Marketing Strategy Today » Learning Social Media

Don’t Be Lazy with Your Social Media

Pam Sahota — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 13:53:59 +0000

It’s easy to get a little lax during the summer, especially when the warm weather hits, and the patios are enticing you to come hang out. Just remember, your consumers are thinking the same thing. They’re excited for the summer, they want to drive to the beach, relax on their porches, have bbqs with their friends, and travel for the long weekends. So in-between your sunshine and beers, remember to be there for your consumers too.

Here are three approaches to consider as your brand engages with its audience across social:

1. It’s not about the social channels you have, it’s about what your audience is doing on those social channels this time of year. For example, they may be planning their summer adventure on Pinterest; capturing their new friendships on instagram, and/or tuning into the World Cup on Twitter. So what do you do about it? Engage with them in a way that’s conducive to their behaviors during this season and on that channel.

Tip: Don’t put out the exact same piece of content on every channel. #Lazy

2. Provide them with content that will help them get what they want and desire this summer. For example, if they’re looking for ways to enjoy their weekend, give them ideas and share your thoughts. No need to put your product/service on full display during that content messaging, but subtly demonstrate that your brand is more than just a product. It’s a brand that offers more and can be a daily (or regular) part of their lives — especially when the hot hazy summer days drop down upon us. Be the brand they are excited to see content from as they’re on their long road trip killing time on their smartphone, swiping through instagram.

3. If you can’t do “real” time, plan ahead. Not every brand can monitor conversation 24 hours a day. Sometimes you have to plan for what’s going to be “popping” in social conversation. For example, we all know the World Cup is this month. Most brands have planned what types of conversations will occur, and will be ready to engage when that time comes. Another thing that happens every year is July 4th (oh yea, that awesome day with red, white and blue, and amazing patriotism, and yes bbqs too)…be ready for it in advance, but also allow for some day of changes to pop into conversation as news develops.

And while you’re sipping that beer, and laying on your hammock, just check in on your brand a few times here n’ there. You never know when that awesome opportunity to start a conversation (not just join) could be ripe for the picking.

Image Source: theprospect.net

This post was originally written for Marketing on the Rocks.

The Second Screen Battle Field Shows a Clear Winner

Pam Sahota — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 13:42:28 +0000

The second screen experience, another battle field for brands to fight over one another for the largest voice, most engagement, and ability to reach their audience when they’re “tuned in.” There have been multiple second screen apps including but not limited to shazam, getglue and intonow (which has been shut down by Yahoo as of this year). So not only is it a battle ground for brands, but it’s a battle ground for apps as well — regarding which one will provide the most reach and engagement for brands. So who’s winning the battle? In my humble opinion, Twitter has been rocking the second screen stage since the beginning. Why? Let’s break it down.

The audience is there.
The brands are there.
Other apps (including instagram) integrate easily to distribute content to Twitter.
Hashtags make the conversations easily searchable and in turn joinable.
People “tune in” to Twitter the same time they tune in for tv shows. It’s become routine. It’s an innate behavior with the audience already.

Mediabistro provided some stats to back this up:

90 percent of Twitter users who see a TV show-related tweet are likely to immediately watch the show, search for more information, or share tweet-based content about that show
TV-related tweets are most likely to be engaged with if they come from a cast member of the show (40 percent) rather than the user’s friends or family (26 percent) or the show’s official Twitter account (18 percent)
54 percent of Twitter users who recall seeing brand-related tweets during a TV show have taken action (tweeting about, searching for or considering the brand)
72 percent of Twitter users tweet during live broadcasts

These stats demonstrate the audience is going to use what’s convenient for them, what they already use day-to-day and where even cast members voice their thoughts and comments on a regular basis. Yes, some consumers may tap into new apps, but the chances of those apps being opened regularly, staying on the front screen of a phone/tablet and not being deleted over time are less likely than apps that are used daily by consumers.

Brands, take note. Why not use what’s already at your fingertips. And of course it doesn’t hurt that your content is already on Twitter (assumption) and you already have a base audience.

Next time, we’ll dive deeper into tips to strategize how to use second screen via Twitter to your benefit with tactical tips and action items.

This post was originally written for socialnomics, and can also be found here.

How to: Use Twitter to Market Your Fashion Brand

Pam Sahota — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:43:49 +0000

The top ten things your brand should always consider when starting, strategizing and optimizing your channel strategy for Twitter:

Listen: First and foremost your brand should set up a listening station to listen each day to what’s going on the Twittersphere. It’s important to listen not only to what your followers are saying, but also regarding brand mentions industry news, competitive insights, and more.

Pick the right Tool: Before a brand can listen properly, it’s helpful to have the right tool to listen simply yet efficiently. A couple quick tools which are free to utilize for listening to one handle areTweetdeck and Hootsuite. Best part about Hootsuite are the analytics if you are willing to spend a little more than free.

Utilize Lists; Making and following lists are helpful in listening more easily on Twitter too. For example it may help to have a list made of all your competitions’ handles, the influencers in your category, loyal followers, and industry experts.

Capitalize on Hashtags: Hashtags are not only another great listening tool, but they are a great way to interject in a conversation with valuable content. First you can listen to key hashtags in your industry, event hashtags, so on and so forth. Then, you can interject with valuable advice, product info, and/or lead the conversation to your website (if and only if it’s valuable to the conversation at hand).

Utilize your Twitter Real Estate: Don’t underestimate the power of your Twitter real estate. It allows for a cool background which can be picturesque and/or should other brand traits such as links to other social channels, websites, etc. Don’t forget the ability to pin tweets in order to have a specific Tweet take priority over others on your Twitter brand page.

Great Example Below:

This post was originally written for Startup Fashion, and you can read the other 5 Twitter Tips on my original post here!

