Andiamo! - Social Media Marketing Blog

Butterball Talks Turkey?

Happy Thanksgiving! So, When traditional marketers like Butterball start going 'Web 2.0' you know it's starting to hit the mainstream. I just read an article in AdvertisingAge about how the leading bird brand's "Turkey Talk-Line," the beloved backup plan for millions of first-time turkey chefs, is going the way of 'Web 2.0' (I hate that term) of blogging, "turkey texts" and even a Facebook promotion. They say, it's a natural extension to a call center they have had for the past 20+ years, and is meant to connect with new, younger consumers in ways that are more relevant to them.

The article goes on to say that shoppers can now get turkey advice on their mobile phones in the grocery store and get a free pizza through Facebook on Thanksgiving Eve. Sounds like a pretty good start to embracing social media, right?

So I decided to check out the Butterball website to see first hand how they are executing on all these  fronts. Hmmm. I see problems. Basically, I don't see much of all the great stuff the article mentioned:

1. First I do not see any mention of a blog. Second, the 'Turkey texts' are a generic sign up just to gather phone numbers. There is no apparent customization of the information you will receive, no information on when you will receive the messages, and no readily available information on the subject matter. And no privacy statement. Maybe this all occurs after you give up your mobile phone number, but I don't need turkey help that bad.
2. Second, where's the blog?!
3. Third, I see no mention anywhere about the Facebook promotion the article mentions, where they team up with Papa Johns to give away 1 pizza for every pizza ordered.

Bottom line, looks like a lot of hot air. Don't get me wrong, the ideas seem obviously worthwhile but where is the execution and the messaging? This is a big opportunity wasted. They could have used Thanksgiving as a way to connect with consumers and develop a year 'round relationship with them. Seems like they are happy just to stick with the old school Turkey Talk Line. Lesson here - over promising and under delivering ruins customer relationships and brand value.

Benefits of business blogging

In my previous post, I listed some reasons on why it makes good sense to start a corporate blog (in response to an Ad Age article recommending against it). Now here's some of the key benefits of blogging for your business:

Improved Search Engine Rankings

Google loves blogs - they are updated frequently and are content-rich. That means Google feeds on blogs, just slurps them up like crazy. This can result in your blog being highly ranked for search terms that you blog about. Hint: make sure to backlink - The more you link back to your corporate domain the better chance you have of getting ranked higher in the search engines. Make sure you link from keywords that are meaningful in your posts. For instance if one of your keywords is "social media analysis" then link back to a page on your site from that keyword!

Get a dialog going

The adage goes, 'people are talking about you whether you listen or not'. So in addition to actively monitoring blogs (there's that backlink example again!) and social networks for conversations about your company, it's important to take control and start a conversation yourself.

So what do you talk about? Well, lets start with what not to talk about - how great your product is, and all other sorts of sales pitches. You will turn people off before you even get a chance to develop a relationship with them. Note: If you do have a good reason to toot your own horn, categorize the post as 'shameless self promotion'.

Talk about: industry trends and news; company events, including upgrades or customer service information; and tips on how your audience can be more successful. And when people comment, address their comments quickly, whether the comment is positive or negative.

Work on establishing your blogging 'voice' and help build your company's personality.

Establish you & your company as industry experts

Establish Yourself as an Expert - Whenever our PR folks get a request from a publication about a topic to write about, they consult the blog first to see if there's anything already there. This proves to be a great time saver. If they do find something, they forward the blog post to the publication writer. In some cases that's all the publication needs for a reference, in others it's used as an example of the types of topics we can be interviewed, quoted and published on.

Remember as well that most journalists go online and visit blogs as a way to find interesting and insightful people to interview!

Manage your reputation 

Hey, no business can anticipate a potentially reputation-damaging experience. They can happen. So you need to manage your reputation online. Remember Dell Hell, the Kryptonite lock fiasco, or the Snickers anti-gay backlash? Well, those are big 'uns. But even more minor reputation issues can gain momentum quickly, especially if you give people the silent treatment. So make sure to address any type of negative sentiment about your brand, especially if it was caused by a product or service issue, and proactively post a response and resolution on your corporate blog. It let's people know you are aware and care, plus your post may be the first one that comes up in Google when someone searches. That means any negative posts get pushed down in the search results!

