Click into social media

PromoWriting _________________________
SHIRA LINDEN • 203 371-0654 • www.promowriting.com

The power of social media

Facebook is up to 250 million members; Twitter has about 40 million users. LinkedIn has more than 365,000 company profiles; more than 12 million small-business professionals are members.

Here are some numbers that will knock your socks off: Twitter users spend 66% more dollars on the Internet than non-Twitter users, according the market research of ComScore.

At a panel discussion at this month’s HVDMA, a trio of marketers emphasized the importance of developing valuable content that can be deployed across multiple media channels, building an online community, and listening rather than trying to sell.

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For a complimentary 20 minute consultation on how sparkling writing or custom editorial content can motivate and persuade your target audience contact Shira at 203 371-0654, via email at shira@promowriting.com, her blog Turbocharged Sell Copy http://promowriting.blogspot.com, or her website www.promowriting.com or http://www.linkedin.com/in/shiralinden

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Darryl Ohrt, founder of the marketing agency Plaid, renowned for Plaid Nation (a rolling demonstration of Social Media) as well as his blog Brand Flakes For Breakfast and his columns for Advertising Age's Small Agency Diary told the story of how he drove across the country in a plaid van to promote his agency. When he wandered across the border into Canada, he incurred a phone bill that ran into the thousands – just for using a lap top for a single day.

When Darryl turned to social media to express his outrage, Sprint was listening. Sprint ended up adjusting the bill…and went on to become a Plaid Nation sponsor.

Valorie Luther, founder of Creative Concepts Consultants, reported online sales for Bigelow Tea were up 28 % thanks, in large part, to their blog Tea Talk. Luther incents prospects to go from Facebook to YouTube and Tea Talk to get the full Bigelow Tea experience.

Ken Crites, Director of Consumer Direct, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, discussed how their multi-channel marketing efforts have increased direct sales by an amazing annual rate of 60%. In recent years, sales have skyrocketed from 6 million to 100 million, thanks to a good business model which leans heavily on social media, as well as sweepstakes, paid search and house party promotions.

Green Mountain monitors tweets and replies with suggestions such as how to descale brewers. He reports consumers are amazed when their questions are actually answered by Green Mountain.

Crites is building a network of friends to incentivize consumers to purchase their trademark one-cup-at-a-time coffee brewing machines and poll their constituents on what the newest flavor choice should be.

Are you savvy about social media?

“Live” from Hudson Valley DMA Rountable

Amy Heir, Marketing Manager, Spiegel Brands, clued us into the inside story on how social media is being used for business.

Amy cited these statistics:
√ 52 million NEW participants jumped into social media in Q01 2009 alone with women 55+ the fastest growing segment
√ Over 57% of online users join a social network
√ Facebook has 200+ million members. MySpace has 72 million users
√ Twitter and Facebook experienced explosive growth in the last 6 months
√ Collective time spent on social networking nearly doubled in the last 6 months

► Social media is impacting brand reputation. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands on their blogs. 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

► Before you get started, find out what networks your customers are participating in, and determine what they’re looking for.

► Define you goals. Options include market research, product and brand awareness, product announcements, traffic generation, consumer engagement and buzz

► Twitter and Facebook are used to engage your customers. Companies like Victoria’s Secret PINK, Gap and Starbucks are using Twitter to converse with customers about their brands…discuss trends…and make special offers to that drive traffic to web or retail. One participant successfully uses Twitter to inform mailers of deals on lists

► Facebook and MySpace can be used to engage users while providing product information or offer status updates that feed into user’s news feeds daily, to attract new users and get consumer feedback and suggestions

► Twitter gives you a “birds eye view” of what customers think of your brand and engage in a dialogue with your customers – a direction connection - about what they want, all in 140 characters per tweet.

► Brands tweet to get feedback, clarify misconceptions, gain insight into customers, educate and some offer twitter-only promotions

► Be prepared to stay on top of your social networking efforts. There could be a flood of responses daily or even hourly

► Podcasts, videos, photos, send to a friend viral efforts can all be incorporated

► Self-serving puffery and marketing-speak is taboo

► Recommended books: Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff and Social Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans

► Recommended blogs: http://mashable.com; http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/Default.aspx; http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/