RBS Marketer » Blogging

5 New Faces of Facebook – An Effective Branding Opportunity

Esther — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:09:31 +0000

Now you have another opportunity to brand your company, offer key messages, and reinforce your expertise in your niche through the 5 pictures displayed on your Facebook wall or on the information page. It’s a place to convey your assets, reinforce the company’s promise, and display 5 key messages at once. It’s a great way to share key selling points with your customers. Whether through pictures or phrases, your target audience who lands on your wall or welcome page, will get a positive first impression of your company if you brand it correctly. In addition, they might be motivated to go to the information page to find out more about your company.

When a picture is clicked, like the one below, you have the opportunity to embed a live link to lead the reader where you want them to go. In this the link www.jwrp.org is leading the reader back to the website to register for the trip they are promoting.

It looks like lots of fun and a trip where good friendships are being formed. Since Facebook is just one of the tools you use for social media, the links mentioned above can be to your website, YouTube channel, blog, Flickr, slideshare account, etc. You can link to your site and other related resources to:

Engage content
Promote and offer updates on company events and seminars
Release announcements in the industry
Offer discount programs
Present contests
Inform your target market about your ‘company in the news’

The only challenge is that the pictures are uploaded in no specific order so it’s hard to create a banner, although, someone will figure out how to overcome that soon enough. The other test is to get the right pictures posted to reflect the brand that your customers have come to rely on. Any new uploaded pictures end up in the top 5 but if you click X it will disappear and the old one will reappear. However that new picture will remain on the Facebook page either in an album or in a post. Photos uploaded by fans or ones where you are tagged will not appear in the 5 above. Putting pictures up on your company Facebook page makes your brand human, relatable and accessible. It shows your consumer the ‘personna’ of your company. It’s the picture of your voice, it’s all about your ability to talk to people in a genuine way and show them that you are part of their community. By all means analyze the stats once the pictures go live. See if your audience is relating to it and be able to pinpoint what attribute moves your target most. In the very name Facebook is the essence of the brand. We now have a ‘face’ behind the ‘name’ and we insist on that as a given. Facebook is changing everyday so stay tuned for more and more sophisticated ways to deliver your message in this popular medium.

Pens & Pencils Down- Technology Takes Over

Esther — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:31:35 +0000

Recently I attended a WordCamp conference and I was shocked to find that I was one of the few attendees using a pen and paper, which they gave out at registration to take notes. Everyone was busy taking notes on their iPad, iPhone, or computer. Since the lecturer’s slides were posted in advance and we were able to download them – we could add our own comments as the lecturer was speaking and that was a great convenience.

As soon as the lecturer mentioned a site, people “googled” it and everything was live. At the same time I saw people posting on their blogs, answering emails, ‘IM’ing, and searching the web as other thoughts relating to the lectures came to mind. It was a fascinating display of multi-tasking.

Is that good? Multi-tasking, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO_oEGHWSMU which many have embraced as the key to success, could be a formula for shoddy work, mismanaged time, rote solutions, stress and forgetfulness. Paying attention means to one thing, or so I thought.

Psychologist David E. Meyer of the University of Michigan says, “it takes more time for the brain to switch among tasks than it would have to complete one task and then turn to the next.” Obviously a man’s approach. A prolonged period of extreme multi-tasking, warns Meyer, may lead to a shorter attention span, poorer judgment and impaired memory.

Dr. John Medina, developmental molecular biologist who focuses on human brain development, said the brain does not pay attention to boring stuff. The brain wants a rotating, moving, digital image and up to half the brain power is devoted to visual processing. However the brain needs to rest to process information.

I optimally absorb information when I am taking (writing) notes so it can register in my brain for easy recall. While I am writing, I am reviewing the information, and ultimately able to summarize it into key points. All I need to focus on is the lecturer, his material, and the notes. Everything else is a distraction.

I am a strong advocate of technology and I am “plugged in” for far more time than I would like but how many things can one really do at once before it affects their absorption rate and their commitment to really being present.

The jury is still out and I am probably going to buy an iPad soon because I really like to meet with clients, having everything at my disposal.

