Business – General

5 Reasons to Boost Your Marketing with In-Person Events

May 16th, 2012 by Coreen Tossona   |   No Comments

Lately, in the marketing world, you hear a lot of talk about relationships. Marketing is all about relationships. Brands don’t know how to have relationships with their customers…and so on. One way to develop these relationships is to connect your online world with real life—host and attend in-person events with your target audiences.

Photo of MakerBot employee showing girls how to build 3D printer

This past weekend, I attended a TechGirlz event in which volunteers from MakerBot Industries came down from New York to teach the girls about 3D printing. The volunteers spent travel time, setup time and then three and a half hours of workshop time as generous ambassadors of their brand.

Here’s why this is fantastic marketing: The girls will be talking to their parents about MakerBot and the parents will most likely talk about it with their friends. We live-tweeted from the event and posted photos on Google+. Our tweets were picked up by people with even larger followings and the good word about MakerBot and TechGirlz was spread. Win-win!

Marketing managers, what offline efforts are you using to improve your brand?

At Philly Marketing Labs, we manage Main Line Internet & Social Media Marketing Meetup events and regularly present workshops at Drexel’s Baiada Center.

Our latest workshop at the Baiada Center allowed us to get involved with the local Google+ field representatives. This is a high-energy team motivated to help businesses use Google+, and because we’re so proactive about teaching in the community, we have been able to learn a lot from this relationship so far and teach much as well.

At our meetups, we meet with business owners and professionals monthly. We don’t get paid to do this, but we hold mini-workshops in addition to our happy hour/networking events. It’s very easy for you to do the same.

Photo of Bechara presenting at our Google+ meetup

Here are 5 reasons to hold in-person events:

1. Spread positive brand impressions.

My experience with the MakerBot people left me with a very positive impression of the company. Not only were the volunteers friendly and generous with their time, but the way they spoke about their company drove this positivity home. And, I keep telling everyone I can about this positive experience.

2. Build a reputation as an expert and thought leader.

By bringing people together and leading discussions on relevant technology and marketing topics, we leave our audience with a favorable impression of Philly Marketing Labs and we become trusted advisors on many topics. A bonus is that by attending this sort of event and participating, you too can be seen the same way.

3. Connect the relationship circle from online to in-person.

Using online methods to attract people to events and speaking in-person with people to get them to follow us online help make our relationships more whole. Interacting online and offline also gives you more to talk about. You learn people’s interests and stories and can relate to them on a much more personal level.

4. Meet other experts to partner with.

This benefit is true for the host and attendees. At any networking event, you’re never sure who you’re going to run into. While sharing stories about your businesses and challenges you may face, opportunities present themselves in conversation.

5. Draw business prospects directly from your audience.

Obviously, this is what everyone wants to have happen. And it will. But keep those four other points in mind too. ROI is not always just about sales. Build the relationships and business will come.

5 Resolutions for Digital Marketing Success in 2012

January 4th, 2012 by Coreen Tossona   |   No Comments

Word cloud on digital marketing

The new year is here, and already January is chugging along. So, what’s your marketing plan? Are you going for “business as usual” or will you finally take advantage of all that digital marketing has to offer?

If you want to draw new customers or keep the ones you have happy, you need to focus on at least these five things.

1. Keep up with technology.
This is probably the most difficult, yet most important action listed here. Make sure you have technology gurus and geeks within easy reach in your company—ideally within every department.

Be ready to add more interesting and useful technologies to your operations and marketing mix. Cashless payments, QR codes, augmented reality, geotargeted coupons and promotions, 3-D digital displays for advertising, more personalized and interactive online advertising…the list goes on and on. Be ready to adapt quickly if that’s what your audience demands.

2. Be consistent and true to your brand.
With all the social media channels you’re on and all the different forms of online (and print) advertising you do, it’s easy to feel a bit scattered. That’s okay if you personally feel that way, but your audience should be hearing one clear voice from your company.

Yes, having a presence on different social networks means taking a different approach for each network. Your message and tone should be modified based on the audience who is there and the context of the site. But, having a strong brand means that all those approaches still have the same underlying voice, even if the tone and message are different.

Your goals still stay the same. No matter how big or small your social presence is, you still must stick to your mission. Be true to your company and your customers.

3. Provide interesting, original content.
Using blogs and social sharing sites, give people information they want and can use. Like Steve Jobs used to say, give them what they don’t even realize they want. Be original. Yes, content curation does have a purpose and an audience, but focus on ways to provide relevant, original content, drive interaction and keep your voice.

Say more with photos and videos. Photos and videos, when chosen carefully and done well, keep people on your website and other social networks coming back. Keep this in mind:

  • Over 90 billion images have been uploaded to Facebook.
  • Video is the most responded to posting on Google+.
  • YouTube has become a vital part of marketing for many types of companies, ranking second in visits among all social networks.
  • Video and graphic applications will become increasingly important for tablets and smartphone users.

4. Listen to your employees more.
Your employees are already on social networks and fully understand what appeals to them and what doesn’t as customers. Use their expertise, even if they’re not in your marketing department. Find people most excited to spread the word about your company and empower them. You can always teach marketing, but you can’t teach personality and enthusiasm. Take advantage of that when you find it.

Create a social media policy that drives engagement as opposed to stifling it. Policies and codes of conduct are important, but they have to be put in place delicately and with sensitivity toward freeing up barriers to social media engagement.

