The Consistency and Fluidity of Branding

Photo credit: OwenBrown.com via Flickr.com

Congratulations, you did it!  You broke that elusive 100 Facebook page fan mark. Granted, the initial fans of your page are usually your own family and friends that felt obligated to accept your invitation to "like" it. 

Nonetheless, you have crossed over the mark that many find unattainable. What you do next will set you apart from the all the other business, nonprofit, community and political pages out there.

Many Facebook page administrators see their pages as merely an advertising tool; which is fine as long as you have established your brand and set your marketing strategy. We all do not start our Facebook pages as universally established brands; ones evoking childhood memories such as Coke, McDonald's or George Takai. It takes dedication and hard work to get to that point. 

There are businesses and organizations that bypass branding; jumping directly to marketing and advertising, especially via social media. Many tend to forget that there are distinct differences between branding, marketing and advertising. Before you can successfully market and advertise, you must establish your brand. Branding establishes who you are or what your business stands for.  Marketing is your plan to tell people about your brand. Advertising encompasses the ways in which you tell those people. 

It doesn't matter if your business or organization has been in existence for 100 years; utilizing social media opens you up to an entirely new audience. Branding messages are what drives the conversation on your page. Being consistent is the key.

For instance, you run a page dedicated to saving the world against the imminent takeover of zombie minions. A worthwhile cause; however, inconsistency in your messaging dilutes its importance. Posting a video of a cat dancing by a window does nothing to advance your cause; although cat videos can be awfully darn cute.  Or, you run a page for a local political candidate. For arguments sake, let's say the candidate is a member of the liberal party. You share a photo of the candidate at an event. Unfortunately, the event is held by the local ultra conservative party. Consider what that simple picture does to the candidate's brand. Your job and theirs just became much more difficult to manage.

Even after you have established your branding message, determined your marketing strategy and have begun your advertising; you must always be willing to revisit your branding. The focus of your business, organization or cause may have changed over the years. You started out as a mom and pop pizza shop that has since morphed into a full fledged 5-star Italian dining experience. Does your current branding strategy reflect this change? Are you posting conflicting messages; confusing both your current and potential customer base?

Branding is all about being both consistent and fluid. Finding that perfect balance. Listening to your page followers and taking your cues from them. They will be the most honest and tell you what is working and what isn't. When it isn't working; you will see that in the decrease of page likes and the lack of engagement with your page.

How Engaging Are You?

As I delve further into the world of Social Media, I am dumbfounded as to the quality; and in many cases, the lack of customer interaction by local and national businesses and organizations. I realize that I have touched on this topic in previous posts. However, recent events have compelled me to expand on my original thoughts.

Corporate America has jumped on the social media bandwagon in order to build its client base and drive up sales.  Nothing wrong with that; so far so good.  We also know that the larger your client base the more likely you will receive complaints along with the compliments. No business is perfect. There is always going to be something the consumer is going to complain about; whether it be pricing, product quality, etc.  It is the nature of doing business.  

Engaging and interacting with your client base in a positive and forthright manner is one the tried and true ways to build both your online and offline brand reputations. Copying and pasting the same "canned" corporate approved response to each and every complaint and comment posted to social media platforms does not qualify as sincere customer engagement. It only serves to add credence to the original complaints due to its lack of sincerity and originality. 

I am of the old school where personal interaction always takes precedence when dealing with both established and potential clients.  Many of those same tried and true techniques are easily transferable to the social media environment.  It has become apparent that many administrators of these various platforms are not skilled in these time honored customer engagement skills.  We can blame it on corporate downsizing resulting in the loss of veteran employees or simply that these "newbies" in the field just are not being mentored properly in these skills.

When something goes awry whether it be with a product or messaging, acknowledge the mistake and share the corrective actions that you plan on taking.  Many times, we do not learn of the mistake until someone points it out; usually in a very public setting.  The tendency is to immediately go on the defensive. Do your best to avoid the urge. Becoming defensive and redistributing the blame is as bad as responding with a canned corporate response

Businesses and organizations that continue on this track will eventually end up with no one to engage with.   

Are You Marketing Socially?

As a social media marketer, do you find yourself simply marketing on social media platforms or are you marketing socially? Many may ask, what's the difference? There is a big difference; one that determines whether your social media marketing campaign is a successful one or not.

Social media is all about connections and conversations. This is what sets social media marketing apart from print, radio and television advertising. While they are one-way streets, social media platforms allow us to have two-way conversations. Conversations that enable us to engage with our followers (or customers). 

These conversations; however, are important to develop relationships more so than selling a product or brand. Many social media marketers tend to forget this. Developing a personal rapport with your followers and customers should be a priority in all your social media marketing campaigns.

As a marketer for several different brands, businesses and organizations; I can tell you it takes a lot of trial and error to find the right mix for each one. What works for one organization may not necessarily work for another. However, there are some basic tips that, if followed, will help anyone either just starting out or reevaluating their social media marketing strategies.

1. Keep it simple - When posting about your product, brand, organization or community, keep it simple. Users of social media platforms are not apt to read through paragraphs of product descriptions or reasons why they should like your brand. They will probably lose interest after the first couple of sentences and move on to something else.

