Is Your Social Media Strategy Like Your Favorite Jeans?

Category Marketing concepts | 7 comments »

A favorite pair of jeans is easy to identify. It’s the pair we frantically dig for Saturday morning and we’ll wear them all weekend, even if they get a ketchup or coffee stain. They’re a must have when we want to relax and watch movies…well, we might also hunt down a bag of Cheetos…oh and possibly a tub of mint chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream…

Where was I? Oh yeah, we love our favorite jeans, but they’ve got holes in them and they don’t exactly show off our best features, if you know what I mean. Interestingly, I’ve found a lot of businesses do the same thing with their Social Media strategy, and this isn’t always a good thing.

(Credit)

Getting Comfortable

When you start using Social Media for your business (PDF), it’s uncomfortable. Things don’t always go where they’re supposed to and the entire thing feels strange. But, after you’ve used it for awhile, you start to get comfortable and things just seem to work. It feels natural.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this (that awkward tweeting, blog commenting, and updating can’t exactly give your business a professional mage), but don’t get stuck in the rut either. I’m a firm believer in the concept that if you’re bored with it, your client base likely is too. Don’t be afraid to do things a little differently and let loose once in awhile (within reason, of course!).

(Credit)

Not Testing and Tracking Different Options

Chances are, you and your best friend aren’t going to like the same jeans, so don’t be afraid to try a few different pairs, colors, or styles. The same can be said for Social Media concepts. Here’s what I mean:

It’s not hard to throw some buttons on a blog or website to your social profiles, but there’s a lot more to using Social Media than that. First, the public can be very fickle.

Imagine you have two sites in the same industry, selling the same things, and using similar templates and content. You’ll likely find the two audiences behave in very different ways and have different needs. It could be the feel of the site, how it was shared, who links to it, and an unlimited number of other factors.

The important thing is to take the time to test things thoroughly instead of relying on ‘well, so-and-so said it worked on his site’. Also, don’t change lots of things at once. Change one or two things and let it go for a good length of time, otherwise you’ll notice an improvement or loss and not know what caused it! Lastly, without a basic understanding of testing, you’ll find yourself unable to truly benefit from the information you’ve collected.

Oh… please, please, please, for the love of the Internet gods, PLEASE:

• use a decent analytics program
  
• keep track of what you’ve tested, when, and the results of each. When something goes wrong, you’ll figure out why.
  

(Credit)

Focusing On One For Far Too Long

Most people figure out how to add social features to their website or send out links to whatever it is they’re selling. They’ll even build up a pretty good following on Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and other sites.

And just like their wardrobe, most businesses find themselves favoring one site or format over another. As a result, they end up missing out on other valuable opportunities.

A good number of businesses completely forget to complete the connection. In other words, they never think to move people from one Social Network to another or from their Social Networks to their main site. (Most users don’t just voluntarily seek you out on other sites unless you’ve made a solid personal connection with them.) And let’s face it, this is how you’re going to get the biggest bang for your buck!

Twitter works well for this. When you tweet a link to your latest blog post, for example, people who follow you will move from Twitter to your website because they have something to gain. It’s the promise of something that lures them from one place to the other. So, knowing that, why in the heck do you not do the same elsewhere and for other networks?

Use contests, games, content, and other strategy components to get people to engage and connect with you as much as you can. In most instances, it’s simply a matter of showing the value of connecting with you elsewhere (Mentioning a collection of additional tips and how tos on YouTube to blog subscribers, for example). Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean make things difficult for them! You should incorporate links, buttons, and whatever else works to make the jump from one site to another as easy as possible.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject, don’t always request things from the same network of people. Eventually, they’re going to get tired of doing this, buying that before this sale runs out, or jumping into the next exciting contest. Mix things up and try to find a good balance between the needs of your business and your followers.

Is your Social Media strategy like your favorite pair of jeans? Are you happy with the direction it’s going? Or have you gotten too comfortable with it in its current state?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Promotional Content and Modern Marketing

Category Marketing concepts | Comments Off

Traditional marketing techniques are all about the push and the hard sell. And to be completely honest, these tactics are ‘traditional’ because they worked and worked well, but they don’t necessarily work well now. This doesn’t mean you can’t sell directly to a certain demographic. It simply means people no longer want, nor will they tolerate having products and services shoved down their throat. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is a change in consumer thinking and spending habits.

