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What’s New at LinkedIn

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You probably have a profile on LinkedIn (in fact, until recently, you may have been receiving a whole lot of email from them!). You’ve connected with your colleagues and friends, you’ve endorsed their skills and have been endorsed yourself, and you may have searched and applied for a job or two. But LinkedIn has a lot more to offer.

The website launched as a hybrid job-listing/professional social network in 2002, but has been making leaps and bounds since then, surpassing 300 million global users last year. The company has also acquired several other companies and entered into partnerships to expand its services and professional development content. Here’s a breakdown of the most recent additions to their offerings to help you make the most of your account.

LinkedIn Publishing

LinkedIn began offering blog posts by influencers—experts and thought leaders, including President Obama—back in 2012. Members have been able to share blog posts with their own networks and engage with other users in forums for some time as well. But in February 2014, the site-wide, long-form publishing feature was made available to all members.

By publishing articles on LinkedIn, users can highlight their expertise and contribute that expertise to the community. Users can find articles relevant to their current job, their job search, or career trajectory. It’s a great way for job seekers to add some substance to their profiles, and for companies to offer an inside perspective on their office cultures or unique approaches. And, when used thoughtfully, it can help a company generate buzz and establish credibility in its industry. The publishing feature even has built-in analytics to track the reach of your post.

In early August, LinkedIn added publishing capability in Portuguese, increasing the worldwide accessibility of this feature. German and French are coming soon.

SlideShare

Another one of LinkedIn’s many content resources: the SlideShare presentation sharing feature. SlideShare was acquired by LinkedIn in 2012 (not exactly “new” news, but definitely noteworthy). The goal was to “help professionals be more effective and productive through the content they create and share on LinkedIn.” With SlideShare, you can share the slides of a presentation online as you would any other content.

This feature provides valuable information and education resources to users—for instance, you can view the slides of a presentation that was given a conference thousands of miles away. It also gives users and companies an intuitive tool for repurposing and sharing their content with the vast network of LinkedIn users. View the SlideShare (what else?) about the acquisition and using SlideShare here.

Speaker Series

Similar to TED Talks, LinkedIn’s Speaker Series brings insightful lectures and panel discussions by experts from many fields right to your laptop. These lectures range in topic from glimpses inside specific companies’ business philosophies to personal development to social justice to entrepreneurship.

Something to Look Forward to: Lynda.com Integration

LinkedIn purchased online professional development company lynda.com in April of this year. It’s not yet clear what changes and additional services this acquisition might bring for LinkedIn users. But at the time of the merger, LinkedIn VP of Product Ryan Roslansky wrote in a blog post: “We get so excited about the possibilities that could come from the integration of lynda.com and LinkedIn. Imagine being a job seeker and being able to instantly know what skills are needed for the available jobs in a desired city, like Denver, and then to be prompted to take the relevant and accredited course to help you acquire this skill. Or doing a search on SlideShare to learn about integrated marketing and then to be prompted with a lynda.com course on the same subject.” LinkedIn is currently offering its users a free ten-day lynda.com trial.

One goal of the lynda.com acquisition is to create the first-ever Economic Graph, a worldwide map of job opportunities, colleges and other educational institutions, and job-seekers. With this network, LinkedIn will be able to provide users not only with information on the skills needed to get a specific job, but also information on where to get the skills to get the job—including lynda.com courses. In this way LinkedIn hopes to create economic opportunity for everyone and improve the global economy. Learn more about the company’s plans in this video.

Rework America Connected

With mapping for the Economic Graph now underway, LinkedIn and the Markle Foundation have formed a partnership called Rework America Connected to implement the data collected in two test cities: Denver and Phoenix. Rework America Connected matches a job seeker with middle-skill jobs, then identifies the skills and training the seeker needs to be a great candidate for a specific job and provides a range of online learning programs.

LinkedIn has also started using the Economic Graph data to identify locations around the world with skill gaps, then, working with governmental and economic partners, offering local professional development opportunities.

