Extending the Value of Trade Show Marketing with Social Media

This article originally appeared February 23, 2012 on Digital Brand Marketing Education & Interactives

Social media networking and marketing allows businesses to reach and provide tremendous amounts of information to clients, prospects and referral sources.  However, face-to-face marketing still has an important place.  Trade shows are one area where social media can provide significant support to face-to-face efforts and create opportunities for overall event marketing success.  Exhibitors can use all the help they can get; The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) reports that 80 percent of exhibitors make no attempts to follow up on their leads from trade shows. Considering how much is spent on trade shows this is a shocking statistic.

c/o http://skgtechnologies.com/

Trade shows are typically face-to-face, relationship-based marketing events.  However, when in-person marketing activities are combined with social media, sales success can be improved, and the effectiveness and lifespan of marketing messages and branding can be extended well beyond the trade show itself.

According to marketing industry veteran David Clark, “Ratcheting up your social media marketing, before, during, and after a trade show is proving to be one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your booth and cement the relationships.”

Before the show a business must leverage its collective social media presence to promote its appearance and related activities.  Post information, pictures and/or videos (perhaps a preview of a new product or video invitation to visit the booth) about the event, the business’s participation and/or booth activities.  The goal is to let people/prospects know the who, what, where and when and most importantly the why they should visit the company’s booth.  Use social media to promote contests, giveaways or prizes that will be connected with a specific trade show appearance.  If the trade show has its own hashtag, include it in all posts.  Hashtags can be used to engage audiences, generate buzz and form relationships.  Promoting the show in general helps attendance and all exhibitors should work together to mutually support each other.  Often show producers can help lead a team of exhibitors and provide them content to help them promote their appearance as well the show.

Getting Connected

Connect with the show organizer/producer, show marketing firm and other exhibitors with whom there may be synergies.  Non-competing exhibitors can use this strategy to build relationships and find cross selling opportunities as well.  Exhibitors and show managers can and should share content via social media. Starting early and being proactive will allow exhibitors to reach more people and prospects with a variety of messages and images and get a jumpstart on creating a buzz which will attracts booth traffic.   From a media relations perspective it is essential to get to know and communicate with show managers and their marketing firms.  Here is a link to a short video I recently published with a few tips on trade show public relations strategies.

c/o http://www.diymarketers.com/

Post often to social media sites during shows.  Show people what is happening and what will be happening at the booth or the show.  Invite people to check-in on Facebook or Foursquare, perhaps for a drawing or other reward (show special) or simply to invite people to visit the booth in person to learn about something new.  Be sure to remind attendees of the contests, giveaways, and all the exciting and interesting products or demonstrations happening at the booth.  Post information about the show, pictures, video, or gems of information from seminars or workshops.

According to trade show marketing professional Timothy McClain, by “link[ing] your Foursquare account to your Twitter and Facebook accounts…you [can] check in, add a special note, and it will appear with your location link on Twitter and graphical map on Facebook and be shared across your channels.”

At the booth businesses can use smart phones and social media apps to grow their social media “followers” directly on site.  Give access to social media pages in the booth by setting up a designated computer or tablet to allow users to “Like” the business on Facebook or follow on Twitter.  Recruit booth visitors to “Like” the business using their smart phones as well a QR (Quick Response) code can be used or link visitors to Facebook on their phones.  After Facebook is mobile enabled, people can then text “Like” and the business’s Facebook page username to 32665 and they will automatically “Like” the page.

After the show, continue to post pictures and video from the event.  Post pictures and create albums to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, etc. to show booth activity and interactions.  Be sure to post thank you messages to the event organizers and to key prospects and contacts.  Social media can assist with follow up.  It provides the opportunity to present images, messages, video and other branded content in such a way that will allow prospects learn about the company, but not be hit with hard sales messages.  Use LinkedIn and Facebook direct messages to start conversations, share information and continue relationship building.

Social media’s role in the trade show space is growing.  It can make trades shows more fun, support branding and assist in the relationship building process.  This is key to building trust and we all know that people want to do business with people that they trust, like and know are capable of doing the job.  Social media can help create a buzz before the show, make interactions at the show itself more interesting and extend the marketing value of a tradeshow appearance.

