All Posts, Social Media
When it comes to businesses, social media is a means of brand awareness and advertising. To further permeate areas where people dwell with their ads, coupons, services, and so on. I personally feel some big named brands are a bit late with coming to the party, but many aren’t even entertained by the notion.
Consumers are using the Internet and social media every day. At work, at home, and even on their phones. The traditional means of advertising are now being filtered out, so these new mediums are where to find your audience. Case and point is Webster Bank. A local bank here in Connecticut that’s been in business for over 75 years. I’m not going to get into their banking success or their great reputation with engaging the community too much – I’ll let them continue to do that. However I will comment on their use of social media.
Recently I received an email from Twitter informing me that Webster Bank @WebsterBank was now following me. At first glance I thought it was a fake Twitter handle, or at best a Webster employee looking to find new clients. To my surprise it was actually an official account from the bank. Had a couple hundred tweets. Engaging other users that I knew or were familiar to my Twitter stream, and even had a good bio.
This was ok, but I figured I should kick it up a n0tch and @ reply them. They actually responded, and not computer type of response but like from a real person.
Just about everyone within Connecticut has probably heard of Webster Bank, and though not everyone may bank with them, they’ve seen the branches in their neighborhoods. Now here’s where Webster can start to take advantage of their market where some other banks may not particularly care about social media.
- Feedback: They can better understand customer comments and complaints, that they may normally have never heard within their branches or telephone customer support
- Engage: They can engage both existing clients and potential new ones in a medium that can be familiar and friendly without the need to “sell”
- Awareness: They can continue to build company and product awareness. This could also lead to the perception of having authority on their regional/local market
- Promotions: They can host contests or specials
- Growth: They can further grow their community of loyal customers, and those customers will easily tell their friends about their bank in a way that is free advertising to the bank (word of mouth)
Just to make it clear, I’m not being paid by Webster to write this in any way. Really I’m using them as a live case study to prove a point in how marketing is adapting more from tradition means to social media. There are plenty of businesses big and small that don’t think this is a worthy investment in time and resources. And there are businesses like this one, who are taking the risk, maybe even on a small scale to at least have a social presence to engage an audience where they’re most comfortable and prevalent.
As always I’d like to get your thoughts on this, so please feel free to agree or disagree in the comments below.
All Posts, Social Media
This past Saturday, I attended an all day “unconference” in Westfield, Massachusetts. I really didn’t know what to expect, and as a matter of fact I Google’d previous events to try and get an angle. The true definition: “A PodCamp is a usually free BarCamp-style community UnConference for new media enthusiasts and professionals including bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, social networkers, and anyone curious about new media. The first PodCamp was held September 8-10, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts. PodCamps are now being held worldwide.”
Nothing really prepared me really and all the angst I felt was melted away once I met another attendee. Everyone that was there seemed to be so eager to meet everyone else who was in attendance. Once I checked and got some breakfast I met my friend Chris Adams (@CTChrisAdams) and we started discussing the possible sessions that would be held throughout the day. The sessions are lead by anyone who wants to create a topic of discussion, and anyone in attendance of that session is welcome to weigh in with their thoughts, ideas, and expertise.
I won’t go in about all the different sessions, though there were so many going on each hour it made it hard to decide which to take. There is a Rule of Two Feet is where if you’re in a session that you’re not getting enough from or would rather switch to another; you’re more than welcome to without an remorse. Most of the sessions were along the lines of social media, PR, podcasting, SEO, and the like.
There was a few minutes of time between sessions, and to see how everyone was swapping business cards and Twitter handles in the hallways was a trip. This was also the first networking meeting I’ve been to where people wrote their Twitter handles on their “my name is” chest stickers. I thought that was an evolution in networking. We were all mostly techies too. Regardless of industry or trade, from real estate agents to music producers; the smart phones, iPads, and laptops were in full effect.
The day flew by like an hour of recess, and my head was full of new ideas and new conviction for my business. The new connections I made with people I plan to take full advantage of in the coming days and weeks to continue to build relationships. If there’s one thing I’ve learned with networking meetings is that, just trading business cards isn’t enough. Following up and keeping in the front of someone’s mind is what creates opportunities. As for this Podcamp, I can easily say that it was well worth the time and small monetary investment. I encourage everyone to experience this same atmosphere of business, social media, and networking at least once a year.
I’ve put together a few links below of pictures, videos, and information from Podcamp Western Mass for you to see for yourself.
