SWAY MARKETING + DESIGN

The Importance of Social Media in Purchasing Decisions

2010-08-21T14:03:07Z

We recently had a consultation with a local homebuilder who was unhappy. This homebuilder (we’ll call him “Bob”) had spent thousands on television commercials and radio spots. Bob waited for a flood of new customers from the campaigns… but in the end, he was shocked to find that he didn’t get a single call from them. Not one!

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this. It seems to be a growing trend in big-ticket purchases, especially in service-based industries. Home builders, mechanics, dance instructors, marketing firms, photographers, and videographers are all seeing the return on their marketing investments shrink.

Question: Why is their marketing getting less effective, if they’re not changing a thing?

Answer: Their marketing methods aren’t catering to the needs of their potential clients.

An immunity in their minds

There’s an immunity that has been growing in the mind of every American since the fifties. Like a virus in a human body, marketing is slowly becoming less effective on the general population. The average child sees 20,000 television commercials each year. By the time that child turns 65, they’ve seen 2 million commercials, at about thirty seconds each. That’s more than enough to gain an immunity to traditional advertising.

What works then?

Picture this: You’re walking down Michigan Avenue, doing a bit of shopping. On the left side of the street, one lonely man is looking down at the sidewalk. On the right side, 50 people are staring at something up in the sky. A couple of them are even pointing. Do you look down or up?

You look up. Everyone looks up, because everyone else is looking up. This is called “social validation,” and it’s a principle that radio, newspaper ads, television commercials, and direct mailing can’t harness. More and more, society is turning to their peers to make sure they’re making the right decision.

Social validation works. When a potential client needs your services, they ask around. To them, there is too much money at stake to make decisions based on “a commercial they saw.” They want experience, and they want a good reference. Social media marketing has been life-changing for consumers, because it allows people to weed out the cracked pots and find reputable businesses to work with.

How do I incorporate social validation into my current marketing plans?

Here’s a breakdown:

You need a website. This is your central hub. Without a website, you have nothing.
Your website needs to be well-done. You need professional help. Your brother-in-law doesn’t count, and if you paid your web designer in beer, well… that probably doesn’t count as well.
You need to be everywhere your people are. If quite a few potential clients are on Facebook, you should be on Facebook as well. This goes for Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and several other social networks, depending on your usual clientele.
Your social media campaigns need to be closely linked to your central website. Not only does this increase the social validity of your website, it makes your internet presence much more cohesive. People like this. It looks stable.
Every social network works differently, has different capabilities, and can be leveraged in its own special way. If this is starting to get heavy, consider hiring a good professional to work closely with. A good social media marketing company will cater to your desired level of involvement and be completely willing to explain every part of their marketing plan.
A social media marketing company NEEDS to measure and track progress, and this progress needs to be presented to you in a manner that’s easy to understand. Anyone can throw up a page on Facebook. You, however, deserve results.

I’m afraid that traditional marketing methods will continue to become less and less effective, until they’re nearly extinct. The good news is that you don’t need to learn the technical stuff to get started incorporating social validation into your marketing, as long as you’re willing to work with someone to get the ball rolling. The best time to start social media marketing is ten years ago… and the second-best time to start is right now.

We’d love to hear about your experiences with traditional marketing. Feel free to comment below.

Psst… They’re Talking About You

2010-08-09T23:08:26Z

A century ago if you were the talk of the town, you knew it. You would overhear it on street corners and in the newspaper. You could tell what the general public thought of your business just by listening.

The same is true today, with one major exception. Times have changed. People don’t sit around and talk anymore. They text, chat, tweet, blog, yelp, flickr, buzz, plurk, check in on foursquare, and write on facebook walls. With the internet, it’s as if the entire human race is in one giant room. We’re all talking and interacting with each other. Some of those people are talking about you.

You say, ”I don’t want my business on facebook, because I can’t control what they’ll say.”

They’re already saying it. As you can shift the comments of a gossiping busybody by just stepping into the conversation, so can you effect change with your business’ social media presence. People have opinions and they express them openly in this giant room called “The Internet”. Wouldn’t it be better to be in the room while they’re talking?

Is it better to be ignorant of how the public feels about your business, or to play an active role in the conversation?

Here’s an example:

GM was planning on releasing a Buick SUV. They put out a few pictures on the internet. Suddenly people started talking about it. Due to GM’s presence across social media, they saw that the majority of feedback was extremely negative. They called the vehicle “hideous” and gave it nicknames. GM cancelled the car before it hit the showroom floors. That translated into lots and lots of money saved. (See the full story here)

When it translates into cash flow, it makes a difference.