Stop Using Social Media Now…If You Don’t Have A Plan

Your Social Media Plan: Why you need one and first steps

(This blog was origionally published on the Digital Brand Marketing Education Blog – www.digitalbrandmarketing.com )

Over the years I have conducted workshops and sat on panels discussing social media and marketing.  From these interactions it has become clear that many businesses and individuals struggle with understanding and using social media to market effectively.  However, social media is an important marketing tool for every business and an element that needs to be incorporated into every marketing plan.  According to an August 2011 survey Marketing in the Digital World conducted by Zoomerang.com, nearly half of the small businesses surveyed are utilizing social media to market to customers.  This survey noted that the most effective tactics for businesses to reach customers through social media is with wall posts and direct messages.  The survey stated that the most important reasons small businesses use social media are to connect with customers, enhance visibility and self-promote.

Social media strategies need to be tied together with a comprehensive marketing plan.  Without a plan, social media marketing can be a colossal waste of time. However, with the right approach it can reap tremendous branding and marketing rewards.  A social media marketing plan outlines the proper use of time, effort and money.  Unfortunately most small business owners are not marketing professionals and do not approach social media with a marketing perspective.

It is impossible to outline a complete plan in this blog, but I will discuss the first important steps needed to get started.  A successful plan does not have to be complex and it can be created and implemented quickly.

To successfully harness the power of social media for marketing, users need to understand it, understand how their customers and contacts are using it and how they are going to use it.  I purposely did not mention sales because one of the greatest misconceptions is that social media is a sales tool.  Social media is a branding and marketing tool used to build relationships and brand awareness, which can lead to referrals and sales.

The first step in the process of creating a plan is education.  Individuals and businesses must learn how their target audiences use social media and what sites they use.  It is essential to find out as much as possible about the behavior of clients and prospects.  Collecting and reviewing this information is an important part of the process.  For example, LinkedIn can be an ideal site for your business if you want to connect with other active business networkers.  According to a Lab42 survey of 500 Americans who were registered with LinkedIn, 35 percent check the site daily and 42 percent update their profiles regularly.  From this we can see that a large number of LinkedIn users are active on the site. These users are interested in keeping their profiles up-to-date for others to view.  Therefore LinkedIn’s business-focused online community is an ideal social media platform that should be included in a business’ social media marketing plan.

The research and information gathering phase will allow you to understand target audiences and choose the right social communities and sites to use.

Ask questions such as:

• Where do clients, potential clients or referral sources interact online?
• Where are my clients and prospects gathering, posting and commenting?
• Who are the leaders in my sector and where can I find and listen to them online?
• Where can I listen and participate in conversations online to grow my personal or business brand?

With this information in hand, strategies can be implemented and goals can be set directing where, how often and what messages should be posted.

Based on the research and information gathered about current and potential followers and customers, set up or expand your social media accounts.  This may mean creating a Facebook business page and/or group, a LinkedIn company page or group, a YouTube channel or a Flickr account for photos.  Twitter, Google+, Stumbleupon, Tumblr and other accounts may be part of this initial effort as well.   Each site has its advantages, and each has strategies for its use.  Currently, Facebook remains dominant in many categories including time spent on any U.S. website according to the NM Incite – Neilson State of Social Media: The Social Media Report Q3 2011.  The numbers are truly staggering to look at.  Facebook visitors spent over 53.5 billion total minutes on their site in 2010 according to the Neilson, Netview, Home and Work (May 2011) study of the Top 10 Web Brands.

Successful plans set realistic goals.  Goals should include consideration of ROI (return on investment), but must also consider the amount of time and effort put forth, what I call ROE (return on effort).  Social media marketing ROI is difficult to measure in terms of direct sales, but can be achieved when time and budgets are set.  At the beginning of a social media marketing campaign or program it may be difficult to judge how much time should be spent.  Start slow and allocate a specific number of hours necessary to achieve desired results.  Only add time when warranted.  Social media is not a waste of time, but it can be a tremendous time-waster.  You limit your exposure and potential losses by managing time wisely.

The investment of time and resources is worth it.  According to information published by CrowdSpring, 51 percent of Facebook friends and 64 percent of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or are a fan of.

This outlines the first steps in the process of creating and implementing a social media marketing plan.  Stay tuned for additional posts in which I will cover topics such as creating social media campaigns and marketing messages, personal branding, strategies for monitoring success, enhancing the power of media coverage with social media, online reputation management and protection, crisis management, business development strategies using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and others.

Don’t stop using social media – start using it now with a plan and goals.

Sources:

CrowdSpring
Lab42
Marketing in the Digital World
Neilson State of Social Media: The Social Media Report Q3 2011

13 Scary Social Media Mistakes to Avoid This Halloween

Nothing is scarier than watching people continuing to make social media mistakes.  It frightens me to think of all the time, money and effort wasted with ineffective and inefficient approaches to social media marketing.  Unfortunately many businesses and business people approach social media in a nonchalant way with no planning or goals.   At Corbett Public Relations we see this happening every day.

