Everyone is Connected

Marketing Magazine called Mitch Joel “Canada’s Rock Star of Digital Marketing” – no doubt for his internationally-acclaimed social media leadership.  Joel’s inspiring book Six Pixels of Separation is used often in social media classes as required reading.

The title of the book comes from an adaptation of the concept of “Six Degrees of Separation” whereby we are all connected through fewer than six degrees  – in other words, humans are interconnected with everybody on the planet separated by only six other people.

In his book, Joel challenges this separation philosophy by his belief that: “in the digital world, there are no degrees of separation between you and your customers. You are connected. You are even connected to those who are potential customers.”

The book is a fascinating, prophetic bible of practical advice about the internet, online social networks and new media. It’s also a helpful and easy-to-read resource about branding, entrepreneurship, digital marketing communications. By using actual case studies and his personal experiences, the writer offers a readable, entertaining guide to the often over-whelming and constantly changing world of digital communications.

Joel talks in detail about the many ways that companies can create “new business models” by using online channels.  He discusses ways to “harness the power that lies in online communities” and stresses the importance of clearly defining your business brand and strategy before getting involved in online communities. Joel enthusiastically encourages business owners to “embrace your digital footprint.” The book’s writing style is approachable and non-technical by breaking down concepts into understandable bites.

Six Pixels of Separation is available in traditional book format along with E-Book and audio format.

Reference: http://www.twistimage.com/book/

The upcoming blog will look at Six Pixels of Separation in more depth.

Reaching travelers in the digital age isn’t as simple as mailing out beautiful brochures and colourful calendars. Along with a company website, user generated content such as travel reviews can benefit a travel experience.  Online communities create a community of travelers who can help to promote a destination or travel service. Should a negative review be posted, social media can provide instantaneous response to constructive criticism, an opportunity to rebuild relationships and inspire new ones.

Tourism Vancouver Island, a not-for-profit destination marketing organization, makes extensive use of multiple marketing initiatives when representing tourism stakeholders within the stunning Vancouver Island region, including all the islands located between Vancouver Island, the mainland coast and coastal areas of the mainland coast between Moses and Bute Inlets.

Along with traditional marketing, Tourism Vancouver Island maintains a strong, social media presence with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, flikr and LinkedIn. Travelers are able to find out about Vancouver Island events, specials, contests, vacation packages and much more – while on-the-go. “They also provide a great opportunity for interaction between service providers and the consumers through the sharing of photos and videos and asking/answering questions online,” reports Tamara Hutchinson, Marketing Coordinator: Tourism Vancouver Island.

“Although gaining a lot of followers may look impressive, one of the more important aspects of social media is keeping those followers engaged by encouraging them to interact with your information and messaging. It keeps them involved and gives them a personal connection to what you are offering. It is also a great way to find testimonials and feedback on products or services you may not have found otherwise. It’s not very difficult to find exciting news from the Vancouver Island Region to share, while keeping in mind it’s also important to maintain the flow of communication both ways.”

Tamara sends out daily, enticing messages from various sources relevant to the Vancouver Island Region. Here are two of Tamara’s June posts. “How about a moonlight kayaking trip at Sooke on Vancouver Island? Or enjoying a fabulous Nanaimo Bar Martini from the Nanaimo Bar Trail.”

Can you smell the sea air already?  My suitcase is already packed!

As social media expands, businesses are feeling the benefits. See all of the BeeLinkt Social Business series to learn more about the networking experience of BC businesses who have enthusiastically embraced social media marketing.

Online communication provides the very visual world of design with unlimited opportunities for exposure of company portfolios. Social media offers designers and web developers work opportunities, an ability to get their name out there and collaborations on projects.

Backyard Creative is a thriving graphic design company with an impressive client list including Saltspring Coffee, UBC Sustainability Office, Annick Press and Innovive.

Lisa Hemingway, Designer and Creative Consultant with Backyard Creative, says: “Social media has become a part of every day – for personal matters (friends, family, events). I use Facebook most often. Professionally, I use LinkedIn for contacts, work experience and references. Twitter I use for ideas, sharing, conversations, time-sensitive information, etc. Twitter is probably my favourite. Intuitively I curate things that are of interest to me on topics such as sustainability, design, technology, education, and events. I talk to and follow people who have good ideas. I’ve collected a large enough list of people whom I follow; it’s like reading a custom newspaper. I can find out what’s of primary focus on any given day just by scanning through my feed.”

