Enhancing promotional strategies: Use of Web 2.0 social media
Web 2.0 & Promotional Products - Presentation to MAPPA
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Web Marketing And Social Media For Distributors Mark Graham February 2010 Image credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/294555
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An outline of the main social media platforms, how they apply to a promotional products company, and what pitfalls to avoid when joining online communities. Mark Graham of RIGHTSLEEVE shares some of his experiences in this space and how they have applied to his promotional distributorship. This presentation was delivered to MAPPA (Mid Atlantic Promotional Products Association) in Newport News, VA (Feb 2010)
Transcript of Web 2.0 & Promotional Products - Presentation to MAPPA
Web Marketing And Social Media For Distributors
Mark Graham
February 2010 Image credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/2945559128
#promotionalproducts
@RIGHTSLEEVE
Years it took to reach a market audience of 50 Million
• Radio – 38 years• TV – 13 years• Internet – 4 years• iPod – 3 years• Facebook – 2 years
Source: Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Brenman
Throughout this presentation …
I want you to keep 2 things in mind
#1. The immutable law of sales
People buy from people they like
#2. A distributor’s biggest challenge
Buyers struggle to see the difference
between us
In the next 90 minutes …
1. What’s all the fuss about?2. Specific social media tools3. How to do this right
A Social Media Primer
• Social media consists of online conversations between real people - customers, employees, vendors - using websites or online platforms.
Image credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthamm/2945559128
Why Invest in Social Media?
New way of engaging clients
Point of Differentiation
Builds Trust
Cost Effective
Communication Tool of Next Generation
Distribution platform for your content
Thought Leadership in your Niche
Social Media Tools• Blogs• Online video - YouTube• Microblogging - Twitter• Social networking - Facebook• Professional networking – LinkedIn• Product Comments and Ratings• Photo sharing - Flickr
Blogging Basics
• Be a Storyteller• Be Human• Have Fun• Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad
blog.epromos.com
brandedmatters.com
swag20.com
• Online video platform• Free distribution for your content• Anyone can be a star
• What are you doing … right now?• 140 characters • “You are who you follow”• #Hashtags• Professional/mature demographic• See what people are saying about
specific topics (incl. you)!
Proactive Sales Opportunities
Fan “shout-outs”
Recommendations
The New How Shirt w/ Wearing Instructions• Yes, it’s true, no one really needs another t-shirt. But we do wear logos, designs we care about.
And we often wear things that embody our values.
• So I recently decided to order t-shirts for the #NewHow movement. The process itself was entirely a process of collaboration. Let me share it.
• First, I reached out to a person I have only met a few times in person but stay regularly in contact with on Twitter, @missrogue. Having watched her do a #karaoke tour across the US last year, I figured she had to know something about swag vendors. And because I really do still have a day job I wanted to find the vendor to work with, and go fast. No surprise, 5 minutes later, I got an introduction to Mark Graham at #RightSleeve. Within hours, I had a reasonable quote, options to pursue and a rough schedule that would let me take shirts to my #fidelity talk on innovation. Mark uses email like I do — highly efficient, asynchronous conversation to let us move faster and truly do high-baud work.
• But at that point, I still hadn’t decided what I wanted the design to be. So I emailed a collaborator and asked him something simple like, “thoughts?” and got back a very fast note that set the theme of the shirt: I am the New How. Which I liked. I asked to see the designs in context with the shirts and color choices. When I got drafts (from RIGHTSLEEVE), I simply forwarded to the #Rubicon team and a few other folks and asked for feedback. 5-10 minutes later, I had what I needed. Decisions were made. Order placed. Literally, the whole process probably took me a total of 30-45 minutes to do. And all in 5 minute increments. That’s a vendor and an extended set of collaborators I want to work with.
Talk about an emotional connection!
Audience = 57,500 people
Cost = zero
Effective PR Tool/Damage Control
• Online community of friends (social graph)
• 800 pound gorilla• Fan Pages & Groups• Emotional connection with your
products
“Bridging the gap between all generations of Promotional Product professionals”
• Online community of business contacts
• Online resume• Great prospecting tool• Online recommendations
Product Comments and Ratings
• Client ownership• Builds credibility with “real”
comments• Ability to quickly react to negative
feedback• The products become “yours”• Getsatisfaction.com, Yelp.com
• Online photo sharing site• Tagging• Vehicle for promoting your corporate
culture
The Big Picture
• Beware the Social Media Bandwagon• We are all connected: “The Social
Graph”• Credibility and Building Social
Capital: “Whuffie”• The Long Tail: Niche Marketing• Exercise some common sense
Trust + Community = ROI
“ROI in the new economy is driven by how loyal and engaged your
consumers are”
Mitch Joel, Six Pixels of Separation
What you can do now
• Locate your customers/competitors• Interview a customer and post the content
online• Start practicing to find your “voice”• Setup profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn,
YouTube• Create a video (Microsoft MovieMaker, Apple
Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Flip Video)• Write about stuff that interests you• Join the conversation
BE WARNED! Social Media is not for
everyone.• People will sniff out the fakers. Be authentic.
• Be aware of the time commitment
• Ensure your marketing is not out of sync.
• You don’t want a meatball sundae
A meatball sundae is the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas.
The meatballs are the foundation, the things we need (and sometimeswant). These are the commodities that so many businesses are builton.
The sundae toppings (hot fudge and the like) are the New Marketing,the social networks, Google, blogs and fancy stuff that make people
allexcited.
The challenge most organizations face: they try to mix them. Theyattempt to slap new marketing onto old and end up with nothing but afailed website.
Excerpt from Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae
RESOURCES (Web Sites)
• Social Media Marketing in a Traditional Industry (Mark Graham). Click here
• My Take on Twitter Click here• Seth Godin www.sethgodin.com• Twitterati www.twitterrati.com• Mashable www.mashable.com• ReadWriteWeb
www.readwriteweb.com
Resources (Books)
• Tara Hunt The Whuffie Factor• Chris Anderson The Long Tail• Clay Shirky Here Comes Everybody• Joel Comm Twitter Power• Mitch Joel Six Pixels of Separation
@RIGHTSLEEVE