I offer many workshops: Grow Your Personal Brand and another on using social media to grow business are the most popular ones. Most attendees are eager to use social media, but almost all have no social media or marketing plan.  They are also overwhelmed in regards to where to start.  Whether you are already using social media, or just getting started, these are some common scary and time wasting mistakes you must avoid:

1) Don’t go in there! – Just like a group of unsuspecting teens who venture into a haunted house, remember you need to have a plan when approaching a social media marketing effort for yourself or your business.  Would Van Helsing go vampire hunting without a plan and wooden stakes for their hearts?  Start your planning with an assessment of what marketing you are doing now; research the social sites where your customers interact; completely set up your sites; link your social media sites, website and blog; and create goals with methods for measuring them (for a copy of my six week social media start up plan e-mail me at wjcorbett@corbettpr.com).

2) Boo! –  Using social media to sell or, even worse hard sell, is a major mistake.  By doing this you will do the exact opposite of two of the major goals you want to accomplish with your social media activities – attract followers and start conversations.  If you try to sell you will scare many people away, probably forever.

3) What was that? –  This is a line often heard in scary movies.  Freaked out teens in an abandoned building are obviously scared, but what are they doing? They are hypersensitive to their environment and listening for danger. In the case of social media everyone needs to listen to customers, competition and other online influencers.   If you do not listen you will never understand your customers, the marketplace or know how to position your business and your messages.   Listen and you will avoid the danger of communicating messages nobody is interested in.

4) Scream – Social media is a two- way street with multiple intersections.  If you stand on the corner and shout your message at passing cars few will hear you and even fewer will care.   Your screaming (touting yourself, your

products or services) will eventually fall on deaf and uninterested ears.   People will listen to you if you speak with them and listen.  Answer their questions and give them a reason to pull over and listen to you.

5) The Swarm – There have been many scary movies about killer bees.  What we learn from these movies is that the saying, “never disturb a bees’ nest” is true.  The same goes for getting involved in cyber wars, arguments or discussions of religion and politics online.   As part of your social media activity you are seeking to show your expertise and build your brand.  Discussing these taboo topics can and will bring unwanted attacks and many negative comments.  This will drive people away and potentially hurt your brand and social media efforts.

6) Rotten Eggs – With Halloween comes mischief and unfortunately some destruction.   Throwing eggs is part of this tradition and is a practice that should be frowned upon by everyone.  Like an unwanted egg, an unwanted direct message or a poorly thought out,  error-filled post is equally undesirable.  Avoid sending direct messages asking for sales or with direct selling offers.   Build relationships before you ask for anything or even attempt to sell something.  The same goes for posting; if there is no purpose to it, don’t do it.  Posts should have interesting content, photos and videos whenever possible.    To build relationships and followers social media users need to be interesting, fun and informative.  You may only have one chance to make a good impression, make sure it’s the right one.

7) Trick – Don’t get tricked by high expectations for social media.  While social media can be very helpful and for some a strong business driver ROI (Return on Investment), for many, especially in the business to business world, this remains elusive.  Create a plan and look at social media as a long term investment in marketing and branding.   If you expect immediate gratification then you really have been tricked.

8) Trick or Treating – Did you ever plan out your trick or treating route when you were a kid?  Did you know the best blocks or houses for getting the most and best kinds of candy?  I bet many of you did.  For social media focus

on activities that work, spend time in communities (groups) where you can enhance your brand and attract followers.  Complete goals before moving on to new ones or developing new strategies.  Track your success with different social media sites and different communities and return to them.  Don’t go back or invest too much time on communities that proved to be more of a trick than a treat.

9) The Black Hole – Whether it’s a portal to another dimension or a black hole in space, it is important to avoid them.  Social media also has its own black hole – the black hole of time.  Social media can be a major time waster for many, like a vampire with a craving to suck blood social media sucks time away. Set specific “time budgets” for social media activities and only add time when you see efforts reap rewards or when they clearly demonstrate they are helping to achieve goals.

10) Your Costume – Have you ever won a costume contest?  Why do people win costume contests? The winners are usually creative, visually interesting, memorable and fun.  Your online image needs to have the same qualities.  Make sure you have a photo of yourself; one that makes you look good.  Spend the extra money to get a professional headshot done.  This image is important; studies show and social media experts report that without a photo people are less likely to connect with you or a business, follow you, comment on your posts or even read or look at what you post.

