Real Social Girl

Small Biz has the jump on Social Media

// February 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Online Community, Social Media Mamas, Social Media Wizz Bang

Small businesses make up a large proportion of New Zealand businesses. But make no mistake, though these businesses may be small in the number of employees they have, they are in no way small in their business objectives and follow through.

Everyone from insightful mothers, style conscious women, to men who are sick of working for the man are turning their hand at creating and growing companies that have 1, 2 or 3 people on the books. But what may be taking some multinational companies by surprise is that these little guys are blowing them out of the water when it comes to online presence, social media and building relationships with their clients. These 3 things are creating dollars for small businesses that used to reserved for the big guns.

Case in point are Facebook Fanatics Belly Beyond and Vlogging Bag Diva Floozy. Both of these New Zealand based (and female owned businesses) are making use of the real-time web and interactive competitions to get client interest and keep it. So how is it with less than a handful of staff members these companies manage to do what some of the “bigger” brands cannot even wrap their heads around? How do they create successful social media campaigns to propel their brands to the forefront?

I originally wanted to speak to Lou at Belly Beyond at Kate at Floozy and do a little bit of a case study on each of them, but I have had little chance of doing that, and from their online activities I am sure they have been busy too…hopefully they will stop by and add their 2 cents as to what they think makes them successful social media divas

But here is my take on some of the winning ingredients of what these ladies do best as part of their social media marketing. (more…)

Do you know how to keep Mothers happy?

// February 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Social Media Mamas

The old saying is “A happy mother equals a happy family”. After all she is at the centre of keeping the family engine churning. As a marketer or PR person, if you can answer the million dollar question to keeping a mother happy with a resounding “yes!” you just may be carving out your success with the mommy-set.

Globally, mothers are an untapped market for brands. Marketers and PR people neglect to recognize them as a specific group of important purchasers (often lumped together with women). In most households the wife is considered as the chief buyer of household items, and don’t forget some of these same women are the main buyers for the companies they work for as well. Because we have so much going on in our daily lives, many of us have turned to the online world to find the time to get the interaction  so many of us crave. We still have to get the groceries done, take care of the kids and shuttle them to various activities on top of work and sometimes even forging our own enterprise, in comes the internet to insure that we still maintain our interaction with other mothers and to nurture personal relationships. If you didn’t know before, women/mothers strive on relationships and are inherently social beings. Its as if Social Media was born out of a need for brands to speak to us, work with us, and show us that they understand what we need.

If you are using social media to attract mothers, keep these points in mind:

• The more your brand can speak to and interact with mothers, the better off you’ll be
• What’s the motivation for mothers to return to your website? Are you giving them a quick way to relax in their busy day? Are you providing nutrition tips for healthy cooking for the family? Are you providing advice on how they can stretch their budget? These are just a few ideas, what motivator would work for your company?
• How can you make a mother say “Ah, they understand me!” when they are browsing your website, Facebook Page, Twitter account, etc…Do you understand a busy mama’s day? Do you understand her desire to grow a happy and healthy child? Do you get it that she needs ways to keep everyday tasks simple?
• Can you provide a venue where we as mothers can express our opinions and views on a subject? We love doing that! We have an opinion on everything! But be creative, there are a thousand and one forums and discussion boards battling for our online browsing time, how can you set yourself apart?

Mamas, do you agree? What else do you think brands need to keep in mind when trying to attract your buying dollars?

How Brands Build Relationships with Bloggers

// February 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blogging, Online Community, Social Media Mamas

Brands that have been in the social media game for a few years understand how to best use the internet to showcase their brand and grow a fan base. But what about brands that are now scrambling to be part of the buzz and grab a share of the social marketing pie. Often they see bloggers as an easy and cost effective way to get incredible spread of information about their brand across the interwebs.

Is working with a blogger or a group of bloggers the right fit for your company, and if so, how best to engage with them? If your company follows a few simple guidelines, the rules for engagement are really not that hard.

1. Any blogger worth working with as part of your social media plan is not a hobbyist, and as such they do not want to be treated as one. Allocating enough funds and making them an integral part of your social media/marketing/PR team insures that they will put aside the time, energy and creativity to work towards your company’s success.
2. Respect bloggers. This is so easy, yet so many PR companies and marketing reps often do not. Sending out pitches to anyone and everyone that is on your mailing list hoping for a writeup is not the way to go. If you identify a blogger that you want to work with, the best respect you can show them is to get to know what they are about, get to know their voice online and then and only then send them pitches that you feel may interest them and their readers. From past experience I can tell you there is nothing worst than opening an email that is a press release with not even so much as a hello. Furthermore, the press release has absolutely nothing to do with what I write about over at Girlstoys Revue. In no other profession, do people get contacted for something that they are so unsuited for. When was the last time you heard of a doctor being contacted to complete someone’s income tax?

How can you work with Bloggers?

Product reviews are a simple first step, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Many bloggers are not only great communicators via written word, some use video as well as other imaginative ways to engage their readers. Respect the bloggers knowledge and insight into their readers and how best to get your message across. Armed with this information and a well thought out plan of action, you can be rest assured that you can monitor any campaign you enter into with a blogger for successful outcomes.

Bloggers have spent time creating a trusted network of readers as well as other bloggers and as such they will want to work with you to make sure they are providing quality information and resources to their readers. From my perspective, I will only work with organizations that I can stand behind – after all, it is my brand, my voice that is at stake. And for that same reason, you can expect only the most professional professional service from me and any other blogger that I put you in touch with.

If you are interested in working with one or several bloggers to launch a product/service or act as an ambassador for your company, feel free to contact me to direct your blogger outreach efforts as well as to design a campaign.

Get to know your market through Social Media

// November 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // Blogging, How To, Online Community

Did you know that Social Media is a great way to get a feel for what your market is thinking? You can create a specific campaign to gather information as well as monitor your brand on the interwebs. The 2 really work hand in hand – what people are saying about you can and should affect how you engage with them. Here are a few quick steps that you can follow today:

1. Listen for your brand being mentioned across the web. Services like Google Alert and Saved Searches in Seesmic for Twitter make it easy to view a running thread of what others are saying about your company name.

2. Set up something apart from your business as usual website – think blog, Facebook Fan Page – great place to ask your fans questions. Conversely, encourage them to leave feedback good, bad or ugly. Generally, as long as you deal with it timely and effectively any and all feedback, even the bad stuff doesn’t have to be detrimental to your brand.

3. Remember that people will talk honestly and openly about your products and services in open forums. Get out there and find out where these forums are. You may have to go off the beaten track – there is more than just Twitter and Facebook. Some of your raving fans (or even haters, see People of Walmart) will setup their own groups on blogs and Ning platforms- its worth doing a search there.

The proactive person will not only monitor brand mentions, etc..but will respond and engage with the community as well as refine processes where needed. Remember to be transparent at all times. If you are going to jump into a forum discussion, make sure to say who you are – don’t just get in there and gloat about what a fantastic company you have.

How are you using web 2.0 to find out what your market thinks about your brand? If you aren’t using this method yet, how could you?