Strategy, Marketing
The elusive magic pill.
A magical formula for quick sales, a powerhouse brand, and stellar marketing. The one thing that can change everything. We cry to the heavens with outstretched arms, “What is it?”
The desire for the easy way, a simple solution, is not new. It’s a way of thinking that can be traced back to biblical times and the first lady, Eve. She was enticed with a “magic pill” that a certain serpent promised would open her eyes and make her like God. In the end, a bit of fruit cost her dearly and she and Adam were forced out of paradise.
The search for a magic pill in business has lead entrepreneurs to spend millions of dollars on websites, pay-per-click advertising, newspaper and magazine ads, radio commercials, and the “next big thing,” often with lackluster results. Too many businesses have literally thrown money away in this maddening search for the short, easy way to high sales.
Does anything beat a magic pill?
Yes, but it’s not easy or magical. It’s more tortoise than hare. More fundamentals than hail marys. When it comes to marketing your business, you have to determine whether you prefer the fast way or the successful way.
Your business wins when you develop a holistic marketing strategy that is implemented effectively over a long period of time. When you consistently reach out to customers, attract their attention, and pique their interest in creative and thoughtful ways you will begin to get the traction your business needs.
The magic pill, with all its promises of short term gain, often leads to problems down the road in the forms of wasteful spending and marketing frustration.
A Different View of the Game
To build a holistic marketing program, it’s beneficial to seek a fresh perspective and ask the right questions. The answers can reveal some needed truths about your business or marketing, though these revelations may not be totally painless.
- What do we do that is different and noteworthy?
- Are we communicating our difference in a way that speaks to our ideal customers?
- Do we really know your customer?
- Are we speaking their language?
- Do we know how and where to reach them?
- Which marketing channels are most likely to reach them?
It can be helpful to get an outside view of your business from a marketing consultant who knows the right questions to ask and can dig into the heart of your brand and your marketing strategy to identify strengths and missed opportunities.
Can you commit for the long haul?
Brand building takes time. It takes speaking the right message to the right audience consistently and repeatedly over and over…and over again.
With some clarity about what you do and why it should matter to your ideal customer, you can create a strategic plan for marketing your business more effectively. This type of intelligent planning will prevent wasteful spending on magic pills and ultimately forge the way to your businesses prosperous future.
Have marketing woes? Let’s have a conversation to see if marketing consulting might be a good fit for helping you solve your marketing problems.
Communication, Marketing, Public Relations
Brad’s Wife taught us why social media management is important to your business. This week, United Airlines is illustrating why public relations management matters.
Over the weekend, they had a customer service incident that was videotaped and went viral. What did or didn’t happen during that event doesn’t matter to me as much as how United responded to the public relations crisis. Because a crisis it was – people were losing their minds on social media, and every national news organization picked up the story.
As we recently learned with the United Airlines leggings crisis, the company has a history of not responding quickly or effectively when negative topics start trending on social media. It appears that they continue to ignore the power that social media has in today’s economy.
It wasn’t until after national news coverage that CEO Oscar Munoz responded to the crisis. Voted U.S. Communicator of the Year by PR Week, he did not make it better. His first response reeked of insincerity accepted no blame, and offered no promises to fix a broken situation. He doubled down on this narrative in his second response and blamed the passenger on the flight.
For a large organization, that surely has in-house public relations staff, it took Munoz until the third try to get the statement right by showing empathy, accepting blame, and promising to rectify their policies and procedures. It was unfortunately too late. United endured a global outcry, backlash, and falling stock prices that cost the company close to $1 billion dollars.
Obviously, it hasn’t been a great week for United Airlines. This, is however, a great reminder for the rest of us to take stock of how we are handling our own public relations.
Here are some great questions to ask yourself:
- Who manages our public relations?
- Do we have a public relations strategy?
- Is this a part of our marketing plan?
- Do we have a PR crisis management plan?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions or don’t like the answers you came up with, maybe it’s time to bring in some professionals. I may know a few.
