Archive for May, 2009

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14
May
09

stealing market share?

By Joshua Woolery Leave a Comment
Categories: Ads, Advertising, Brand Loyalty, commercials, Digital Media, Funny, Marketing, promotions, Viral, Web sites and YouTube
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Increasing your company’s market share usually consists of tough, get-your-hands-dirty marketing strategy that includes product, pricing and promotional changes. However, every once in a while, a competitor drops an opportunity in your lap.

Post currently finds itself in the aforementioned position with its Shredded Wheat Brand and is taking advantage of the opportunity to steal market share from Kellogg’s. For those of you who are new to The Side Note, we reported in April on Kellogg’s run-in with the FTC for their Frosted Mini-Wheats advertising claims.

Those at Post acted quickly and are drawing attention to Shredded Wheat’s unchanged recipe. I was surprised to learn that Shredded Wheat has been made the same way since 1892. I think this is a good attempt at comforting any mothers who may have concerns about a cereal that is similar to Kellogg’s version of Frosted Mini-Wheats.

Post has accompanied the new print advertisements with a Web site- ThePalaceOfLight.com – which pokes fun at being “anti-progress.” This is a very good use of digital media. I like that Post is mixing in facts with humor. My favorite video is the “Speech On Progess.” (Below)

The ability of Post to respond quickly and strike while the iron is hot, further demonstrates the importance of knowing your competitive landscape and creating an appropriate angle to promote your product.

13
May
09

Much of what is discussed online is meaningless.

By Marne Brase Leave a Comment
Categories: Dunkin' Donuts, Franchise and Social Media

This is a common social media myth. I hear this statement often from clients, business owners and friends. And honestly, they are somewhat right. I stress somewhat because not much is meaningless but some is. However, this can be said for any form of marketing communications, from direct mail to pay-per-click advertising to television, if not executed properly.

Franchises that are using social media networks to their true potential are seeing a significant increase in traffic (online and at store locations) and increases in sales. Both large and small franchises can benefit.

A great example of a franchise using social media well is Dunkin’ Donuts.

Dunkin' Donuts logoIn January 2009, Dunkin’ Donuts used their fan page on Facebook to reach more than 500,000 potential customers and discover how “fans” felt about their new healthy menu items. Following is an interviewee’s statement about their social media campaign:

“…was a great opportunity for us to test what I see as one of the great benefits of Facebook, which is that it’s a cost-effective way to get real-time feedback from real customers who want to talk to your brand and engage directly.” For the whole article click here.

You may be questioning, why should you consider social media for your franchise? What should you do and how much should you spend? First, just get involved in social media. Start reading blogs and articles. Set up a Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn account. Watch what others are doing. Network with other franchise owners.

I have to say I have not been an early adopter. I like to think of myself as a private person. Once I know you, then I share.

So, what has made me an advocate for social media? Well, I see this trend and have experienced the results. I was one of the driving forces behind us implementing our social media channels. Yet, I chose to stay “behind the scenes.” Not anymore.

As I talk to clients about their campaigns and share our agency results, I witness all angles of this amazing network. This is what intrigues me most… the connections and relationships made all over the world.

What intrigues you about social media? What results have you experienced?

12
May
09

Top BtoB Advertising Vehicles – Online and Print Honored Together

By Beth Hardy Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, BtoB, Google, Media Power 50 and Social Media
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Picture 26The Media Power 50 list of top BtoB advertising vehicles was released earlier this month. While I’m certainly interested in which properties rank the highest, what caught my attention was the change in how Media Power 50 recognizes these outlets. They are now identifying the print and online properties as a single entity.

In the past, the list has honored outlets like The Wall Street Journal and its companion Web site, wsj.com, separately. Now, the Journal and wsj.com are honored together as one entity. This is because print and online advertising is now sold to BtoB marketers as one package.

Michael Rooney, the Journal’s chief revenue officer, told BtoB magazine that 97% of the brand’s tech advertisers use both the print and online versions to communicate their messages.

This doesn’t come as a big surprise. Media outlets have been selling print-online advertising packages for years as ad dollars have shifted more online. I’m frankly surprised Media Power 50 hasn’t made this change sooner.

