Social Media And You: Marketing Towards A Successful Start-Up

View more presentations from hsheppard5.

TailChaser Photography Grows Through Online Community

Kelli Ruggere has been a professional commercial photographer since 1992. Kelli has a focus on interior design, jewelry, and apparel. With inevitable talent and hard work, Kelli has found her niche in the world of photography.

TailChaserPhotography.com

With a love for dogs and passion for photography, Kelli found herself working for the dog specialty catalog, In the Company of Dogs. For many years, she has devoted her time and talent to dog photography. Recently, and "just for fun" she started an independent business TailChaser Photography. Kelli has a website running and the talent to back it up. The only thing missing for her ultimate success is an online presence that would gladly welcome her profession.

The Plan

With Kelli's talent and my social-media luster, TailChaser Photography will grow faster than a puppy eating people food. With marketing tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger, mixed with old-fashion PR practices, we can hopefully achieve her professional goals!

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is a powerful tool when it comes to start-up success.  People have to trust in your business before they jump on the fan wagon. When you ask a friend where they got their photos taken and they say "TailChaser Photography", you want a positive attitude to go along with! The spread of positive feedback can do a world of wonder in maintaining happy customers and growing a loyal fan base.

TailChaserPhotography.com

The Audience 

Kelli lives in Massachusetts and would like to keep her work inside the Boston area. Her target audience is any individual or family who has a dog! Many people share a passion for photography and a love for animals. Kelli's work can start a buzz and excitement using social-media to create a shared online community.

Ultimate Goal

Kelli's ultimate goal would be to share her passion with other dog lovers in Massachusetts! She has the talent and the drive to be successful. Her website TailChaserPhotography.com is up and running! A TailChaser Photography Page has been created on Facebook and you can follow TailChaser Photography on Twitter @TailChaserKR.

TailChaserPhotography.com

A blog is the next step and looking into other social-media sites where Kelli can engage with others who share her passion, learn tips, and trade secrets. I hope to see more progress in the near future as we continue to energize dog lovers everywhere and build relationships through an online community.

Check out Kelli's work at kelliphotography.com and tailchaserphotography.com today!

Social-Media Monitoring of The Coca-Cola Company

Coke Vs. Pepsi (U.S)

In June 2010, Coca-Cola was recognized as one of the "Best Companies for Diversity" and was given an award. There was also talk of the new bottle design said to be released in 2013. This may explain the peak of interest.


In February 2011, Pepsi introduced the new "skinny" can just in time for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. (oops)

Social Mention - Start of March 2011

Coca-Cola

18%

strength

6:1

sentiment

26%

passion

34%

reach

Pepsi

28%

strength

3:1

sentiment

14%

passion

45%

reach

Social Mention - End of March 2011

Coca-Cola

25%

strength

6:1

sentiment

19%

passion

37%

reach

Pepsi

21%

strength

5:1

sentiment

20%

passion

40%

reach

Looking at strength, sentiment, passion, and, reach of both Pepsi and Coke you can see that their scores are similar. In just a month Coke's percentage of strength increased while the passion decreased, while sentiment and reach have stayed the same. Pepsi's percentage of positive sentiment increased as well as passion. Strength and reach have slightly decreased.

From analyzing Facebook, Twitter, Social Mention, Addic-to-matic, and IceRocket of both companies there have been several trends (negative and positive) that could explain the numbers above. 

Trending Topics - Problems and Solutions

Health and Nutrition

Problem: Soda may cause - Weight gain, dehydration, tooth decay, high-blood pressure, and insomnia. (No, Thanks!)

Coke's Solution: Think, Drink, Move - Coca-Cola offers nutrition labels on all of their beverages, from soda to flavored water. Coca-Cola offers many choices (3,500) with variety and portion sizes. The main website is packed with healthy life-style choices and tips for healthy living and exercise habits. 

Sustainability

Problem: In general Coca-Cola uses significant amounts of water, energy, petroleum-based plastics, and other resources in every day production. 

Coke's Solution: "Live-Positivly" strategy, which includes going "water neutral" returning as much water to the world as it uses, reducing its absolute carbon footprint by 5% in developed countries by 2015 and eventually recovering all its packaging for reuse rather than occupying landfills.

Future Goals and Recommendations 

1. Continue to "Listen", "Energize", and "Embrace" the groundswell. (Coca-Cola must have a copy of Li and Bernoff's book.)
2. Stay delicious.  At the end of the day... it's a beverage and people have a preference. 

As Pepsi has fallen to #3 of choice among favorites (coke and diet coke as #1 and #2) I believe it is safe to say The Coca-Cola Company is doing something right.


 ~ Heidi

Before You Begin - Start From Within

Coming to an end of the insightful book Groundswell by Li and Bernoff, Chapter 11 discusses the importance of starting a groundswell from within your own company. For example, Li and Bernoff mention Best Buy and their "Blue Shirt Nation" community.

