From self taught makeup artist to comedians the popular video website has become a 15 minutes to fame express lane. You’re probably reading this wondering what in the heck this has to do with you and growing your business. Many companies have also been using video as another component to their marketing efforts. Video can help your company feel more relatable. By putting face to your organization people feel like you are down to earth and trustworthy. A short video on your website (when appropriate) can also add a dynamic element to help it stand out from the rest. If you are in a more creative field a more whimsical and kitschy approach can be taken. Go out and find yourself a camera, get strategically creative, and who knows your video could go viral and your company could be the next internet sensation.

Traditional networking sites are a great venue for social media marketing but there are also other sites that are a bit more dynamic and can enhance your organization’s social media strategy. For example using Youtube can really enhance your social media plan. Youtube allows you to upload short videos and share them with your network and the web. Making a little video update and incorporating it into your company’s e-newsletter will make it stand out from the text-only newsletters in everyone’s inbox. Another social media tool that businesses often overlook is Flickr. Flickr is a photo hosting and social networking website. This approach seems the trickiest for businesses but it is very simple. Think of your organization’s products and/or services. Than go out take and upload pictures that showcase or directly apply to those products and/or services. The trick here is to take advantage of the tag options. Tagging your pictures with relevant keywords will make them pop up in search engines. Be sure to make your Flickr name your company’s URL so when these pictures do come up in web searches people’s curiosity will lead them to your website.

The beauty of these alternative social media options is both of them are easily integrated into your current social networking sites or official website. These creative approaches to social media will set you apart from other organizations and give your target audience yet another opportunity to get to know you.

Immediately my first thought was “it is too cold to have these poor employees out here on the street.” My next thought was “this is a terrible marketing campaign.” I could easily think of a few reasons why it was not an effective plan.

1.There is no way to track the campaign’s success
The employees who are out in the street do nothing but simply dance around and hold up the mentioned sign. Lawrence & Western is a busy intersection so when a car honks there is no real way of telling if it was because of traffic or whether they truly love Liberty Tax Services.

2. There is no strong call to action
Liberty Tax Services committed a common mistake which is to roll out what they think is a great campaign with no call to action. Let’s say someone in their car was driving by and loved the idea of the dancing Statue of Liberty. They honk their horn and drive off smiling. What if that person went home and wanted to know more about the company behind this campaign? How would they find you with no URL or phone number on your sign?

3. A single layer campaign
The Statue of Liberties focus all their energy on shaking their signs and trying to get the attention of people in their cars. Several mornings I have found myself standing shoulder to shoulder with one of these employees waiting for the traffic light to change. There currently is no interaction with pedestrians. Having a handout for foot traffic would cover all bases and get them better results.

Had the good people of Liberty Tax Services taken the time to map out a strategic AND creative marketing campaign they could have had wonderful results. Granted some could argue their goal was merely to get noticed. To that I say well done and congratulations! You just got featured in my blog!

Take for example Groupon, a social networking site where members living in the same area come together for group purchasing in search of discounts. The way it works is once a day Groupon announces a local deal that members can choose to purchase. If enough members purchase the offer it becomes valid (if not the offer is void and people who have already purchased do not get charged.) People interested in certain offers will reach out to their personal networks and try to get more people to buy in on the deal. Another site Foursquare is also all about your location and great discounts. On Foursquare you “check in” at certain locations in your area such as bars, restaurants, stores, etc and you receive points. Once your points exceed a certain amount you than are granted honors such as becoming “the mayor” of a location. This title comes with perks as mayors often get discounts to their favorite places in the city. Naturally this sparks a sense of competition and pride in members who will continue to support their favorite local businesses in an attempt to hold on to their title (or in some cases attempt to dethrone the current top dog.). Both sites are examples of how all over the internet people are coming together for the sake of a good deal.

You can apply the same motto to your social networking as well. Do you want to increase your twitter following? Run a promotion where if you reach X amount of followers you will issue a discount code. People interested in receiving the deal will surely promote the offer to people in their network helping generate awareness of your organization. The only thing people like more than a discount is a freebie. Host a giveaway on any of your social platforms and just watch how your network increases. Cutting your target audience a deal every now and then is something they will appreciate. In turn they are more likely to stay loyal and even spread the word about you. Happy clients and increased awareness is a deal you should never pass up.

I suspect the recession to be the driving force behind these campaigns.  Think of it like a rocky relationship.  The consumer was being treated badly and in turn started pulling away.  Now the corporations are trying to get back in their good graces. Like the saying goes you don’t know what you got til it’s gone.

Your audience is ultimately who will make or break you.  That is why Blue Daring has always valued the importance of information consumption.  Researching your target consumer and familiarizing yourself with their specific needs is critical.  Taking what you learned and customizing your messaging to align with your client is what will guarantee that they truly understand your vision and make your organization stand out from the everyday mob of solicitations we all encounter.

