Brown Bag Agency News

Absolutely, unless of course your company wants to increase:

Brand Exposure
Lead Generation
Marketing Reach

I hear all too often that businesses do not have time to allocate to Social Media.  And I would agree if it were only about socializing with family and friends.  Social Media is an online networking tool that works along side traditional media to enhance your existing sales and marketing efforts.  Social Media can leverage your offline presence online, creating an extension of your brand experience.  

Through Social Media we now have the ability to reach our target market daily, and with open dialogue, for little to no cost.  When was the last time your expensive brochure provided you with feedback?  

I’d like to provide answers to a few common questions.

Q: I have a website, isn’t that enough? 

A: A wonderful website is a necessity, but only does a good job if the right people are finding it.  One great source of driving traffic to your website is through a blog.  A healthy blog can:

• Help establish yourself/ company as an expert
• Generate fresh content, so people have a reason to return time and time again
• Keyword rich posts help search engines find your site
• Provide a platform for discussion and open communication

Begin to think of your website as an online storefront, that makes blog posts the beautifully updated window displays that get people inside your store.  Once inside, they will find fantastic content.  They may need to browse a few times, but new blog posts (think window displays) will get them inside again, and again.  When the time is right for them to purchase they will turn to you because you have established yourself as the expert, and answered their need. 

Q: Will Social Media replace my need for sales and marketing?

A: Social Media works to compliment your sales and marketing efforts, not to replace them.  There are no miracle pills to take to increase your profits.  All good things come with time and hard work.  The power of Social Media really lies in the fact that you can take one effort (i.e. writing a blog post) and reach many people within a very specific target market.

Q: How will I find the time for LinkedIn, Facebook, Blogging, Twitter, FourSquare, Yelp, etc?!  Won’t this create extra work?

A: Applying Social Media in the appropriate way is the key to success.  Align the various Social Media platforms to accomplish your specific goals.  I would never suggest hopping on all Social Media platforms at once.

There was a time when we thought emails would take too much time, but now it is an indispensable tool that actually decreases the time spent on phones.  We have new tools to help us be efficient in our delivery.  If you are in the Interior Design industry and wondering how you can apply Social Media to your business, I encourage you to explore a fantastic learning opportunity.  Deborah Flate of Dialogue Consulting and I are teaming on “Weaving Social Media into your Interior Design Business.”

So, I guess the question is how much time and money is being wasted by not participating in Social Media?  If you would like to discuss connecting the Social Media dots for your company please contact Brown Bag Agency today.

This question was asked of me recently and I naturally thought that others would have the same quandary.  Many people know what Social Media can do for their business and know that someone must be hired to do it.  But, what qualities should you look for in the right candidate? 

First, start by defining what your goals are for this position.  Sales, customer service, driving traffic to the site?  From there you can begin to align the candidates with the goals and objectives.  For instance, if the goal is to drive traffic to your site a blog will be a key component of the strategy.  So, the candidate needs to have strong communication skills.  They will become the voice of your company.  Ask for writing samples to see if their written voice could communicate with your core audience.  This person should also be analytical in nature.  Someone that isn’t afraid to gather the numbers and translate what they mean in an informative, understandable way.  

It is also important to inquire as to how much time they currently spend online daily.  If they are not accustomed to that it may seem a little overwhelming to be tethered to their laptop.  It is also incredibly important that they can successfully manage their time online.

Social Media is a relatively new field.  There are so-called experts coming out of the wood work.  Who can blame them?  This is really powerful stuff.  The most important thing to remember is that this person will be doing a little bit of everything really.  Their position will often times be the first person a prospective customer sees.  Do you want this person being the point person for your company?

Many things can be learned (some need more training that others) in Social Media.  Align the talent to your objectives, and you should be successful.

I would love to hear if you have any feedback or additional suggestions on the subject. 

Social Media is a way of engaging your customers in open dialogue which can lead to serious ROE (return on engagement) if handled properly.  The idea behind it is creating real tangible relationships that can aid aspects of: public relations, customer service, perceived value, and of course the ultimate goal, sales. 

Before venturing out into the wilderness, prepare a plan of attack. A well thought out plan should minimize lost time, and provide clear direction for moving forward.  Here are a few things to sort out before jumping in:   

Audience – Who is buying your product (or who you want to buy it) and where do they hang out.  If you are a jewelry designer and believe that other creative types will be your major source of income I suggest looking into sites like Etsy.com.  You would then want to follow those same people on Twitter.  Wherever your customers are, be there too. 

