As the latest series of 24 is back on the air, we thought it'd be fun to ask WWJD - what would Jack do?
Jack is THE modern day anti-hero who within just 24 hours, manages to save the world. By hook or by crook, he definitely gets the job done.
Now it is a bit of an unusual idea but if your email marketing activity is struggling, imagine for a moment Jack was in charge of your email marketing.
Not seeing it? As I said - an unusual idea.
But on a serious note, what could we learn from Jack, if he was in charge of your email campaigns? Read on...
Jack has been in New York, L.A and now London. Completely different places and yet he manages to survive getting shot at, blown up and still remain Jack Bauer. Learn from this, what works for your weekend advertising campaigns is not necessarily going to work for a holiday campaign. Keep in mind that seasons will change, holidays will pass and soon it will be Monday again. Learn from Jack, ADAPT your strategy, maybe change your appearance or vehicle but do not CHANGE who you are.
Torture, while not suggestible, works for Jack – it’s featured in every season. Similarly when a particular campaign consistently attracts customers then continue it. While it is important to expand your ‘repertoire’ so to speak, you should not forget what made you successful in the first place. New campaigns should ADD to the success of an existing one – not replace it altogether.
Instead of just calling the president to warn him of an attack, Jack goes through a complicated process of getting caught to break out another prisoner whom he intends to use as bait for the bad guys. When you have a specific goal in mind but the ‘proper’ way of achieving it is unlikely to work, you need to be willing to think outside the box. If your brain says ‘NEVER GONNA WORK’ then you could just be thinking right.
Every season Jack has old allies like Chloe O'Brien and a few new ones, although they tend to end up dead by the end of the season - which is unfortunate. If you get an email from someone promoting a complementary product to yours, why not make mention of it in your next campaign or even join forces?. And remember the partnership may work again in the future so keep in touch once the campaign is over. (If it goes wrong though please don’t kill them - that would be bad!)
With every campaign there are going to be chores you don't want to do. The boring, repetitive, ‘but I don’t want to’ parts that tend to get pushed to the bottom of the list because they make your head ache and your fingers numb. A battle is half won that is well planned. And planning unfortunately includes fine print or in his case, getting captured by Chinese Intelligence.
There are going to be campaigns that fall flat, even ones that knock you back a few steps. But one of the biggest parts of marketing is taking risks, trying something new or rethinking something old. Don’t let these setbacks discourage you. My advice? When you get knocked down, don’t stay down. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, channel Jack Bauer and KEEP ON GOING!
Naturally, here at Mediatasks we are ace at Email Marketing Campaigns and easily on a par with Jack. So, if you would like to explore the benefits and have a chat - fill out the contact form or give the office a call on 020 3303 0005. There is no obligation and we absolutely guarantee no blacked out SUV's will start following you, if you do.
But if senior management just doesn’t “get” Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, the temptation is usually to push the task of Social Media Management onto the youngest person in the office. The Junior Staffer. Or worse, the intern.
Big mistake.
Here are seven reasons why.
All it takes is one tweet in bad taste to ruin a career, end a product, recall an advertising campaign, and forever mar a businesses’ legacy. You want all that responsibility on someone who spends the whole day playing Candy Crush Saga on his iPhone?
That snarky post your intern made about the competition may have been quickly scrubbed from your Page, but you know it’s screencapped, and screencaps can go viral quicker than… well, a virus spreads.
And because of the ever increasing importance of a company's social reputation, you should really consider profile management to fall under your marketing budget. In other words, outsource it to a Pro before you hand it to an internal n00b.
And that’s the ultimate goal, right? If you feel like you’re managing a Facebook page out of begrudging obligation, you’re thinking about it entirely backwards.
So think long and hard about the face and voice you want to put forth. You need someone in the driver’s seat who is knowledgeable about your businesses, and a competent, engaging communicator or copywriter.
