Social Media Archives - Page 8 of 12 - McLellan Marketing Group

Meet your company’s spokesperson

February 11, 2011

Is he your new spokesperson?

Take a few minutes and walk through your place of business today. Really look at the people who work for you. Your goal — identify the employees who are just there to get the paycheck.

Maybe it’s the 16 year old part-timer who calls in sick about as often as she shows up.
Or the employee who has been there for the past 20 years and is just biding his time until he hits retirement age.
Or the employee who is still bent out of shape because they got passed over for a promotion and goes out of his way to sabotage the woman who got the nod while he looks for another gig.

Congratulations — you just met your organization’s new spokesperson. There is no “off the record” anymore. Because we’re always on the record. Just ask former Congressman Christopher Lee.

The idea that a disgruntled or disengaged employee could say something unfortunate is not new. But in the good old days, they might tell a few friends over a beer or vent to their family, but it was pretty contained and isolated. And as soon as the words left their lips…they evaporated in thin air. No record, no residual.

Not today. Any employee can shoot off their mouth on Facebook, Twitter or another social media outlet and literally infect thousands of people with their opinion in a matter of seconds. And thanks to Google, screen shots, archives and savvy web users — those words never disappear. They are etched in digital stone.

Whether you like it or not, this digital age means that every single employee you have represents you 24/7. On your time, on their time. On your communications tools and on their own.

Before you start breathing into a paper bag — recognize that this isn’t an inherently bad thing. It can be a wonderful thing, if handled right. But it does require that you understand the risks, the potential rewards and how you can set your employees up to be fantastic representatives of your brand.

I will dig into that on Monday, so stay tuned.

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Something all wrapped up for you!

December 27, 2010

No matter which holiday you choose to celebrate in December — it seems like it's a season for sharing, for hanging with the people we care about and for giving gifts.

I don't want to get all mushy — but I am so grateful that you keep coming back to the blog to share your ideas and thoughts on the blog posts, I value your friendship and collegial spirit and look forward to exploring 2011 with you.

To that end, I've rounded up some gifts I'd like to share. I think you'll find them both well worth the time to unwrap!

Junta42's annual Content Marketing & Social Media Predictions for 2011: Joe & his team reach out to marketing folk and ask them to contribute their predictions for the year.

With over 100 participants — there is plenty to read, chew on and use as you plan out 2011 for your organization. (click here to download the PDF)

RainToday's Research Excerpt on Lead Generation: As you know, I am a huge fan of RainToday.com. They provide lots of very pragmatic, B2B focused research, tools and how to advice. They just finished up a new study on best practices for lead generation.

If for no other reason that reading more about Best Practice #3 — it is worth the download. click here to download the PDF)

I hope you find value in them both!

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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Do you have confidence in your social media strategy?

November 5, 2010

One of the definite perks of being on the SmartBrief on Social Media's Advisory Board is that we get sneak peeks at some of their offerings.

When I got an e-mail today with a copy of their about to be released research report called The State of Social Media for Business 2010… I dove in to see nuggets I could find. (You can download the a summary report for yourself by clicking here. You can purchase the full report here.)

The chart below illustrates one of the more telling bits of data.

Of the 6,000+ executives surveyed, only 14.2% of businesses find their social-media strategies to be “very effective” – and only 7.3% consider them “very revenue generating.”

But, I suspect that as they pondered that specific question, most of them thought to themselves — "what social media strategy?"

Somehow, and perhaps it is the low to no cost of entry, organizations of all sizes have blundered into social media without any idea of why they're there, what they want to accomplish or how they're going to know if it's working.

If I said to most business owners or marketing directors — I'll give you $10,000 worth of advertising time on television and we'll produce the TV spot for free — they would not grab the camera, shoot anything they pleased and then just run the spot whenever they felt like it.

And yet businesses big and small launch a Facebook page or Twitter account just to say they have one, post random (or worse, self promotional) content on an infrequent basis and then wonder why it's not generating any traffic.

Add to that, I'm betting if you asked those respondents who say "very effective" how they defined effective, many would admit that effective = doing something. That's not effective, that's just showing up!

