Social Media, A Must?

With its reach and potential for customers businesses are relying more and more on Social Media to reach their audience and share their brand, but is it a necessity and if so who is doing it well?

Starbucks

This Seattle based company was first established in 1971 and has since grown to almost 18,000 in over 60 countries, according to Starbucks.com.  So why would a successful company that's been doing something right for over 40 years decide to use Social Media?  

Brand Awareness

We could say that everyone knows of Starbucks, so what's the big appeal, why is it better than Dunkin' Donuts or McDonald's even?  Well my friends, perception is reality, just take a look at Starbuck's Facebook or Twitter Accounts and you'll see the same thing, their brand.  On the one hand you see a slew of photos involving Starbucks products, coffee beans, that damned logo that makes you think that iced coffee sounds good, on the other hand you'll see people enjoying their coffee in a variety of settings with a variety of products.  This shows us a few things, firstly that Starbucks must taste fantastic, for so many people are drinking it.  Secondly we see that there are more than a few options for us to drink, so we're bound to find something we like, even if we have to come back a few times.  Third we see that its obviously the "in" thing to do. 

Know your REAL FRIENDS

 Sure they might "like" a status we put up, or perhaps put a picture up of us with their product, and that's cool and all, but we need to know our real friends.  Starbucks is a company that chooses to utilize Facebook and Twitter as means for Free Advertising to reach their audience.  The companies utilization of Social Media to create a following and continue to grow their brand and Brand Awareness is simply amazing.

T-Mobile

Based Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, T-Mobile, and its subsidiaries, have approximately 150 Million subscribers, putting it in the top 20 mobile phone service providers.

Brand Awareness

Looking at T-Mobile's Facebook and Twitter Accounts we see the tried and true method that Starbucks is using with their Social Media Marketing plan, which leads us to think that perhaps there is a formula to making this all work.  One difference that must be noted between the two is that whereas Starbucks is oh so yummy, as the photos would have us believe, it is technically NOT an interactive product.  That being said, opposed to saying how we best like our coffee and how we wish Pumpkin Spice coffee was sold all year round, there is little room to really voice the negative with Starbucks.  With T-Mobile, being that it IS an interactive product, we have a bit more room to express our distaste for their Marketing Plans as well as more opinions on which product we prefer, or why we hate this phone and whose product were Fanboys of.  Another interesting approach that T-Mobile has is that they choose to utilize their Social Media outlooks for building more of a rapport for what you can do with your technology, and how this cool new feature can aid you in your everyday life.

Know your REAL FRIENDS

IS T-Mobile one of your REAL FRIENDS?  They'd like to be, and given the chance you just might make one or two with the salespeople, especially if your a bit of a techno buff, and if not hey, you can still talk with them over some coffee.

If You Can't Measure It. . . . . . 

Well you probably just need a longer tape measure!  So above we have these accounts, bits of information on companies that mean virtually nothing to us, how do we judge effectiveness of these accounts?  Is it through likes?  Or is it results?  Do we gauge our revenue on this, better yet how is our revenue derived from Social Media Marketing determined?  Truth be told there is no real way to determine how much of your business is garnered from Social Media Marketing, not exactly, however when used it acts as a catalyst, and with a few different tools we can determine how many we are reaching, and through encouraging and nurturing our relationship with our audience we can grow our business and determine a portion of our business that comes from Social Media Marketing.

 The Metrics System

Wait, inches, meters and miles?  No not that the Metric system.  We need to take a step back and think of our own brand, how this all applies to our own Social Media Marketing plans, and how we can further our own ambitions, as well as monitor the affects of our marketing plans.  That being said I never ask someone to do something that I myself wouldn't do first. 

A Big Waste of Time?!?!?!?

Tweeting your Social Media

In the wake of Social Media Empire's fickle following now companies are utilizing Social Media in new ways to reach out to their potential clients and hopefully tap into new clientele and achieve more business.  One such case is Social Media Savvy companies reaching out to High School Seniors to get at some of the $1,139 average that is spent per family on prom per yer.  Per family per year.  Think about that a minute....  thought about it?  Good.

