Aug
19
2010

Mindgruve Pushes SanDiego.com Facebook Page Past 50,000 Members

SanDiego.com Facebook

Network surpasses 50,000 through a combination of targeted advertising and local appeal.

SAN DIEGO, CA – August 19, 2010 – Thanks to a string of successful social media initiatives, San Diego-based digital media firm, Mindgruve, has brought the SanDiego.com Facebook Page community to over 50,000 engaged members, doubling its membership in only two months.

Mindgruve has used strategic posting techniques and targeted Facebook ads to boost SanDiego.com’s Facebook presence. Reaching tourists as well as San Diego residents past and present, community members can receive and discuss local news, event information and deals to help them get the most out of San Diego. Mindgruve also offers online contests such as the recent SanDiego.com photo contest, which encourages members to remain engaged with SanDiego.com’s Facebook community.

“We are amazed by the growth over the last two months. Mindgruve’s knowledge of San Diego as well as their innovative marketing concepts have been key to the success of SanDiego.com in the social space,” said James Earwicker, President of SanDiego.com.

Moving forward, Mindgruve will continue to develop new and unique features to keep the community engaged and encourage new users to “like” the Facebook page. Features such as the 100k giveaway, which to date has awarded over 30 prizes to community members, highlights Mindgruve’s continued commitment to SanDiego.com’s community growth.

“When we started working with SanDiego.com, we knew that social media would be an important component to the site’s future success. With an average of over 400 new members a day, we feel that we have created an environment where San Diegans can communicate online, while also stimulating growth at SanDiego.com,” explained Chad Robley, President of Mindgruve.

About SanDiego.com
SanDiego.com was created out of a love for America’s Finest City. Through a staff of award-winning writers, reviewers and city insiders, SanDiego.com offers locals and visitors the latest news in sports, events, business, government, entertainment and more. SanDiego.com is committed to being the perfect online guide and community partner by also providing hotel deals, vacation packages, coupons and reviews to visitors. www.SanDiego.com


Jun
21
2010

Interactive Day San Diego – A Review

IDSD

The 6th Annual Interactive Day San Diego has wrapped and we couldn’t have asked for a better day of fun and learning with industry thought leaders regarding mobile, web design, online video, SEO, social media, email marketing and more!

Together with SanDiego.com and Chad Robley, sponsoring IDSD 2010 was an honor for Mindgruve and we’re already looking forward to next year! If you didn’t get a chance to check out the event, here are our highlights:

Opening  Session: 2020 Vision: The Most Important Advertising Issues for This Decade with Jack Myers, Founder of M.E.D.I.Advisory Group
Jack Myers kicked things off by discussing the changes happening in the market today, forcing advertisers and marketers to be more innovative than ever. Read the full recap…

Email Plus with Joel Book, Exact Target
Pointing out that email marketing is nothing new and still a very lucrative business, Joel Book explained some key insights, including the fact that 75% of social media users say email is the best way for companies to communicate with consumers. Read the full recap…

SignOnSanDiego.com Social Media Demonstration and Q&A with Mike Hodges, SignOnSanDiego.com, and Indra Gardiner, Bailey Gardiner
Mike Hodges led the group in a social media demonstration, discussing the importance of creativity in order to have more consumer impact. Indra Gardiner also shared her thoughts on how social media guidelines are key to leveraging client and company interactions. Read the full recap…

Advanced SEO with Rand Fishkin, SEOMOZ.org
Rand Fishkin discussed the balance of SEO vs PPC budget and the four areas of SEO acceleration, laying out the formula to increasing individual rankings: low competition + high search volume + high value to visitor. Read the full recap…

Mobile Marketing with Amielle Lake, Tagga
Amielle Lake explained the marketing shift taking place in the industry, moving from traditional to digital to mobile marketing. Noting that the mobile target is millennials, digital moms and techie men, she emphasized that efforts are most effective when it is campaign driven to offer immediate and branded payoff to consumer. Read the full recap…

ValueClick Media Demonstration and Q&A with Tony Winders, ValueClick Media, and Tamara Bousquet, MEA Digital
Together, Winders and Bousquet provided session attendees with insight into the importance of ad exchanges, demand side platforms (DSPs) and ad verification in a media plan. Read the full recap…

Marketing Convergence – Are You Ready? with Warren Raisch, Digitaria
Warren Raisch led the discussion by providing key insights regarding marketing in the industry, noting that mobile is becoming the ultimate Channel Aggregation point and that 92% of social users trust a recommendation from people they know over the marketing channels. Read the full recap…

Luncheon Keynote: The Identity Web with Paul Ollinger, Facebook
Facebook’s Western Region VP of Sales discussed how the internet has changed social marketing to make it enormously effective for marketers, pointing out that relationships and authenticity will allow businesses to truly learn, grow and create a social web. Read the full recap…

“POV” Point of Video with Tod Sacerdoti, BrightRoll
Providing insights into the growing online video space, Tod Sacerdoti noted that online video advertising is the future and is the best place to involve yourself. Also offering tips for moving into online video advertising, Sacerdoti says it is important to test, measure and optimize, as well as remove under-performing content. Read the full recap…

Mindset Marketing with Denny Reinert, Placecast, and Andreas Roell, Geary Group
Using Placecast as an example, Reinert led the session with a special focus on reaching consumers while in the right mindset. For location-based marketing, an opt-in mobile service is the right way to engage with consumers. This and a combination of other factors create relevance and increase purchases. Read the full recap…