As for the actual list of BtoB advertising vehicles, following are the top 10:

1)    Wall Street Journal
2)    Google.com
3)    The Economist
4)    Yahoo!
5)    NFL
6)    TechTarget
7)    Forbes/Forbes.com
8)    CNBC’s ‘Power Lunch’
9)    BusinessWeek
10)  InformationWeek

Seeing Google.com and Yahoo! in the top 10 is almost a given. I bet we’ll see more online entities and even social media sites working their way up the list next year. It will definitely be interesting to watch as advertising changes and adapts with technology.

11
May
09

healthcare and social media (part 2.)

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Blogs, Communications, Marketing, Media, New Media, Press Release, Social Media, trends, Twitter, Viral and YouTube
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As promised, Part 2 of Healthcare and Social Media will focus on two hospitals we think are doing a magnificent job integrating social media into their marketing strategy.

#1 The Mayo Clinic

Last month, the Star Tribune’s Chen May Yee reported on the Mayo Clinic’s communications manager, Lee Aase. Aase is essentially responsible for the hospitals social media marketing programs. He currently keeps the community up to date on the Mayo Clinic’s latest news and events via Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Blog accounts.

Aase explains that many patients say they chose the Mayo Clinic for treatment after watching video content on the hospitals YouTube channel. Most notably, “Aase found a six-month-old YouTube video of an exuberant white-haired couple playing the piano in the clinic atrium, to the surprise and pleasure of onlookers. He posted it on Sharing Mayo Clinic. In two weeks, the number of views soared from 1,000 to over 68,000.”

#2 The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton

Dayton Children’s Web site recently posted a media release that detailed their social media marketing implementation strategy. Some of the high-level points include:

-Created a Facebook page in December 2008. The page now has over 500 fans.
-Started the campaign internally, asking employees to become fans of the page first.
-Facebook “Cause” page enables fans (over 800) to donate to Dayton Children’s.
-Marketing communications and development departments are sharing maintienence responsibilities.
-Twitter account was launched in March 2009. They now have over 650 followers.
-Dayton Children’s launched their YouTube page over a year ago.
-Video content includes TV commercials, new stories and patient stories.

Both the Mayo Clinic and Dayton Children’s are doing a great job incorporating social media into their overall marketing campaigns. It’s very interesting that the Mayo has a blog and Dayton’s Children does not. In the same token Dayton’s Children is networking via a localized social media channel (937moms.com) and the Mayo is not.

We hope today’s second installment is very helpful and, we would like to know how your healthcare organization is using social media to reach your employees, patients and families. Please share your story here.

11
May
09

healthcare and social media (part 1.)

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Blogs, Communications, Facebook, Marketing, New Media, Social Media, trends, Twitter and YouTube
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Last week we announced that The Side Note would focus more on current PR and marketing strategy in the healthcare, B2B and franchise industries. Katie Williams was kind enough to leave a comment and request that we report on “ how healthcare organizations (from nonprofit to pharma) are utilizing social media.”

We have plenty of information on this topic, but we’ll start today by addressing hospitals that are using social media to connect with the community. Ed Bennett recently posted a comprehensive list of US hospitals that are using social media. The following is a statistical breakdown of the 250 hospitals on the list:

* 160 on Twitter
* 131 on YouTube
* 94 on Facebook
* 24 using Blogs

Obviously, hospitals are beginning to recognize the importance of implementing social media programs into their marketing plan. However, only five of the 250 hospitals are using each of the four social media tools tracked by Ed’s list. This could very well mean that hospitals have just begun to incorporate social media and are doing so in phases.  We’ll be sure to check back in a few months to see how the list changes.

Stay tuned. Later today I will talk specifically about two hospitals that have implemented social media campaigns.

07
May
09

National Breast Cancer Foundation using mobile marketing to reach women

By Joshua Woolery Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Brand Loyalty, Communications, Marketing and Media
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nbcf-promo1According to Mobile Marketer, the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is now using text-messaging to connect with women all of ages.

NBCF is giving women the opportunity to receive text-message reminders for exams, mammograms and appointments. The foundation is hoping that mobile marketing will enable them to hit critical segments within the population, including young women and women of color.

I think this is an extremely smart move by NBCF and I’m glad to see an organization of this size embracing mobile marketing. The text messages should help remind women about their appointments, especially those who may be hesitant or forgetful. This means that more women will come to the hospital to be screened, ultimately saving the lives of more moms, sisters and wives.

