Friday, June 4, 2010

Target your social media efforts by going for quality over quantity

Sacramento Business Journal – by Debi Hammond, Contributing writer, Marketing

Dunkin’ Donuts has 80 percent fewer Facebook and Twitter followers than Starbucks. So it is losing the social media game, right? Well, it depends on your definition of social media success.

If your goal is to be like Ashton Kutcher (he was the first to reach the 1 million “follower” mark on Twitter, even before CNN), then I guess you could consider your social media program a success. However, my recommendation is to focus on quality over quantity.

Besides, what do those 1 million followers really represent for a celebrity? More movies? More money? Or was it simply a bunch of people experimenting with a new medium who now have inactive accounts?

After all, according to a recent Nielsen Online data study, 60 percent of Twitter users quit after a month.

From a business perspective, the question you want to ask yourself is, does having more “followers/friends” equate to having more business and more brand equity? If you want to use social media effectively, then stop “selling” and be more “social.”

Be authentic

The biggest mistake marketers and small businesses make when trying to market their businesses is trying to use social media the same way they do traditional media. Social media is not traditional media and should not be treated the same way.

Television and radio use a “hard sell” approach. It’s one way and directional: “buy me” now. Social media is “social,” meaning people need to be engaged to want and to learn about your product, service or other information. You can, and in most cases, should, use it as an integral part of your marketing campaign, but don’t treat it as a traditional marketing tool.

Social media is about engagement. It’s bi-directional. It’s about providing value. It’s about being authentic. If all you do is tweet about what’s on sale, promotions and the number of “friends/followers” you want, buy an ad because social media is not the place for the “hard sell.”

You want followers that want to follow you. You want followers who are truly engaged in your brand and are following you because of the value you bring to their lives. If you’re wondering what kind of social media marketer you are, take this brief quiz (answer yes or no):  See article at the Sacramento Business Journal (more…)

Online Marketing is Here to Stay, it’s Time to get in on the Action

Sacramento Business Journal – by Debi Hammond, Contributing writer, Marketing

Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Still, so many companies continue to market their businesses the same way — traditionally. That’s not to say traditional marketing is dead, though according to Joseph Jaffe, author of “Life After the 30-Second Spot” and “Join the Conversation,” marketers must adapt to the brave new world of the Internet, social media and social networking, consumer-generated content, blogs, videocasts and podcasts by joining in the meaningful conversations that are happening online.

The point is that you can no longer rely on traditional media alone to tell your story. Marketing has to be truly integrated. And quite frankly, marketing has changed. People no longer want to be sold to by companies; they want to be connected and compelled to buy in a more personal and meaningful way.

In “Join the Conversation,” Jaffe writes that today’s consumers are active participants in the advertising process. They are no longer simply silent targets and sitting ducks for one-way communication.

The advertising industry is changing rapidly, yet so many companies seem to have their heads in the sand — especially when it comes to incorporating social media into their marketing mix. They seem to think that if they stick their head in the sand, no one will notice them.

Well, my philosophy is that if you stick your head in the sand, everyone will notice you because you’re sharing your most undesirable end.

Not sure if your customers are really online? Let me share a few statistics with you. (more…)

Friday, December 04, 2009

Strategy often overlooked in social media

Set your goals from the start to avoid having to clean up a mess

Sacramento Business Journal – by Debi Hammond, Contributing writer, Marketing

Social media, the marketing buzz phrase of 2009, finally is being embraced by small and large companies alike. But for some companies, their late entry into the social media space has left them trying to clean up messes created by their “wait and see” mentality.

What they didn’t realize is that while they were “waiting to see” what this social media “thing” was all about, their brands were being altered, and in some cases, stolen, online.

We have spent the past few months flying all across the country taking clients through an in-depth social media training that is focused, not on the tools, but rather on the strategy behind the utilization of those tools. The difference between strategy and usage is extremely important.

Companies spend a fortune in both time and money hiring advertising and public relations professionals to manage their brands, yet when it comes to social media, they tend to pass those responsibilities on to the first intern or GenY employee who has a MySpace or Facebook account — thinking that the ability to use social media tools is the same as the ability to use them strategically.

Stay in control

So, what can really go wrong in the social media space by having just anyone manage it for you? A lot. Here are just two examples.

First, and probably most important, someone else will own your profile names. This means, for example, that your official business name on Face­book or Twitter could be tied to an intern’s e-mail address and when that intern is gone, so is your ability to manage (or own) that account, or the name on it. A huge loss for your business and your brand.

Second, you can lose control of your brand message. Every tweet, post and comment counts when it comes to your brand. What is really being said about, and by, your brand online? Something as important as your brand should be managed by those who truly understand it.

