by Lisa Wedmann | Dec 19, 2013 | Latest, Social Media
According to Socialnomics, 40% of Canadians were using Facebook or Twitter by 2010. By 2012, almost half of the population had joined social media sites. In 2013, it is established 2/3 of Canadians now use social media. These are facts to be considered when strategizing for a brand launch.
These are numbers that brands just can’t ignore. They realize that they need to be on social media. So, without a lot of thought or planning, they decide to go all in. Next thing you know, they join Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+.
Then, reality sets in. Social media is not easy. Before jumping in, with both feet, brands need to take a step back and set up a clear brand launch social media plan.
Here are just a few of the steps that companies need to look at before jumping into the social media world in their brand launch!
Research
Who is your audience? What platforms do they use? When do they use them? Why do they use them? The more informed you are, the better the decisions you will make about platforms and content.
Objectives
Just as important as the research, you need objectives. What are your goals, short-term and long-term. Where do you want to go, and how does social media fit into your overall plan.
Create an Editorial Calendar
Plan out the year, then month and eventually the week. Include blogger campaigns, contests and posts. Then layer in all marketing plans since social media give you a chance to amplify promotions, from coupons, to charity campaigns to in-store promotions.
Be Social
Unlike traditional advertising, social media is not simply about putting a message out there. It’s all about the relationships! This means you need to engage, share and respond in a timely fashion. Being present will build the basis for strong relationship. It’s not just about the number of followers, it’s about the level of engagement!
Listen
And if we want to grow those engagement numbers, we can’t just keep talking. It’s important to listen, and really hear what your audience sharing and asking about. What are they concerned about.
Tell a Compelling Story
Social media allows you to tell a story that will create interest, engage your audience and build brand loyalty. Stories are compelling, and will draw in followers and allow consumers to connect with your brand.
Last, but not least, you need Patience! The followers and engagement, will come. But it will take time. And content. Lots of it! What is the one thing that you have found to be most important when launching a brand on social media platforms?
by Lisa Wedmann | Dec 2, 2013 | Latest, Marketing
As 2013 is ending, budgeting for 2014 is well under way. In fact, for many companies budgets and the business plans for 2014 are already in place. But the piece that is often missing is the marketing plan.
The marketing plan will include a list of actionable items to be implemented throughout the year. This plan will be the “bible” for the year. It should clearly identify:
- Define goals and targets, monthly, quarter and yearly, and how you will measure success;
- Define strategic activities you will undertake that will help to reach goals and targets;
- Define audience for each activity;
- Define who is involved and responsible for each activity
This plan needs to be based on defined objectives and the strategies that will, in effect, achieve the objectives. Without a sound strategic base, the marketing plan will be of little use. So how do you go about creating this?
The best place to start is looking back at the previous year, and also carefully analyzing the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and the competitive landscape. How do you do this?
A solid and must have start is to do a S.W.O.T. analysis. What is a S.W.O.T? It is an examination of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing your business. This analysis will help you to identify key insights on where your brand or business is within the market landscape, competitive arena and also assist in establishing brand tone, persona and voice. It will assist in developing strategic plans to move forward. You will be able to pinpoint what makes you different from your competitors (USP), what the strengths and weaknesses are, and where opportunities lie moving forward.
Next, take a look at what we call, “Lessons Learned”. Review the year, and every program, from beginning to end. This goes beyond just looking at the end results. Yes, meeting goals and targets is important, but there are other key learnings to be taken from the program: 1) were all departments on board? 2) Was there an internal communication breakdown? 3)Was the timing off, to name only a few. Write it all down. Out of this review will come 4 lists:
- What worked – and why!
- What didn’t work – and why!
- Lessons Learned – what did I learn about this?
- Recommendation on moving forward.
Just starting with these 4 lists, S.W.O.T and “Lessons Learned”, you will have a good place to start as you lay out your plans for 2014. These three analyses will help you clearly define a direction, target audience, competitive landscape and media channels that will help you to build a successful and memorable 2014!
Do you have a marketing plan for 2014? How do you begin your plan?
by Lisa Wedmann | Nov 14, 2013 | Business Success, Latest
Developing successful client relationships has never been “easy” work. At 3H, we have had the privilege of having worked with some great clients over the last 25 years. It’s always a pleasure… at least mostly! We have had the opportunity to create successful campaigns delivering on our promise of always putting out awesome creative and, quite frankly, it feels great. Sure, we may have bumps and challenges along the way but when everything is said and done clients are genuinely happy about the success of the job.
And when our clients are happy, we at 3H are very happy campers.
When on time and on budget does not mean success… or does it?
Conversely, we’ve probably all worked for that other type of client. The one who is never happy. For them, it’s not enough that you bring the project in on time and on budget and that you produce some awesome result. It doesn’t matter what you do, they won’t let on that you did a great job. But really do they need to say it?
Client Relationships and the secret to make your client happy.
There’s a secret that’s saved our sanity countless times. There is a simple way to keep your client happy and to confirm mutual success. It’s called success criteria. Success criteria is a group of objectives used to define tangible business outcomes on which the success of the project is judged. Success criteria is used to establish what makes the project completion successful and to confirm that you have met your goals. Success criteria is defined at the beginning of the job. It establishes the definition of success of the project.
