Almost 10 years ago, the internet stopped what it was doing and watched the Wendy’s corporate Twitter account roast everyone from Burger King to complete strangers. This unexpected yet hilarious behavior from a major corporation sparked the great debate: can brands be fun online?The results were mixed. There were two main schools of thinking: your company could either be traditionally professional on social media, or you could be fun and get attention for your brand. The path you picked depended on a number of factors,...

This year is the 20th anniversary of GlassBuild America, the largest event for the glass, window and door industries in North America. The big show is happening October 31 through November 1 in Atlanta, GA, but buzz is already being generated in advance of it online. Don’t miss out on the chance to get your followers hyped for your appearance at GlassBuild. To get them excited between now and Halloween, and to get the most out of your event registration, here are some suggestions for...

We in the FGIA Marketing department know a thing or two about rebranding an organization. Three years ago, we underwent our own, and today, we are known as the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance. Even though we made this change as of January 1, 2020, it didn’t literally happen overnight. This is why it has been so baffling to watch Twitter, a well-known company with 16 years of brand equity, announce over a sleepy July weekend that they would be called… X.CEO Elon Musk has...

If you are a marketer, you have probably been asked about the real value of social media. Maybe your company or management team has had some preconceived notions about online platforms or maybe you simply want to show the value of what your role is in the company’s broader objectives. Either way, it’s important to understand how to convey the role social media plays in your brand’s place in the industry. To do this, you need to know how to talk about social media’s return...

A version of this blog post ran in June 2021. This has been updated with new information.FGIA has several tutorials for members, detailing processes for things like how to join an FGIA committee or task group, how to access and use the FGVL or how to access meeting and conference call information. We have also started doing some short, instructional videos about how to best make use of our social media channels, including our relatively new Facebook page and our other social media accounts -...

A common question I get about social media is a complicated one: how can my company use it to make money? There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are common themes to what those social media companies want from you in order to give you a cut of their revenue. They want you to have a lot of followers and subscribers, and they want you to have lots of eyes on your content. Here is a brief guide to what YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter...

Did you know FGIA offers a live-tweet feed of updates from several of the Association’s events on our Twitter account? It started with live-tweeting highlights from our conferences, but it has since expanded into coverage of our regular webinar series as well as our regional meetings and events. While attending yourself is always the best way to get firsthand information, these Twitter updates are a great way to stay updated if you can’t make it. Your next opportunity to follow along with FGIA on Twitter...

Even though it has been a mild winter where I am in the Mid Ohio Valley, I am ready for warmer weather and the start of youth soccer season! With warmer weather comes this reminder to parents: Screens are meant to keep bugs out, not to keep kids in. This is just one of many pieces of advice offered by the Window Safety Task Force. This industry group takes the time each year to share resources and tips every spring to commemorate Window Safety Week,...

I am looking forward to being in California this month for the 2023 FGIA Annual Conference! One of my favorite FGIA events each year is the Awards Banquet, because it’s an opportunity for the Association to recognize its leadership for the hard work they do the previous year. Plus, from a social media standpoint, it’s fun to have the “scoop” when we announce the winners on social media! Whether you will be participating in-person or virtually for this conference, you can get involved with #FGIAconf...

This blog is often about ways to use social media to your company’s advantage, such as how to best showcase your products and services for various platforms. However, this month’s post is going to offer a certain degree of caution about doing so in some cases. Social media has changed a lot in recent years, and perhaps no more than it did in 2022. Let’s look back on why we started using social media for our businesses, what’s happened since and what to expect moving...