Social Media: Managing Bears

Listening. Watching. Hungry?

The world of communication is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Instead of being more comfortable with the plethora of media and marketing opportunities, clients are telling me they are more confused than ever. One guy told me last week he thinks of marketing today as a big bear.

One of my favorite lines from the Wizard of Oz sums it up nicely, “Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

The old familiars - advertising, promotions, public relations, and other marketing tools are still on the map, but the growth and integration of online marketing, both part and partial, has changed the more familiar marketing trek. It has become more complex, yet a more adventurous expedition which can land us in a more exotic and grander locale.

In some ways, the guy was correct. With the addition of social media to the marketing mix, it can seem to be a bit more of a wild and unwieldy animal. In terms of being social, many businesses to think only of the soft side of marketing, you know, going to tradeshows, placing a pretty ad, cozying up to audiences as if they are a favorite old Teddy Bear. With the integration of sales and marketing tactics, the practice has become more complex. And if the approach is wrong, it can mean coming face-to-face with Ursus arctos horribilis, aka a Grizzly Bear.

The type of bear you cross, depends on the hour, day, or even what else is happening in the world at the moment. One thing is certain, both no matter the marketing tactics, they require patience, planning, monitoring and the ability to track in one direction or another. A successful campaign, especially addressing the large landscape of social is identified with "The Art of the Hunt."

• What is the potential? 
• Where is the largest group?
• How do we ensure capture?

Like the animal-human response mechanism, social media requires attention and interaction or it will die. You must play with it, nurture it, verbally respond and exercise monitoring techniques to measure weight, function, energy and even proliferation. Social media can be unpredictable, but there are proactive techniques, tips and training so you know what to do should the beast go buck wild.

• Do you need basic training?
• Could you use directions?
• Can you make it grow?

From a half day intro session to developing and implementing a campaign, contact me at 407-341-9866 for training and guidance. Wherever you are in regard to the social media zoo – planning a visit soon; strolling along amused and confused; or being gobbled up as prey – together we can tame the darn beast, I mean Teddy Bear.

Sponsorships: Affiliation Sells

Partner. Sponsor. Supporter.

No matter the name, partnerships, sponsorships and supporting roles create bigger and better experiences because of the relationship.

Pulling heartstrings.
Loyal customers are a valuable asset. The absence of tangible differences among products or services is an inescapable consequence in today’s marketplace where emotional logic has become the single most important business driver. Without emotional ties, a product or service is just like every other product or service. Affinity or cause marketing events and partnerships mean effective marketing is not tied to ears and eyeballs, but to heartstrings. Through sporting events, entertainment, the arts and nonprofits, smart companies can build brand and customer loyalty by affiliating their company, or its products and services to issues, events and organizations that current and potential customers care about.

Bigger pie.
Sponsored events create media opportunities. Whether through media partners or publicity, event sponsors gain big visibility because events typically generate wide media exposure. For many businesses, the cost of purchasing the same amount of media exposure that a sponsorship may garner through advertising or public relations is not affordable. In a challenging economy, sponsor affiliations can be very a valuable part of the marketing mix, expecially for smaller companies.

Seeing is believing.
Sponsorships can create, change and definitely reinforce the image of a brand. While images and brands can be projected through advertising, paid media can lack authenticity. Sponsorships create direct visual exposure to key audiences and the associated media attention creates credibility. The seeing part is big just from the courtside, trackside and on-the-field event banners and graphics.

Driving traffic.
When companies use the assets of their sponsorships they have many opportunities to create traffic-building promotions to event attendees. Sponsors can typically showcase products at events. Attractions, restaurants or service business may offer discounts. Media outlets can distribute premium items. Take a closer look at the logos printed on t-shirts worn at the gym, grocery store and at school.

Customers speak.
They are willing to reward, or even worse, punish with their wallets. Just think of the recent backlash following the BP oil spill when consumers started a campaign to boycott local gas stations. The spill was not caused by service station and store franchisees, but the oil disaster affected owners all over the U.S. Consumers say “social responsibility” is the number one factor that influences their impression of a company – more than brand quality or business essentials.

Hook ‘em and book ‘em.
Sponsorship are a great hook for driving sales. For example, the sponsorship of a retail product can be used to boost shelf space and increases co-op advertising. Sponsorships can be tied to in-store displays, coupons may be printed on partner bags, and for businesses such as banks new clients come directly from the sponsored teams and venues. This next month watch for the fast food restaurant that will partner with Universal Studios for the added value of luring hungry patrons also seeking discounted Halloween Horror Night event passes.

For more information on sponsorships or if you need help creating the right sponsorship plan for your company, product or service contact me today at 407-341-9866.

Planning: Spiffing Up For Spring

Are your sales and marketing plans as bright, fresh and appealing as these Daffodils? Or more like a dried up bouquet of flowers that you haven't been able to throw out because they remind you of...something you can't seem to remember?

Or do you even have a plan?

My new online retail client Personalized Doormats, orginally contacted me to write two news releases per month as well as web and email blast content.

During our first meeting, I asked them how they currently integrated public relations (news releases, social media and media coverage) with other sales and marketing functions such as trade shows, email blasts, social media, promotions, special events, community relations, AdWords, etc. Their answer, "We don't. But we probably should. Can you help us with that?"

With their budget and goals in mind, I suggested they hire me to help them develop a sales and marketing plan the first month instead of writing news releases. So, we "worked together" the first month where I got their input and feedback. We had two, four-hour meetings; one, two-hour conference call; and four, one-hour weekly calls where I took them through a series of questions about their business, (past, present and future), competion, sales goals, personal business goals, products, customer service, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and more.

The end result, allowed me to take the information gathered to develop a six month sales and marketing plan, including a month-to-month timeline with activities and tactics. As well:

• They'd never thought about joining two key professional associations.
• Now, they are new members and have picked up new business from their memberships. 
• They have a blog, but rarely posted anything to it. 
• From new customer comments, product photos, special offers, tips, videos and news releases will soon begin being posted and in the next six months, as they build their business, they plan to hire me to "ghost write" blog postings on a regular basis.
• Their twitter and Facebook account was set up, but they had no idea how to use social media. As well, the sites were not set up or being monitored correctly for their type of business model. 
• Last week, we had a three-hour social media training session where I taught them how to brand their pages and how to use the various sites - twitter, Linkedin, Diggit, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook - the differences in the sites; kinds of communication messages to post (not overly sales-y, not hard news, but with the intent of it being interactive, educational and informative), how to integrate the various social media sites, fun tips and tools to manage them and how to post, paste, link and tweet from from a technical standpoint.

I am now writing news releases and also formulating a new sales program to reach a market segment they'd never thought about. Not only will it build my client's sales, but this program will allow this new BtoB market donate to their charity of choice while selling my client's product to their customers.

So plan your plan. Write your plan. And work your plan. With a plan, you will see where you are today, where you are going and next year, look back over a successful year and see what made the difference. Contact me today to spiff up your sales and marketing plan this Spring! And...while you are at it... Order a new doormat today and "Put a Spring In Your 'Door'step!"