Leslie’s Biz Blog

Cool Communications Tools - Part 1 - Telephony

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:42:49 -0400

I am starting a short series on cool communications tools. There are many options today when it comes to communications tools. Phone services, conferencing, online meetings - each having new and unique ways to connect. Today’s installment will cover some great tools for telephony.

My daughter is living in Thailand. We never pay a per minute fee for calls in either direction regardless of using a landline, cell or computer to handle the call. I can be on the computer, and she on her cell. We both can talk using landlines or our computers. It doesn’t matter.

My business rarely pays per minute charges for long distance anymore. We are considering getting rid of our business account with our phone service provider all together.

Conference calling has been simple and free for years, now there are more and better options.

There are many options on the market particularly well-suited for small business. Not only do these tools provide low cost or no cost options, but they are flexible and easy to use.  
Calling Tools
Most people are aware of VOIP (voice-over IP). Increasingly we are seeing residential and business VOIP services pop up. However, I am most excited by services like Skype, Google Voice and Viber.
Skype
Skype offers a variety of services beyond the most well known, online calling and chat. I have a Skype account and a Skype-to-Go number with an unlimited, worldwide subscription for a monthly fee of 12.95 a month (although the price has risen slightly for new accounts). With this subscription, I am able to call over 40 countries. Any call within the US is included for free. Calls to landlines within these countries are also always included. Where you have to be careful is making calls to mobile numbers. These are free to some countries and not to others. For example, I can call both landlines and cell phones in Thailand as part of the subscription but can only call landlines in the UK for free. If I call a cell in the UK, there is a per minute charge, but it is usually much cheaper than with my traditional provider.
Skype publishes a list of countries which shows if cell phones are included, and the per minute rate for each if not. When there is a charge, the fees are small and competitive with the best international plans.
Here is how it works (for the US anyway). Sign up for a Skype-to-Go subscription. There are different subscription levels:
• Worldwide unlimited currently costs $13.99 per month. This is by far the best deal if you make many international calls. This plan includes calls in over 40 countries.
• US and Canada for $2.99 a month
• North America for $7.99 a month.
• Pay as you go - this is the per minute plan that has been around the longest. You buy credits and then pay the per minute rate.
Once you sign up for Skype-to-go, Skype assigns you a local phone number to call that is your connection point. You can assign up to five phones to have access to this number meaning I can use this number from my cell, my office, my home, etc.. When you dial your personal Skype-to-go number, you are asked for the number you wish to call and are then connected.
A great feature is to set up speed dial options for frequently called numbers. My daughter, of course, tops my list. However, I also have included frequently called business partners in Europe and Asia.
Before signing up for Skype-to-Go, I frequently had long distance bills over $300 per month. Those are now a thing of the past.
The worst thing about this program is that the online information is not terribly well organized. Sometimes getting to the information you want before you sign up can be difficult. However, once you sign up, it is easy.
Goggle Voice
This is a service I signed up for when it came out in Beta. Since that time, they have made a lot of improvements. This service is terrific for small businesses. The premise is that Google Voice gives you one number and one voice mail which will consolidate all your numbers according to the setting you select - for home, work and office. You are now able to port numbers, or you can sign up and select a google voice number from selected options.
Once you have a google voice number, you can add your phones to the service. For example, I have assigned my home, cell and business numbers. However, I have set all calls except family to ring my cel and business number. This means if someone calls my cell, it will also ring my office number, and vice versa. Number I have identified as family will ring all three of my numbers.
I have also activated my cell to use Google voice mail. Once again you can customize your message for different groups. The advantage of using Google Voice’s voicemail is that voice mail messages are transcribed and sent in message form to your cell. More on this later.
Google Voice allows you to call out via VOIP. I have used the call option to call from my computer and using the dialer in the Google Voice App for the iPhone. US calls are free, yet you pay a per minute call for other countries. The rates are competitive and range from .02 to .25 per minute. However, with my Skype-to-go subscription, I don’t use Google Voice for international calls.
We are exploring using Google Voice for business, and getting Google Voice numbers for each of our consultants. The advantage is that these numbers are free, that using a Google Voice number allows the call to find the target whether at the office or out.
We have thus far been reluctant to eliminate a central line. However, I have an associate who’s done just that. His company now uses a central Google Voice number that goes to his assistant’s cell. She takes a message and contacts the appropriate person for follow up. Each person also has a direct line via Google Voice. The downside I see with this could include inconsistency of voice mail messages, the inability to list your company, and the inability to transfer calls that come in to a central number answered. However, there are work arounds for these issues. We are currently looking into reception services which we believe may be cheaper than our traditional business phone service.
I mentioned above that messages are transcribed and sent to one’s cell. I find this incredibly valuable even though the transcription is not yet very good. What I like is that the message includes the number and a play option as well as the transcription. I can usually get a sense of the message from the transcription to determine the importance of the message. I love that the voicemail messages pops up on my cell just like a text.
Viber
I was recently turned on to Viber by a colleague in London. This service is specifically for iPhone users. You can make free calls to anyone, anywhere with the Viber App. What I really like is that Viber reads your contact list and automatically identifies the Viber users. And if you know of an iPhone user that is not connected to Viber, it is easy enough to persuade them to get the App since it will enable free calls.

