Mobile Apps For Halloween

It’s the end of October…Halloween time! Seriously though, where did time go? Someone please tell me.

Anyhow, I think you’ll be interested in knowing of some cool and fun mobile apps to make your Halloween that much better!

Find a safe trick-or-treat location:

• Westfield U.S. Shopping Centers App. Participating malls offer trick-or-treating for families.
• If your city government offers a mobile app, download it to find the safest neighborhoods for trick-or-treating.

Find costume ideas:

• YouTube App. Search for “how-to” Halloween make-up and hair video tutorials.
• Yellow Pages App. Find your nearest costume store.
• Google App. Search costume ideas by keyword under the Google Images option.

Find a Halloween party:

• CitySearch App. Find an organized and totally raging Halloween party.
• Yelp App. Same as above. Find a stellar Halloween party and enjoy the night.

Make Halloween treats:

• Martha Stewart App. Get some frightful and yummy bite ideas.
• Epicurious App. They have some cool Halloween cake pops goin’ on!
• Food Network App. Get inspired by the likes of Alton Brown, Giada and more.

Halloween hashtags – #Halloween, #Costume, #Spookystats, #Candy

Did your city get on the America’s 20 Best Cities for Trick-or-Treating list? San Francisco, CA is No. 1. I lived there for two years, so I am a bit proud!

Are People Talking About Your Facebook Page?

Do you have a Facebook Page? Maybe you created one for your blog, business, consulting services etc. Then you may have noticed some new data on the left-hand-navigation of your Page – ____ talking about this.

What does it all mean and how do you get more people talking?

The number below the actual total Likes of the Page is a benchmark of how many people are engaging with your content. Content is in the form of status updates, photos, questions and videos. In a nutshell… [Insert number] talking about this = total number of people recently engaged with your Page’s content (i.e Commenting on posts, “Liking” posts, answering questions, tagging your Page, tagging your Page’s photos).

The more engaging your content is, the more people will “Like” your Page. When your fans engage, their activity appears in their news feed and helps your message disperse. Here are some ways to create more engaging content in order to boost that number.

• Post open-ended updates. For example, Fill in the blank. My favorite thing about Fall is _____.
• When you post a link, include the image that accompanies it. (see example below)
• Use the Facebook Questions feature and ask your fans questions.
• Post video.
• Interact with your fans when they post in the comment threads.
• Do a contest.
• Encourage your fans to “Share” your content. At the end of your status update, simply state, Please share or Pass it on!
• Encourage your fans to share content too. For example, Post a photo of your favorite doggie Halloween costume.

Cancer Awareness IS Social. #cancersucks

It’s October so you’re either seeing alot of orange, black and purple for Halloween OR you’re seeing alot of pink. I bet you’re seeing both! October and breast cancer awareness are like peanut butter and jelly, crudites and hummus, tortilla chips and guacamole. You think of one and the other resonates.

Social media plays an instrumental role in the public outreach of cancer awareness across the board, not just for breast cancer awareness.

Here are some examples of social media efforts for cancer awareness:

• Movember USA: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube Mustaches!
• SU2C: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Launch a Star for as little as $1
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Check out their 31 Days of Pink. Love that!
• Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
• Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Check out their Volunteer for Progress campaign.

It’s not the number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers that warrant the success of social media and cause outreach. Sure, there is alot of “reach,” but what if only a small percent of fans/followers take action and spread the message? That’s not very successful. A stellar awareness campaign involves effectively promoting the organization’s efforts and providing EASY ways for people to take action. The social media efforts of an organization should be aligned with the offline efforts in order to have a cohesive message. I think the above organizations do that and so do many others!

What are some organizations that you think do a great job of using social media to raise awareness? Leave a comment below.

Follow and use these hashtags to join the cancer awareness conversation on Twitter: #cancersucks, #breastcancerawareness, #movember, #GotheMo, #pinkforoctober, #vol4progress, #cancersurvivor, #childhoodcancer, #cancerprogress.