So say we have 200 people in a graduating class, and 80% of that number go to Prom, for our sake we will exclude the possibility of people who are not part of this schools graduating class from our numbers.  So we are looking at about 160 students attending Prom out of 200.  So these 160 people will spend an average of $1139 per person.  What does that mean?  Well in layman's terms it accounts for about $182,240 spent on one night.  This money is of course divided up amongst all expenses, so we have Prom Tickets, Dinner, Limos, Flowers/Courasages, Tuxes, Dresses, Hotels etc etc etc.  But the kicker really is that that is just one school, one Prom, and one Graduating class, yet we see over $180,000 of potential income.

Now let's consider that according to Better High Schools Org in 2004 there were 18435 high schools averaging about 768 students.  Supposing that 25% of those students are Seniors we are talking about an average of 192 Seniors per High School.  If we stick with around 20% not attending we have about 153.6 Seniors who will go to Prom.  That's about 2,831,616 Seniors going to Prom, not to mention if they bring any outside guests or go to multiple Proms, this also excludes any underclass-men proms, such as Junior Proms.  No the kicker, this equates to about $3,225,210,624 of potential revenue for businesses associated with Proms.  Pretty crazy right?  Just wait until you read the article at goo.gl/BCgd0.

Weapons of Mass Distraction

Social media is such a focus in our everday lives that we sometimes mistake everything that we read for truth, without checking the facts.  Recently there have been breaches in secuirity for Social Media accounts belonging to various Firms and Organizations, such as the debacle that the Associated Press dealt with last week when their account was hacked and the results of the fraudulent posts caused panic and stock market prices to drop.  As a result the Commodities Future Trading Commission is looking into imposing regulations and rules, and holding companies and firms responsible for their Social Media output, especially in the event of their security not preventing a breach, as stated in the following link goo.gl/3aH5W,  proving that Social Media can be used to the end users goal, whether that is for good or malevolent purposes.

Tweet Twit!

 

Social Media is unavoidable if you are looking to work in or create a business.  Effective use of it is crucial to the success and reputation of a business.  It is the first line of defense, a way to connect and a way to promote and brand your product, but we have said all this, now it is time that we practice it a little.

I have made a twitter account for a Photography Business that I am looking into getting up and running in the Cleveland Area.  It can be found at goo.gl/Jn0u2.  The page is basic right now, containing the name of the business and the Facebook page link, again it is important to use multiple channels to communicate and brand your business, as well as optimize your exposure to potential clientele.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

One organization that utilizes Social Media effectively is the Duck Tape Company, goo.gl/pPuli.  They create interaction with their potential clientele by alerting them to joint ventures, contests, specials and even just random surveys about your favorite Duck Tape.  This kind of attentiveness is great for the short attention span of today's Social Media users.  Along with the various aspects of their marketing plan, such as scholarships for those who make their prom outfits out of Duck Tape, their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

With that I am signing off for this post, tune in next week were we will further discuss Social Media Networking and Social Media Marketing, as well as take a more thorough look at Marketing plans that utilize Social Media and how to grow your business through Social Media.

 

 

Marketing

Marketing is a beautiful thing and can be a power tool to get your brand out there, but it can also be treacherous waters and it is best to proceed with caution.  It is said that one who does not heed history is doomed to repeat it, and it is with that mindset that we will proceed.

The video above illustrates some of the marketing mistakes that can be made when a proper research and development is not put into a marketing strategy.  Many of the fails above were brought on by a companies shortcomings, whether this is shortcomings in design (Ford, Honda), misunderstanding customer need/want for their product (Coke), bad research (Ayds, Snickers), giving a bad perception to your business (Skittles, Burger King) or just plain alienating your core business (Netflix).  All these companies have lessons that are to be heeded because they can be applied to any marketing plan.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

~ Thomas Alva Edison

Failure is the Key

Failure is the key to success.  We do not need to fail to succeed, however we do need to heed failures, be aware of how we can fail and learn from them to succeed.  These failures do not need to be our own failures, we can learn from others, the important thing is that we learn of the failures.