Conference Call Services
I have been a long time user of FreeConference.com. This service assigns you a conference call number to be used with multiple parties in multiple locations. The company requires a name and email address to sign up for a free account. Once you sign up, you are assigned a dedicated number and access code to use immediately. The service is 24/7 and offers both on-demand and online scheduled conferences. Each conference can accommodate up to 150 callers on an unlimited number of calls lasting up to 4 hours.
There are many services that provide free conferencing. My experience is with FreeConference.com, however, you may want to check into FreeConferenceCall.com which offers a very similar service, or Instantconference.com, tollfreeconferencing.com or a host of other services.
Stay tuned for my next installment. I will review online chat, conferencing video conferencing and broadcast services.
EQi Services is a full service business development and management consulting firm focused on small-to-medium sized businesses. We help companies grow profitably in a fully immersed, digital world.

You can follow this series on the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

Social Media Marketing - Part 10 - A Business Imperative

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:47:06 -0500

This series on social media marketing is coming to a close. In the past few months, we have looked at social media marketing on a “micro” level. We started looking at where the dollars are being concentrated, in relation to where customers are spending their time. We explored the new customer in the social media world, and how to better understand them and their expectations. Next, we looked at the importance of creating a conversation and story telling. We then turned our attention to reaching the customer - locations and building a fan base. In the last few weeks, our focus shifted to specialty issues, like avoiding missteps, and net geners. Finally, last week, we outlined the importance of measuring your results and showed how ROI does, in fact, matter with social media marketing.

With social media, buyers are in greater control. They are reaching out to trusted sources to get the information they need, when they want it, to make informed buying decisions. This is a significant shift from the world of “caveat emptor” (buyer beware). Buyers expectations are changing. Social media is fast becoming a requirement to building a trusted brand.

To understand why using social media and building a trusted brand is so important, we have to take a macro view. As the economy struggles to right itself, companies must be more creative than ever growing revenue. Revenue generation is listed as one of the top priorities for business in the US today. Social media is the fastest growing way to connect, to build relationships with customers and to better those relationships. It is also the fastest growing way to promote a business and educate a consumer. Social media is now the fastest growing mobile content category. Additionally and more importantly, the fastest growing companies are adopting social media as a part of their core strategies. Why? Because those companies that do not adapt to this shifting landscape will fail to optimize their revenue potential.

Reigniting growth is the # 1 business imperative. Executives are finally realizing that they cannot cut their way to success. It is clear that profitable growth is the new mandate. To achieve profitable growth and sustainable growth, companies must innovate, control costs and build a trusted brand they can promote. Shifting to an always supportive, always helpful model using social media - becoming more relevant and using this “pull” strategy, becomes a priority for any business looking to grow profitably.

If you haven’t already incorporated social media marketing into your plans, the time is now.

EQi Services is a full service business development and management consulting firm focused on small-to-medium sized businesses. We help companies grow profitably in a fully immersed, digital world.

You can follow this series on the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

Social Media Marketing - Part 9 - Measuring Results & ROI

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:05:26 -0500

Many people seem to believe that there is no ROI with social media marketing. Even more find it very tough to measure results. The reality is that if you are not measuring your efforts or looking for a return, you are at minimum, going to have a hit or miss experience. Businesses must define what they expect to get from their efforts and measure the results. It is no different with social media marketing.

This can seem difficult or daunting, or both. It doesn’t have to be if you have a well-thought out process that aligns to your specific goals and objectives. The first step is to use analytics and understand the information to which you have access.

Google Analytics is one of the top tools available, and it’s free. With Google Analytics, a company can learn about its traffic - where visitors are coming from (online and off), how long they are staying, key links, keywords used, referring sites and so much more. If you have a site that sells product, you can turn on the e-commerce tool and track sales.

Start by looking at your audience. Who saw the program? Who engaged? Is this the audience you were targeting? By understanding who responded to your campaign, you can determine any changes that need to be made, or better yet, understand what caused the reaction. Comparing impressions and engagement across channels can also provide information to help improve or customize programs for specific targets.

Also look at where engagement is coming from, and actually where there is little engagement. Understanding this will tell you a lot about how your campaign resonates in different places. This will give you perspective on how to optimize your program.

Measuring engagement will require determining what actions you expect and establishing a weighted scale to measure the actual activity. For example, a single impression is probably not as important as someone who comments. A click through may be weighted less than extended time spent with the information. Or perhaps your goal is simply to drive traffic so time spent is less relevant. Determine what the actions are that you want for this campaign and apply a weighted scale to measure them so they tie to your program and goals. An example might be:

• Impression 1X
• Click through 2X
• Comment 3X
• Share 4X
• Video play 4X

Integrate these programs into your existing research. For example, if you are conducting research on awareness and exploring where someone heard about your program, include options like “from a blog” or “online from a friend.”