5 Companies Who Lead the Way in Social Media

Pam Sahota — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:10:47 +0000

Social Media…a not so new concept, yet one which can still allude many brands if they do not strategize their content appropriately for each channel in regards to how it fits their brand. But we’re not here to criticize, we’re here to learn from the ones who take advantage of social media and elevate their brand to another level.

Facebook
Victoria’s Secret converted to the new Timeline ahead of the curve and wow does that timeline grab your attention. With over 18 million fans and over 200 thousand people talking about the brand…you have to take a second glance (not just for the pictures). The brand took advantage of the picturesque platform, made it interactive for fans to engage with the contact, offer coupons, notify consumers of real-time sales, and more. It captivates not only the female audience but the male audience to imagine, dream, and bring to reality what could be. The story has been unfolded, and the brand fully utilized Facebook Timeline to do so.

Social Media Case Study: Victoria Secret was ahead of the curve with Facebook’s timelineTwitter
Zappos may be an obvious win here…but perhaps it’s because they really do take their brand marketing to heart. The brand has been humanized by their CEO, Tony Hsieh, who lets his own personality shine through the brand name. How many CEOs do you know who take the time to do such, especially through social media?

YouTube
Blendtec, demonstrates with 190 million views and 400 thousand subscribers, that even a blender can be entertaining. Who knew?! The brand took a brave yet awesome take with social content…they leveraged humor and experimentation to make their videos fun to watch and create a viral effect. I am impressed by their leverage of humor, as it is way easier said than done. Would you blend your iPhone? Watch them do it instead!

Early adopters

Burberry, a brand known for evoking desire and lust for fashion, transcends their fashion leadership to the social sphere. They adopt early, and adopt well. While doing research a while back for the Google Plus brand pages, I saw that Burberry was one of the first to take advantage of the channel and demonstrate it could bring style and allure even to a channel that was too new to be adopted by most at that time. My favorite part? The GIFs used for the images…catches your eye before you even get to the heart of the content.

Keeping it local

Four seasons known for its luxury and decadence, takes a simple and relaxed approach to its social endeavor. The brand chose to simplify and localize its Twitter and Facebook channels. There is a fan page and twitter account dedicated to individual hotel locations in order to optimize the care needed for local guests and the language in each region/city. Luxury care simplified for local effort.

Takeaway

It’s about a few things:

1. Listen for the latest greatest ‘shiny toys’

2. Don’t just jump in to all of the social channels; Gauge which channels are going to best fit your overall content strategy and help to amplify it

3. Use social media to augment your marketing efforts in a real-time, community driven effort

4. Humanize the brand

5. Show your consumers you are there for what they need; not what you need

6. Make it fun; see: Blendtec example

Note: This post was originally written for Socialnomics and can also be found here.

Additional Information:

http://mashable.com/2009/02/06/social-media-smartest-brands/
http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/best-twitter-brands/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-companies-doing-social-media-right-and-why/
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/03/20/luxury-brands-using-social/
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/07/04/meet-the-top-20-brands-on-facebook/

Five Simple Ways Marketers can take Advantage of Pinterest

Pam Sahota — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 15:17:36 +0000

So in case you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, just have, or are wondering what all the hype is about, Pinterest is still sizzling. It’s a fun and useful tool that brands can use to their advantage in order to show a more visual side to its consumer market.

Now here’s what’s really important…how to truly capitalize on Pinterest and all it’s glory:

1. Integrate with other social networks: Allow your target market to see you on all the places they play. Share your new pins on your Facebook page or Tweet them out. Consumers don’t always know you are present on the latest social networks, so the more you promote your presence, the more traffic you may receive, even if just for mere curiousity.

2. Show a more visual side to your brand: Take the time to prepare aesthetically pleasing visual content to share. For example if your brand produces blog posts, such as tech, then make sure the pictures which will direct back to those posts are eye-catching. If your brand has consumer products to share, then ensure the photography behind it is something your target market will want to like, comment on, re-pin, and/or follow.

3. Use instagram: Be creative and use fun photography such as instragram to highlight certain boards. Pinterest focuses on visual beauty; the more you can make your pictures exciting to view, the more engagement you may receive from consumers as well as other brands.

4. Ensure the pins are items people will want to re-pin: When you are pinning your items to the different boards, ensure the link goes to something on your website, blog or other social network. It should help drive traffic to your other brand sites, and additionally be something your consumers will want to share their own followers on Pinterest by re-pinning your content.

5. Marketing Campaigns with Pinterest. Brands can utilize Pinterest (along with Facebook and Twitter) to do creative campaigns which may include…

contests: For example, allowing consumers to create images to be featured on the pinterest page
voting: For example, allowing consumers to vote on their favorite item on a specific board, or picking what other boards they would like featured.
how-to: Feature how-to demos, videos, posts, and other items in order to let consumers get better insight into your service or product.
audience-specific: For example having different boards with content specific to different audience groups. This will allow for more targeting rather than just focusing on one consumer group at a time.

Last but not least, make sure your brand doesn’t forget to let the public know you’re there. Use the Pinterest widgets for your website and other channels.

Wish List

Although Pinterest has taken off and many brands have already established their presence…there are always improvements that could be made. In my opinion Pinterest would be even more valuable if it had analytics within it for brands to monitor in order to improve their boards and pins. In the mean time brands can focus on the referral traffic through google analytics, which is helpful to know which pins are really of interest to their consumers.

Sources:

http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2012/02/pinterest-marketing/

https://www.socialnomics.net/2012/01/22/five-brands-engaging-like-pros-on-pinterest/

http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/9-tips-boost-your-business-pinterest.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204792404577227542820850590.html?mod=googlenews_wsj