At the end of the day people want to work with and engage companies that they feel truly understand them and that they can relate too. If your messaging is on target with your audience the competition will fall by the wayside and it will be all about YOU.

Thanksgiving – Take this opportunity in the year to show your gratitude to your loyal customers. Send out thank you cards or thank you gifts to your clients. As I’ve mentioned before it’s a great way to stand out from the slew of cards they will receive in the tail end of the year. In fact here at Blue Daring we are doing just that! If you’re pressed for time you could even make this a social networking campaign by running promotions exclusively for your followers.

December Holidays – Whether Chanukah, Kwanza, or Christman, this is indeed the giving season. Everyone enjoys a holiday greeting. Set your organization apart by opting for a well designed e-newsletter versus standard paper greeting card. This option allows for quicker execution, greater creativity and an opportunity to immediately hear back from your customer.

New Year – Resolutions resolutions resolutions. This upcoming year, while you are promising yourself to workout more, don’t forget to also work on some company resolutions. Make this the year you finally get around to sorting out your company’s strategy or perhaps starting the New Year with a brand refresh.

Let me know your thoughts.

Until then Happy Holidays!

Much like a little piece of dark chocolate, concentrated marketing efforts pack a mighty punch. Whenever you have an exciting new business endeavor many offers and seemingly exciting opportunities will come your way.  It is important to take time and really map out which of these opportunities are the ones worth following.  You will find yourself with many propositions that at first seem good but you will soon find out are not effective and are a waste of time.  Mapping out a marketing campaign and only concentrating on a few smaller  efforts that strategically incorporate your message and effectively deliver it to your target audience will help you not only reduce the risk of wasting your time and money but also help you measure your success and ROI easily. Saving money and insuring success sounds like a sweet deal to me.

This type of event is great for all types of communities and organizations. Putting together an event that you promote through your social networking profiles is a great way to:

• Interact in person with potential business leads or partners.
• Give back to your existing clients with a fun event.
• Create a buzz around your organization and social networking.
• Creatively celebrate an important company milestone.
• Partner up with another organization and co-host an event together.

A tweet- up is the perfect marriage between the new ways of online interaction with the tried and true networking events we are all familiar with. Truth be told, as much as we all love the ease and accessibility of the internet and technology everyone likes a good excuse to get offline.

A few weeks ago I noticed a nail polish company named Zoya announce on Twitter that they wanted to reach 5,000 followers in a little over 2 weeks. Seems ambitious, right? But Zoya upped the ante with an incentive. If they reached their goal and you were one of their first 5,000 followers, Zoya gifted you with three free nail polishes of your choice. Zoya made their goal and 5,000 nail polish fans were more than happy to receive their free gift. Now a few weeks later they are still all the buzz in the beauty world as everyone is now Tweeting about their orders arriving and what colors they received and loved.

Social networking is a bit tricky due to its tendency to be extremely popular one minute than die down the next. It takes some effort to keep things interesting online. A giveaway is a great way to keep your social networking fresh. Promotions like this one are beneficial because they not only encourage new followers but keep the interest of your current ones as well. They are effective because they provide an incentive but also promote word of mouth advertising which everyone knows is tried and true in all fields. This type of promotion also is a great way to interact with your audience and make them feel appreciated. Giving a little to your consumers will end up being a great reward to you as well.

I’ve mentioned before how a company’s identity is much like a person. Imagine then that a company’s brand is the equivalent of a person’s physical appearance.   In either case, time is invested to ensure that the appearance of said person (or company) is reflective of the person within.  Let’s assume for Company X; this means professional, efficient, and intelligent.  Great.  Now let’s say an employee of said company sends a customer a proposal.  They aren’t quite sure how to futz with the formatting on Word and send over a document with a logo thats been distorted just out of proportion. It’s just one document; they can fix it tomorrow, right?   WRONG!   Although the document can be fixed tomorrow, the impression made on the customer cannot.  A strong brand identity means being consistent; no exceptions. 

No matter how small, inconsistencies ruin a brand’s integrity and more importantly a company’s credibility. A company that shows a lack of detail and consistency in its own matters, is evidencing to its customers that it wouldn’t do much better with theirs.  Further, with companies taking advantage of social media and the Internet (two channels that can easily run uncontrolled), setting guidelines to how your brand is represented cross media, is of even greater importance.  Similar to missing one day in the gym; a company that fails to convey its brand consistently risks a wasted investment and even a risk.  To you look good (and be successful); you have to work (consistently!).  Doing so will give your brand power and a positive perception that is sure to differentiate your company from the rest.