Strategy, Marketing
Can you think back to when you were in high school and sum up an experience that changed your perception on something? It instigated a flurry of thoughts, helped you understand yourself better, and gave you clarity on what you might do after graduation? Looking back, it wasn’t necessarily a grand gesture; it was someone giving you a bit of their time, knowledge, and an opportunity.
Those are tools we all have at our disposal; the ones that can make a substantial impact on a student and their journey.
Last fall, we coordinated a project between three organizations: the LISD TECH Center, Artalicious, and Hoyden Creative. We had an opportunity for students to have a hands-on learning experience under the guidance of industry professionals and supporting a community event. Students from the Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Finance class designed, executed, and analyzed a market research study to help Artalicious better understand and serve its guests. That was a great teaching moment in and of itself. Now that a bit of time has passed, we can see and feel the real value.
This project brought together three generations to work toward a common goal. It propelled guest teaching moments in the classroom to connect students with industry and community leaders. It created visibility for an important education program and fostered relationships within the community. And it gave the perfect case study for students to take forward to the DECA Marketing Competition later in the fall.
Finally, and most importantly, it was the small moments in that learning experience that quietly planted seeds with students that said “This community cares about you. We value you. We want you to consider Lenawee your home.” For those of us working to continue building a vibrant community, isn’t this exactly what we want them to feel? But it’s not something that will resonate on paper or through a formal recruitment program. It’s something they will realize in a few years how it changed their attitude, formed their thoughts, and helped them make the most of their journey. A journey that will someday lead them to pay it forward.
It’s not about being flashy and grandiose. It doesn’t take hours of time and loads of money. It’s about making yourself open to the possibility that you have something to offer that students can greatly gain from. Be yourself, get out of the office (or invite them in!), and see what can unfold. Just a few small moments in learning from each other can make a big impact…for everyone involved.
Communication, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Have you heard about Brad’s wife? If you haven’t, let me catch you up. It’s trending everywhere on social media right now. Hashtags abound: #bradswife, #justiceforbradswife, and #notmycountrystore. Memes are everywhere. To say it’s gone viral would be an understatement.
Recently, a guy named Brad posted a question as a comment on a post on Cracker Barrel’s Facebook page.
It then took off with a life of its own. A comedian posted about it on twitter and then the Internet did what the internet does best. Every single post from Cracker Barrel on social media is hounded with comments about Brad and his wife.
Is it funny? Yes, which is why everyone keeps participating. Part of what keeps it amusing is that Cracker Barrel has yet to respond. At all.
Other companies are responding. Chick-fil-A is apparently offering her a job.
I even saw a politician promising justice for the couple and an economy that produces a job for Brad’s wife. The memes? The memes are hilarious:
Even the Chicago Tribune is covering the story and reached out to Cracker Barrel for comment, yet they remain silent.
This, combined with the recent United Airlines leggings Twitter scandal, really illustrates how something simple on social media can blow up in a really big way. We also learn how the competition can take advantage of your bad situation for their own benefit.
What does this mean to you? It’s a good time to take a look at how you are handling your businesses social media accounts.
Three Important questions you should be asking yourself:
Is social media part of your marketing strategy?
Sadly, for some businesses this simply isn’t true. Maybe you are a small business and that’s one mountain you’ve yet to climb. Maybe you’ve created the accounts, but you have no time to dedicate to them. Maybe you just don’t understand social media. It’s time to leave those excuses (while very valid) behind, and get on board the social media train. Leverage its power for good and let it convey your marketing messaging to the world.
Is it an afterthought?
This shouldn’t be something that you do when you can get to it or you think about it. Posts should be planned and scheduled. Your accounts should be engaging. If you are doing it right, your social media accounts very quickly become the face of your business and often become your customer service department. This makes it one of the most important aspects of your business and how you present yourself.
Who is managing your social media accounts?
Is the person managing your social accounts able to give it the attention it deserves? Do they have the expertise to leverage your message to the right audience? Social media management is both a science and an art form – as platforms change and pivot, sometimes even weekly, you have to change with them.
