Why Do You Need A Company Facebook Page? (Top 5 Reasons)

According to a recent social media report by Technorati, over 90% of brands have a presence on Facebook - pretty astonishing for a tool designed not for selling, but for keeping in touch with friends and family.

So, what is all the fuss about and why should companies have a Facebook page?

Visibility
This is the no brainer.  Having a company Facebook page is a positive step towards building your brand and community.  It's a way of showing your brand has personality and inviting your customers to interact on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis.

24/7 Customer Service
Perception, (which is 99% reality in customer minds), sees a company Facebook page as an instant access, free from elevator music, connection with a brand.  Thrilled by those sunglasses you just bought?  Look for the company Facebook page and share the love.  Discover you've paid more than you needed to?  Find that Facebook page and have a rant.  Like it or not, Facebook gives a very clear view of how well your products or services are doing, in realtime.  Be warned though, your customer expects a response, just as they would had they called your help-line, so make sure there is a dedicated resource monitoring and replying to each comment.

Daily Research and Development Opportunities
With the rapidly evolving new feature set, you can reach out to your audience for feedback on a regular basis.  Ask them questions.  Invite them to rate photos of yet to be released product.  Poll for suggestions. Offer free samples or behind the scenes sneak peaks, to gauge reaction to and interest in, your future plans.  The possibilities are endless.

Engagement
We all know that an engaged audience is a revenue generating audience.  While Facebook is not primarily a sales tool, fans are well used to receiving offers and even getting access to exclusive content from the brands they support.  Lead generation may not be the first thing that comes to mind when setting up your Facebook page, but ask yourself how many spending decisions you've taken, based on something a friend shared on social media.

Measurement
Facebook insights is a great way to measure the success of your Facebook page.  At the click of a button (or two) you'll have the numbers needed to show how engaged your audience is, how your fan base is growing, how people found your page and most importantly reach (how far your content can be shared through friends of your fans). Facebook insight stats are complimentary to those provided on your website by Google Analytics and together they give a picture of how well your marketing is performing.

Still not convinced?  Here are some great examples of company Facebook pages.

Sigmar Recruitment
The Honest Company
Godiva Boutique

Define your audience (Let's talk about me)

In no particular order, I'm a wife, mother, sister, daughter, dachshund owner, freelancer, marketer, VW driver and vegetarian.  I could go on, but you get the idea.  Your customers are just like me or perhaps totally unlike me, the point being that the generic average customer doesn't exist.

How we respond to marketing, depends on the role that we're playing at the time and how that affects our attitude to your messaging.  The key for communications then, is knowing as much about me, (your customer) as possible, so that your content meets my values, interests, attitudes and personality.

Small businesses often worry that selecting an audience leaves money on the table, but appealing to the masses, vastly reduces the effectiveness of your communications and we all know the aim of the game is to get as much return for every pound spent as possible.

Who is buying now?
Look at your existing customer base.  Who are they (male/female/student etc)?  What age are they?  Where do they typically live?  Do they have particular interests and behaviours?  If in doubt, ask them why they bought your product.  People love to share their opinions and the insights gained from such an exercise shouldn't be underestimated.

What's your competition doing?
Who are your competitors aiming at and why?  You can often get an initial feel by looking at their websites, social media interaction and content produced.  Rather than going head to head, look for that niche that isn't currently being served, or consider a subset of an audience that you could appeal to more successfully than your competitors.

Who do you want your customer to be?
Often companies start out marketing at a local level, with one kind of audience in mind. Social media is a great window into whether this audience exists and its also excellent for finding out whether your assumed target, matches the reality of your paying customers. Ask yourself who needs your business today and will continue to need you in the future and make sure you're marketing appeals to this group.

Homework (see badly drawn illustration above)
Take a blank piece of paper for each audience you can think of in relation to your business.  Write that audience name in the middle of the paper, along with as many known facts about them as possible, (the smallest circle). The devil is in the detail.  Now think about who might influence their decision to buy (the second circle).  Remember, you're not just trying to convince your audience directly, but through the whole raft of avenues which play their part in forming that audiences opinion of you.

Define your audience clearly and your content strategy (what you want to tell them) will follow. Aim at nothing and you're bound to hit it.

5 Ways To Ensure Your Content Rocks

Content is King.  Yeah, yeah, we know it's the elusive life blood of business, but where do you start?

Here's my top 5 recommendations for creating content which grabs your audience and cries out to be shared.

1. Entertain

Before we got caught up in B2B or B2C debates, there was a world that worried about H2H - human to human.  The technology may have changed, but people will always want to laugh and be entertained.  Find a way to convey your message and make people smile and there's a good chance they'll pass that warm fuzzy feeling and your brand, onto their friends.

2. Educate

We all want to seem smarter than we are.  Providing your customers with information which takes them beyond their original question, ensures at least a bookmark.  It also raises their perception of who you are and helps differentiate you, from those who only provide enough information to make the sale.
This doesn't have to be complicated. My local estate agent uses their blog to talk about the housing market in general rather than just their services.

