Engagement | Designated Editor

Social media generates brand and competitive insights

February 22, 2012 1 Comment

Do you know what social competitive intelligence is?

By taking a look at the custom shoe industry, it is becoming more and more clear to marketers across industries that a true consumer is one who believes that the things they buy contribute to their quality of life. For dedicated and seasoned shoe aficionados, there is often no ceiling for what he/she will pay for a quality brand.

During a Direct Marketing News webcast, Lindsey Mark of Compete Client Relations spoke about integrating competitive intelligence into a strategic planning process as a part of marketing strategy; the custom shoe industry is no exception.

Mark uses the custom shoe industry as a framework for analyzing industry leaders and provides recommendations for New Balance shoes. Mark has studied the presence of custom shoe retailers on social media networks, including Slideshare, YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr, and LinkedIn. Through these sites, readers can scour through the competitors’ YouTube channel to see who their subscribers are and how subscribers are engaged. So far, Compete Client Relations has observed a few particular platforms’ strengths in the custom shoe industry.

Social media platforms use by shoe retailers

LinkedIn is used to sift through profiles of the competition’s employees
Flickr’s user generated content: Converse advocates tell creative stories of how they are living with the brand
Tumblr, which also benefits the shoe industry with user generated content, has been noted for providing social insights into who the top contributors are

Traditional ways of measuring business intelligence – such as sales volumes, subscribers, and annual reports – involve static information that is hard to dissect. Using social media to learn what the competition is doing on their network is an extremely powerful tool for marketers.

There’s no shortage of competitive creativity in the industry, either. MiAdidas, whose name shows its unique approach to brand awareness, benefits mainly from paid search results. But YouTube celebrates videos of customers receiving and opening their shoe boxes excitedly.

Analyzing consumer behavior associated with particular brands is an integral part of a successful marketing strategy. From shoes to travel to automotive, Kantar Media Compete delivers digital intelligence based on consumers’ online behavior.

Follow Lindsey Mark on Twitter @linji.

Filed Under: Branding, Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: advice, audience, best practices, blogging, Branding, Brands, business intelligence, Compete, competitive analysis, consumer behavior, Converse, Designated Editor Blog, Direct Marketing News, DMNews, Engagement, Flickr, insights, Lindsey Mark, LinkedIn, MiAdidas, New Balance, Nike, Search Marketing, SEO, SlideShare, Social media, strategies, strategy, tips tactics, Tumblr, YouTube

Facebook for Business 101 by Designated Editor: Branding to Engagement to Ads to ROI

February 10, 2012 10 Comments

Facebook 101 Workshop by Suzanne McDonald Designated Editor

View more PowerPoint from Designated Editor

Suzanne McDonald, Designated Editor’s Social & Content Strategist, gave the sold-out room a bevy of strategic tools and ready-to-implement tactics at a 2-hour Newport County Chamber of Commerce seminar on Facebook.

As always with her talks, questions are encouraged and brought up numerous additional points such as:

Q. What to do if you’re a nonprofit
A. Utilize Facebook Causes

Q. How to share on Facebook if you have sensitive or personal or medical information
A. Remove identifiable specifics but keep the compelling parts

Q. How to circumvent sharing your personal information and still have a brand page
A. Follow the lead of teens & set up an alternate personal profile before launching your brand. This may also play a role of you intend to sell your business and its assets

Q. How to utilize time-saving tools like Hootsuite
A. Get alerts when people are interacting with your page, also available on smartphones

Q. Being aware that hashtags are not appropriate for Facebook
A. It’s easy to post across all platforms at once; be aware of differing norms and etiquette

Q. The difference between your wall and your newsfeed
A. Your wall is your visible billboard; your newsfeed is private & custom to you, based on who you Like

Suzanne demonstrated best practices like posting with images and asking your fans questions to boost Likes and engagement. She showcased local brands like Newport Storm beer, the International Yacht Restoration School, Alex and Ani, Ocean State Fresh, and local wedding stylists, who are all engaging and attracting fans on Facebook.

Please see the Facebook slides, above, for more information on

Facebook Insights
Facebook advertising
ROI on Facebook

Thanks to Tom Schuyler of Match Light Marketing for sharing insights and some slides.

Social Media resources from Designated Editor

Prior presentations, Powerpoint slides & posts by Suzanne McDonald of Designated Editor

Leveraging LinkedIn: Free Tips to Prospect and Engage

New Media Tips to Land Your First Customer

E-Marketing for Artists Panel

Filed Under: Designated Editor's perspective, Facebook Tagged With: Ads, Advertising, best practices, business, campaign, Chamber of Commerce, Designated Editor, Engagement, Facebook, Facebook 101, Facebook ads, Facebook for Business, Facebook Insights, Facebook ROI, Intro to Facebook, Marketing, media, Newport, Newport County, Newport RI, online, public relations, Rhode Island, SEO, Social media, social network, strategy, targeting, tips, tools

Leveraging LinkedIn: Free tips to prospect and engage

January 25, 2012 3 Comments

Leveraging linked in newport county chamber of commerce talk by suzanne mcdonald

View more presentations from Designated Editor.