Time Involvement – How much time do you have to devote to Social Media?  If you spend valuable time writing a blog entry, make sure to promote it properly.  For more on this topic, I suggest reading a guest blog post I’ve written for Web Shop Manager entitled “How to Title an eCommerce Website Blog Post, and Promote it too!” included in the series “Developing an eCommerce Blog.”

Who will Represent – Who in your company will represent the brand in the best light?  This should be a person that can develop relationships and shares the same core values as your brand.  If your brand is conservative, so should your representative.

Competition Recon Mission – The best way to learn what you like or dislike is to research the competition.  If you love that your competitors blog is featured on the homepage go ahead and adopt that.  Or perhaps you love the style in which they ‘tweet’ you can learn from that.  I solemnly swear that your retinas will not burn from looking at the competition.  I also want to make clear that you should learn and approve upon their efforts, not emulate them exactly.   

Be Engaging – The worst thing you can do is set up all these accounts and then let them sit there.  Rotting.  If you chose to use Twitter then use the search feature to see if you received any responses to your tweets.  You can then choose to follow that person, or at least respond to them.  Be active, interactive and sincere. 

Most of all have fun with this new technology.  You may find it a bit like a land rush, so stake your claim, carve out a niche and have fun experimenting.  If something isn’t working, move on to something else that is.  Whatever you decide to try, venture into it with sincerity, and with your brand’s core values in mind.  Everything else will shake out. 

If you are interested in subscribing to Brown Bag Agency’s News feed you can do that here.  Or, sign up for the monthly newsletter with a round up of the best news articles pertaining to eCommerce and the Service industry.

According to a recent BIA/Kelsey Press Release:

• 9% of small businesses (SMBs) use Twitter to market themselves.
• 32% of SMBs intend to use social media in their marketing in the next 12 months
• 39%  plan to include customer ratings or reviews on their own websites, and
• 31% plan to place links or ads on social sites or blogs.

This is only in regards to Twitter, but may offer insight into the larger scope of Social Media usage.  I’ve been wondering why there hasn’t been more adoption of Social Media in the mix of marketing plans.  Perhaps it’s that companies can’t fully understand how to use it, or don’t know how to explain it to the higher ups in a way that makes sense for integration.  If that is the case I’ve composed a sample letter to help articulate the benefits to your boss.  I’d love to know if you found this helpful and if you have any strategies to increase adoption of Social Media from a company’s perspective. 

To Whom It May Concern:

I’ve been thinking about our communication efforts online with our (insert one: patients, customers, consumers) and I don’t feel as though we have begun to grasp what Social Media can offer us.  Our site seems more like an information board rather than a portal to two way dialogue.

I believe with a little discipline and creativity we can use the wide reach of Social Media to our advantage.  If you look at how many people are signed up for various Social Media sites according to Nielsen you will find that our reach can be so much more widespread than a newspaper ad, or TV spot. 

In addition to furthering our reach, we are moving from an interruptive form of marketing, to a direct, targeted, open dialogue form, where people opt in to hearing from us and communicate when they have some down time.  What I’m saying is we have the opportunity to communicate with prospective (insert one: patients, customers, consumers) right when they are looking for us!  Just because we aren’t listening to the conversations, doesn’t mean they aren’t taking place.  We have a choice to make: stay passive, or become involved in the dialogue. 

Some Additional Benefits:

• Humanizing our Brand – Social Media can give us a little personality and all correspondence should come from a real human that exemplifies our core values.
• Self-Publishing - Press Releases no longer need to be picked up by the media for release.  We can post them on our site, with optimization for search engines as a bonus, and then they can be picked up.
• Deepened Relationships through Real Time Interactions – Social Media allows us to have this incredible transparency, which can seem scary, but is actually an incredible thing.  We can tell the instant that someone has mentioned us on Twitter, which means we can respond proactively.  There will be more and more of this so we might as well get used to it, and be on the forefront of how we can use this transparency to our advantage. 
• Blog Syndication – Once we’ve written our Press Releases, or blog entries, they can make it easy for them to be shared, and syndicated.  We’ve already written the material, it might as well make it to the masses. 

You are probably wondering how we can quantify our efforts.  We’ll track our progress by making note of how many relationships we are cultivating, and how many are clicking through to our site.  In addition, we will also be able to tell when our blog posts get syndicated to other sites, which only means more free exposure for us.  But, it really is about more than just the numbers.  We may have trouble counting how many brand advocates we obtain, or how many people genuinely enjoy our correspondence.  It’s about the relationships, and the community around our brand that can come from Social Media that are much more effective than a “contact us” page. 