Defining success criteria is simple: Be specific.
There is one simple question you must ask your client in order to define your success criteria. “When and how do we know we’ve done a great job?” It’s the answer to this one question that will tell you what it takes to make your client happy and your project a success.
That’s easy, many say just increase sales. But that’s not good enough of an answer. You must be able to measure success criteria. So instead, you need to quantify the statement. It must be measurable. Agree that when you increase sales by 5% then the project is a success. But don’t stop here. Even this measure leaves you open to risk. You must include a time measurement. Increase sales 5% by the third quarter.
Success is obvious and your client is happy.
In order to know where you stand and keep your client happy, define success criteria at the beginning of every project. At the end, you can meet with your client and both agree that your project was a success.Your client will know that you met your objectives and you will know where you stand. There is no question or doubt.
Your client is successfully happy whether they tell you or not… and that makes you happy too!
by Lisa Wedmann | Nov 10, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
In my opinion cause marketing is the most satisfying type of marketing for any business, large or small. It’s a chance to help their favourite charity and enables businesses, ultimately, to make money.
What is cause marketing? At its simplest form it’s the request for a charity donation at a grocery checkout. You may have participated in a food drive at a local store. This is cause marketing.
When a store links their business to a charity, they raise awareness, involve the community and make money for the cause. The good news is that through their cause marketing support, their company that is associating itself to that cause, aldo benefits in the same ways as the said charity.
Cause Marketing: A win-win
Through cause marketing businesses inadvertently (or not), create awareness towards their brand or business by increasing social engagement all the while MAKE MONEY for the chosen charity. The increased awareness and social engagement bodes well for business and business persona. It shows commitment and develops ties within the community. The bonus: business can help with a cause in which they believe in. Talk about a winning situation.
Some of the largest and most successful companies devote a lot of time and money to supporting and highlighting their cause marketing efforts. TD Canada Trust has their “Friends of the Environment”, Tim Hortons has their “Send a Kid to Camp” and McDonalds has their “Ronald McDonald House”.
Ultimately the cynics out there will look at the obvious… afterall there has to be a financially sound reason for these companies to invest in cause marketing. If these companies didn’t make money, they wouldn’t be able to show this type of support. Well yes in no.
The truth of the matter is that it’s pretty hard to fake cause marketing.
Although some cynics may find it mercenary that companies make money on the coattails of the charities. But on the other hand, it’s pretty hard to fake this type of relationship. Charities believe in what they do. They have a message for the world and they want to get their message out as much as the businesses that support the cause.
When people are giving to charity they are also recognizing your business as trustworthy and committed to the community. As marketer we all know what happens when people recognize and have faith in your business, don’t we?
Cause Marketing is a unique opportunity for businesses to gain awareness and build top of mind recognition with the ultimate goal of promotion sales and hence make money . But those businesses are also good because they do good.
Now that just has to feel good doesn’t it?
by Lisa Wedmann | Oct 31, 2013 | Advertising, Latest
Advertising frequency is a huge component in the success of any campaign. Think about it: How many times do you need to hear a phone number in order to remember? Don’t answer… it’s a trick question. I have most of my numbers stored in my phone. Not sure about you but I don’t need to repeat phone numbers in order to remember. When I lose my phone or lose my contacts I am in big trouble.
In terms of new advertising and increasing awareness, most people need to repeat or hear an ad or communication three times before it registers. You can test it yourself. Take a name for example. A name that is not a person you know. Like Ryan Clarke. Repeat that name out loud three times. Chances are you will remember…at least in the short term.
Next week rolls around and you might not remember the name. But, if you see Ryan Clarke’s name repeated on Facebook, or an email comes around with this name on it , you might remember the name. Then you might forget … then again you might remember. That’s how building brand awareness works.
Effective Advertising Frequency
In marketing and in advertising, the number of times information is repeated before action is taken is called effective frequency.
There are many theories on what is the proper or correct advertising frequency you should aim for. The number of times you should repeat your information to your target audience is an important factor in the success of any advertising campaign.
There are many marketing theories on how and what strategies should be employed. Get to marketers in a room and each will think that their opinion is the best approach. But where they all agree is that advertising frequency is a must, the information or communications message must be repeated.
It’s not enough to run your ad up the flagpole and assume that your target market will drop everything and salute. Your ad isn’t on a flagpole and really, ads aren’t akin to patriotism. Repeat, repeat, repeat and your message will stick.
The first part of the above statement is obvious. Your message must be heard numerous times before your customer takes action. Marketing of any brand to build awareness must be an ongoing continuous effort in order to be successful.
The second part of the statement is not so obvious, unless you are a seasoned marketing professional. The matter of your messaging sticking is about creative approach, brand persona, media placement and creative strategy.
Approach your customer from different angles. Repeat the same message but repeat it on different channels. Think print, packaging, TV, radio, social media, events, pr and…
I can’t repeat that too many times.
Repeat uniquely, repeat creatively, repeat strategically. Then, your message will stick and your brand awareness rise to the top of the flagpole.
