Posts tagged social media and small business


The level playing field has turned into a content arms race

Nov 14th

99 comments

Kremlin cannon

Have I ever told you how much I love Gini Dietrich?  For me, she is such an amazing role model for dong it right on the social web. And if you’re one of the five people on earth not already following her Spin Sucks blog, go do that now.

Gini is a smart and savvy friend and we don’t always see eye to eye, which makes her an even better friend. Last week she penned a post about how Facebook seems to be unfairly squeezing money from us by forcing us to use paid promoted posts to reach people who are already following us. It’s a good point of course, but I fell off Gini’s wagon at this point:

The awesome thing about the web and social media, in particular, is it levels the playing field. No longer do you need millions of dollars to spend on PR firms and ad agencies in order to build your brand and reputation among the masses.

Today all you need is a good writer, a self-hosted website and/or blog, and organically grown social networks. With those three things, you suddenly are competing with the big boys for reputation and credibility. You’re seen as a thought leader in your industry. You’re creating kinship among your prospects. And you’re selling in a way that has never before been possible.

All of the tools are free so it’s a really low barrier to entry. And it works.

You see, I have been thinking just the opposite about our social media world.  Yes, three years ago Gini was probably right. When the social web was young almost any foray into social media was novel and attracted attention. It was pretty cheap and the entry barriers were indeed low. You could post a video of a bride falling into a swimming pool and it would go viral.

No longer.

Today YouTube is mainstream entertainment fueled by slick corporate video content. People have increasingly sophisticated expectations about what they’re going to find on your Facebook page, Twitter stream, or blog.

I recently saw a statistic that stated there was more information created on the web in the last two years than all of human history combined. I don’t know if that is true or not and I rarely let facts get in the way of a good story anyway, so let’s just say it makes a point — there is an enormous amount of data to get through these days. Heck, even Mashable makes me dizzy.

The content arms race

To succeed on the social web today you better bring your A Game and a bucket of money.  To connect with customers today you need to consistently provide useful, relevant, and entertaining content — and that is not cheap. And as the information density on the web increases, so too will the cost to produce that great content.

Yes, yes, I know there are plenty of companies who are still finding niche success with modest social media programs but as soon as their competitors get in the game, the content arms race begins.

As I wrote recently, the social web is NOT a level playing field. There is definitely a first-mover advantage for people who have the money to create useful content and overwhelming amounts of it (which then become entrenched in the search rankings). In the long term, you probably will NOT be competing with the “big boys” (as Gini states) with just a writer and a blog.

Social media is a mainstream marketing and communication channel that will increasingly be dominated by those with the fattest wallets. Agree?

Photo: I took this shot during a visit to the Kremlin in Moscow

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How does a small business move into social media marketing?

May 13th

61 comments

I recently received this excellent question from one of my students:

Big global companies usually have a social media department but medium and small companies usually add this job for some marketing or PR manager in addition to his area of responsibility or hire some cheap employee or intern — with negative results.  So how should a small business with limited resources realistically approach social media marketing?

The time and resources needed to be effective in social media is certainly a problem for companies big and small. I think we can burst the bubble by now  — social media is NOT free. In fact, large brands are devoting a significant part of their marketing budget into these efforts.

There seems to be no choice — most companies must develop some competency in this channel. In addition to the obvious reason that social media has become a preferred method of communication (and complaining) for many demographic groups, other marketing channels are drying up.

The transition to a social marketing mindset is difficult for companies of any size!  One huge consumer goods company laid-off 1,500 marketers last month because they didn’t have the right skillset to move into the future. Another global brand I work with has literally tested the digital competency of every marketing person in their company. Low scorers are going through mandatory training, medium scorers are going through advanced training and even high scorers are going through a series of “TED talk”-like seminars.

These represent two strategies toward this transition — jettison ineffective resources or aggressively re-train them.

But let’s get back to the original question, what if you’re a small business and have very few resources to begin with?  How do you make this transition?

