Foursquare: Do we need a virtual Hall Monitor?

*This post was written for Rick Oppenheim and Associates PR for their ‘Back to School’ blog on Social Media*

Remember the students back in elementary and middle school who would stand in the hallway between classes wearing a bright vest and identification badge that read something to the effect of “Hall Monitor?” Their role was simple: police their peers to ensure they were acting in accordance with school policy and not doing something that would be considered distasteful on school grounds.

Now take those simple tenants and apply them to social media websites today. Are we starting to see the need for hall monitors in the social realm? In my opinion, when it comes to business practices and behavior – we might!

Don’t get me wrong. As a marketer, I understand the power that a competitive advantage can provide to a business, because that’s part of what I do for my clients. I try to give them a way to compete that sets them apart, whether it is through social media or another platform.

But some business activity in the social media arena takes it too far and surely qualifies more as spam and less as creating competitive advantage.

I see this happening now on Foursquare. For example, Competitor A offers similar school supplies to Competitor B. Competitor A promotes their company, products and even offers a deal or two via Foursquare for customers (students or parents) who check-in when they arrive at their store. Competitor B might also do the same but takes it a step further and leaves a tip (recommendation) for their store and products on the Foursquare page of Competitor A. Creative marketing or dirty tactic?

Any individual with a Foursquare profile can leave a tip on a business’ Foursquare profile. Some would argue that it’s fine to leave a competing tip or promotional jab of sorts on a competitor’s profile. I would argue that if your business wants to leave a tip on my businesses’ Foursquare page, you should be cleared by the hall monitor and ask for a hall pass. There may not be an actual hall pass for Foursquare, but you can always ask for permission to leave a tip for your business on the profile of another business. They might be fine with it if it makes sense, because your business offers complimentary services or products.

This goes for the owner, employees or agents of a competitor as well. If you don’t think you could get a hall pass to leave that tip, then it’s probably best you don’t. If you choose to go down that path, you could be spending time in Principle Spam’s office when potential customers check-in on Foursquare and sees your tip for exactly what it is, a flagrant attempt to piggy back on your competitor’s success, social media presence and business in general.

Connecting with Your Social Customers

As a business operator you’ve almost surely come across customers that have asked if you are on Facebook or Twitter or some other social media site.

You may even have invested time and energy into creating, managing and possibly even paying someone to manage these communities for you.  That’s a good thing because your customers are out on the social web searching for your company and even interacting with your company (many times without you even knowing it).

But what about those customers who don’t ask if you have such a profile? What about those customers that would like to be connected to your company but haven’t thought about doing so just yet? You’ve got to find ways to connect the dots for these folks. The adage, people are sheep, comes to mind. You must be the Shepard.

So how do you do this without seeming overly pushy or giving away the farm in order to get these people to connect with your business?  A good first step is to let them know that your company exists on the social web and point them in the right direction(s).

Did you see that commercial recently for (insert car company name here) that said, “Follow us on Twitter”? Sure you did.  How about that sign at your favorite fast food place that said, “Become a fan on Facebook”? Yep, you saw that one too. The sold called ‘Big Guys’ are doing it and you must too.

Here are some things to remember:

• Make your signs conspicuous; better yet find a way to get your staff to interact with your customers regarding their desire to connect with the company
• Create mechanisms that your customers interact with so that they actually do more than just see your sign e.g. Print your social media URL’s on your receipts
• Claim your businesses on those sites where your customers can and do review or check-in with your business e.g. Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Trip Advisor
• Give them reasons to stay connected to your business and actually interact with it

Below is an example of a double-sided Social Connection Card that I designed for a restaurant client. This card is designed to be placed in a check presenter when a bill is being delivered to the customer.  

It’s portable; it’s clearly targeted at the social customer; it focuses the social customer on the areas where you want to connect with them; it can be designed to reflect your brand; it drives interaction (better than a sign); and it’s uniquely designed to fit the restaurant atmosphere.

 If your business needs creative ways to connect with your social customers we can design something just as interactive and effective.  Email me at jc@squarepancake.com 

Contests & Giveaways – Not as easy as you may think

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Clear, the owner of Terroir Wine Cellars, about his company’s ongoing contest, Capture Your Pasion.

The concept was simple or so he thought at first; put together a photo contest where wine lovers could enter to win an iPad 2 simply by taking a photo of themselves with a bottle of Gran Pasion Cava, one of his wines.