2. Personalize it - Posting images of the organization's staff out in the community will draw your followers into the conversation. Of course, the appropriateness of the image must always be considered. An image of your human resources director partying it up at a local bar is probably not as appropriate as an image of them attending a employee benefits workshop. 

3. Keep the conversation going - This is probably the most important tip of all. You have gotten a conversation going whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus or any of the many other social media platforms. Followers are commenting, sharing or retweeting. Acknowledge this engagement. Reply to their comments; both positive and negative. 

Unlike a 30 second television commercial, social media marketing has an unlimited life span. It is up the the social media marketer to continue to breathe life into it.

Facebook Page Likes: More than just a number

You have a great product, service, blog or an idea to engage a certain segment of your online community. Whatever the case, your next order of business is to create a Facebook page.  

Five minutes later, the page is active and open for business. Simple enough.  Next on the agenda is to build a fan base. Facebook makes it easy; allowing the page administrator to send page invites to their personal Facebook friends.  

The hard part is getting the invitees to click on the LIKE button and getting them to engage with the page.  

With the possible exception of George Takei, page fan/follower engagement is the number one hurdle to overcome. This may well be an area where time honored marketing strategies need to be thrown to the wayside. 

To transform your product, service, blog or idea into a Facebook "brand", one must think outside of the box. Yes, that is cliche and, while I do regret using the term; it is appropriate in this instance.  

A few of the strategies, I have found that work are:

• When possible, tag your friends, coworkers, fellow organization members when posting photos of events. A simple way to direct traffic to your page and elicit engagement;
• Engage with other pages as your page persona either by liking, commenting on and/or sharing their posts. To create engagement, you must also be engaging.  
• Always acknowledge those that are engaging with the page. Do not ignore the comments or posts made by your followers. Whether it be just liking their comment or responding with a full blown reply, it shows that you are interested in them as individuals and not just for their contribution to the page's number of likes. 
• Never ignore the page insights that are available to all administrators.  The data is invaluable to determining what it working and what isn't.
• An important thing to remember is to know who your target audience is. If you are running a page about cupcakes, posting pictures about cheeseburgers is not quite going to work; that is, unless you can somehow creatively tie the two together. 

That brings me to my final point; be creative.  Simply creating a page will not bring on fans or sales.  It takes a lot of trial and error to find the right mix along with the realization that a successful page will not happen overnight.  Also, you need to realize that success is fleeting if you do not continue to work at it.

Five Simple (yet Powerful) Words

We see these words on websites, business cards, menus and storefronts. We have even seen them on the bottom of our television screens and have had them read to us over the radio airwaves.  

We are intrigued and make the conscious effort to search for the Facebook page and connect with them as we have been instructed.  We even make sure that we check the appropriate "Show in News feed" and "Get Notifications" links so as not to miss any important updates. As consumers/fans/ followers (however we want to label ourselves), we did as we were asked and now we wait.  

However, we may end up waiting an eternity. There appears to be a problem. A quick check on the page's timeline reveals that there has not been an update to in several weeks, months or since the page was created.

All too often page administrators take the attitude that the simple act of having a presence on Facebook will drive hordes of dedicated followers and fans to them.  They need to realize that their fan base needs to be engaged on a regular basis. Updating and encouraging engagement can take anywhere from 5 minutes to several hours.  In fact, Facebook makes it easy with their post scheduler feature where you can schedule page updates days, weeks or even a year in advance.  In addition, there are several third party applications (i.e. PostPlanner) which help to relieve some of that time management stress.

There is no set rule of thumb of how often a page should be updated. However, ignoring those that made the conscious effort to connect with you on Facebook (at your request, mind you), defeats the whole purpose of having a social media strategy.  

Facebook makes it easy for the administrator by providing statistical analysis on a weekly basis.  You know how many new likes you have, how many people have seen your posts and how many are talking about your page.  But what is the sense of having all these statistics at your fingertips to be analyzed when you are not providing your page followers anything to engage with? It is time for page administrators to put that social media strategy you worked so hard on developing to good use.   

When Social Media Encroaches on our Everyday Lives

Normally my posts focus on what I encounter on various social media platforms.  However, today's article is more along the lines of how social media has made its way into our everyday lives.  In this particular case, it is the job interview process.

It began as most interviews do. The hiring manager, along with a subordinate, run through the checklist of the job description, what would be expected and then proceed to tout the wonderful things about the company which sets it apart from all the rest.  Now, comes that much anticipated question, "do you have any questions for us?"

Having done my homework; I had researched the company the best I could on the Internet. Yes, there was a website. There was even a Facebook page for its corporate office.  Honestly, I was not impressed with either.  

Since  I was not applying for a social media or marketing position; I was reluctant to initially express my actual opinion.  However, in response to their question and as a follow up to a comment made by one of the interviewers regarding the lack of consistent traffic coming into their establishment during our meeting;  I proceeded to advise them that they were missing out on an important source of potential business, both locally and nationally.

