Category: Marketing Strategy

Survey Results: What does success with Social Media look like?

Posted on May 15, 2012

by Bridget Warner

A couple of months ago, I circulated a survey across various social platforms, including LinkedIn and Twitter. The survey was a component of one of my MBA assignments which explored the relationship between business success and social media utilization. I promised to share the survey results through VA Partners’ blog, so without further ado, here is part one of the results.

  • A total of 51 complete responses were received from:
    • start-up/growing businesses 41%
    • established businesses 37%
    • non-profit organizations 14%
    • government 2%
    • other  organizational types 6%

Social is playing a critical role in the success of these organizations. When asked how social media fits into their company goals, the following was found:

  • 14% indicated that they would not be where they are without it
  •  51% responded that social plays a role in their success, but is part of a larger strategy
  • The top platforms used by responders’ organizations were:
    • Facebook (88%), Twitter (78%), LinkedIn (76%)

Findings on Social Media Strategy Implementation

While the sample group actively used social media channels, fewer had a strategy in place. Responders indicated that being more strategic and sticking to a strategy was the one thing they would like to be able to change about their organization’s social media efforts.

The following business objectives were the most commonly attached to social media use

  • Increased awareness and driving brand visibility
  • Engaging and communicating with customers
  • Increasing sales.

How effective is Social Media at achieving business objectives?

  • More than half of responders indicated that it was effective or exceeded their expectations
  • 20% of responders expectations were not met by social media
  • No one indicated that their initiatives had failed completely

How effective are companies at measuring Social Media’s impact?

  • Over 60% had not measured return on investment
  • Many found it difficult to measure return on investment as awareness and connections may not have brought direct benefits
  • Main challenge: linking the benefits of social media to the bottom line

Does your company have a social strategy in place? VA Partners has a proven track record for developing strategies for social media, and leveraging these channels to generate leads. Contact VA Partners to discuss the development of your organization’s social strategy.

Thank you to all of you who completed the survey, I appreciate you taking the time. And thank you to Mark from VA Partners for his support throughout my project; I appreciate having the opportunity to explore the ever changing world of social media.

Stay tuned for a blog post relaying part two of the survey results which relayshow respondents are using Facebook.

 

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A Snapshot of Deloitte’s Technology Trend Predictions for 2012

Posted on May 10, 2012

by Steve Gruber

A few weeks back I attended the Golden Horseshoe Venture Forum of which we are one of the sponsors.  At this session the keynote speaker was Duncan Stewart, the Director of Research at Deloitte.  His presentation was humorous, very well delivered and exceptionally interesting.  To see a copy of his presentation please follow this link. I was particularly fascinated by some of his 2012 technology trend stats and predictions.  To start though, I was also impressed by Deloitte’s ability to predict past trends (from 2010) some of which include:

  • Mobile OS diversity will continue – this can be seen today, although Apple’s mobile operating system has a growing presence there is still no clear winner in the mobile OS battle.
  • Tablet oriented computers and the use of tablets like computers in the enterprise will gain real traction in 2011 – the growth of the iPad and other tablets both for personal and corporate use is staggering.   Apple’s growing cash pile is a testament to that.
  • Battery power will not make great leaps forward – for all of us using laptops, tablets or other mobile devices, we know this to be true.
  • TV is still a real driver from a media perspective – the amount of time spent watching TV is still exceptionally strong.
  • WiFi will compliment broadband networks – nailed this one, how many places today offer free WiFi?  Lots!

A few of the interesting 2012 technology trend predictions that he / Deloitte is making include:

  • Big data – this is going to be a real growth area over the next few years, keep an eye on it.
  • NFC (Near Field Communications) and mobile devices – the use of NFC in mobile devices is going to happen and is being pushed by a number of large players including the mobile operators, credit card companies and others.
  • Consumer electronics spending will continue to be strong – in Duncan’s presentation there was an interesting chart that showed consumer spending on household goods, clothing and food has dropped from over 45% of disposable income to under 20% since 1948.  This money is now being allocated to other spending areas.

Below are a couple notes of interest that I felt should be shared; they aren’t really predications, rather they are closer to market observations:

  • Don’t forget about the classic computer / laptop software market – the majority of users still have laptops and work on them regularly (usually for most of their working day).
  • Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices are driving over 80% of all data traffic usage from a mobile perspective.  What a wild statistic.  Although Android is selling a ton of devices like Apple, the real data winner (and then revenue winner) is Apple.

The GHVF’s next event is being held on June 6th and the keynote speaker will be Garth Jestley, Deputy Chairman of Middlefield Capital Corporation and he will be speaking on the Personal Reflections on Risk vs Return.  For more detail please visit the GHVF website at www.ghvf.org.

 

 

 

 

 

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Facebook Timeline: What it can do for your growing business

Posted on April 19, 2012

by Stephanie Goodman

As all marketers and many in small businesses know, Facebook has made some changes recently to their page layout. As a marketer, it is our job to stay on top of emerging trends and changes with social media platforms. I have made it a habit of my own to participate and attend any webinar or event that discusses the new Timeline introduced by Facebook for business pages. I wrote a blog recently detailing the various features of the new page – information came from my monthly Social Media Breakfast Waterloo session. This time, I attended a webinar from Hubspot with guest speaker Chris Luo of Facebook. Chris went over the pros of what a Timeline will do for your business, both large and small. In an effort to pass on what I’ve learned, I’ve highlighted points from Chris’ presentation:

  • Timeline is an empty canvas. It is meant to provide companies with more room to be creative and to allow their pages to be more interactive. The cover photo for instance allows consumers to learn more about a brand beyond just a logo
    • Side note: Your Profile Picture should be your logo, your Cover Photo should be an image that captures the essence and/or showcases your product service.