The possibilities for text-messaging reminders in the healthcare industry are nearly endless. Reminding patients of important dates can help improve the overall well-being of our communities.

What is your healthcare organization doing to help improve your patients’ experience?

How can make this experience be more personal?

We’d love to hear what you’re doing and how you’ve made a difference for your patients!

06
May
09

How to create a successful LinkedIn profile

By Beth Hardy 2 Comments
Categories: Linked In, LinkedIn, Profile, Social Media, Tips and Uncategorized

picture-211LinkedIn is an online network of more than 36 million experienced professionals from 170 industries and more than 200 countries and territories around the world. A business networking tool, LinkedIn is used to connect with colleagues, find and follow your competitors, and acquire and provide professional advice.

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These statistics pretty much say it all. If you’re not already on LinkedIn, you should be. And to help you build a successful LinkedIn profile or polish up your existing profile, Gerald Weber, president and founder of Search Engine Marketing Group in Houston, provided some very helpful tips on his blog today.

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1. Headline – Be descriptive! Pack your headline full of descriptive words that will help people find you.

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2. URL – Customize your URL with your name! LinkedIn provides you with a generic URL of numbers and letters. By customizing it to your own name, you brand yourself and also bump yourself up on search results when someone searches for your name.

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3. Picture – Let people associate your face with who you are! No one wants to connect with a blank image.

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4. Web sites – When adding your Web sites, always click “Other” so you can customize the title of your links. You want to describe the actual URL. For example, instead of clicking “My Company”, I put “My LinkedIn Book”.

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5. Summary and Specialties – These are easy to skip over, but they’re very important! In the Summary, tell people a bit about who you are and what you are passionate about. Instead of the “real world” resume, you can be a little more personal on LinkedIn and it actually benefits your cause. The Specialties section is where you can list all of the things that you do best (i.e., blogging, public speaking, online marketing, sports management, inventing, product development).

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I’m proud to say that I had done three of the five tips when I started my LinkedIn profile. I’ve now gone back in and updated it according to Gerald’s advice.

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I can’t stress enough how important a networking tool LinkedIn is. I struggle at times to keep it current and continuously add new connections, but I find that the effort pays off. I’m staying updated on my colleagues’ work and activity, learning new things through group connections, and connecting to people that I may never have the opportunity to meet in person. In my opinion, all professionals should have a LinkedIn profile.

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To read more of Gerald’s LinkedIn advice, click here.

05
May
09

Study shows social media is weathering economic storm among retailers

By Beth Hardy Leave a Comment
Categories: Economy, Marketing Budgets, Mashable, Retail, Retailers, Social Media and Uncategorized

1052434_shoppingAccording to a new study released today by The National Retail Federation’s Shop.org and Forrester Research, social media marketing budgets are mostly on the rise despite an overall reduction in spending.

Mashable’s Adam Ostrow breaks it down like this:

•    Spending on social media is falling at a slower rate than spending in other online marketing channels, such as search engine marketing (i.e., pay-per-click)
•    Among retailers that are reducing spending, 56 percent are trimming search engine marketing, while only 24 percent will cut their social media marketing budget
•    Among retailers that are performing well, 12 to 20 percent will increase spending in social media marketing
•    Among retailers that are increasing budgets, 80 percent will put money into search, while 65 percent will put more into email marketing

As Adam points out, search marketing is a much larger space than social media marketing. This means that there is more money to be cut from search budgets, which helps explain why search dollars are being slashed faster than social media dollars.

I can’t say I was surprised by this study, but the findings were definitely encouraging. From what I’ve experienced so far, the social media trend doesn’t seem to be going away or slowing down anytime soon. It’s been a successful, cost effective option for companies in this economy, and I certainly see it growing by leaps and bounds once things pick up and businesses recover.

What are your thoughts on the study? Are you surprised by the results?

01
May
09

Spreadtweet

By Beth Hardy Leave a Comment
Categories: Excel, Spreadsheet, Spreadtweet, Twitter and Uncategorized

I would never condone goofing off at work. But then again, I don’t consider using Twitter to be goofing off. That’s why I thought Spreadtweet was such a fun idea for the workplace – for those poor souls who aren’t allowed to use Twitter at work.

Spreadtweet was created by @elliottkember, and it’s basically Twitter disguised as an Excel spreadsheet. How ingenious! Now you can use Twitter without your boss catching on.

spreadtweets

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