It has been months since we have put a post on our blog. Not because we didn’t have anything to SHARE or celebrate as there is plenty of that, but rather because the demands of prioritizing as we continue to grow as a company – became our main focus.

As mentioned over the last year, I joined the millions of adults who faced the “unplanned” reality of a parent facing significant illness and the change to their lives and mine was monumental.

I think we all believe we can do it all and when reality hits you – sometimes we need to rethink “what doing it all means“. For me it has meant being the best daughter I could be first. Second it meant helping our clients understand, create and implement social/digital strategy and tactics to meet their business objectives and establish meaningful relationships with their customers.

Some may perceive this absence – to be a lack of savvy or klout for us as a business or a company. Others may have thought we dropped out of the game. Neither could be further from the truth! Marketing guru Scott Stratten often tweets on Twitter as @unmarketing -  the idea that one is better to post nothing on a blog, then to post something that is not of value.

What is amazing about substance – is that we began this blog in November 2008. That was almost 4 years ago and right out of the gate I began writing about social media and digital strategy. At that time, all the clients I visited were curious to listen to what I had to say – but none of them were ready to take the chance and test it out. The information over that span of time shared on our blog and website is now relevant and used by many companies and businesses to meet their objectives and establish honest and true relationships with their customers. Funny, that it is now a mandate for all businesses to be engaging social media as a marketing strategy – for success!

From that perspective, the content, opinions, ideas and many examples from the many posts over an almost four year period are well worth the read! We encourage you to look back and see what we had to say then and see how that information matches up to your goals and needs now.

As the summer comes to a close – we look forward to once again becoming engaged and active by continuing to lead the way with ideas, opinions and new styles of engaging and encouraging you – to leverage social media and digital channels to meet your business objectives.

Thanks always for all your support!

Best Nicole

This legitimizes the power and success of social media and re-enforces for all businesses – it is time to get into the game. It also points to many other big companies, Canada’s major retailer The Bay is rumored to be looking at an IPO for the fall. But how are these retailers leveraging the power of social media – as they step into the future in their marketing and continue to engage  their customers?

Everywhere you turn, analysts, media guru’s and business consultants are coming out to talk about social media. The retail industry is just beginning to jump into the foray. I think what is lost on so many businesses – but vital for these retailers is the understanding and skill of linking total communications – to their digital strategy using social media. They all began and continue offline to market to their customers with flyers, magazine inserts, pop -(point of sale) signage in-store, radio and television commercials. Those retailers who have a long history – take with them their brand identity and recognition via these marketing vehicles. As more retailers look to transfer that online traffic to their stores – they need to clearly understand how their customer  wants to communicate in the digital space. Then link their traditional marketing efforts to that digital strategy – seamlessly.

Social media is about engagement. These companies began their engagement with customers offline. Where the message for execution is being lost for many businesses is – that social media communities are extensions of what has and does happen in the real world.  Social media is a way to personally engage and build a one one on one relationship with your customer. The real success and skill comes from mirroring that traditional relationship with your company and brand and moving it online. What were the positive results and transactions you had with your customers offline?

Finding influencers in your target market and creating discussions, sharing ideas, expertise and taking their ideas and expertise to be shared with others in your community is where the success is going to be greatest. Remembering where you started and having a seamless pathway for your customers to travel – using the tools that are familiar and easily available to them, is taking that total communications purpose and making sure that you are making the transition with ease and comfort.

So where to start? Almost everyone has a Facebook page and coming behind Facebook many have a Twitter account. Almost all businesses have a website and from there they can use a multitude of ways to guide their customers in the way they want to communicate. Understanding the total communications pathway and leveraging that path to engage via social media will ensure nobody gets left behind!

Best Nicole

I was thinking about our small boutique agency. As we continue to grow and create successful campaigns for our clients, we work to carve out a space for those companies who greatly desire our skill, expertise, creative tech skills & bandwidth -while meeting and exceeding their objectives. Yes and keeping the money in their pockets with low cost innovation and implementation and high returns. Some believe the more “likers” and followers you have the better success you will be – yet they forget that it is quality not quantity you want via information and engagement. There is today no accident that your neighbor, former high school teacher, doctor, dentist and boss former & current are all on Facebook. (Yes we may all want to take an extra minute to review our privacy settings) It means that all the brands you can think of, businesses, products and services know we are all there too and they are looking for new marcom partners and business advisers to help them reach all of us. Both online and offline. It will be those such as ourselves with a wealth of award winning traditional talent and  savvy experiential technical talent – who clearly understand and can translate that user experience – on an array of platforms, that will help you knock it out of the park- in reaching that customer in the place you desire to have them go.