The big difference is, as a small business owner, you have less room for error.  You probably don’t have the luxury of hiring a new team to create a social media effort.  So here are some ways to minimize the risk during this transition:

1) Do a reality check. Before committing to a new plan, conduct a simple survey or get out and talk to your customers. Where are they spending their time?  What are your competitors doing?  Keep in mind that there is probably a first-movers advantage for many businesses so don’t overlook the fact that creating a competency in social media marketing could be a source of competitive advantage.

2) Learn. To move ahead with social media for your business, you don’t have to be an expert, but you do have to learn enough to at least ask the right questions.  If you’re just starting out, here is a video series that can help get you quickly up to speed on the basics:  Social Media From Scratch.

3) Set real goals. What are your company’s critical needs right now? How can some of these new social media opportunities specifically align with your goals? Don’t get caught up in the hype. Your budget probably does not have much room for “extra,” so think through how this activity will best move the needle for your business.

4) Get professional help. 95% of the companies I see engaging in social media are simply checking a box and not getting much out of the effort. In other words, they had somebody’s cousin create the company Facebook page.  For the first six months, it usually makes sense to invest in a marketing professional to give you some guidance and speed you through the learning curve.

It’s like strapping yourself to an instructor the first time you skydive. After a couple trips, you’re ready to go it alone. When seeking expert help, ask this question: What previous marketing experience do you have and can you show me measurable results of your social media efforts? That will weed out most self-proclaimed “gurus!”

5) Don’t view social media as an “add on.” Before you hire a new social media team, I would first look at where you are spending your current budget and resources – is it time to simply re-adjust?  For example, spending on newspaper advertising has declined by 75% in the US (down to 1950s levels).  If you have been spending much of your time on traditional forms of advertising, it might be time to move those resources to something else. You have to go where your customers are.  Should you re-allocate?  If you just pile more work on to existing employees this will probably fail.

6) Re-frame the opportunity. Here is some good news. Ten years ago, you would take out an ad and wait for something to happen. Today, literally every employee can be involved in “marketing” as a beacon for your company on the social web. It’s a new way of thinking, isn’t it? How can you capture employee incremental time or down time? How can you involve and engage the many networks of your employees, customers, and other stakeholders?

Another way to re-frame the opportunity is that marketing through the social web can possibly be a great equalizer for small businesses. For a little bit of time and effort, you can potentially have a very powerful impact and possibly reach vast new audiences.

7) Realistic expectations.  For many small companies, the result from social media marketing is more like the long-term benefits of networking at a chamber of commerce meeting than the short-term benefits of issuing a coupon in the newspaper. Don’t get me wrong — short-term benefits are certainly possible — but in general, aim for long-term benefits such as increasing customer loyalty.

I’ve worked with many small businesses and start-ups so I know how painful and risky these marketing decisions can be.  I’d love to hear from you. What additional recommendations would you give a small business trying to make begin a social media marketing program?

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7 ideas to turn PowerPoint slides into social media marketing gold

Nov 15th

104 comments

Although PowerPoint has been around for years, it is still the king of presentation software tools.  It is an absolutely critical arrow in my business marketing quiver … and for some reasons that might surprise you!

Here are seven ideas to use PowerPoint slides to create new value for your social media marketing efforts:

1. Populate Slideshare

When I teach my classes to experienced marketers, I am always surprised to learn how many people have never heard of SlideShare.  This is one of the fastest and easiest ways to start to populate the social web with great content because face it, we ALL have PowerPoint presentations!

Quick story to illustrate the power of this platform. Before a class one day, I uploaded my presentation slides to SlideShare so the students could access them later. Within an hour, the slides had already been viewed 150 times — none of the views were from students, because I had not taught the class yet!  It’s free, it’s fast, it’s flexible and there is a premium option that allows to you to collect detailed analytics on your views. Do it.

2. Spice up a blog post

You need to have some kind of entertainment value in your blog posts to keep people’s attention these days. One of the easiest ways to do this is to mix up the media you use. If you have a PowerPoint slide deck that you want the world to see, why not embed it in your blog post?