On the surface this sounds like a pretty good deal for a wine lover like myself who not only likes to win things but loves to drink sparkling wine, Cava in particular. What Paul expressed to me that caught him by surprise was the, “number of scams online that promise to give away an iPad…”, or any other highly visible electronic item for that matter. Was it a matter of the too good to be true sort of rationale I wondered?

So I thought I might do a quick search for contests that one could enter in order to win an iPad 2.  It seems that there are companies doing this and promoting it on Twitter, Facebook , and Google.  It is with little to no doubt that some of these are scams but what does a company need to do to ensure that their legitimate opportunity to win is not going to appear like a scam to an entrant? Spend more money promoting the contest is what Paul suggested he may have to do but without a budget the size of a much larger company he said that would be hard to justify. A fact that many small business owners can relate to.

I asked Paul a few more questions about how the contest was going and how he had promoted it.  For the later he suggested that he had put together Point of Sale for retail store locations, handed out print materials at trade events, promoted the contest on Facebook, Twitter and even created a website just for the contest http://www.captureyourpasion.com. All things that would help legitimize the contest in my eyes.

So how about the results? Paul said the results were poor at this point but that he had high hopes for the remainder of the contest which ends on August 31, 2011. One positive he mentioned was the fact that by supporting such a contest is was helping the brand gain acceptance at the retail level and thus more points of distribution which might further increase the exposure of the contest.

I asked Paul what his goals were for the contest and how many entrants he would like to have in order to feel like the contest was a success.  A modest 150 entrants is what was stated.  That didn’t seem too far-fetched to me and to prove it I hope to deliver 25 entrants myself to his competition. Not because I want someone to win the iPad 2, even though that is the point of the contest, but because I want Paul to win. Better yet I want Paul to succeed, not just at this contest but at his own pursuit of passion – being a modern-day Spanish wine negotiant who dares enter the wine market and vie for his slice of the pie.

But before I do that I’d posit the following as ways to get your own contest or giveaway’s off the ground and providing for that much-needed exposure that you want from such an endeavor.

1. Use a contest that matters to your core customers, the ones who’ll not only compete in the contest but get their friends voting for them. (If I had given any advice to Paul before his contest I would have suggested that he stick to what his company is about and give away something related to that. Maybe a dinner for two at a participating restaurant along with a bottle of Gran Passion Cava or a mixed case of wine from a participating retailer.

2. Reach out for those who have a vested interest in your company and success and get them involved.  You might be amazed at how far this gets you.

3. Be different and while you’re at it, be original. Giving away an iPad or some other gadget is probably easier than being creative and putting yourself out there a little bit but if in the end that lure isn’t pretty enough to get the fish to bite they won’t and you’ll go hungry.  If you are a winery or even a wine retail store why not sponsor an in-home wine tasting with the owner or wine maker (within reason of course) that is catered by your company?

4. Work with those who work with you. In other words don’t support an outside company like Apple Inc just because you think people might want their products over yours.  Pick a company who you work with, maybe a vendor or a retailer of some product or service that uses your product or service.  If you email Apple and say, “I’m going to give one of your iPad’s away for a contest, would you mind telling people about it at the very least?” I doubt you’ll find much help or exposure going that route.  But if you talk with Wine Cellar My Town USA and say, “We’re running this contest for a giveaway at a local restaurant that also carries our wine and you sell our wine currently, what would you think about including this in an email blast with a special price for this week only?”  I’d bet you’d get more participants and more sales that way than going the Apple route.

 

The Three C’s of Content Strategy for Social Media

The Three C’s of Content Strategy for Social Media

In the last few weeks I have been developing a Social Media Marketing and Management model for a new client.

Before that process began we had several discussions about the types of content they wanted to work with, the types of content that I recommend we should utilize, how to create quality content that would be of value to their customers as well as how to find content which exists in the social ecosphere already and the channels with which that content should be communicated through.

To be sure, this process is one that takes time and getting to know the client deeply so as to be able to help in the conception, creation and curation of their content, a significant part of any plan or model that involves Social Media, as it is the content that gets people talking about their company online with more regularity.

So I thought that it would be valuable to briefly describe what I call The Three C’s of Content Strategy

Conception – Creation – Curation

Conception, or conceiving, of content takes an open mind with a lot of open eyes.  The eyes are used to look our into the world of social media (also known as listening) and see what your target audience is talking about, what seems to matter to them and how that relates to the products or services that you offer.

The open mind comes in the form of being able to think creatively and openly about what types of content does or doesn’t exist and how to relate that back to your branded products or services.  The crowd produces a wealth of information, so don’t feel that you need to create every piece of content that will ultimately end up as part of your plan.