In the past – the key to audience targeting was focused on assigning people to demographics such as age, gender and location. While this info. is still vital – with so much data available to us now and the idea that understanding that data first- before going forward with that “knock it out of the park campaign” means much success in the campaigns you create.

“Targeting can be and is much more dynamic and can gauge your interests and preferences.” Ever notice that the ads on Facebook and Twitter, the suggested people to follow and things that relate to what you like and care about are truly on par just for you? It is this behavioral targeting that is now the future of where the internet and your marketing and communications is going both offline and online.

Mashable.com has a great article from a week ago that speaks to this very topic. Lauren Drell writes about 4 Ways That Behavioral Targeting is Changing the Web. It is a brilliant article that I encourage all of you who are looking to better understand and target your customers to read.

Drell gives a great explanation of how this works for those that are not yet familiar -“Here’s how behavioral targeting works: Targeting companies establish an agreement with a publisher, who puts a piece of code on his website. (That publisher must have a clearly stated policy for the consumer to opt out from having data collected.) Then, when you’re browsing the web, the site will put a cookie on your browser, which populates as you surf. (Though one interviewee, ContextWeb, targets based on content and not cookies.) Now that your browser has a cookie, the targeting begins. Data points amass as you click your way from site to site, taking note of what you buy, what you read and what you search for. The more time goes on, the more data is collected.”

Companies that are paying attention to this understanding and moving towards  behavioral targeting with their data – through their advertising- can’t help but to expect more success and engagement by people who have indicated on the web what their preferences are and that they would be interested in YOUR product and or service. Of course this detailed data collection can be more costly, but the sales conversion rate of targeting to the correct buyer is sure to offset this cost. The viral advantage grows as well – as those accurately targeted customers- then SHARE those products , your products – with prequalified friends, family and colleagues.

Viva the future.

Best Nicole

As we work to gear up with new campaigns for our clients in 2011 – using a digitally ahead- total communications outlook – leveraging tools like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube do and can work - not only for consumer engagement but to increase sales too! In a great article posted on Brandchannel.com – Going Social: Brands Large and Small Must Adapt to Social Media in 2011, Author Barry Silverstein says” Going social will demand a whole new level of consumer responsiveness from brand marketers – and a whole new way of looking at lead generation and qualifications process. Those who rise to that challenge will have the distinct advantage over their competitors in 2011. Click here to read more of this article.

For us the proof is always in the case studies and examples of success to show how powerful something can become. Everyone by now is familiar with the Old Spice campaign. That campaign garnered 140 million views on Twitter, an increase of Facebook fans of 2700% and 1.2 million Facebook fans. Sales rose 107%, according to Neilsen Data. You can’t get better than that. Here’s a link to a video from CREATIVITY that provides a case study for you to see how it worked so well.

The famed agency Weiden Kennedy knocked it out of the park with this one. What are you gonna do?

Best Nicole

As I drove back to my office after the conference I realized – even with all the information available on this most important marketing shift and the SHARING we have done – there are many large and small companies – that are just getting started and are still unsure of how to ensure success.  I thought I would offer some ideas – that can be applied to any  social media marketing efforts to help garner immediate results as quickly as possible.

1. Most brands have established who they are product and service wise – but many have not allowed themselves to reveal their personality. By this I mean – you must be assessable and approachable. Encourage your visitors to share their ideas, opinions and provide feedback. You want to retract the traditional methods of talking at people or pushing information and facilitate a two way conversation that welcomes your participants, encourages them to talk with you and makes them feel so good they want to come back and share with others. Don’t forget your employees. They are your first and best brand ambassadors. Create rules and guidelines that fit your companies policies – but encourage them to talk about your business and galvanize your customers to join in with them.

2. Create information and content that can be shared! Make it fun and interesting. Ask questions and listen to the feedback and the content that gets passed along – as guidelines of what your audience enjoys and connects with. Be sure to be consistent and respond to any requests, questions and opinions so that your audience knows that you are listening as well as providing information. This will help add value to the online conversation for your entire community.

3. Acknowledge your brand ambassadors and community participants. Let them know how happy you are to have them supporting you. Be sure to respond to every comment, email, blog comment, Tweet or Facebook post. It is no different than how you would treat a friend. You don’t want them to think that you are ignoring them – all good relationships are built on taking time to nurture each person individually.