Why a Logo is Not Enough

2010-08-08T02:19:55Z

Pretty pictures have always made me happy. Any time I’m in a mall, pass a new restaurant, visit Barnes & Noble, or watch a commercial, I’m affected by shiny things. They make me want to experience something new, to get in there and find out what this new thing is all about. That, friend, is the point that a logo’s influence ends. A logo is just a pretty picture, a symbol promising what you’re about to deliver, designed to attract a certain market.

But once a person begins to experience the product, service, new restaurant, bookstore, gadget, etc, the logo only becomes a symbol which reminds them of their experience. As a restaurant, you may have a promising logo, but if the interior of your building smells bad, I won’t be back… AND, your logo will do nothing more than remind me of the smelly experience.

This is why graphic designers are moving away from logo design and starting to adopt a more all-encompassing approach. They are moving from logo design to identity design and branding.

What is Identity Design? Isn’t that my logo?

No, it’s not your logo. Identity design is an entire field dedicated to taking every way your customers, prospects, and partners interact with and experience your business, and lining them up with your intentions. In a vacuum, your logo may stand on its own, but identity design covers the entire spectrum of real-world ways that people interact with your brand. Some examples:

Extensions of communication: The way that your emails, stationery, and forms look; the way your phone calls sound, etc. Every interaction with the outside world should be designed in a way that communicates your company’s goals.
Extended branding: Your colors, design elements, type face, image style, etc. A good designer creates standards which can be carried out in the future, so your branding is completely unified… even long after the designer is gone.
Analysis of B&M experience: When a person walks into your brick-and-mortar business, what does the experience say? How does the place smell? Are the decorations in line with your brand? What color are the walls? What do they hear? What are they offered?

Identity designers are much more than mere logo-creators… they are problem solvers who remove all roadblocks between your goals and your target market. Identity designers are specialists who focus on problem-solving, and often, hiring an “identity design specialist” over a “graphic designer” can mean a world of difference in the success of your business.

The Internet: Who needs it?

2010-08-08T02:19:38Z

As I write this, I’m sitting in the brand new Einstein Bros. bagel shop on South National. Twenty minutes ago, I was driving around town when the craving hit. How did I end up in their restaurant, buying a spinach florentine bagel with cream cheese shmear? I whipped out my blackberry, and I googled it.

I didn’t call someone. I didn’t look in a phone book. I googled “Bagel shop in Springfield, MO,” and Einstein Bros. was on the first page. That led to an immediate stop-in-and-buy, and well… the food and service took care of the rest. I will definitely be back.

What would have happened, though, if Einstein Bros. didn’t take their internet presence seriously? What if they said, “We don’t do the internet. We make bagels. People don’t eat bagels over the internet. We don’t need no stinkin’ website…”? Well, they didn’t, and here I am. In fact, the Einstein Bros. are doing things right. Not only do they have a great website, they can be found easily on social media. Their Facebook page alone identifies 614,631 people who like them enough to publicly be a fan. They’re also on Twitter, and they have quite a few followers.

If you’re new to websites and social media, there are two big things that you can take away from this:

People use the internet, and you HAVE to be there. People use social media, and you HAVE to be there. You don’t have to know how to use it yourself, but in this time of technology, your business is expected to be present on the internet. Many of your customers don’t read the newspaper. Some of them don’t watch TV. Younger generations don’t even know how to use a phone book. The internet is replacing all of these, and your customers assume that you’re there.
Social media helps you turn the general public into prospects, prospects into customers, customers into fans, and fans into evangelists that tell people how great your business is. They need to be able to find you there.

“But it still doesn’t line up. My company wouldn’t benefit from a website or social media.” Well, maybe you’re right. Here is a list of those who should NOT be on the internet:

Special agents.
Undercover cops trying to maintain their cover.
Weapons manufacturers who are contracted out by the government.
Business owners who would like to rid themselves of success, publicity, or fans in general.

I think that’s a fairly comprehensive list. If you can’t find yourself there, then I need to be able to find you on Facebook. And Twitter. Maybe on YouTube. And you definitely need a website. That’s a pretty big undertaking, but there isn’t a business on earth who wouldn’t benefit from a few thousand open fans and raving evangelists, especially in a poor economy.

Take it from the Einstein Bros, and from Facebook fan number 614,632. (That’s me)