How can you avoid having to clean up a social media mess? Review these guidelines before ever starting a social media campaign.

Create a strategic plan

When you launch a new advertising campaign, you have a well thought-out strategic plan. When you launch a PR program, you develop a strategic plan. Yet, somehow, when companies launch a social media program, they do it without a plan. You know the old saying: “Fail to plan and you plan to fail.”

Develop guidelines

A lot of large companies are grappling with the fact that their own employees are talking about, representing and in some cases “owning” the company’s brand online. They’ve created fan pages and blogs dedicated to the company. They tweet on behalf of themselves and the company, using logos, branding elements and messaging that is often out of context and off message.

It’s not that they are doing anything wrong intentionally. In fact, if anything, you want to encourage their enthusiasm.

So how is it that the company can lose control online, even to its best brand fanatics? It’s because the company did not provide the guidelines needed to harness the enthusiasm from the beginning.

A simple set of social media guidelines can go a long way in unifying your brand online and/or saving you the time and heartache of trying to reel in and rebrand what 10 or 10,000 employees already have created online.

Hire or assign a strategist

Once again, almost anyone can use social media tools or teach you how to create a Twitter account. However, what’s important is that they understand how to use a Twitter account (or any other social media tool) strategically for the benefit of your brand and business. It’s imperative that the person who manages your social media program understands the traditional principles of marketing while fully embracing the untraditional principles of the Web.

Hire a social media strategist and watch your brand grow online.

Provide human capital, resources

Most people think social media is free, when, in fact, it’s quite expensive when done right. Yes, the tools are free, but what you need to implement a successful social media campaign is a team with time, resources and a strategic approach. It takes time, dedication and resources to create rich content, engage in meaningful conversation and monitor your brand online.

Without a social media team, you’re without the resources necessary to do it right.

Put social media in its place

Many elements fall under the marketing umbrella including advertising, public relations and creative development. Yet, somehow, social media is often considered an add-on — a free marketing element that doesn’t deserve the same time, planning and strategy as the other disciplines. Well, social media is an integrated discipline and needs to be elevated and positioned equally to all other disciplines under the marketing umbrella in order to use it successfully.

So, whether you’ve already implemented a social media program or plan to in the near future, be sure to follow the guidelines outlined above so that the buzz you create online supports your brand and your business.

Debi Hammond is president and chief executive officer of Sacramento-based Merlot Marketing Inc. Reach her at debi@merlotmarketing.com . Click here for original article.

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Change is inevitable; success comes from harnessing its power

Sacramento Business Journal - by Debi Hammond Contributing writer

Are you in the zone? People love the zone — the end zone, the “I’m totally focused” zone and their comfort zone.

Let’s take a closer look at that last zone. The comfort zone is extremely easy to fall into, but one of the most difficult to get out of.

The comfort zone keeps us doing what is comfortable and familiar. It also keeps us from changing and trying something new. It keeps us in the same place, avoiding the ever-frightening unknown.

Well, in today’s business and marketing landscape, a lot is changing, which means there are a lot of unknowns. We need to step outside of our comfort zone and start to embrace change.

Keeping up with change

So, what’s really changing and why should we care? Here’s a list of five significant changes and tips on how you can capitalize on them.

(more…)

Employers experience much trepidation when it comes to social media, so they ban and block it from their employees. On the other hand, employees are simply better versed and more comfortable in the ‘Twitterverse,’ so they sometimes tweet and blog their way into trouble. So, what are employees and employers to do? Read on to find out. Here is a link to a great article featured this weekend in the Sacramento Bee.

What’s your favorite advertising campaign of all time? Go ahead, take a moment and I’m sure you’ll come up with something.Now, name one of your favorite public relations campaigns.

Somehow, I bet the first question was easily answered, while the second one really made you think; hard. Did you come up with an answer? My guess is that most of you could not. And it’s not your fault. Advertising simply gets more attention than PR because it’s blatant. It’s funny. It’s clever, It’s in your face.

But ‘behind the scenes,’ there are powerful public relations campaigns that are garnering companies phenomenal brand recognition, awareness, traffic to their websites and most importantly, sales. Almost every business-owner and marketing professional I speak with shares his or her frustration about having to cut their incredibly creative and effective advertising campaign. However, far too often, they never mention anything about PR because they are simply not using it, or certainly not using it to its fullest potential.

So just how powerful is PR? Have you ever heard of The Body Shop, Palm or Google? These brands were built with public relations. It’s been only in the past few years that they have implemented aggressive advertising campaigns to maintain the strong brands they built with PR.

