The Banana Peels on the Soapbox

Social Media advertising provides a unique opportunity for businesses to really “reach out and connect” with their clients. Think about this : A little more than a dozen years ago, a business would require a toll-free number with an army of “customer service-reps” to deal with an offer or promotion - heavily amplified through traditional print, radio, or television. Remember the old TV pitch - “Call now, our operators are standing by!” Laughably, some businesses still use this tired old come-on, but it is generally associated with a product intended for the geriatric demographic.





The wheel has been reinvented however, and the “contact us immediately” pitch means just that. Social platforms will generate responses before the questions are even formulated! The “Soapbox” no longer requires a megaphone and it is covered with banana peels. The best intended offer can be twisted or perverted into a YouTube gag faster than you can say, “Try our new product.”!





So how does a businesses negotiate this new platform; this new “soapbox”? To begin with, climb off it!        Nobody will listen to you shouting about how much better you are than "Product B". The only way to catch anyone's attention with that route is to build a comedy routine out of it and it's going to cost you a bundle producing the ad.






The “soap box” of the Social Media platform is your very own home. Invite your potential clients into the kitchen for a coffee, or sit them comfortably in your den and talk to them as you would speak with a new neighbour invited into your house and you will have a chance at telling them a bit about your product or service. But be very prepared to listen to their story first. In the age of Social Media, the subject is no longer your product, it is your client. Once you have heard all the "me” your clients can give you, you may just be prepared to tell them about what you have to offer them. This isn't market research. It is the reality of Social Media Advertising. No one gives a tinker's damn about your product. They only want to tell you about themselves.


Get on the soapbox and buy a good insurance policy. It is littered with the cast off banana peels of those who have lost at the approach of “telling the world about their truth”. It's now about listening and the question should always begin with “Tell us about yourselves and what do you think our product can do for you?”


Our firm has become quite adept at using the various Social Media Marketing platforms available in the online world, and we have helped more than a few businesses step delicately off the soapbox and into people's lives with a good degree of success. Contact us for a confidential consultation and be careful not to slip and break your neck on the banana peels on your way to getting in touch with us.
www,RoamBusiness.com

Did We Get Your Attention?

In the flood of images and news feeds that make up streaming social media offerings, advertisers and story tellers (much the same thing) have to really be imaginative to snag the attention of consumers. So what's the recipe for online ad success?


The newest buzzword “content”, is really just a self-serving argument for copywriters. The “infinite monkey theorem”, whereby a universe of monkeys with typewriters, given enough time, would eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare has virtually been proven true with 100,000 tweets and six new Wikipedia articles being produced each internet minute of every day.

So how do you get people's attention in the Vine world of 6 seconds or less? It's simple really, then again, it's not easy. People want a good story, one that touches them on an emotional level. They want images (pretty pictures) and they will give you about 2 seconds of time to catch their attention. If you are reading this, chances are good it's because of the two sleepy tigers pictured with this blog spot.


The big agencies are very good at using this recipe for online advertising. Take a look at the number one trending Superbowl ad this year, “Puppy Love”. Opening frame: a sign reading “Puppy Adoption”. Pretty pictures (puppies and horses) + a touching reunion (emotional story, told in 30 seconds) = hundreds of thousands of shares, re-tweets and over 36 million YouTube views. Some would argue that the ad has nothing to do with beer, but wait - what kind of horses are these? . . .Clydesdales. Unmistakably the Budweiser brand. And just in case you missed the closing frame while reaching for the tissues, it's the Budweiser logo with the hashtag “BestBuds”.


Smaller businesses cannot afford the million dollar production costs for an ad like Budweiser's Superbowl spot. The recipe, however, is free. The preparation would be better served up by an agency specializing in online advertising, but any business can give it a try. Tell your story, do it with a laugh, a cry, or something that makes people ask a question. Use vivid imagery and grab their attention in 2 seconds or less making sure they identify with your brand in under 10 seconds.