4. Continuity of marketing channels is key.  Integrating all of your marketing tools from your website, to your blog, email campaigns, in-store and offline campaigns and your online communities which might be microsites, Facebook and Twitter pages. All must be unified – sharing the same message but communicated in different ways. Like all of us we have different ways of communicating and taking the time to understand the way your target market likes to communicate- gives you have a much better chance of engaging them. Leverage your various sites to promote one another. So on your home page – you might include find us on Facebook and Twitter. Do the same on your Twitter and Facebook pages and provide links where they can easily access the way they would like to connect with you and share you with their communities.

5. Don’t look sideways. So many companies hear or read about businesses that have a gazillion fans on Twitter and decide that they should dive into Twitter hoping for the same results. It could be that your target market doesn’t use Twitter. You want to strategize and understand who and where YOUR customers are and meet them there. It is always great to know what your competition is doing and how they are communicating with their customers but remember – no two people or business are the same. Be true to who YOU are!

Best Nicole

The idea behind using social sharing in email campaigns is to encourage and let members of your database do the sharing of the emails they are receiving. In addition to an extended brand awareness this is a superb way to augment email lists – which appears to be the mandate of many marketers these days – in particular retailers who are looking to drive customers to both their e-commerce sites and bricks and mortar locations. While the email campaigns are being socialized – it makes pretty good sense that you stand to enhance SEO results (search engine marketing) without spending alot of additional effort.

For those that are just starting out to build an email campaign – social media is a great way to begin building a relationship and build the list. “A homebuilder in Indianapolis ran a “12 Days” promotion during the holidays on Facebook, with prizes including free furniture for an entire home.  Twitter also was used to create interest in the promotion.  As news of the promotion spread and people signed up for the contest, the company was gathering names and email addresses for a future email list.  While marketers are used to driving prospects to their Web site and building campaign lists this way, social media is unique because it disarms prospects by building a connection with them in advance.” (example quoted from Media post)

Posting questions and or polls can help with research that can be leveraged on social media sites such as Linkedin and then linked back to your website or syndicated to your Facebook and Twitter pages. Asking people to share their ideas and give their opinions is a good way to start to engage your customers and let them know that you are interested in what they think. This can prove as invaluable research, while helping a retailer decide on the right frequency and timing of emails as well as information on how their target market best wants to connect.

With the addition of mobile and text messaging being the largest and most frequently used feature on a variety of mobile devices in North America- combining all of these tools together with creative campaigns that include offline, in-store and online initiatives – will provide the continuity – to tap into the social computing behaviors of many rather than just some.

How are you building your email lists while engaging your customers and keeping that relationship ongoing?

Best Nicole

This understanding can allow us to look at that success and then create opportunities here that allow for innovation but more importantly success for all levels and types of users. There are now more than 5,000 types of phones (”handsets”) out there, each with possible different screen sizes, resolutions, speed, and/or operating systems, creating a campaign to conform to every type can be a bear. The most common phones used in the U.S. are iPhones and BlackBerrys (they presently represent about 50 percent of the market).

I came across an article from Media Post that gives you a good perspective of how mobile marketing differs around the world. Posted by Mark Walsh this is a real quick eye opener to how mobile is not just a campaign but a necessity for many.

The fundamentals are the same globally, but what differs is that in many countries mobile isn’t a nice thing to have, it’s a necessity, explains Michael Becker, North American Managing Director for the MMA, in a presentation on mobile use globally. He points out that in Africa, mobile plays a key part in HIV treatment and other health-related areas. You can even use mobile to pre-pay insurance for your own funeral. Yikes.

Mobile commerce company M-Pesa has gotten uptake from the unlikely market of  goatherders in Africa, who use its money transfer system to buy and sell goats at market. Who needs a credit card? In the U.K, the company jobsite has had success with 15-second mobile job ad, boosting traffic to its site nearly 500%. In Norway, you can file your taxes from a mobile phone and in India you can even download a condom-themed ringtone (as part of a health campaign). “So all this shows how critical mobile is becoming to people’s lives,” said Becker. And you thought you were an avid mobile user.

Mobile marketing is now at the forefront for many and if you think about it – it is really the most effective means for communication with your customers both current and new. These days most people have a cell phone which they check religiously.  Using mobile allows you as a business – to reach customers immediately and effectively at lower costs then other media streams.