Official Podcamp Western Mass Website
Video Sample 1
Video Sample 2
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Video Sample 4
Some People I met:
@mmpartee – Podcamp Leader
@TerranB – WordPress Guru
@yougottacall – Connection Engine for consumers and businesses.
@CTchrisadams – Online marketing and social media
@PSanchez – Music Producer
@iAM_Alfonso – Creator/Host of @getBusinews
@writerjax – Publicist and more
@BerkshireBeat – Arts and events coverage
@SteveHaase – Creative marketer
@FemmeFoto – Longtime creative photographer
@katiehoke – SEO extraordinaire
@writeloudly – writer, teacher, child advocate
To find more, check out the official Twitter hashtag: #PCWM
** Update**
Later ths year there will be another Podcamp in Connecticut. Visit these websites to get more details soon:
http://podcampct.org/
Facebook Page
Social Media, Web Design
I have some goals I set out for this year and one of them is meeting new people. Specifically business professionals and entrepreneurs. By now most of them have websites created which is great. If you’re in business you should have a website, period. Well I used to preach that and actually that’s not all of it. Your website needs a few more elements than just content and contact information.
By now you should have already heard the term Web 2.0 already. Basically it means a new way that websites use to communicate and interact with visitors. You’ll see this with short videos, social media, instant chat, blogs and comment options. These are great ways to mine information from your visitors but also create a more personal connection to them while keeping them engaged to stay longer on your website. Obviously the longer they stick around the higher the chance that they will use or purchase your services and products.
Lets start with Social Media. Depending on your business and service, you may want to use a few of the many social media services that are currently popular.
Facebook I would recommend starting with. Setting up a Fan Page isn’t difficult and may take up to an hour to do. Add some pictures and comments and anything else of interest to your page and profile. Once properly setup with all your profile and contact information, you then need to suggest this page to all of your friends on your personal side of Facebook. This is so that whenever you post from your Fan Page, they will see your post and hopefully comment on it – but also their friends will see it and hopefully become fans too.
Twitter is another great service that helps get your business to people who otherwise would never know you. So whenever you have a new blog post, or sale, or promotion, or event, you post that info in a Tweet. Now Twitter isn’t the place for only trying to make a sale, its a place to make new connections with people who are in all types of likes and industries. Most connections are with people you never met before, but engaging in brief conversations develops a relationship going forward which can lead to sales and referrals. Twitter is also a form of Micro-Blogging which then leads into Blogging. If you’re not a writer, you can train to be by using these means.
Blogging. If you’re not doing it yet, you’re missing out on creating wonderful and meaninful content about your industry. I make the analogy with blogs to how having a website years ago was like being ahead of the game; and now having a website is vital. Same thing with a blog. Your posts should be about tips and information about your industry and services. Things that would appeal to people who seek your services and people within your industry. These posts get indexed into search engines and when people are looking for such information your website may pop up. Create valuable content and build your reader base. In turn, they’ll pass along your posts via social media links and draw in more readers who could then be potential clients and customers of your trade. Are you seeing the pattern here?
Call to action. I have said it before in previous posts, but you have to give your readers something for free if you want their contact information. A website that receives 2,000 hits a day but gains no information about the visitors and converts none of them to leads is not a functioning website. Most sites with great call to actions have items like free e-zines, newsletters, image downloads, website analysis, and more. But everything they offer is free. The only string attached is a vistors email address and maybe their name on a simple form.
None of this should be done over night. Proper implementation does take a bit of time. I strongly suggest a web consultant if you’re not versed with the “lingo” to make these adjustments yourself. Or if you are you can always Google you way through it I suppose. Just know that these things are important to your bottom line if you want to see a greater ROI on your website. If you have any ideas to add to this short list please leave a comment below.
All Posts, Social Media
By now you will have heard all the ins and outs about how important social media is to your business. I’m not going to poke a hole in that – at least not in this post. I do agree that is it essential to anyone who has a business of any size. However a growing concern I’m noticing is how to measure its worth in terms of ROI (return on investment.
There are a host of companies and online services out there that will track your ROI. Of course at a premium fee. I haven’t really found any that were free that offered good enough services to mention. I should mention though that any type of marketing should be weighed and measured by the consumer. Regardless of who is performing the service, you should have your own check and balance system in place to gauge against whatever results someone else is providing to you.
