Autospeak-Straight Talk contains articles covering digital and social media marketing social communities and events marketing

A Marketing Holiday Gift That Can Keep On Giving

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(Posted on Dec 25, 2014 at 03:57PM )


Track, listen to and react to customers and site visitors by combining an onsite Social CRM community as part of your overall digital and social media marketing strategy to increase site visits and drive engagement and magnify “your site” in organic search which comprises 70% percent of links that search users click on.

This will all combine to raise your SERP rankings where organic search results comprise the majority of clicks from search engines, with many sources claiming as much as 80% of all search engine traffic.

In the following article Andrew Reid president and founder of Vision Critical explains that “There’s quite a bit that social media analytics can’t tell companies. Those solely relying on social to help predict trends and product wins need to rethink their approach.” 


What social analytics isn’t telling you this holiday season

With the holiday season in full swing, many retailers have started to predict what gifts will be a hit or miss. Some have done so with the help of social media analytics, as recently reported. According to social media analytics, when it comes to kids, toys that imitate gadgets used by adults will be hotter than ever. Read More

Social CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Communities

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(Posted on Dec 20, 2014 at 02:02PM )
Websites Need to Evolve
Websites need to be engaging and interactive. Visit any website today and they're much the same as they were 20 years ago: they're entirely one way for the most part.

Social CRM has applications in marketing, customer service and sales.

Social CRM Engagement with prospects
Social CRM community tools allow businesses to better engage with their customers by, for example, listening to their opinions about their products and services.

Social CRM Customer Service
Ownership of social media is shifting away from Marketing and Communication as engagement increasingly relates to inbound customer service-based topics. Rather than social being seen purely as a space for companies to deliver outbound marketing messages, it is the inbound customer queries that allow for meaningful points of engagement and the building of brand advocacy

Social CRM Communities
Onsite Social CRM communities allow businesses their customers and employees to manage their own profiles – including creating their own content, updating their company news and social media – which can all be administered with specified permissions tools. This “conglomerate”-style online network harnesses the power of multiple which acts like a magnet to attract search back to your site.
The benefits that these communities will bring are the most cost effective way in which to engage, retain, manage and form alliances with your community members, employees and potential customers that will not only foster retention but promote your business in the most positive ways imaginable- all combining to raise the bar in defining personalization.
 
Companies with private customized Social CRM Communities can experience better employee relations, customer service, reduced customer complaints and higher brand loyalty. Think of having a central place in which to read and understand your customer’s concerns, wants and needs.
 
Social CRM Community Tools
In addition to members and employees having their own profiles including a central console for site navigation, the ability to create their own content, share with their social networks receive company news updates-ask questions and make comments-

 -You can turn your website into a thriving ecosystem with a community customer care and benefit center, as part of the community platform, where member’s interactions with you and your employees will create brand advocates who will create awareness that will drive new customers to the top of the sales funnel.

Add it all up and an onsite Social CRM Community provides benefits to you as the business, your employees and your customers that cannot be duplicated elsewhere-providing a win-win situation for all.

Another integrated part of OBB’s Social CRM Community platform is the MyPhotoRep photo app (read more below) designed to bring customers into the fold at time of purchase and be automatically posted on your Testimonial page and posted to your social networks to create brand awareness, drive engagement, attract search and raise social awareness

Photo and testimonial are automatically posted to your Testimonial Page. Each employee has a link to their MyPhotoRep gallery and profile. Viewers can scroll to see all of the employee’s testimonials without leaving the page. Viewers can also search for other employees. As a reward  the employee with the most testimonials appears first on the testimonial page. (read more below)
Testimonials2_1.png
 
 
 

Below are outlined some examples of how you can setup and implement your own customized customer care and benefit center within the community  to start reaping the multitude of benefits and good will that no other form of marketing or rewards program can offer. The possibilities are only limited to your creative ideas.

Social CRM Community Members:
Existing members will automatically be made members and sent an e-mail to inform them of the many benefits being offered to them as members of your community.
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New customers will automatically become members of the community as part of the benefit of doing business with your company.

Visitors to the site will be invited to join to enjoy member benefits and discounts to be nurtured and converted into future customers.

Examples of Social CRM Member Benefits:
Free loaner or rental or equivalent discount on service charges

Discounts on purchases- example an $$$ or % off community member Discount

Discounts on:
*Extended Warranties
*Maintenance Contracts
*Services

Contests and Special Offers
 
A monthly drawing for $$$ In Free service/products that members can entered every month with their e-mail to win to keep members engaged.
 
The possibilities are endless and can be fully customized to fit your individual needs.
 
