Social Media Spotlight: Enplug Live Displays

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When I came across the Enplug Live Social Media Display (thanks for the tip, @Woodchuck!),  I couldn’t help but imagine the thousands of possibilities enabled by their technology:


In order to dig a bit deeper into the realm of possibilities, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jessie Kim, Head of Partnerships at Enplug.
Let’s start with some background – Why was Enplug created?
Enplug was created to provide a cost-effective solution to grow the word-of-mouth buzz about a business, increase social activity, and create engaging, entertaining digital signage that is meaningful for any gathering.
Enplug is quickly evolving into a public computing platform that can be personalized to any space at any time. Our most popular apps are our live social feeds (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp), followed by digital signage (images, video) and our digital menu boards. We have more exciting apps launching soon, including an office directory app.
Brick and mortar locations have a choice to advertise outside of their location (i.e. a Foursquare ad to drive patrons to their location) or inside their location, as Enplug enables. How does advertising inside the location provide value to clients? 
On-premise, digital advertising is extremely important for nurturing your relationship with your existing customers. It strengthens your brand image in their minds, helping transform your business from a simple provider of goods into a personality they can develop a relationship with. They’ll return time and time again if they feel like investing time and money with your business is like investing in a friendship.
The social conversation taking place on an Enplug screen around your brand makes your business more relatable. Enplug is also entertaining, as people are not used to seeing themselves on digital signage in a public place. The live social feed can create an experience akin to seeing one’s face on a jumbotron at a ball game. It’s an Enplug venue’s way of positively rewarding a customer for promoting their business.
Even better, venues are getting creative. For example, a bar can promote lengthening happy hour by 1 minute every time someone posts with their hashtag. Or, a retailer can promote decreasing the price of a product by $1 every time someone posts with their hashtag.
The real-time nature of social media is both a blessing and a curse for business owners. What happens when the feedback or information displayed on the screen is negative?
We built a real-time sentiment analysis tool that can immediately block posts with negative words from appearing on an Enplug. Venues can opt to have all content pre-screened, or can chose their level of filtering:
Enplug-FiltersThey can also delete content and ban users via the web or mobile.
Let’s focus on Instagram for a minute. How can Enplug + Instagram drive business for a particular company/industry?
Instagram has been shown to be a major driver in customer conversions, as a picture is worth a thousand words.
Enplug serves dual functions of nudging and showcasing a customer’s promotion of a business on Instagram. We “showcase” via an Instagram wall with a mosaic of photos that move about the display. Occasionally an individual photo is shown in greater detail with the avatar of the person who posted. We “nudge” a customer to post, with a call-to-action on the top of the display letting users know what hashtag they need to use to show up on the Enplug.
Can you provide one major “WIN” example  that speaks to the uniqueness + effectiveness of Enplug?
The Toyota dealership in Culver City, California, has Enplug displays installed in nearly every aspect of the venue. It’s the first ever transformation of an entire ecosystem of a car dealership via live social displays.
Culver City Toyota likely has the most active car selling team on social media today, and it pays off. The Toyota sales average per person is 7 cars. Their most active salesperson on social media sold 38 cars in the past month.
The general manager, Ephraim Barcelo said, “We’re dragging an old bear into the 21st Century. I’m excited! If there were a scorecard, we’re winning in social media. Everyone, even the skeptics are really getting into it. It’s blowing up here.
People, your employees, want to be on social media. Many companies have rules that employees are not allowed to use social media during work hours. People can’t be caged in anymore. We’re never going to stop it; it’s about how we leverage it.
We have to cater to Millenials. If we don’t, we are in danger of becoming dinosaurs.”
Enplug’s display also increases social media activity by over 500% on average. Please see our case study for details!
In the Twin Cities and want to see an Enplug in action? Ask @TheSocialLights for details!

Want to work with us? Contact us here.

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Background on The Social Lights
The Social Lights® is a social-first agency headquartered in Minneapolis that partners with clients to grow their business through strategy development, creative production, media buying, and social media management. Current clients include General Mills, Ecolab, Cargill, Caribou Coffee, Kwik Trip, Polaris and Massage Envy. The Social Lights was founded in 2011 and is a WBENC-Certified Women Business Enterprise. Learn more at The Social Lights.

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