The hiring manager seemed taken aback at first.  "We have a Facebook page and a website, what more do we need?"  I proceeded to explain that having both does not constitute customer engagement and that their corporate office was letting a golden opportunity slip through their fingers both on a national and local level.  Their website was a basic, right out of box site without any of the bells and whistles visitors have grown accustomed to.  In fact, it is set up so generically that a first time visitor would be hard pressed to determine what products or services they sold.

Okay, so maybe corporate wants the website to be streamlined and just "plain".  Maybe it is part of their corporate philosophy or strategic plan.  Who am I to question?  At this point, I am only a potential customer as I have not officially been moved to the next step of the interview process.

As a potential customer and one of the millions who utilize social media in researching companies and the brands they represent, the total lack of engagement on the various social media sites is astonishing.  Their Facebook page has 76 followers and nothing has been posted by the administrators of the page since its inception.  There is one post from someone thanking them for their help 6 months prior with no response or acknowledgment.  I even dared to bring up Twitter and Pinterest backing off once their eyes started to glaze over.

A lot has been said recently about prospective employers using social media to research potential employees.  In this case, I researched a potential employer. If I had been moved to the next step in the hiring process and eventually be offered a position - would I declined based on the lack of information on the company and their obvious lack of customer engagement?  Or, would I have accepted the position knowing that I would have been able to assist them in beefing up their social media presence resulting in increased traffic?  Increased traffic would ultimately result in the potential of increased commissions for me.  Alas, that is one bridge I did not have to cross.

While I went with all intentions of selling myself as the ideal candidate for a basic sales position, I may have also taught the hiring manager a thing or two about social media and its importance to a business and its success. In a way, I left the interview feeling more confident than in previous ones.  Not because I thought I landed the position; but because I actually was able to pass on just a little bit of advice, that if taken, will enable this particular company to flourish. Granted this situation, though real, occurred over a year and a half ago and I have continued to on my journey to learn more about the world of social media.  Hopefully, this company has as well.

When Companies Pull a "Peggy" via Social Media

Let's be honest, who hasn't had the experience of dealing with a "Peggy" on the phone?  We all have at one time or another; and that is why the Discover Card series of "Peggy" commercials were so funny.  

We have also had the "privilege" of actually meeting a "Peggy" or two face to face; whether it was at the store's customer service desk, at a fast food restaurant or the dreaded IRS.  

The bad customer service experience depicted in the commercials no longer seem funny when we start to experience the "Peggy" effect on a company's social media site. Having your comment or direct message go unanswered is worse than the endless on hold Muzak we have all come to know and despise.  

The need for customer service on company social media sites is not a new phenomenon. More consumers are venturing on to company Facebook pages, Google Plus pages and Twitter feeds for support. They are entering their comments and stories; both positive and negative, at an alarming rate. A large majority of consumers resort to these online means after having very little success with the more traditional customer service methods. This influx of consumers wanting to engage seems to have created a disconnect when it comes to follow up by the companies themselves.

Some companies have fallen into the habit of either ignoring or going as far as deleting negative commentary. These comments are the ones which should be embraced.  Turning a negative into a positive is a skill of an experience customer service professional which has been forgotten in the social media arena. The simple act of ignoring a negative post is tantamount to corporate suicide. It needs to be addressed in a positive and forthright manner.

Those that have been involved in the customer service sector understand that they are the face and voice of the company that they represent.  There is always a solution to every problem and each solution can be tweaked to satisfy both the customer and the company.  Social media based customer service has forced those one on one phone calls or emails out into the public arena.

It has gotten to the point that one cannot help but wonder if companies are failing to cross train their staff.  While it is beneficial for a company to have a social media team who is up on all the new trends and technologies; a company that fails to train those watching the "virtual store" on the basics of customer service has a major flaw in their business model.

Are companies afraid to admit these flaws exist by turning a blind eye to what is happening on their social media sites?  They shouldn't be.  By addressing the concerns head on, the company is acknowledging that it puts its customers first and is not afraid of criticism.  These are the companies that will survive in this tenuous economic climate.

It's Not Rocket Science

Through the centuries, mankind has used the power of both word and image to express ideas, announce events, and to educate the masses.  The early caveman drawings, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the town crier, the early days of radio and television have all served as the seeds to what we now refer to as social media.  While the terminology and the means to disseminate the information have evolved, the basic premise remains the same. 

I admit I will probably not garner any new fans; in fact, I may even lose some with this post.  However, let's be honest here.  Social media marketing is not rocket science.  There are those that seem to base their entire existence on the SEO, the Google Analytics, and the like. Seriously, if your online marketing strategy is approached with both common sense and a clear focus on the message, all that statistical "mumbo jumbo" becomes moot.  (Oh, that last line is sure to get some negative responses.)

That being said; why do so many of those who claim to be social media marketing experts or gurus try to sell us on the idea that this is something new?