Measuring engagement is a critical component of measuring the success of a social media campaign. However, we also need to look at the impact on the company in areas like:

• Brand awareness
• Customer satisfaction
• Marketing & communications costs
• Conversion rates
• Support costs
• Supplier satisfaction
• Supplier support costs
• Time to market
• Speed of knowledge
• Operating margins

Looking at benefits means looking at both internal and external needs, as well as hard and soft costs. For example, if the program is directed at enhancing communications, then a company can measure customer satisfaction and knowledge about the company and its products over time. Additionally, it can look at the overall costs of communications and support. Often social media will positively impact satisfaction and reduce costs through call centers and support teams.

Conversion rates can also be measured in relation to social media programs. Social media can be used to build desire, influence buying patterns, and to build trust. With increased trust and knowledge, customer conversions rates are likely to rise. If they don’t, the information gleaned may identify critical information on why they are not.

Most companies are having to learn how to measure results from social media. Measuring engagement is the first step in looking at real ROI. However, looking at the impact on real costs is just as important. Whether the goal is reducing costs, improving margin, or improving sales conversion rates, results can be measured with advance planning.

Any new technology is tested by early adopters who learn to use the tools and then espouse the benefits or flaws. Adoption picks up as others recognize the value. We are moving from the early adoption phase for businesses to the acceptance phase because companies recognize that these programs drive value. This transition is bringing with it an awareness that measuring the outcome and financial impact of these programs on the organization is a critical component of ensuring that real value is gained.

Contact me with any questions or comments.

You can follow this series on the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

Social Media Marketing - Part 8 - Net Geners

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:51:37 -0500

The first time I heard the term “net geners” was while reading a review of the book Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World by Don Tapscott. Both the term and the title of the book caught my attention.

I have been a speaker for years on digital media, digital content, online distribution and other similar topics. In the mid to late 90s, I was talking to audiences (primarily publishers and advertisers) that were my age or older who did not understand the “rush to digital.” The internet was interesting and mainly about information. Some were starting to see the benefits to operational efficiencies. But for the most part, there was a resistance to accept where the world was headed. Over time, these same audiences were finding their businesses changing - broadband was more accessible, platforms were appearing that made the internet instantly accessible, and content and products were moving online - FAST. Online became a driving force in many businesses, in great part because of the market movement.

For many years, I have used my kids as examples of a generation that treats digital technology and the internet like a knife and fork - they are simply tools. Through my kids eyes, I saw how very different the world was to them. They have never known a world without the internet. As we entered the new millennium, something happened - something powered by this new generation. These kids began to enter the workplace, began to have buying power, and began to drive a cyber-culture that has resulted in the explosion of social media. Tapscott likens technology for this generation to be like air, necessary but invisible. Now the generation that was changed by technology was maturing and starting to change the world.

Net Geners assume and demand continual, constant access to the internet, information and to each other in some digital form. Whether via social media sites, texting, chat, video conferencing or some new emerging technology. I am sure it will be familiar to some of you when I say that my son finds email terribly old fashioned and inefficient. If I want to get in touch with him, the best way is to text him. He may never read my email. This constant contact and broad global access has brought down borders and created the first truly global generation. According to Tapscott, this generation is one of the most multiracial and tolerant.

Another characteristic of this generation that differs greatly from previous generations is that they are far more adept in a technology driven world. Tapscott says this has produced a “generation lap” where the younger generation must guide and teach the older generations. This is also creating a confident generation.

Constant access has also produced a more engaged audience. Where television created a passive audience, the internet has created a more active one. Net Geners are more pro-active seeking out the news that interests them - reading daily blogs, multiple publishing sources, and often leaving comments and passing on the information (e.g., links). The internet as a tool is, in fact, more than a tool to this generation. It is a place to congregate, create communities; it is even a tool for social action. Because we are becoming a fully immersed digital society, Net Geners have developed an entirely new set of social skills.

So what does all this mean? Tapscott identifies eight norms that bring together this net generation:

• Freedom - they expect and demand freedom, choice and variety.
• Customization - they demand the ability to express themselves and customize their purchases or even parts of their life, like their jobs.
• Scrutiny - having been exposed to so much for so long, Net Geners are more likely to scrutinize information they encounter. They will also eagerly call out a hoax or perceived deception. Honesty and openness is a driving force.
• Integrity - increased scrutiny leads Net Geners to demand integrity and honesty from those they interact with. They will forgive mistakes but not dishonesty.
• Collaboration - Net Geners have grown up collaborating. In fact, many need to collaborate where previous generations often worked along and reported results. Collaboration goes beyond teamwork and moves toward co-creation.
• Entertainment - this generation loves to be entertained on-demand. The line between work and play has become blurred.
• Speed - this generation has been accustomed to speed. Access on-demand. Immediate connections, broadband connections. They want to connect with speed and they in turn expect answers, decisions and fast results.
• Innovation - Perhaps one of the best outcomes from a fully immersed digital generation (and increasingly, society) is a constant flow of new products and technologies. Net Geners expect change, constant improvement and are engaged in helping create it.

Net-Geners will certainly alter the world - with both practical and social change. If we look at the eight norms listed above and align them with a globally interconnected society, it is apparent that change will come faster and be driven by a more savvy and informed community. Innovation is becoming borderless. Net Geners expect to and will have a say - in political, social or commercial arenas. The sooner we understand and adapt, the sooner we can tap into it. By understanding who they are and what drives them, we can determine the best way to engage. We will be able to respond with the same global view and in a way that answers the need for speed. And the smartest will be able to use these Net Geners to improve, evolve, and innovate across markets.