One more very important thing, try to blog regularly since the search engines favor timely posts. I'd recommend no less than 2x a month. Write down topics you want to blog about as soon as you think about them (they don't have to be this long) then sit down and start typing. Get ahead of the game and do 3-4 at once! And now it's time to heed my own advice in that area :)

Zappos gets it

Maybe I'm the only one who had not yet purchased shoes from Zappos. But after seeing a great pair of Mark Nason kicks at a local store the other day, but none in my size I Googled 'Mark Nason' as soon as I got home. First, Zappos had the top search result. Second, when I clicked on the link, I was directed to the Mark Nason brand landing page, not just the home page as many companies still do. Third, they had the shoe in my size. Fourth, the price was $5 less than my local store. Fifth, after I purchased (and selected free/slow boat shipping), I received an email stating that my order had been upgraded to Priority shipping. Nice!

Last, when I got to work the next morning, the shoes had already been delivered! Now that's about as close to 'immediate gratification' as you can get without actually being able to download the shoes! Awesome job Zappos, I've been talking you up ever since.

And a big P.S. Zappos - they get you right into social networking on the order confirmation page with links to share your purchase on Facebook, to their company blog and the CEO's Twitter page (screen shot to the right).

THAT is how to build incredible word of mouth marketing.

Snickers gets busted again for anti-gay creative

Not sure how many of you remember the Snickers ad aired during the 2007 Super Bowl game. It featured a  couple male auto mechanics that start ravenously eating the same Snickers bar from opposite ends. Surprise! They meed in the middle and accidentally kiss. They both show disgust then start ripping out their chest hair. Mars pulled the ad after The Human Rights Campaign (the largest gay and civil rights group in the U.S.) and others called them to the carpet.

For the month or so after, 4 out of the top 10 search results on Google for 'Snickers' were negative toward the brand. Not good word of mouth!

Well, Snickers stepped in it again, with a new ad that aired in the U.K. This campaign is called 'Get some nuts' and shows an effeminate speed-walking man that gets ridiculed by the man, Mr. T himself. A Snickers cannon fires off a couple shots at him as well. At the end, Mr. T shouts to him 'Get some nuts!"

Two different agencies created these ads, but one brand is responsible. Here's what the first page of Google results are for 'Snickers'. 2 of the top 5 results refer to the current ad and the homophobic nature of it. Mars has pulled the ad, and issued a statement that "...the ad was meant to be funny, but humor can be highly subjective".

I generally love humor in advertising, but agencies and brands that use it walk a thin line. And after one backlash just over a year ago, it seems like Mars should reign in the wanna-be comics over in the Snickers brand department. The risk of alienating any large, important constituency, especially for a CPG brand, is one that should be avoided.

Consumers' Increasing Use of Online Reviews

More people are wiring online reviews and expressing their opinions on blogs, review sites and social networks. And a recent study confirms that more people are using these continually updated and refreshed comments to help then decide what to buy.

According to Opinion Research Corporation, 61% of respondents stated that they had referred to online reviews, blogs and other venues before making a buying decision. And of those respondents, 80% said that the research helped them make a better, more well-informed purchase.

What are the most popular categories researched prior to purchase?

These are major consumer categories, so if any of you sell products or services in these areas, know this: your target consumers are listening to and trusting other people's opinions more than your ads.

One category I saw missing is software. We have several software clients, both SaaS and enterprise, that experience substantial buzz and conversation online about their brands.

So what to do? Start a blog. Blog more often (I am guilty of breaking this rule). And listen and act on word of mouth and social media conversations about your industry and your specific brand. Start by finding and responding to particularly important comments and threads about you. If it's negative, determine the resolution and reply quickly and honestly. If it's positive, respond with a thanks and maybe a special offer just for the readers of that venue! People love to know you take the time to listen and act on their opinions. It will win you customers!

Zagat - Too Clever For Their Own Good

Email is one of, if not the best, vehicles for driving word of mouth for a brand. So if you are an email marketer always keep this in mind. It's not just your recipients you are communicating with but potentially many times more. It's very easy to hit 'forward' in your email reader.

So, with that in mind here is a terrible headline from an email a friend of mine received from Zagat:

Amber Alert? Are you kidding me!? Never let the need for creativity or cleverness beat out good 'ol common sense. This is an offensive and thoughtless to say the least. My friend forwarded this email to me and several other folks in regards to this headline.  Will it keep me from using the Zagat guide, or visiting this restaurant? Maybe, maybe not,  but it certainly doesn't build brand equity for either one!