Although my posts are primarily personal observations; I did take the time to research a link to some basic marketing concepts.  In doing so, I found the following from December, 2005:

Basic concepts of marketing  


1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: " I am very rich. Marry me !".
------------ That's "Direct Marketing"

2. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her & get her phone no.. The next day you call & say:" I am very rich. Marry me !".
------------ That's "Telemarketing"

3.You're at a party with a bunch of friends & see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her & says: " He's very rich. Marry him !".
---------------- That's "Advertising"

4. You're at a party & see a gorgeous girl. You get up, straighten your tie, walk up to her & pour her a drink. You then open the car door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride & say: " By the way, I'm very rich. Will you marry me !".
---------------- That's "Public Relations"

5. You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says: "You are very rich. Will you marry me !".
-------------------- That's "Brand Recognition"

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: " I am very rich. Marry me !".. She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
--------------------That's "Customer feedback"

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: " I am very rich. Marry me !". And she introduces you to her husband.
------------------- That's "Demand & Supply"

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and, before you say anything, another person comes and tells her " I am very rich. Will you marry me !".and she goes with him.
-----------------That's "Competition eating into your market share"

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say : " I am very rich. Marry me !"., Your wife arrives.
------------------- That's "Restriction for entering new markets" 

(source: Some Basic Marketing Concepts )

All nine of the above are as true today in the social media marketing industry as they were then.  Know your brand, know your competition and, most importantly, know your audience.  Every one of the 9 concepts have the marketer engaging with the audience in some way or another.  

Engagement should be every marketer's mantra.  If you actively engage with your fans and followers, all the numbers and statistics will fall into place. 

Have Fun With It

How often do you find yourself over thinking your next social media marketing campaign to the point that you even find yourself underwhelmed by the result? Granted, not every product or cause is inherently exciting.  Seriously though, how often have we seen mobs flocking to buy the latest in nuts and bolts or extolling the social significance of yet another municipal project?

My advice is to start having some fun with it.  Okay, before you start commenting that not everything is a joke and the organization or company you market is serious business; I understand and agree with you. However, there comes a point in marketing when you need to step back and ask yourself if your posts would want you to find out more.  

Having fun with your marketing strategy does not necessarily mean making everything a joke.  It is more about not taking yourself and your work product too seriously. We tend to be our biggest critics.

Now, back to those nuts and bolts.  From the following, which image is your eye initially drawn to?

This is a simplistic example of having some fun with your marketing content. It is definitely not a new concept, by any means.  Major brands do this all the time.  However, when it comes to local businesses, nonprofits and governments; creativity tends to be lacking.

While the two paragraph post about your upcoming event or special is no less important than anyone else's; does it garner the reach that you had envisioned? Ask yourself why others in your same industry seem to have a larger reach than you do.  What are their social media marketers doing that is so unique?

It is time to think outside the box and create your own way of marketing.  It may take several attempts; but as long as you are having fun doing it and you don't offend anyone along the way, why not give it a shot?

It's Like Talking to a Brick Wall

We have all had it happen. It doesn't matter if you are marketing for a small business, local nonprofit, local political organization or simply promoting your own personal branding; more often than we want to admit, the post bombs. There are no shares, no likes and no comments. We get the impression that we are talking to a brick wall.  Even worse, we start to believe that there really is a social media black hole and our posts are being sucked into it.

As I have posted previously, I am not a professionally trained social media strategist.  What I have learned, and continue to learn, is from extensive research and much trial and error.  I even make it a point to share the articles I find interesting on the various social media platforms to help others.  Even those seem to go unnoticed.  No one is immune to the "brick wall" effect.

I know it can get pretty frustrating especially for those small business owners who can't afford to pay for a big advertising campaign while they are struggling to keep their doors open for business.  To follow is a list of possible causes to the "brick wall" effect and some suggestions on how to avoid it:

1. Business Page vs. Personal Page:  Whether you are on Facebook or Google +, using a personal page (even if the name is that of your business or organization) for promotion limits your reach.  This is especially true in the case of Facebook which categorizes business pages to include in their Graph Search.  If you own a bar and promote it under a personal timeline, it will not come up in the business page results for Bars.  It is just that simple.  Consider converting the personal page to a business page. When you do this conversion in Facebook, the current personal page friends are converted over to page followers. 
2. Text Only Posts: We all agree that words can have a huge effect on people.  However, when it comes to social media marketing, the less words the better.  Including images or videos with your message will have a greater impact than words alone.  Yes, there will be times when only words will do.  In those instances, keep it short and sweet.  Most users of social media are doing so on mobile devices.  After a while, they are going to tire of scrolling through your several paragraph long post to get to the main point.
3. Begging or Bribing: The worst thing marketers can do is beg or bribe potential followers or customers. No matter how bad a day you are having at your business or organization, desperation does not win points with anyone.  We have become so accustomed to the "drama" that floods our social media news feeds; that we tend to forget that there is no place for it in marketing. Bribing followers with freebies is just as bad.  It comes off has been desperate and having little faith in your product, business or cause.
4. Hard Sell vs. Soft Sell: The time honored marketing technique of soft selling continues to hold true on social media.  Keep your posts light and friendly.  Add some humor (G-rated, of course).  All your posts do not have to be entirely focused on your product, business or cause; as long as they are relevant in some way.  Be creative and think outside of the box.
5. Engage with your followers: Remember to always engage with your followers.  If they like or comment on a post, acknowledge it; preferably within a reasonable amount of time. Even if the comments are negative, respond in a courteous manner.  By no means, delete them.  Comment (using your business page identity) on other pages; whether they be suppliers, national brands and even local competitors.  Nothing appeals more to your followers than maintaining a sense of camaraderie within your community and industry.