Marketing Success

Failure is the key, but Success is our goal.  To become successful we must understand failure, but we also need to understand what successful companies are doing to gather their business.

Adobe Marketing Cloud

Adobe has a great marketing plan for their Adobe Marketing Cloud.  They have a series of videos which throw in a slew of technical Jargon, but does not isolate their clientele that they are trying to attract.  They make their videos memorable by adding humor, while at the same time cutting the through different levels of terms in Marketing, starting with some of the more advanced jargon and going to the more basic keywords that everyone is familiar with by the end.  The high production quality, humor and simple and message that they offer a service that has no "BS"  is effective, I know that they offer the service for my website.  The one thing that they do not really convey to me is how they are better than some of the other competitors out there, as a consumer I want to be educated, I want to know what I am buying and why I am buying it.  I want to know the technical stuff, the jargon.  I don't want to walk into a room, or talk to someone and not know what I am getting, and I don't think Adobe does a good job of relaying whether they offer some of that with their service, the simplicity and explanations, or if that is a pursuit that their clientele has to pursue on their own.

Southwest Storage Solutions

 

This video is a little bit longer, and a bit ridiculous, but it illustrates a point for a very specific market.  In need of a more efficient way to utilize the storage space in your warehouse?  The product that is being sold, which yes it is a real product, is one that can aid business that are looking to become more organized and have limited space.

Creative Marketing (GenArts Motion Graphics & Design Reel)

Humor works wonderfully, and it is a great method to attract your audience, but it is not the only method which can be used.  A creative and styled approach can be a wonderful way to entice your audience and grab attention, and when coupled with humor you can wind up with a very powerful, memorable and effective marketing tool.  This video shows a couple different styled approaches that have been used by different companies.  What's different about these videos?  The visual component.  The previous videos had a large focus on an audio component, it wasn't just what was being seen, but what was being said that made the product or brand stand out, with this last video we are deprived of that stimulation, and our focus is left to that of our eyes to interpret the message.  What do we see in this video?  How does it call the product to us?  How is the brand promoted?  The way in which this is successful marketing is that it is styled, it is intriguing because of the way in which the idea is extraordinary and different from the common.  

What is the Message?

What is your message and how will you convey it?  Ultimately your medium is your message, all aspects of that medium.  A successful message will utilize that medium to the fullest extent, pushing the boundaries of every aspect of it.  In the case of videos, such as the examples previously shown, these need to be both visually stimulating, as well as mentally stimulating.  Essentially fun or interesting to watch and listen to, while still conveying the message in a straightforward way that creates awareness about your brand.

 

Social Media & Its Use for Marketing

With all the different Social Media websites out there it is easy to feel overwhelmed with what to use, or trying to use a mix of all that's available.  When in doubt a small survey to family and friends to find out who has accounts with what can assist you in making a good selection of what sites to use, but you may also want to consider any features that Social Media sites may have to aid you in your Social Media Marketing Campaign.  When you have decided on what to use you then need to figure out what your campaign will be, and how you will roll it out.  For our purposes we will look at 3 Organizations pages that are using Facebook for their Social Media Marketing.

Facebook Pages For Social Media Marketing

The following pages are a few examples of Facebook Marketing pages by Organizations.  I've listed these in order of what I perceive to be their effectiveness, both by design and activity.  The first listing will be the most effective, the second the next most effective, etc., etc., etc.  

1. Lorain County Community College - The Facebook Page for Lorain County Community College.  This page is well maintained and includes lots of photos of different happenings and going ons around their campus.
    
2.  FreshHops - A facebook page for FreshHops.com, a Hops website that sells Hops Rhizomes, Merchandise and Homebrewing gear.  Most of the activity on this page is seasonal and happens more in the Hops Growing Season, opposed to the off season.
   
