social media success

If You Don’t Get This, You Don’t Get Social Media (Infographic)

by Lori Taylor · 7 comments

 

lori r taylor, revmediamarketing, social media, social media marketing, branding, product branding, networking, oneclicksociety, social caffeine, mobile marketing

Social media has been a real game changer for agency and customers alike. In fact, I like to call it the greatest game for playing marketing “chicken” ever.
You know the game “chicken” right?
It’s pretty simple…

You get two cars racing straight for each other seeing who swerves first. Not super smart, eh? Not only that, it’s scary too.

But when I’m in a social media pitch meeting, it’s how I feel some days.

Except in this game of “social media chicken”, the cars are going maybe 10 miles an hour, because neither the agency or the client knows for sure when to actually swerve. Each side – posturing to the other ” we got this”, we know what we’re doing…Why the games?

Because even though social media is a game changer – it’s also a game that is always changing.

Which means, it’s impossible for anyone to maintain true expert status in the field.And if you have any experience at all actually executing a campaign to gain “earned media” without a paid media budget to support you the you also know this…

Social media is NOT the BEST acquisition tool, contrary to popular belief.

With 20 years experience as a direct response expert, I know better. And as a person who led the marketing team for the largest customer loyalty card launch in the country for the national grocery chain, Kroger – I will tell you this…

Social media is an awesome customer loyalty vehicle.

(Note I didn’t say “tool”. It’s a platform or a channel, but it’s not a tool anymore than TV, radio or print is a “tool”. ) In fact, Jay Baer from Convince & Convert and I discuss this in more detail in our interview or download the entire transcript (here).

Social media is one of the best channels you can leverage to increase your lifetime customer value.

(If this sounds like french to you, please read this article at The Brand Builder by Olivier Blanchard, who also gives you an amazing info graphic to break down how to calculate lifetime value of a customer.)

And that’s the name of the social media game folks!

If your client thinks Social Media ROI is attached to a positive in the profit column for customer acquisition, then you have lost before you hit the gas pedal.

Think about it – any seasoned marketer would tell you if that’s the case – it really would be the holy grail!

Because very few, even the best, marketers make money when they “acquire” a new customer.

The truth is…Money is made from customer retention which comes from outstanding value delivered by over the top customer service.

As this infographic shows, your real opportunity to impact the bottom-line using social media.

According to a study from American Express in May 2012, “Sharing of customer service stories is on the rise among the general population, with the typical American telling 15 people about positive interactions, vs. 9 just one year ago.”

 

Check it out – and please tell me if you’ve used social media well to reduce your cost of customer service or improve your level of customer service. Or both.

You tell me!

Please leave a comment here or at my Facebook page at [link] And if f you liked this post I’d really appreciate it if you would share it with at least one person who it could really help!

13 Steps To Social Media Success

by Jonha Revesencio · 18 comments

lori r taylor, revmediamarketing, social media, social media marketing, branding, product branding, networking, oneclicksociety, social caffeine, mobile marketingSocial Media For Your Business Is More Than Just Facebook And Twitter

 

Hence, it requires intensive planning and establishing a game plan in order for it to become truly successful. The problem with most businesses that jump into the social media bandwagon is that there’s no definite or concrete plan in place. Getting started with a plan or guide may be a lot of work but will prove to be helpful in the long run.

In an interactive infographic released by Simply Business, they have outlined 13 basic steps and guidelines that businesses should consider following prior for a successful social media plan for the business.

1. Social Media 101

Learn the basics of social media for you to have a better idea on which strategy works best for your business. What may be successful for other brands and industries may not be as much effective for yours. Having a better understanding of the underlying principles in social media will help you craft better social media strategy that’s best for your business.

2. Choosing Platforms

Each social media platform is unique so they should be treated differently. Identify as to which platform do your target market frequently visit and focus most of your marketing strategies there. While it’s best to claim your brand on every social media platform before someone else will, it is also best to identify which platform could help you reach out to your target market in a much more effective manner.

3. Setting Up Accounts

When setting up accounts, make sure to review each platforms terms and conditions so you and your business could avoid encountering issues later on. It also helps to cross-promote or let your existing audience know about the new accounts being created. Publishing or informing your company blog readers about how they could follow you on Twitter or Pinterest will help increase the number of people who will connect with you on the newly established account.

4. Goals and Objectives

Having SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) objectives will help you have a clearer view of what to expect on your social media campaign.

5. Setting Targets

While most people may argue that you cannot measure or quantify the success of social media, it is best to set a target. From there, you may adjust accordingly depending on the results of the the existing campaign. Having figures in mind will help one become more focused and driven to reach what was set.

6. Social Media Policy

Writing a social media policy can be a company’s first line of defense to mitigate risk for both employer and employee. It is best that your company would develop one so that it’s clear for both parties. The company should set the boundary between business and personal use of social media. You may refer to this link for a collection of corporate social media policies.

7. Social Strategies

There had been many strategies published for businesses but not all of them could be effective for your business. Right from the very first step, you need to identify where your targets are and focus your social media strategies and efforts there.

8. Content Strategies

Having content strategies will help you develop thought leadership and become a valuable resource to your audience and target market. There will be nothing shared on your social media accounts unless you develop your own social media plan. Developing content may include but not limited to your corporate blogs, newsletters and curating topics that would be of interest to your target market.

9. Monitoring/Analytics

Establishing a social media plan without monitoring and quantifying the success is useless. Identify your best social media metrics and find the right tools that will help you keep track of what you want to be measured.

10. Building a Team

Everyone should hire a social media person to be part of their team. No question about that. But you need to identify what types of social media people and what skills should be included in your team. It’s funny how most companies immediately jump into this step, trying to find an expert or guru without establishing a plan and strategy in place first.

11. Processes

Start your social media process with a pragmatic approach. It’s the kind of process that does not only start but continues to evolve and adjust accordingly. Having setup social accounts and editorial plan are not enough. It needs constant evaluation and analysis to identify which approach and processes needed to be improved and maintained.

12. Social Media Mishaps

Social media is just like any marketing where you may encounter mishaps and blunders. It is therefore important for your company to be ready and establish rules and best practices on how to manage your online reputation when a disaster strikes or even before they do. McDonald’s is one of the best examples of brands that know how to turn disasters into opportunities for them to improve its brand perception.

13. Perfecting Campaigns

Tracking and monitoring the success of every social media campaign is essential so you will easily identify areas to improve on. Just having established profiles in all social media platforms is not enough. One need to constantly improve and generate new ideas to become better and part of perfecting campaigns is to always be on the lookout for more opportunities to provide value to your target market.

Having a concrete plan in place before jumping into the social media bandwagon is important for all businesses as it will determine the effectiveness of the campaign and identify areas to constantly improve on.

What about you, could you share what basic steps and guidelines are you currently following for your social media campaign?

 

Jonha D. Revesencio is a freelance Social Media Strategist, curator of Epic Infographic and a personal finance blogger at Saving is Sexy.