Stayed tuned for my next installment. I will be writing on how to successfully measure the impact of social media.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny. I would love to hear what you think.

Social Media Marketing - Part 7 - Avoiding Missteps

Mon, 3 Jan 2011 09:32:05 -0500

The social media space is crowded these days. According to MSNBC, Facebook has over 500 million users today, and if it were a country would be the third-largest in the world. Twitter reports that it signed on over 100 million users in 2010. Those numbers make marketing online both an enormous opportunity and a significant challenge. It is imperative that when you create a brand, the focus is on creating a strong presence. In today’s social media arenas, the goal must be getting noticed rather than being lost in the crowd.

I have previously written about the importance of listening and having an authentic conversation with your audience. I have covered messaging and strategy, and the importance of location. All of this can create a wonderfully positive ripple effect. But the ripple effect can turn negative and be devastating to a brand. This post focuses on the most common mistakes and how to put in processes to avoid significant missteps.

1 - Measuring results
One of the most common and significant mistakes companies make today with their social media marketing is forgetting that this is about building and increasing one’s customer base. A company must monitor and measure success both online and offline to understand the impact of any social media marketing campaign. Connecting online is only one step. A company must ensure that the effort being put into those connections are capitalized and result in something meaningful.

2 - Responding quickly to concerns
Listening to customers is as important during the calm as it is during a crisis. Many companies are successfully using social media as a kind of focus group. This can be a powerful way to create a strong connection that can turn into a strong customer relationship. Equally important, however, is responding to concerns. Responding quickly can help a company avoid a negative ripple about a product or their brand.

3 - Monitoring conversion rates
Taking connections to the next level means that a company must convert those contacts into something actionable. Often companies spend time and money to reach customers online but with no measurable goal in mind. The first step is to define the actionable goal. Once done, a company can monitor conversion rates. The higher the conversion rate, the more successful the campaign. When conversion rates are low, it likely means that the message fell flat, did not translate into a call to action or was targeted incorrectly. Understanding who you are connecting to and how well you are converting those connections can define the success or failure of your campaign. Low conversion rates require that a company evaluates what it is selling, how it is presenting its products, and who is finding its products.

4 - Defined organizational management
Avoiding missteps (like failing to act quickly) means that a company must define an organizational structure to support accomplishing its goals. This means understanding that social media marketing will span departments, and involve many different groups. It also means that roles need to be defined. Defining roles and responsibilities up front will allow a company to be more nimble in any crisis. Out side support is also available, however must involve company insiders to ensure an authentic voice.

More practical mistakes include:

Stale content - make sure to refresh content on a regular and frequent basis.
Spamming - don’t send everything out to everyone all the time or you will become SPAM and lose impact.
Being pushy - treat customers online as you would in person.
Inexperienced Reps - you need well written, tactful and knowledgable reps to respond.
“Ghost” friending - only use real people, who can speak honestly and openly to your market. Companies have created firestorms by creating characters to friend would be customers only to have it backfire.
Deleting negative feedback - many companies fear negative comments, however deleting posts often have a greater negative impact because connections can perceive this as censorship.
Overreacting to mistakes - Don’t overreact. Mistakes happen and will usually blow over. Overreacting and taking your posts down, for example, can draw negative attention. Relax - this too shall pass.

So what does one do if the worst happens?
Mitigation starts with discovery. Listen and learn. Understand the sphere of influence of those making the comments. Create a plan of attack. Unfortunately, the larger the organization, the more time it can take to create a plan. Be prepared so you can respond quickly. While you may not be able to foresee the issue, you can prepare first response steps. The longer it takes to respond, the more out of touch you will appear. Let them know you are on it and will reply. And make sure to respond in your brand’s voice but appropriate for the community with whom you are communicating.

Remember don’t overreact. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has admittedly made mistakes. Facebook’s response to concerns over privacy changes was slow. And they took heat for it. However, in the end, Zuckerberg said they were listening to feedback and trying “to distill it down to the key things they needed to improve.” Had they responded more quickly, they might have avoided a significant amount of criticism.

Next time, I will write about “Net Geners” - those that have grown up with the technology, how they differ, and why they are important to factor in.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

Social Media Marketing - Part 6 - Building A Fan Base

Wed, 1 Dec 2010 11:29:20 -0500

Building a loyal fan base on social media sites is really about successfully connecting and adding value. If you are trying to build your base from scratch, then you will need to offer something consistently that your target audience values that they aren’t already getting elsewhere. If you offer true value, then you are one step closer to leveraging peer-to-peer recommendations - the fuel that drives awareness and visibility.

The first step is developing a smart strategy to spread the word about your social programs. Connecting to your audience means building a program that compliments your traditional marketing, leverages word of mouth and when possible uses branded integration.

Integrating with traditional marketing can be incredibly powerful since it simplifies the process for customers to find you. I was at a content trade show recently and was amazed at how many vendors did not include their Facebook and Twitter accounts on the promotional material they were handing out. This was particularly interesting since the products that most were selling was either online content, or online support services for content businesses. Point of sale promotions, or any opportunity to invite consumers to connect when they are considering you and your product is a great way to build an online fan base.

