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.

Facebook, Customer Service, and Peep-Toe Wedges.

It is a widely accepted notion that social media is changing the way we do business. Long gone are the days where people might tell a few of their friends about a positive or negative customer experience. Now, they can tell their entire network of contacts and essentially the world through social media. This idea scares many people, however, the benefits of social media and this interaction cannot be ignored.

One benefit of social media that should cause any business who has shunned the idea of participating to go to their computers right now and get involved is – customer service. We all know why good customer service is so important to a business’ well-being, but many forget the ease at which social media allows this interaction to take place.

Cute shoes!

The reason for my excitement over such customer service is a recent experience I had with a brand on Facebook. Anthropologie is probably my favorite store. (I wish there was one closer to Gettyburg!)  I was browsing their website as I normally do and found the cutest pair of peep toe wedges. Unfortunately, they didn’t come in my size. Normally, I would say “oh well” and move on, but these shoes were different. I really wanted them.  Since I am a fan of Anthropologie on Facebook I figured I might as well post something on their wall just to see if they would be getting more in. I expected someone to write back to me, but say something a long the lines of “we should be getting another shipment in the spring.. etc.”) But instead , the administrator posted a comment with an email address saying they would help me find the shoes. After emailing back and forth with them, they were able to locate the shoes for me at their Newport Beach store. Not only did they find the shoes I wanted, but they put them on hold for me!

Now that’s customer service. Not to mention, customer service that in my case I would have never received were it not for the ease Facebook brought to the situation. I would have not bothered inquiring on the website.

Social media is not something to fear, but should be seen as (among other things of course) a portal for amplified customer service. What are you doing to increase your customer service online? Anthropologie just earned me as a fan for life.

I would love to hear your experiences with customer service on social media!

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!

Tips for Retailers This Holiday Season

It’s the season we’ve all been waiting for! The Holidays.  Everyone has or is in the process of shifting gears and preparing for a successful retail holiday.  Although the numbers are looking postive, unemployment and the recession is still causing nervousness among retailers going into the busiest shopping season.

So how can retailers make sure this holiday is merry and bright? These tips might help.

• Customer service. Customer service. Customer service. – need I say more? We all know a positive or negative customer experience can be detrimental to the success of retailers. Customer service plays a HUGE role in that experience. During shopping season, even more so than any other time, customers will thank you for exceptional service. Maybe you do not offer the cheapest discounts and your competitors beat you in price (this is especially true of smaller retailers competing with large giants). In this case, the customer service level you offer can set you leaps and bounds ahead and is very crucial.

• Add Value When Discounting is not an Option - Simply lowering prices and offering steep discounts sounds simple enough, but is impossible for many people. Instead of offering 50% try adding value in different ways. For example, a hardware store is advertising power tools for women to purchase for the men in their life. Store A is offering the tool at X amount and Store B is offering the tool at a slightly higher cost, but they are giving each customer a piece of wood so their husbands can try it out right away. They are offering free wrapping and will even hold onto the tool until Christmas so that the wife can hide it from her husband.  One may be less expensive, but the other is definitely a higher value.  Try thinking about what makes people’s shopping experience more convenient and time saving, while keeping your costs down. These added details make big differences.

• Show Love to your Current Customers. If you are participating in a customer relationship strategy (which is a must if you aren’t already!) Now is the time to get them extra excited and enticed by what you are offering. People forget easily. They may have had a great experience with you, but because of lack of communication they will forget. Customers are like other relationships: you must communicate! Make your current customers feel special. Reward them for their business. Offer “exclusive promotions” and get them engaged. Gaining repeat business from someone who already trusts and knows your products is much easier than acquiring brand new customers.

Any other tips? I would love to hear them! Happy Shopping!

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.

The Importance of Customer Experience and Branding

I just finished reading the AdAge Digital article entitled: “Why Search May Not Click for Retailers by Abbey Klaassen.

” According to the article, retailers are inclined to throw lots of money into search for this upcoming holiday season, but the truth is, the search trends are showing this may not be such a great idea.

Less than 10% of online retailers’ web traffic, on average, comes from search engines, according to an analysis by Nielsen Co.’s Online division.Nielsen found the majority of retailers’ web traffic (61%, on average) comes from people going directly to a retail site — consumers typing, say, Amazon.com into a browser address bar.

The article also claims that a bulk of the search traffic is attributed to “navigational searches” i.e. typing the name of the brand in the search bar as opposed to a product category.

So what does this all mean?

First of all, I do not think search engine optimization should be ignored. On the contrary, it is of extreme importance.

However, search is unlikely to be effective without a solid brand. This research and article is a prime example of how past customer experiences and branding are of utmost importance.  As a retailer, if your brand is not solid and your past customer experiences are lacking, your success in outward marketing efforts in general (not just search) will be wasted.

This holiday season, what can retailers (and other businesses that hinge upon customer experiences) do to ensure your brand stays ahead? Check out the following helpful links on branding and customer experience to get started.

• Attention Consumer-Based Businesses: Your Brand Represents 50%-80% of Your Value!
• Better Communication = Satisfied Customers
• Once your Advertising Has Done it’s Job, Positive Customer Experience Must Follow Through
• Sniffing for Market Share
• The Power of Words

Feel free to post other helpful blogs and articles!

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?

CBS & Pepsi put video ad in print

Next week, CBS & Pepsi are teaming up to put a video ad in the center of Entertainment weekly.

Taken from Ad Age.

Yes, you heard correctly. The ultra slim video screen technology will interact with readers in the New York and Los Angeles markets.

I think this is one of the coolest concepts and shows how traditional marketing ideas are changing. What I do not understand, though, is why they aren’t running an ad campaign to promote the ad?! This is one of the few times you could get away with it!

For the complete skinny, check out the article in this week’s Adage.

Kleenex kicks it up with summer boxes

Check out these kickin’ summer box designs for Kleenex’s “Perfect Slice of Summer” series. I love them, its great to see a corporation being so creative and fun.

Source: Dieline

Background information: Los Angeles-based Illustrator Hiroko Sanders created the illustrations for the new Kleenex “Perfect Slice of Summer” tissue box series. Since the illustrations are the primary part of each carton, the challenge was to create artwork utilizing a style that embodies the spirit of summer, and that works uniquely with the carton design.  The three boxes are images of different fruits rendered with a stylized realism that unifies the design of the package with the brand and product.

Project credits: Hiroko Sanders, Illustrator
Jennifer Brock, Senior Designer/Brand Design – Kimberly Clark Corp.