It’s just a thing nowadays that when people have problems with the airlines, they tweet at their social media team. Customer support via Facebook messaging and Twitter needs to be handled efficiently and effectively.
If potential customers see you ignoring requests for help, they’ll think you don’t care about them.
So make sure that the person you peg to post on your company’s behalf can handle that role with grace.
It was point number one too, but it bears repeating. You cannot afford to mess up your social media. And if you toss it to an underling, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to bolster your brand, increase customer engagement, and cement your position ahead of your competitors.
Using social media as a business tool can puzzle many SMEs. Typically they use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+ as a consumer so setup a company profile, write a few posts and then realise that they're competitors are doing far better with astronomical follower numbers.
Instead of getting disheartened and abandoning social media all together, it is important to understand why this is happening and put things right.
Social media is far too powerful to ignore and once a position of influence is reached, companies will have a valuable direct connection with their customers, suppliers and partners.
Often, especially in the case of the big brands, there is a dedicated team tasked with optimising that companies social media marketing. This can make you think you are fighting a loosing battle but it is not the case. If you are willing to put in a little effort SME can get great results too.
There's a myth about social media which says, all you need do is create a profile and huge follower numbers will fall from the sky. Not true. Unless you are Scarlett Johansson. SMEs should not be averse to advertising their new profiles to give them a real headstart. The large social networks have new very low cost options starting at only a few pounds per day. You can target people by interests and some only charge when a user actually clicks through to your page.
TIP: If your budget doesn't extend to paid advertising, at least let people know about your new profiles. Add a link to them on your website and in your email signature. If you regularly send out client notification emails or an email newsletter, put a link in the footer - ideally with a great strapline accompanying them. It worked for hotmail.
Social media posts do not need to win any pulitzer prizes. Too many people overthink what they want to say and end up saying nothing. Do not do this. But, don't be too pushy either. Another mistake companies make is being too sales orientated with their updates. Every post does not have to talk about how fantastic you are. Treat social media like any other engagement, you wouldn't constantly bang on about how great you are whilst networking face-to-face so don't do it online.
TIP: Make your posts a mix about who you are, what you do and what makes you great. Join in conversations, chat to people and get to know them. If it's Twitter, get to know the hashtags for your business area, if it's LinkedIn look for any specific groups you could contribute in. Hopefully, you will raise your profile to the point that when someone does need your service, they know who you are.
Niches work online. You don't have to have millions of followers to be effective. Instead, research the influencers in your business area and engage them directly. Enjoy being small. Big corporations try to appear more personable but more often than not fail. SMEs are small, so being personable, friendly and even possibly funny - is much easier to pull off.
TIP: It is more beneficial to have 1k people talking about your brand than 10k simply liking you. Concentrate on building user engagement instead of simply followers.
Use tools like Google Analytics, link shorteners like Bit.ly or Ow.ly and Hootsuite to keep track of how successful you are being. Review these results regularly. These applications can help you monitor activity about your brand and conversations from the large social networks that mention your company.
TIP: These tools take alot of the guess work out of social media. By focusing on what is successful, you will be able to make informed choices and grow your audience faster.
The days of leaving responsibility for social media to the office intern are long gone. Like all other marketing, your social media campaign strategy needs to be approved at the highest level and handled professionally. If you feel you are lacking the skills, experience or even the time to get your social media sorted in house, consider using a specialist.
TIP:A Social Media Management Service like ours can give you access to an expert at a fraction of their usual salary, if you were to employ someone with the same skillset in house. We can handle the essentials, freeing up your responsibility and allowing you to concentrate working on your business.
If you like this, sign up to our Newsletter or use the contact form to get in touch. Alternatively you could give us a call in the office on 020 3303 0005.
In our Marketing 101 Series we demystify Digital Marketing by walking through the industry fundamentals and basic terminology. So, if you don’t know your SEM from your SEO or the difference between Opt-In and CAN-SPAM – this one’s for you!
