Posts Tagged ‘Social media’

BANG! The generation divide is hitting home. Are you prepared?

By Neville Pokroy

Boomers vs Generation Y—the generational divide is making an impact on business and we all need to start dealing with this reality. Whether they are our customers or clients or vendors or referral sources or employees or partners, the differences in these generations need to be taken into consideration whether we like it or not. Generation Y thinks differently. They communicate differently. They have different values. And they have power.

From a marketing perspective, the way they think and the way they communicate carry the most significant impact. Marketing is all about understanding your customer and creating products and services they need. Understanding how they think is critical to this process of creating relevant products and services.

Once created, you need to tell them about your product or service. So understanding how they receive and send communications is critical at this point. Only then can you create relevant marketing communications that will encourage them to buy.

Remember, you cannot sell something to someone who does not want to buy. What you can do is understand what their needs are and make the products and services that they want to buy available. These are opposing forces, and if you get it wrong, you will likely fail.

As always, understanding the psychology of the buyer is crucial before you can design and develop your marketing material. Many businesses are happy to just deliver marketing material (flyers, websites, brochures, advertising, etc.) with a simple listing of product features in front of the buyer. Most often, that is simply not enough and the money spent on that marketing effort becomes a total waste. Really thinking about and understanding the buyer, and what will motivate them to BUY is crucial to the development of those materials and messages. Without that—well, I hope you have deep pockets! Generation Y will make you pay dearly if you adopt this approach—more likely they will simply ignore you and pass your business by.

Digital communication, including Social Media, is the cornerstone of the new generation’s style of communication. They do almost everything digitally, and in many instances, have almost lost the ability to communicate face to face. I chuckled when my daughter told me a story about her and her friends sitting in a circle at school, communicating with each other via text message—for them, it’s become easier to use their thumbs rather than their tongues.

Whether we like it or not, this is the new world reality. And they are our future customers, clients, employees and bosses. If we don’t buy in to understanding this phenomenon, it may just leave us trailing in the dust.

Neville Pokroy is a principal of Mastermind Solutions Inc. He runs the Marketing practice, which includes strategic marketing planning and execution, and now also includes the Digital Umbrella. Neville has over 25 years experience in corporate marketing and consulting in entrepreneurial businesses across an extensive range of industries. Neville’s special skills include the ability to translate his corporate marketing expertise into a disciplined set of marketing skills ideal for entrepreneurial businesses. If you have any questions feel free to contact neville@mastermindsolutions.ca or 905-886-2235

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz on November 16th, 2011

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Leveraging social media for customer service

By Ashley Jang

Social media is a great tool for engaging with your customers and spreading news about your company. But what happens when customers begin using your social media channels to express their not-so-great experiences with your organization? Here are five tips to ensuring your social media pages allow for a positive customer service experience.

1. Stay on top of all conversations. Conversations about your company and your customer service may be happening without your knowledge. Make sure you are monitoring blogs, tweets and Facebook posts so that you can participate in all conversations and ensure unhappy customers are heard and engaged. There are many social media monitoring programs that you can use to manage your social conversations.

2. Bad customer service can happen outside of business hours. While most businesses work standard business hours, customers don’t always stick to business hours to express their concerns with customer service. Make sure you are taking the time to occasionally check out your social media pages on evenings and weekends to ensure that any urgent issues are acknowledged. The issue doesn’t need to be resolved immediately, but at least the customer knows that you care enough to respond in a timely manner.

3. Try to take the conversation offline. You don’t want to crowd everyone’s newsfeeds and timelines with your customer service issue. Whenever possible, ask the customer to contact you directly so that you can chat with the customer one-on-one and find out the best way to resolve the issue.

4. Online complaints should be handled as a priority. The benefit of using social media is that whatever you write is published immediately for everyone to see. As a result, the expectation is that the customer will receive a response more quickly than they would through traditional customer service avenues. Once a customer service issue is made public, you want to make sure the concern is addressed publicly and resolved as quickly as possible to prevent further escalation.

5. A bad situation can easily be turned into a good one. If you handle the situation in a timely and positive manner, it is likely that the customer will be happy with the outcome. And if you’re lucky, the customer will use social media to talk about the positive customer experience they had with your company.

Ashley Jang currently works as a Social Media Community Specialist for Staples Canada. She has a background in journalism, social media marketing, blogging and strategic communications.

Posted by Ashley in Getting Organized, Marketing, Technology on November 14th, 2011

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PR Tips For Small Businesses

By John Lindo

It’s no secret that small businesses often lack the budget for large-scale marketing campaigns. When trying to get your business off the ground, you need to get your name out there, but running ads and printing brochures can often be very costly. So how can you create a buzz about your business without spending a small fortune?