Consumers have almost gone backward in time with their spending. They no longer just want to buy a product. For them, it’s almost like buying into a company. They want to buy from a company they can trust and rely on to be there, and I’m afraid using the same tactics as your local used car salesman doesn’t conjure up images of trust or reliability.

(credit)

Advertising Isn’t About You, It’s About Them

I figured if anything could be considered the ‘best advertising;, it should be Super Bowl ads. With a single 30 second ad expected to cost more than $2.5 million this year, they would have to know what they’re doing, right?

That’s when I came across a recent study by Dr. Rama Yelkur and Dr Chuck Tomkovick of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Report Available By Request).

After studying 462 Super Bowl ads from as early as 2000, the professors found the amount of focus on the products during an advertisement could actually harm the success of the ad. According to their study, the best ads were full of creativity and held some entertainment value with a minimal amount of information about the product. Interesting thought, don’t you think?

(Credit)

Marketing in the Social Sphere

Social Media Marketing is all about engagement, blah, blah, blah. Let’s face it, Pepsi dropped its Super Bowl Ads and moved to the social sphere because it figured out the connection it makes with its ideal customer is better on the various Social Networks than on television during the Super Bowl. And when you consider Social Media Sites are experiencing continual growth while users are increasing the amount of time they spend there, this makes sense. But it isn’t just about where you are these days; it’s how you present yourself that’s making the difference.

(Before we go any further, I’d like to say that I’m a firm believer in the idea that SM is NOT for everyone. A recent study by Cone Research revealed that an estimated 41% of Americans don’t use websites, blogs, social networks, and other New Media. An additional 8% only use New Media once a year! So, if your ideal clients are in this 49%, chances are your money would best be spent elsewhere, but that’s another post.)

What Pepsi has done is take its brand out of the untouchable, ‘I’m a massive company you can’t touch’ shell and injected itself into the homes of millions while opening the door to becoming a part of every community in America. What they did is take $20 million of their ad budget, started a website, and asked people to go there to suggest community projects it should invest in. Smart. Freaking brilliant, if you ask me.

Now, they will have numerous non-profits and community organizations singing their praises in addition to the connections they’re making on the various Social Networks. Granted, their brand is plastered absolutely everywhere, but it still takes a back seat to their customers. I think we could all learn from that.

(Credit)

Engagement and Non-Profits

Cone Research found that cause marketing had a profound effect on the results of a company’s marketing campaigns. They learned consumers who supported various cause marketing campaigns were also more likely to interact with brands through various electronic mediums. And while 28% of marketers think green marketing is more effective, only 22% of consumers have supported environmental causes. Hmmmm.

Bottom line, companies need to show they’re interested in more than just making money and selling products, even if they are! Marketing with mutual benefits has much more effect on consumers, and why wouldn’t it? After all, they’re no different than marketers. They only want to do things that have a direct benefit for them, even if it’s the warm-n-fuzzy feelings of giving to someone who needs it more than they do. They want to be entertained and informed.

So, whether you’re writing a guest post to promote a new product or starting an entire new marketing campaign, forget the cheesy selling and put some thought into it. The creativity definitely pays off.

Popularity: 1% [?]

User Name Check – A very cool tool

Category General, Tools and Resources | 5 comments »

I came across a handy little toy the other day that has some interesting applications for those playing in social spaces for fun and profit… It’s called; User Name Check.com

This funky little application searches a TON of the more popular social media, networking, book marking and multi-media websites to see if a given username has been taken. While that is, on the surface, pretty cool… there are a few things your can do with it such as;

Researching company/website names – if you are starting a new company or website, you could definitely use this in co-ordination with domain name research to ensure the best possible choices. If there are SMM elements in your marketing plan, certainly something to look into.

Securing all profiles for SMM campaigns – obviously if you have a new client/business/website and are including elements of a social media marketing campaign, this tool is wicked handy. There are so many listed that it makes securing all the relevant ones a much easier task. It also helps when researching the potential usernames to ensure you get one that is fairly Virgin across the majors.

Researching targets for marketing campaigns – let’s say you’re crafting some link bait and want to target various social media influencers, this tool would be great to stalk them and really understand what types of content might appeal to them. Cyber stalking is made easy with this little bad boy.

Monitor the competition – you can also use it to keep a close eye on the competition by identifying profiles and setting up some monitoring.

This little toy should definitely find its way into your social media marketing toolbox; great for business and stalking too…

(Note; in early testing there were some bugs and false/positives noticed by Andy, so be sure to double check listings while the bugs are being squashed)

Have a great weekend!

Popularity: 51% [?]