Having a social media presence is not enough today. The number of fans or followers you have could make the difference of you getting the business and your competitor getting the business. Bulbstorm, an innovation community and online marketing company, want to help you not only increase the amount of fans your business has, but also turn those fans into evangelists for your business. By developing interactive promotions, contests, sweepstakes and more, Bulbstorm can help you attract, track and use your loyal fan base to increase your brand awareness. You can join the innovation community part of the site for free to bounce ideas off other members.
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Posts Tagged ‘Branding’
Start a Networking Event—Especially if You Hate Networking
March 9th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen
Though this advice may seem counter-intuitive, if you hate networking events, start one.
Starting your own event will greatly expand your marketing reach, especially as word-of-mouth spreads and past attendees bring new ones. In time, you should be able to cut down on the number of events you attend—maybe all the way down to zero.
While it is preferable to start an event with someone else to leverage both of your contact lists (and to have someone help shoulder the burden), it is not necessary.
There are many factors to consider when starting an event. Here’s a basic list to get you going:
1. Timing
Monthly or quarterly. If you hold your event less than quarterly, no one will take it seriously.
Day or evening. You can have a breakfast, lunch or happy hour event, though of the many people I know, they prefer either breakfast or after work/happy hour. Mid-day events just break up the work day too much.
Day of the week. Monday and Friday events are rare, which can be a good thing or a bad thing. Because so few events are held those days, you are more likely to get people’s attention. However, because of long weekends—either due to holidays or vacation—people might not be around.
2. Cost
Free. My favorite event is free, and it draws a fun, high-quality crowd.
Cover. Even if you are not serving a meal, you can still charge just to attend. Many Chambers of Commerce do this, though they serve free wine and appetizers donated by a member company.
Meal. If your event will include a meal, it’s OK to mark it up to earn a little cashola.
3. Location
Hotel. From the Ritz-Carlton to a Hyatt to a B&B, I’ve been to, or know of, events held at a full range of accommodations. I would just avoid the budget hotels.
Restaurant. Restaurants usually will offer drink specials, free appetizers and/or a raffle prize.
Bar. Hold your event at a bar, and you will attract a really fun crowd. Is it any wonder my favorite events are held in the bars of restaurants?
Country club. Sounds tony, doesn’t have to be.
4. Invite List
Exclusivity. Will your invitation be open to everyone, or will it be by invitation only?
Industries. You can invite people from all industries, or stick to a specific one, like marketing/PR/advertising, technology startups, IT, government contractors, nonprofits, etc.
Job level/position. I know of some events that are for C-level or women-owned businesses only.
5. Marketing
E-newsletter. Send out an e-newsletter two or three weeks before the event to remind people why they should come, what they can expect, where it’s held, what time it begins, and how much it costs or if they need to register. If you feature a speaker, are expecting a special guest or will hold a raffle, mention that as well. Send out reminders one week and one day before the event.
Social media. You can also push out information and reminders on Facebook and Twitter.
Registration. If you are charging for the event, you will need to offer a way to pay. All of the event organizers I know use EventBrite.
6. Event Organization
There are so many things you can include or exclude from your event. Here’s a partial list:
- Check-in
- Name tags
- Prizes
- Speakers
- Fundraising for a local charity
Image by Flickr user Quinn Dombrowski (Creative Commons)
Google+Contests, Content and Keywords: 3 Online Marketing Success Stories
February 9th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen
HubSpot recently released an eBook written by David Meerman Scott called 11 Examples of Online Marketing Success. Because I love to learn from other companies and apply their successes to my own business, I couldn’t wait to read it.
Here is what I learned from a museum that used a contest, an e-commerce site that used content, and an industrial manufacturer that used keywords to energize their online marketing efforts (more success stories to come in future blog posts!):
1. Use Contests to Generate PR and Supercharge Your Social Media Marketing
This is a rather extraordinary example, but it is worth including because it is so darn clever!
Last summer, the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago decided to hold a very creative contest. They wanted a Web-savvy person to live and sleep in their museum for a month, explore it and share their experiences via a blog and social media. A 24-year-old Chicagoan, Kate McGroarty, won the contest, which included the 30-day museum-living experiment, $10,000 in cash, an array of tech gadgets and lifetime membership.
The contest was covered by mainstream media channels. Once she was living in the museum, Kate blogged at least once a day, generating a steady flow of comments. She created videos and uploaded them to YouTube. She tweeted and created a Facebook page, which has nearly 4,000 likes and is still up (even though the contest ended at the end of November 2010). Her page invited people to visit MSI’s own Facebook page, which now has over 17,000 likes.