Does the person that manages your accounts have the right tools in place to be able to respond quickly and effectively when a crisis happens? In the case of Cracker Barrel and United Airlines, had the response been timely and accurate the stories would not have become the negative press that they have.
There are ways to leverage a social media crisis for good.
Dippin Dots recently did. In just 64 hours, they were able to leverage what could have a nightmare into more great press than “11 Superbowl ads”. Why? They had professionals handling their accounts. The organization and their social media team determined that not responding was not an option. Then they strategically determined a response that fit their brand and led to massive attention.
Shama Hyder, CEO of Marketing Zen and Dippin Dots social team, recently spoke to Social Pros Podcast on how they used the controversy to Get 1 Billion Social Impressions. “Taking advantage of the opportunity, doing it in a way that wasn’t going to offend people, sticking to the brand values – we knew it was a risk. But it was a calculated risk that the leadership was willing to take.” And boy did that risk pay off for them in all the right ways.
She further speaks about how responding on social media isn’t necessarily about making your customers happy at all costs, but utilizing your customers to spread the message that you want to spread.
What’s Your Plan?
Social media strategy is a talent. A science AND an art. If your business has active social media accounts this is the year to put together a plan for handling angry customers, viral negativity, and irritable commenters.
When the crisis arrives you must be prepared to handle it properly. Work with your internal marketing team or talk with the Hoyden team to develop a plan that can be executed in times of trouble.
If you do, amazing things can happen for your business. But get it wrong and you may pay in ways that will hurt – like the symptoms of a bad virus.
Strategy, Marketing
Social media has become one of the most effective outlets for marketing your brand. It can help expand your business in ways you might not have considered before. Increased brand recognition, brand loyalty, and overall customer service are the top reasons why companies are choosing to market through social media. But like anything, getting started without any prior knowledge on the subject can be very difficult. It is essential to understand the ins and outs of each of the social media platforms you wish to pursue because not every platform is appropriate for every business.
6 Social Media Platforms to Expand your Business
LinkedIn: The “Networker”
LinkedIn is known for its business-to-business feel; for its professional atmosphere. With the capability to post job openings, build relationships, and market your business all at the same time, LinkedIn is the ultimate networking outlet. Essentially, if you’re a company looking to increase your online presence and stay connected in the business world, LinkedIn should be your first stop.
Click here to learn how to get started with LinkedIn.
Facebook: The “Jack of All Trades”
Facebook is one of the most resourceful and diverse social media platforms that a business can use. From a simple status update, to online marketing certifications, Facebook has proved to be a fantastic channel to market your business. It is also very useful for posting ads that match the content previously searched by your customers, eventually increasing total brand awareness. The versatility that Facebook offers allows for companies of all areas to capitalize on the use of a page for their business.
Click here to learn how to get started with Facebook.
Twitter: The “Short and Sweet”.
With only 140 characters per tweet, you can keep your message to the point. With the ability to post videos, pictures, polls, links, and more, you can efficiently interact with all segments of your target market. Aside from its multiple sharing options, Twitter serves as a great platform for customer service and spreading your word. By adding hashtags to your tweets, individuals and businesses from all over the world can instantly see and share your post. Organizations who are looking for quick feedback, interaction, and overall reaction time should look into creating a Twitter page.
Click here to learn how to get started with Twitter.
Instagram: The “Visual”
Instagram is a platform that not every business considers pursuing, but should. With its strict use of picture and video, Instagram makes for a great visual outlet for your brand. Much like Twitter, the use of hashtags is very important—but unlike Twitter, you have up to 2,200 characters for each post. Consumers are becoming more and more visually attracted to content so it might be more effective to show how your business operates rather than writing about it. Instagram was born to be a mobile app, therefore businesses that are considering a more mobile-friendly marketing strategy should get onboard.
Click here to learn how to get started with Instagram.