11) Zombies – What do zombies do?  They roam the earth looking to make a meal out of a live person.  In the social media world we also need to avoid zombies.  Zombies come to us in the way of viruses, spam and those engaged in fraud to get personal financial information.  Thankfully, viruses are less common via a social media but they do happen.  If you receive a direct message that looks strange, from someone you do not know or a message that suggests you check out a video or photo with you in it, delete this right away.  Knowing your enemy is important, but also be prepared.  If you use social media regularly make sure that you change your passwords from time to time, never share information that can be used by others to create accounts, make sure you back up your data remotely and often, and finally be prepared because you eventually will get a virus, malware attack or get hacked.  This is scary to think about.  Make sure your zombie (virus) protection plan is in place and software updated.  Protecting yourself will also help stop the virus from infecting others you are connected with on social media.  Spreading a virus is not a good way to attract friends, fans or followers.

12) Your Halloween Party – Who do you invite to your Halloween party?  Certainly friends, family and people you think will have a good time.  Would you invite people who you know would not wear a costume?  In social media you need to know who you have and who you want to have at your party.  The wrong people at the party could spoil it for everyone.  From people posting inappropriate content on your Facebook wall to LinkedIn “connections” who mine your client base for business, or worse steal your ideas (it’s happened to me), monitoring and carefully analyzing who follows you is important.   Take the time to review your followers on all social media sites; don’t let any questionable people into your community.  This does not mean preventing people you don’t know in, but do your best to vet them and watch what they are saying to members of your community.

13) Treats – A successful Halloween for me when I was young was all about having fun, maybe getting a little scared, collecting some great candy, and engaging in some harmless mischief.  A great costume attracted attention and some extra candy.  In addition, friends and family took photos and remembered the best costumes for years.   Social media can lead to treats or as I like to call them followers, referrals and business.  With a social media plan in place reputation and followers can be built on a growing basis.  By listening to followers and others, conversations can be started.  This will lead to relationships, real world meetings and eventually referrals and the best treat of all business.

Don’t be scared of social media.  For the new user it can be a little frightening but the rewards, both personal and business-related, can be significant.

What scares you about social media?  Let me know.

Communications Planning Before Natural Disasters

Have a plan and be prepared to use social media sites as a backup

This weekend the New York area is facing an impending hurricane, and recently experienced its first real earthquake

Hurricane Irene - 2011

in over 65 years. Today we should all be a little more aware of the potential natural disasters that can hit and disrupt business operations. As a public relations professional for over 20 years and President of Corbett Public Relations, I have seen all kinds of crisis situations, including natural and man-made disasters, impact clients. Natural disasters, including major snowstorm like those we experienced this last winter, are all reminders that we need to have a communications plan in place. The following are a few strategies to protect your business’ integrity, reputation and methods for communicating during and after a major weather event or any other disaster.

Today, more than ever, communication is a major priority for most businesses. We are all connected, possibly overconnected, and rely heavily on our technology. Natural disasters and technology don’t mix, and we must prepare for this.

It is vital to have a communications plan for keeping staff, clients and vendors informed about your business’ ability to function and meet their needs. If you plan to close before a big storm or if closing is contingent on the severity of the conditions, let everyone know immediately. Send e-mails, make phone calls, and change the message on your answering machine and cell phone.

We are lucky today: social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter offer additional vehicles for getting information out. Write updates on your own Facebook Wall and your Twitter feed about company plans, but also send direct messages to staff members and key clients and vendors. Let clients, contacts and staff know that you will be using social media sites for this purpose. Encourage them to check these sites and post information and/or questions. Post emergency contact numbers or temporary numbers as well as e-mail addresses where managers and company principals can be reached. Remember, keep your cell phone and laptop fully charged. Your proactive approach will demonstrate responsibility, and it will be appreciated by clients and staff alike.

Huricane Katrina Flooding

Should disaster strike and your office needs to close, and if power goes out or internet services go down, your office phones, e-mail server and office computer network will be out of commission. With your e-mail off line and website down, social media can be used as your backup. No matter how big the disaster Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will most likely all be up and running. These sites may become your only means of communicating with staff, customers and others. The beauty of social media is that updates can be done from your mobile device, laptop or home computer. Even if your power and home phone line are out, these updates can be made with your Smartphone. Remember, however, that cell phone towers have only an hour or so of battery backup so make sure if you have to post on your social media sites that you do so quickly.

Protect your data and have your contacts with you. The worst-case scenario resulting from a major weather incident would be the complete loss of proprietary data or even computers or servers. Take precautions and work with a credible information technology or remote backup company to protect your business’ most valuable asset. Keep a copy of your contact database on an external hard drive or thumb drive in case you have to operate from home and need your contacts’ e-mails and phone numbers. As I mentioned, social media sites may serve as vital communications for you and your business. Make sure you have all your passwords and e-mail accounts with you and a backup stored in a remote but accessible location.

