Social Media Expert or snake oil salesman?

image courtesy of Hugh MacLeod

It seems like everyday we’re introduced to at least a half dozen new “Social media experts” who will gladly assist your business with Twitter, Facebook, Blogging and whatever else is popular that day. With unemployment so high right now, a lot of would-be entrepreneurs are diving into social media, simply thinking that just by knowing how to use the tools, they’re capable of overseeing a brand’s image online.

This new sentiment is scary to say the least.

What a lot of businesses fail to understand is the true power of social media and where it is going. Yes kids, social media is the future, and I’ve got news for you, the future has arrived.

There are a few key questions to ask yourself when hiring a self-proclaimed “Social media expert.”

1. Would I hire this person to create and build my brand?

2. Would I put this person in charge of my customer service ?

3. Would I put this person in charge of my advertising campaign?

If you cannot give a solid yes nod to any of these questions, then you might want to think twice.  Social media is about interaction with your customers, future customers, partners and associates. It is about building trust and solid relationships. Social Media is about communication on the most fundamental levels.  These people will all form an opinion about you and your business based upon that social media experience.  Is this something you really want to put in the hands of someone who just knows how to post some pictures, play Farmville and re-tweet a motivational quote?

No matter what you hear, Social Media is marketing, customer service and relationship building all wrapped up in one. When someone walks in for a meeting about building your new blog or managing your tweets, remember, they are the face of your business on the fastest growing form of communication ever. Proceed with caution.

Domino’s terrorizes “pizza holdouts”

In their latest campaign, Domino’s Pizza focused a lot cash & coin on advertising to just 3 people. But, the world was watching. In a recent survey, Domino’s found that everyone thought their pizza was terrible. In an effort to change that perception, they changed their recipe. What has followed is an ingenious “out of the box” campaign driving the message that only a hand full of people have yet to try the new pie. A micro-site (www.pizzaholdouts.com) and YouTube campaign featuring the story of 3 of the remaining offenders being bombarded with ads targeted directly at them made up the push.

This is a very good example of guerrilla marketing at its finest. When was the last time you did something that pushed the envelope? Our goal is to always do something a little different, never be just a part of the crowd.  The next time you’re faced with an advertising decision, ask yourself if what you’re doing will make that splash or not. Domino’s did an outstanding job getting the point across in a new, unique and news-worthy way. Not to mention, the harnessed power of YouTube as part of anything you do will only assist in pushing you way ahead of your competitor.

Do us all a favor and be creative, think outside the safety zone and make an impact.

Effective Marketing Requires More than Perceived Value

Before the digital age of today, effective advertising meant creating perceived value through its communication. Marketing does indeed need to communicate value to an audience, however, the actual products and experiences must become the biggest asset.  With social media and countless amounts of information accessible to us via the internet, a product or services inability to stand out from the crowd and offer actual value is going to hurt. Despite the advertising message, a person’s experience with the product is going to far outweigh any perceived value attributed to the product.

Frank Streifler in his AdWeek post entitled “5 Marketing Principles Brands Should Embrace in 2010″ explains this so well:

A Bain & Co. survey notes that 80 percent of CEOs believe their product to be differentiated, but only 8 percent of consumers agree. And Y&R’s recent Brand Asset Valuator found a 90 percent erosion in brand differentiation over the last 10 years. These are not just sad examples of illusory superiority, but a staggering statement of our industry’s failure to add value in the past decade.

It’s critical that marketers realize that the product itself is the most powerful brand-building tool. We’ve all heard it before: “innovate or die.” But today’s hyper-connected society adds a sense of urgency to this broadly accepted mantra because mediocrity is getting extinguished with increasing speed via social networks.

Because reality always trumps image, marketing needs to create real value versus just adding a perceived value. Marketers need to shape the offer — the product, service and experiences consumer buy — not just communicate it. Marketing becomes the product and the product becomes the marketing.

I would love to hear your thoughts on creating real vs. perceived value!

Permission Marketing – Marketing of Today

According to Seth Godin, “Permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.

It recognizes the new power of the best consumers to ignore marketing. It realizes that treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention.” (Read his full blog post here.)

Permission based marketing is marketing of today.

As consumers in modern day society, we have the wonderful  ability to tune out the messages we don’t want to receive.  Traditional media in the ways they have been used in the past, are becoming less and less effective in reaching a desired audience.

Unlike shouting your message from the mountaintops (as is true with traditional media), permission marketing gives you the magnificent chance to communicate your message to those who WANT it!! When a consumer gives you their permission to advertise to them, it is a valuable and priceless asset, not to be taken for granted.

Social media is a prime example of permission marketing. They are called “fans” and “followers” because they have opted into receiving what you have to say. Don’t take this responsibility lightly or take advantage. People are looking for the value you bring to the table.

Permission marketing takes time to build, but once it is going, the advantages are immense. The businesses that put in the effort and patience to build these important relationships with their customers will reap the benefits.

Christmas Ads: Santa Works at Mercedes, Shops at Sears.

While watching Sunday Night Football last night (ridiculous game) I noticed that good old Kris Kringle stars in a few commercials this season. I was multitasking so I didn’t have my eyes glued to the TV, but these two stuck out.

The first one comes from Mercedes.  They’re alleging that Santa rides his bike around and works for quality control at a Mercedes factory, which is attached to his home office. No wonder Mercedes are so expensive, they ship from the North Pole?

When Santa isn’t busy assuring quality at Mercedes, he’s shopping for flatscreens at Sears (with the reindeer). I don’t think I’d be allowed to bring my weiner dog into Sears, let alone 12 reindeer.