Website Redesign for Lead Generation with Rick Burnes, HubSpot
Burnes discussed that the purpose of a website redesign is to be found by more prospects and convert those prospects to leads and customers. All website redesigns should have specific goals in mind, while being aware that some design and taste sacrifices will need to made to generate traffic. Read the full recap…

Digital Download: What You Need to Know About Ad Networks with John Yearout, Undertone Networks
After reviewing the timeline of ad networks over the last 15 years, Yearout pointed out that as DSPs become more prevalent, ad networks need to deliver unique inventory, targeting, products, insights and research to stay relevant. Read the full recap…

Sorenson Media Demonstration and Q&A with Eric Quanstrom, Sorenson Media, and Montana Triplett, Tremor Media
Both industry experts made a point of saying that online video is still the wild wild west for marketing and advertising. A customized user experience should be based on your objectives. Read the full recap…

Google Analytics with Joshua Knox, Google Analytics
Google’s goal, as explained by Knox, is to speed up the web to improve conversion flow. Knox also led the group in better understanding the impact AdWords has in creating valuable traffic when used correctly. Read the full recap…

State of the Industry Roundtable
At the close of IDSD, Panelists Heather Blank, Responsys; Torrey Lincoln, LinkedIn; Brian Lynch, Yahoo!; Paul Ollinger, Facebook offered their thoughts on the State of the Industry as well as some companies to keep an eye on in the coming months.

If you’d like to learn more from or contact the presenters, a list of slide decks and twitter handles can be found at the San Diego Advertising Club Facebook page. We hope to see you next year at IDSD 2011!


Jun
14
2010

Mindgruve Drives SanDiego.com Facebook Page Past 25,000 Community Members

sandiego

Through targeted ads and contests, network surges to 25,000+ in under three months

SAN DIEGO,CA – June 14, 2010 – Through a series of social media initiatives and actions, San Diego-based digital media firm, Mindgruve, pushed the SanDiego.com Facebook Page to over 25,000 highly-engaged community members in just under three months.

Strengthening SanDiego.com’s Facebook presence with strategic posting techniques and online giveaways, Mindgruve continues to support community growth through targeted Facebook ads that maintain both national and local appeal. “We couldn’t be happier! Mindgruve’s innovative ideas and knowledge of this space have been an integral part of our success,” explained James Earwicker, President of SanDiego.com.

As more people continue to “Like” the Facebook Page, Mindgruve is developing additional features to further engage and interact with them, including easy access to local news stories, events and deals, all within the Facebook environment. In addition, Mindgruve will continue to help SanDiego.com leverage online contests, encouraging members to share their San Diego stories, experiences and photos.Currently, though the 100K Giveaway, Mindgruve has awarded over 25 local prizes to community members that range from San Diego Fair passes to free hotel stays.

“SanDiego.com’s community growth is running parallel with the level of engagement we’ve seen. About 350 people are joining the page every day, and daily interactions are keeping pace. Through strategic growth, we have, and will continue to, create an environment that community members use as their first stop to connect, share and learn about everything San Diego,” stated Chad Robley, President of Mindgruve.

About SanDiego.com
SanDiego.com was created out of a love for America’s Finest City. Through a staff of award-winning writers, reviewers and city insiders, SanDiego.com offers locals and visitors the latest news in sports, events, business, government, entertainment and more. SanDiego.com is committed to being the perfect online guide and community partner by also providing hotel deals, vacation packages, coupons and reviews to visitors. www.SanDiego.com


Aug
25
2009

SanDiego.com & Mindgruve Announce New Partnership

SanDiego.com selects San Diego-based MIndgruve to develop their new brand and online community.

SAN DIEGO,CA – Community information portal SanDiego.com has selected premiere San Diego-based integrated marketing agency Mindgruve as a strategic partner in developing their new brand and online community.  “Everyone here at SanDiego.com is excited to be working with Chad Robley and Mindgruve on this project. Our branding and the presentation on our site is critical to the success of our company’s growth in the future. Mindgruve has strong marketing experience with a rare combination of technical ability to help us pull it off.” says James Earwicker, CEO of SanDiego.com.

Mindgruve’s technology and digital marketing expertise, combined with a long track record of Internet marketing success was a key factor in SanDiego.com’s decision to partner with Mindgruve. SanDiego.com publisher and founder Mark Burgess says, “Mindgruve gets what the online space is about, both from a technical and marketing vantage point. That will make our collaboration much more efficient and productive than when we were working with marketers that didn’t understand how people operate online or programmers that didn’t understand how branding influences design. This is going to be fun.”

Mindgruve and SanDiego.com have great expectations for the new brand and look forward to it becoming the dominant source for local news and information in the online space. Mindgruve president Chad Robley states, “We are very excited about partnering with SanDiego.com. With local newspaper readership in dramatic decline, the San Diego community will look to more convenient, robust online sources for their local news, sports, lifestyle, classifieds, entertainment, and social media.” Robley believes that SanDiego.com will become a model for how people get local information in the future, “The way people are consuming media is changing and evolving at warp speed. Local media channels like SanDiego.com will be the beneficiaries of such dynamic trends. We feel like SanDiego.com is well positioned to be not only the leading San Diego community and information resource but also the number one geo domain destination in the United States.”