The second category is really about connecting with online influencers discussed in an earlier post. The influencers can be described as creators and critics. Successfully influencing the influencers will often have a multiplier effect. Bloggers can be a tremendously important and influential group. They are both creators of content and critics. Key to accessing a blogger who is well-respected in your space is to engage in an honest, authentic and personal conversation. You can follow up with opportunities to sample your product, providing access to information or talent, and giving interviews. Making a successful connection with an online influencer can have a lasting impact. Identifying the key influencers for your product is the first step.

Offering value is a critical component to any successful social media marketing effort. This can be done providing valuable information, offers and promotions. It can also be done with smart brand integration. If you are sharing information, keep it fresh and timely. If you are going to promote offers, make sure there is a perceived real value attached. There is nothing worse then feeling as though a promise of a deal was not met.

Building a valuable experience can be time consuming and expensive. You will not only need to build it but you will have to promote it. Integrating your brand with another program that reaches your target audience will help you to achieve your goals while being beneficial to your partner and the audience. A strong partnership can help you build an instant audience.

Once you start building your community, it is important to keep them engaged. Successfully doing so requires a level of community or audience nurturing. A great example of nurturing clients can be seen by the partnerships that Nikon and Canon have with Flickr. Each have created a digital learning centers on Flickr. However, Nikon has built a fan base of over 55,000 while Canon has less than 1500. Why? Nikon has promoted their learning center with a vengeance. They invite photographers to share tips, learn from experts, and to post images. The community allows the company to evangelize its product in an appropriate forum and yet, they are providing real access to a valuable resource.

Amy Porterfield and Cindy King from Social Media Examiner (SME Facebook Page Moderators) offer these suggestions for creating engagement on social media sites:

• Keep your updates short and to the point. Focus on creating headlines that grab readers’ attention.
• Comment and “like” your own posts. Leverage the promotional power of your own network (as an administrator) to help get the ball rolling. Thus, having multiple administrators and moderators can be to your page’s benefit.
• End your posts with a call to action. Encourage fans to “like,” comment or share the content.
• Encourage sharing. Ask your audience questions, start conversations and reach out directly to them. This is about building a social community, not a marketing channel.
• Post third-party articles. Share relevant content without simply promoting your own material.
• Keep the content fresh. Offer different kinds of content — using different sources and alternating administrator voices and multimedia features.

Building a strong fan base can be more valuable then just selling product. Many companies are successfully using their audiences to get feedback for things like trends, product development and service improvement. Take “My Starbucks idea.” Starbucks is using the site to generate ideas for improving product, service and retail outlets. Honest feedback is one of the primary benefits of creating a conversation with your community. This, however, can run both positive and negative. On “My Starbucks Idea” I have seen negative comments each time I have visited the site. I have not seen responses to those comments. There is danger in creating a forum if you are not prepared to respond to the feedback - whether positive or negative. However, this kind of discussion can actually take you even farther with your customers if you handle it directly, honestly and with care. If willing, a company can actually garner a lot of creative energy from a well nurtured community. This can be tremendously beneficial and create a dynamic learning environment. I have worked with companies that discount the importance of social media because of the potential for negative feedback. However, we have to remember that many of these conversations are already happening every day in the office, at cafes, etc.. being connected to them online at least allows you to consider the issues and respond.

Next time, I will discuss how to avoid missteps and mistakes.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny. I would love to hear what you think.

Social Media Marketing - Part 5 - Location, location, location

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:33:26 -0500

There is a near infinite number of social media venues on which to market. Choosing wisely is an important part of a successful effort. There are the Big Three - Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But there are 100s if not 1000s more that may be appropriate for your specific needs. If you stay abreast of up and coming social media sites you can create a platform of venues that will co-exist and help you build your fan base. You must be engaged and nimble, however, to build a sustainable plan.

Facebook
Today’s Facebook is built around active conversations. Alexa.com lists Facebook as the second most visited website in existence. The site furthers estimates that nearly 38% of global internet users visit Facebook everyday. Daily page views are in excess of 5 million. Perhaps one of the most interesting data points is that users spend over 30 minutes on average per visit.

A popular method for increasing engagement with Facebook include mail blasts to all fans. Take care however, a serious mistake that marketers make is using this method too frequently. Fans will often get bored with the messages, treat them like spam and stop reading them. They can also “un-fan” the page. Being smart with mail blasts will serve to increase your customer connection. A similar method is making regular updates to a page. Updates appear in the news stream of Fans. A great use of updates is to notify fans of new content, promotions and events on your site.

Coca Cola is a great example of a company that uses social media and Facebook incredibly well - so much so, that there are numerous case studies on Coke’s approach which they call “Fans FIrst.” I am attaching a link to a presentation on how they use social communities and what they believe the impact is. You will find they believe they were not building sustainable relationships with traditional campaigns but that now they are with social media: http://tinyurl.com/26h6v4y.