I hope you find these tips helpful.  There are many more that I could add. However, a girl does need to keep some secrets.

When Community Pages Lose Their Focus

Community pages are created to provide a public forum for like minded followers to engage, share and broaden the message of a particular cause, place, organization or idea. For the most part, these pages are successful in achieving their initial goals and mission.  However, recently I have come across pages which I have followed for some time that have lost their focus. 

The blame for this loss of vision seems to fall on the page administrators, themselves.  Whether it is a lack of understanding of how to best administer the page; miscommunication as to the intended focus of the page; or simple self-promotion on the part of the administrator, many of these pages are falling to the wayside in terms of effective engagement with their remaining followers.

For the argument's sake, let's look at an example of one such page:

XYZ page was created to promote local businesses in a particular area.  It's main objective was to showcase the business through liking and sharing their Facebook statuses.  However, more and more the updates being shared have nothing to do with either the business, the area or both.  A majority of what this page administrator is sharing are:

1. Third-party links that businesses share on their fan page: The original link shows up on XYZ's page without any reference to the local business. This is a clear case of not taking the time to type a reference to the local business' page prior to hitting share. It now appears to XYZ's followers that they are promoting the company affiliated with the shared link and not the local business.  XYZ's followers are probably not interested in an obscure company located 3,000 miles away.  They are following XYZ to keep abreast of the businesses in their immediate area.
2. Outright Self Promotion:  XYZ is there to promote local businesses. Sharing pictures of yourself or your family under the guise of promoting a local business is just that self promotion. Those images should be left to your personal timeline and have no place on a community page.  The same can be said for your personal beliefs. Religious, political and socio-economic rants should clearly be left off any community page unless they have a clear relevance to the page's mission statement.  And even then, it is the administrator's role to maintain a sense of neutrality when it comes to hot button issues.  Yes, you are there to engage your followers; but definitely not to enrage them.
3. Blatant competition with similar community pages: I touched on this subject briefly in my post "When Community Pages Collide" (6/12/13). The Internet and its social media platforms are clearly large enough for multiple community pages promoting the same thing.  When an administrator of a page either blatantly or underhandedly denigrates a fellow administrator or their page; all sense of professionalism is thrown out the window.

Again, the above examples are just that examples and are not isolated to XYZ's community page.  Have you seen a shift by the community pages you follow away from their primary focus?  Have you stop following pages because of this?

How Many Likes & Shares Does It Take?

We have all seen them on Facebook and many of us have actually tried our luck by "liking and sharing" them.  Okay, since we are being honest here, I have even done it.  Who wouldn't want to win a free trip to the Bahamas or tickets to the Super Bowl by simply clicking the Like and/or Share button?  What harm can it do to like a page or a photo and then share them so all our Facebook friends can do the same?

Theoretically, liking and sharing a page or photo is not going to cause you harm.   However, these types of promotions are in direct violation of Facebook's Page Rules and Regulations. The continued use of them by Facebook pages can and will result in that page being shut down.  There goes all the hard work put in to build up a loyal following and strengthening the social engagement on the page.

We are not talking about a lot of money either.  There are some approved Facebook contest apps that cost as little as $4 per month to run contests on all your business pages.  Honestly, I do not believe it is about the money.

Unfortunately, too many business page administrators are so focused on building up the number of page followers, that they forget the true reason why they should be using Facebook as a social media marketing tool.

1.  It is to be social.  It is more about your followers getting to know you and for you to get to know them.  The more you interact with them, the more exposure and reach your page gets on Facebook.  Your followers' friends will see their interaction with you on their news feeds.  Johnny's friends are going to want to know what Johnny is talking about on your page.

2.  It is about the media.  It is proven that images and video extends a page's reach than mere words.  There are many ways to use images to get your message across.  And when someone comments on it, don't forget to respond to the comment.

3. Finally, it is about marketing.  Promoting a brand, product or cause is more than asking people to either buy or donate.  It is about educating the public about your brand, product or cause.  It is meant to be the soft sell approach to advertising.  

All it is going to take is one local small business page being shut down by Facebook for everyone else to sit up and listen.  Until then, if I can't beat them, I might has well join them... so for every share, like and comment this post gets, everyone will win.....  POOF!!!!!



  

I'll Take Quality over Quantity Anytime

Is it just me or does there seem to be an obsession on the various social media sites with how many friends, fans, followers or likes there are?  We are constantly bombarded with "share & like" Facebook promotions and contests (which, by the way violate Facebook rules on Fan page promotions - but that is a topic for another blog post); pleas to follow someone or some brand on Twitter; and endless Google + Hangout requests.

When is it going to end?  Does a brand or community Facebook page have to reach a preset number of followers until they are satisfied that they are making a difference or getting enough exposure?