Lesson: Use a creative contest to generate publicity, reach your target audience and expand your presence on social media.
2. Create Unique Content to Attract and Convert Leads
Creating unique, valuable content can really ignite lead generation, as e-commerce site Suitcase.com learned. Last year, they launched a survey via an e-mail invitation that queried customers on luggage usage, travel habits and other luggage-related questions. They packaged the answers into the Consumer Luggage Report and placed the report on a Web page on their site where visitors could download it. That page generated a 20 percent conversion rate, and the report was even picked up by Reader’s Digest. As a result of sharing their knowledge, Suitcase.com has become a thought leader within the rather crowded online luggage e-tailer space.
Lesson: Repurpose content to create buzz, position your company as an industry leader and attract and convert leads.
3. Leverage Keywords to Improve Quality of Leads
I love this example, because it shows how a company in a very unsexy industry can greatly improve lead generation with a very basic online marketing tool: keywords.
SRS Crisafulli sells dredging and pumping products worldwide. In order to effectively reach their numerous target markets, they decided to do some competitive keyword analysis. They began using highly searched keywords to determine what products were most in demand, and they created content based on that information to educate potential customers. By doing so, SRS Crisafulli has been able to generate more high-quality leads that are sales-ready.
Lesson: By understanding your potential customers’ search behavior and needs, you can create the educational content that turns a website visitor into a strong lead.
Have you held a contest, turned a survey into a report, or used keyword research to supercharge your online marketing efforts? We’d love to hear about your successes!
Image by Flickr user Ca Ribiero (Creative Commons)
Google+The Social Media-Ready Elevator Speech: How Short Can You Go?
January 31st, 2011 :: Monika Jansen
If you attend networking events, even if just occasionally, I am willing to bet $20 that you have met a handful of people who cannot tell you what they do. And I don’t mean “I’m a CIA Officer, so I’d have to kill you if I told you about my job” people (we have a lot of those here in the DC area), but people who ramble on and on and seem completely incapable of quickly explaining to you what they do.
It drives me nuts.
In our sound-bite and social media-obsessed society, how can you not have a quick answer ready? Twitter demands it. Facebook is more generous, but when I’m skimming my news updates and you post something rambling, I am not going to hit “continue” to see what else you have to say in your status update. Get to the point already, because I don’t have time.
Your elevator speech should be tweetable. Yes, I am saying it should be 140 characters or less. You can tweet it to new followers or use it in your Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter profiles, but even better, you can whip it out at networking events. Trust me, the shorter and more concise your elevator pitch, the smarter you sound.
So, to craft a super-succinct elevator speech, you need to write down the answers to these 3 questions:
- What is my product or service?
- Who are my clients?
- How do I help my clients?
Your answers should be short, and by short, I mean a phrase, not a long, complicated sentence. Here is how I answer those questions:
- Marketing writing and editing
- Small to mid-size companies
- Generate leads and become thought leaders
If they’re not short phrases, strip your answers down to the basics.
Now, link the phrases together in a way that makes most sense, like this:
I write and edit marketing copy for small to mid-size companies that generate leads and position them as thought leaders.
That sentence is 123 characters, with spaces, which means I can expand on it a bit and add more specifics. Instead of adding my bread and butter specialties of blogs, newsletters, and website content, I decided to tighten it up, like this:
I produce the content that small to mid-size companies need to generate leads and position them as thought leaders.
That was only 117 characters, with spaces, and I think it’s better than the first. What do you think?
OK, your turn! I would love to hear what you come up, so go ahead and add your before and after elevator speech in the comment section.
Image by Flickr user zwanzig (Creative Commons)
Google+The 13 Things You Need to Produce an Engaging Annual Report
January 4th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen
A great "action" photo!
If you are involved with a non-profit organization as a board member, volunteer, or paid staff, you are acutely aware that is once again time to put together an annual report. As your organization’s highest profile marketing piece, you should be proud of its ability to tell your story and attract new members, volunteers, and supporters. If you are not happy with it in its current format, you are probably missing a few crucial elements.
I have been working with non-profits for nearly 10 years, and if there is one thing I have learned about annual reports, it is this: keep it short! People have so little time to read your report that they will probably only skim it.
Based on my experience, here are the 13 things you need to produce an engaging annual report:
1. Message from the President: Highlight the organization’s biggest accomplishments of the past year, new initiatives you are taking in the new year, and a thank you to members, volunteers, staff, and donors. Keep the letter positive and forward-looking, and include a photo of the president in the field, if possible.