It’s simple – Public Relations.

Well… it isn’t always that simple. With an over-crowded media stage, making your story stand out can definitely be a challenge.

But I do have some tips for small business owners who want to get noticed by the media.

Find a hook. Unlike marketing, PR isn’t all about you. It’s about telling a story. People don’t read the media to read pages and pages of ads and propaganda. They want to read compelling stories, so be sure to tell yours in an interesting way. How do you make people’s lives easier? What do you do to help your community? What can you teach people?

Target your audience. You can send your press release out to hundreds, even thousands of outlets, but that can be costly and time-consuming—as an entrepreneur, resources are likely already pretty tight. So take the time to research different media outlets and figure out which one best matches your product or service and target them specifically. Be sure to research the proper editorial contact, as well. And finally, tailor your communication to show that you’ve done your homework (i.e. “I noticed your recent story on XYZ. I think I have something you might also be interested in writing about…”).

Follow up. It’s easy to send out a release via email and forget about it. But following up a few days later with a phone call can often be very effective. Ask the reporter if they’ve received your release and let them know that you’re available to answer any questions they may have. This will also help you build relationships with different journalists.

Use social media. There are so many great tools out there to help you connect with potential clients, as well as media sources. Utilize them to build relationships in addition to promoting your business. Just remember, social media is about two-way conversation. Don’t just talk about yourself and your business. Connect with people, listen and offer meaningful content.

These are some simple tips to help you get your voice heard. It may take some time, but when your story makes it into the paper, it will be well worth the effort.

John Lindo is the Founder of Razor Voice Inc., a Public Relations agency based in the GTA. During his first 10 years in the PR industry, John oversaw the communications departments at both Bridgestone Canada and Nissan Canada. www.razorvoice.com

Posted by Ashley in Marketing on October 24th, 2011

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How social media enhances your business

By Soulla Lindo

After recently attending a social media event with like-minded professionals who believe in the value of wide-ranging communication, it’s clear to me that the business benefits of social media are indisputable.

Sure, it’s challenging to measure the precise ROI of all your efforts. You can’t monetize a tweet or a blog comment, but there’s no denying that social media offers affordable and effective ways to connect with your audience, build relationships and create brand awareness. And, as a business, isn’t that what will ultimately increase your sales? (Along with your great product or service, of course!)

The old adage, “if you build it, they will come,” no longer holds true in today’s world, considering the abundance of competition out there. It’s important not only to differentiate your brand, but also to create loyal customers who won’t be distracted by the next big—or shiny—thing.

Social media tools enable you to connect directly with your customers and get a clear understanding of who they are and what they want, which is the key to any company’s success. After all, where would you be without your customers?

Developing a good social media campaign can help you form trusted relationships that will go a long way. Forming connections is important, and listening to what people are saying (both good and bad) while participating in two-way communication is key to forming a bond with your audience that will help you give them what they really want.

Learning to use social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Digg and WordPress properly can open new channels to increasing your visibility and creating brand awareness.

With that said—don’t spread yourself too thin by trying to participate everywhere. Yes, there are lots of social media tools available, but that doesn’t mean that using every one of them will be beneficial to your business.

The first step is to set your goal. What are you hoping to accomplish? Do you want to generate leads? Increase traffic to your website? Engage your customers? Whatever you choose to do, it’s important to build your plan around achieving specific goals. Do your research and figure out which tools will best suit your needs. Then focus on being a dominant force in those areas.

Social networks offer endless opportunities to connect with your target audience and attract new fans. Without a doubt, if you put effort into engaging, interacting with and informing your audience, you’ll add value to their lives and create loyal followers who trust your brand.

Soulla Lindo is a communications manager, small business owner and blogger. She has worked in a variety of internal communications, public relations and website management functions. Soulla is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and holds a Corporate Communications Graduate Certificate from Seneca College. Her favourite office supply is the Post-it note—which she couldn’t live without.

Posted by Ashley in Growing Your Biz, Marketing on July 11th, 2011

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Five conditions for cultivating a successful Facebook strategy: PART ONE

By Darrell Cook

Ok, you own a small business and you’re trying to figure out the best approach for using Facebook to help grow your brand, increase your sales and drive new customers. This can be challenging, as there is little enough time in your day to read a Facebook profile, let alone write and maintain one. Furthermore, your experience in social media is limited. You’ve read a number of articles and looked at a few Facebook pages, but overall, you are in uncharted waters. After reviewing a number of social media case studies for small business owners, I have put together five conditions for cultivating a successful Facebook strategy.

