by Lisa Wedmann | Jun 27, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Creative, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
Which do you want to know first? The good news or the bad news? I like to hear bad news first in order to assess damage control. And I still have something to feel enthusiastic about since the good news is yet to come. so, since this is my blog… here’s the bad news… first. The bad news is that those who study how to go viral are almost unanimous in the conclusion that going viral is a result of synchronicity, that simultaneous occurrence of events that somehow appear related but have no understandable connection. It’s about being in the right place, at the right time with the right material and a little bit of luck.
THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT VIRAL MARKETING
However, where they do agree is that you can position yourself to be in the most fortuitous place to make going viral happen.
Below are a few viral marketing tactics that can help in your quest. They may seem elementary but they are the type of tactics that build a foundation and that is always a good place to start.
VIRAL MARKETING TACTICS
Think carefully about your topic.
First, understand that not everything has the ability to go viral.
I mean, come on now did you really think your thesis on Greek Social History would go viral? That means before we start fantasizing about our success we have to consider is it reasonable to expect that your project can go viral. You need to choose your topic carefully. At the same time, in all fairness, none of us know which things can and will go viral. I find it hard to believe that a 15 minute video of a women trying to parallel park went viral but it did.
Experiment, test and then test again.
Next, be prepared to experiment.
Try different approaches. Don’t be satisfied with one idea. Put two or three or more ideas out there and if you don’t get results, or as my Dad used to say, don’t flog a dead horse. Try a different approach. Experiment, test, refine, and then test again.
Turn the ordinary into extraordinary.
I never relate to those articles that tell me how easy it is to get that killer app or that killer eBook or that killer product and all you have to do is have a unique idea, or create memorable content. Duh. That’s what having a good product is all about. Face it guys, you are preaching to the converted.
But you can borrow from a few standard marketing techniques. Techniques such as turning the ordinary into something beautiful, take Apple and their visually beautiful line of products or Dove with their real beauty campaign.
Give your idea a partner.
Here’s an easy way to get that extra push. Pair your idea with something unrelated but totally relatable. A bit of an oxymoron? Not really. Think of Maxwell House Coffee and the positive little girl who loves her house and just about everything in it.
MORE GOOD NEWS ABOUT VIRAL MARKETING
Viral marketing makes your business visible.
There’s one more aspect of viral marketing that makes me want to stand up and jump HOORAY! When you create a viral marketing campaign you are creating awareness and increased visibility for your business.
Do you have any ideas on how to make a campaign go viral?
by Stephanie Fasulo | Jun 5, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Latest, Social Media
A crabby situation!
Mr. Clean seemed to have had a long day a couple of weeks ago being attacked by giant crabs. He literally had a crabby situation on his hands! I wonder which line of cleaning products he used to clean up that mess. I can imagine giant crabs leaving quite a disaster, more so for the social media manager! However appalling this jaw-dropping hacker scenario may be, it’s sadly something every company should be aware of when jumping into managing online brands.
Most marketing communications departments have a process for internal or external crisis – but how many people ever face the actuality their Twitter or Facebook account might get hacked!? Why wouldn’t you think that? It’s the internet and that’s what the “bad guys” use the internet for causing havoc and unleashing giant, man eating crabs!
There is obviously a bad side to being hacked, other than facing the humiliation of very bad advertising on a global scale, your account loses the quality and authenticity you’ve been working so hard to attain. You’ll probably lose followers or your followers will help share the hacker’s message by telling all their friends about it. I found out about Mr. Clean because my friend Tay posted that picture above on her Facebook page commenting “hackers at it again”. She was blasé about the whole thing because she’s in public relations and understands social media challenges. But the majority of followers won’t be!
So how can we, professional communications people, protect ourselves against being hacked and keeping our online brand reputations in tact?
Variety is best
It’s always best to have a very difficult password to protect the Facebook and/or Twitter account. In many cases have a log of passwords safely stored and try and make them, where possible, different for each account.
Don’t pass around passwords
If you’re managing client accounts, don’t give them the passwords. They may want it to check in on what you’re doing, but it’s best if one person has access and can maintain relationships with true followers and keep an eye on internal hackers sending inmail, or posting spam. Someone without regular knowledge about an account may open messages flagged as spam and they wouldn’t even know it!