I have come to the conclusion that if you are managing your social media presence properly the number of "LIKES" is inconsequential.  Up until recently, I was a Facebook page administrator where my only "job" was to share every status I could from local area businesses.  Sure, I did what I was asked to do by the owner of the page and increased the number of page likes from 46 to over 900 in less than 5 months.  At the time, the Facebook insight report was showing an average of 1,700 people were reached weekly.  I was led to believe I was doing a great job and felt I was letting many down when I had to step away for personal and professional reasons.

That feeling, however, has quickly faded.  Having the freedom to post my own original content when and how often I want on both my own community page (PattiLovesBing) and on twitter (@pattischwartz) has given me the ability to actually socialize with my followers. Releasing myself from the pressure of having to share everyone else's statuses on the other page, I now have the time to actually comment on and share the ones that I truly am impressed with.  Taking the time to truly bring the "social" back into my own social media presence through follower engagement has been validated by both the Facebook insight reports and the dramatic rise in Twitter mentions and retweets.  With less than 100 followers on the community page, the weekly reach is well above 1,700. Statistically much better than the page with 900 fans.

The above figures reflect my personal social media presence.  They do not take into consideration the one business page that I manage (287 followers with a weekly reach of 2,094) or the Facebook page dedicated to this blog (56 followers with a weekly reach of 197 - ***Note to self - I need to work on increasing these numbers ***).

It all comes down to how you engage with your fans and followers no matter how many or how few you have.  If you take the time to actually engage with them in a meaningful way, your brand or message will have a better chance of reaching a larger audience. The ultimate validation that you are doing it correctly is when you are stopped on the street by a total stranger who wants to engage in a conversation regarding something you posted.  

   

Social Media Marketing: Back to Basics

After a week of endless one on one conversations defending social media as being more than just fluff and frivolity; the following post came across my news feed from a local area small business: 

 "I am tired of marketing. What ever happened to just guilting people into showing up? Or perhaps straight forward begging?" 

It is a very telling statement when it comes to local businesses and organizations trying to master social media marketing. Anyone involved with social media marketing must realize:

• not everything you post is going to work as you planned;
• it is not a quick fix but a slow deliberate process;
• you need to be able to find the perfect balance of being social and simply advertising.

All too often, people are quick to knock the benefits social media marketing can bring to their organization or business.  Unfortunately, it is more of a matter of not understanding the process involved.  

1. Once you have determined the idea, product or cause you want to promote, it may take several different attempts to get the response you were hoping for.  What may have looked good on paper, may not necessarily translate well on the various social media platforms.  

2. Social media marketing does not provide a quick fix.  There is a good deal of trial and error involved.  You need to be able to interpret the statistics provided by the different platforms regarding your posts.  For example, take time to analyze the Facebook page insight numbers.  A page manager will be able to determine what posts are working and what aren't.  You also need to be able to anticipate your followers' reactions and, of course, tolerance for continual posts by your social media manager.

3. Social media marketing has its roots in advertising; however, there needs to be a balance between the advertising and the social aspect.  Continuously posting promotional content without engaging with your followers is a recipe for disaster.  Many times you will see a brand or company posting 10-20 times a day without any engagement on their part.  Eventually, the follower numbers are going to drop as will the contact you end up having in the "real" world with these potential customers/supporters.

None of what I have said is new or innovative.  Mainly it is plain common sense.  For some odd reason, though, because it is social media marketing as opposed to traditional marketing; many are not able to make the connection.

Basically, mix it up; keep it fresh; and if it is works, don't try to fix it; and if it is not working, find out why.  One of the best way to do that is to ask your followers directly.  You would be surprised how astute many of them are; and it truly makes it a social experience.

When Marketers Lose Their Focus, They Lose Their Audience

When a company hires a social media manager, either internally or through an outside agency, they are entrusting them to promote their brand, image or service to a diverse audience across the wide spectrum of social media platforms.  The social media manager. many times, has carte blanche when it comes to the content that is posted.  However, are they keeping the best interests of their employers (or clients) in mind?

Recently, I ran across a Facebook page for a local business.  Since I was interested in the service they provided, I began to follow it.  Unfortunately, my initial interest was quickly displaced by what became constant posts about sports which had no bearing on the company or service whatsoever.

Now, don't get me wrong.  It's not like I hate sports or anything; but continually posting about them under a company's name does not want me to spend my money on their products or services.  It might cause me to buy season tickets; which, by the way, I don't think was the original intent of the company's social media marketing strategy.

This does not appear to be an isolated incident.  More and more, the personal preferences of social media managers seem to be permeating through the content that they post.  Targeting your content is one thing; but targeting it in a way that it does not benefit the company or brand that you represent is a big misstep.

Are you seeing irrelevant content popping up in the social media posts of the companies you follow?  If so, are they causing you to second guess why you followed them in the first place or is your brand loyalty strong enough for you to stick it out?

Social Media Guru? No Professional? No Lover? yes!

Image courtesy of SocialGrower.com

"If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time." - Billy Joel, American Pianist, Singer and Songwriter

How often in the course of conversations with our friends, family or coworkers do we hear these words, "It's a job, but it pays the bills"?  Even, more telling is the phrase, "They can take this job and shove it."  It doesn't take a mind reader to realize that they would rather be doing something else.