After your office intern has had a chance to prove their “expertise” at using Social Media and you've burned the toast a few times, contact us at  www.roambusiness.com 

Yes, They Really Like You!

    When actress Sally Field accepted her Academy Award for best actress in the 1984 film “Places in the Heart” she gushed out the phrase “. . . I can't deny the fact that you Iike me, right now, you like me!"  Many people didn't catch the humorous reference to dialogue from her role in Norma Rae and were left with the impression that she was indeed incredulous over the acknowledgement by her peers.

      A feeling of inadequacy is actually very real to some business owners. It is because of that fear that many small and medium sized business owners don't put their product or service on social media in order to avoid negative feedback. It's not that they don't have anything competitive to offer, they're simply afraid of the haters and won't put themselves in a position where they are exposed to being shot down by small people who can't see beyond their own world.Their business doesn't have the time or the inclination to deal with those people.

     There will always be hateful people, but the advantages of the insights that can be gained from social contact with a business's clients far outweigh the fear of not being “liked”. When a business is able to respond to a client's query or complaint as well as conduct an ongoing evaluation of its own operations based on instantaneous customer feedback, they gain an advantage that wasn't even available less than 20 years ago.

     Building relationships can often be complicated, but if a business takes the first steps towards letting their clients know that they are being listened to and that their opinions are respected, they are well on their way to getting the kind of “word of mouth” endorsements that only friends give friends. That is perhaps the biggest advantage that social media exposure can bring to a business.

     By knowing how to share on social media and offering some useful information and a laugh from time to time, a business will soon discover that their clients do “like them, really like them!” That's a win-win situation.

Roam Business can't promise you an Oscar, but we do have the knowledge and experience to help your business become a Social Media Star.

             Contact us for a confidential consultation. www.roambusiness.com

Happy New Year and Bon Voyage!

    A New Year, like many departing voyages, usually begins with high hopes and great expectations. Once the ship sets sail, however, the difference between “smooth-sailing” and “weathering the storm” is sometimes quickly evident.
Nowhere is this more true than in the planning and implementation of a marketing strategy, and even more-so in the media called “social”. The “catch of the day” can quickly turn into shark bait, in the rapidly flowing currents of information streaming through Social Media.


      The most adept sailors in the waters of Social Media often find themselves caught up in the winds of change which occur at the speed of thought and breaking news - finding themselves quickly having to learn a new swim-stroke or a better way to paddle the canoe.


     Even the most skilled and monied ad agencies and private businesses are not guaranteed calm seas. There are many examples of a well planned campaign being sunk by a blundering company spokesperson diving into the depths without knowing where the rocks are.


     In order to chart a safe and profitable voyage across the sea of Social Media, a business needs an experienced crew - ready to handle even the most ferocious storms which may suddenly whip up; familiar with the best ports of call. Putting the Office Intern at the helm is a recipe for disaster, but as was the case with the Titanic, the highest priced ticket isn't always a guarantee of a safe crossing either.


     When setting your course for marketing your product or service via Social Media in 2014, be certain that you take the time to chart out the waters before setting sail and be sure the price for your ticket is in line with the quality of the ship's crew. It is far easier to begin your voyage with a qualified crew than to find out halfway across the ocean that nobody knows how to swim. It's okay to think big, but make your objectives realistic and keep your plan simple and flexible. In keeping with the maritime theme of this blog spot : remember that Social Media marketing is not a speedboat race, it's an ocean voyage! With that in mind you will be able to let the currents carry you safely to an enjoyable and profitable cruise to your destination with a minimum of hard rowing, or worse - having to abandon ship!



      Contact us for a confidential consultation, no lifeboats required! : www.roambusiness.com

Your Customers Are Talking About You - Are You Part of the Conversation?

There is no question that Social Media has redefined the scope of customer service. Businesses using social media to its full extent are not only seeing the benefits in revenue from their efforts, they are also “being seen” to provide the kind of customer care people change brands for.


