Social Media in the Sticks 2.0

By Sarah Warren, MBA

Note: The following article is a revised edition of a previous blog entry that was published in Chamber Connection (October 2010), the monthly newsletter of the Ruston Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

All of us in the marketing and advertising industry are thinking and talking a lot these days about the applications and value of social media. And in my office we’re talking about social media’s specific application here in our “real world,” the rural South.

Social media is becoming a major force in shaping marketing for just about every service and product there is. Case in point, Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts has a Facebook page with over 2 million fans. And Clorox has over 100,000 fans. Yes, that’s a hundred thousand fans of bleach!

The goal in utilizing social media for marketing purposes is to move past the one-sidedness of traditional advertising and engage in a two-way relationship with customers and prospects. But here in the “sticks”—where in a week’s time you’re liable to run into 80% of your customers between trips to the grocery store, church, and your lunch counter of choice—should you invest time and effort in social media? Doesn’t our close-knitted-ness and diminutive population already promote building and maintaining relationships? The answer is yes, but social media still has its uses.

Take, for example, your typical ribbon cutting. You attend, shake hands and pass out a business card or two. Relationship established. Maybe, if your personalities hit it off or if you immediately require one another’s services, the relationship will develop a little quicker and further, but probably not. The majority of the time the story would end at the card exchange.

Instead, after the card swap why not return to your office and, utilizing social media, send a connection request to your new contact on Linked In and trade “fan” statuses for your respective businesses on Facebook. You may not see this person on a regular basis in the real world, but I guarantee—depending on how often you visit and update your personal and corporate pages—you’ll run across one another in the virtual world often. And it’s those glimpses of status updates and corporate culture tidbits that can help you to form a deeper connection.

Social media is also an incredibly useful tool for listening. You can follow what customers and prospects are saying and the tone of their comments to gain deeper insight into their likes/dislikes and purchasing behavior. Hint: you can also use social media sites to monitor the competition and what their customers are saying.

The critical thing to remember is that social media requires a strategy just like any of the other media you’re using as part of your integrated marketing plan.

Social media cannot replace traditional marketing, nor can it act independently of it. You need go in with a clear understanding about how social media is relevant to your brand and clients. Which of your customers are likely to be on Facebook or Twitter? What are they doing there? What can you add to that experience that is of value? And what do you expect to receive in return?

Also, you can’t just fill your social media channels with noise. You must commit to providing valuable content that clients will want to follow. Let me repeat that. You must commit to providing valuable content, not just repeating your regular promotional messaging or tweeting what’s playing on the radio in your office. People can “unlike” your business just as easily as they can “like” you and will not hesitate to do so if you become annoying.

So here it is. Old school advertising is about telling, and social media is about talking. And we’re good at talking here in the sticks, so don’t be afraid to join the conversation.

Sarah Warren is the co-owner of Emogen Marketing Group, a full service marketing firm in Ruston, LA and can be reached at 318.255.1233 or sarah@emogenmarketing.com.

Should You Advertise?

Many people ask us, “Should I advertise?” and our unequivocal answer is, “Yes.”

Before people undertake the action of purchasing they must have intent to buy and before that they must comprehend and desire what’s being offered and before that they must be aware of the option you offer. But for awareness to be achieved customers must first be exposed, which is where advertising comes in.

All businesses, though, are faced with limitations, primarily of budget and time. So, rather than throw money at the wind, be smart about your advertising activities. Here are a handful of thoughts on how to achieve that:

1 - Before launching into any campaign, clarify what you want to accomplish. Are you looking to increase your brand awareness, maintain your current market share or just simply sell more? Understanding and defining the goal will help you identify the correct message and channel to reach out to customers. It will also serve as the basis for determining how to measure the success of your campaign.

2 - The best campaigns are based on a thorough understanding of the customer and their purchasing behaviors. Know them and then speak to them on their terms about their needs.

3 - The lion’s share of your campaign planning should be focused on your message. Advertising icon David Oglivy said, “What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.” If your message is too confusing, too complicated, too boring or flat out just doesn’t say anything relevant to your brand, even the most eye-catching creative or best ad placement in the world won’t achieve the results you're looking for.

4 - Since you can’t realistically advertise everywhere, advertise where it counts most. Sure high readership, listenership, viewership, clicks and whatnot matter, but don’t just look at the total counts. Figure out how many of that total count are likely to be your customers and then compare cost based on those figures.

5 - Be consistent with your image. It will help your brand gain momentum and recognition, saving you time and money over the long haul.

~Sarah, Emogen marketer

I was dared I couldn’t work GI Joe into a blog…

In thinking back over my past blog topics, it seems like I don’t do much writing about what people really seem to be on the lookout for… marketing tips and how-to’s. If I had to pinpoint the reason, it probably relates to one of our internal philosophies: “Creativity is our only asset. Our concepts and ideas are our 'marketable product,' so as a general rule we don’t do spec work for clients.”

That would be a little like going to the doctor and agreeing to pay only after the check up and testing is completed. The patient’s point might be that he needs to experience the doctor’s skill and bedside manners before deciding if he wants to become an actual patient of the good doctor. But from the doctor’s perspective, whether or not the patient liked the service, he still received it… all the work has been done, diagnosis determined and treatment provided.

While marketing and advertising might not be totally like health care, it’s still a similar story. Oftentimes we are approached by businesses who want us to design a logo, pitch an ad campaign or develop a sales strategy before having to decide if they want to buy. I might be able to see that working if our revenue was generated like old school agencies that live off of media placement commissions, but we’re different. We charge for the ideas themselves (and as a side note we forgo all media commissions and pass them along as a discounts to clients).

But really this situation applies to any business in the service industry. And it’s perfectly understandable that prospects are hesitant to buy into something practically sight unseen. There could be a lot of risk involved in the form of financial, time or opportunity losses. There are ways, though, to help lessen a prospect’s purchase anxiety.

A chef might advertise food critic reviews and Zagat ratings. A financial professional might share the amount of money he’s been entrusted with or recent performance figures. A salon might display pictures of recent masterpieces. At Emogen, we walk prospects through other client experiences and results, offer a thorough portfolio review and provide ample contacts for client references.

Here are a few things your business might consider doing to reduce any perceived risk of your services:

- Offer a complementary initial consultation
- Provide a free trial period
- Offer a special or reduced rate for a basic service
- Give a warranty or service guarantee
- Offer some sort of compensation in the event of service failure
- Encourage and reward client referrals
- Tout certifications, awards and other recognition
- Communicate and promote your brand

That last one is a pretty big one. Communication helps establish expectations; and the more realistic and defined a prospect or customer’s expectations are, the more likely you will be able to satisfy them.

I don’t think I can really ever say enough about the importance of communication, which can take many forms. For the prospect communication begins with your advertising and promotion, but continues on through the sales process, customer service, employee demeanor, office or store ambiance, etc. Every aspect of your business communicates something about the quality and value of what you’re offering. And it shouldn’t stop once you’ve acquired the customer. In fact, you should always communicate more with current customers than with prospects.

So it’s true that if you have a service business you can’t give out samples with the ease that a product business can. You can’t mail everyone a cute, miniature version of your tax return, hair cut or oil change, but you can craft a few promotional efforts to allow clients a reduced-risk trial of your service. And you can—no, make that should—communicate, communicate, communicate so that prospects and customers alike know what to expect. Because, as one GI Joe would put it, knowing is half the battle.

~Sarah, Emogen marketer