Don't leave your customers alone in Social Media

If you have not admitted yet or will never, it does not matter at this point, Social Media is mainstream and here to stay!  When asked "why social media" you can mention these stats:

• Time spent on social networking sites increased 277% in 2009.
• Web users are 51% more likely to buy from your brand if they follow you on Facebook
• And are 60% more likely to recommend your brand
• Twitter served 10 billion Tweets
• Web users spends 6 hours a month with social media (and growing)
• “If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more” ( Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki)
• 18% of all new content found online, is found through social media
• 70% of Internet users reported “trusting” consumer opinions posted in social media
• 86% of companies in the largest 100 of the Fortune 500 use social media
• Google cares about your social network

*stats from Social Media Explorer

So, why would you leave your customers alone to talk with your competitors when you should be the one they are talking with, purchasing your goods or services and willing to share with others.  The key to Social Media is to develop an interactive strategy that evokes conversations. You must now think of yourself as a publishing and production company utilizing content and images to convey and converse your brand story.

                                                  "Oh, I just have to post a pic or two"  

         "Whats the big deal, anybody can do that!"  

                           "We get it, just look at the number of our followers"

These are regular comments I receive regarding social media.  Sure, give me the Domino's pizza account, who could not get 100k fans.  But to keep them engaged, willing to share and make purchases is the ultimate test of social media strategy. 

Toilet Paper and Toothbrushes

The economy has affected every company, small and large thus eliciting people that need to implement marketing strategies that actually work.  What a concept!  We witness many attempts that completely miss the target market market boat.  It has become a fun and entertaining game for my wife and I to watch commercials that we evaluate as to their effectiveness with message, images and target market.  The best part of this fun marketing evaluation exercise is to really see how some company's total miss the mark.

Having spent well over a decade consulting with all types of businesses in almost every industry, one of the first questions I always ask is, "Who is your target market?".  Typical answers to this question follow in these categories, if a large company who has been around a while and has the money for research comes back with a data sheet like a CIA profile report - this is very scary because most of the time interpreting this data into marketing plans becomes a grid iron of debate amongst the agency's that serve the brand.  Next you have the company that says,  "we kinda know who it is and that has worked for 20 years".  Really?  Then you have the new start-up or entrepreneur that says the greatest answer of them all, "Everybody!". 

Sorry to burst the bubble but only .0000001 percent of businesses have a truly defined target market of everybody.* And of those .0000001 maybe 1 can say this and that would be mother earth.  If your brand sells Toilet paper or Toothbrushes in a non-third world country that the majority of the population uses these items then for that region you can claim "everybody" as your target market. 

Finding your target market is like fishing.

A good fisherman does their research before finding the right place to cast their lines.  This includes knowing when the fish are going to be at the place, where the best place is, what type of gear to use and how to use the gear efficiently. 

So before going out and spending money on advertising, think like a fisherman. 

*Completely made up data but might actually be close to accurate.

Part I: Trade Show survey reveals current exhibitors Strategies

A recent study by Champion Services focused on the impact the economy has on the Trade Show and Events industry. 
***receive complete trade show listings here.

81% of Exhibiting Companies reduced trade show spend

The companies reduced trade show spend by:

• 56% reduced staffing
• 39% reduced the amount of shows 

With uncertainty in the economy still looming, companies, a slight majority (51%) of them, plan on increasing their trade show participation as the economy recovers.  Top tradeshow goals that companies revealed were:

• 79% collect leads
• 75% creating brand awareness or growing market share
• 33% use trade shows to launch new products

When asked how they measure or value investment, exhibiting companies responded with:

• 74% quality of leads collected 
• 59% booth traffic
• 54% quality of leads collected
• 52% sales from leads collected

Leslie Brand, VP of Marketing for Wheelhouse Solutions said that, "The trade show industry is in a period of transition", (duh- my response).  She also went on to say that, “Exhibitors report that participation in trade shows is not just about selling products or services. As stakeholders in their industries, they are looking for ways to leverage a return on the investment throughout the year and stay connected to others in their industry. Social media technologies can play a role in building community facilitated by show organizers allowing event attendees and exhibitors to engage year round.”(again duh and what?- I did not see "want to engage customers via social media as a top tradeshow goal above).

The survey then stated 57% that value promotion of their event-related activities on social media such as Facebook (34%), Twitter (28%), and LinkedIn (19%). In addition, 45% value year-round online communities populated by event attendee.  In addition, 62% of respondents report that trade show expenditures represent more than a quarter of their marketing budget, including 28% of exhibitors who indicate trade shows represent more than half their marketing budget. While a majority of trade show related budgets will remain the same in 2010 and 2011, a quarter of the companies predict increased spending on future trade shows compared to 2009. 

After reading these statistics and comments, I can clearly understand why companies leave trade shows disappointed, frustrated and wondering what they can do to increase their tradeshow marketing investment.  A good majority of trade show companies just want to sell you equipment and NOT integrated solutions and will never have the ability to move on past this point.  If your trade show budget is 25-50% of your annual marketing budget, you better make sure that you have winning solutions for your trade show investment.  And if you have NO social media strategy in place today, get one NOW!

Part II will focus on down and dirty Trade Show marketing solutions that you should Crave!

The Last Mile of Engagement is not Free

Must Watch quick vid with the Social Master Brian Solis talking about marrying influence with confluence which will ignite the interaction.  "The ROI of social media marketing is connecting with the right individuals where they are and who they are connected with", Brian Solis.

Centenarians using Mobile Devices

According to a recent study, 

8% 

of Centenarians texted in the past year 

out of 84,000 living in the US.

Just hope they were not driving.

Business Quote, Mantra, Mission

"Advertising 
                               
                                 is the Price  

        companies pay for being  
               
                               un-original",                   

Yves Behar, Designer at TED2008

Experiential Marketing creating awareness of sustainable living and green technology

Dartmouth students and recent graduates are spending the summer living on a bus in an effort to increase awareness of sustainable living and green technology described as a “science fair on wheels.”

Described as a “science fair on wheels” it’s the fifth year that students have taken part in the project.  The bus itself — a 1989 MCI coach that we swear we’ve taken to the airport — has been converted by the students to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). Creature comforts (including air conditioning) are provided by ten 12-volt deep-cycle AGM batteries connected to a 4000 watt inverter and tied in with four solar panels. To complete the sustainable theme, cabinets and flooring are made from bamboo.

The bus tour departed from Hanover, NH on June 18th and has already made over 45 stops to educate visitors about sustainable living and refuel with WVO at greasy spoon diners across the country. Its last scheduled stop is in Cleveland, OH on August 29th.

Social Media marketing for the tour can be found at Twitter, Facebook and the team’s blog.