I’m not a techie kind of guy but even I can do this!  One of the sharing options under each SlideShare presentation is “embed.” Copy this code, paste it in the “HTML” view of your blog editing platform and voila! You have a great multi-media blog post.

And keep in mind, you also have the option to share other great presentations you find on SlideShare.  This is an easy way to find excellent content and spread the social media love to somebody who has created something great.

3. Embed in LinkedIn

Did you know that you can display Slideshare presentations in your LinkedIn profile?  This is a simple and effective way to show what you can do to prospective employers, clients and business partners.  Why not include a compelling description of your business or a captivating graphical resume? Here is how PowerPoint presentations show up on LinkedIn:

4. Create your art

I’ll let you in on a big secret. You know those funny illustrations I include with my blog posts? I don’t use PhotoShop. I have used PowerPoint to create every original illustration I have ever used!  The latest version of PowerPoint has rich photo editing capabilities for the blogger on the go. I don’t have a whole lot of time to create these blog post graphics.  I need to whip something up in 10 minutes or less. The ability to manipulate art, add text, shapes and other objects is perfect for the busy blogger.

The illustration below shows how I used some fo these tools to create a recent blog post graphic:

5. Make an eBook

What is an eBook any way?  Is it a book?  Is it a brochure?  Some of the best eBooks I have seen are simply enhanced Powerpoint presentations.  PowerPoint is an ideal format to combine content with interesting graphics and illustrations in an effective and inexpensive way. My free blogging eBook was originally created in PowerPoint.

6. Integrate social aspects with traditional marketing projects

I’ve been thinking about ways that companies can get content to move virally within an organization and certainly PowerPoint has to be a key ingredient. Think about leveraging a PowerPoint presentation to connect with customers in a number of ways. Let’s say you have created a helpful PowerPoint presentation to teach people how to save money with one of your products. Think about what you can do to leverage this deck within a social media strategy:

  1. Post it on Slideshare. Shorten the link on bit.ly so you can track all clicks to the link.
  2. Embed the SlideShare post on your blog
  3. Have all sales employees highlight the post and bit.ly link on Twitter, Facbeook and LinkedIn updates
  4. Use the presentation link to be helpful (not “salesy”) in Q&A forums like Focus, Quora, and LinkedIn Group Discussions
  5. Embed the presentation in your customer eNewsletter
  6. Encourage your sales team to use the link to be proactive in helping customers with this value-added content

7. Create premium content

One of the cool thing about SlideShare is that you can make the presentations private.  This way, you can easily create exclusive VIP content that requires a password to your most valuable customers and business partners.

What is the most creative way that you use PowerPoint?  Why not share some ideas in the comment section? Thanks!

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4 Ways to Use Social Media to Beat the Big Boys

Mar 2nd

37 comments

By Stanford Smith, Contributing {grow} Columnist

They say that the rich just get richer and the poor get poorer.  Seems this brutal maxim applies to social media too; big brands crush smaller upstarts in a blizzard of social gimmicks and PR.

Savvy startups understand this law and struggle to achieve scale before larger competitors recognize the threat.  Even social media’s egalitarian roots can’t vaccinate it against the big brand onslaught.  Just review the latest “top social media brand” list to see evidence of the Fortune 100’s adroit use of the latest social tools.

So, can the little gal (guy) still compete?

Absolutely.

 

How Social Tools Level the Competitive Playing Field

As social tools mature, small brands are finding ways to use them to wage a competitive insurgency against the 800-pound gorillas in their space.  In fact, there are abundant signs that the small guys may be gaining an important competitive edge.

 

Successful small-brand insurgents cleverly use social media to create vibrant, closely-knit communities with a particular twist.  You see, while big brands mistakenly count on big numbers, small brands builds their communities around their company’s passion and core values. These values sustain the community and their passions turn normal people into extraordinary evangelists.

Ironically, while big brands can create cool promotions they often stumble in the “authenticity” department.  Furthermore, they struggle with creating long-term relationships with communities.  After all, quarterly earnings usually dictate the half-life for any great idea.

