by Jordan J. Caron | on August 28th, 2013
I’m going to talk about a way you can super charge your social media marketing efforts. It involves finding influential people online.
I’ll explain an a bit how to do that and give you an example of who social media influencer is.
I’m sure you desire getting your website or business talked about online. Positive word of mouth is the pot of gold at the end or your marketing efforts.
This can be achieved with concentrated effort on finding influencers in your city. You simply need to focus on quality and not the quantity of followers.
Luckily there is another free internet marketing tool which tells you who the online influencers are.
It’s called Klout.
Klout is a website and mobile app that uses social media analytics to rank its users according to online social influence via the “Klout Score”, which is a numerical value between 1 and 100
Find Influential Klout Users
Last post I talked about a great free tool to help you get more Twitter followers for free. This will post will talk about finding quality people to follow. And how to build a relationship with them.
The key is to build.
You can’t expect them to start sharing your business or website right off the bat. There is too much at risk for them. They have a loyal group of followers. Their word is bond.
They have to get to know you. Trust you. Then they will share your business.
So here is how to find online influencers:
- Download the Klout for Google Chrome extension
- In your Twitter account create a list for your influencers
- Head to a Twitter directory like Twello
- Search for people in your city or geographical area
- Click on their Twitter profile link
- Follow and add them to your Twitter list
Because you have added the Klout Chrome extension, you’ll be able to see people’s Klout scores.
If they aren’t signed up for Klout, you won’t see the Klout logo and score beside their handle.
You’re looking for people with scores over 45.
The Klout logo also acts as a link to their Klout profile. When you click through to someone’s profile you’ll be able to see what other social networks they are on.
Ideally, you want to find people who are on Google +, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Foursquare as well.
Here’s what to look for:
- Are they active on Google +? If so they probably write reviews.
- Are they Tweeting a lot on Twitter?
- Do they interact with people on Twitter?
- Do they check in on Foursquare? If so are they Tweeting it out and sharing it on Facebook?
- Are they written tips/reviews on Foursquare? Chances are good they’re writing reviews on Yelp and Google + as well.
- Are they taking a lot of pictures on Instagram?
This person is a prime example of being an online influencer.
People like them are avid social media users. Those are the people who can supercharge your social media marketing.
Once, of course, you build a relationship with them first.
Here’s how to do that:
- Follow them on as many social networks as you can
- Interact with them (without selling yourself)
- Share and retweet any content they put out
After you have built up some online communication, keep doing it.
Then subscribe to my email newsletter because I’m going to be blogging about how you can strategically get these people to talk about your business online. You can subscribe up in the top right hand corner or in the popup box that will appear at the bottom of this post.
Trust me, that post will really super charge your social media marketing like never before.
by Jordan J. Caron | on May 7th, 2013
I like to think the majority of my blog posts are quite in depth.
Today’s post is going to be short and simple.
Last month I purchased a 2012 Nissan Altima and of course I needed new insurance.
Most dealerships have the insurance portion contracted out to a local company. The Nissan dealership and insurance company I dealt with were no different.
Except one major service. Instead of having someone sit around waiting for cars to sale, Maxxam Insurance takes their business mobile. So when a car is sold the salesman will call one of the many Maxxam representatives and they’ll drive to the dealership.
This obviously increases their sales efficiency. But they also increase their client retention and word of mouth. Let me explain how.
Telemarketing Can Work
Fast forward to last week. I get a call from one of the Maxxam reps telling me my insurance is up. This is a nice touch because a few years ago, I actually drove around without insurance for a week!
ICBC sends a reminder notice but why can’t the insurance company I dealt with make a phone call as well? Follow up phone calls can provide a unique personalized touch after the sale. But what about the case of an expiring service?
This is something we agreed would work better when dealing with the customer service over at Victoria Transmission and Auto Care. Before our follow up and reminders were sent out by a company using automate post cards and emails. In the end we felt the phone call had more impact and was far more personal.
The reminder about my expiring insurance is the vital piece of information they need to make the next step. And that’s to retain me as a client.
But it’s the simple way they make that happen which helps increase word of mouth and their sales. Since they have mobile agents all over, they drive anywhere to meet you.
They’ll even make any changes to your insurance before you get there. It’s a painless transaction. So instead of having to drive to an insurance agent and deal with lineups, Maxxam drives to you.
The Meaningful Marketing Way
Why do I know this increases word of mouth? Because I hardly ever talk about businesses but I’m going to blog and post on Facebook about my positive experience with Maxxam. It’s the Meaningful Marketing way.
