Archive for May, 2010
This month we’ve been talking about integration and in today’s post I want to talk about simple integration tactics that often get skipped. These may sound too basic to be effective, but remember the last time you needed a company’s contact info and struggled to put your hands on it? It happens all the time! So here’s a quick checklist of things to get you going:
Savvy Integration Basics:
1. Signature lines - Signature lines are pre-set deals. So put in ALL of your contact info in your signature line. I love being able to look at an email and find the phone, address, website, Facebook page, LinkedIn link, and more. I actually hate it when I get an email from a Blackberry or some other “business” phone and that info is not included. So if you think it will help people connect with your business, list it all! After all, you aren’t paying for it. Consider it free advertising space…
2. Business Cards - Same deal here. There is typically a lot of unused space on business cards. Put your contact info, your website, AND your social media accounts on there. You never know what appeals to the person who gets your card!
3. Print Collateral - Have you ever picked up a flyer and realized it didn’t have anything but a website listed, but you need to call the company? Or only a phone number is available, but no website? Or maybe all of the info is so buried in the document, you had trouble finding it at all? Think like a consumer! As you design your print material, what information would you want if you were your own customer? After all, you WANT people to contact you, right? Isn’t that how you make a sale?
4. Signage - There are a few key things I want to mention here. Make sure your content is large enough to read, in a font that is readable, and in a color that is visible! And always, always, always include one key way for your company to be contacted. Remember – keep it simple! Signage is typically viewed on the fly, so it needs to stand out and be memorable.
5. Cross Reference Your Sites – I have mentioned this in passing in a previous post, but it bears repeating. If you have multiple sites online, cross-reference them! Just because a customer comes across your website doesn’t mean that’s the way they prefer to receive their information. Make it easy for them to connect with you on their online touchpoint of choice! It helps them, which means it helps you. 
It’s worth the investment of time to make that happen.
These tactics are easy to implement and can make a world of difference in making your company appear accessible to your customers!
Have practical implementation questions? Like The Savvy Girls at www.facebook.com/thesavvygirls or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesavvygirls!
Need help implementing these tactics? We’re happy to help!
Facebook. The wonder of social media wonders.
The company bent on taking Google down a peg or two.
The place you play Farmville, Mafia Wars, or some such game, and share random comments with friends.
Or, your next social media marketing platform!
Seriously. Many folks under-appreciate what Facebook can do for a marketing plan. So often we hear “I built a company Facebook page…Now what?” That’s because most folks are so close to the things they HAVE to get done, they forget to plan for the things they WANT to get done. So here are some simple strategies to integrate your Facebook marketing efforts….
8 Savvy Steps to Integrating Your Facebook Marketing
1. Gather all the materials you will need for developing your Facebook page. Get your profile image and any custom tab graphics completed in advance. (Not sure where to go to do that? The Collective Savvy can help you out! (info@thecollectivesavvy.com)
2. Take the Time to Set Up your Page - We recommend setting the bulk of your page up at once. It is simply easier to finish that way because you can go through the steps methodically. Make sure to chose the proper page type (i.e. read the options Facebook gives you!) and think through the sub-options – are you a restaurant, a brick and mortar store, a service, etc.?
3. Make sure you take advantage of the Facebook page template - Incorporate your other online sites in a way that is easily visible to folks visiting your pages. Post photos related to your brand to liven things up. Pictures of staff, materials, etc., can really personalize the brand to your customers. Maximize the template the best way you know how!
4. Set up your customized tabs - Static FBML is a great thing and allows you to do some customization to your tabs – videos, links, etc. Figure out what you want to expose folks to that may be complimentary to your other marketing efforts and reinforce a call to action.
5. Connect to your other social media sites - There are tons of apps out there that allow you to link to other sites. Maximize, maximize, maximize! This can’t be stressed enough because it will save you so much time and energy while reaching a variety of folks in the manner in which they prefer to receive it. Link to Twitter, YouTube, etc.
6. Post your site links on your traditional marketing materials – Posters, brochures, signage, advertising, etc., are all great places to note that you have social media accounts that customers can access. Then on your social media sites be sure to refer to your print materials. Remember, don’t post the same thing everywhere, but post things that compliment one another!
7. Use Facebook advertising – Facebook offers affordable and highly targeted advertising. Pick a great graphic that goes with your look, come up with a brief and effective message, determine where you want folks to go if they click on your ad, set your daily limit, and there you go!
8. Plan your posts - You can be like me and wing it. Or you can be like one of our clients and pre-plan your posts to coincide with in-store events, advertising, etc. Really the choice is yours. But make sure you think it through!