I have been reading a lot of blog posts lately on how to be a social media guru or professional.  One conclusion I have come to is that I am not a guru nor a professional.  I do not get paid for what I do; I do it because I love it.

My past work experiences have run the gamut from customer service, client relations, sales, marketing, finance, and most recently, advocacy.  These all have one recurring theme - engagement.  So it seems only fitting and natural that I would be so drawn to all that social media has to offer.

I may not be using so-called "best practices" to their fullest and I may not be making a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. These are not obstacles in stopping me from continuing to do what I love - promote causes, events and local area businesses via Facebook and Twitter and engage with followers.  I will continue to share links to articles from other bloggers and social media influencers as I learn more about Social Media.  Most importantly I will continue to love what I do.

Does Your Online Marketing Strategy Include A Customer Service Component?

As I continue my journey into the world of Social Media, I remain flabbergasted as to the lack of customer interaction by many businesses and organizations on their Facebook pages..  I touched on this topic in a previous post (How NOT to Engage Your Customer via Social Media 6/6/12); however, 9 months later and not much has changed.

The drive to increase customer engagement on social media sites is not new and definitely not likely to diminish anytime soon. Businesses, Nonprofits and; even, Government entities have jumped on the social media bandwagon to build their client/fan base and drive up sales, name recognition or simply to get their message out there.  All noble and worthwhile reasons for which I can find no fault.   

As more consumers enter their comments on various social media sites (both positive and negative), there continues to be a disconnect regarding follow up by quite a few page administrators. However, we all know that the larger your client/fan base the more likely you will receive complaints along with compliments.  No organization is perfect.  There is always going to be something the consumer is not going to be happy with - whether it be pricing, product quality, message content, etc..    

Page administrators continue to ignore or delete negative commentary. These comments are the ones which should be embraced.  Turning a negative into a positive is skill of an experience customer service professional which has been forgotten in the social media arena.  The simple act of ignoring a negative post is tantamount to corporate suicide.  It needs to be addressed head on in a positive and forthright manner.

Engaging and interacting with your base in a positive and forthright way is the only way to go to be successful.  Copying and pasting the same "canned" corporate approved response to each and every complaint and comment posted to your Facebook page, website or corporate blog does not qualify as sincere customer engagement. It only serves to add credence to the original complaint due to their lack of sincerity and originality.

This is where all the current education in social media marketing is lacking.  The marketing skills are taught and put into practice.  However, social media are created the need to merge good old fashion customer service skills with those of a talented marketer.

Those of us who have been involved in the customer service sector have come to understand that they are the face and voice of the company or organization they represent.  There is a solution to every problem and can be tweaked to satisfy both the customer and the company.  However, social media engagement has brought those one on one phone calls or emails out into the public arena.  Are these organizations afraid to admit there are flaws in their business model for the entire Internet world to see?  They shouldn't be.  By addressing the concerns head on, they are acknowledging that it puts its customers first and is not afraid of criticism.  These are the companies that will survive in this tenuous economic climate.

I learned from the old school where personal interaction always took precedence.  Many of those same tried and true techniques are easily transferable to the social media environment.  Administrators of these various sites are not be skilled in these time honored customer engagement methods or maybe they have not come to the realization that a perfect blend of customer service, marketing and public relations skills are necessary.  

I continue to have this fear that organizations that continue on this track of non-engagement will eventually end up with no online client/fan base to engage with.  What are your thoughts on this?  Have you seen a shift to a more customer service oriented online marketing strategy in your organization?

The Award for Worst Facebook Page Manager Goes To:

ME!

That's right.  I hereby nominate myself has one of the worst page managers, if not the worst, on Facebook.  Now, don't get me wrong.  This is not about to become one of those self-loathing rants in an attempt to garner sympathy.

I currently administer (or manage) nine separate Facebook pages.  One of these pages is being administered in a way that defies all best practices advice and basic marketing logic.  How did I achieve the dubious honor of being the worst of the worse?

1. Post at least one relevant status update. FAIL
The sole purpose of this particular (community) page, is to promote the local area small businesses and organizations in order to drive traffic to their own Facebook pages.  On any given day, I am liking and sharing over 100 other pages' status updates; far exceeding the recommended minimum of at least one.

2. Respond to any comments.  Want engagement? Engage. PASS (BARELY)
Okay, I pass this one; at least, on the comments I am able to catch in a timely manner.  There are times I find myself apologizing for the delay in responded. Who can blame me?  I was probably clicking the like and share button and not paying attention to the notifications popping up from our own followers.

3. Share 3 interesting status updates you find. FAIL
Refer back to item #1.  No need to rehash that all over again.

4. Like or Comment on at least 7 status updates or messages. INCOMPLETE
Obviously, since I like every status (as the page) that I share to our timeline, I meet the minimum of 7 likes.  However, I am remiss is commenting on every single one.  I will admit that it is more of a time factor than anything else.

5. Leave a comment on another Page whose audience is your audience. FAIL
Again, although I know I should do this (and I do with the other pages I manage), I am allowing time, or lack thereof, to control my adherence to this rule.