                                                                            (Facebook – Hubspot)

  • Add milestones into your timelines to define key moments at your company. These could include: Funding, publications, hires, office moves, etc. I would start by adding the time your company was founded and include a brief recap of how it all began
  • Pin important stories to the top of your timeline. Did a customer give you a rave review? The timeline feature allows you to pin these types of stories (or customer testimonials) to the top of your page
  • Analytics and Administration panels are there to help. Just like you use Google Analytics to extract information about your website traffic, the new Facebook analytics will provide you with similar functionalities. Remember, your analytics will be visible to everyone
  • You can now interact over personal messaging. Now, when you want to take a conversation that is occurring over your timeline a little more private, you can use the private messaging feature to do so.
  • Customize which messages you want to cover the most real estate on your page. As mentioned in my previous blog you can adjust the size of posts to the full width of your Facebook page
Great Question asked at the end: Is it okay to change your Cover Photo often?

Answer: Yes! Take advantage of this feature and use it to update your page. However, don’t go overboard by changing the picture multiple times or even every day. Use your own discretion but make sure it’s up long enough to catch enough attention.

If you have any questions as to how you can get your Facebook page started or how you can adapt your page to the new changes, feel free to reach out to me.

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Satisfied with your Social Media Efforts? Recap of Communitech’s Strategic Marketing Peer 2 Peer

Posted on April 5, 2012

by Stephanie Goodman

Last week I attended my monthly Communitech  Strategic Marketing Peer 2 Peer group, held in The Tannery. This session was hosted by Sprouter’s newest Community Manager Jon Spenceley, who addressed the topic of “Social Media Satisfaction.” With Jon’s previous experience in social media at Freshbooks coupled with his current position of community manager, he provided some high level, yet classic and transferable tips for any marketer, entrepreneur, startup or growing organization. Below are some of the take-aways I want to share from Jon’s presentation:

It’s better to do one thing right, then 10 things wrong. There are so many social media platforms that it is very easy to get lost in all the hype. Don’t feel the need to be on all of them or even know how to work half of them. Use what works for your company (i.e. go where your customers are). For those who provide Social Media services, know what works for you AND what can work for your customers.

Integrate Social Media into your Marketing plan. If you haven’t already gotten your company or team onto the social media bandwagon, consider adding it in. If you create a month to month Marketing plan, incorporate a training/information session on Social Media for your team during one month. Start with the classics: Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, and work your way from there.

Be human. As much as people identify with brand names and logos, they want to know that your company is run by people and not a machine. Generate a personality behind your social media accounts; you will need some sort of personality in order to generate good conversation. Don’t forget to engage with your audience. Engaging is not solely about sharing links and information, but simply asking someone how their day was.

Don’t become “that” person. The person who self promotes or RTs every nice comment someone else says about them. Simply send them an @ reply or DM to thank them. i.e. “Thanks for the kind words @vapartners”

Appoint some back end support. Who is the individual who deals with customer comments/complaints/questions? When should the conversation be taken off social media and onto the phone or email? Determine who will be managing the account and what their role is when it comes to customer support. Also provide them with guidelines on determining when it’s time to deal with a conversation off social media.

The more you can make your customers feel like superstars, the more it will reflect on you. Making your customers feel like superstars is as easy as giving them a shout out after a great presentation, pitch, product launch or congratulating them on a new hire.

Sprouter, is a great resource for entrepreneurs and startups to ask questions and receive answers related to their business pains. Betakit a Sprouter creation, also provides up to the minute news on the startup community. If you’re looking for assistance in getting your efforts off the ground or need help with the ones you currently have in place, feel free to send me an email, tweet or Linkedin message to see how we can help.

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The Medium may be the message, but the message still applies

Posted on March 22, 2012

by Stephanie Goodman

Last September, I wrote a blog titled “The Medium is the Message” and how it applies to our social media efforts. As mentioned in my previous blog, McLuhan’s theory was not made for the internet and social media, however, his theory applies none-the-less. When stating “The medium is the message”, McLuhan believed that it was not what we said, but the way we said it that mattered most. Although McLuhan was right in saying that the way we send our message is important, we cannot neglect the message itself; this is where the importance of copywriting comes in.

Copywriting is essentially the value of your company, its services and products in writing. In order to ensure you accurately portray your brand to your customers, prospects and even competitors, here are a few tips to get you on your way:

  1. Assign someone to do the task. Startups and growing organizations suffer from inadequate resources to get things completed. Find the person in your company that handles the majority (or all) of your Marketing efforts. This person will have some prior insight into how your company should be communicating with your audience.
  2. Prep yourself before writing. We won’t all be superstar copywriters at first, but a bit of help can lead to success. Attend webinars, read whitepapers and even take a copywriter in your neighbourhood out for a coffee to pick their brain for an hour.
  3. Make a copywriting plan for each medium. Put a copywriting plan in place for your Social Media outlets, Whitepapers, Email Newsletters and Website. Having copywrite for each medium put into a plan and templated will make it easier to pass it on throughout your company. It will also serve as a back-up source of information in case any of your employees need a refresher.
  4. Keep a content calendar. A content calendar can be done on something as simple as Microsoft Excel, or it can be done on Google Docs. Either way you choose to track this information, make sure your entire team is on the same page. This way, the timeline and expectations for each source will be known by all your employees. Mark Evans speaks also speaks on the importance of content marketing and how it applies to our Marketing efforts; check out his website for more information. 

If you’re looking for help on your copywriting efforts, or simply looking for resources on Copywriting techniques, reach out to myself or sign up for our monthly newsletter filled with great information, suggested readings and events on Sales and Marketing.

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