Keeping a business communication flow open and working will show that you are a proactive and prepared operation. Clients need to know your status and how to contact you with their questions and possibly their emergencies. Failure to communicate properly with clients or not being able to provide service could damage your reputation and create issues. These issues could intensify and cause the loss of a client or, in extreme circumstances, businesses could shut down.

Although we can’t control the weather, we can control our own actions. So prepare your communications plan now for your business in order to minimize disruptions, reduce confusion and maintain the flow of information.

Boosting Trade Show Success

Bill Corbett Presents at Trade Show Seminar

Over the past month I have had the pleasure of offering several workshops on trade show marketing and strategies for success with Judy Fairbanks, VP of Sales & Marketing for Skyline New York and, Rob Fishman, Partner of Sandler Sales Training Institute.  Events events were held at Skyline New York’s modern facility in Hauppauge, New York.  

My firm Corbett Public Relations  has promoted many trade shows and we have assisted many clients who use trade shows to market their products and services.  The sessions that I am giving with Judy and Rob continue to help me find new strategies and look at the overall trade show experience from different perspectives.  It remains clear that exhibitors of any company need help in being more successful and securing ROI from trade show appearances. 

There are many benefits of being involved in trade shows.  Shows allow businesses to be directly in front of people, demonstrate products and services and start relationships.  We are in a day an age where online communication is dominant, it’s great to see people face to face and have real interactions.  This also means getting out from behind the desk to promote and selling a product or service.  Selling and promoting effectively takes skill, planning and a system.   

The following are five quick strategies that must be part of successful trade show appearances:  

1. Plan- To be successful in any marketing effort you need to plan.  Start by working the calendar backwards. Set dates for materials to be ready, for publicity efforts and creating campaigns to invite prospects to your booth.  Remember 60 percent of people who attend trade shows go on a mission to see you specifically or to look for a specific product or service.  Don’t forget to contact the show producer, they want to help you promote your appearance and be successful.   
2. Promote Appearance– Create your online trade show promotions and use social media. List your trade show appearances on your website, create a Facebook event page, create a special Twitter account or hashtag and certainly create your media kit with a press release.  Alert the media and the show producer if you have new products or services that you will be introducing at the show.   
3. Training– Educate and train all booth/exhibit workers. Start this process early and make sure everyone knows what they need to know about the products and services offered.  Have them practice their elevator pitch but most importantly help them create questions to assist them to start conversations.  Remember it is as important to listen and ask questions, as it is to talk about the benefits of your products and services.  Hard selling will never get you leads, but conversations and solving problems will. 
4. Exhibits and Booth– Take the advice of the professionals like those at Skyline New York. Create open and inviting booths that do not overload show attendees with too much information.  Create a booth that is open, inviting, branded clearly and interesting. 
5. Next Steps and Following Up- Did you know that 80 percent of leads that are received at a trade show never receive a follow up? This is a tremendous loss of money and time.   In order to be successful, take the time to create a clear system for qualifying leads and procedures for following up.  As Judy Fairbanks says “the real trade show starts when the breakdown of the booth starts.”  Set up your system and even block off a day or two for specific follow up after the show.  Quick follow up is essential.   

These are just a few basic strategies to think about for enhancing trade show success.  The workshops we are offering at Skyline New York hit on these topics and many others. 

For Additional Trade Show Tips from Skyline:

 http://www.skylinenewyork.com/Seminars/Successful-Trade-Show-Marketing-Strategies/

http://www.skylinenewyork.com/Seminars/Trade-Show-Marketing-Strategies-For-Todays-Economy

New Year’s Social Media Resolutions Failing? How about a Groundhog Day Promise?

Most likely you have already forgotten or fallen short on your New Year’s resolutions. This means you are free to make a Groundhog Day Promise.  Starting on Groundhog Day, February 2nd, simply promise yourself and your business that you will create and implement a real social media marketing program for the remainder of the year.

On February 2nd, Groundhog Day, we know what is going to happen: Punxsutawney Phil, Malverne Mel and Staten Island Chuck are going to see their own shadows.  This means six more weeks of cold, snowy, wintery weather.

Unless you are a “powered hound” and you live to ski or snowboard, the thought of six more weeks of winter can be depressing.  Going to work in the dark and returning home after the sun sets for six weeks may sound gloomy, but it need not be unproductive for you and your business.  Without a shadow of doubt, the groundhog has set the stage for you.  You now have six weeks to tweak your social media marketing program.

