Tag Archives: recognition

New Facebook News Feed Features – An Admission of Guilt or a Conquest for Users?

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facebook

They have come a Loooong way! facebook (Photo credit: sitmonkeysupreme)

So, Facebook has finally come around…

We may think that Facebook doesn’t notice when we aren’t happy, but seriously? They notice. Especially since their attempt to monetize through their Edgerank algorithms is simply not working.

Sometimes you have to be hit over the head a few times before you realize the customer is right (most of the time).

So, FINALLY, Facebook is rolling out a new News Feed over the coming weeks with the following features. And for the full article (from Facebook themselves – shock!), click this link: http://newsroom.fb.com/News/581/A-New-Look-for-News-Feed

What we all really wanted all along and Facebook will be implementing:

  • All Friends – a feed that shows you everything your friends are sharing
  • Photos – a feed with nothing but photos from your friends and the Pages you like
  • Music – a feed with posts about the music you listen to
  • Following – a feed with the latest news from the Pages you like and the people you follow.

YAY! Just like Christmas for us Facebook junkies!

The point is that your consumer does often know what they want. And they are the ones using the product, so WHY NOT LISTEN?

2012: Email Marketing is Dead; 2013 Email Marketing is King – HUH?

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All through 2012, the buzz was “E-Mail Marketing is Dead!”

Now in 2013, most articles are about why Email Marketing is Supreme for Small Business!

HUH?

Actually, the latter is really true. Email is perfect for small business.

But let’s discuss the why of the mixed messaging and why you as a small business owner need to pay attention.

1. Social Media platforms grew exponentially over the last few years.

Soooo, “they” assumed, that because the growth was so rapid, social media platforms would soon replace email and all other traditional forms of marketing and communications.

While that might be true in major metropolitan areas and college campuses, there is still a huge population out there that doesn’t own a SmartPhone or that  only accesses internet through a desktop.

But, email is universal.

Everyone sits down at home and work and checks their email…

Another assumption was that because Social Media platforms are “Free,” that it would be nonsense for anyone to ignore it as a marketing avenue. Again, you can pick up a hammer, but that ain’t gonna make ya a carpenter!

Sure you can create an account for free, but time is money, and it takes time to maintain a social media business page, not to mention at least basic marketing skills. Nothing wrong with that, – all marketing comes with a cost – but that has to be considered.

Then, when it comes to attracting fans, many of those fans are laggers in social media who only use it for sharing funny cat pictures and playing application games. So, getting fans to pursue your page is another form of investment – a good offer to like a page, the giveaway, someone to manage the comments and likes, someone to engage to grow fans… And don’t believe those hucksters claiming to bring you from 0 to 40,000 fans! Fake profiles = fake fans = no rise in insights or revenue.

Now, why was email getting badmouthed:

2. “Free” Email services were springing up all over the place.

Why pay for email service when you can get it for free? Again, because FREE is never really free! You pay a price eventually – think of the hidden cost to you when your email goes to a spam folder and never reaches your intended recipient?

So, if you were judging the effectiveness of free email vs free social media… neither one will bring results so that comparison is probably moot.

They are both an investment in Time and time costs money.

OK, so now what should you invest your time in? Social Media or Email Marketing?

If you are asking this question, it tells me you don’t know your customers or clients. Face it, most of you small business owners have poo-poo-ed SoMe and Email.

Why don’t you let your customers tell you where you should invest your time?

  • Have you noted whether your customer is tapping away on a mobile while they are waiting in line?
  • Have you asked them what platforms they use?
  • Have you invited them to join your email subscriber list?

Stop being an employee of your own business and market your business. How?

  • Find out which Social Media platforms are appropriate for your business and demographic – Start with one and do well, then move on to others.
  • Invest in an email service that fulfills your needs for marketing and has integrated social media tools for efficiency and broader distribution that will attract new subscribers. (want to play around with one for free for 60 days? Click here!
  • And pay Freaking attention to where your customers live online! ASK THEM. SURVEY THEM. TALK TO THEM.
Related articles

I had to Press this: How NOT To Do Email Marketing!

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I saw this link on Quora today and it was such a SPOT ON article, I had to press it onto my blog!

Louis Vuitton missed the mark in this marketing email and this article discusses what you should understand if you send marketing emails to your customer/client database.

And don’t miss the fact that many view their emails (esp on SmartPhones) WITHOUT displaying images.

Click to read…

How NOT To Do Email Marketing.

David Shouldn’t Try to Be Goliath in Social Media – the Pants Just Don’t Fit!

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Three wise monkeys

Three wise monkeys (Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn)

It’s common practice for small businesses and non-profits who are new to social media marketing to look at what the big guys are doing.

Let’s take a minute to re-think Social Media Practices – Big Business vs Small Business

The essence of Social Media Marketing:

When we want to buy something important, don’t we often go online and see what others are saying about it? Amazon.com, Yelp.com, etc… or just a simple Google search?

Don’t personal reviews from consumers of that product influence our decisions? Don’t we also pay attention to testimonials when we see them anywhere online?

Of course we do.

In Social Media venues, do we pay as much attention to a commercial, or anything that sounds like a commercial, or even smells like it might be a commercial? No, because it is usually either annoying or a turn off to be sold to in a social environment! Right?

YET – when small businesses and non-profits try to post material on their pages and sites, they often come off, well… like a commercial.