Yet, not all creators in the crowd are made equal and neither are their audiences, so bear in mind that bigger is not always better in the realm of Social Media when it comes to seeking resources of content that already exists. Relevance is the key to finding and employing user generated content.

Creation of content comes only after you have identified what the target is looking for and what forms that you chose to provide such creative content. Even if your idea is wholly original and doesn’t absolutely relate to your branded products or services it may well be a great idea for engaging with people and creating buzz around your brand.  I caution you to be aware though of how you will bridge the gap between that type of content and your ultimate goals, if they differ.

Many times creating content can be simple and straightforward without a lot of bells and whistles.  95% of your content may be about one subject matter that is made up of 95% of user generated content that you simply provide to your audience in a stream.  But the what, when, where and how of that stream is the next C.

Curation is the process by which you make the content you create or the content of others (make sure you have permission for copyrighted works) available to your audience.  This may happen through one or more social media sites and many times it may need to be duplicated for the best results i.e. post a picture on Flickr, TwitPic and Facebook in order to start different conversations with different audiences.

The process of curation is extremely important and needs to be considered with equal weight as to those of the Conception and Creation of your content. This is where a solid plan will help keep you and your company on track.

If you are interested in reading a few more in-depth articles on content strategy I suggest you take the time to visit the following blogs:

Steve Sponder

Social Media Examiner

Top Rank Blog

Petite Sirah – All hail the purple teeth!

photo credit: wine-blog.org

Recently a fellow wine professional and friend of mine, Taylor Eason, accepted a position at Foppiano Vineyards as the new Director of Marketing.  During a phone call to congratulate her as well as to discuss the new role I asked Taylor what types of wine Foppiano was known for. She replied, “Petite Sirah, first and foremost”.

I thought to myself for moment that maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t the ardent fan of Petite Sirah that I thought I was.  Because, frankly, I never knew Foppiano produced a Petite Sirah much less as their main focal point varietal.

After that conversation came to an end I had another thought, “I wonder how many wonderful Petite Sirah’s are out there that I am missing out on? Better yet, I wonder how many I can find through Google?”

So began a quick search for other lovely purple teeth producing darlings that sometimes go by the name Durif.  After switching my search to ‘images’ I came across a whole host of other wineries and their labels who grow and vinify this gorgeous grape that I had never heard of! This lead me to think that I was surely not the only Petite Sirah lover out there who had not tasted, much less heard of, some of these wines.

It dawned on me that many of them were most likely on Twitter so I started searching there as well.  Wouldn’t you know it, I found a bunch of them on Twitter!

So I figured why not take some time and put together a neat video that actually shows the 90+ labels that I found and includes the Twitter handles for those that I came across.

Viola!

Petite Sirah – All hail the purple teeth!

@JC_Milam #purpleteeth

Wine Label Marketing, Flip Flop Wines

Wine Label Marketing, Flip Flop Wines

I recently joined in on a lively debate on Alder Yarrow’s blog Vinography about the “purpose of tasting notes” that are written by wine critics and wine marketers when describing a wine. These descriptions can go from the most ambiguous to the most audacious and back again, all on the same label or critique sometimes!

My opinion on the matter is really of no importance to this post but the conversation is surely one worth following in the comment section should you care to do so  http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/02/the_purpose_of_tasting_notes.html

What is of importance is that a particular set of ideas are presented throughout the dialogue that I do agree with:

1. Wine labels and critical statements should reflect a sense of understanding on the part of the writer and provide contextual reference for the viewer.

2. When information about food and wine pairing is provided on either the label or the critics statement it does seem to foster a better understanding on the part of the reader so that they may compare that to other wines they’ve had and even use the advice given to prepare such pairings. One caveat to this is that the food suggested isn’t just some vague reference to generic pairings.

In believing these scenarios to be true, as a wine consumer I must say, I was struck at how adept and helpful the labels were on a set of wines I received this past week. The wines were from a new brand in the market place called Flip Flop.

I’ll withstand from making any in-depth branding comments for now but as you can see the labels are sort of fun and light-hearted as well as somewhat similar in appeal to other brands in the market. They immediately speak of an easy-going lifestyle.

But for this blog it’s the back labels that got my proverbial juices flowing!

First off the color contrast is super easy on the eyes and the imagery used to suggest the context of the words is about as good as any I’ve seen on a wine label. The descriptors used convey a sense of understanding on the part of the writer and convey contextual reference for the viewer. The creator of these labels hit the nail on the head with regard to point #1 above.