They’ve out cared their competition by;
- Reminding me my insurance was up
- Working around my schedule and meeting me my place of work
Really simple!
So my question to you is, what can you be doing better from a customer service standpoint that makes people talk about your business in a positive light?
Here’s another brief example from Jam Cafe in Victoria. Often busy, Jam provides coffee to patrons waiting for tables outside. A great touch that many don’t forget and mention when they talk about their experience there.
My mother mentioned this right away when we got there. And in a conversation with a friend a couple weeks ago, she mentioned right away the fact that they served coffee to her and her friend waiting outside.
PS. Do you see how being remarkable is one of 10 ways you can create a backlink to your site? I just gave Maxxam Insurance, Victoria Transmission and Jam Cafe backlinks for simply being awesome and caring.
by Jordan J. Caron | on July 4th, 2012
How to make people feel like this when they see your brand? Read on.
We form opinions of people instantly.
But what about brands?
When you see a brand for the first time, you ask questions.
“Do I like this brand? What do they do? Why should I care about them? Do I trust them?”
The answers to these questions form your opinion.
When people first see your brand/logo/business name, they’re forming an opinion. This is also the case for those who know about your business but haven’t actually done business with you.
What can you do to influence people’s opinion of your brand? Read this post of course!
We Are Customers Too
I was reluctant to write this post today. The reason? Because I wonder if customers actually care about brand images. But I’m a customer. You’re a customer. I care. Do you care?
Many times you can answer your own marketing questions by seeing what influences you. Recall what it is about a certain business that makes you loyal to them.
I was reading John Morgan’s book “Brand Against The Machine” last night.
One quote confirmed I needed to go ahead with this post.
“Every marketing piece someone comes in contact with leaves an impression on your brand. Even those who aren’t purchasing your product are forming an opinion of you.”
That really sums up this post quite nicely.
The natural tendency when marketing, branding or advertising is to slap your logo everywhere. More awareness means more sales right?
Wrong.
Those businesses that create value and an emotional connection through their branding and marketing are going to be the ones who stand out from the competition.
Not those whose logos are everywhere.
My case in point is our friends over at Star Toilet Paper whom I talked about in my last post.
I’ll repeat John’s quote.
“Even those who aren’t purchasing your product are forming an opinion of you.”
When those people are wiping their bottoms, their doing so with with someone’s brand. Obviously they’re forming a pretty crappy opinion of that brand.
I certainly hope those businesses wake up and start to value their own brand more. Would you really want your brand to be aligned with crap?
If you’re reading this post and my site, I doubt it. This is all about Meaningful Marketing after all.
But hey, some businesses are taking advantage of the low cost to advertise on toilet paper. They’re thinking short term not long term however. Customer loyalty is built on value and service. They may get a few people in the door redeeming (can you imagine yourself saving toilet paper to redeem at a store?) toilet paper coupons but are coupon redeemers what you’re after?
Coupon clippers do not turn into loyal customers.
Ok I’ve made my point loud and clear about advertising on toilet paper. I give props to the Brian and Jordan who started the business.
But we can do better.
Consistent Brand Image
When influencing people to come and do business with you, not only is it what your brand is displayed on but how it looks.
Here’s another story that ties into my last post and brand image.
There is a luxury condo development in my city. They’re currently advertising on all of the squash courts at one of the clubs in town. This club hosted a tournament a few months back.
Talking with a few players at this tournament revealed that the many thought the courts were not nice to play in. It was true. The walls were dirty, the floors were dark and the paint was chipping off the walls and the area where this brand’s logo was displayed.
On a couple of courts you couldn’t even make out the name of the brand. Their logo had been hammered with squash balls that most of the paint was gone from the logo.
They’ve slapped their brand all over a product (poorly marinated squash courts) that doesn’t align at all with luxury.
This really makes no sense to me. The brand image is off. Nothing about the courts is luxurious at all. Most importantly, there’s no connection to the squash players playing on those courts.
Create Value or an Emotional Connection
So what does it take to succeed in your future branding, marketing and advertising efforts?
- Create value – Here’s an example of how to increase value in advertising. Here are seven great examples from companies increasing value through their marketing.
- Create an emotional connection – Here’s a way the luxury condo company above could create an emotional connection with the squash player. John Morgan had another great quote in his book. “People are emotionally tied to brands and not products.”
Just because someone see’s your logo doesn’t mean they’ll automatically remember your service and call you up when they need it.
In branding, marketing and advertising you don’t have long to capture one’s attention. Do your best to make a great first impression!
What do you think?
Do you form opinions of brands like you do of people?