If you are on board for a trial period let’s integrate social media into our marketing plan and take baby steps, maybe start with an hour a day of developing and monitoring our online presence through social media. 

What do you think?

Sincerely,

(Name here)

There have been a few more editions to the blog series that I would like to draw your attention to:

• How to Title an eCommerce Website Blog Post, and Promote it too!
• 3 Areas to Consider when Monetizing your eCommerce Blog
• How to Cultivate and Retain an Active User Base for your eCommerce Blog

Please let us know if you have any questions or are interested in starting your own eCommerce site, or in our blog copywriting services.  We’d be happy to discuss the opportunities available with you.

Social Media can no longer be viewed as a passing fad or something that your teenage kids are into.  It has become much more by utilizing real time capabilities for communication and information sharing.  Individuals can access business hours, payment options, customer referrals, and much more at 4 am if they wish.  Now is the time to jump in feet first and check out the new space, you never know, you might actually like it.  

If executed properly Social Media can:

• Offer transparency that customers demand
• Cut down on phone time, and interruptions to work flow
• Add value to your business by enriching relationships
• Differentiate your business from others
• A venue for referrals and recommendations

Collateral including: business cards, flyers, websites, and social media profiles should offer a cohesive image of the brand in a way that conveys a commitment to quality, and your unique personality.  Potential customers are inundated with choices and options and a great website, or social profile can further your image and reach.  It is growing increasingly imperative to engage the audience that relies on the internet for a majority of their information.  From personal experience I know that I have chosen restaurants, doctors, boutiques based on the professionalism of their website.  If you have a dated, half built website what kind of service can be expected?  You wouldn’t go to a business meeting with cut of jeans and a ratty T-shirt would you? 

Websites and profiles are often times a prospective customer’s first glimpse at the level of professionalism they can expect when they upon visiting your establishment.  Just like making your windows at home energy efficient, make sure that your virtual reach is adding value to your operation and not distracting from it.  Efficiency is the key to being successful in the Social Media-sphere.  Try just a half hour a day by you or someone in your company to be the personality that reaches out to the public.  The first step is to tighten up what is already being projected.  Take an objective look at your website, some competitors, and see where you measure up.  It may be beneficial to get a fresh set of eyes to look over what you have done in the past and look for areas to improve upon, and areas that you are highly effective.  It often times takes minimal effort to have a great impact. 

Just like any new work out routine your muscles respond with discipline, and continued use.  Here are a few platforms to explore for your own benefit.  Depending on time constraints and personalities some may be a better fit than others.  Contemplate incorporating the following for your social media campaign:

Blogging – Blogs offer a platform to share industry news, happenings, and valuable information offered in a timely manor to your audience.  You can set up a blog for free at wordpress.com, or blogger.com for free.  You could then hyperlink the blog back to your website.

Social Networking – Sites like Twitter can be used to promote events, give a ways, or specials.  This must all be done in 140 characters or less so it is an incredibly effective tool for providing quick bits of information.  Additional sites like LinkedIn, and Facebook offer additional opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and the community.

Referral Sites – Sites like Yelp.com offer the community a forum to offer word of mouth opinions and referrals.  Some good some bad, but most of all they are unbiased.  Yelp offer businesses an opportunity to share more information about their business, events, special offers, etc all for free. 

Which ever combination of social media venues you choose to explore make sure you are consistent with your message, and keep your audience in mind.  If you offer valuable, and interesting information your readership will grow, and your sincerity will be a reflection of you, the staff, and your business as a whole.

Emily Dunn

emily@brownbagagency.com

Emily was asked to post a follow up to “5 Important Questions to Ask Before Starting an e-Commerce Blog”.  You can read the full article entitled “How do I develop Innovative Content for my e-Commerce Blog?” at Web Shop Manager where she explores some helpful idea generating tips.  The overall message is write for your audience, and keep in mind why they visit your site.  Become the expert! 

Emily was recently asked to write a guest post for Web Shop Manager (WSM).  The entry is focused on helping to answer the who, what, when, where, and why of blogging, you will find that it is a quick read.  So, if you don’t yet have a blog (or, even if you do) stop by WSM’s post “5 Important Questions to Ask before Starting an eCommerce Blog”.  Feel free to leave a comment here or on WSM and she would be happy to respond.