LinkedIn For Good

In addition to job search and recruiting tools, LinkedIn offers ways for volunteers to connect with opportunities. Users who have indicated their interest in volunteering now number over four million! Volunteering is good karma…and in a survey LinkedIn conducted prior to launching this feature, volunteer work was ranked just as valuable as paid work by many members, including hiring managers.

LinkedIn itself also pays it forward by offering grants to empower professional “transformation” and various grants to aid nonprofits. They’ve partnered with the VA to help veterans transition back into the workforce, allowing them to simultaneously search for job opportunities with the VA’s registry and on LinkedIn. And LinkedIn’s blog has an ongoing series spotlighting users’ causes and offering tips for making a social impact.

With all of these offerings (and many more), LinkedIn has come a long, long way from where it started. Why not explore one of these features today to help bulk up your profile?

Which feature of LinkedIn have you found most helpful in building your professional network? Let us know in the comments below!

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How to Use Data to Guide Your Marketing Program

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Going into the marketing world, I never thought math would be so important. I took the required classes in college and moved on, never really thinking much about it. However, nowadays, math should be playing a vital part into your marketing plan. If you aren’t using data to create your plans, make sure to capture data with your current plan to leverage it in the future.

Creating and executing a marketing plan can be expensive, so why wouldn’t you want to use data to point you in the right direction? Do you really need to spend money and time focusing on avenue A, if 75 percent of your target market comes from avenues B and C? Better yet, do you even know where your target market is congregating?

Some companies think research takes too long, but in reality, you shouldn’t rush a marketing plan – especially if you don’t know who to target or have a baseline to know if it is successful or not. Ever hear the phrase, “measure twice, cut once?” Think about research as measuring twice. Research allows you to execute your campaign the right way, the first time around.

Don’t have time to create your own data? So how do you find data which already exists? One great way is to leverage Nielsen’s research. Nielsen studies millions of consumers around the world and provides detailed analysis about target markets. If you are looking for direct mail, Nielsen’s research breaks down each zip code into different characteristics so you know if you should target that zip code or not. It has a good amount of great information for free, but you can also gain access to more if you subscribe.

A great tool, which you may already be aware of, is Google Analytics. Simply copy and paste a line of code, which Google provides you, into your website and Google will show you all about the traffic to your site. Some details it’ll show you:

  • How are people on the internet finding your website
  • How long they are staying on your website
  • Which pages people are visiting the most on your website
  • Where people who are visiting your website are living

Another great tool to use is Qualtrics.com. Qualtrics is a service which allows you to create a survey to send out. This survey can use logic where if the respondent answers one way, he or she will receive one type of question. If the respondent answers another way, he or she will receive another type of question. This software is fairly easy to use, but the great thing about Qualtrics is it allows you to truly analyze your results. While it will easily allow you to see the results of each question, you can also cross tabulate questions to see if one thing has anything to do with another. This analysis would potentially give insight into if people with blue eyes like ice cream more than people with brown eyes. Thus allowing you to target your audience even more.

The above tools are only a few ways to find and create your own data. Don’t waste your time and your budget on a plan with no data. It’s like shooting in the dark – it’s not a smart idea. Considering how difficult it can be to defend the ROI of marketing to your clients or boss, wouldn’t you want data to help? Wouldn’t you want data to help defend your strategy and prove it is effective? Use the tools above to help gain the data you need.

Do you know any other great data tools? Please feel free to leave a comment with what tools you use!

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Stop Being Tactful; Start Being Strategic

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Now that the New Year has rolled around and February is sneaking up, people should already be thinking about or are rolling out their marketing plans for 2015. However, in this fast-paced world, people tend to be more reactionary due to pressures of everyone focusing on the “now.” When this happens, you lose sight of the big picture. You lose sight of what is not currently in front of you.

While this may sound familiar to you or may sound good to you – it shouldn’t. If you haven’t made a New Year Resolution yet, it’s not too late. (I won’t tell anyone you started almost a month in.) If you want a marketing resolution, here it is: I promise to not only know where I want to end up in a year, but also I will plan a road map of how I am going to get there.