Check Out 'Search Engine Marketing Journal'

We all know how powerful search engine marketing (SEM) is to drive brand awareness and more importantly leads and sales. A significant amount of Andiamo Systems' marketing budget is allocated to Google Adwords and to a lesser extent Yahoo! and MSN.

And increasingly, the realization of the tight connection between SEM and social media is becoming more obvious. For some brands and industries there are as many first page search engine results that are from blogs, forums and social networks as there are from traditional mainstream media. That's largely because search engines eat blogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are updated frequently, have lots of content and are typically well-formatted for easy SE crawling. So you need to make sure you have an understanding of how SEM can affect your business.

Which leads me to the Search Engine Marketing Journal (SEMJ). SEMJ is the first printed journal dedicated to the advancement of search engine marketing. What? A print pub about online marketing? Yep. Don't worry, they also have a great website. It is unique in that it is a peer-reviewed journal where anyone is free to contribute. All papers are screen by a team of editors (disclosure: I am Senior Editor) to ensure that the quality is top-notch, relevant and actionable for businesspeople to use.

These guys are leveraging the power of user-generated content to bring continually updated, and fresh information, always showing a unique perspective. Check them out!

Another Example of Blogger's Commercial Impact

Even with all the buzz out there about blogs, social networks and the like most companies still haven't taken action by either starting a corporate blog or at least listening and responding to comments and discussions on blogs and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

But that's definitely starting to change. Businesses are realizing the potent power of Word of Mouth and its ability to shape consumer perception and purchase intent.

Take the recent Dunkin' Donuts example. Most of you probably heard about the Rachel Ray advertisement, and the uproar the ad caused by the scarf she wore. Appears the black & white paisley patterned scarf resembles a Muslim keffiyeh. Many, mostly conservative, bloggers were insulted, and made their feelings known by posting negative comments about Dunkin's choice of apparel.

The management at Dunkin realized this is a potential harm to their reputation and brand equity and took immediate action:

1) They responded to at least the most influential bloggers with the following message:

"In the ad that you reference, Rachael is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design that was purchased at a U.S. retail store," the company responded to bloggers. "It was selected by the stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we will no longer use the commercial."

2) They did what they promised and pulled the ad. And that's not cheap! This ad was part of a $40MM national broadcast, print and online campaign.

Now, whether you agree with the uproar over the ad, or fell it was an incredible over-reaction or mis-understanding of the keffiyeh and Arab culture is irrelevant here. The point is, the power of consumers over brands is irrefutable, and smart companies like Dunkin' monitor social media and take action!

All a-Twitter

So I was speaking at a conference a week ago, and EVERYONE was either talking about Twitter and/or Twittering during the show. I have had a Twitter profile for a long time, but rarely use it. It just seemed like yet another low-utility site that turns into a time-suck to keep up with. But I am re-considering.

If you don't know what Twitter is, it can be described as easy collaborative communication or 'micro-blogging'. It reminds me of many-to-many SMS (the Short Message Service that is what text messaging is for mobile phones). By that I mean most people 'tweet' in short bursts, 140 characters or less, about what they're doing, where they are and increasingly what they like and dislike about brands.

Twitter claims about 1 million accounts, and a recent count showed Twitter getting about 1.2 million monthly U.S. visitors (this is only visits to the website, and does not include users on mobile, via other applications, etc.)

That pales in comparison to giants like Facebook, but the numbers are strong and growing. And more companies like JetBlue are getting in the picture and connecting with potential customers there.

Why? If you target early adopters, affluent, or even people in the social media world, many of them are here. Create a profile and check it out!

Use Social Media in a Tough Economy

Whether the US economy is actually in a recession or not, no one can argue that we're facing some tough times, and as marketers we should all be concerned about consumer spending. And when there are worries about spending, advertising budgets typically shrink. Sure, overall ad spending may show some strength with the 2008 Olympics and that other event...what is it...oh yeah, the election.

But if you are faced with this shrinking budget dilemma, it's time for you to consider using social media to get a great bang for the buck. Here's a couple things you should consider:

• Start blogging! If you have been waiting for a good reason to start, here it is! It's cheap!
• Participate on other targeted, popular blogs in your industry. Become known as a credible source or even an expert!
• Set up a Facebook page or start a Facebook group for your business
• And if you are feeling particlularly energetic, shoot a video for your business and put it on YouTube

Now, I am not recommending that social media marketing is the panacea for all your marketing challenges. There are no silver bullets (dang it!). You have to contact and communicate with your target customers throughout the purchase cycle.