Social Networks, we all know about them right? Facebook, Twitter, that business one called LinkedIn. Sure. But wait, that's fine if your looking at photo's of your Aunt Suzy, but what about for helping your build your business?
I'm hoping I don't have to explain what Facebook is generally about. I'm going to assume I don't and jump straight to what you need to know about it as a marketing platform for your company.
First up - the numbers. Over 1 billion people are on it. Although it's pretty hard to actually leave it must be said. That being said though you can safely say that most of your customers and prospects are there. Facebook users can be any age, gender, race or religion - and generally location. It is the most used Social Network on the planet.
But what do people do there? Great question because that matters alot. Typically this is where Aunt Suzy comes in. People are sharing their experiences, uploading photos, videos or audio, sharing interests and 'liking' many many things.
Are they there to buy? Probably not. It is not Amazon or eBay after all. But, could they be pursuaded? Absolutely. And, because of the sheer volume of users, connecting with friends - in the right hands it is extremely powerful at raising brand awareness for the right type of product or service. So you should care, alot.
Often wrongly dismissed as trivial, the influence of Twitter and it's users cannot seriously be played down. It is massive. In the UK it accounts for 7% of all people online (opposed to 44% on Facebook). The key difference here though are their users profile. Twitter users are categorised as 'influencers' meaning people who like to be in the know, ahead of the curve. Crucially, this also means people who like to talk about things and hopefully, products like yours. Good old word-of-mouth again.
On Twitter users can post news items, observations about what they are doing or plan to do, articles, jokes, promotions - whatever they can think of in 140 characters or less. Where a character can be a letter, a number or a space. If someone 'follows' someone else on Twitter they get sent all their updates automatically, which is extremely powerful for any organisation wanting to keep up their communication levels. Which is all of us.
Why does this matter? Marketing these days is all about creating discussions. For new sales, product feedback, customer service, etc. and Twitter gives you a real time channel to make that happen. To potentially millions of people who are adept at talking about things. The technology is also free, which cannot be said for traditional marketing, TV, newspapers, radio, etc.
LinkedIn is widely known as the Social Network for business and this is largely true. It is the world's largest professional network with well over 175million users in more than 200 countries.
So who is on it? Business people. Lots of them. Professionals mostly but not exclusively.
How do they use it? Users create profiles and professional connections based on their interests and experience. These can centre around Group Discussions and Answering Questions to display their knowledge in any particular area.
Does it matter? Absolutely. LinkedIn is a great way to create professional connections for you and your organisation. It can give you ideas, advice and feedback for running your business - helping you spread the word about your product and service.
Still relatively new in Social Network land but when you're backed by the worlds largest search engine it doesn't matter, Google+ tries to make sharing on the web much more like real life by making it much easier to segment your contacts so you can share what you want with the people you want.
Does it matter? Ofcourse. Did I mention it's backed by the worlds most popular website? The latest way being anyone signing up for a Google account automatically gets a Google+ account whether they want one or not.
What could it mean for my business? It's too early to say. The company pages side of Google+ is very young, barely out of nappies. It could be great, we will have to wait and see, but it is definitely one to watch and if you like being ahead of the curve, consider getting a head start on it now.
This depends largely on what it is you do or sell, and to whom. Are they businesses or consumers or both? What's their age range? Level of education? All these things matter.
It's crucial to get this right to maximise your Return on Investment but generally most people start with Facebook because of the overwhelming user numbers and organisations are generally 'expected' to be on it so far as for customer services. The next alternative is almost always Twitter.
If you'd like more information on our Social Media Management services please click here or use the contact form to get in touch. Ofcourse if you prefer, you can give us a call in the office on 020 3303 0005.
Technology has changed our lives. What we do, where we go, what we buy, how, why and what we share with others. How businesses market therefore also needs to change. If they still want to sell. The days of 'if you build it they will come' are long gone. Even for Kevin Costner. Sorry Kevin I loved that movie.
That's not to say traditional methods of marketing are now completely defunct though, the landscape is just different.