New Year’s resolutions are for the procrastinators.  The six-week approach is much better.   Why not review, revamp and implement a real social media marketing program for your business. No more excuses and no more simply dabbling with social media: it’s time to make the commitment.  Most businesses and people think they have a social media marketing program in place already, but the truth is that most have little more than a basic presence in the social media world.

Let’s admit that by seeing his shadow, the groundhog has given us a gift — six weeks of winter to put plans in action.  We recommend you take on the following tasks over the next six weeks and predict that at the end you will have a real social media program in place.

• Investigate what is new in social media marketing
• Review 2010 social media marketing successes and failure
• Determine the ROI of past social media marketing efforts
• Establish social media marketing budgets, timelines and time allocations
• Create a new plan for social media marketing with defined goals
• Implement a new social media marketing plan
• Establish ongoing systems to assess social media marketing successes and failures

If you are looking for an in-depth Six-Week Social Media Marketing Plan with a list of  tasks to undertake each week, e-mail me at wjcorbett@corbettpr.com.  I will send you a link to a six-week program outline that you can use to implement a social media marketing program for your business or for your personal brand.

You have six weeks to keep your promise to get your social media program up and running.  The perfect target date is March 15.  This date’s easy to aim for – recall Shakespeare’s famous quote: Beware the Ides of March. The great author is referring to the date Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated at the hand of Brutus and others.   The only thing you need to fear is failure to start the process.  Social media results will to not happen overnight but by starting now you can reap rewards and real ROI in the months to come.

Like the groundhog there is no need to be afraid of your shadow and run and hide.  Make the promise that you will take the  necessary steps to implement a real and effective  social media program.  Failure to do so will see you fall behind your competition, fail to be part of the online conversation in your industry and, finally, fail to grow your business and your personal brand.   Six weeks is not a long time, but it is a long-enough time period to get the elements of a plan in place.  Make the effort, and it will pay off for months and years to come.

Let me know how you do and if you need some support along the way send me your questions.

Can a Man Be Cool Driving a Minivan?

An intriguing commercial for a 2011 Honda Odyssey recently caught my attention.  I thought to myself,  “Could  I actually be considering a minivan for a future purchase.” This thought was coming from a guy who has only driven trucks and a mustang convertible over the past 20 years.

The creative commercial jarred my preexisting perception of the minivan as a boring utility vehicle for “Soccer Moms.”  From a branding and marketing perspective the commercial was done well, capturing my attention from the start with exploding pyrotechnics and the flash and roar of a panther for no particular reason.  The ad’s imagery and soundtrack, a heavy-metal Judas Priest song, “Hellion,” were more reminiscent of rock concerts I attended in the 80’s (band names to be withheld) than a minivan ad.

A Minivan for Guys

The commercial entitled “Rock Van,” was created by the advertising firm RPA.  The commercial was part of its campaign, “Vantasies,” and clearly focused on targeting men, like me, from Generations X and Y.

As a former Mustang owner and Jeep driver, I never thought I would ever even consider driving a minivan, but this commercial made the minivan seem “cool” (the van in the commercial being black, of course, with all the tech gizmos).  The commercial smartly focused on the Odyssey’s technology package offerings: premium speakers (for the best of the 80’s heavy metal) dual-screen DVD players, GPS navigation and the ever- important remote control that gives a man the power to open and close the rear hatch and sliding doors with the press of a button.  The ad was successful and blatant in its appeal to a man’s obsession with technology, gadgets and gizmos.

Marketing professionals are often faced with the concept of branding or rebranding a product, person or service.  Can this be accomplished?  We have seen many examples of failure; remember Coca Cola’s change to its traditional recipe or the GAP’s recent attempt to launch a new logo?  In the case the minivan, the market for the product has changed. Generations X and Y are growing up, and are in search of more sensible, family-friendly vehicle options that meet domestic needs as well as “guy” needs.    

For years I said to my wife, “You will never get me in a minivan.”  However, over the holidays, I was forced to rent a minivan to help me cart around our 14-month old twins, my wife, my mother-in-law and our mountain of accessories and holiday gifts.   There were no waling, screaming heavy-metal vocals or guitar solos, but the experience was more pleasant than I thought it would be.  I guess I am susceptible to branding messages too, and although I don’t think the minivan is in my near future, the possibility is not out of the question.  Honda’s commercial is a rockin’ example of how creative branding and advertising can change perceptions and drive sales to a new target audience.

Honda Odyssey “Rock Van” as link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Honda#p/c/1F2F88164C76470D/26/zDjEeFRzv6A

RPA “Vantasies” press release

http://www.rpa.com/subsections/press.html?section=2010&id=2010_09_Honda_Odyssey

Let me know if you would drive this minivan?

