Your Company's Marketing Toolbox

Adding social networking to your marketing toolbox can bring you visibility and new connections with customers, but according to social media blogger, Michelle Tripp, “…at the end of the day, social media isn't magic. It's just a tool, a multi-functional, albeit bright red and shiny tool, waiting for a purpose. And without clear objectives and ultra-sharp strategy, using social media is like trying to cut a rope with those cute little Swiss Army® tweezers.” [http://trippmichelle.blogspot.com/]

I met with a new client today, who wants to get started with social media, and I was reminded about Michelle’s analogy which is one of the best that I’ve come across. Because not only do you need to have a toolbox of marketing tactics to help your business grow, you need to have the right tools to use.

There are many marketing directors who get excited about a new technology or marketing tool then run full-throttle getting set up without thinking about whether or not it is the right tool for their customers.

How to find the right tools?
How do you know which tools are right for you? Look at your current customers as well as potential customers. It’s important to know as much about them as you can in order to connect with them in the best way possible.

Different generations use and respond differently to social media. Younger generations are more likely to be online and very web savvy, so your tactics should acknowledge that characteristic. Build your connections with them online.

Is social media a tool you should add to your toolbox? Do you have social media tools and want to expand their use?

How do you know when social media works?
Before you launch your new initiative, make sure to start with goals and benchmarks. For example, if you decide that your customers may respond to a coupon for free products, you may want to add the offer to an existing email newsletter distribution. The goal would be to direct them to your website to get the details and print it out.

Before you send the email, make sure to get a baseline of your website hits (analytics) so you can determine how many people visited your site in the month or quarter before the coupon offer. A best practice in this situation is also to create a specific web page with a unique URL link for that particular offer. That way, you know that your web hits for that page would start at zero.
Knowing where all your visitors go when they visit your site lets you see to which pages these new customers may be navigating. If you find that customers come for the coupon and click on other product pages, you can use that information for your next promotion. It can give you the opportunity to “see” what your customers are interested in outside of the coupon offered.

Be careful, too, that if you do work to get people coming back to your site that you are prepared in the case of an avalanche of visitors. A recent example of this was KFC’s introduction of their 2-piece grilled chicken meal. The free offer got the attention of Oprah, who posted the coupon to her website, creating a huge rush at local restaurants. This is a great example of how easily an influencer, such as Oprah, can initiate viral response.
That’s all for today…

Social Networks: Utilizing Leverage of your companies

I came across this great article from one of my Tweeps (Twitter People). It cites a study done by UC Berkely Haas School of Business Marketing Research which looked at the influence people have on their "friends" on social networking sites.

They found that people who have fewer contacts were actually MORE influential than those who had many contacts. The conclusion was that those with a few close contacts/friends were more influential because their ties were actually stronger and so carried more weight.

"For word-of-mouth or 'viral' marketing, companies would actually be better off trying to diffuse their product through those with a small number of strong ties, instead of those who appear popular, with many weak ties. This is interesting, considering many people (and companies) would assume that diffusion could be maximized by making a product successful with popular people. It turns out that the best strategy is to market to those with the closest friends."

It comes down to the old adage that marketers have been using--it's quality, not quantity, that counts. Work develop strong relationships with your core/target customers and focus your time and efforts on pleasing them. The Pareto Rule comes into use here: 80 percent of your revenues come from the top 20 percent of your customers. Keep those 20 percent happy and satisfied.

More on the study can be found here: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/551499/

That's all for now. You can follow me on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/pjend