6. Running Facebook Ads? Review stats twice daily. FAIL
Definite failure here.  Not because I am cheap or anything.  Okay, maybe I am.  This is a community page of which I manage on a strictly volunteer basis.  While I feel strongly about promoting area businesses, I am not in a financial position to pay for advertising; especially since the businesses, in essence, are receiving free marketing from me and the page.

7. Locate 3 relevant pieces of content your audience would like and schedule it. INCOMPLETE
I do attempt to post relevant links regarding Facebook marketing on the page.  I fail at scheduling them for posting.  As I find them, I will share them.  Need to work on the scheduling portion of this item.

8. Review Facebook Insights. Look for trends and emulate them. INCOMPLETE
The Facebook insights for our page is disingenuous, at best, since the posts we make are 99% shares from other pages.  There are definitely posts that work better than others.  However, we have no control as to the content of the posts on any given day or even hour, for that matter.

9. Ask one thought-provoking question. INCOMPLETE
I have made several attempts at asking the tough questions, such has "how are you planning on spending this weekend?"  Okay, investigative journalism 101, this clearly isn't.  While I know from the Facebook insights report, that over 500 have seen such questions; very rarely do we get an actual response.  Our followers are probably still wading through the 100+ notifications we generated on their news feeds that day.

10. Listen for and respond to every lead immediately. PASS
This one I have got covered.  We are constantly on the lookout for new business pages to promote and, when we are fortunate enough to have one recommended to us, we jump on it.

So there you have it.  I am clearly not fulfilling the expectations set forth by so many social media gurus when it comes to Facebook page marketing; and for that I have failed.  Then again, our page is the talk of the town (literally and virtually) and our fan base continues to grow at an amazing rate.  So maybe, just maybe, I am doing something right.

5 Things Social Media Has Taught Me

When I created this blog, it was as a means to express both the frustration and fascination I was experiencing from the world of social media.  I was clearly a novice at the time, and am by no means an expert now.  However, I was fascinated by what the industry has become and how it affected our everyday lives.  I was also frustrated by what appeared to be conflicting articles and how-to tips aimed at both the social media marketer and the recipient of these digital marketing messages.

As I read every blog and article I could find on the subject, one thing has become very clear.  Although this is a fairly new industry, the same principles from traditional marketing apply.  Granted, they made need some tweaking; but the basics remain the same.

As previously stated, I do not pretend to be an "expert" by any means; however, some of the things I have learned through trial and error may prove helpful to some who may not have the time to wade through all that has been put out there on the subject:

1. Number of Fans / Followers is not a true gauge - We are constantly seeing social media posts touting the virtues of the number of fans as brand, page, or celebrity may have.  What I have learned, at least from the Facebook end of the social media spectrum, is that the number of fans is not as important as how many people have actually seen your post.  Case in point is the Facebook page set up to promote my other blog, Greater Binghamton Business Profiles.  We currently have a mere 59 followers, since the page was first put up on March 4th.  However, we have reached over 1250 people in 5 days time.  In fact, our first new blog post to be shared to the page reached over 300 people alone.  
2. Images Do Work - One of the continuing themes in all that I have read is that the use of Images in your posts will engage your fans.  Again, using the Facebook page for my other blog, I posted an image along with a thank you to all that have liked the page so far; our reach on that particular post soared to over 550 people.  Now to the dyed in the wool social media gurus, these numbers may be of no consequence.  To a "newbie" such as myself, they are the same as if it were a million people.
3. Park Your Political, Religious and Environmental Opinions at the Door - Again, as a social media coordinator, one must remember that your personal opinions should never enter into the posts that you are generating unless the business or organization are known champions of the cause.  All too often we see posts from well known local and national brands that are obviously the personal opinions of the person posting rather than the business and organization itself.  Not only do these posts reflect negatively on the brand, they also may have a tendency to drive fans away.  It is just as easy to unlike a page or unfollow a Twitter feed.
4. Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling Do Matter - We have become so accustomed to the use of acronyms and abbreviations in our personal interactions whether it be in text messages, on Twitter and in our Facebook posts that we tend to forget the importance of proper grammar, punctuation and spelling.  While your friends and family may not mind seeing the use of "ur" instead of "your" or "LOL" instead of "laughing out loud", a fan of your business posts may interpret such shortcuts as a sign of either laziness or total nonchalance on the part of the poster.  Spelling errors are also something to be avoided. There is no excuse, with all the spell-check options out there, to post something with a flagrant spelling error.
5. Don't forget the Social part of Social Media - All too often we become so engrossed in building up fan bases and getting the messages out there, that we tend to forget that social media is essentially a two-way street.  Once you have gotten your followers' attention, you need to continue the conversation.  If they take the time to comment on a post, the worst thing to do is to ignore it - no matter if it is a positive or negative comment.  In my opinion, ignoring a negative post is the worse of the offenses.  It allows your other, more positive, followers to second guess why they were following you in the first place. 

Five things I have learned from social media.  Okay, I will be honest.  I have probably learned much more than this and will continue to learn.   However, these 5 basic premises are a solid starting out point for anyone venturing into this new area of communication and marketing.  They have helped me along the way and I hope they do the same for you.  Please let me know if you have any set guidelines that you follow; I am always looking for new ideas and techniques.