Want to learn more about Facebook in general for your marketing efforts? Check out:
- www.facebook.com/facebook
- www.facebook.com/advertising
- www.facebook.com/facebookpages
Got questions about Facebook or other social media activities?
Ask The Savvy Girls your marketing or social media questions! Those savvy ladies can be found at www.facebook.com/thesavvygirls or www.twitter.com/thesavvygirls.
This week we are tackling the broad overview of social media integration into your marketing efforts. Many people seem to see social media as its own thing and not a blended part of an overall marketing mix. <”ANH!” goes the buzzer.>
In order to be effective, social media needs to be a strategic, well-thought out part of your marketing efforts. Take the time to do the research, the planning and the implementation CORRECTLY and in the long run, you will save time, energy and drive more results. Ta-dah! Success!
Ok, ok, ok… maybe there is more to it than that. Integration strategy for social media has multiple levels of implementation. This week, we are focusing on an overall strategy and in the next few weeks we’ll tackle individual social media sites you can leverage.
5 Savvy Steps to Social Media Marketing Integration
1. Determine where social media fit into your overall marketing plan – Is it first priority? Secondary? Just a small line item in comparison to the rest of your efforts?
2. Determine what you want integrated and the messaging related to it – Is it overall brand awareness? A particular campaign? A sales only strategy? A cause marketing effort?
3. Determine how you want it integrated – Video? Messaging? Photos? Blog posts? What are you going to do to make sure your messaging comes across the way you want it and still be interesting and relevant?
4. Determine how you want the sites promoted – Does your print material refer to your social media sites? Do your sites cross reference one another or your “hard” stuff?
5. Determine how you will handle moving forward – Social media seems to change daily and when you are doing other things, it can be hard to keep up! How will you explore new options to integrate into “old” options? Designate time each week to research? Deal with it as you have time? Or plan for a monthly review?
We can help you with your marketing integration. But if you are looking for other resources to learn about it online, check out these great articles:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-integration-big-theme-for-2010/#more-1894
http://mashable.com/2010/01/11/social-media-integration/
Got questions about Facebook or other social media activities? Ask The Savvy Girls your marketing or social media questions! Those savvy ladies can be found at www.facebook.com/thesavvygirls or www.twitter.com/thesavvygirls.
Got a comment? Leave a comment! We love to get feedback.
Yay! This month’s theme is one of my favorites: Marketing Integration! Even before I had heard the term “marketing integration” coined, I was preaching to co-workers on this topic. Afterall, everything you post sends a message, every message builds your brand, and if you want everyone to view your brand a particular way… well, it’s obvious that integration is key!
So this week I am going to talk about marketing integration overall, with the next few posts for this month really getting into the nitty-gritty of integrating your social media + marketing activities. But first, I’m nailing down the technical description of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).
IMC is ” a process for managing the customer relationships that drive brand value” (IMC Using Advertising & Promotion to Build Brands)
Now, what does that REALLY mean?
According to Merriam Webster, integration is “to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole.”
It basically means instituting a strategy of internal and external marketing integration so that everyone understands the processes, methods, and goals for achieving brand success (how that is defined differs from company to company!). Without internal understanding, you certainly won’t have external understanding, and without that you’ll get nowhere.
5 Savvy Things to Know About Marketing Integration:
1. Integration is more than just visible blending. Match your website to your newsletter, your Twitter to your Facebook, your advertising to your sponsorship materials, etc. While all of that is extremely important, true integration is both broader and deeper than visible similarities.
2. Integration entails cross-functionality. This means that more than just your marketing team is involved. After all, if your branding is to carry throughout all elements of a business, it’s easier to achieve when you have representatives from customer service, sales, etc., all contributing to the team effort!
3. Integration means touching all of your stakeholders. After you have worked on your internal components, move to the external-vendors, customers, etc. Integration doesn’t stop just with the person who buys your product!
4. Integration can involve strong data mining. If you have ever needed to build a list for marketing outreach, you have probably done some data mining. And as you may have figured out, data mining can be critical in reaching the right folks with the right message to drive sales and awareness. So make sure you make time to data mine!
5. Integration means more than just posting matching messages. It means posting the right message(s) in the right place(s) at the right time(s). Think about the power of that! If you have to touch folks 7 times to drive action, strategic timing and location are essential to make it happen!
So that, my friends, is integrated marketing in a (very small) nutshell.
Want more sites to look at on this topic? Enjoy below!
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