Sounds simple right? The tricky part is sticking to it. Whether it is because you or your boss is too focused on numbers or that upcoming event next weekend – no matter what – it’s tricky. If you can take a step back and realize you need to think bigger than what is in the next couple of weeks, you are ahead of the game.

If you are constantly worried about what to say on social media every day or trying to throw together a promotion for next week, you are making it harder for yourself. I promise.

Imagine you are up 30,000 feet and looking down. You should be able to see an outline of what you are doing. Keep in mind, at 30,000 feet, you aren’t going to see the details of everything, BUT you will be able to see what is happening in two, four or six months from now. As you get closer, you can start to make out a little more detail. Maybe there is something cyclical that happens in your company or city you can leverage. Maybe by taking a step back, without the pressures of now breathing down your neck, you can find new opportunities. You’re so high up, you’ve never seen over there in that corner. Or that one. Or even that one. Now’s the time to do so. Explore.

By seeing all the possibilities, you can sit down and create a plan that weaves them all together. You can build off of something to get you somewhere else. Hate how deadlines creep up on you and you have to rush everything at the last minute? Now you don’t. You know your deadlines weeks and maybe months in advance. You are able to set reminders and get everything together ahead of schedule.

Instead of only thinking about one huge goal that is “do or die” by the end of the year with no ladder to climb to get there, you now can build your path to that goal. Hitting milestones along the way. It’s hard to hit one, supreme goal in one jump. Trust me. We’ve all tried. If you can create mini goals on your way to the big goal, it makes it much more attainable.

Lastly, when you strategically plan, you cannot only learn from your successes, but you have time to identify what went wrong and craft a way to improve it for next time. When you are always 100 mph all the time, it’s hard to do and what normally happens is, you go faster and faster and become more frantic. Because you are running out of time. It’s a vicious rabbit hole to go down. Don’t do it, if you can avoid it.

So when you are feeling swamped and things seem to be overwhelming, take a step back and wonder why. Is it because you don’t know why you are doing the day to day? Do you not have a bigger picture planned out? Take that 30,000 view and plan all your steps ahead. You won’t regret it.

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Before you can grow in 2015, you must reflect on 2014

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“It is necessary … for a man to go away by himself … to sit on a rock … and ask, ‘Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?” – Carl Sandburg

As this year winds down and New Year’s Eve gets closer and closer, many people start thinking about the upcoming year and they set New Year resolutions. However, many people skip a very important part about setting resolutions – reflecting back on the year. How could you set goals without looking at your most recent accomplishments and failures? In college, I had a professor who always stressed the importance of reflection, but at the time, I don’t think any of us fully grasped the idea at the time, but I am grateful now for it sticking in my mind.

Reflection is integral in planning for your future because you can realize what worked and what didn’t. What you enjoyed and what you didn’t enjoy. You don’t want to waste your time and do something wrong again, do you? Ain’t nobody got time for that!

So how do you reflect? Well, it can be done in different ways to be honest – everyone is different. However, if you follow these basic steps, you’ll be on the right path.

Make time for it – Can’t do it if you don’t have time for it, right? Since reflection is something easily forgotten, it’s even easier to not make time for it. Whether it’s simply sitting on your patio, sitting in your room or driving in your car, you can find time for it. It doesn’t need to be anywhere fancy; it just needs to be somewhere you can think.

Remember the bad – I prefer to start with the bad almost always because you get to end on what went well! Whether it was a project which didn’t go smoothly or not getting a client you really wanted, it’s important to think went wrong. And I’m not talking about copping out and making excuses, but really think about why it didn’t go well. See if there are any similarities in what went wrong. This will help you realize places you need to grow. Yes…you need to grow. No matter how awesome you think you are, there is always something to improve on.

Remember the good – Now for the fun part. Remembering how awesome you were this past year. I don’t care how small of a victory it was, if it was good, remember it. Remember how hard you worked for it. Remember what you did right. Any adversary you overcame. Lastly, remember why it was important to you in the first place. If you can identify why something is important to you, then you can try to set similar accomplishments in the future.