3. Flight Of Dragons Live Action Movie - Normally I wouldn't really consider this, however I'm intrigued by the cause and the involvement of different parties.  This is a Social Media Campaign that has a short lifespan that will probably only last a year or two at most, if the studios do not shut it down.  Aside from the short span of the project, it is almost solely going to be based on awareness and donation, most of which I imagine will be garnered from social media.  I know that this campaign is going back and fourth with Copyright fights with the Studio, and if it is truly a labor of love I wish them luck, however I do believe that this could probably be managed better than what it has thus far.  There appears to be less news and awareness on this page with what is going on with the project than we would expect, but with their website being recently redone only time will tell if they manage their page better going forward.

Google + Vs. FaceBook

The gloves are off and we are in a judging mood.  So which ones the best?  Well lets take a look at our competitors.

In  the Blue Shorts we have our Reigning Champion....

Facebook:  The social Media Giant that toppled MySpace, to a near death fall from grace.  One of the most popular services that is offered, Facebook offers a free service that many have flocked to as a way to connect, express and communicate.  Facebook offers its users Games to play, photo and video sharing and check in services that allow people to stay in the "know."  With this type of allure its not wonder Facebook has the usage and popularity it has.  Facebook also allows pages that can be created for Organizations, People and Businesses.  One can then "Like" this page and view the content on this page, which when managed properly may contain photos, information and other various media potentially including a web address for their official website. 

And in the Red Shorts we have our new comer.....

Google +:  Google, we all use it to some degree, and Gmail is probably one of the most popular services that is available.  To top that, with the introduction of Android and its popularity, Google just appears to be more and more integrated in our lifestyle, but has Google joined the Social Media game too late?  With the introduction of Google+ Google is looking at the very least to join the Social Media Game, if not head it.  One nice feature about Google+ is that even though it is another Social Media site it is one that incorporates all of their free service offerings, including their web blog and their e-mail.   Aside from these free services, Google+ also offers Google+ Pages, which works in a similar fashion to Facebook Pages, allowing entities to create pages.  

With similar features it really does beg the question as to which one is better?  I'd like to say time will tell, but I rather think that we may be at somewhat of a stand still.  With Facebook slaying Myspace, many are tired of the jumping game, from one Social Media Network to another, and many new users are almost more likely to join Google+ over Facebook because of its centrality with its email and Android account services.  Yet we still see a draw to Facebook with the Draw of its Active users.  Sadly Time will tell who is the better overall, at the moment a safe bet is the use of both.

Effective Marketing Tools

Effective marketing tools is something of a quandary.  It can be as elusive as the white whale or as prominent as a mountain range.  An important step to using effective marketing tools, opposed to marketing tools in general, is knowing your clientele, brand and product.  When you have decided on your product there are a couple of things that you must first do to determine if it is a good idea to go to the next step with it.

 Market Research  

 

You wouldn't want to advertise for Jet Ski's in a desert area like Nevada, unless there was a lake or body of water nearby where it could be utilized.  It is important to do your market research first, before investing your time and money.  Things to consider with Market Research:

• Is there a need for your product?
• Who are your competitors?
• How do they advertise?
• What is their online presence?
• What is their pricing? 

In looking at these questions they should be relatively simple to answer, but extremely vital to the success of your Marketing plan and potentially your business.  When asking these questions you should not only be answering them, but also asking other questions to get a more precise idea of what exactly your trying to market and to whom your trying to market it to.  Also, your Market Research should be a tool that helps you in determining the following things:

• How will you advertise?
• Traditional Advertising:
• Flyers and Business Cards
• Word Of Mouth
• TV Ads
• Radio Ads
• Newspaper Ads
• Non-Traditional Advertising
• Social Media
• Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
• Blogs
• Website
• Online Advertisement
• Banner Ads, Non-Organic (Paid) Search Results\Listing
  
• How will you price your product?
• Competitor Prices comparison
• Are you going to charge more or less than your competitor?
• Fair Market Value of Product
• What is your product worth?  
• How do your prices compare to the products worth?
• Key Differentiators 
• Why you?  What makes you special?  
• What makes your product better?
  
