Beware of Hashtags

DiGiornos Twitter Fail

 

This week Ray Rice was cut from the Baltimore Ravens.

While another post based on the decisions of the NFL in regards to marketing maybe in order, that is not what we are here to discuss. I believe the hashtag #WhyIStayed surged in popularity because of the despicable and public choices of Ray Rice. The hashtag #WhyIStayed was made for women who had been part of abusive relationships to help others understand why they stayed in that relationship. Similarly interesting is the #WhyILeft hashtag helping others see the reason why it is worth leaving an abusive relationship.

DiGionro's did look into hashtags

Enter DiGiorno Pizza. The social media manager at DiGionro, hopefully, unwittingly tweeted “You Had Pizza”.  Now if the hashtag was referencing any number of other things #WhyIStayed: in the stands during the Rams Blowout, on the couch while that terrible movie was playing, on the live feed during Apple’s latest announcement, it would have been appropriate and potentially funny.

There have been lots of great funny hastags (#removealetterruinaband)but there have been very few serious ones. Understandably the assumption of the tweeter may have been that the hastag must have been a humorous one. Before you join in a hashtag conversation be sure that you at least look at the tag in use to get the context of its use. Clicking on the hashtag will show other people’s use of it. If the social media manager at DiGionro had done this he would have seen some heart wrenching tweets.

Feel free to use hashtags and join in on conversations on twitter but do so with caution.

What is your favorite hashtag?

 

 

Text Marketing to College Students

Influence on College Students
via Marketingcharts.com

Another helpful chart this week from MarketingCharts.com. Depending on your business, college kids can be a great customer base to target. This is especially true with affordable restaurants, entertainment venues, and clothing stores. College students love to spend time with their friends and frequently that comes in the form of sharing a meal, shopping, or going to a concert. As with all the age groups, college students love word of mouth, after all it is the best way to find out about the new hip restaurant or store in town. The other two mediums in the top three are very affordable to utilize.

Online coupons can come from email marketing, a page on your website, a special on social media, or a deal with a local online deal program (here in Jackson, Snagmob.com is popular). Mobile ads are really easily done with text message marketing. Text message marketing can be done cost effectively and because you can send out time sensitive deals on a slow night of business they can help drive traffic strategically. They can also be used to bring attention to specific deals and events you have going on. People frequently forget things you have announced earlier through more traditional means of marketing and a text can give them a very timely reminder.

Adelsberger Marketing can help you with getting an email or text messaging campaign set up for your business. Send me an email at: kevin@kadelsberger.com to set up your free consultation.

 

 

On why Email is better than Facebook for marketing.

A new Marketing Charts came to my email this week.

Stats on Most Effective Digital Marketing Efforts

Facebook has investors. When you have to pay share holders you always need to be generating more revenue. Facebook has become increasingly more commercialized since it’s IPO. Now a company’s Facebook posts will get to 6% or less of their fans! Ridiculous! Organic reach has been significantly dropping (via Tech Crunch):

  • Feb 2012 = 16%
  • Sep 2013 = 12.60%
  • Nov 2013 = 10.15%
  • Dec 2013 = 7.83%
  • Mar 2014 = 6.51%

Why does Organic reach drop? So you can spend money to reach the fans you have worked hard to collect.

But this should be a  warning to all marketers for all social channels. Social Media networks control the flow of information. They will use that control after gaining our dependence for marketing. Twitter just proudly told everyone that 30% of a company’s followers will see their posts. I am predicting this will begin to drop as the need for revenue increases. After all Twitter has only been publicly traded for less than a year. It is conceivable that they will take a similar course as Facebook.

This is why email will become more and more crucial to marketers. Email does not require a channel owned by a interested party. The only thing that keeps your open rate low is the quality of your list and the quality of your content.

It is up to you.

Maybe that is the scary part but it is also the easiest to fix.

Kevin

Guess what? People dont trust…

People do not really trust sponsored content. Big surprise right? This reminds me of the general distrust of authority that seems ever present in our current culture. We have been lied to many times by leaders and companies and as a result we trust very few or none of them anymore.

Although Sponsored Content is sneakier in the digital format, I always flash back to a magazine. Do you remember those pages that looked a little different from the rest of the magazine because they were not up to the same visual quality of the rest of the pages.  They also  said “Sponsored Story” in the top corner.  Those were the worst. I never read them, always went right past them even.