3. Inspire

We're all inspired by different things, but being inspired is such a great feeling we can't help but act on it.  Brands know this.  Pinterest reigns because of it.  Make your customers feel inspired, sell them the dream, share the possibilities and the sales will follow.  A great example here is  The Monocle Order a company selling sunglasses, but blogging pure inspiration in words and pictures.

4. Inform

Provide the facts and information and let your customers decide.  Content that is informative, gives it's source credibility and helps us justify our decision to spend. Charities often use informative content to convey the severity of a situation and appeal to our head as well as our hearts.

5. Blatantly sell

Use this one sparingly.  Companies who beat down our doors, even if they are likely to be virtual ones these days, fast lose their appeal.  We know you've got product to sell and sometimes it's ok to tell us directly why we should choose yours over the competition.  Be warned though, content which simply states the features will almost always be doomed, (unless you've found just the right customer, at the right time, in the right place). Selling on benefits once in a while, can hit the mark.

Of course once you've created your entertaining, educational, inspiring and informative content, (with the occasional sales message thrown in), you'll have to decide which channels to use so your market hears your message. That's a whole other blog post.

THE best way to create word of mouth

When was the last time you recommended a product or company to a friend? What made you do it?

In my experience, it's the last interaction that prompts us to share our experience with others.   The surprise element (good or bad), that sticks in our minds.  The companies which delight us, by validating our decision to spend our money with them.  Those products, which exceed our expectations and make us feel like we got a bargain.  It's the unexpected care and attention that becomes our dinner party story, not the glossy sales brochure or the flashy website.

Often companies are so focused on making a good first impression, that they forget what happens beyond the initial sale.  Lead generation is always on the Marketers agenda, with after sales service way down on the list of priorities.

As the world gets more social, it's relatively easy to 'like' something on Facebook without risking our reputation, but it's the contacts we share on a one to one basis that really show our loyalty.

What could you be doing to make a lasting impression?

8 Questions To Shape Your Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is the term used to cover all the tools and tactics you might employ to attract and retain customers.  The most obvious being direct mail, social media, events, website, collateral, PR and merchandising.

Everywhere you look marketers are talking about the importance of content and the marketing mix. I predominately work with SMEs and for them the marketing mix is generally more of a marketing 'one size fits all, fingers crossed' event.  If that sounds familiar, read on .....

Before you rush into anything, make sure that you know the answers to the following

1. Who is your target audience?
2. Have they already heard of your brand?
3. Do they know what you do?
4. What are your audience looking for/trying to achieve/hoping to solve etc?
5. Why do they need your product/services?
6. What alternatives are available to them?
7. Where do they currently look for product/service info?
8. Do you deliver on your marketing promises - are you as good as you claim?

Knowing the answers to these questions, means you're likely to produce content which delivers value and helps generate business.  You'll also be better placed to decide which channels to use, when taking your messages to market and therefore more likely to achieve a marketing mix.

If this all sounds easier said than done, I'd be delighted to help ; ).

Fit your own life jacket first - for all my freelance friends

It's a lightbulb moment.

Make your brand your most important client.

Write your blog post before tweaking the 3 others you're ghostwriting.

Populate your twitter stream before logging in under your clients ID to make them a star.

Start that discussion on your Facebook page, change your profile picture and engage with your community before writing that killer social media strategy for anyone else.

Repeat until you stop feeling guilty (of course that could just be me).

How Marvellous Is Your Marketing?

image credit:www.123rf.com

We're nearly a quarter of the way through 2013. How successful have your marketing efforts been so far?

It's time to dust down those excel spreadsheets, (I can hear you groaning) and see what hindsight, insight and foresight can be gleaned.  So, what should you do to start measuring?

1. Prioritise data collection against the most important metrics for your business

Your company might work to KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), which are generally linked to business objectives and nearly always focus on a mix of customer retention, customer acquisition and/or customer growth targets. Make sure you know what yours are and have the facts to speak to them. Alternatively, show how customer retention and acquisition link to social media engagement, your outbound/inbound strategy etc.

2. Who needs to know your metrics - deliver your findings in their language

The CFO wants to see all the numbers, the sales guys want to know how marketing has contributed to them making their numbers.  Everyone who needs a marketing metric has their own agenda.  Make sure to provide them with the evidence they need, to show marketing doing a great job.

3. Remember the intangibles

What impact has a project or campaign had on your customers, your brand and your colleagues? Maybe you can attribute new opportunities, targets or ideas to your current marketing efforts. Also look for new relationships formed with vendors, bloggers, event partners etc. This will give a more rounded picture than metrics alone.

If the thought of the above fills you with dread, then try to focus on the benefits to you and your marketing team, beyond securing next years budget.

1. Great results = Visibility + Credibility

Now that you've shown what can be achieved, what more could you do with additional resources/time/funds* (*insert your greatest marketing wishes here).

2. Identified success leads to opportunities

Now that you know what's working, can you replicate this across different products, geographies or industries?  Oh look, marketing just became business development.

3. Great results build trust 

Trust means being included in early level decision making that shapes your future business. Facts and figures take marketing from a 'nice to have' to a 'must have'.

Even if your results are less than worthy of a gold star, taking stock and reacting now, means resources can be rechanneled rather than squandered and your business will thank you for keeping them on track.  Promise.