Leveraging LinkedIn presented to the Newport County Chamber of Commerce

This presentation was coupled with live demos and lots of Q&A from the packed room at the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. LinkedIn demo included:

How to optimize your profile

Make sure your photo shows you professionally and recognizably
Be sure it’s recent

Use plug-ins to enhance your profile

TripIt
SlideShare
Blog Link
Reading List

Engage via Groups

Share articles of interest
Connect to people in your Groups who you find interesting
If you’d like to connect with someone you don’t know, try engaging via Groups

LinkedIn posting tips

Post at least once per week.

One way to stay active on LinkedIn is to post articles you’ve read and commented on to LinkedIn (can also select to share with Twitter) and share with Groups and Individuals. Please note: LinkedIn is not like Twitter, and people are more likely to become over-saturated with your posts if you’re contributing multiple times per day.

Thanks to the Newport County Chamber of Commerce for hosting and don’t miss a Facebook Seminar at the Chamber on Feb. 9, 2012.

Filed Under: Designated Editor's perspective, LinkedIn Tagged With: Blog Link, Designated Editor, Engagement, Interactive, LinkedIn, LinkedIn Answers, LinkedIn demo, LinkedIn Events, LinkedIn Groups, LinkedIn posting tips, Newport County Chamber of Commerce, Newport RI, optimize profile, Reading List, Rhode Island, SlideShare, Social media, Suzanne McDonald, TripIt

Book review: ‘Social Media Playbook for Business’

January 5, 2012 2 Comments

Tom Funk’s Social Media Playbook for Business

Tom Funk’s “Social Media Playbook for Business: Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More” covers various aspects of social media, from strategy to platforms, plus “next level,” successes, fails, and the future of social media.

Funk’s Strategy chapter covers everything from:

Listening
Ownership
Legal
Establishing mission
Publishing a plan
Goals
Tracking
ROI
Is my company right for Social Media?

Managers who are not directly involved with day-to-day social media may find Funk’s explanations most helpful. He covers:

Social media platforms
Competitive analysis
Monitoring blogs and social platforms

Unfortunately Funk is not as in-depth as some other books I’ve reviewed when discussing what to expect when hiring consultants.

Funk does discuss the importance of writing a social media business plan, however. He explains formulating a social media plan like a business plan, translating how social media can benefit businesses in a language more oriented to MBAs than marketing/communications specialists.

A social media business plan, like a business plan would include:

Competitive analysis
Operations plan
Goals
Objectives
ROI

Funk does a great job in explaining earned vs paid media. Also, the Future chapter digs into:

Social shopping
Neuro-linguistic programming
How social media is likely to integrate with our everyday expectations
How social becomes the new “normal”

Published February 2011, Tom Funk’s Social Media Playbook for Business will assist business owners and managers with creating a social media plan for businesses to evolve and leverage Social Media. The Social Media Playbook is available on Amazon.com and or other booksellers.

The Social Media Playbook for Business: Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More

By: Tom Funk
Published: Feb. 2, 2011
Best for: Larger businesses, higher-level managers who may not be handling day-to-day social media firsthand.

Filed Under: Designated Editor's perspective, Social Media, Social Media Book Reviews Tagged With: blog, blogging, blogs, book review, Brands, Brief review, business, campaign, Chief Content Strategist, company, Content, Designated Editor, Engagement, Facebook, goals, Integrated Strategy, Interactive, LinkedIn, managers, media, objectives, operation, Owners, plan, platform, Playbook, Professor, programming, ROI, Share, social, Social Media Business, social media strategies, strategy, Suzanne McDonald, targeting, tips, Tom Funk, tools, tracking, Twitter, University of Rhode Island, YouTube

Magazines digital IQ, L2 Digital IQ Index findings

January 4, 2012 Leave a Comment

Gone are the days where a magazine is simply a glossy collection of articles, photos, and advertisements bound together and sold on newsstands… Magazines have gone digital, off paper and onto a computer near you.

In order to survive, magazines must be online and interacting with their audience.

The L2 Digital IQ Index measured the digital IQ of 87 magazine brands to see the correlation between digital aptitude and magazine ranking. The criteria the Index looked at were: Sites, digital marketing, social media, and mobile.

L2 Digital IQ Index video

Download the study

How did your favorite magazine’s digital IQ measure up?

Magazines were put into classes: Genius, gifted, average, challenged, and feeble

37 magazines were “gifted.” People and Self made the cut
Time magazine was “genius”

Key takeaways

Digital IQ matters

There is a difference between class and per-page ad revenue

Readers do not equate to fans or followers

Magazines must use social media to engage/communicate with audience

Be digitally present
Provide incentives
Ask for feedback
Reply to audience
Promote articles and events

What’s the future hold for magazines?

Targeted social media program
Fully interactive cover
HTML5 platform

As the world becomes increasingly digital and more people go to the Internet for information, magazines face challenges but are also granted opportunities for their brands. Magazines must go digital, engage with their audience, and be aware of changing trends.

More L2 findings: How brands measure up on Facebook according to the L2 Prestige 100 Index