Pinterest: The Building Blocks of Business

Pinterest is a virtual tool that provides an extraordinary sharing platform like no other. 3H has a Pinterest account where we dedicate boards to our pins about useful business to business content. Our strategy is to engage and inspire followers, business-related or not, and give an insight to the marketing, advertising and social media world from our perspective. We recently updated our 3rd eBook “Social Media Understood” with a board of 38 pins of tips and tricks for building an online brand. There are some really awe-inspiring quotes… and I’d like to share some with you here and if you like the sample, you’ll check out the rest right here!: http://pinterest.com/3hcomm/social-media-understood/

#5/38 Niche is where it’s at:  This is the most important benefit and feature of the Social Media channel. Social Media is truly all a about finding your niche…and building your community…no matter how big or small.  If you want to push a product or idea you’ve got to speak the same language as your customers and online fans. When you find your grove, don’t leave it – build on it.

#13/38 Social Media is not a popularity contest.  As much as we all want thousands of followers, it doesn’t mean anything if you’re not connecting with your audience and building solid relationships. A twitter account boasting  10,000 followers may not be able to engage all 10,000 in the way that a smaller account of 500 followers can. It’s about engagement and influence. It should always be about quality, not quantity. You want to make sure people are actually listening to you, reading and reacting to your content.  Great content breeds followers.

2/38 Get out there. This is a great one: Get out there!! Don’t be afraid to learn as you do. If you wait to learn about it all, you’ll never jump in…. or out! Don’t just tweet and post and expect results – you need to do your research, find bloggers, influencers and jump into the social-sphere of communication.  Be different, stand out and reach a curious audience with a positive tone and an up-to-date experience. And oh…by the way, this is my way of getting out there!

There are great and easy pointers in our eBook “Social Media Understood” and we invite you to look it up on our Pinterest account.

Happy posting!

Product vs. Store Brands: Marketing for your Online Presence

So you have an idea for a social media campaign, and you’re thinking of all the millions of people you’re going to attract using Twitter, a blog or Facebook – it’s so exciting! But hold on one second, you have to ask yourself the easy questions first to be guarantee long-term success. Product vs. store branding online have obvious similarities but need to be managed differently.

Product branding online and store branding online are similar because both need to reach a specific audience, tailored especially to the individual needs and wants of the company and/or client. A product can have a fan base and followers who will support a social media presence just the same as a store ( i.e. grocery stores, furniture stores, hair salons, or retail outlets ). Product and Store branding have the same goals when trying to target specific audiences.

Content
The content for products and stores, obviously tailored to the social media strategy, can fall under similar categories and actually intertwine between lifestyle, health and beauty, healthy eating, environmental facts or fashion tips.

Ex. Ikea Canada Stores vs. Organic Make-Up Brushes.

Environmental ideas (gardening DIY idea above) on Ikea Canada’s Facebook page and the organic makeup brush products both can share similar content because they are targeting people who support the ideas, beliefs and culture of the brand they’re promoting online. With this said, both products and stores need to keep a pulse and a keen eye for the market, what’s current and trending. Both will pull in great results with these similar online branding strategies.

Products go out; customers come in.

But there are some differences between product and store branding and they’re worth remembering. The first, and most important, is a store online presence should come from the location itself. The store is a place where clients can see what’s going on, learn about in-store promotions and, with luck, be enticed enough to visit through social media efforts.
Products can be sent out, given to customers through a blog. This way online visitors can get what you’re selling right in their hands. However, with store branding you need followers and supporters to come in and see your store, see the products on your shelves and experience the service you provide. That should be taken into consideration when branding online for the greatest success. Do it right and reap the rewards!