I know social media is in its infancy. I know everyone is still trying to figure it out. But… the idea of having a strategy isn't new. The idea of maximizing your investment (both time and money) by integrating your efforts isn't new. The idea of looking before you leap isn't new.

If you cannot articulate your marketing strategy and then point out your social media strategy within that bigger picture… then you'll never be able to check the very effective or the very revenue generating box.

No matter how many Twitter followers you may have.

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Who is really the uber internet users?

November 4, 2010

Before you scold your college aged son or daughter for how much time they spend online, you'd better look in the mirror. According to research conducted by MarketingProfs (buy the full report here) if you're in the 30-39 age bracket, you're the heaviest users out there!

These stats line up with what we know about Facebook as well. The largest demographic group on the social media gorilla is 35-44 and the fastest growing demographic is 55+.

Why does this matter? One of the common sense rules of marketing is that you should know where your prospects or target audience hang out. Rather than waiting for them, you need to get out there and hang where they hang.

More justification to include some digital marketing in your overall plan.

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How to drive Facebook likes

October 14, 2010

Corona Light has launched an interesting campaign — anyone who likes their Facebook fan page is invited to upload a photo of themselves…and they will appear on a 150-foot digital billboard in Times Square.

As you upload and size your photo, the fan page will show you how you'll look in the Big Apple's hottest spot.

The billboard (and fan photos) will be up from November 8th through December 5th.

If you click on the send me proof button — you are basically giving them permission to publish a digital photo of the board with your mug on it…on your Facebook wall.

I don't know how many fans they started with, but they're up to almost 57,000 likes as of today.

I can hear you now — cool idea Drew but I don't really have the Corona Light budget. How does it apply to me?

Do you have an e-newsletter? Why not spotlight some of your Facebook friends/fans there? Run a contest to solicit "why I love company ABC" on your Facebook fan page…and publish the best answers, along with a little blurb about the winners.

Does your local community have a digital billboard? Most do today. Why not do a local version of this?

Have a website? Could you spotlight some of your Facebook fans/likers there?

Uber local? How about a fan/like only party? Bring them together, buy them a beer and let them network.

No matter what you do….be sure you build in these three components.

Shareable: Nowhere is sharing more critical than Facebook. Be sure your fans can share your content, your contest, their participation and their enthusiasm.

Easy: Don't make me work to like you. A couple clicks, an easy upload. Good. Writing an essay, doing a cyber scavenger hunt, or having to recruit a minimum number of my friends to be your friends… bad.

Emotional: It can be fun, it can be heart-tugging, or it can make them mad. But get them to feel something to get them to do something.

That's it — go get yourself some new fans/likes!

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Marketing tip #63: Facebook should be a part of your video strategy

October 5, 2010

Are you creating and sharing video as a part of your marketing strategy? No doubt you are uploading your work to YouTube as you should. YouTube and parent company Google top the charts, in terms of online video views.

No surprise there.

But what might surprise you is that Facebook is #2. Over 58.6 million Facebook users viewed at least one video in August 2010. That group of people racked up 243 million viewing sessions among them. That's a lot of eyeball time!

So, if video is part of your mix — don't stop at YouTube. Be sure you're sharing and spotlighting your videos on your Fan page or through your newsfeed updates on Facebook too.

One of the added benefits of sharing video on Facebook is how easy it is for your friends/fans to take that video viral. With a simple click, they can like, share or comment on the video — instantly putting it on their newsfeed too. (Assuming their privacy settings aren't incredibly stringent.)

In some ways — that instant shareability (I know it doesn't exist but it's a good word!) trumps the volume that YouTube can give you. The Word of Mouth reference is golden and sure beats 3 strangers stumbling onto your video.

Don't get me wrong — YouTube is still king but in terms of creating buzz, borrowing credibility from your friends/fans and generating some word of mouth chatter — Facebook is tough to beat.

I'm curious — are you more likely to watch a video that a friend has commented on or shared…or one that you you see referenced in a news article, blog post or some other third party mention?

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Happy 4th blogiversary to me!