Take, for example, the recent campaign by WestJet Airlines they call “WestJet Christmas”. By carefully planning and executing a surprise “Oprah” style giveaway to two entire flights of passengers, with the help of no less than Santa himself dressed in WestJet Blue, they launched a YouTube video coupled with Twitter and Facebook feeds. Within 24 hours the video had over one million views and was being shared on every social platform. The gesture and timing were perfect and the video was reaching audiences well beyond Canada where WestJet is headquartered. The airline was “being seen” as Santa, making people's wishes come true! Who knows more about customer care than Santa?


“Caring” is a huge part of the WestJet brand and their use of social media to get the message across is inspired. While expensive giveaways may be beyond the budgets of most small and medium sized businesses, the use of social media to get across the idea that a company cares about its clients is not necessarily an expensive proposition. In the interactive realm of social media, caring about clients is largely listening to and addressing what they care about. How do your clients feel about your business and how do you respond to their feedback? If you aren't using social media to address these questions, you're missing out on a great opportunity.

Contact us for a confidential consultation. We can help you let your clients know you care! www.roambusiness.com  


RN

Your Ads on Social Media : “Trick or Treat”?

Offering treats to ward off evil spirits is an ancient pagan custom which we celebrate today as Halloween. Offering up your product or service on Social Media can be seen as being somewhat analogous.


When potential clients show up at your Social Media platform's door, are you offering them a trick or a treat? If you think that you can fool people by only spouting off about all the wonderful things your company has to offer without expecting any feedback - the trick may well be on you! Just like the graffiti “artists” who go around tagging everything they can find, you may be the target of some unwanted posts. Some large corporations have fallen victim to this, so it's not just a question of advertisers being naive enough to have a Pollyanna attitude. If people wanted to see a billboard, they wouldn't go online – they would go outside. Put up a billboard on a Social Media channel and you can expect the goblins to come out and haunt you. Ask a question begging a positive answer and the Frankenspammers will come out of the dungeon.

Targeted, well thought-out Advertising with a reward for loyal followers, even if the reward is simply important or useful information, is the “treat” for online consumers. Professionals in the field of interactive advertising are better equipped to handle your account than your cousin who calls himself a webmaster on weekends. But perhaps you feel you can safely remove your own appendix. We'll save that sort of gore for next year's Halloween blog! Meanwhile, Happy Halloween from Roam Business, give yourself a treat - click on this link and visit us on Facebook.

The Mobile Holiday Shopper – (This isn't about buying a smartphone!)

For many businesses the Holiday Season represents the biggest sales spike in the entire year. Some even separate the period from the rest of their fiscal year for purposes of analyzing financial data because it has such a huge effect that it skews monthly averages when factored into annual sales. But this isn't about accounting, it's about how consumers are using mobile devices to shop.


The reality of today's marketplace is that a growing number of consumers use mobile applications to find stores, compare prices on site, or simply purchase online without even seeing the product other than in a virtual image in cyber-space.
Gone are the days when a festive window display and a few ads in the local paper would draw consumers into a store for some Santa action. Today, Santa has a smartphone and he/she isn't just being guided by Rudolph's shiny nose!

The growth in mobile data usage is not a flash-in-the-pan. According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index, the number of mobile users and data transferred over the next few years will grow exponentially. To the business owner relying on retail sales, this reality means a whole new way of dealing with advertising and even in how the consumer is accommodated in-store. Customer service has been redefined with the demand for, and capability of, instantaneous response. Businesses that are prepared and properly using the power of online advertising and quick consumer response tools will not only see the immediate benefits, they will also generate the kind of buzz that can't be purchased in ad space.


If you are a small business, or speciality store owner and don't believe that this change will impact your bottom line – think again. An online presence, easily discovered by mobile applications will not only allow you to compete with the big stores, it will give your regular clients the signal that you are present and ready to serve them on any platform. Not to belabour an already over-worked truism, but when it comes to mobile visibility, you really “can't afford not to have it”.
Before Santa comes calling again this year, there's still time to fine-tune or even launch an online campaign. Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation – www.roambusiness.com

RKN