All I Want for Christmas is…More Visitors to My Website and Blog

Websites, blogs and social media pages make up the bulk of a business’s web identity and contribute significantly to the public perception of the company.  Everyone agrees that maintaining an interactive and informational web

William J. Corbett, Jr.

 presence is a marketing necessity.  Business websites let people find your business and learn about the products and/or services you offer, and a blog plays a similar but different role positioning you as an expert in your field.  As entrepreneurs, owners and professionals, we spend tremendous amounts of time, effort and money designing, maintaining and updating websites and blogs.  But if your sites are not attracting traffic, all of your hard work is for naught.  So after you just spent the entire holiday season trying to avoid traffic, please read below for a few SEO and others tips from Corbett Public Relations that you can use to drive traffic to your website or blog.  All these tips are free and easy to implement.

Tips to Increase Traffic to Your Website or Blog

1 – List your business website on specific search engines where you want to be.  Google, Yahoo and Bing cannot find your website unless its information is submitted directly to them on their site.  There are also free services that can be used to submit sites to multiple search engines; try Submit It! and Scrub The Web.

2 – Research Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques.  Search engines aggregate results pages based on certain criteria.  They search web pages for relevant keywords, titles, headings and meta tags; meta tags are unseen descriptions embedded into HTML code of a website that provide search engines with information about a particular site.  Optimizing your website is the single most important action you can take to drive traffic to your site.  For example, make sure every page, picture and file on your website is tagged individually with your unique keywords and phrases in the title, title tag, meta keywords, and meta description.

3 – Your blog entries should highlight your expertise on a specific topic or field.  Posts should be made regularly and comment on current trends and issues relating to that subject.  Blog entries should be full of keyword-rich content; useful or topical content is the number one reason people will visit.  Include pictures and links to add dimension and make the entry more appealing and likely to be read.

4 – Promote your website and blog.  Make sure your website and blog links are included in your e-mail signature, on your business card and on any marketing materials you produce.  Network locally and remind people to read your blog for timely, useful information.  Build an e-mail list from current customers, prospects and contacts and send them regular updates.

5 – Keep websites and blog formats simple and clean.  The page has to be appealing to the reader’s eye and the key information should be visible on the page without having to scroll down.  Don’t clutter the page with unneeded links, subscription buttons and RSS feed links.  When the page is well-organized, easy-to-follow and rich in content, it will be attractive to readers and web traffic will increase.

6 – Utilize free press release submission sites and other business listings sites to increase your web presence and increase traffic to your site.  You can submit your keyword-rich, back-linked press release directly on these sites for free.

7 – Incorporate a share button into your blog page.  You want interested readers to be able to share your fascinating, relevant and timely blog entries with all their friends and contacts on their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.  This function can increase the exposure of your blog exponentially.

The individuals who we know and work with that use these approaches and techniques are showing increased numbers of visitors to their websites and more subscribers to their blogs.   We welcome your comments and questions about SEO and online marketing.

Bill Corbett, Jr.

wjcorbett@corbettpr.com

LinkedIn – Good for business…If you use it effectively

 

William J. Corbett, Jr.

I have been intrigued by LinkedIn for several years. The site has grown steadily in popularity: as of July 2010 more than 70 million people have LinkedIn profiles. I know that many people are actively using the site, but far more are not using it effectively, and some are not using it at all. There have been numerous informative articles about LinkedIn and lots of tips given. I have posted several dozen tips over the past few months myself. I use LinkedIn regularly; I update my profile, add links and my blog is connected. I post updates and host a number of groups, including the Grow Your Personal Brand LinkedIn Group. All this activity has allowed me to meet new people and expand my list of contacts.

There I an ongoing debate about whom one should connect with. Should people connect with people they don’t know or don’t know well? I changed my tune on this subject earlier this year. In the past I tried to limit my connections to people that I “actually” knew in the real world. This limited my ability to grow my contact list and network. Several months ago I started to contact people with whom I had some connection with or who were members of groups of which I am part. (Note: If you are a member of a group, you can directly contact other members and request to connect.) This has enabled me to grow my contact list and create new relationships.

For me, creating and developing my own personal brand, growing my list of contacts and keeping in touch with people are my main goals for LinkedIn. The following are some tips and strategies for using LinkedIn for your business.

 

Growing your list: Your contact list can be grown in a number of ways. You can search LinkedIn for people you know and request that they connect with you (often you will need their e-mail address). You can even send bulk connection requests by cutting and pasting in lists of your own e-mail contacts. If the individuals you communicate with are LinkedIn members, you can quickly connect using this method. If they are not members, the message will ask them to join. If you know these people and they are in business, you are doing them a favor by suggesting they join LinkedIn.