Open an email or not
In most cases hackers access through the webpage hosting sites, but for more secured accounts such as Facebook or Twitter, internal messages sent as spam can be the link a hacker needs to break into your account. Be watchful and cautious.
When Mr. Clean was hacked imaginably it was embarrassing, however, Mr. Clean’ social media manager chose to leave the hacker’s content and make a joke about it.
Burger King was probably the most memorable hacker attack as tweets explained they had been sold to McDonalds and even changed the profile image to the McDonald’s logo! But in a strange turn of events the community of Twitter thought it was the funniest thing and the story went viral. Once back on track, Burger King shouted out to its new followers and all was well in the world again.
Hacker situations are very real and very personal. As a social media manager I couldn’t imagine being hacked but I will prepare for it. Even though some people may take it lightly, I highly doubt clients or businesses will. I think the best way to deal with a hacker is to acknowledge it and go on with the show. And for the mean time, I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for those mean, giant crabs!
by Miriam Hara | May 29, 2013 | Branding, Latest, Social Media
It’s nice to see so many brands that were once fearful of plunging into social media finally dive in, at least on Facebook. Many brands and businesses have a Facebook page understanding that it is no longer an option to not have one. It is a “media” channel… and a way to build awareness, educate consumers and engage consumers through their buying journey.
Now that brands and business have a Facebook Page, how do they leverage it… and more importantly, how do they build a community… a strong one that will enable them to reap the benefits of this exciting social media marketing channel.
So how do you write relevant posts to build your brand community? Here are 4 rules you must adhere to.
1) Develop your brand’s voice. In the past the brand image was visual and often static. With the exception of those brands that could afford TV and radio, brand persona and character largely dealt with the visual. With Social Media, and especially with Facebook, brands have to have a dimensional brand voice so it is key to determine it before you start. Is your brand voice serious? Will it take on the one of a mentor or educator? Will your brand be personable, fun and/or dynamic? Whatever your brand’s voice style is, it’s very important to keep the tone of your voice consistent.
2) It’s not about selling. Every post doesn’t have to be about your business or brand…. actually, this may come as a surprise, but every post can’t be about your brand or business! It’s about the community your brand belongs to or rather, if created properly, owns. Understanding how your community feels, what they want to hear about is important. Let’s face it, brands and businesses have a Facebook Page because they need to be there… be seen and be part of their audience’s world. Make sure you take advantage of it in the right way!
3) Be engaging. That means that it’s not good enough to push out posts onto your Facebook Page. It’s about going to other Brand Pages or relevant pages and engaging with them. It’s about being responsive to your community and adding to their engagement. So if you have a wine store, or a winery, it would be good to like pages of boards such as chicken or beef…or other recipe sites. Maybe even “like” magazine Facebook Pages that in the past you have advertised in or plan to advertise in.
4) Be exciting. Launch a Facebook contest or better yet, if feasible, provide a determined number of free samples of your products or promote a sale that’s going on in your store. Yes, understandably, everyone loves free stuff and a contest…and more so on Facebook. However, think of it as a trial run that has 2 great benefits: 1) you can develop a very strong and current database that you then use to target on further specialty programs and promotions, and 2) This is a great way to get people to like your page! Through the duration of the contest or until they get their free sample, they get to see what your brand posts are all about. , By doing that you are showing them why they should continue to stay in your community. The only reason for them to do that is that they really really like your brand!
Once you develop a sound solid community then you can advertise on Facebook, to further build your brand’s community and build traction and excitement for your contests and your community. It would be wonderful to hear about some of your Facebook Page successes. Please share them here!
by Lisa Wedmann | May 28, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
Most of us are familiar with Morse Code, that mystifying alphabet where letters are represented by a combination of long and short signals mostly called dashes and dots.
Typically we’ve seen Morse Code used in movies where the distress signal S.O.S, three dots, three dashes, three dots is sent and a rescue is made.
What made Morse Code so popular in movies is that it could easily be sent in a short time and get an immediate response. The tool was adaptable. You could use a hammer on a pipe or a flashlight. Whatever worked.
Poignantly when Morse Code was retired in the nineties, the French Navy’s final message was “Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence.”
Obviously they hadn’t heard about Twitter where silence has been replaced by a deafening roar.
And talk about immediate response.
In 140 characters or less, Twitter provides a quick and easy way to get your message out to clients and potential clients.
OK I’m sold. What are you waiting for? Let’s get tweeting right?
Not so fast, before you do anything else you must develop a TwitterMarketing Strategy and Plan.
Begin with your marketing objective and build a Twitter strategy around that objective. What do you hope to accomplish with your Twitter Campaign. This is the most difficult to establish since your objective will set the tone and your approach to tweeting.
On the plus side having a strategy makes it easy to manage your account since you do not have to second guess yourself when sending out a message. This also makes it easier for multiple people to manage an account while keeping it consistent with company goals and branding.
In creating your Twitter Strategy and Campaign consider:
How will your landing page look? Will it include photos?
What is the name of your Twitter account? Will it reflect your business name and brand in a way that makes it easy to remember? This may seem obvious but is it easy to spell?
How will you get followers?
What are the keywords associated with your account? This is an important element since these keywords will attract the right followers.
What type of tweeters will you follow? Will you follow only those who work in your industry or will you include others?
How often will your post?
What type of information will you post? Will you post about specials or sales, news events or other comments about your industry?
Will you be provocative to stimulate feedback?
Will you block irrelevant or spam accounts?
What is your policy on “Favourites”? This is strategically important since each time you favourite someone’s content they are notified and your name is in front of them.
What are the rules for abbreviations? Will you develop a lexicon of common terminology and abbreviations for your business that you will use consistently to promote your brand?
Will you retweet and if so what type of information will you share?
These are just a few examples of what to include in your Twitter Marketing Strategy.
This is your first step in a quick and easy way to get your message out and you won’t even need a flashlight.
by Stephanie Fasulo | May 23, 2013 | Business Success, Latest, Social Media, Uncategorized
If you decide to take your company online you’re joining a community of teachers, learners, explorers, and open-minded people who are trying new marketing communications tools that are changing every day. Just this week alone I received numerous emails about my analytics on Facebook changing… yet again. The most frustrating change Facebook Analytics did was remove the Social Reach reference when monitoring Facebook Ads, in the Full Report mode ! Working around this new development, I was still able to find the necessary metrics I needed, in a less efficient way… a needless to say, a tad more stressful! This got me wondering on how any of us can keep up with our work while the platforms we work on everyday change so often!
Don’t get we wrong, I totally accept that being in social media, it’s what we signed up for, this diverse, ever-changing, community of social people. But how do we keep it up when there are so many other priorities in the day-to-day business of doing? Rather than depending on email updates or announcements, there are a few ways we can deal with the ever evolving ground of social media. Based on your brand’s vision and more importantly, goals that you establish, here are a few alternatives in how you can manage your social media initiatives. Picking the right one for your business will make the difference between how well you navigate the many transitions that are sure to come!
Hire someone: Hiring a designated person to handle your company’s social media specifically regardless of company size is that you can maintain a steady, unwavering pulse on social media and all the changes that happen so often. You can start off my hiring a part-time full-time person. This will allow the person to get a read on the business culture and brand voice so that they can communicate effectively.
Outsource: Like everything else in business, if you outsource to your social media initiatives to the right partner, your social media becomes their priority…and seeing that they are in the business of social media, they not only have a pulse on the changes, but they are the at the forefront of the changes and their potential impact on your business’ social initiatives. More care would have to be taken to ensure that the business culture and voice is portrayed consistently.
DIY: . I’m not saying not to do it yourself! You can be successful if you immerse yourself. You just have to know that you need to be involved with the image and online brand being shared all over the world every minute of every day. If your company is small, it can be fun and exciting to do it yourself because you can see your fan base and community build…in real time! You have to ask yourself though… is the time you are taking to do it yourself, taking you away from “your real job”…and thus short-changing the business goals?
Don’t get involved: Let’s face it, there’s always those who jump in with both feet…that would be the early adopters. And then there are those that really take a long time to get on board…and that would be the slow movers. In some cases, there are those that don’t ever get on board! I ‘m not sure if that’s even an option in today’s marketing and business landscape. After all, social media isn’t just Facebook…it’s LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, MosiacHub, Reddit,Social Media Today and GuestBlog…to name a few.
If you are reading this right now you are already apart of the social media community where we all learn from each other. If there is a problem, challenge or question, online communicators… we social communicators don’t have to go very far for answers. Social Media has made us pioneers of sorts and we are all part of the same community, constantly learning and reaching out…and in fact keeping up with social media!