It’s honestly that easy to reflect. 1…2…3…

By reflecting, you can look forward to the New Year in the best way possible – knowing where you came from the year before. In the world we live in, you don’t have time to not learn from your successes and your failures. You can learn plenty from both, but if you don’t bother to reflect you won’t learn from either.

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Should You Follow the Millennials? Absolutely.

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Within the marketing realm, you always hear about Millennials. While what you hear varies, the simple truth is you need them to become brand ambassadors for your brand. Don’t think so? Below is some data from a study ShareThis conducted about Millennials.

  • 25 percent of Millennials share online shopping content to their social networks – almost four times the average user.
  • When they do share, the content generates 18 more clickbacks per link – 30 percent above the average.
  • 68 percent of 18 – 34 year olds agree that their peers’ social posts are “somewhat likely” (or better) to influence them into making a purchase.

Those are some pretty strong numbers to ignore. If you aren’t targeting Millennials, you’re missing out. While the group is large and you typically can’t target the whole group at once, you can definitely define a niche within the Millennials to target. Once Millennials are on board with you and your company, they will help spread your message for free. Brand ambassadors are a great thing to have because they make your job easier.

However, the first thing you need to do in order to target Millennials, is find them! While everyone knows about Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, there are other social networks to consider. If nothing else, Millennials are trendy and always want to be into the “new thing.” So did we really think they would simply stay on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? Not a chance. Where else are they going?

Two major social media networks which continue to gain traction are Snapchat and Yik Yak. Never heard of them? Here’s the idea:

  • Snapchat – In the age of where people prefer images and prefer information quickly, the popularity of Snapchat makes sense. This app lets you take a picture or video, write/draw on it, and then send it to someone. One of the aspects which draw people to this network is, once the video is over or the time set you put on the picture you send is over, the photo and video disappear.
  • Yik Yak – It works like an anonymous bulletin board, allowing users to post statements that other people in their immediate area can see. It allows people to share their thoughts anonymously and have other people vote their idea “up” or “down.” They’ve also done a great job targeting college kids by touring the nation to different colleges and spreading the word about Yik Yak.

So what does this mean to you? What can you do to leverage these? First off, make sure you listen. You should never jump into any new social network without knowing what is going on within them. Would you walk into a networking event, not knowing what everyone is doing there? No. So don’t do it here either.

With Snapchat, you can make quick, creative videos and share them with your fans. People love quick, tidbits of info and there’s no better way, than a short creative video. Here are examples of five brands who are successfully leveraging Snapchat.

With Yik Yak, you can use it for research. And in case you don’t know it – research is awesome. Feel free to logon onto Yik Yak and see what people are saying. See what’s on the mind of your audience. This is a great medium to understand your target audience. Have an idea of a new product, event or initiative? Shoot something out, see what sort of reaction it gets. It’s a great, free tool.

Marketing and Millennials are always changing. If you want to stay in tune with what is going on, follow the Millennials. Say what you want, but you want to target Millennials. They can become a driving force for your company. Even if they aren’t your target audience now, they might be one day and you are going to want to be where they are when that happens.

 

 

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Good Customer Service is Always in Style

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I don’t care about the size of your company or your marketing strategy because your success still relies heavily on one aspect– customer service. Customer service is not a trend; it’s not a fad. Good customer service is what sets companies apart. How many times have you heard a story about how a company responded poorly to a customer and the story went viral? Nowadays with the ease of people posting comments and videos, customer service should be on the top of everyone’s minds.

Seems basic right? You would think so, but unfortunately, it isn’t. I think companies assume their employees know they have to be courteous and go the extra mile and that’s where the problem lies. Your parents told you what happens when you assume, right?