• What type of engagement will you have for your clientele?
• Will you have instore/inoffice engagement?
• Will you offer any sort of phone support?
• Will you offer any kind of email support?
• Will you have any kind of live chat support?
• Will you utilize social media for support?
• Will you have any sort of blog?

These questions are ways to consider connecting and serving your clientele; before, during and after the sale.  When answered and put into some sort of applicable action to your particular case these questions can assist you in finding additional ways that you may not have considered in better servicing your clientele.  Some companies that have found ways to service their clientele through some of these methods include:

• Joann Fabrics
• A Nice blog that gives creative projects, as well as the products needed to perform these projects.  Also features News and Interviews with various creative individuals as well as contests.
• B & H Photo
• A blog that contains interviews with Photographers as well as information on upcoming products in the photographic world.  This also includes company announcements and tips, all related to the world of photography.
• Cupcakes by Cheryl Porro
• A blog for a Software Engineer/Pastry Chef (Sugar Faery) for hire.  Not only is this Pastry Chef getting a place to share her love of passion for cupcakes, she is getting a place to share her experiences and knowledge.  Her willingness to share the information makes it intriguing, as she is not selling the cupcake any more, but her skill to make it, at least better than those of us who would attempt and fail.

These blogs are successful and yet very different in what they are marketing.  I believe that what makes these blogs successful is their level of involvement with their audiences.  

These blogs have a very "Can Do" attitude that quite frankly is a little infectious.  Yet at the same time these blogs are all selling something, a product, a service or a brand.  They are making themselves a "One-Stop-Shop" for their product.  With Joann's its the knowledge base and the collection of products they carry to perform their projects, B & H is their amazing selection of Photographic Equipment that I dare say is rivaled by none and Ms. Porro is marketing her ability to make seemingly delicious pastries with skill.

Follow you into the dark

If your still looking for a way to "find your way" through the darkness to create an effective Marketing Campaign I would suggest heading on over to Social Media Examiner and checking out Micheal Stelzner's blog.  His blogs give you previews, giving a general message, as well as a podcast, and allow you to sort through and then choose to engage more by either reading the full blog, or listening to his podcast.  Two big take away's that Stelzner provides is growing your e-mail lists from social media and the use of videos to promote an event.

Closing Thoughts

In Addition to Mr. Stelzner's blog, I would also like to call attention to Justin Yoder's blog, particularly his effective guidelines post from February 11, 2013.  In this blog Mr. Yoder is able effectively lays out a few very simple rules that plainly state what the plan you should follow is, followed by the reasoning behind it.  Another interesting blog to look at is Ian Burleigh's blog.  Though not as polished as the Yoder's, Burleigh's blog does incorporate some nice visual that aid and assist the message, truly transforming the medium to become the message.

Social Media Marketing Policy for Employees

Social Media Policies for Employees

Butterfly Effect - Chaos Theory

The theory that the smallest event, 

such as a flap of a butterflies wings, can cause a major event,

 such as a hurricane on the opposite side of the world.

Often times there is a contradiction between internal information, meant just for employees, and public information.  There are times when employees do not always distinguish between the two, and will share information that isn't necessarily for the general public, or could potentially harm a company's public image.  Often times this comes from no malicious intentions on the employees end, maybe they just say a comment that creates a ripple effect, without ever thinking of what the comment is that they are saying, or the effect it could have.  In this day and age there are few things that we can say that do not come back to haunt us, especially with Social Media and the internet, once it's out there it has potentially "gone viral" as it were.  Below are a few of the does and don'ts that can be applied to most businesses.