Best Buy has twelve hundred stores and the employees with the Blue Shirts are sales associates. Ashley Hemsath, a Blue Shirt at Best Buy along with many others is part of blueshirtnation.com which is an internal community site for Best Buy's employees. Ashley, one of the sites leading contributors wrote,

"I work retail. I inspire creativity and fun with my employees. I grand open stores, as many as possible, really. And I have never before loved a job and company the way I love this one. My name is Ashley Hemsath, and I am Best Buy."

(Blue Shirt Nation - by: laughingsquid.com)

Ashley has passion for her company and is able to share her thoughts (negative or positive) about the company on this website. Li and Bernoff would refer to this as energizing your employees and allowing them to participate in the groundswell. 

"Blue Shirt Nation" was started by two guys from the marketing department, Steve Bendt and Gary Koelling, who wanted to gather consumer insight. Steve and Gary believe, "Best Buy's Blue Shirts are on the front lines and have, collectively, a lot of insight into what's really working at the stores." For this reason Steve and Gary decided to give them a voice through this online community. 

Li and Bernoff believe internal sites such as Blue Shirt Nation can build relationships with employees and managers and vice-versa, leading to a more open-minded and goal oriented work place. Back in Chapter 4, Li and Bernoff explain the importance of listening, talking, energizing, and embracing your customers, the same goes for employees.

Starting a strong groundswell from within can expand relationships with employees from top to bottom and can have a huge impact on your company. Start from within and expand with the knowledge Li and Bernoff have provided. With the information from Groundswell and the desire for success... you are well on your way of grasping you or your companies full potential. 

What are you waiting for?

~ Heidi

Embrace the Groundswell - Go Further

My mother always tells me, "every pot has a cover." In other words, there is a person out there for everyone. As always, I laugh at her expressions and change the subject. While reading Chapter 9 of Groundswell, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, my mind comes back to this saying. If there is a person out there for everyone, is there a product out there for everyone?

I am no Dr. Phil, however, I am convinced that understanding the rules of the groundswell is similar to understanding the rules of any romantic relationship. Let's be honest, a relationship is not going to last if you do not listen, talk with, energize, and embrace the person you are with. I don't know about you, but if my partner can't bring those four things to the table, I am moving on. In the world of consumerism, we do the same.

Like most relationships, some days are not filled with rainbows and butterflies, and we hit a rough patch. When this happens, we have two options: Embrace the problem and look towards a solution, or start over. good communication is the key to survival and in the marketing world, the key to success. 

Li and Bernoff explain through case studies how embracing your customers ideas will be beneficial to your company. 

Gala Amoroso, consumer insights manager for Del Monte Foods, spent her whole career understanding the psychology behind why consumers buy certain products. In this scenario, Gala is interested in George who is a loving dog owner and only wants the best for his loyal sidekick. Gala understands that George thinks of his dog as a member of the family and wants only top of the line products. With help from a brand monitoring vendor Umbria, Del Monte had identified an audience of pet owners called "Dogs are people, too."

After understanding what George and so many others were looking for in a product, Del Monte and community vendor, MarketTools, started up a private community. 

Gala, and employees from Del Monte, were trying to figure out what products to make and how to package them. For answers, they turned to George and many customers like him to gather (detailed) feedback.

Gala asked:

(photo by: thegloss.com)

"What if your dog was a person? Ok, I know your dog IS a person. Imagine that your dog could write out his or her fantasy of what to eat for one day. What would it look like? Click the comment link below to write out what your dog would want to eat for your doggie's ideal perfect day."

George responded:

"For breakfast she would definitely want bacon and eggs and she would want ketchup on her eggs. She loves ketchup!"

As time went on, so did the comments. Del Monte gathered the customer feedback and out came Snausages Breakfast Bites, a breakfast snack for dogs. The people and the pooches were extremely happy with the product and became loyal customers.

Now, Gala and Del Monte were not the first to think of this innovative idea to embrace the groundswell for new product ideas. I believe Li and Bernoff chose this example because they did it right. Del Monte listened, talked with, energized, and embraced their customers and in return got new ideas, and a successful product. Both sides were happy with the result and the relationship between them continues.

Below is a YouTube clip of Groundswell author Josh Bernoff discussing the Del Monte case study.

Li and Bernoff believe, "Customers don't take long to tell you what they want. They use your product and interact with your company; they know what's wrong and how things can be fixed." The authors of the bestselling book understand that you might have creative employees that can come up with brilliant ideas, but the groundswell will tell you what they want and allow innovation to be faster. In the marketing world today, time is crucial.

Remember, like any relationship (romantic or not), communication is of most importance and in the world of marketing, it is everything. The choice is up to you. Will you hide from the groundswell or will you embrace it?

Get a copy of Li and Bernoff's Groundswell today to see more case studies and understand the best ways to embrace your audience. Get out there and ask questions, accept the answers, and find somebody's missing cover.