Advertising is finite. You get exactly what you pay for, no more, no less. So this means to really reach your audience, you’re going to need a fairly sizeable budget: something most companies simply do not have right now.

So for those of you with a shrinking marketing budget and a growing need for awareness and sales, my recommendation is to take a close look at the power of PR.

I often tell our clients that public relations is the most underutilized tool in marketing today. A research study by Erdos & Morgan for the American Advertising Federation found that among 1,800 corporate executives surveyed, PR was ranked third in order of importance behind product development and strategic planning — and advertising came in sixth. This is not to say that advertising isn’t important, because it is: it’s simply to illustrate the power of PR.

So, how can you tap into the power of PR? 

First, get to know your local media. Nothing annoys an editor or reporter more than someone who pitches her a story that has nothing to do with her beat. You need to not only have a good understanding of who and what you’re pitching, but clear objectives as to why that editor’s or reporter’s audience would (and should) be interested in you or your story. If you can’t answer that question with a confident and compelling response, it’s time to go back to the drawing board before making the pitch.

The easiest way to get to know the local media is to partake. Read the local paper (if it’s still around), community papers, magazines, newsletters and blogs. Watch the local news and listen to your local radio stations. Find out who is writing or covering stories in your industry and then read them. Get to know what that editor or reporter enjoys writing about and then send a story idea to her.

When you’re reading an article and you say to yourself, “That should be me,” stop wishing and get to pitching. Email the editor explaining why your story is perfect for her column and readers.

Second, just because you think your story is “news” doesn’t mean it is “newsworthy.”

To make your story newsworthy, tap into the news. Here a few tips to help you craft your story:

Holidays: If your company makes a great gadget, pitch it as this year’s hottest holiday gift. If your retail store happens to carry the latest holiday gift or gadget, offer yourself and your store to the media as a resource. If you run a restaurant, why not share a few holiday-themed drink recipes and a quick and easy entertaining guide online? There are literally dozens of ways to tap into the holidays, so get creative.

Articles: If you’re an expert in your field, offer to write an article pertaining to your profession. Whether your articles get published weekly, monthly or only once a year, the return on investment is invaluable. People want to buy from, and do business with, the best in the field, and this is one way to position yourself as just that.

Pop Culture: Celebrity news, cell phones, reality shows, Crocs, Twitter, anything “i”: iPods, iPhone, iTunes and even “IMs.” If you have a product or service that taps into anything related to pop culture, it can be newsworthy.

World’s First: Whether you have a product, service, book or technology that is the world’s first (or simply the first locally), tout what others can’t. Consumers and the media love “firsts,” new, exclusive, patented, etc., so tap into it.

Surveys: There are always surveys and “top 10″ lists available to the media, but they’re usually not conducted locally. Local is what matters, so do a survey that is of interest to your community. Make it general enough for broad appeal, but specific enough to “hint” at your subject matter. This is a great way to not only gain publicity, but also become a resource for the local media.

Associations: How do some people always seem to get invited to the best events, be featured in local news stories and be chosen to write articles? They join associations, which enable them to broaden their network of friends and professionals. In doing so, it allows them to tell their story to more people, which often has a compounding effect. If you want to get your story out there, you need to start by getting out.

Human Interest: Make it about people. If you make a heart monitor and want it covered in the news, don’t tell the media what it’s made of, how accurate it is and how long it took to get it patented (yawn). Instead, talk about the little girl whom without it might not be with us today, about the grandmother who has enjoyed that past three years with her grandchildren because of this incredible technology or the father who is enjoying playing baseball with his son for the first time in two years. It’s about people. Whether you’re selling a product or service, remember, it is emotion that compels consumers to buy, and it is emotion that the media like to cover.

Blogs, online forums, seasons, how-to’s, public speaking, newsletters … there are literally hundreds of ways to generate press coverage for your company. 

So, while your advertising budget is invariably shrinking, start thinking about how you can begin growing your public relations activities.  Often times it’s more efficient and effective than any other form of marketing communication.  And most importantly, unlike advertising, it’s really infinite.  There’s no telling where one good PR pitch might take you. 

If you want a little attention, run a clever ad campaign. If you want sales and long-term success, tap into the Power of PR. 

Sacramento Professional Performance®  Magazine: Vol 17 No. 2

Printed with permission by Sacramento Performance®  Magazine: http://www.theperformancemagazine.com/ 

Friday, May 29, 2009

With Twitter, you can promote your business and brand in real time

Sacramento Business Journal - by Debi Hammond Contributing writer

Although Twitter might not be the best vehicle for Shakespearean prose, it’s fast becoming a marketing powerhouse.