2. Program/Project Overviews: Though this section is the heart of the report, keep it brief. Include the program/project goals; how the goals were met; what work remains to be done and/or new goals; and the next steps you are taking to continue or finish the program/project.
3. Programs/Projects for New Year: The year’s new and continuing projects can be briefly summarized in a table to make the information easy to skim. Include as many projects as possible, even the ones that are not confirmed (label them as such), as it gives your financial supporters a reason to continue to provide support.
4. Board of Directors, Advisors, and Staff: Include brief biographies of officers and board members, advisors, program/project leaders, and staff (can limit to senior staff). By brief, I mean 2-3 sentences that include their current title and organization, responsibilities, and previous job.
5. Operations: Introduce your organization to new members, volunteers, or financial supporters with background information on how you operate. You can include a history of your programs/projects and how they have evolved; how the programs/projects are chosen, organized, and managed; and any restrictions your organization has relating to types of programs/projects, their scope, who they benefit, etc.
6. Supporters: List donors and in-kind donations, and include 501(c)(3) information, as well as how supporters can donate.
7. Special Thanks: If any supporters, partners, program/project leaders, volunteers, or staff went above and beyond this year, recognize them in this section.
8. Financial Report: A must! The report should be professionally compiled by an accounting firm.
9. Testimonials: Quotes from program/project leaders, participants, volunteers, and those who were positively affected by your organization’s work are powerful ways to show how critical your work is to the communities you serve. Sprinkle them throughout the annual report and set them apart in a different font, font size, and/or color.
10. Keep in Touch: Include a brief section on how to keep in touch with your organization via social media and/or your newsletter and what kind of information people can expect to receive from you.
11. Photographs: Photos are another must, as they show rather than tell. Include as many “action” shots from the field as possible (rather than posed/group photos).
12. Graphic Designer: A good graphic designer is worth his or her weight in gold. They will help you choose an overall look for the report that reflects your organization. To provide some guidance, show your graphic designer examples of past annual reports and explain what you do and do not like about them.
13. Social Media: No need to print and mail your annual report any longer. It can be uploaded to your website, emailed as a pdf, and shared via social media—in full color.
Image by Flickr user A Broader View Volunteers Corps (Creative Commons)
Google+3 Online Tools That Will Send Your Marketing Efforts to the Moon
November 30th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen
I am the first to admit that staying on top of near-constant changes in social media—from platforms and tools to plug-ins and apps—is nearly impossible. So while I was at the Grow Smart Business Conference at the beginning of the month, I jotted down the name of every social media tool and plug-in that was mentioned. I checked them out and realized that if you use the following three tools together, your online presence, brand awareness and lead generation efforts might just skyrocket through the roof.
Check ‘em out, and let me know what you think!
1. Find your customers online with Flowtown.
“Social Media Marketing Made Simple”—sign me up! Flowtown is a very popular social media tool for a reason—it lives up to its tagline. Flowtown helps you learn what your customers are doing and saying on which social platforms, and connects you to them on the social networks they use the most.
Cost: There are three plans; the basic plan is only $17/month. Not a lot, considering what it can do for your social media efforts!
2. Write content your customers care about and can find with Scribe SEO.
Scribe’s SEO plug-in helps you write content that is SEO-ready. First you do a keyword search to make sure your content (Web, blog, white paper, etc.) contains relevant search terms. Then Scribe analyzes your content and suggests changes to make it even more SEO-friendly. The best part: It helps you build links, aka SEO gold.
Cost: There are four plans; the Starter plan is $17/month. (Same as Flowtown!)
3. Monitor what your customers are saying about you online with Scout Labs.
Having a good customer relationship management (CRM) tool in you arsenal is essential to growing your business. Scout Labs just partnered with Lithium Technologies, which makes a social CRM networking platform, so you get shuttled over to Lithium when you start looking around Scout Labs. However, their social media monitoring tool allows you to listen to what your customers are saying about your company and its products and services in real-time so you can react quickly to close a sale or protect your brand. Pretty neat.
Cost: It’s a huge secret. You need to get in touch with them. Not neat at all. But it’s a really powerful tool that’s worth a look-see.
Image by Flickr user caffaknitted (Creative Commons)
Google+Small Biz Resource Tip: Logoworks.com
November 25th, 2010 :: Maria Valdez HaubrichCreating the logo for your company is as important as choosing your business name. Your logo needs to be original, meaningful and unforgettable all at once. Your best bet is to let the experts take over. Logoworks by HP employs many professional designers and gives you access to their expertise through its website. Pick the level of design you want (the least expensive gives you four original logo concepts and two revisions), fill out a detailed form describing your business and what you want your logo to express, and two or more designers will get to work on your logo. Everything can be done online or, if you purchase a higher-cost package, you can talk to the designers yourself.
