Scorch Talk

I read an interesting article recently on Mumbrella, the crux of which suggested that the Marketing landscape is changing and digital will soon come first when marketing strategy is developed and budgets allocated (this I believe to be true).

The article also touches on various digital elements such as Social Media and blogging, and their role in Digital Marketing. This has prompted me to share a few pointers to those embarking on, or investing more funds in, a social media strategy:

 Know thy customer

Knowing and understanding your customer is (and always has been) a fundamental part of the strategic marketing process. This fact does not change just because you’re going online.

One of the problems with social media has been a tendency for businesses to dive in without a strategy to understand and “talk to” their customers. Having a facebook page and a blog that are randomly spewing out facts and palaver about your brand will not build you a loyal community. Do you know who your customers are, what they need, and what kind of a relationship they want with you? You’ll need to know this to build a community or tribe around your brand.

 Content is King

I know you’ve heard me say this before, but there is nothing more important than having interesting content. Which brings me back to knowing your customer…. what do they want to hear? What do they want to engage with you about? If you are thinking “I haven’t got anything interesting to blog / post / write about” – then you need to look harder. Or get a friend with a creative mind and a fresh pair of eyes to brainstorm with you.

 Keep up the flow

Your fans/ customers/ clients will appreciate regular updates, and with today’s technologies it’s easier than ever to give them what they want. Post regular news, update people on what’s happening in the business, and provide them with special offers. Answer their questions and keep interacting. It doesn’t have to be a full time job, you can write two news snippets a week, or write a whole pile at once and schedule them to be released over time. Just don’t keep the information in your head – ship it out there!!

And as for my last comment…. about ‘sharing the love’??….. well it’s easy.

Just share the love. Share your knowledge. Share your information. Help your customers / fans / clients become smarter about what you do. In the long run you’ll do better with customers being smart, savvy and well informed, as they’ll return to you over and over again as their source and “hub” of information.

Now go out there and share some love!!

What do you do on the long haul flight from Perth to Dubai (after watching two movies on demand and giving up trying to sleep sitting up that is)? …write a blog post about your latest fixation, in this case social media marketing. (I am hopeful that using my brain might deaden the pain of sitting in one spot for 10 hours.)

There is so much information out there now, about the web, blogging, social media and marketing that it’s easy to get overwhelmed, and many businesses put it all in the too hard basket for another day. But like the initial foray we all had to make into emailing (remember the old timers kicking and screaming), embracing the web and social media networking will be imperative. They are a powerful tool for communication and marketing, and can give your business the opportunity to develop a brand and culture like never before.

So here we go……take some baby steps!

Blogging

Creating a blog can be a great way to increase your brand visibility and show some of your business’ ‘personality’. But beware – a blog is not merely another avenue to spruik your products and services…..in the online world, content is king (closely followed by personality!), and if you bore people with mind numbing marketing spiel they’ll switch off without a second thought.

A blog is a storytelling platform about your business or brand, or perhaps about your industry or community – So make sure your information is relevant, interesting or useful…or a combination of all 3! Keep your focus so people get relevance and consistency from your blogging, and show your personality and have some fun with it.

Create the Echo effect

Once you have a story to tell, social networking sites can share those messages and links like tentacles – spreading out from a central point and creating an echo effect. Remember this process is content driven – if it’s not interesting or relevant it won’t echo anywhere – and if you’re doing it well will start to include two way communications with your customers.

And remember this is the point of social media – talking WITH your customers and industry, not AT them. Whether you choose to be on Facebook page,  twitter or any other networking sites, you need to be a part of that community and provide value to the community. Establish your business as a source of content, and expert within your industry, by interacting and providing this valuable content. Businesses can’t just drop in with a product offer every now and then and hope to gather a following.

Have a destination

I wouldn’t recommend using your twitter account or Facebook page as your main/only destination to draw people to. Once of the downfalls of this is you are leaving you fate in the hands or the “popularity” of that particular site – what if that site becomes yesterday’s news and the community you’ve built goes with it?

Make sure it’s your website (or even blog if you haven’t got a website) that is actually at the centre of your Social Media strategy, and use the social networking sites as a tool to develop your community and draw people to your business or brand.

These are just a few broad starting points – shortly i will delve deeper into Social Media Marketing Strategy and it’s place with your communication strategy. And we’ll also touch soon in websites and SEO….

p.s for those that are interested in the latest from Europe in furniture and design…stay tuned, as i’m at the Milan fair for next 3 days and my next blog will have all the news