A picture is worth_2.pngMyPhotoRep Photo and Text App
MyPhotoRep, is the first automated photo and text app of its kind developed by award winning OneBigBroadcast’s


Instantly Take a picture and get testimonial at time of delivery or purchase on any Apple or Android tablet or mobile device.
 
Innovative technology to:

*Augment your reputation management


*Raise social awareness,

*Increase SEO rankings

*Encourage employee participation

*Solidify your brand through positive feedback and referrals from satisfied customers.

* Instantly share MyPhotoRep on your social channels and testimonial page on your website with our fully integrated plugin.

The happiest time in the buyers experience is:

*The day they pick up their new or preowned vehicle

*Buy a home

*Eat that great meal

*Pick up that new product or:

*Get that great service.

We have made it easy to capture that moment with a photo and text statement from the customer as to why they purchased from your business. There are also many times when a customer is more than satisfied with the prompt and friendly service they recieved.

You no longer need to let these invaluable marketing opportunities slip by. Capture these happy moments on any mobile device as they happen and share them instantly on your Testimonial Page, with a blog and across yours and your sales or service representative's social channels.

These pictures and statements from satisfied customers will do more for your reputation and social awareness than anything that is available to you today and will also help with your search rankings. Your employees will also benefit from sharing these treasured moments on their social channels.

Plus, You can capture those funny or treasured moments that occur during business hours and share them with your current and potential customers to show them that you are people to, transparent and customer centric.
 
Statistics Show

Search Engine Watch reports that 85 percent of consumers read reviews for local businesses. Dimensional Research reports that 90 percent of consumers say that positive online reviews had a direct impact on their buying decision.

Customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating for content marketing at 89%. 20 Marketing Trends and Predictions to Consider for 2014 (Social Times)

55% of young shoppers said that a recommendation from a friend is one of the strongest influencers in getting them to try a new brand. 47% consider brand reputation to be almost as important.

60% of Millennials said that social advertising has the most influence over them in how they perceive a brand and a brand’s value and Hispanics represent the youngest segment of the population here in the US. The Millennial tech-savvy and fast-paced crowd has now surpassed Baby Boomers spending $600 billion a year compared to Baby Boomer’s $400 Billion

MyPhotoRep  also makes a great contest app for all your social channels.
 
Applications with long term recurring benefits= Sustainable Long Term Value
A Social CRM Community is part of a natural ecosystem (your website) where without the need for continued monetary intervention, your domain and its web pages are found, engaged and socialized with and their life and success are long-term and self-sustaining
A Social CRM Community and Customized Tools will allow you to easily attract customers, build a brand around your company, and ultimately drive more traffic to your website and convert more leads for years to come.

How many products have you invested in that produce invaluable and sustainable benefits from day one, do not need to be proven, take no time to implement and can be seamlessly integrated into your current site without disruption.

Start the New Year on a positive and productive note. It may be one of the best and most cost effective investments you make for the New Year. Let’s set up a demo of this versatile and cost effective application so you can better understand the immense positive impact a Social CRM Community can have on your online marketing success.
 

Cutting Through The Noise to Market Smarter

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(Posted on Dec 6, 2014 at 04:07PM )

Businesses that integrate content marketing, social media and SEO strategy are seeing big results. Integrating these marketing channels can be a challenge and marketing from Ground Zero provides a very cost effective way of pulling all these channels together to provide impressive long term and sustainable results.

For any business looking for better ROI along with small and medium sized businesses with limited digital marketing resources it is important to cut through the noise and find ways to provide your business with the most economically viable and sustainable ways to build your brand, provide great customer service and drive new business.

Most businesses have an online presence with exposure to social media to some extent but in many cases do not feel they have the resources, to take their online marketing to the next level. If this describes your present situation read on because marketing from ground zero can be the answer.

Brands Building Community Should Promote Own Sites

Today, as reported by by Gavin O'Malley at Media Post “At least as community-building tools, marketers should forget about Facebook and Twitter. That’s the crux of a new report from Forrester Research, which suggests that the social giants are losing their grip on what has historically been known as “social” marketing.

“Top brands Facebook and Twitter posts reach only about 2% of their fans and followers, and less than 0.1% of fans and followers interact with each post,” Forrester analyst Nate Elliott explains in the new report. “Marketers need to rebuild their social relationship strategies around sites that work.”

In place of Facebook and Twitter, Elliott and his colleagues suggest that brands build out their own social-friendly properties. Indeed, U.S. online adults are nearly three times more likely to visit a brand’s Web site than to engage them on Facebook.”

More than 80% of small businesses cite that (Ground Zero) - their website is the number one way they engage with customers. This statistic alone shows that businesses should be looking for ways to more fully utilize this precious resource.