On Facebook, you can:
Send Updates to all Fans
Post updates
Create polls
Develop interactive apps
Share content, encourage sharing
Advertise your page
Campaign to convert visitors to fans

Brands are usually connecting to fans by either being funny or quirky, because they are a recognized globally or to their community, or by providing entertainment or information. Some brands attract fans by offering time sensitive codes for promotions like Starbucks which has free pastry days on Twitter and Facebook.

One last point, while growing your fan base is an important metric, many companies prefer and have been very successful targeting a specific fan base >> quality over quantity.

YouTube
Publishers upload over 35 minutes of content per minute to YouTube. Alexa lists YouTube as the 3rd most visited site in the world and 4th in the USA. They are reaching on average 25% of the global market daily.

In July Mashable reported that Old Spice doubled its sales with its YouTube campaign. Everybody knows about “that guy” in the ads, his clever responses to fans on Twitter and the ads posted on YouTube, right? Right! The campaign started with simple TV ads that went viral on YouTube. The follow up was having Mustafa (that guy) respond to fans via Twitter. They hit the ball out of the park. Total views for the video ads hit 110 million views surpassing traditional media. And better yet, these are people who sought out the videos.

The reason YouTube works is because of human nature. We like to share things we feel are good, funny, crazy... If a video is good, we are likely now to share it on Twitter or Facebook or by email to our friends who share it and so on. The effect is exponential.

One of my favorites is BlendTec’s “will it blend” campaign. I came across this when on a corporate to another company. They were so impressed with the campaign, they recreated the test site in their own marketing department. And anyone, staff or visitor, could try to blend what ever they wanted. When we were there, someone blended an iphone - just for the fun of seeing if it would blend. The YouTube videos are still a huge success. Take a look here at a “will it blend” video asking about the ipad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko

Blendtec’s videos are entertaining for sure but the most impressive thing is that their sales have grown 500% since their launch.

Twitter
Alexa lists Twitter as the 9th most visited site in the USA and 10th in the world, with nearly 30% of global page views. This is amazing since the premise is that one must converse in 140 characters or less. Twitter can be used as an outlet like with Dell. We have talked before about Dell’s success so I won’t here. Twitter can be used to raise awareness, like with Charity Water’s twestivals (twitter festivals). They Raised over a quarter million and held twestivals in 100s of cities all organized via twitter. Many of the attendees had been unaware of the water shortage until the twestival campaign.

Do you remember when Aston Kutcher challenged CNN to see who could first get to a million followers? There was a call to action that drove that challenge - Kutcher was seeking to raise awareness to Malaria No More and raising money to buy mosquito nets. In the end, 90,000 nets were donated.

Twitter provides a great venue where you can get immediate responses, engage in conversations, build a brand voice. The discipline to be concise and have a clear message is key. Whether to provide customer service, offers, or just to build a personal voice and engage with your customers, Twitter is fast becoming a social media requirement.

There are a multitude of social media venues to explore. Start with the big 3 and then explore others. Like aggregators - Friendfeed which is an identity aggregator, allows marketers to search across sites for any mention of their brand. Or sites that target specific marketing segments like classmates.com, or Asmallworld, or Flickr. The key will be if your target customers are there. Find them, define how to use the venue, build the story and jump in.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny. I would love to hear what you think.

Social Media Marketing - Part 4 - Story Telling

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:41:15 -0500

In previous posts, I have talked about building an online persona for your brand. Social media marketing is about having a conversation and, in effect, building a relationship with your customers. To do so effectively, the conversation has to be real, engaging and meaningful. So once you have gained insights into your market, and developed a winning strategy - the next step is to tell your story and start building that online persona. Our stories are unique to us. This means they can’t be copied by competitors. Our stories help us build an online identity. Blogs can be a great tool for story telling. Sites like Twitter can be great for posting immediate information on what’s happening. What ever the arena, make your posts count.

Examples of successful online campaigns include sites like Kodak’s A Thousand Words blog. Kodak was very smart in how they developed the focus of their blog. Instead of talking about their products, they talk about photography, the main interest for their community.

Another great use of social media is how Dell uses Twitter. Many articles have been written about the success of Dell driving revenue through Twitter. In 2009, they reported Twitter sales of $6.5 million. This had grown from 2008 Twitter sales of under $2 million. The brilliance of how Dell uses Twitter is that they consider the site a sales outlet. The focus of their tweets is driving sales - they offer coupons, notify users of deals and promotions. They have over 1.5 million followers on Twitter @DellOutlet and 3 million connections across their social media sites.

The Zappos family of blogs is a another great example of how a company can use social media. Zappos talks to their customers to let them know what’s going on. Last year, the blog was a primary vehicle to communicate their sale to Amazon. They recently explained a glitch that had occurred with their pricing engine. The engine erroneously capped all prices at $49. They lost over a million dollars but honored the sales. The site houses many different blogs. There is a blog from the CEO - COO. There is a fashion blog. They actually have several blogs on different categories of product that they sell. In fact, their blog site is a portal of communication for Zappos shoppers.

Finally, I like the blog posted by Marriott’s chief, Bill Marriott. First, I didn’t know there was a Bill Marriott. Knowing he exists, gives me a sense of family. Marriott talks about the company’s history, and tells tales of travelers who have stayed with their properties. He offers information on what is going on but really speaks of the company’s heritage. How they got started, why he is passionate about what they do, and he links the past with the present.