As for point #2 above I’d like to give some serious kudos to the company in general for tackling the pairing of food and their wines with such recommendations as, “…bacon wrapped shrimp or chocolate cookies” for the Pinot Noir and, “…tofu stir-fry, shredded pork tacos…” for the Riesling.

Thank you Flip Flop for making my mouth water and for helping me round out my dinner options for this week! This is exactly the type of thing that drives a consumer to buy a wine and pick out some food to go with it.

Not the case with labels that say something to the effect of, “serve this wine with light dishes, mild cheeses or pasta”. Seriously, how often have you seen this on a wine label and thought to yourself, “Really? Just plain pasta without anything on it?!”

I also really like how the Flip Flop wine labels have a dry-to-sweet scale on each label. Not that I think every wine label needs one of these, or even should have a similar scale on them, but if your wine is destined for any store with a front door and a cash register this type of scale can’t hurt. A small store with a knowledgeable staff will benefit from this scale as will the grocery store shopper who happens to pick up the bottle and turn it around to read the back label.

In a final effort to connect the dots for the consumer the Flip Flop motto, “to each, their own” screams of a wine marketer who has his or her ear to the ground. Just click on this link for the Top 100 wine blogs as posted by @Alawine and you’ll be sure to read a host of great wine minds eschewing this very thought process.

In essence they, and myself, are saying to wine consumers: wine drinking is about drinking what you like, eating what you like with it and doing it in a way that is wholly your own.

Thanks again Flip Flop for listening to the masses and if I may say so, producing some pretty tasty juice to compliment your helpful wine labels.

Social Media Goal Setting

Setting goals is something we all must do from time to time whether in our personal lives or businesses.

Social media goal setting is something you must do too. But knowing where to start, how to decide what you need to do and when to do it can be pretty intimidating when looking at a graphic like this one which shows a snippet of the social media sites that exist:

With so many social media channels how is one supposed to know where to start?

First let’s go back to the title of the blog and read it backwards: setting goals for social media. Come to think of it I probably should change the blog title to that but for example purposes (and probably to the detriment of search ranking) I will leave it as is.

First you must set goals – then you must choose which medium to use to go after those goals. What kind of goals can be achieved with Social Media? I would like to say right here, right now – any goal that you feel is important to your business can be achieved through Social Media not matter what kind of business you are in.

There, I said it. I promise that I would not say those words if I didn’t believe them 100%.

So what are some goals that your business might want to achieve? Considering that I write this blog primarily for the wine industry I will use examples that are relevant to that crowd but these could surely be attributed to other industries.

Goal: Increase sales in the direct-to-consumer portion of your winery – it can and has been done via facebook, twitter, snooth, and many others.

Goal: Find a quality grower to purchase grapes from for a new wine brand concept you have. Here’s an example of how to do this. Find companies on winebusiness.com that have something for offer, search them out on social media sites, start a conversation, and see what they are offering. I just saw a bulk wine sale offer on Facebook recently for port wine from a really good producer. It’s being done.

Goal: Add value to the relationship you have with existing wine stores around the country. Find them, add them, comment of their pages, make sure they know where they can find valuable information about your wines and be sure to be a resource for their customers.

Goal: Find new, high quality talent for your budding social media department (or even just a single someone). Connect with users on social media sites and pay attention to their interest level in your area of expertise or business plans. Seek out their profile on LinkedIn and beyond. Think about what you have to offer and how it can be not only attractive to them but fit into their own aspirations (by listening closely you should be able to identify what those are to a certain degree). When it feels right to you, strike up a conversation about their goals and desires in the industry and should those match yours then maybe you should extend an offer.

Goal: Find more customers for your retail wine shop. Make sure you are using geo-tagging sites like FourSquare and set up offers for the first 100 people to check-in at your wine store via that site. Promote the opportunity through your other social media sites, email, blog, etc.

So in just a few words I’ve covered how to increase sales, find a reputable vendor of products or services, access quality people for your organization, increase your foot traffic and add new customers, and strengthen your relationship with existing customers.

These are goals. Goals that can be tracked against a return-on-investment chart. Goals that are relevant to your businesses success in general, not just with social media.

The difference being that each can be done via social media. You can bet your bottom dollar that one of your competitors is doing so.

Want more ideas on how to specifically set and go after your goals as well as how to track the ROI? Email me and we can discuss your needs one-on-one. Or better yet, find me on a social media site!

http://www.twitter.com/JC_Milam

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=642062597 or search “J.c. Milam”

http://www.quora.com/J-C-Milam

Search LinkedIn for “J.C. Milam”