saturday treatin' ya?

We're enjoying ourselves, soaking up new content, obsessing over our Pinterest accounts and wondering what craft beer we'll drink this evening.

Whether we're hard at work in the office or lounging on our couches at home, one thing is certain: We love industry news.

We're geeks. We get it.

This video profiles where some of the staff goes to get their news. Check it out and make sure to COMMENT and let us know where YOU get YOUR news.

Yes, we respond to RFPs. We despise every single second of the arduous and archaic process, but we still go through it because usually it's a good opportunity and sometimes it's a fun challenge.

But in today’s digital age, the question or reason behind why we don’t get some new business is what’s most troublesome about old-fashioned marketing: 

“Sorry, Hunch Free, but we were looking for an agency with more _______________ experience.”  Go ahead, insert “healthcare” or  “retail” or “B2B” in that blank line and then try to forget the sentence completely.

These are prospective clients who need a website, social media or search marketing, but they end up hiring traditional agencies with experience in their business vertical.  Agencies whose experience is limited to mediums like television, radio, print and direct mail.  But hey, they sure do know healthcare!

So ultimately, that client’s website may have the right vernacular and imagery for their business, but will it rank or perform?  The winning agency will create a Twitter account, but will they follow the rules of the game?  Or will they explore new social sites like Pinterest or more relevant ones like Linkedin?  Probably not.

A recent study of regional agencies asked the question, “What is your SINGLE biggest obstacle to date in regard to ‘going digital’?”  In 2010, 26% of agencies surveyed noted that clients weren’t asking for it. That number dropped to 4% in 2011.  So, clients are beginning to realize they need it and are finally asking for it, but they still may be taking an old-fashioned approach in hiring the right type of company to create and manage their digital marketing efforts.

In the same study, agencies were asked, “In terms of agency business priorities, where would you say ‘going digital’ falls?” In 2011, the response “We’d like to, but we’re not in a hurry” shot up to 59% from 26% the previous year.  The author of the article said it best – “What happened?”

I’m assuming some agencies are relying on vendors to help them gain knowledge or do the work or perhaps some just don’t know how to shift their core business philosophy and deliverables to digital mediums. Regardless, clients need to understand their goals and what type of agencies can best deliver results.  When they figure it out, the agencies who aren't focusing on delivering quality digital practices will be running to keep up!

I just hope we can turn a corner in 2012 so all small digital agencies will start hearing this phrase instead, “Congratulations. We hired you because you know the web. Now you need to get to know our business.”  

Source: Thanks for your great article Jay Friedman! http://adage.com/article/small-agency-diary/regional-ad-agencies-budget-digital-specialists/232144/

Image Source: socialmediamerchant.com

Fa la la la la, la la la la...

We're just 3 days from Christmas Day and we wanted to take time to thank each and every one of you for being a part of the Hunch Free network in 2011.

Whether you're a client, vendor, friend, family member or general fan of our company, we appreciate and cherish your followership. There wouldn't be a Hunch Free without you guys.

We have big, big plans for 2012 with some outstanding new clients alongside our loyal base of customers that have been with us since the beginning. We also hope to pump out more fun, creative video in our newsletters once the opportunities arise.

Have a very warm, safe and fun holiday season, from Jimmy, Valerie, Kari, Nick, Sean, Michael, Kinga, Ervin and Carl!