So what can you do to make sure your employees display good customer service when dealing with customers and clients? Here are four easy suggestions:

  1. Don’t limit to just external customers and clients. Perform good customer service internally as well. Depending on how your business is structured, you may have employees who never interact with your final customer; however, it is very important they practice good customer service because it is contagious. If your front line employees have a really bad experience internally, that attitude may carry over to your client. They may think, “Well if the company doesn’t care about me, why should I care about this customer?” On the flip side, if they see people within the company going the extra mile to help them, he or she may be more inclined to go the extra mile for their customer.
  2. Talk about good customer service. Let employees know good customer service is very important to you and the business. Don’t assume anything. What seems like common sense to you may not be common sense for everyone else. Bring in speakers – there are a ton out there who can talk about this topic. I know my company does customer service week, where there is a guest speaker who comes as well as activities throughout the week to encourage team work and enforce good customer service.
  3. Reward employees for displaying good customer service. And I’m not talking about just a tacky, employee of the month plaque which everyone simply walks by every day. Think about how you could do this. Studies show that employees love to receive peer-to-peer praise. I believe this is true because peers are more in tune with what goes on day-to-day; therefore, appreciate the recognition even more when it’s from one of their peers. Maybe create awards which define different aspects of customer service for employees to win. Or maybe create a spot, possibly a blog, where anyone can go on and explain how their fellow employee displayed great customer service.
  4. Don’t forget to train people about how to perform good customer service. Again, this sort of goes back to number two, but don’t assume anything. Try to create common scenarios to reenact, so employees aren’t caught off guard and are prepared for a situation. This will not only make them more comfortable in a situation, but also give him or her the perspective of how the company wants the situation handled. The more you can train the better because you can’t train for everything, but if the employee can get the right frame of mind, he or she can make a better decision for something unexpected.

The last thing you want is to have your company go viral for the wrong reason and bad customer service is a very popular “not-good” reason companies end up going viral. While rarer, companies do sometimes go viral for good customer service. Being in the South, I couldn’t imagine shopping at any other grocery store besides Publix. While there are many reasons, the main one is there slogan is, “Where shopping is a pleasure,” and they truly strive to achieve that. Publix has reigned as the top grocery store in the nation for customer service since 1995. So while it may simple and like common sense, good customer service can play a huge factor in the success of your business.

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Business Culture: Do You Have One?

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When companies typically start out, the founders come up with a business      model, maybe a management style, but how many define their culture? What do I  mean by culture? Essentially, business culture is the way employees and  managers act in regards to how they act at work – they are the morals of the  employees. The culture defines the attitude and beliefs of their employees which  should carry over on how they perform at work.

How many companies do you know that instill their culture throughout the  company? Could you describe your current company’s culture? Culture is the  aspect of a company, which I believe gets forgotten about too often because it  has potential to be a very powerful part of the business. 

Personally, I work for a multi-billion dollar company, which makes it a priority that every employee breathes the culture. Even though it has around 10,000 people worldwide, it still has the small, family-feel type of culture it started with when it was a two-man shop.

How did they do it? How did they create a company whose family-like, client first culture never departed from the core of the business? Easy. It’s in the DNA of the company. What do I mean by that? I mean the culture is in the DNA of the company because the senior managers believe in it and it trickles down. If the people who are making all of the key decisions believe in the culture, it makes it a lot easier because all of their decisions will be aligned with their beliefs. And when that happens – it’s contagious.

What’s the point? Why have a culture?

You want to establish a strong culture because it will make your employees able to associate themselves to the company. It allows them to really enjoy the company they work for (assuming they enjoy the culture), and when you have employees who enjoy working for you, they typically do better work. They typically care more about their job. They typically stay with the company for a longer period of time. It’s a way to humanize the company and have your employees feel much more connected. Typically, if you are successful in creating a culture, you have created an environment where people have real work friendships and not just people “they work with.”

Think about it like this: Your company culture as your internal brand. Your brand is what people see you as – it personifies you to customers. Your culture should do the same for your employees.

So how do you create a culture? They first thing you want to do when creating your business culture is to think of how your business conducts business. Is there an underlying rule or mantra you use? Do you train your employees to have a certain mindset or act a certain way? In other words, take a step back and think about what you want your company’s morals and values to be. If you can establish those, I would recommend creating a mission statement, which really describes the vision you have. I’m not going to recommend that you make all of your employees memorize your mission statement because that could be seen as cheesy. Instead, what I would recommend is to slowly start incorporating aspects into your internal communications. Maybe create awards given to employees who embody the culture the most?