The key is understanding that all businesses need not worry about creating their own mobile apps. Leveraging phone apps that already exist like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare as places where your business can be found in apps – can be a savvy way to begin. Checking out existing apps stores to find out what is most popular  or what features best suit or mimic your business needs will help you practically find a use case – that makes the most sense for your business.

Don’t forget to look around the world!

Best Nicole

All sizes of companies big and small have lost their leverage with purchasing customers – because the public in many cases has lost trust in brands. These customers who have had information pushed to them for years and years – now have the opportunity and are armed with the information they need about products and services -without the assistance of the companies that produce and offer those products and services.

This new world for most businesses is scary and unfamiliar territory. The world of open leadership has arrived and it is forcing this change of hands from the company being in control – to that of the consumer now assuming their power and using social media tools to scream from the rooftops – or keyboards- and share their complaints and disappointments for all the world to see. The navigation of this shift is going to be a complex and difficult one to balance for many companies – that for decades have been accustomed – to being in control of the messages and responses. Better yet many have  been able to keep that customer at arms length and quiet in the unhappy eye of a customer complaining storm.

The answer from my perspective is that a relationship must now be created and developed. As with the power of brand evangelism and customers loving a brand so much that they are using social media to SHARE it with others – customer service is no different. For those who have not focused on customer service complaints in particular – there are tools such as Twitter that can provide immediate responses. In the discussion from Mitch Joel’s question – the positioning becomes   how much should be answered and what about all those that don’t have legitimate complaints, but are rather using the platform to build their own profile or cause. What about the people who have few followers and may not be active against those that have many?  What about all the people who prefer to keep their complaints quiet and are not interested in ranting aloud? All legitimate thoughts and questions.

My take is that companies must show leadership in listening, being clear in their responses ( while following and adhering to previously established policies) and use these opportunities – to let customers know that they do want to solve their problems and customers in turn want to be heard. The strength in all of this – is the relationships that can be built and the opportunity to turn those angry unhappy clients into surprised but happy promoters – of how their challenges were addressed and resolved. In many cases people are ok – with understanding that they may have not followed or read the policy associated with their complaint – yet insisted on trying anyway. An immediate response with an open opportunity to find a solution is usually what they are looking for. To those who are looking to leverage their power for what appears as “no good to the business” add value as it allows the companies to create a comfortable habit of making that effort to reach out and engage. One customer at a time.

As with everything that is good there are always a few that want to spoil it for others – but the happy ending is – when building relationships – you must give everyone a chance and show your good will – to create trust worthy long lasting relationships – something that is lacking for many brands. Now is the time to take the opportunity to turn the tables and lead with that open relationship with customers. The holidays are right around the corner.. no better time to start then now! Te read more of the discussion – go to Mitch Joels blog http://www.twistimage.com/blog/

We would love to hear from you! Have you had experiences using social media as a way to respond to customer service complaints and met with success? SHARE your stories with us and we will post them!

Best Nicole

Interestingly this topic came up last week in a coffee I had with one of Canada’s top home decor editors.  She and her husband have built a fully sustainable home using, solar energy to heat the home and appliances, a compost toilet, etc. She talked about how it had transformed her life and the way she thinks about EVERYTHING. This of course is really diving in and for many such as myself and there are many ways that I can begin by making my mark and taking baby steps.

Cause marketing has grown with the leveraging of social media – especially Facebook where the audience capture is so great. I posted on Twitter today in a tweet that 1/4  of consumers want brand info. on Facebook. With this kind of opportunity – companies are using the idea of cause marketing to show that they good corporate citizens – to jaded consumers who are now tired of just being sold to and want to support products and services that fit with who the are as people and align with living their best lives. This leads to the second part of the title of this post the Effect. Does this cause marketing that might play out in a campaign such as “like us on Facebook and we will donate $1 to our supported charity” -  hope that this outward commitment will help build brand passion and evangelism?  Or as suggested in an article from Media Post that I read the other day – in their Marketing Green RSS – by Matthew Martin – take an approach that can truly effect a change.

His point is that in most cases, people do not truly know where all the money goes when it is donated. The second brilliant point is that it really does not change peoples behavior by writing a check. Instead he suggests in this article that “If you had to choose between giving a small donation to an environmental organization to fight global warming, or switching to LED lights (and then getting all your friends and neighbors to switch their lights, too … and so on), choose the physical change every time. This approach is the core difference between effect marketing (long-term behavioral changes that impact issues) and cause marketing (transactional promotions that link a business to a cause)”.