Pinterest: The “Do it Yourself”
Pinterest is a visually-based platform known for its digital bulletin boards. If you’re looking to adapt a hands-on feel for your online audience, Pinterest is the way to go. With the ability to see what your customers are pinning, you can become more familiarized with their interests, and react accordingly. Pinterest is also an excellent outlet for showcasing products and expressing your area of expertise. When your content reaches your target market, Pinterest helps it to spread—ultimately reaching potential customers who might not have been exposed to your brand otherwise.
Click here to learn how to get started with Pinterest.
Snapchat: The “Up and Comer”
Made popular by millennials, Snapchat has become one of the most commonly used social media apps worldwide. Your brand or product can be marketed through live events, and behind-the-scenes content, giving your followers the inside scoop on how your business functions. You can also create a Snap Ad, build an amusing Sponsored Geofilter, or provide your potential customers an opportunity to interact with a Sponsored Lens. Unless your business runs solely on crunching numbers, Snapchat is a great platform to take for a test run.
Click here to learn how to get started with Snapchat.
Communication, Marketing, Video
I don’t know about you, but I am a visual learner. They say it’s because I am a part of the “Sesame Street Generation.” The generation who grew up learning our ABCs from Big Bird before we even attended kindergarten.
By the time we reached our teen years, we learned that Video Killed the Radio Star and became, quite enthusiastically, the “MTV Generation”. We liked our music by video, thank you very much, and nagged our parents obsessively until we got it. Anybody else remember screaming “I want my MTV!” every day for months until they added it to your cable package?
We got our news every morning at school by video piped right into our classroom via Channel One. Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling told us about what was going on in the world. We watched Communism fall, the first Gulf War, the Rodney King riots, and the OJ Simpson trial this way.
We learned about the Holocaust by watching Schindler’s List, the Civil War by watching the Civil War PBS documentaries, and the birds and the bees by a wonderful reel-to-reel film they wheeled into your classroom in 5th grade.
This has led to a lot of communications studies which tell you that if you want to communicate effectively to those of my generation or later, you need to incorporate video. That can’t be your whole strategy, obviously, but it needs to be an integral part of it. It is how we grew up learning to learn, and it’s one of the best ways to get the message across to us.
As the internet has grown, and social media has expanded, video continues to grow and develop as an excellent medium to communicate your message. But the question remains, how can you effectively incorporate video into your marketing strategy to reach your target market?
6 ways you can incorporate video into your marketing message:
Commercially produced videos by a high-quality, professional video production company are an excellent option for several projects including television advertisements, event videos, educational videos, and longer promotional videos.- Creating a YouTube channel for your company is a great distribution channel for your videos – either those professionally produced or those you do with your own video equipment. Build your subscriber base and deliver enticing, relevant content and you’ve got a great way to market yourself, your products, and your message. If a 10 year old can build a multi-million dollar empire doing make-up tutorials from her bedroom, you too can conquer YouTube.
- Facebook Live is a recent new video development in the world of Social Media. You can go live from your Facebook page and share with anyone who has “liked” your page. Better yet, it offers a chance for real-time interaction with viewers who can watch live, comment, ask questions, and give feedback. It is a great way to increase your Facebook affinity with people who “like” your page, which will help your social posts show up in the newsfeed without having to pay to boost your posts.
While Vine itself has gone away, the idea of a vine has not. Short, succinct videos recorded on any smart phone can be uploaded on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or Twitter. It doesn’t need to be long to be powerful or reach your audience.- Creating a viral video often feels like the holy grail of digital marketing, and we all want it. We want to create something that gets shared over and over again and increases our reach ten-fold. The best way to do that is to connect emotionally with your audience – create something touching, heartwarming or funny. You want to elicit a positive emotional response that people can’t help but want to share with others.
- Video and pictures are colliding now-a-days in entirely new ways. Whether it is an animated gif or a looped video created by Boomerang, it’s an important, effective way that people are now communicating. Find a way to deliver your messages in this medium. They are share-able, like-able, and powerful.
If you need help figuring out how video can fit into your overall marketing strategy, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are full of ideas on how to expand your reach through video in 2017.