October 1, 2010

Yikes…

it was 4 years ago last week that I hit publish on my first blog post (Thanks to the nagging of my blog coach). I had no idea that it would propel me on an adventure that would have me:

co-editing 3 books with my now good friend Gavin Heaton
co-creating an event called Blogger’s Social that would bring marketing professionals from around the globe together
co-serving on many social media advisories, crews and teams

And…writing 1105 blog posts which generated over 10,000 comments. (Do the math — we’re a chatty bunch!)

But as I look back on the adventure and my good fortune, I cannot help but see a common theme. The prefix “co.” I didn’t do any of this on my own — I did it with you — my readers, my friends and my peers.

Thanks for your collaboration. I can’t wait to see what we cook up together in the coming year!

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Think social media isn’t for B2B segment? Think again.

September 29, 2010

it seems like many of the social media examples that people use on a daily basis (Zappos, Dell, etc.) are B2C products which sometimes gives the false impression that you have to sell a "thing" for this social media stuff to work.

Hardly.

Check out this little video (done by the Earnest Agency out of London) that puts some very interesting stats on the table. See if you recognize yourself in the video! (e-mail readers, click here to view video.)

So, what do you think? What do the stats say to you?

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Facebook tip #413: Start with a question

September 17, 2010

Everyone and their brother has built a Facebook Fan page or has a Facebook account. And the ultimate goal is to get more LIKES and more interaction.

It makes sense — no one is going to buy from you until they know who you are.

Sadly, most people approach this "new" media with the same methodology as they've used in traditional media. I call it the "Let me tell you all about me" method.

Imagine being at a party (because social media is a lot like a cocktail party) and a stranger or someone you barely know walks up to you and says…

"Hi, aren't you glad to see me? I'm quite fascinating, aren't I? Let me tell you a little about me. I graduated from college in 1994 and began an illustrious career as a physician. And I must tell you, my bedside manner is the buzz around around the hospital."

When you see it illustrated like that — it's clearly insane. And yet, pay attention to what shows up in your Facebook NewsFeed and watch the businesses and business people tell you all about themselves. Yuck. (If you're grimacing right now, it's because YOU do this!)

On the flip side, watch a master communicator like Scott Ginsberg (the nametag guy) demonstrate the way to begin to build relationships. You ask questions. Scott is constantly posing relevant, off the wall, sometimes just plan odd questions. And boy does he get participation.

Why? Because people will fall over themselves to talk about… themselves. How do you make a sale? Get people to talk about themselves.

Are you seeing the connection?

If you want to build an active community that knows who you are and what you do — know who they are and what they do. Learn all about them by asking questions.

What would be a talk-generating question you could ask your online audience today?

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Social media training specific to the tourism industry

September 12, 2010

Whether you work at a Chamber, CVB, local attraction, hotel or an agency who does tourism and hospitality work — your world has changed. Any marketing effort that does not include some elements of social media is missing out.

But you're smart enough to know that you just don't slap a Twitter account or Facebook Fan Page together and hope it works. You need to integrate the SM tactics with the rest of your efforts.

Easier said than done, yes? That's why I want to tell you about an online course that will help you get real results. Real, measurable results.

You know I don't "pitch" or try to sell you stuff. I only tell you about the things I truly believe in. I'm not willing to risk your trust on anything less.

Becky McCray and Sheila Scarborough are some of my favorite people. They're straight-shooting, pragmatic and hysterical. I know you don't need hysterical to learn, but it sure helps!

There are often one of three problems with social media training:

It is too basic and generic
It is too advanced and nerdy
Or it is well-balanced but not tailored to a specific industry

Not this course.

They didn't create this course out of the blue — they created it from their own experiences as they work with tourism organizations and destinations around the globe. You won't get fluff or puffery from them…you will get real world examples, real world metrics and real world war stories. And when I say real world…I mean from your world.

Best of all — they teach you how to fish. This isn't theory… this is "get your hands dirty" learning.

Check out the course. Read their bios. Let them make you even smarter.

Click here to visit Tourism Currents. *

*Yup, this is an affiliate link. I have no idea how much I get paid if you click on it or take the course because that's not why I am telling you about it.

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