If you strive to instill morals within your company and write your company’s DNA – you’ll create a culture. You’ll see the companies who make one of those “Best Places to Work,” lists normally attribute it to their successful culture. Employees enjoy working for the company because they enjoy the atmosphere, they enjoy the people they work with and they enjoy going to work every day. You know what happens when people outside of the company see your company in a magazine on one of these lists? They want to work for you. They think about where they work and what it would be like to work somewhere that has a strong culture and people enjoy showing up for work.

Your business’s culture … you must create it, breathe it and believe it.

Digital PR

What really is your digital presence?

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A digital presence…what the heck is that? Is that search engine optimization?

Sort of, but not really.

Search engine optimization can certainly help your digital presence, but your digital presence is much bigger than SEO – it’s your essentially your whole digital life. What do I mean by that? Anything you’ve done. Anything you will do and most importantly – and often forgotten – anything anyone else does about you online is your digital presence. Whether it’s your website, a guest blog post, your Facebook page or a newspaper story – it’s all your digital presence. It’s what people will find and how they judge you or your company by after they do a Google search.

Is it what you want people to see? Is it what you want people thinking about you or your company? If not, it’s not too late. Keep in mind though, there is no “delete all” button for the Internet. Once it’s on there, it’s on there. However, there are steps you can take to either build or fix your digital presence.

Take Control – If you haven’t purchased the domain name of your brand or created every social media presence for your brand – get on it. You don’t have to use every social media platform, but you should make your best effort to not let anyone else have it. They may hold out and try to sell it to you for a lot of money or they may act as you in a way that you prefer they didn’t. You need to be in control of your brand; it’s your baby. Don’t let anyone destroy what you’ve worked so hard to build.

PR isn’t dead – Public relations has certainly changed from the days of simply pitching a story to a reporter and hoping for some space on the Sunday edition. Now, with the Internet, there are hundreds of publications to send to and an infinite space for story to get published. You can send social media releases (SMRs) which embed videos, pictures and links to make stories more interesting. Newspapers aren’t bound by print space anymore and if you give them legitimate news, chances are it will be published online. And what does that mean? Another place you can be found online.

How beneficial would it be if someone Googled your company and they were able to find a story about your new location or new product? It would be great! It shows the person searching that you aren’t the only one talking about you.

Monitor – It’s important to remember to watch what is being said about you. There are several services you can set up to monitor your name, your company and whatever other keywords you want. The easiest one is probably Google News Alerts. You’re able to receive an email whenever something is posted about you. You will also want to keep tabs on social media, so if there are any problems you can address them right away. In addition, besides negative exposure…you want to keep tabs on the good things too! You want to keep tabs on people interacting and connecting with you.

Don’t let the idea of your digital presence scare you. Sure, the Internet is this vast substance, but there are things you can do to manage it. Like anything else, it is something you need to adapt too and eventually it will become second nature to you. Growing up, my parents checked the newspaper every morning. Nowadays, I check my social media feeds when I wake up to see what is going on. And if you have your own company, and people are potentially talking about you – you should too.

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The missing ingredient for young professionals…

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Somehow April is upon us. Not quite sure how that happened…It feels like just yesterday that I saw everyone on Facebook was making New Year resolutions. Right? Nonetheless, over three months of 2014 have finished and as we enter April, it is getting close to graduation. When college kids must use what they’ve learned and take on the real world. But is what they learned enough to truly succeed?

Sure. They’ve busted their butts getting good grades and awesome internships, but do they know how to think critically? Can they recognize a better way to do something? After being in the workforce for a few years now, I think this is a skill that isn’t taught enough to properly prepare students to truly reach their career goals. Too many people come in and simply accept the way things are and keep working. But they shouldn’t be; they should be thinking, “Does it make sense to do this?”

While college graduates shouldn’t question every single thing, they need to be able to see big picture and also recognize what can be improved. The truth is, the people who have worked in the same place for a number of years have a harder time recognizing the need for improvements sometimes because they are jaded. To be honest, it’s the ability to think critically, which sets will set people apart within an organization.