Now and days with native advertising they no longer stick out as badly but hopefully will remain clearly labeled. But 22.5%  would believe the story if it is from a trusted brand. So how do we become a trust brand? Probably start by not lying.

Here are the charts:

Media Charts Trust in Sponsored Content

Why would you make something non responsive anymore?

Why would you make anything that is not responsive anymore? Unless there is some super technical thing on your site that cannot be responsive, there is no reason to not have a responsive website. More than 30% of traffic is now mobile, that means if your site is not responsive, IT LOOKS BAD FOR MORE THAN 30% OF YOUR VISITORS! Responsive is now as standard as remote entry is on cars. If your website is not responsive you need to start a redesign soon! This even expands into emails as the below statistics reveal. Is your email template responsive? (HT MarketingCharts)

 

Needs for employees to succeed.

Do you want to be a great organization? If you are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs then the below chart will make sense to you. This chart is derived from some of the great research that Gallup is doing on leadership. Almost all of the steps to creating deep employee engagement have to do with the leadership of a supervisor. When I think back to some of my most successful times during employment, I can see these factors being present. Conversely, when I think back to some of my least successful times of employment, I can see these factors not being present.

My only issue with this chart is the word ‘best’ in Q10. Might be over kill to require a best friend at work. But friends at work is a must.

One thing I might add is: Does the culture of the work place demand excellence? Cultures that demand the best often bring out the best, when these other factors are present.

via Gallop Business Journal

First Impressions happen fast.

Another great resource for marketers is Marketing Charts. Marketing Charts is a free email service that shares some of the latest and greatest data about marketing.

First impressions happen fast. Sometimes before you even start the interaction (HT Art of Manliness: How to Enter a Room Like a Boss) These stats help me think about two things: 1. The first interaction with your product matters (duh) 2.What comes before that interaction.

1. Obviously if you mess up the initial interaction: the first meeting, the first plate of food, the first presentation, the first printing, the rest of the relationship is going to suffer.

2. I think to make such a strong connection so quickly there are often going to be some preliminary things happening:
Two thoughts:
1. Word of Mouth/Reputation: Your reputation sets the stage for your entrance to the party/meeting/point of first contact. Keep an eye on your online reviews and know what people say about you. When I go to a restaurant and I have read online that their service is slow, I am keeping a special eye out for it. Pay attention to and fix your weaknesses. Someone who is primed to be a critic becomes a fan to defend your reputation quickly.

2. Branding/Appearance: When you enter a place, the place will help set your perception of the interaction that is about to happen. It is the same thing with the brand personality that you put out into the community, if you use the average Joe persona people might be taken back by a $30 steak on the menu. Use your branding to help set the stage for your first interaction with a customer.

Think through the whole interaction, even try to imagine the part you are not privy to.  Use the tools you have to set up the first interaction with your brand to be successful so that you grow rabid fans quickly. Now I wonder what we could accomplish with some rabid fans?

 

Fix Your Presentation

 

via docstoc.com
via docstoc.com

Seth Godin is a genius. One of the things I intend to do with this blog is to share resources that I have found beneficial. Godins comments on making a presentation are spot on. I strive to be as engaging of as a presenter as possible and I plan on incorporating his remarks into my next presentation.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/01/really_bad_powe.html

What if you had more fans like this?

What if you had more fans like this? Not saying ‘bat crap crazy’ fans who will burn down your competitors businesses but fans who will go all-out to support your brand/business/blog/nonprofit. I am fortunate to work with two groups that have rapid fans that may be at a notch below the above featured fan group (Lets be honest some soccer fans are insane, and not just for liking soccer that much.). While the two groups are vastly different in size, product, and mission, they both have these dedicated supporters. Why? They both do good work at producing amazing products that no one else provides, they care about the communities they are in, and get their supporters involved. If we all had a few more fans like that, imagine what we could accomplish!

Crocheted By Jae

Designed this with only color guidence from owner. Small Crotched business start up. https://www.etsy.com/shop/crochetedbyjae
Designed this with only color guidence from owner. Small Crotched business start up. https://www.etsy.com/shop/crochetedbyjae
This is a large vinyl banner made for booths at shows.
This is a large vinyl banner made for booths at shows.