Archive for the ‘Social Media Marketing’ Category
As a Social Media expert I am frequently referred to businesses that need my help. I work with large companies, online retailers, and marketing agencies. But I have many clients that fall into the “small but successful”, category, too. And, the majority of these “small but successful” businesses are owned by really smart, really fearless, and really dynamic people.
These really smart, fearless, and dynamic people seem to have one thing in common: They “hate” Social Media!
How do I know they hate Social Media? Because invariably when I first sit down to work with them, they start our conversation in one of these ways:
- “I know we should be “doing” Social Media, but I don’t know why.”
- “I’m really stupid about these things.”
- “I hate Facebook and I hate that my kids spend so much time on it.”
- “My competitors aren’t doing it; why should I?”
- “I am totally confused about Social Media and I don’t like it.”
- “How much does this stuff cost?”
First of all, I want to say that I completely understand why successful business owners in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s would hate Social Media. After all, they built their businesses without Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And, if they use Social Media at all, they may use Facebook as a personal tool for keeping up with those people from high school that they hadn’t planned to keep up with in the first place!
However, the reality is that Social Media is in our world, it affects all aspects of our lives, and it has a huge impact on our businesses. We can’t live without it. But instead of approaching it as a drain on resources (time and money), I encourage clients to look at Social Media as a wonderful opportunity.
The opportunity is this: for the first time, you can have a big impact on how your business appears to the public by using Social Media. When you Google the name of your company you should see 1-3 pages full of links to content that conveys your business’ unique value and expertise. Why?
Because research has shown that Search Engine searches are used more often than any other research tool as the primary source of information gathering in preparation for a purchasing decision. And this is true for B2B as well as for B2C.
Social Media activities increase the links to your business on Search Engines and enable you to control what your prospective clients and customers see. That is particularly important if you depend on word-of-mouth to grow your business.
So, if you don’t like what get when you Google your company’s name, give me a call. I’ll teach you how to love Social Media (or maybe just “Like” it.).
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »
June 15th, 2011
Businesses and brands should love Facebook. Why? Because Facebook enables companies to talk to the people who are actually interested in what they have to say.
The old school of advertising was this: Blast out a message to an audience defined by geography and media consumption habits and pray you reach the right people at the right time and enough times, enough times that they consider a purchase in your category.
But with Facebook, it’s not simply age, geography and media consumption habits that define an audience; it is interests that define an audience.
On Facebook, when members complete their profile info, they enter their likes and interests such as:
• Activities
• Music
• Books
• Movies
• TV Shows
And, members add brands to their profile, too, when they “Like” Facebook ads that appear on their page or through updates shared by their friends,
So, for brands, on Facebook it’s as easy as pie to find the people who would be most interested in your message and reach them through Facebook Ads. And even for smaller businesses, with Facebook Ads, the playing field can be leveled.
For example:
• If you sell pizza, you can reach people who “Like” Dominos Pizza and Pizza Hut.
• If you sell children’s clothes, you can reach people who “Like” The Children’s Place, Pottery Barn Kids, and Toys R Us.
• If you sell beauty products, you can reach people who “Like” Sephora and Avon.
Your brand becomes part of the community of people who want to see your messages.
What’s even better, you can quickly and inexpensively learn by trial and error what your fans respond to by testing different kinds of updates and keeping detailed records of how many “Likes” and how many comments (and what kinds of comments) your posts receive. And, Facebook is providing more and more robust tracking information to help you analyze the engagement.
So, what do you do with that info? Stay tuned!
Related: Simply Put: Why People Love Facebook
Tags: Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing
Posted in Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment »
August 12th, 2010
How brands and businesses use Social Media has everything to do with how the decision makers use Social Media themselves. People in business who have grown up using Facebook, for example, understand that the Social Media is not just a useful tool, but it’s the way people define themselves in front of their peers. And people want to be associated with Cool, including Cool Brands.
Although Facebook has just reached the 500 million-members marker, it has just begun to define itself in terms of business. So, it’s up to each company and brand to figure out how to use it effectively. When I consult with a client, I often ask them to spend time on these 3 questions:
1. Who is my target market?
2. Where do they hang out on the Web?
3. What would make them want to identify with my brand in front of their audience?
In other words, what can I do to make my brand “Cool”?
Old Spice is the perfect example of how an “uncool” brand found it’s “Cool Factor”. The aging brand has been around since the 1930s, a dinosaur in the men’s grooming and cologne market. But they decided to use Social Media as Generation Y does:both as a conversational tool and as a way to define a new public image. Actor Isaiah Mustafa created a dashing spokesman character-wearing only a towel-who responded to users comments through a series of witty short videos, each taking less than seven minutes to shoot.
The series not only created a bond between users and the brand, but also suggests that the Old Spice customer is similarly funny and cool. On Twitter, Isaiah Mustafa’s Old Spice character is acting just as any young person would: posting random musings rather than Old Spice info: “I can’t stop thinking about axes and mountains and wolves and football. And old steam tractors.” Rather than set up a conversation between the customer and the brand, the Social Media team at Old Spice mimicked the Social Media voice of their ideal customer. Check out Old Spice on Facebook to see what they are doing.
If you are in the position to make marketing decisions for a company or brand venturing into Social Media, spend some time identifying your “Cool Factor” before you get started. Even if you don’t have the budget of an Old Spice, taking this one preliminary step with make the rest a lot easier.
Tags: Cool Brands, Facebook, Old Spice, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter
Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | 1 Comment »
August 9th, 2010