1. In for a penny, in for a pound

Facebook fans expect a lot for their participation. Their attention spans are exceedingly short, especially if your Facebook content is only changed sporadically or you wait too long to update information. For the best results while hosting and managing a Facebook page, get into a weekly (or daily) habit of updating content, changing images, adding incentives and providing good educational and informative content. Fans will see your commitment and give you their “attention monopoly” if you follow this rule.

2. Slow and steady wins the race

Savvy marketers know that promotion depends on multiple reoccurrences for impact. Therefore, when building your Facebook strategy, count on a slow drip of Fan increases rather than a home run promotion that doubles and triples your fan base. With the fragmentation of information out there, Fans are choosy about which Facebook pages they get sticky with. The good news: the difference between Facebook vs. more traditional marketing/promotional channels means that the small business owner needs only invest as little as two hours per week. Over time, your Fans will begin to provide feedback and start communicating directly with you. Although entrepreneurs start off enthusiastically, it’s important to remember that you are building a relationship with your Fans and not building a selling channel. It takes time to build trust.

3. Interact with each fan

Since the Fan base for small business owners is typically smaller than that of large organizations, who can have upwards of tens of thousands of Fans, small business owners can use this opportunity to reach out to their Fans more intimately by building a direct connection to hearing their voices. It’s a good idea to interact with each new fan on an individual basis. The viral effect of this intimacy can become greatly appreciated across unknown groups. The most hidden sub-culture within Facebook is comprised of the local “Mom” groups looking for family-friendly activities, sharing parenting ideas and yes, learning about good products and services from other group members. You never know if you have a Fan that may be part of a larger group that can springboard additional Fan participation and loyalty.

Stay tuned for PART TWO of Five conditions for cultivating a successful Facebook strategy on Monday.

Darrell is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Conversys. His focus is to steward the North American growth for Digital Promotions Marketing. His career spans a wide range of technology and Internet companies throughout North America and the UK. From small start-ups to Fortune 500 firms, Darrell excels at bridging offline business processes with effective online channels. He is currently a Board of Director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Club of Canada (RAC), and former Board of Director of the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on March 16th, 2011

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The Search for Bananas: Building Better Websites, PART TWO (continued from Friday)

By Rick Sloboda

Make it easy for visitors to share what they find on your site.

Godin liked the “send this page to a friend” functionality offered by some websites. By providing a little bit of information, such as name and email address, visitors could email pages to friends.

Since the publication of Godin’s book, the ability to share online information with friends and colleagues has grown exponentially. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter make it easy for visitors to share with their networks. Today, sharing a favourite blog post or YouTube video is as easy as a single click.

This kind of sharing has become an important marketing tool. By starting an online conversation with your customers and their networks, you can develop a stronger web presence and drive more sales.

The Best of Today’s Websites Emphasize Marketing, Not Technology

Websites have grown up, and many have adopted Godin’s ideas and recommendations. Technology has become a means, not an end. Websites are segmented to target different audiences. Sharing has become a critical marketing tactic and tool. So don’t lose too much sleep over that little monkey. He’s often getting his bananas, and some chocolate sauce too.

What do you think? Are websites doing a better job of meeting the needs of visitors? Which websites are setting new standards of excellence and which are stuck back in 2002?

Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Organized, Technology on February 28th, 2011

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Pursuing the right marketing strategy for your business in 2011 requires a strong positioning statement

By Mark Wardell

In 2010, social media was the marketing breakthrough that took the world by storm. Cost effective, accessible, and for some businesses, statistically more effective than traditional advertising, social media marketing has proven to be a trend that isn’t going anywhere.

In fact, some big name companies out there (Pepsi, Ikea) have pulled back on traditional advertising in favour of amping up their presence on Twitter and Facebook. It has been rumoured that Oprah Winfrey employs three full time staff to respond to the Facebook posts she gets on a daily basis.

Indeed, there’s no doubt that 2010 brought us a new pace of communications in the social media realm. Which begs the question, what major marketing trends will 2011 bring, and how can your business make the most of them? My prediction: technology and social media will continue to provide new and valuable platforms for communicating with customers. However, now more than ever, companies will need to understand (and apply) the principles of marketing in order to be effective in the new spaces the future holds.

As a business owner, your principle objective is to find a way to let people know what you are offering and why they should buy from you, in the most engaging and effective way possible. In other words, you need a strong brand. To achieve this, consider the following two questions:

1. Why should people buy from your business, as opposed to any other business that sells similar products or services?

2. What’s so unique about your business?

If you don’t have specific answers to these two fundamental questions, or more importantly, if your customers and prospects don’t have specific answers to these questions, you’ve got a problem. There is a solution, however, and it’s called positioning. If you haven’t done so yet, I highly recommend spending some time defining yours.