So for starters you need to get your web site statistics. This will consist of daily page views, referring links, pages per visit, and unique visits. Most web hosting companies offer this within your online control panel. We use 1and1 for tracking all our client managed domains. If you’d like to see a sample email me and I’ll be glad to send you one. Some hosting companies charge extra for this, and if you’re does you can try a third party application like Google Analytics. I love Google Analytics and I will be doing a write on their FREE analytics application soon. All you have to do is plug in some of your site information and they generate a custom code for you to install on all of your pages. Once installed you can then accurately track all of these metrics and more.
Next thing you need to do is draw up a simple spreadsheet. Use whatever medium you like so long as you can refer to it weekly and continue to add more data to it. You’re going to measure how many tweets, posts, links, blog posts, email, etc you push per day each week for each month. Sort them by your social media apps that you are using. Create a column for responses like post backs, comments, replies, RT’s, and mentions. Lastly, create a column for your leads that were created from any of these mediums. When you look at all this data at the end of a week or the month, you’ll see how much time you’ve invested in all of these, which brought back the most traffic, which social media platform was most engaging, and those that lacked performance.
The process is simple enough when you think about it. However try juggling this with the everyday issues of your business, life, and whatever else pops up. And yes it is time consuming. It is totally justified that some companies may charge anywhere from a few dollars an hour to $2,500 per month or more. Again, with this new spreadsheet you too can see how much time and money Social Media marketing is worth to your business and make judgement on whether or not you want to pursue it yourself or outsource it. I’ve actually created a spreadsheet in Excel that I’d be happy to share if you’re interested. Sign up to the blog and its yours!
All Posts, Social Media
Years ago, the only way to really get a companies attention on a product was to picket, rally, or boycott. Even then with all of that, most of the world would never hear a message that minuscule. Well enter social media. Now if you have a product that you don’t like, fails, or has major defects, you can broadcast your complaint not just directly to that company, but to everyone that may be following them online.
Let me give you an example. Same you buy a new anvil from Acme. It arrives fine, but when you open it up, its all scuffed up, poorly packaged, and doesn’t weight a full “1 ton” like advertised. Obviously you’re going to be a little upset because your Road-Runner trap won’t work. Instead of writing an angry complaint letter to Acme, you can go to your Facebook wall and tell the whole story for all of your 300+ friends to see. They immediately read it, and decide they too will no longer use Acme and will seek other vendors. Two weeks later, this small ripple effect starts catching even more wind, and Acme stock prices start to take a hit. A website gets created from another angry user that now has a forum for all other users to unit. They talk about Acme on that site and on the new Facebook groups, Fan pages, Twitter lists, etc. all about how bad Acme’s products are.
Sad thing about that scenario is that Acme never acknowledges the “small” complaints, and before two weeks, what was a snowball has now turned into an avalanche. We are now living in an age where companies can no longer play the elitist role and not listen to their customers and consumers. The mainstream media used to be the choice medium for these types of news, and even they can’t keep up with “right now” stories.
What does this mean for you as a business owner? A few things actually. For starters, you can grow your brand easily by keeping a listening ear to your industry. Listen for complaints to the big boy companies so that you steer clear of those woes. Hone in on your immediate competitors and find out what they’re doing and NOT doing. You can then adjust your sales strategies to fit the gaps, and emerge as the one company who actually services the key niche overlooked by all others in your market.
How do you do it? Simple. Follow your competitors social streams. Why not, I mean if you don’t, they will be following you. Especially as you start to grow your brand and recognition. Engage in consumer complaints. And when I say engage, I don’t mean “sell.” What I mean is to provide alternatives to their complaints. Answer their questions and provide quick fixes to issues. They’ll appreciate you more and most will end up looking to you next time they need that particular service again. No one forgets a bad service experience. Likely, people sing praises about good experiences. I promise, you’d rather be at the tail end of a lengthy complaint that highlights the faults of your competitor, and ends off with a praise to you for providing a solution.
This all takes time, research, and dedication. A lot of businesses are waking up to this new era of “right now” media. Most want to do something about it, but a large percentage won’t take the proper initiative. It may not look like so now, but it is worth the money to hire a social media marketer. If necessary, vet a company out. Ask around, contact their clients for feedback. Or simply contact us here at Design Theory. I know, shameless plug. (could you blame me?) The bottom line is that we all know good news travels – but bad news travels farther and faster. As always I’d love to hear your comments about this. Especially if you have a similar story you’ve experienced!