Why not, you say? The big companies do it, you say? Macys, Best Buy, Old Navy, Home Depot… they promote product and are successful. Shouldn’t I follow their example with my small business or non-profit?

NO! NO! A Thousand times NO!

Think about it. Big Retailers and businesses are actually at a disadvantage on Social Media. They can’t begin to interact with fans and followers on the same level as a small business can – much less on a personal level. Since they have hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers from all over the nation, they have to use social media as an extension of their traditional marketing.

Why would you follow the example of a business that can’t even use the medium for that which it was created?

As a small business or non-profit, you have the advantage of local influence. You have the advantage of being a part of the local community. You even know a good many of your fans and followers by name or sight or even have relationships with them.

For example:

Say you were in line at the movie theater and you recognize a consumer in the line in front of you.

  • You might say a cheerful hello and remind them of how they may know you.
  • You might thank them for shopping with you.
  • You might talk about the weather or latest big news or the Big High School game
  • You might ask them what they’ve heard about the other movies showing at the theater….

But would you pull out a picture of your latest product and begin to sell them on it?

Sure, at the end of the chat, you MIGHT remind them to come by your business and check out a new product or service or hand them a business card or such, but you aren’t going to stand there and pitch them the whole time you are in line. At least I hope not!

So why would you do any differently on Social Media?

They recognize you as someone in their community. If you come across as strictly business, you will lose your credibility as “the neighborhood” merchant that they have come to know and trust on a face to face level.

Instead, you’ll just be regarded as just another retailer or business person...  Why would you want to do that?

Did you get that AHA moment there?

Still hungry for the WHY of social media? What good is it? Why should you bother in 2013?

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George Takei https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei

George Takei – or as some of us know him from the original Star Trek Cast – “Sulu” Now the most influential person on Social Media in 2012. https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei

Many social media newsletters and blogs are chock full of the wrongs and rights of 2012 and what’s coming in 2013. But, while that is all truly good information, most of my clients and presentation attendees are still very hungry for the WHY of social media.

  • What good is it?
  • Why should they bother?
  • And lastly – Why should they want to connect with hundreds or thousands of strangers?

So I decided not to discuss the stats on where Social Media has gone in 2012, the demographics and analysis, the projections for where it is going, etc… (my favorite reliable source for that  – http://mashable.com/social-media/)

INSTEAD, let’s walk through the “why” in hopes it will change how you think about Social Media and get you participating on a REAL basis.
I remembered a blog (no link, I’m protecting the innocent), that suggested in your efforts to organize in preparation for the opportunities of 2013, that you should also UN-Follow anyone in social media if you couldn’t identify them on sight of their gravatar.

H U H ?

My Perfect segue into the why…

If you follow the advice of that blogger and UN-follow anyone whom you really don’t know, don’t connect on LinkedIn with someone you don’t know, and don’t accept invitations to friend those you don’t know, then you are missing the point of social media. (yes, you should check out their profile first!)

TO PUT THIS IN THE SIMPLEST TERMS… Here is the why…

Part 1 – Who ARE these people?

  • When you go to a party or gathering, do you ignore everyone you don’t know?
  • When you attend a business networking event, do you refrain from accepting a business card or offering your own?
  • When you are standing in line at the grocery store and the person behind you comments on the long wait, do you turn away and ignore them?
  • At any public sports event or concert or play, if the person in the seat next to you shares positively in your emotional response to the event, do you reject them?
  • When you are at a store that sells products for your hobby or niche, does the advice of a bystander bother you when you make a decision on the products you are perusing…?

Are you starting to get that aspect of it…?

Ok – now part 2 – What am I doing here?

  • Have you  never made any comments to a stranger on the surrounding events?
  • Have you never hi-fived someone next to you at the Sports Bar when the team you both support makes a goal?
  • Have you never offered words of comfort to a stranger in need?
  • Have you never shared business ideas and observations with the vendor in the next rented booth at an expo?
  • At home, don’t you have pictures of family, vacations, certificates of achievement… on your walls for all who visit to see?
  • Don’t you talk to strangers (prospective customers) every day in your business?
  • Have you never been excited to share good news or concerned enough to share bad news?

Enough? Now is it sinking in?

Last Considerations:

  • Do you know the number of friends, acquaintances and colleagues you have in the physical world?
  • Aren’t those relationships of varying degrees?

There are services out there that people get sucked into that will “buy” likes for your social media account…

  • Do you want friends that have nothing to do with your world – in other words, do you “buy” friends who serve no purpose but to add quantity to your circle?

So now… what do you do to get started on a realistic level that works? You begin to think of Social Media as a public venue for all the interaction you do on a normal basis…

  • You stop thinking of Social Media as a badge of distinction based on the numbers of fans or followers.
  • You become open to the possibilities of these tools of social media. Yes, that is all they are… tools. YOU make them what they are and YOU determine the results you get. Just like in the physical world.

I hope this blog has helped explain and inform you enough to get more involved in the use of social media for your business – and get social!  And don’t forget that Google loves fresh content…

Post Script:
And one last distinction that is often overlooked… Social Media is also a manifestation of our 1st amendment rights in the United States of America
Consider that in some countries, there are use restrictions and even total bans…

Example: Section 66A of India’s Information Technology Act, makes it a crime punishable by jail time to use social media platforms to make offensive statements.

Food for thought.

Please visit my archives for more food for thought on Social Media and more…