A Little Inspiration for the Social Trenches

 

Recently, I went looking for truly innovative small brands that were kicking big brand butt.  I examined their social media activities searching for the key drivers of their success.  In the end, I found four specific ways that the most successful small brands use social tools to gain a competitive advantage:

1) Build awareness of their unique brand proposition: Facebook’s 600 million+ member platform competes with Television as an efficient branding tool.  For a relatively miniscule investment, smart businesses are out-foxing bigger competitors.

 

Example:

Moxsie (http://twitter.com/#!/moxsie) is a fashion retailer that caters to indie fashion-philes.  They beat larger fashion houses by giving their audience access to high-end fashion in real time via twitter and their Facebook presence.  Their appreciative fan’s spread their unique slant on fashion far and wide.

2) Responding to customer feedback in real-time:  Small brands view Twitter, Facebook, and their blog as canaries in the mine that indicate danger or opportunity.  Negative experiences are transformed into customer service wins that get spread rapidly around the web.  Aggressive brands have mastered the art of watching their competitor’s streams and beating them to the punch.

 

Examples:

 

Naked Pizza: (http://twitter.com/nakedpizza) is using a full arsenal of social tools to aggressively grow its presence in the mature and hypercompetitive pizza market.  Their secret weapon? They have installed Twitter Kiosks in every retail location to gather customer feedback in real-time.

3) Intentional Tribe building: It’s tempting for large brands to take their audiences for granted.  It’s easy to create a 100,000+ Facebook community when you can use a Superbowl commercial to build your following.

On the other hand, small brands have limited time and resources.  Each follower is precious and Tribe building is taken very seriously. Comments get high-level attention, every new Twitter follower is welcomed, Facebook Likes are treated like gold.  Equal attention is given to growing, nurturing, and pruning the tribe.

 

Etsy’s http://twitter.com/etsy Tribe is diverse and powerful.  Etsy publicly celebrates the contribution of every tribe member.  Social sharing tools are tightly integrated into each customer touch point throughout the community.  The handmade DIY leaders platform is more than a match for any big-budget retailer.

4) Link Social branding with Sales:  Small brands need sales to survive. They can’t wait years for a brand to mature. They need to see revenue from all of their online channels – including channel.  The most nimble brands find stunning ways to turn their social equity into foot-traffic.

Example:

Marmite (http://www.marmiteshop.co.uk/) raced to be the first retailer to use Facebook sampling ads to get samples of its new Marmite Chocolate bars into the hands of Facebook users.  Its quick action leveraged its Facebook audience while beefing up its bottom line with new customers.

How to Win

 

If you are staring down a giant then remember that your size can be an advantage.  You can outwit, outlast, and outplay your competitors by using social tools to beat them to the punch.  Here are some pointers:

  • Never Miss A Chance to Start a Conversation: Your customers want to know you.  Give them every opportunity to reach out and talk to a real person.  Take this one step further by including an invitation to talk on your product packaging, email signatures, website content and so on.
  • Extend Your Brand’s Story: Think of your brand as a 3D full-sensory story.  Then take your story apart and distribute it across the social web.  Stunning photos and stills camp out on Flickr. Entertaining culture “shots” and product demonstrations hang out on YouTube.  Your Manifesto lives on your blog and is discussed on Facebook.
  • Equip Your Evangelists: Quickly find your evangelists and equip them to tell your brand story. Have fun with this.  Support and retweet your fanatics on Twitter. Give them sneak peeks at new product.  Offer them free services and pay special attention to what they have to say.  Put your evangelists at the core of your social strategy and follow their lead.

This is (Much) Easier Than You Think

You just have to get started.  Once you’ve made social branding part of your DNA you will be surprised how easy it is to steal the show from the big boys.

What do you think?  What challenges do you have with using social media to build your business’ brand?

Stanford Smith is a hopelessly addicted angler, father of 3 hellions, and the wild-eyed muse behind PushingSocial.com. Follow him on Twitter to get his latest unorthodox tips for getting your blog noticed and promoted.

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