Marketing is the business of promoting and/or selling your products and services right? Well, yes.
And, the journey of a person becoming a customer is called a funnel right? Absolutely. Marketers talk about a funnel to describe the way they attract new prospects and convert them into customers.
Traditionally with limited resources, organisations have had to prioritise their time on trying to best find and convert prospects, whilst juggling the needs of their existing customers.
Generally that was because the science of keeping customers was largely unknown. It's just about good customer service right? Wrong. It's also about communication. As we now know, after people purchase your product or service, it's about keeping that conversation going. This is where the good old 80:20 rule comes in.
And happily, in case you don't have a small army of telesales people who can do this for you - Social Media has stepped in to help you maintain client contact. Hoping that, when they are ready to buy (or their friends are) they will remember your great Customer Service and come back for more.
Social Media Marketing helps you maintain the relationship with your existing customers - by keeping in contact with them. What is more, technology enables us to influence consumer behaviour at all points of a sale, before, during and after.
Using Email Marketing, Pay Per Click Advertising and Social Media Marketing as business owners we no longer have to hope that customers come back. We can reach out and remind them; making word-of-mouth as easy as clicking a share, like or tweet button.
Successful businesses know that marketing does not end with the sale, it is just the beginning. Social Media is not though a replacement for other forms of marketing your business. It is not a magic pill and is best used as part of a larger marketing strategy.
If you would like to discuss your Marketing Strategy please use the contact form to get in touch or give us a call in the office on 020 3303 0005. Thanks!
In case you are still wondering whether or not Social Media Marketing is right for your business, the verdict is in. Using the likes of Facebook, Twitter or Google+ as part of a programme promoting your organisation is a fantastic way of increasing repeat business and attract new customers.
And, whether you are just getting started, consider yourself an expert or have been sitting on the sidelines — we can help.
According to Constant Contact’s 2011 Small Business Attitudes & Outlook Survey, 73% of small businesses & organisations have started using social media marketing and 62% of those not using it expect to start marketing through social media within the next 12 months.
Social Media has changed the way people behave online. It is the technology that connects people on the internet whether they are sharing content or just chatting. Social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ are the places where these things happen.
Social Media Marketing is the way to use that technology in order to increase brand awareness, build relationships, drive repeat business and attract new customers through - hopefully - friends sharing with friends.
If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. Social Media Marketing is essentially an updated version of word-of-mouth. The power of pass it on.
75% of people are somewhat or highly likely to share content they like online with friends, co-workers or family. 49% do this at least weekly. Source: Chadwick Martin Bailey Consumer Pulse 2010 (n= 1504)
Like any other Business Activity, you need to set clear measurable goals and understand what you want to achieve from your efforts. Here are some top tips to help you get the most benefit from Social Media on your business:
Spread the Word.
Show customers and prospects who you are and what you can do for them. It’s great for brand awareness!
Drive Sales.
Give customers offers that are so good they’ll share them with their friends. Your promotions can go viral!
Provide Great Customer Service.
Listen and respond to what your customers are saying about you and to you. It’s a wonderful feedback loop!
Keep Your Customers Coming Back.
Build deeper relationships so customers will get to know, like, and trust you more.
Because social media is all about discovering and sharing, every interaction you have has the potential to reach many new people ultimately helping to spread your message and attract potential customers.
Social Media & Email Marketing go great together. And although email marketing is still creating more sales than social media there’s no need to start deleting Facebook Pages. It is important to appreciate that all of these channels compliment each other and get the best results when they are part of a wider programme.
Social networks are relaxed places that can be great at helping you build brand awareness with fewer constraints than email. But, email has the advantage of being able to reach a single identifiable person. Crucially, you can use analytics to track email recipients behaviour, see what that person clicks and/or opens, so you can tailor your follow up to suit individual need.
So get social, but don't forget about the other forms of inbound marketing too!
Enjoy July, see you next month!