Putting the “Social” Into Your Promotion – The Customer is King

Esther — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:49:56 +0000

I always felt that employees working in customer service knew the client the best. No marketing study or sales report could substitute for a good 10 minute conversation, especially from an unhappy customer. They will tell you everything what is wrong and many times also tell you what you are doing right.

Today, we “talk” via the computer and text through the cell phones. Almost gone are those precious face to face meetings that create a relationship of trust. Communication has become impersonal…..until recently.

The new platform for customer communication is via social media where buyer and seller can interact. Through Social Networking, Blogging and Micro-blogging your company can continue the conversation with your customers.

An unprecedented change has taken place, putting tools for publication, discovery, and real time interaction, in the hands of everyone – from simple text to photos and video. Social media tools are changing businesses in terms of how they can connect with customers, partners, peers and even the competition.

Future customers may hear about your business as part of a Social Networking Web Site. The new consumer is as likely to find your business through a Social Network as a Search Engine.

Pete Hollier from SEOwizardry lists a few tips:

Social Networking

It is becoming imperative that businesses develop Social Media Marketing Programs. Your customers expect it and your competitors are adopting and using Social Media to connect and interact with current and future customers – possibly even your own. The number must have gone up by now but in 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study, states 93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites and 85% believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers. Social Media today threatens to replace e-mail as the primary electronic communication.

Integrating Social Media

Developing an effective Social Media Marketing Program involves investigating and determining a number of factors such as:

What are the goals and objectives of your company’s Social Media Marketing Program?
Determine responsibilities for program implementation and monitoring.
Strategy for the development of required content.
Prepare company guidelines for communication and participation.
Who and how often will company staff be empowered to communicate the Social Media message
Define criteria to determine the effectiveness
Companies that are using Social Media are gaining entrance into the homes and minds of their consumers. When a prospective consumer becomes a “fan” of a product on Facebook, or they follow a company on Twitter, they are requiring the company to translate their abstract corporate persona into something more personal and relatable. With that “personal” connection the customer is asking for information and support not just as a consumer, but as a “friend.”

Through stories, helpful hints, photos, videos, testimonials, and blogs the customer is demanding a deeper relationship which fosters commitment on both sides.

Your Dual Personality: Your Website and Your Web Presence

Esther — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:59:53 +0000

Most companies today use their websites as a centralized business card or brochure. Their never-ending task once the site is launched is to try to optimize the site for search engines and use various paid search schemes to drive traffic to the site. Without the sought after traffic, the site would never achieve the goals that any seasoned marketer would set.

Websites range from straightforward and informational to dynamic, interactive, and sticky. Some websites people need to check every day. A website is in one place. It is stationary like a house; a space to return to, where one can find all the necessary elements to function.

But one must leave the house and go out into the world. That’s where you start to develop your presence in the community where you interact, whether it’s physical or virtual. Here you have an opportunity to let the world get to know you on a personal and professional level. Whether you are commenting on a blog post, adding to a discussion in a forum, tweeting, speaking to a group, posting articles on your favorite subject, or helping a non-profit, just to name a few vehicles, you are creating a web presence for yourself and your company, which is separate from, but still referring back to your website.

Your web presence becomes like a soaring bird that can’t be caught. One is never sure where it will land but your audience can’t take their eyes off of it.

You are everywhere and people notice. While you are out there, you are adding value to your marketplace with your special talents, personality, expertise, and hard work, showing the world, “this is who I am and this is the company/entity I represent.” You evolve into an expert, sought after to be quoted. With every new endeavor you partake in, you raise awareness and people are forming an impression about you. All your efforts feed back to your website which continues to build the brand of the company.

Consider the neighborhood plumber, a real bricks-and-mortar business. Even the plumber can take advantage of an online presence which is dynamic. Our “Plumber 2.0″ blogs at night about water saving techniques, thereby establishing himself as an expert in both plumbing and in conserving water and the planet!

Both online and off, it pays to have a dynamic web presence because it is viral, it’s effective, and it builds on itself.

Do you have any great web presence success stories to share with us?