Growing a list can also be done one person at a time. For example, you can go to the contact list of a friend and see to whom they are connected. You can directly connect to them or ask your contact to introduce you. This direct process comes from a referral and can help facilitate relationships. Remember, once you connect, keep the conversation going.

Caution: Often names of individuals are recommended to you by LinkedIn. These are people you may know or perhaps they are in the same industry or group. LinkedIn is aggressively seeking to prevent people from soliciting connections from people that they do not know (there has to be some mutual relationship, mutual group membership, school or employment connection). If you solicit people to connect with you who do not know you, I strongly suggest you send them a personal note asking them to connect and not simply use the standard request LinkedIn provides.  If you solicit people whom you do not know, they can report you, and your account could be limited or other actions taken. You have worked hard, so don’t risk losing your account.

Did you know that you can download your e-mail contacts from LinkedIn?

Follow this link for a brief demonstration video.

http://bit.ly/cprlinkincontacts

Join groups and show your expertise. LinkedIn gives you a tremendous opportunity to show your expertise and knowledge. Join groups and actively participate in conversations and discussions. Monitor the discussions; if someone replies to your comment keep, the conversation going or answer any questions that have been posed. Give thoughtful solutions and tactics they can adopt to overcome business challenges. Remember, showing your expertise and knowledge helps to grow your personal brand.

Bring the cyber world into the real world and vice versa. Armed with your list of contacts, you have a powerful tool to enhance your relationships. Review your contacts to see which people you would like to meet or get to know better. Invite them to meet for breakfast, lunch, a cup of coffee or simply a conference call. An invitation to a video conference would be something different, and if you both have the technology, go for it. On the flip side, if you meet someone in the real world, keep the relationship going through LinkedIn. Send them an e-mail to connect and exchange information. Communicate via internal InMail. Why communicate by InMail? People typically get fewer InMails even though the response rate is often better, and there is much less spam to deal with. However, most people tend to check InMail less often than regular e-mail.

Profiles and company description: We all have read boring corporate bios and company descriptions. Don’t let this happen to you; make your profile interesting, chock full of information, and try to tell a story. Remember, people recall stories more easily than a list of accomplishments. In your content on your LinkedIn site, use as many keywords as possible; this will help people find you when they go to Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search engines. If you do not have a website, or a bio on your company website your LinkedIn profile can fill this gap. And remember if you move on to a new position with a new company, your LinkedIn profile and site stays in place. Your valuable contacts will have a way to contact you should your telephone numbers or other contact information change. (Note: always keep control of your LinkedIn profile user ID and password. Remember to have profiles proofread; there is nothing more embarrassing and unprofessional than having errors in your profile or company description.)

Don’t sell or spam: Many nonmarketing people confuse the terms “communication” and “marketing.” If you are selling anything or hosting a self-promotional event (an event where you will be charging and making money as part of your business), don’t use LinkedIn to promote it. This is considered inappropriate behavior and could cause people to disconnect with you or simply ignore you moving forward, which is the opposite of what you want to accomplish. LinkedIn should be used professionally, for discussions and as a forum to promote your expertise. If you are hosting a free event, speaking at an event or hosting an educational event, these should be promoted and used to bolster your personal brand and reputation. This is all done to enhance your personal brand and attract more followers and contacts.

Research: Use LinkedIn to research the backgrounds of people you know and people you want to get to know. With more people on LinkedIn every day, you are likely to find information about a person or a company that interests you. You can get information about where a person lives, which school he or she attended school and the organizations he or she belongs to. This is excellent information to have when seeking to start a conversation and a relationship. Use this information. It is easily available to you.

Quick Tips

1. Grow your list constantly – add your own contacts regularly.

2. Connect with people who share your interests and members of the same groups.

3. Join groups to meet more people and become part of the discussion.

4. Show your expertise and knowledge through discussions; it will help you grow your personal brand and reputation.

5. Bring the cyber world into the real world and vice versa.

6. Never sell or spam with In-Mail or with posts.

7. Update profiles and keep control of user ID and password.

8. Use keywords in your profile for search engine optimization purposes.

9. Make sure profiles are error-free.

10. Don’t solicit people whom you do not know to connect without a proper introduction or well-written personal request.

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for all businesspersons interested in building relationships, growing their personal brands or simply communicating with contacts. I have found these tactics to be effective for me. Let me know if you have any other effective tips and tactics. I will include them in future blogs.