New JT Member Matt M. shares his thoughts on the growing power of social with a creative twist of wit and subtle sarcasm.

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m writing to you with a clear purpose of expressing my newly discouraged sentiment over what your company claims to be its exceptional product and customer care. In past experiences, I would have taken my words to pen and pad, tri-folded it inside a plainly labeled envelope that through appearances, could never express the betrayal from which I feel about how your company has handled my grievance.

Not this time. Gone are the opportunities for corporations, like you, to quietly brush the “experiences gone wrong” under the rug. Today rather, I have a voice; a voice that can reach listeners well beyond earshot when I yell at my loudest pitch. It’s a message that’s seemingly echoed from wall to wall, reaching thousands, remaining in electronic immortality.

And the message is clear: I, the consumer, your customer, have the power to change the way your company is viewed by others.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow me a megaphone and a soapbox bigger than one in Speakers’ Corner that’s 50’ tall. From my blog to my tweets, I can sound the alarm to other consumers, like me, venting frustration. And please don’t assume that your customers aren’t there and won’t hear me.

Just today, statistics show that there are over 800 million active Facebook users. Out of those users Facebook claims that almost 25% are from the United States. That’s about 200 million U.S. Facebook users.  That’s over half of the United States population. It’s an understatement to say your consumers are there, talking about you.

The funny thing is, my negative experience could be avoided. I don’t enjoy spreading negativity about your company, but when I’m ignored the gloves come off. I’m going to talk about my experiences and express my concerns whether you know it or not. Scary enough, the communication channels through which I discuss them are the biggest in the world.

Social media is not a fad. In fact, it’s the fastest growing and most preferred method of communication of consumers today. People are putting down the phone to call you, getting out of their cars instead of driving to your location, and checking out your social presence before your company website.

So you’re left with a simple choice: do you want to be part of the discussion; or are you comfortable leaving your company image for others to define?

Don’t be the metaphorical bug on the windshield. Be the car itself and drive consumer engagement and discussion on how to improve your products and services, and ultimately the customer experience. The consumer is the blood running in your company’s veins and they have good things to say! So make yourself heard, and more importantly, listen, listen, listen.

Sincerely,

Your New Brand Loyalist

By Nicole Fletcher

This might not come as a surprise to any of you, but the number one question I get asked by prospective clients revolves around the ROI of social media and golly- it irks me. I can’t tell you how many brands in today’s day and age pour money into both traditional and online marketing just for the sake of doing so. They don’t question the efficiency of their expenditures nor do they measure their return. Even if they do and notice the failures, they continue to exist in a complacent purgatory where money grows on trees and falls by the wayside. Frustrating.

It’s especially frustrating when the selling point of social is a promise of this return on investment and I, as an honest tech soul, can’t give it. I can set expectations, explain the plan of attack, give testimonials, numbers from other client campaigns etc, but the bottom line is, every brand is different and as such, each will experience different destinies. We might think we have the most brilliant campaign idea in the world…but we might not. At that point, after ample time had passed, we would reevaluate and try again. Social Media is not the overnight sensation people want it to be and in fact, it’s really just a modern tech, new take on what marketing has been for years. After all, unless you’re measuring the number of times someone scans a QR code in a print ad or on a billboard (big QR code), you can’t justify that financial expenditure based on ROI either. You’re paying for brand awareness, for impressions, for the number of publications that publication boasts…you’re spending $900 for a half page ad because you think you should…because you always have…but is that really the right thing to do? No- it’s not. Evolve to embracy the 21st century and make your mind social.

Social media is the glue that holds together your marketing strategy. It’s what you pitch as an added customer service tool, what gets your more email addresses, more website impressions, higher page rank (with respect to SEO), promotes your PR efforts, develops relationships, and ultimately gets you sales. The brand awareness and outside perception you develop over time is invaluable and it boggles my mind how people don’t understand that.