As the internet becomes crowded with data – how does a business sift through it all? “There’s so much information out there,” says Lisa. “Twitter helps me filter through all the crap and focus in on what I’m interested in without worrying about who is friends with who. Pinterest is probably my second favourite. It’s a way to collect images online, but keeping the sources tracked. You can ‘pin’ any image and throw it into your collection (without losing where it came from). It’s great for mood boards and just general inspiration. Recently, I started to use Tumblr too — which I use to post personal inspiration photos to a blog.”

As social media expands, businesses are feeling the benefits. See all of the BeeLinkt Social Business series to learn more about the networking experience of BC businesses who have enthusiastically embraced social media marketing.

Green Marketing

http://www.greenzebraguide.ca/

As social media expands, businesses are feeling the benefits. In this BeeLinkt Social Business series learn more about the networking experiences of BC businesses including a green organization, a graphic design company and a tourism association – who have all enthusiastically embraced social media marketing.

Green Zebra is Vancouver Lower Mainland’s “premier coupon book and guide to healthy, sustainable living.” offering hundreds of pages of coupons filled with ‘Local Savings for Sustainable Living’ – along with tips for healthy, sustainable living. There are 2-for-1 deals at restaurants, savings on bikes, events, spas and more.

Paperless mobile coupons for Green Zebra merchants are also accessible via Clip Mobile, a free app for smartphones. Customers can look up deals near where they are and then just show their phones to the cashier.

Green Zebra staff uses social media extensively to communicate their messages. “Social media is a way for us to start the conversation,” says Diana Squires, Communications Coordinator. “When people hear about Green Zebra, they tend to seek us out on twitter & Facebook first.  Making casual connections with business owners looking to partner with us, moms looking to fundraise with us…we can keep the finger on the pulse of the values of our customers and partner businesses/organizations so we can better meet their needs.”

Diana adds:  “The question I always come back to is “Are we retweetable?”  Connecting with a twitter audience is so much about how valuable your content is.  Our twitter followers range from green business professionals to eco-minded mom bloggers, and offering them something of value can be as simple as an #EcoMonday tweet or a heads-up about sustainability-themed events.  We already have a valuable wealth of information about sustainable living between the pages of Green Zebra guide, which has been a great place for us to start in tweeting simple tips, articles, recipes, and more.”

The Green Zebra experience emphasizes that social media has transformed traditional advertising into something more personal, which means keeping on top of the conversation is key.

In the next blog, read how a graphic design company uses social media.

The answers may vary according to each company, but a few guidelines can help. In spite of its exciting potential, overuse is to be avoided. Online etiquette fits in here. With the interactive aspects of social media, customers are likely to let you know if you are being annoying. Misuse, such as failing to follow a site’s written or unwritten rules, is not advised. Some marketing experts say social media shouldn’t be used for the “hard sell.” It’s more about establishing awareness, credibility, your company’s brand – some might call it the “soft sell.”

Underuse can also be a problem, ie: no blog postings for months will likely result in lost followers. Inefficient use can result in spending too much valuable company time on online activities that don’t fit with the business’s planned marketing strategy.

56% of small U.S. businesses are NOT using Social Media, according to a spring 2011 study by www.emarketer.com . Canadian statistics follow closely.

WHERE TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

Anytime, anywhere? On the bus, in the airport, on a business trip, at the golf course, on vacation (heaven forbid!)

Ken McGrath, Director at BeeLinkt Marketing Inc, says: ”Mobile (on a smart phone) is the most up and coming of the “Where” aspect of social media. There are social media apps for iPhone including iPad 1 & 2, Android phones and tablets, Samsung Galaxy is one. If WiFi is not available, then smart phones connect with a data line and work anywhere a cell phone does, but with an extra cost on your cell phone bill for a “Data” charge.”

Now here’s where things can get mystifying! Is this the time to call in an expert for advice?

Stay tuned for more news as this amazing communications revolution unfolds.

Social media can be a cost-effective way to leverage marketing budgets. It can reach people quickly and is usually simple to maintain once certain basic technical set-up has been accomplished.  Automated features and mobility qualities can help to get more traffic to your company website.

Depending on the type of business, more traffic to your website or door can enhance sales. Companies can get valuable customer feedback, build a database of clients, and develop an ongoing relationship rather than a one- hit customer transaction. The global aspect of the internet allows for potential expansion of your (geographical) demographic reach.

Having a social media presence has almost become a necessity if a company wants to be recognized as part of the 21^st Century business world. Leveraging traditional advertising programs, blogging about an award, and creating community can all be offshoots of a social media strategy. In addition, many sites offer useful business measurement tools ie: number of visitors per day from a new product launch.  Integration possibilities now exist to interconnect your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles with your company website and vice versa.

Staying in touch and interacting is what social media is really all about!

Part 4 in this series covers some of the When & Where of Social Media.