A company hires people to do a certain job, but the people who can not only do their job BUT also improve their role is way more valuable than someone who simply does the job. Companies are looking for ways to be more efficient and if young professionals are able to recognize a deficiency and save or make the company money, they’ll be rewarded. Promise.

Thinking critically doesn’t mean giving your boss feedback with everything he or she says, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for as many detail as possible. A lot of times, with first jobs, you’ll help out with a part of job here, or part of a job there, and you don’t always get to see the whole picture. Don’t be afraid to ask your boss about the rest of the project, so you can see the value of what you are doing and understand everything that’s going on.

Two pieces of advice to read before you try to think critically and improve your company:

1)      Don’t jump right in and offer ways to change things. Slow down and observe. Listen. Learn what is really happening and see if there is a reason for it. Remember, people have worked hard in creating the atmosphere and process, which you are suggesting needs a change. Show respect and be thoughtful. You want your ideas to be respected and have value. Go for quality, not quantity.

2)      Act like you’ve been there before and keep going. So…you’ve done it. You’ve shown that you can think outside the box for the good of all. Now what? Nothing. Keep working. Definitely celebrate in your personal time, but in public, don’t make a big deal out of it. No one likes a show-off. Be humble. You may not hear it, but you will gain more respect by just pressing forward.

As the year continues to push forward and graduation creeps closer and closer, please remember to think critically. Don’t be a drone. Just don’t do your job; add value.

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Three Tips to Get People Talking

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Social media has taken over the marketing front the past couple years and while it has done a lot for business, I feel like businesses still have disproportionate expectations of social media. Businesses think they will get instant returns by creating social media profiles and once they start posting, they are done marketing. Those beliefs couldn’t be further from the truth. People need to realize that no matter how big Facebook grows, Facebook will never replace face time.

Let that sink in for a moment … Facebook will never replace face time, which could be said for all social media. Social media is not the holy grail of marketing; it is simply a tool in the toolbox. It takes a full marketing approach to truly create brands. Humans, as a species loves human interaction. Actual conversation. Most of us aren’t dealing with the Apple, Pepsi or Delta sized companies as our clients; most of us are dealing with small-mid size businesses. While the larger companies can spend an unlimited amount of resources for social media and create viral campaigns, most companies can’t. Most companies have a modest budget, if any, for marketing and especially social media.

So what should a small to mid-size company do become more established and get people talking?

 First and foremost, companies need to distinguish and cultivate their culture. The culture is the DNA of a company and if instilled properly, the company and all of its employees will ooze with it. The culture is what sets companies and business apart. Marketing simply tells the story of the culture and lets it come to life. There are a lot of places customers can go out and get fancy cupcakes, so why should they come to your cupcake store?

Next thing new companies need to do is focus on its product or service. Don’t bother spending time, effort and money on marketing a crappy product/service because your customers will know it after the first time. You need to invest in what you are selling, otherwise, you might get people to buy what you sell once, but they won’t be back. You want people talking about how you are the best! Why you ask? Because, if you are absolutely the best and your product kicks booty, they will talk about it! Who just finds the absolute best store and keeps it a secret? People love to talk about the great store they found or the best restaurant they ate at. So give them something to talk about. As cheesy as it sounds, remember the quote from A Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” Same concept. (And if the 1919 Chicago White Sox team shows up, think about the press!)

Lastly, a new business must always work hard. Seems simple and silly, but it’s true. A lot of businesses think once it opens its doors, the hard work is done. When in reality it has just begun. Being able to open those doors, simply allows you to play the game. Whether it’s keeping your storefront spotless, making sure every customer is beyond satisfied or maintaining a great work atmosphere – these are all important. Don’t ever stop being the best you can be with your business because there is always a competitor out there trying to top you.

But what about social media and marketing you ask? If you do the above three things first and foremost, the social media and marketing will come easily. You can’t market a company who doesn’t truly know who they are, a company who doesn’t have a good product or a company who doesn’t work hard. If you can accomplish all the above, your customers and employees will organically help you with marketing and trust me…that’s the best kind.

 

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