Google+What Your Hiring Process Says About Your Company’s Brand
November 4th, 2010 :: Karen AxeltonBy Karen Axelton
As the economy shows signs of picking up, more small businesses are considering hiring employees. If yours is one of them, take some time to think about your hiring process and what it says about your firm.
While many of us think of the hiring process in terms of how our businesses can be hurt (for instance, if we neglect to do a background check, we might hire a criminal), few of us think about the point David Lee makes in this ere.net article: Creating a poor hiring experience can permanently hurt your business brand.
When you’ve weeded down job applications and resumes to a precious few, what do you do before you contact those candidates? You probably go online and search their names. Well, you can be certain that job candidates are doing the same thing with your company. And if anyone they know has had a bad experience applying or interviewing at your company, they’re likely to share those thoughts.
Before you place your next want ad or start networking for candidates, take some time to assess your hiring process with an outsider’s eye. Here are some basic questions to ask:
- Is it easy to apply for a job? Your ad should clearly state the process by which people should apply. Specify who to contact and what to do (and not to do). This saves time on their end, and on yours.
- Are requirements clearly explained? Any applications, tests or projects that applicants need to fill out or complete before a live interview should be clearly explained. The applicant should be able to contact a specific person at your business with any questions.
- Are interviewees treated courteously? The environment of the interview gives applicants a glimpse into what it’s like to work for you. I’ll never forget one job interview where I was kept waiting for two hours in a chair next to the office copier while my future boss kept postponing the interview because she was swamped. That should have been a sign to me not to take the job.
- Do applicants receive a response? It’s simple to set up an automated response by e-mail. Everyone who applies should get at least this courtesy. But you’d be surprised how many companies take employees through several interviews, then never contact them again. One of my friends recently traveled to another state at her own expense for a second interview with a major company. After an intense series of interviews with a team of executives, the firm never contacted her again. Not only that, but her voice mail messages and e-mails went unanswered.
No matter how busy you are, taking time to treat job applicants properly pays off for your business’s brand. More than that, it’s simply the right thing to do.
Google+How Are Your Customers Using the Web?
October 28th, 2010 :: Rieva LesonskyBy Rieva Lesonsky
Do you know what your customers are doing online? With the Internet so crucial to marketing today, a clear picture of how your target customers use the Web is essential to success. A recent study by Nielsen, What Americans Do Online, offers some insights.
According to the survey, U.S. Internet users spend more than one-third (36 percent) of their time online communicating and networking, whether it’s by e-mail, instant messaging, social media or blogs.
Use of blogs and social media has increased 43 percent from the same time last year, and now takes up 22.7 percent of time spent online. The second most popular online activity was playing games, which accounted for 10.2 percent of users’ time—a 10 percent increase compared to last year.
E-mail was the third most popular activity, accounting for 8.3 percent of users’ online time—although this represents a 28 percent drop compared to last year. Showing a strong rise? Videos and movies, although they only make up 3.9 percent of users’ online time, grew by 12 percent compared to 2009.
How can these statistics help your online marketing efforts? Here are three tips.
1. Start socializing. If you weren’t already convinced of the value of social media, I hope that “43 percent” increase changed your mind. No small business today can afford to ignore social media—a no-cost way to get the word out about your company, interact with customers from around the country (or the world), and build relationships that lead to sales. Whether you try Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or all three, I urge you to get out there and give social media a shot.
2. E-mail still matters. In fact, while use of e-mail on desktops and laptops declined, use of e-mail on mobile devices increased. E-mail accounts for 41.6 percent of time on mobile devices, compared to 37.4 percent last year. So keep your e-mail marketing efforts going, but integrate them with your newer activities by using e-mail to drive traffic to your social media presence. Also make sure your e-mail newsletters and other marketing messages are optimized for mobile viewing.
3. Think video. It’s still somewhat under the radar, but video can make a big difference in your business. For one thing, including video on your website, blog and/or Facebook page helps you rank higher on search engines. For another, some consumers simply prefer video viewing to reading. And for a third, videos can be a great way to “go viral.” If your video is interesting, funny or useful enough, users will forward it on. Posting video to your website can be as simple as grabbing a Flip video camera and talking about your product, your services or an upcoming event at your business. Now’s the time to start experimenting, so when video really takes off, you’ll be ahead of the pack.
Image by Flickr user Rob Pearce (Creative Commons)
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