Authentic stories provide a personal connection to a brand. Whether about some great part of the past, or learning of a mistake and that the company handled it well, or just knowing there is a place you can go get deals - consistently. Stories that inform your community of who you are and what you are about, that use a narrative that is personal and can’t be copied - these are the things that create the friendly, often familial environment that we love about social media.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

Social Media Marketing - Part 3 - Strategy

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 13:16:37 -0500

In the first two parts to this series, we discussed the importance of social media marketing in today’s world, the importance of getting to know your customer, and participating in meaningful conversations. We reviewed key metrics for measuring the success of customer conversations to gain critical insight. The next step is to use the insights gained to develop a sound strategy.

Developing a sound strategy for social media marketing starts by focusing on clear objectives. The process is not unlike the process for other marketing programs. The goals revolve around increasing brand awareness, increasing buying customers and increasing the value of existing customers. However, your objectives need to be campaign-specific yet aligned to an overall program. Take the insights gained and develop a list of key objectives (i.e., improving favorable brand impressions, or increasing the number of brand advocates). Then it is time to explore opportunities.

Each opportunity must be evaluated against defined objectives in terms of:

• If the opportunity meets objectives
• If the opportunity will provide measurable value
• How the opportunity’s value will be measured
• How the opportunity leverages existing assets
• If the opportunity allows you to offer real value to your customers

In determining the right opportunities, you must also look at ROI. A key to being effective will be the efficient use of your brand’s existing assets and determining how to extend use. Repurposing digital content that is shareable, for example. A great tip is to be sure that as you create new content, you do so with an eye for multi-platform use.

Another requirement for developing a sound strategy is to learn the local language - the “rules of the road” before jumping in. Over time, you will be developing an online persona. This is created by the conversations you engage in with your customers, by the general discussions being had about your brand, by information sharing and any dialogue about the brand. These conversations are an opportunity to engage and evolve your message but to do so effectively, you need to understand the platforms driving them.

Take stock of your brand’s online community. Where are the conversation happening (with or without you)? Profile based social media sites like Facebook? Shopping sites like Kaboodle? Content sharing sites like YouTube? Micro-blogging sites like Twitter? Bookmarking sites like Digg? Product review sites like Yelp? Once you find out where they are happening, you can organize and connect seemingly disparate conversations. Connecting the dots and creating an effective flow between conversations is a powerful way to affect your online persona. Connecting your YouTube content to your Facebook page, or your company site to your Twitter feed. A truly successful plan will create a seamless brand experience from one platform to another. Many successful campaigns will put one particular platform at the center of their strategy and build from there.

Procter & Gamble did a great job connecting old media with new media. Old Spice was just another “guy brand” with a memorable spokesman in its TV commercials. Then the brand's agency, Wieden + Kennedy, put the TV personality, Isaiah Mustafa, on the web. The company invited fans to use Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets to pose questions to Mustafa. The questions poured in--even celebrities engaged--and Mustafa responded in more than 180 web videos shot quickly over a few days. This is a great example of creating a brand connection across platforms and leveraging platforms where your brand has already has a successful presence.

Important to any successful social media strategy is the ability to inspire your customers to do something. Inspiring your customer begins with great ideas. As you explore the opportunities, brainstorm to determine a clever and appropriate creative approach so you can develop a unifying theme. But remember, a great, creative theme is not a strategy. A great strategy does not mean you have a great idea and a great idea will mean nothing without a strong strategic plan.

Once you have completed your brainstorming, and come up with the great idea, execution is next. Structure, who, how, how often... these are details that will make or break a great program. One area often forgotten is speaking with a consistent voice. This can be a big challenge with multiple platforms, departments and participants. It can be done, however, if you create a platform for conversation across your organization. Some refer to this as developing an authentic voice. Just as two people will judge each other on first impressions, so too will customers upon their first encounters with a brand through social media. As you put yourself front and center, remember to strike a balance between the environment and what you define as your brand’s core attributes - and use that authentic voice.

Apple uses social media in a way totally consistent with their brand. Rather than drive the conversation, they enable the conversation by adding links to various social networks within their products. By creating apps. By providing information and access (when they like). Apple chose not to stream live the announcement about the iPad. At first glance, it seems an odd decision, but they didn’t need to. They had legions of reporters, bloggers and consumers at the ready to share any word of the new device. This exemplifies the smart marketing that has become an Apple mainstay.

So, while there are many, many opportunities for social media marketing, brands need to create a strategy to succeed by defining clear objectives, looking at the opportunities and how those opportunities align with objectives, establish a clear communications structure, come up with a great, unifying concept that inspires the customer to act, and finally, but most important engage the customer with a consistent voice.

Next time, I will address the importance of identifying who your brand is by telling its story.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny. I would love to hear what you think.

Social Media Marketing - Part 2 - Listening

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 13:54:09 -0400

Social Media is really about initiating and participating in a conversation. A conversation with the people with whom you most want to connect. Consumers can choose to ignore most advertising today. So the best way to communicate with them is to communicate directly with them. It is as important to listen as it is to respond. And, it is vital you take comments seriously and show that you can adapt to their interests.