But be careful out there. That Sears Research Center might not be as simple as it seems. The Consumerist has a story about a woman who wasted 4 hours at various Sears locations trying to find a PS3.

All Santa commercials aside, who doesn’t love ugly sweaters?

Cozy! Sophisticated!

The Kansas City Art Institute’s website lets you make your own digital ugly Christmas sweater.

Happy Holidays!

SMS Marketing Clearing Cars Off the Lot

Normally, talking about texting and cars in the same space would warrant the voting of a bill in the House of Representatives. Today, however, we’re talking in a whole different context: text messaging to sell cars.

While I could sit here and churn out facts on why text message (aka SMS) marketing is so simple and adaptable to work for literally any type of business…

• On average, text messages are read within four minutes compared to 48 hours with e-mail.
• 4.1 billion texts are sent per day in the US. by approximately 1.8 billion users.
• Response rates are 2 to 10 times higher than online display ads.

…it’s definitely nicer to see a text marketing success story in real life. Enter Fox Chevrolet in Timonium, MD.

Fox Chevrolet teamed up in a campaign with radio station 98 Rock to try and drive people to Fox’s lot during this years horrible economic downturn (especially for the auto industry). Fox did this well before the government sponsored “cash for clunkers” program kicked in, and tried to use mobile marketing to bolster sales.

Ten and fifteen-second promos were aired on 98 Rock telling listeners to text in to enter to win a $98 car.

The success was staggering. 500 listeners texted “FOX” to the station’s short code, and 300 people attended a special day-long event. After all was said and done, Fox sold 36 cars that day, 17 new, 17 used, and two winners drove off in two $98 cars.

Jeff Hasen is the man behind the plan and says, “Customers who opt-in are customers who are looking to buy. You would be hard-pressed to find a campaign that performed as well during the recession.”

This is a testament to mobile marketing. Even in the face of a cold hard recession, SMS marketing scores huge results and it makes sense why. People are increasingly CRAZY about texting, even so much that they find it wise to text while driving. And people don’t go anywhere without their phone, it’s always on them, just waiting for businesses to prompt them unforgettable coupons like “Text MCDS to 55543 for a free double cheeseburger”. Or something like that. Who doesn’t want a $98 dollar car or a free double cheeseburger?

Prius Billboard offers sweet, fun interactivity

The new Prius Billboard in Times Square gives iPhone users the chance to upload their drawings to be displayed on the board. This is a fantastic wave of creative advertising that breaks the boundaries of interactive. Out of the box ideas, like this one, get you noticed, get you viral and build up brand loyalty. This kind of advertising can be done on any level and at any scale.  Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t think out of the box.

Word of Mouth Marketing is Built Through Customer Experiences

…And it works both ways: positively or negatively.

Advertising and the way people make purchasing decisions have shifted. This is not new information, yet there are still those clinging to the “way things used to be.” Now more than ever, companies must rely on word of mouth marketing and customer experiences to fuel their brand loyalty.  The modern consumer of today craves brand experiences instead of creative ad campaigns. Digitally and offline, customers want to connect with a brand and once they do, they will talk about it!

In the digital world, everything boils down to the experience. Consumers are interacting and communicating. Brands are being shaped by this interaction.

The statistics speak for themselves:

According to “FEED: The Razorfish Digital Brand Experience Report 2009″, 97% of consumers report having searched for a brand online, 65% of U.S. consumers report a digital experience changing their perception about a brand, 97% report that the experience influenced a purchase and 96% say they may recommend that brand to others.

Whether online or off, customer experiences will continue to be the driving force of purchase decisions and brand loyalty. Talk to you customers… This is the first step in determing the experiences they crave.

Once Your Advertising Has Done its Job, Positive Customer Experience Must Follow Through

The power of a good customer experience is hard to beat. You may have the greatest product in the world, but if your customer did not have a pleasant experience with you, they will look elsewhere.

It is easy to get caught up in the trap of focusing TOO heavily on the “glitz and glam” of advertising and not enough on what your customer actually experiences. Attention getting and effective ad campaigns only work when they are paired with a positive customer experience.  Follow through is critical! Your ads are designed to draw people into your doors, but once they are there it is no longer the responsibility of the advertising.  Now is the chance to really wow your customers and turn them into word of mouth promoters! (The ultimate goal!)

Here are a few quick tips to help you determine your customer experience strategy:

• Go above and beyond: People expect to be happy – word of mouth occurs when those expectations are blown away.
• Communicate with your customers: Invite your customers to give you feedback and take their responses seriously (even if it’s not what you want to hear!)
• Take an objective look: Being in the midst of the business, this is sometimes very difficult to do. If so, hire a team of professionals to assist you in determining what needs to change and tweaks that can be made.

I would love to hear your thoughts about customer experience. What companies are doing a superior job?

When it Comes to Social Media and Business, if There are No Conversations, You’re Missing the Point.

Social media marketing is powerful and necessary. There is not doubt about that. Everyday, millions of people are exchanging information about products, brands, and the businesses they love! They are giving recommendations, feedback,  and sharing their experiences.

Businesses tend to commit social media suicide, however, when they forget this most important and fundamental aspect of all: Social media is about conversations.

In the past, marketing and advertising was only a matter of going out and shouting “Buy stuff from us! We’re the best!” There was no two-way communication happening. Advertising was meant to tell the consumer what he/she should think about the product – end of story.

Modern society has changed that! Companies that are stale and refuse to accept this shift will fall behind the curve. The companies that stay ahead will adapt to an approach to marketing that holds true to the  core principles of conversations and transparency.

When these principles are put into action, the benefits of taking the plunge into social media are virtually limitless! Take a look at these companies who have found success through appropriately using social media.

This video really sums everything up. The advertiser/consumer break up: