by Stephanie Fasulo | May 9, 2013 | Advertising, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
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!
by Stephanie Fasulo | May 3, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Creative, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
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!
by Miriam Hara | Apr 30, 2013 | Advertising, Latest, Social Media
Most people know about social media and its distinct ability to help advertisers get out their messages. Unfortunately, as the rapid pace of the social media technology keeps evolving, it’s no wonder that advertisers can’t keep up on the latest and greatest… and how best to get these messages across. Keeping up with the speed of change is all consuming, but a necessity. You only have to look to Facebook and LinkedIn, and how they are constantly evolving their presentation, adding features, removing features, monetizing their applications. It is obvious that computers help get advertisers messages out to people, but when, where and how people receive this information is vital to the success of a brand and product.
The Smartphone gives advertisers the ability to operate in real-time and in niche marketing. This is key on so many levels when launching campaigns, opening a retail outlet and getting brand attention when it matters most… when consumers want or need to make the purchase. The generation of technology that is being launched today is user-friendly technology, all geared toward making the consumer aware of their entire surroundings. Consumers are given information on their favorite coffee shop, new products, like unique electronics, as well as restaurants, and nightclubs…and advertisers need and want to tap into this.
Kindles, iPads, notebooks, and other hand-held devices can display amazing graphics, and play outstanding videos that make content jump off the web and into the thoughts and minds of the consumer when they are looking for it… and therein lies the beauty of technology!
With up-to-date technology advertisers can adopt marketing – tech platforms, target multiple consumers across many technologies, being able to harness real-time data. Using various technologies one can measure growth and performance of your product.
The Internet itself is an ever-changing format for advertisers to promote their products. The downside to this is consumers can compare prices even as they shop. A store may lose a customer’s entire shopping purchase because the store does not stock a particular item. A brand may lose a consumer at any time in the buying cycle. People purchase new products and services together via technology, with their set critera whether it be a lower price, or a new feature… or colour!
Imagine for a moment that we are back in the days of MadMan, where ideas have to be written or typed. That pictures can only be created by hand, and presentations were not given by means of PowerPoint. And, the only way to get out your content was by the television, newspaper, magazines, or an insurmountable amount of flyers. Not to mention the gift we have given back to Mother-Earth by not using nearly as many paper products. Technology has made it a game changer for advertising.
Since one can use advertising in real-time, compared to how it was done in the past the targeting demographics as well as psychographic has not only become accessible but has become a science.
Technology, with the use of PVRs has allowed us to skip commercials on television, so that advertisements are obscured. Amazingly enough, a study posted in The Economist shows that the Brand name does get observed.
Hitting the key audience is paramount for launching your advertising campaign. Information gathered by using social media, researching and gauging the public reaction could be make or break a product. By using technology one can track one’s product, to see where, it was bought, how it was bought, when it was bought, and who bought it. Advertisers can go as far as understanding what made them purchase… through the use of AB testing, and multiple targeted offers.
Advertisers Beware: Technology has allowed marketing and advertising to have limitless applications. It has pushed the envelope, and it will no doubt keep pushing it with newer and newer technology… are you ready?
by Lisa Wedmann | Apr 20, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Latest, Social Media
It’s important to have a social media strategy. As Marketers it is important to get your message out in a consistent and timely basis; but how do you handle that when a tragic situation occurs within your community? Does your team have a crisis plan in place within your social media strategy?
Recently there have been some very tragic news stories that were rampant throughout mainstream media. When the horrible explosions occurred in Boston at the Boston Marathon finish line we at 3H, along with the brands that we represent, chose to extend our sympathies and then remain quiet in our social media streams. In light of the situation that was the appropriate and respectful thing to do and we were happy to see that many companies and brands chose the same approach.
Alas common sense is not so common and sadly there is always at least one company that puts out a message that the general public is offended by due to poor timing. https://twitter.com/stringsn88keys/status/324139615852298241/photo/1
Epicurious took a beating over these tweets and have since deleted them and apologized.
We can all learn a lesson by unfortunate situations like this. Here is a great checklist that your social media team should keep on hand:
- Turn off scheduled tweets/posts
- Listen to what your community is saying
- Just as you think before you speak (or should), think before you type and hit enter
If you happen to say something that you probably shouldn’t have:
- Don’t delete your post and then go into hiding
- Own up to it and do it quickly
- Be honest and genuine in your apology
If you approach your Community with honesty and integrity, even if you made a mistake, your Community will respect you for doing what you can to make things right. Once the dust settles your true fans and followers will still love you.
by Jenna Elberson | Mar 26, 2013 | Business Success, Latest, Social Media
You have a great Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest page. Your timeline photo, background image and profile pictures are eye catching. Your brand is engaging your fans/followers with compelling content, because as we know content is king. You have all the elements you need for great social media presence, do you have social media metrics to track and measure the growth and success on the social media landscape?
There’s more to social media metrics…
If your brand has a business page on Facebook tracking changes to your social media is easy, but that’s not always the metrics you need to go by. Even on sites like Google+, Twitter and Pinterest it can a little more complicated, but it’s do-able. Keep in mind that not every client or business is the same so measuring metrics and your ROI will vary.
Here are just a few ways you can measure the success of your social media and enhance it. First start with…
1. Track it!
Search the web and you will find a few social media templates that have likes, comments, RTs. You can easily make your own, ask your client or yourself what it is you’re trying to track. What is your objective with your social media campaign; retweets vs new followers? Once you have the items you want to track you’re good to go. Keep track of the weekly activity and at the end of the week visit the chart and see what works and what doesn’t.
2. Sales
You should keep a close eye on your sales when promoting on Social Media. Most companies see big gain in sales by doing a push on social media. Track which type of promo does best for your sales. Whether you offer a % discount vs. a BOGO etc AND also keep a watchful eye on which social platform you generate the most sales from. Pinterest always increases sale more when you promote and item like clothing or a gadget where as a % discount on a product will better suit you on Facebook and Twitter.
3. Engagement
Which stories or posts garnered the most comments? When your users engage with your brand or the content you aren’t necessarily gaining a fan you’re gaining interest from that person. Track their social media journey. Does a picture do better than a story or a video vs. a question. The social media chart should track this and by revisiting it find out what works and doesn’t with your brand and watch for an increase in engagement with your fans/followers. Another key ingredient here is how YOU engage with your followers. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to response, but that you respond! People want their voice to be heard, whether it’s in a positive way or negative make sure you are engaging with your fans and interacting with them.
All brands will have a different social media strategy when it comes to tracking their metrics and ROI. As long as you keep a close eye on what’s working and what’s not and act on it, you will see a positive change towards your social media campaign. Not all things work the first time, be patience you’re working towards a positive ROI outcome and at first you don’t succeed try, try again.