If you’re spending upwards of $50k on direct mail and getting less than 1% return…re-evaluate. If your emails are purchased and your spam score is through the roof…re-evaluate. If you’re Facebooking just to Facebook…re-evaluate. See a pattern here? Make sure you have a strategy and are maximizing your efforts (see a company who isn’t)…like during a workout. Why wouldn’t you get the most out of that 30 minutes as opposed to flitting and flailing around for an hour? Work hard, be efficient and really analyze what you’re doing for, as the age old saying goes: Time is money…and it is. Make social the glue that blinds everything together and makes your whole marketing strategy cohesive and work together. It doesn’t make sense not to.

By Nicole Fletcher

In a mad dash to get ‘with the times’, people seem to be flocking to their designers and agencies in a desperate attempt to ‘get social’. Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare icons in addition to the newer QR Codes are popping up in print collateral everywhere…but are they working? Clearly there’s a line between brands who ‘get it’ and those who don’t, as if you just took a moment to think about marketing from the consumer side, you would clearly realize the short comings of the majority of this ‘new age’ marketing.

Clear calls to action are the name of the game. You want to give people as few ‘jobs’ as possible, eliminating as many obstacles between them and their transaction (whatever that may be) with your brand. That said, if you’re trying to drive traffic through your doors, you’re not going to say “Look for us San Diego” – you’re going to give your address to them. Eliminate the obstacles. Similarly, you wouldn’t say ‘Find us on the Internet’ – You’re going to provide your website address. Social should be no different. Don’t slap a Facebook icon on a flier and call it a day. Provide the url. Facebook search is an imperfect place and with duplicate page names, people, etc, you want to be as clear as possible. “But my url is full of numbers, letters and gibberish”, you say. Fair enough. Set your custom Facebook url (provided you have at least 25 likes) by visiting facebook.com/username. BEWARE: Once you set this puppy, consider it stone so be sure to spell everything correctly and avoid a rebrand in the near future.

What not to do:

As you see above, they tell me to go to Facebook. Ok. That’s vague. You don’t know my level of tech savoir faire- break it down.

What to do:

This one’s better. Foursquare is geo location based so you’re not going to provide a url necessarily but Facebook is clear and ready to go.

Moving onto QR Codes, if you have a QR Code, make sure you use it right. Since they’re newly popular, you might want to include the name of the app to download and a brief how to with respect to QR Code Scanning. Drive traffic to a mobile friendly site…NOT your full website..especially if it’s built in Flash (flash is NOT mobile friendly). That can be overwhelming and you’ll lose your prospect right then and there. Ideally you’ll send them to a mobile landing page with a simplified version of your website catered to the mobile market. For example, if you’re a fast food joint, I don’t want to see your full site. I might want to see a simplified menu, a location based restaurant finder, a coupon or a new commercial or funny video to name a few. Always keep your user in mind. Make the transaction as easy as possible.

In sum, think about your user. Think about what you want them to do – ultimately - and what channels you can use to get them where you want them to go and to do what you want them to do. Ease is the name of the game.

By Nicole Fletcher

App lovers unite – for I’m about to solve all of your problems. Foursquare has officially partnered with Groupon and all is right with the world. Aside from my being a giant Dennis Crowley, the founder of Foursquare, fan, this new partnership makes  a ton of sense and here’s why: Foursquare specials exist and are awesome, of course, but they aren’t the end all be all. After all, how exciting, really, is a free meat board on my 5th check in? That said, once this integration takes place, you’ll be able to use the Explore feature in your foursquare app to search deals based on your location. Say for example you’re visiting a new city and restaurant X and Y are fairly comparable in price, reviews, distance, you get the idea. If Y though, has  $15 for $30 or even a $75 for $100 Groupon live and taking place…there really would be no question in your mind. You’re going to Y. No doubt about it.

This merger really solidifies the social gaming experience Foursquare provides. You’re able to explore, engage, do, save, review and enjoy all from one place: your Foursquare app. If you’re not a Foursquare user yet, try it out. I pretty much guarantee you’ll get addicted seeing as it truly enhance your inspiration to explore your own town..and others you might visit. Enjoy, check in and be merry.