Twitter is a social networking tool that answers the question “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less.

Originally designed as a personal social networking tool for friends, family and co-workers, marketers and other business professionals recognized its potential and are now seizing it for everything from customer service and brand perception monitoring to promotion of new products and services.

Best of all, it’s all in real time.

Even the president of the United States (@BarackObama) was all a-Twitter during the campaign, as well as national news sources such as CNN (@cnn). Heck, even Oprah Winfrey (@oprah) “tweets.”

So, should you start tweeting? Well, consider these statistics.

According to Compete.com, Twitter had 19.44 million unique visitors in April, up from 1.5 million in April 2008. Nielsen, however, recently reported that more than 60 percent of U.S. Twitter members abandon the site after one month of use.

But don’t let that discourage you. There are still close to 20 million users on Twitter from which you can create your very own following. And, once you do, you can reach them with your message in real time.

Tell customers what you’re up to

So, how are companies using Twitter to promote their businesses? Here are just a few examples:

• Zappos (@zappos): With more than 600,000 followers, Zappos chief executive officer Tony Hsieh understands the power of Twitter. He sells shoes online, and through Twitter, and has become a one-man customer service and marketing machine for the online shoe retailer.

Although some might find Twitter to be a bit impersonal, he uses it at Zappos for building more personal connections with both the company’s employees and customers. And given the fact that the company was featured on Fortune Magazine’s annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list, the guy must be doing something right. He continues to foster brand and employee loyalty one tweet at a time.

• High-end food vendors: I know, as odd as it sounds, mobile food vendors are using Twitter to draw more customers. The drivers tweet via their cell phones to alert customers to their whereabouts and menu options.

That’s true in the case of Kogi BBQ, which is, according to the Associated Press, an almost cultishly popular Korean-Mexican style taco vendor in Los Angeles. According to Jane Goldman, editor-in-chief of CHOW Magazine, “the Kogi folks have shown themselves to be adept at turning those mini-missives into a hugely successful marketing machine.”

• Comcast Cares (@comcastcares): Not known for their customer service acumen, Comcast was able to take a barrage of negative comments and stories in the blogosphere and, via Twitter, turn them into one of the most successful customer service case studies on the Web.

How might you use Twitter to promote your business? Depending on the type of business you’re in, here are a few ways you might capitalize on the craze:

• Restaurants: Tweet about your food and drink specials, events, new menu items, etc. Chefs can tweet about what they’re picking up from the farmers market and the sommelier can tweet about the new Bordeaux she just added to the wine list.

• Retailers: As a retailer, what you want is traffic, and Twitter can help you get it. Tweet about your new arrivals, sales, specials, discounts and exclusive lines.

• Grocers: From fresh strawberries to succulent salmon, tweet about seasonal specials and sales. Given the real-time nature of Twitter, during hot summer months you can tweet about cold concoctions to satisfy one’s thirst. This list could go on and on.

• Theaters/concert venues: Let people know there are still seats available at a discounted price. Tweet about the arrival of a celebrity. With great movies and music, the topics are endless.

• Marketers: Yes, I tweet, along with many of my peers. At our agency, we use it to communicate with editors, writers and reporters, as well as colleagues, clients and other followers.

To borrow a line from Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage. …” Isn’t it time you started tweeting from it?

So grab a twitter handle (that’s the name you’ll go by following the @ symbol) and get to tweeting. Feel free to follow me at @DebiHammond or twitter.com/DebiHammond.

Debi Hammond is president and chief executive officer of Sacramento-based Merlot Marketing Inc. Reach her at debi@merlotmarketing.com.
 
All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

But within every challenge lies opportunity. As a small-business owner, here’s yours: Given the current state of the economy, many businesses’ sales are down. In some cases, way down. When sales are down, the first thing most companies do is cut their marketing budgets. Yet many studies show this to be counterintuitive. In fact, here are just a few of studies that show “making noise” during a recession can really payoff:

• McGraw-Hill Research analyzed 600 companies from 1980-1985. The results showed that business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher sales growth — both during the recession and for the following three years — than those that eliminated or decreased advertising.

By 1985, sales by companies that were aggressive recession advertisers had risen 256 percent over those that didn’t keep up their advertising. For the rest of the article visit Sacramento Business Journal.

Do you blog? Tweet? Write on “walls?” Are you “linked in,” so to speak? Web 2.0 (or the wild wild Web as I like to call it) is not only here, it’s here to stay. And what about social media?  Well, it isn’t so ’social’ anymore. It’s business. Big business. 

For the rest of the article check out the San Francisco Business Times or the Sacramento Business Journal. Enjoy!