According to Neilson Online, 127 million people in the US use social media. This is nearly three-quarters of the internet audience. Twitter recently boasted that they have over 105 million users. Facebook counts 500 million active users. It makes sense then that companies like Coca Cola, H&R Block, Dell, and Ralph Lauren have all joined the ranks tweeting and creating apps. It is not just for the usual suspects.

Measuring success with social media is key. Just like with traditional marketing, you must look at whether or not you are getting a return for your efforts. The value of social media can best be measured by the depth and frequency of engagement rather than impressions or clicks. This is why companies measure how many consumers follow them, friend the company, or subscribe in some way. Because social media cuts across company lines, it is key to involve marketing, customer service, PR, and sales. Any group that may reach the customer should be brought in to help determine the best approach, development and optimization of social media campaigns.

So how do you start? Remember that social media allows consumers to create, consume and communicate. The first step in creating your social media strategy is to listen to your market. This means to gather critical information about how they engage, what they think about your brand, and your competitors.

Learning about behavior is first. You need to understand how they engage in order to create a sound strategy. Forrester Research defines six levels of engagement:

1. Creators
2. Critics
3. Collectors
4. Joiners
5. Spectators
6. Inactives

According to Forrester, the most important are influencers. These tend to be creators, those who comment and those who publish. So if, for example, a large percentage of your customers are creators, you can develop programs to enable them to to directly engage in your product. Customization is a good example. If they are more likely to consumer, then you may be better off creating a series of online polls.

There are public and private ways to listen. Online chatter can provide a real time focus group. However, often a brand will want to get input before an online message is released. Private communication allows you to test things before your market has experienced them.

Similar to Key Performance Indicators, you can measure key communication indicators. This will allow you to measure online buzz and a program’s success. Measurements will change depending on your program but they include:

• Favoriting
• Friends and Followers
• Conversation Volume
• Sentiment
• Topics of conversations
• Ratings
• Passalongs

Once you have begun to understand your market, you will be able to develop a sound strategy for implementing a social media program.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

Social Media Marketing - Part 1

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:24:04 -0400

This is the first in a multi-part series on social media marketing. The complexity of marketing today is increased because of the importance of social media, its rapid rise and acceptance by consumers. Advertising dollars are still concentrated where consumers are spending less and less time. Time spent on social media increased 82% in ’09 over ’08. But a recent study by Forrester indicates 41% of ad dollars still goes to television - down from 58% in ’07. Perhaps more interesting is that 73% of advertisers say they are going to shift dollars toward social media.

So what does all this mean? The Internet has forever changed how we engage with customers. Social marketing eliminates the middle man and offers us the opportunity to build a direct relationship with our customers. This is a two-way relationship - it is as important to listen through social media as it is to talk. A strong social media platform is now being seen as key to creating brand equity, inspiring loyalty, and fostering advocacy. To ignore this space not only limits your opportunities but could damage the brand relationships you have previously built. This is having an impact up and down the communications and marketing supply chain.

Over the next few weeks, we will offer thoughts on building a sound framework for creating your social media marketing strategy, on evaluating opportunities and making smart decisions, and on how to create that ongoing and meaningful dialog with customers. And how to make sure you are doing what you need in your business to remain relevant in this new social media era.

You can follow this on my blog, or the EQi Services facebook page or connect via twitter @lesliehughesny.

What's your digital strategy? if you don't have one, you could be in trouble.

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:38:11 -0400

Digital media is transforming the way consumers think, act and respond to communications. With online “experiences” like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, consumers are changing the way they meet, interact, socialize and decide to buy. Apps are becoming a way of life and moving soon into the desktop/laptop computing worlds. Good or bad, this is the world today.

If you want to stay relevant, you have to play. And determining the best way to capitalize on the increasingly complex digital media world is no easy task. In fact, deciding on a digital media strategy is tough. Companies must consider carefully what they want out of their strategy and how their clients are likely to be participating. Using digital strategies to create breakthrough multi-channel relationships can be very powerful - but doing so is complicated.

We can point to companies that have prospered because they have embraced elegant digital media strategies. And point to some that have failed. Customers are doing more than purchasing online - they are using digital channels to gather information, transact, get help, pre-qualify selections, socialize, and to be entertained.

So what does this mean for digital strategy? Simply that we are still in the early stages of the digital media era. We have to anticipate and learn from consumer behavior. It is more important than ever to define your target market, create a sound plan, jump in and adapt. We also have to understand that social media in particular can overwhelm so when you jump in, it must be with a purpose. Before any of this, you have to create a sound strategy that links to your overall business strategy. Once you create a sound and aligned strategy, you then must deploy the right tools - channel appropriate communications, and rethink your structure to ensure your organization is focused on the customer and not just the channel.

Let’s face it - it is a stressful time for consumers and businesses alike. We all have to be smarter and more strategic than ever before if we are going to break through the clutter. Digital is a part of any business and a vast majority of our consumers’ lives. Consumers use digital tools to communicate, get information, and transact. But the playing field is changing, evolving and growing.

So if you don’t have a digital media strategy, get one now!