5. Build valued relationships with your customers.
Do these four things above well and number five becomes easy. Remember, relationships and communication go two ways. Give your audience relevance and value, and they will trust you and want to engage with you more. From this interaction, you will get valuable information and advice from them as well.

Two crucial factors:

  • Be where your customers are. Do some research and social listening. Find out where your customers hang out and where they’d be most likely to welcome your presence.
  • Speak their language. Many business people think you have to use jargon and multisyllabic words to sound smart. Not true. You want your customers to understand you, and the easiest way to do that is to communicate clearly and simply in words they use and understand.

Most importantly, don’t try to do it all. New social networks pop up all the time. That doesn’t mean you have to be on them. And not every new technology will be suitable for your company to adopt.

There is no one-size-fits-all prescription. Above all, when deciding which social media channels to be on or which technologies to use, you must always go back to your goals and objectives and understand who your audience is, where they hangout and what they want.

Whatever you decide to do, be sure you have the resources to do it well.

Good luck and cheers to a successful 2012!

Which Social Media Channels Should Your Business Use?

May 5th, 2011 by admin   |   2 Comments

Social media logos

Answering this question doesn’t have to be that difficult. We know, there are plenty of social media channels to choose from—probably too many. But, you don’t have to weigh the pros and cons of each channel. You simply have to focus on three things:

  1. Audience
  2. Resources
  3. Priorities

Audience

The channel or social media space doesn’t determine whether you should be there, your audience does.

First, ask yourself these questions to help create a list:

  • Where can you best reach your audience?
  • Where does your audience expect you to be?

Once you narrow down your list to the places your audience is and would expect to interact with you, then you need to figure out what it would take for you to manage those channels.

Resources

How much time will it take to maintain a valuable and engaging presence on the social media sites you choose? Can you handle it in-house or will you have to outsource?

Determine what skills your team has and how much time you’ll need to keep up with each channel.

Priorities

Now you know where your audience is and what resources you’ll need to engage with them there. Next, it’s time to use this information to decide which channels you should create and maintain a presence on.

For example, let’s say you’ve determined your audience is on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, foursquare, Gowalla, Flickr and YouTube. You have seven possible channels to engage on, but you think you only have the resources to maintain a solid presence on three or four.

How do you choose which four?

At Philly Marketing Labs, we recently asked ourselves this question. One particular question we had was about Facebook. We’re a marketing agency, and initially thought it might be important for us to be there.

We chose these categories to weight and rate:

  • Credibility
  • Sales – Value to Sales and building business
  • Reach
  • Resources
  • Skills

Your categories might be slightly different based on your business and your goals. Here’s an example of what a decision table would look like:

Sample Decision Table with weights and ranks

 

Each category gets a rank or weight in terms of importance. Then each channel gets a rating under each category that represents how much:

  • Credibility that social media site gives you with your audience
  • Value the site can bring in terms of sales, brand recognition or business building
  • Reach the site gives you access to in terms of your target audience
  • Resources you have available within your business to manage these channels
  • Skills your team has to accomplish your social media goals

Your total number for each channel then represents a more objective, weighted ranking of how important that particular social media site might be for your business. So using the table above, you would conclude that LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and foursquare are the channels you should focus on.

Keep in mind, just because you decide today that a certain channel is not one you should be on, that answer may change in the future. Most social media sites are constantly evolving and, to keep up, hopefully your business is too.

*****

Post written by Coreen Tossona, Digital Communicator and Brand Strategist for Philly Marketing Labs. Coreen also writes the In the Crowds marketing blog.

Corporate “Therapy” In 3 Steps

March 22nd, 2011 by admin   |   1 Comment

Social Media TherapyI view social media as an opportunity to gain “corporate therapy“. The way I see it, social media is a means of going through the KFC process:

K: Know what you want (or who you want to be).

F: Find out what you are getting (or who you are at the moment).

C: Change what you are doing until you get what you want (or become who you want to be).

Social media can provide feedback and empowering tools to support this KFC process.  As a growing business, social media can be an opportunity to help customers and prospects see your strengths.  It’s also an excellent way to bring a positive light to your vulnerabilities and weaknesses.

Social channels can help you gain valuable feedback from your customers.  If you are a business manager, you know that customers can be brutally honest about your weaknesses.  They will tell you exactly who they want you to be.  But don’t take it personally!  Customer feedback accelerates the evolutionary process, helping you ”Know who you want to be”.  It’s an opportunity to “Find out who you are”.  Knowing who you want to be, and finding out who you are now, is a key to success.  Now you know where you want to go, and you can “Change until you get the results you want”.

At the same time, you can turn your vulnerabilities into strengths by providing honest insights to customers to help them understand where you are in the process.  Customers may not like your weaknesses, but they’ll be happier if you are on the path to positive change.

37 Signals provided a great example of this process. When their Campfire product was going down for intermittent periods in 2010, they used social media as a way of interacting with customers.  They told customers that they were actively working on the problem.  They asked for feedback about how to compensate customers for the problems.  And they provided regular updates until the problem was fixed.  This was a type of therapy, both for 37 Signals and their customers.  37 Signals’ method of handling this problem fostered stronger loyalty in customers and made the employees proud to be part of such an honest, communicative company.

Are there ways that you can use social media therapy to develop a stronger image and better serve your customers?  You bet…. maybe it’s time to reach out to your current customer base and ask for their help to become a better, stronger company.

– post by Ryan Draving, SEO Consultant with Philly Marketing Labs.  KFC Process comes from Nicholas Boothman, author of How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds or Less.