Some things that employees should not put on Social Media include:

Any bad experiences with customers or clients

Any personal information about customers or clients

No mention of finances, good or bad, of a business

Any sort of work problem or work related issue

Any information that is not readily and easily available to the general public

Personal Opinions on what they feel their company is doing wrong

Things that employees can mention on their Social Media sites include:

Positive published or announced information, sans negative opinions

Job Openings that have been posted publicly by the company for External Candidates

Events that the company is hosting or partaking in that are open to the General Public

Charities that the company is working with, so long as the campaigns are public

Again, these are just a few items from each side to give an idea of the kinds of things that should, and should not, be put out there by the employees of a company.  Depending on the size and type of company, as well as the marketing plan and transparency with the public there may be additional online behaviors that the company may want to institute to avoid public relations and marketing nightmares.  One of the most important things that can be done by a company in this age is to create awareness with their employees as to what information is being put out there, and the ripple effect that it can cause. 

 The road to hell is paved with good intentions

 

Often times we forget that it is sometimes better to be seen and thought to be stupid then to open our mouths and remove all doubt.  In today's world with the Facebook's, Pinterest's, LinkedIn, Twitter's, MySpace's, etc., etc. etc. it is hard to adhere or even pay notice to this simple philosophy.  This is true in business as well.  There are times when a employee may try to say something with the best intentions, and it can be taken in the wrong way, maybe it was a statement that wasn't fully formulated, saying too much or too little when it would have perhaps been better to say nothing at all.  Another scenario is that it was perhaps an employee commenting on something that was public information, a personal opinion that perhaps conflicted with the direction that the company was going in, or with the information that was presented to the public.  The best policy for any employee is to not post something on Social Media if it contains a personal opinion, good or bad, and not a published, public message from the company, and even then, it is often better to not make any kind of public statement about the matter and leave it to the PR Reps, as they will often have official company backed statements giving the information that the company deems pertinent to release to the public.

Awareness is the best tool that a company can impress upon their employees.  By creating a culture that involves actively engaged and aware employees the company can ensure that information that is put out there is handled in a proper way.  When information is deemed to be shared by a company they need to be clear as to the methods, and channels, that the information is going to be shared as well as the role that the employees will take in sharing this message.  That role needs to include appropriate responses and inappropriate responses to that message that may be carried out by all employees.  When handled in a professional manner that keeps everyone informed a culture that feeds off knowledge is formed which leaves no one to feel left out or slighted and helps to minimize off the cuff comments that lead to ripple effects and butterfly wings.

Social Media Marketing Planning

"Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets planning."
       ~Thomas Alva Edison

It is a daunting thing that we have all faced at one time or another, planning.  Whether it has been planning for an event, time management around a project or assignment or planning for our futures, we have all done it and some of us, myself included in this number, have even procrastinated.  As the saying goes, with age comes wisdom, with failures comes lessons and should we learn from these lessons we can avoid the old adage that history is doomed to repeat itself.  

The Benefits of Planning

Some of the benefits of planning are as follows:

1. Setting Objectives & Goals.
1. Where do you want to be in a year
2. Where do you want to be in five years
   
2. Planning for the unexpected
1. Seasonal business
2. Regression
   
3. Planning on how to grow and market your business
1. Expansion
2. Creating brand awareness
   
4. Knowing who your clientele is
1. Who is your local competition
2. Who is your global competition
   
5. Knowing what your product is, and how it will serve your customers
1. Is there a product your customers would better be served by you selling
   
6. Knowing your competition and how you will compete
1. What is your competitors brand
2. What is great about your competitions product
   
   
   Semester Marketing Plan Format
    
   In the consideration of the Semester Marketing Plan being for an online class, and the formats being requested, that of a word document and a slideshow presentation, I would think that it would be more captivating to create a visual presentation that needed no narrator, no interpreter to  convey any message or information between the audience and the words.  I believe that something could be made, a video perhaps, that could incorporate the same information in a new and interesting way that would both captivate and inform our audience.  It may also be interesting to not only create a social media plan, but perhaps see it implemented in part, maybe this plan could start mid semester, with different goals and portions of the plan being implemented as the semester progresses, leaving the written portion of the plan as an outline and a journal kept of what the success and opportunities of the plan are.
   
   I do believe that using your students for feedback on this assignment is a good idea, and it is one that will allow the semester project to further develop and change as need be.