Your marketing position is the relative location your business occupies in the mind of your prospects. When your prospective customers think of your business, do they consider you to be…
- the fastest

- the highest quality

- the most convenient

- the least expensive

- the most attentive

- the business with the best selection

Or do they just think of your business as one of many businesses of your type? Just one more place to go when they need your products or services?

An exercise in positioning will help your business stand out. When people think of Federal Express, for example, they don’t just think of a courier, they think of a “guaranteed overnight delivery service.” At its inception, it was a boldly unique position. Sure, Federal Express did a lot of other things well, but they focused their marketing efforts on overnight service. Now, even though other businesses might make the same claim, in the mind of the marketplace, the position truly belongs to Federal Express.
That’s the incredible power of positioning.

Your objective is to come up with a unique strategy that offers something of value to your market. Start by identifying the specific quality that makes you “number one” in the minds of your prospects and customers. This doesn’t mean that you don’t do other things well; this is simply a rallying point. Once you have identified your position, it becomes the marketing focus of your entire business.

Determining your unique position will require some careful consideration, some brainstorming and documentation. But I guarantee this is an invaluable exercise that will be well worth your time. The resulting document will be a guide that will see you through whatever trends arise in the coming year and beyond. By focusing on the quality of your position, customers new and old will keep coming back for more.

Mark is President & Founder of Wardell Professional Development (www.wardell.biz), an advisory group that helps business owners plan and execute the growth of their companies. The author of seven business books, Mark also writes regularly for several national business publications, including Profit Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and CGA Magazine. Email him at mark@wardell.biz

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on January 14th, 2011

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Optimizing Your Press Release: Part I

By Rick Sloboda
Rick Sloboda

Rick Sloboda

A great press release can go along way in terms of gaining virtually free publicity for your business, especially in an increasingly digital media environment.

Learning to combine old tricks and new in your press release composition and distribution can help you leverage the power of both traditional media outlets, such as newspapers and magazines, and newer ones, such as blogs and social media networks, to effectively get your message to your target markets.

What Has Changed?

A press release is defined as ‘a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value’ (Wikipedia).

Traditionally, when public relations and marketing professionals disseminated press releases to news media, that meant sending them to specific news editors and reporters via mail, fax, or email to consider running the story in print, or more recently, online.

However, as our focus increasingly shifts from print to digital, the role of mass media gatekeeper, normally reserved for editors and reporters, has expanded to include bloggers and regular Internet users who like to share stories they deem newsworthy with their friends and followers on social media sites. Public relations professionals must consider the power these new gatekeepers can have in propelling a story or brand message, since social networks can reach a large number of people if the story they post goes ‘viral’, or rapidly spreads across the Internet through endless networks of users.

As the PR landscape changes, certain techniques can help maximize exposure in this new landscape. For example, since online press releases are indexed by search engines, keyword optimization is a smart move. According to Melanie Waldmann, Social Media and Search Marketing Manager at Marketwire, 75% of public relations professionals now use keyword placement in their press releases. Releases can also be formatted with specific social media sites in mind, like Twitter, for instance, where headlines must fit within the 140-character status update limit.

Writing a Press Release – Basic Tips

Though the press release has evolved to adapt to the increasingly digital world, some essential elements remain the same. Following are some basic tips for writing traditional press releases that have stood the test of time:

  • Write your press release like a news story, with all the most important information (who, what, when, where, why) in the beginning (inverted pyramid). The less an editor has to change, the more likely your press release will be printed as is.

Example:

Poll: Internet Users Place More Weight on Web Design

Vancouver, B.C., June 3, 2009 — The demand for good web design is increasing, reveals a recent Webcopyplus online poll. Almost 25% of web users indicated “poor visual presentation” is the number one element that drives them away from websites.

  • Find a unique angle that makes your story newsworthy. For example, tie it to a recent event that made headlines or an upcoming holiday. Or, if your story has an unusual element, highlight it (e.g. ‘first ever,’ or ‘record breaking’).
  • Make your press release short; one page is ideal. News editors don’t have a lot of time to sift through long releases, and studies have shown that the average consumer of Internet content has an online attention span of just a few seconds.
  • Use widely understood terms to reach a wider audience.
  • Specify release date (immediate, or delayed) and ensure the timing is relevant.
  • Keep your release factual and avoid fluffy, sales-type writing.
  • Include quotes from authority figures, including sources within your company.
  • Include a call to action along with all the necessary information needed to act (e.g. enter a contest, visit a website, etc.).
  • Include a boilerplate at the end of the release. A boilerplate includes information about the source of the release that can be reused for subsequent releases. It should include basic company information and where the reader can go for further details on the company.