Great Customer Service Is Key to Free Publicity

There is no better way to provide excellent customer service than through an onsite community. More than two-thirds of American consumers said they're willing to spend 14 percent more on average with a company that delivers excellent service, according to new survey from American Express.

Providing great customer service can also get you free publicity through recommendations and referrals. Forty-six percent of respondents said they always tell others when they've had good service interactions, and 42 percent said that a recommendation from a friend or family member is more likely to get them to do business with a new company.

The Power of Customer Loyalty

New customers driven by existing customers’ recommendations are the second-biggest source of revenue—more than new customers who come to a business from other sources.

Repeat customers were by far the biggest source of revenue for more than 43 percent of entrepreneurs, while new customers accounted for about 19 percent of revenues.

Whatever the trending term these onsite customer care and benefit centers (communities) can benefit companies across the industry horizontal. There is no better way to create measure and maintain customer loyalty and drive referrals and recommendations than by having an onsite social community.

An onsite social community offers benefits that no other medium can match and is the most economical way to maintain and grow a loyal customer base. One Big Broadcast has been a leader in developing and customizing these types of platforms for years.

A Proven Platform

One Big Broadcast has been at the technological forefront of Onsite Social Communities for years and has been redefining the customer experience and how businesses and their employees interact with both their existing and potential customers by taking customer care, service and benefits to a whole new level. Onsite Social Communities shifts customer support and service to being part of the brand marketing mix.

One Big Broadcast’s SEO automation and CMS technology combined with our inclusive suite of marketing products and fully integrated mobile capability provides a low cost way to create an ecosystem within itself that can power your online and mobile marketing initiatives to cost effectively cut through the noise to market smarter.

William Cosgrove
I was out for an afternoon walk recently and was walking along the edge of a wooded area when a maturing fawn with its fading white spots ran up to within 20 feet of where I was standing.  I was so influenced by its natural beauty and the wonder I have for all things wild that I could not move and somehow felt connected to that young deer and could not wait to share my experience.
 
The influence this young deer had on me is just one of the many ways we have been being influenced and influencing for millennium. The internet being a fairly recent addition offers a host of new opportunities to influence others.
 
Through an active online presence of blogging, commenting, participating in forums and on social networks or through word of mouth we all are in a way looking to influence and find influencers. Those that are actively involved in particular areas may be researching, simply voicing opinions or trying to draw attention to a product or service albeit from a positive or negative aspect.

Using influencers to increase market awareness among target markets is a method that can increase your visibility and culminate in getting known in circles that can have a huge impact on one’s success.

All of us who are actively involved in social networking whether it is online, offline or a combination of both are all looking to influence others to further ourselves and or our business in some way.



Getting noticed by these influencers whether it be a decision maker in a company with whom you would like to do business, one who is well connected with key people in your industry or a current or potential customer can often act as an accelerator for business.

According to Wikipedia, Influencer Marketing, as increasingly practiced in a commercial context, comprises four main activities:

Identifying influencers and ranking them in order of importance.

Marketing to influencers to increase your awareness within the influencer community

Marketing through influencers, marketing with influencers and turning influencers into advocates of the firm.

Influencer marketing is enhanced by a continual evaluation activity that sits alongside these four main activities.


 In many circles it has become increasingly accepted that companies should be identifying and engaging with influencers. Exactly what is included in Influencer Marketing depends on the context (B2C or B2B) and the medium being utilized.

Marketing experts Keller and Berry note that “Business is working harder and paying more to pursue people who are trying to watch and listen less to its messages." Targeting influencers is seen as a means of amplifying marketing messages, in order to counteract the growing tendency of prospective customers to ignore marketing.

Onsite social communities are an extremely effective and low cost method in which to engage with and gain valuable knowledge from influencers both in B2C and B2C.
 
It is making more and more sense to have an onsite community. According to recent data form  33Across, in a recent article at MediaPost “Dark Social” or private social represents 71% of all social sharing. Enlisting employees, current and potential customers can be very effective in getting your message out and to reach this private social community.

Onsite social communities act as ground zero to allow businesses not only to connect, follow and be followed by existing and potential customers but also to engage with their employee base. This is a centralized non-intrusive way in which to communicate with, retain and turn your existing customers and employees into marketing influencers and brand ambassadors.

It is said that one in every 10 Americans is what they call an "influential." These people have a tremendous impact on the rest of society because their ideas and opinions are sought out by the colleagues, friends, family, and community members around them. The conversations they hold and the examples they set have the power to shape behaviors and attitudes across your digital marketing and social media channels.

Based on this statistic, how many untapped influential customers or employees might already be in your database or working within your organization? And with a one in ten chance of finding an influencer and making them an advocate for your business through an onsite community it is an economical avenue worth pursuing that can provide substantial long term rewards and help you adapt to trends in social networking.

William Cosgrove