In the world of social media – where the power is has now shifted to the consumer – the company is going to be held accountable, not just for the actions that the company takes – but also the for the actions that their customers take and on down the line.

Food for thought and an article worth the read!

Happy October!

Best Nicole

Matthew Ammirati said it right: “Is it Enough to be Green? What About Being Good?” For now, greener is an advantage in the sustainability game. Soon enough, green will be a cost of entry. The reasons are becoming the 2000’s mantra: Consumers are jaded; information zips through social networks faster than ever; and there are tracking systems for everything (including corporate social responsibility actions).

Many green marketing programs evolved along the cause-marketing model. Cause marketing is attaching your brand to a cause with consumer appeal and piling on media/promotion. The program typically supports change through donations to non-profits, puts a halo around the brand, and hopefully generates business results. Principally, though, it’s philanthropy. It is an image game; putting on a “being good” veneer. There may be corporate concern for the adopted cause, but cause marketing generally does not directly affect the root issue.

Our world’s most pressing issues — from global warming to AIDS — require people changing behavior more than simply writing a check. Just giving money to these causes is important but does not address the fundamental education and behavior change needed to meaningfully impact the issues.

If you had to choose between giving a small donation to an environmental organization to fight global warming, or switching to LED lights (and then getting all your friends and neighbors to switch their lights, too … and so on), choose the physical change every time. This approach is the core difference between effect marketing (long-term behavioral changes that impact issues) and cause marketing (transactional promotions that link a business to a cause).

Sustainability demands a shift to creating an effect rather than simply marketing a cause. Before marketers can make any of the essential moves, they need to shift orientation and distinguish effect programs.

Here are some tangible examples:

• Cause marketing is donating 10 cents for every mailed-in wrapper; effect marketing is facilitating park clean-up days.

• Cause marketing is giving money to breast cancer research; effect marketing is teaching early diagnosis through self-exams.

• Cause marketing is buying a certain color product to spur a donation; effect marketing is a brand providing vaccinations in Africa.

Sustainability pioneers have created business models that make social change inherent to their products. What’s more, they measure their impact on both levels: social impact and profit.

Sustainability pioneers such as Ben & Jerry’s and Stonyfield have created business models that make social change inherent to their products. What’s more, they measure their impact on both levels: social impact and profit.

Stonyfield started selling yogurt to support its organic farming school and now it gives 10% of its profits to efforts that help protect and restore the earth such as a corporate climate rating non-profit, Climate Counts. Ben & Jerry’s has three different mission statements (social, economic and product) to help it focus on all three.

Overall, today’s leaders in corporate social responsibility are taking an effect-marketing approach to sustainability. They’re not calling it that — yet — but their actions are establishing a new standard.

The key: Social change is central to every business decision of the product or service life cycle, including what constitutes effective marketing. Their marketing campaigns rally all stakeholders — customers, employees and affiliates — into direct action. And it’s not just the biggest brands; smaller companies are making a difference, too.

While most companies can’t replace business models overnight, they can take meaningful steps in the right direction. Effect marketers consider how their companies can be engines of social change by continually asking three essential questions:

1. What specific actions are we taking — and, by design, encouraging consumers to take — on the social issues we’re committed to influencing?

2. How can we re-envision our business culture to drive social change?

3. What are we doing to measure and report the impact our business has on society, both positive and negative?

Just staring Question One in the face is enough to shift a company toward a more sustainable business model. Ultimately, though, consumers will demand that we follow through on all three questions and, likely, many more. So, are you ready to answer?

I have not abandoned our blog and thought that I should send out another note to let people know that we are still here. As I mentioned earlier in the summer, I have been one of the main care givers for an aging father – who has encountered a time in his life where unforeseen medical issues have popped up one after another. As like many of you, one never expects the amount of time or effort that this support can demand and I am happily yet juggling all of the additional planning needed to fulfill both my personal and growing business commitments.

The amazing thing is that there are so many of us just entering into this transition of supporting our families and maturing parents – as we all continue to move on in years. Since I posted my last note – letting you know why we had lapsed on our regular posts after all these years – many of you have come forth to share your stories of the support you too – are also giving to your families and how you have worked to make room in your lives for these added adjustments and responsibilities. I thank you for those that have come forward and encourage others to share their stories with us.

I have been able to keep up posting on Twitter and Facebook as I can post from my iphone easily via Tweet Deck and hope you will continue to engage with us there as well.

Work is ways there but your health is a precious gift to which nothing is more important.

Looking forward to connecting again with you all in October!

Best Nicole