Some of the most commonly used forms of social media are Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. Other sites have also emerged for specific targeted specialties.

Depending on the social media platform, users can post text, pictures, video, and audio.  Each platform will have its own unique personality, tone, demographics, language, and user agreements. Most are free to join initially, although there may be costs to upgrade to a higher status, for example, LinkedIn offers a LinkedIn Premium Business Plus or Executive subscription account offering additional features.

Twitter’s popularity has to do with its simplicity, mobility and immediacy of use. It allows anyone to publish a thought or link instantly in 140 characters or less via computer or mobile device.

LinkedIn allows you to post your company’s profile, website, references, and connect with contacts. It is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, with more than 100 million members in over 200 countries. There are 3 million members in Canada. (Source: LinkedIn Press Center)

Facebook is a social networking service that allows users to create a personal profile, post photos, exchange messages, and join common interest groups. More than 500 million are active users, and 50% of active users log on every day. Fundamental features to Facebook are a person’s Home page and Profile. The Home page includes News Feed and a personalized feed of his or her friends updates. (Source Facebook Press Room)

YouTube concentrates on the uploading and sharing of videos, with over 35 hours of video uploaded every minute.

Flikr is known mainly as an online photo management and sharing site, although it also posts videos.

It’s important to examine and/or get help with investigating the platforms to see which makes sense for your own company’s messages.

Part 3 of this series will discuss some of the WHY of social media.

“People are still having trouble understanding social media,” says Radha Subramanyan, of NM Incite business media agency, in an April 2011 YouTube video interview. “ People know the ‘buzz’ words, but still aren’t sure what it means for their business. There is still a lot of ‘mystery and intimidation’ for business people exploring this communication medium, because it involves reorientation for a 21^st century universe.”

This 4-part series will explore some basics of social media business use – the What, Who, Why, When and Where of Social Media.

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

It’s almost impossible to go a day without hearing or seeing something about social media – whether it’s a Twitter tweet about a product discovery or an announcement highlighting a YouTube video with one million visitors.

In its simplest form, social media is a form of online communication, a new language, but very different from a traditional, one-way, static form of marketing communication. By its very nature, it is meant to be interactive, a 2-way method of conversing with your customers and clients. It’s a way to seek customer reactions and feedback, or find out how to improve service. Social media can encourage people to visit a company’s website or business outlet, along with providing sales information. It can engage people with captivating content and enticing business stories, often allowing companies greater control of its brand message.

Read more in the upcoming Part 2 at: Who is Social Media.

John Espley, Business Development Manager of Accent Inns, when discussing a recent social media education event, Charity in Changing Times, Social Media & Online Communications, held by his hotel chain, emphasizes that the program covered topics such as online marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), online etiquette, and how traditional and new media fit together.

Program participants were using Twitter in real time to talk about their experiences. Photos of the event were quickly displayed on Flikr. On Accent Inns’ Facebook page, for example, program participant Sher wrote: “my 3rd annual attending! Each year I learn more than I learned at university!” (A positive recommendation that many a business would treasure!)

Choosing the right social media site for an organization’s message can be crucial. It involves criteria such as: knowing your business target market, finding your company’s unique branding voice in the sea of online noise, responding and monitoring comments – along with evaluating the success of one’s social media strategies.

For example: a site like LinkedIn is meant to be a (B2B) business to business formal communication tool, so posting a photo of one’s favourite dog, an inappropriate joke or a Canucks hockey video link could turn off and annoy the receiving business contact. In addition, what you say on Twitter, you may not want to communicate to your LinkedIn contacts and vice versa. Along with the benefits of a quick, immediate, interactive, informal form of online communication, comes also a cautionary tale to be careful of what you say and where you say it.

As one successful business example: after reviewing the Accent Inn’s website, it becomes clear that the business practices what they preach. Their company blog is consistently up-to-date with engaging, current and interesting facts: an opportunity to announce that a staff member was winner of the November 2010 Vancouver Tourism Award.

Visitors can read intriguing, behind-the-scenes information about the hotel’s family history, information about their pet friendly services, or announcements about an important community event. It’s news that invites and entices readers to come back for more! The hotel’s blog visitors are also able to comment online and leave an interactive reply to hotel postings.

For any business or charitable enterprise, social media can be a real opportunity to give the business an extra human face, to engage, be creative and spread one’s story to a global audience.

The language of social media can be confusing – which is why advice from experts in the field can be very beneficial in helping new users avoid potential pitfalls and missteps. Accent Inns is a shining example of a Canadian company embracing new, constantly-changing technology and sharing what they know and care about with others. With proper training and commitment, other companies can hopefully do as well.