~ Heidi

Grammy's Vs. Groundswell (Round 53)

(Photo by: ICEDOTCOM)

This weekend millions of people (including myself) tuned into the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. The night was full of fun and surprises. Lady Gaga rocked the hard-boiled egg, Christina Aguilera remembered the lyrics, and Justin Bieber (with flawless hair) went home empty-handed.



Who is Esperanza Spalding? I kept seeing on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. Esperanza Spalding is a Jazz artist who won a grammy for Best New Artist on Sunday night. Teenage music fans, as well as some adults, seemed shocked and confused over this decision. The grammy's seemed to have caused a social media earthquake and the people of the groundswell felt the repercussions. 


Social media monitoring firm Meltwater conducted an info-graphic on who would take home the gold on Sunday night. Unfortunately, the people of the groundswell got it ALL wrong.

(Info-graph by: Meltwater group)

(Click here to check out the official winners of the 2011 grammy awards.)

Although, the people of the groundswell predicted wrong, there has to be an understanding that the grammy's do not take into consideration the overwhelming media buzz to determine the winners. The Recording Academy, which is made up of men and women involved in the world of music are responsible for (breaking hearts) these decisions.


(Click here if you are interested in the grammy awards voting process.)


Year after year the grammy's have surprised the people of the groundswell when it comes to the top winners. Although, social media buzz is hard to ignore, The Recording Academy has stayed clear of the contagious and spreading (Bieber) fever.


Now, you can spend your time upset with The Recording Academy for not choosing your favorite artist to win on Sunday night, or you could thank them for opening your eyes and ears to music beyond the popular top 40. If you still don't know who Esperanza Spalding is, take a listen to the YouTube video below and decide if she is grammy worthy for yourself.






The Recording Academy understands that social media buzz is important because it belongs to music fans around the world. Last year, the grammy's created a "We Are All Fans" page, allowing people to share opinions of their favorite music artists. Even though, The Recording Academy gets the final say, embracing the groundswell is a smart decision.

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards had approximately 26.6 million viewers on Sunday night. Listening and understanding the groundswell may have reason behind the substantial numbers this year.

Will we ever see the day when The Recording Academy (over 50 years old) looks to the groundswell to decide the winners of musics biggest night? After seeing Lady Gaga hatch from an egg, I am a believer that anything can happen. 


Social media buzz is growing faster than ever before and people want to be heard. The groundswell will continue to force opinion but will The Recording Academy eventually cave? What do you think? 


In the words of Justin Bieber, "Never say never."


~ Heidi

The Groundswell - Keep Up or Get Out of the Way

Have you heard of the groundswell? If you are involved in the world of marketing and public relations, the answer should be yes. If your answer is no, then do yourself and company a favor and pick up BuisnessWeek's Bestseller Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff today.

Now more than ever customers have a huge impact on the success (or failure) of your company or product. Thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, etc. The people (customers) will have their say and opinions.  Instead of being scared of the groundswell (A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.) you have two options:

#1."Keep up with Joneses" and jump on board.
#2. Get left behind.

Li and Bernoff suggest option #1 "You cannot sit this one out. Unless you are retiring within the next six months." The authors of this book have done their research and believe the groundswell is unstoppable. Groundswell is based on extensive data with dozens of companies and the result is this - in order to survive you must move forward. 

In Chapter 5 of Groundswell, Li and Bernoff describe the five basic elements you need to build a groundswell strategy. The five elements include listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing. All companies do not share the same goals and objectives, therefore, you must choose your primary objective to focus on. Listening is arguably the most important element of the groundswell strategy, Li and Bernoff emphasize this by placing it first on the list.

For years marketeers believe they have been "listening" to their customers through research strategies. Common research methods such as questionnaires and focus groups allow companies to get insight on what their target audience is thinking about a product or service. These methods are extremely useful, but if you listen to what the people are saying without being asked, you might understand the customer a little more clear. Li and Bernoff believe there are two ways to listen to the groundswell:

 #1 Google your products name along with the word "sucks" or "awesome".
 #2 Check out what the people who have tagged your company or your products on del.icio.us are saying.

If you are working with clients, Li and Bernoff suggest that you are better off working with vendors that provide professional tools. Li and Bernoff believe opening your own private community and/or begin brand monitoring where you can hire somebody to listen to the "Internet" for you. These two strategies should be done not only so you can listen to the customers but you can understand them and act on their needs. Li and Bernoff said it best, "To profit from listening, you need a plan to act on what you learn."

This may seem like a lot to follow if you are new to the groundswell, but Li and Bernoff know what they are talking about and have done their research. If you are in the world of marketing or PR, Groundswell is the book to live by.

If you can remember one thing from this post, let it be this - "The customer is always right."

Below, is a short video of Groundswell author Josh Bernoff explaining how to effectively "listen" to your customers and be a success in a world owned by the groundswell.

j

After listening to the video, I hope you decide to participate and "keep up with the Joneses." In this ever changing world of social technology, this may be your only option. Go ahead, embrace the groundswell and move forward.

~ Heidi