Example:

About Webcopyplus

Webcopyplus is a Vancouver, Canada-based web copywriting firm that helps designers and businesses increase online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent designers to international service providers, including AT&T, Scotia Bank and 1-800-Got-Junk.

For more information, please contact:

[PR contact information]

Visit tomorrow to read Part 2 of Optimizing Your Press Release.

Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz, Marketing on September 1st, 2010

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7 ways to build your brand with social media and 3 ways to ruin it.

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Social media is becoming a force to be reckoned with in terms of building your company’s brand equity and strength. And according to brand expert  Jennifer Bourn, there are a handful of steps you ought to take to maintain and build your brand’s value:

1. Secure your social media brand: Register your name and business name on a variety of social media sites. Even if you don’t plan on using a site, you might want to consider securing your name anyway for future use. NameChk.com and Knowem.com are two free sites to help you get started.

2. Keep your message focused: “By keeping a consistent message across all social media sites and platforms, you build brand recognition that pays off over time.”

3. Provide value your audience will appreciate: “Providing links to valuable articles and resources, sharing your recent blog post, etc., are all ways to help your audience and share your expertise.”

4. Showcase your personality: “Share posts that give your network a glimpse into your personal life…These posts will provide opportunities for your network to connect with you on a deeper and more meaningful level.”

5. Remember to be social: “Social networks are just that – social networks. If all you do is post information and links [without interacting] with your audience, you are missing the most important part of building a successful social media brand – building strong relationships.”

6. Keep your avatar/profile photo consistent: “Using a photo of your dog or cat is useless to your network and frankly, it makes you seem unprofessional.”

7. Help others: “When you read a good blog post, article, press release or social networking post, tell other people about it and share the link.”

How about damaging your brand using social media?

While social media has the power to help humanize your brand and connect you with your customers, Internet strategist, B.L. Ochman, cautions businesses to use some common sense when they wade into the new medium.

1. If you start a Twitter account or Facebook page, use it: “All it really takes to slow down an issue is a human being responding quickly to say something as simple as ‘Thanks for making us aware of this issue. We are checking it now.’ And then, the company has a reasonable amount of time to say what went wrong.”

2. Track your brand with monitoring tools: “The Internet is 24/7. Brand monitoring has to be constant. Pick [a tool]. Use it.”

3. Don’t keep your social media program a secret: “Corporate silos just don’t work in social media.” Make sure everyone in your company knows about your social media presence.

How have you used social media to enhance your brand? Where do you feel social media falls short?

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz, Marketing on July 20th, 2010

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Tech Tuesdays: 5+ social marketing start-up tips for your small business.

For those who still aren’t sold on the social media phenomenon, these and these numbers ought to get your attention, or at least give you pause:

  • Social media adoption by small businesses doubled in 2009 from 12% to 24%.
  • 59% of small businesses with a social media presence say it has provided value.
  • 49% say their social media presence has produced advocates for their business.
  • 65% say they actively use it for promotion.
  • 1 in 5 small business owners are actively using social media, including blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

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So if you’re considering dipping your toe in the social media sea, here are 5 of 30 musts you might want to keep in mind from inc.com:

1. Pull back the curtain: “Offering a sneak preview of new products, services or features online can help build demand and provide critical feedback to help smooth the launch.”

2. Be candid: “In unsure economic times, transparency goes a long way toward retaining and attracting customers. Giving readers the scoop on your company blog is an easy way to keep the lines of communication open.”

3. Reward customer loyalty: “Sprinkles Cupcakes, in Beverly Hills, California, uses Twitter to send out daily promotional offers. The tweets, which ask customers to whisper a ‘password’ to receive a free treat, have helped the company draw more than 17,000 followers.”

4. See what they’re saying about you: “A quick search for mentions of your company on Facebook, Twitter and Yelp can yield a goldmine of information concerning your reputation.” The owner of one Chicago bookstore focused on improving customer service after reading comments online.

5. Help others promote you: “Social media can help you find passionate customers who are more than willing to spread the word about your company. Crafts supplies manufacturer Fiskars reached out to scrapbookers by inviting four avid users to blog. Its crafts community has since attracted 5,000 users who serve as brand evangelists.

You’ll find some additional small business social media tips here and here.

Have you already gone social? What advice can you offer?

Posted by Lynnette in Technology on July 13th, 2010

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