The Scene.

Advertising agency meets with client. Client is looking to build customer base, brand awareness and sales. Client is tired of traditional marketing programs. Client has heard of new “tactics” such as social media. Client has heard about successes for some companies that have adapted social media. Client is slightly interested in learning more about social media options. Agency is excited to share new social media opportunities with client. Agency is armed with success stories and strategies. Agency mentions “Facebook” and “Twitter.” Client’s eyes start to glaze over. Client doesn’t think they are “ready for this.” Client is not sure their customers use social media yet. The conversation comes to an end.

Clients … WAKE UP! If Facebook was a country, it would be the fourth largest in the world. Twitter is the fastest growing form of social media out there. Your customers ARE engaging in some type of social media. It is you who is lagging behind.

Facebook may not bring in thousands of leads right away and Twitter may take time to show a return for you, but you need to face the facts. There is no “one hit wonder” out there. Today’s marketing success stories are about companies that take a good look at their goals and their target audience to find mediums that will touch these folks.

“We tell our clients all the time, it’s the way you put the puzzle together that makes all the difference,” said Cindy Hale, president of OTW Advertising.  “There are many ways to tackle a social media program and the individual elements all work synergistically to create a cohesive and strong one.”

To truly connect with customers and position your brand as an industry leader via social media, Hale said a company must strike a healthy balance of posting interesting and relevant content and promoting the product or service.

“Don’t just blast out there,” she said.  “Think about what your messaging strategy should be and make a plan. Mix up the promotional messaging with real information that is of interest to your fans. We all get tired of seeing the ‘sale on today’ or ‘get to our bootcamp class.’ What we don’t tire of is real information that is helpful and interesting to us. When you mix this in with the ‘salesy’ type info, then it is well received.”

Social media users adopters are growing daily and frequently engage with their favorite brands. Active social media users (folks who are active on at least one social media network) say they interact with company’s social media networks in various ways, including:

47% say they have posted a comment on a company’s Facebook page.
41% have read company blogs.
32% have posted a comment about a company or product on their own Facebook page.
17% have sent brand-related tweets on Twitter.
(SOURCE: Invoke Solutions, July 2010)

The time is now to get in the game with social media. Take stock of your goals and sit down with a social media expert and let the games begin. If you would like to discuss how to enhance the social media platform for your brand, give us a call.

Is Steve Slater Jet Blue’s social media blunder … or wonder?

For a company that is one of the leading social media czars in the country, Jet Blue has yet to release even one tweet about Steve Slater, the new working-man sensation. Although Jet Blue is mum, the rest of the country is in a social media frenzy. Word has it that there are defense funds propping up to “Save Steve Slater” and, as of this morning, Steve had close to 100,000 new fans on his Facebook page.

Jet Blue’s twitter page (see above) is currently littered with evasive replies to tweets from customers, reporters and others craving more information about Slater’s “dramatic exit” that has consumed the news media and American public.

This morning, Advertising Age ran a story about Slater, and the effect that this incident has had on Jet Blue’s social media strategy, which had become such an integral part of the airline’s marketing strategy.

But how badly will the social media outcry of support for Slater hurt Jet Blue?  Maybe not so much, according to sources in the article:

For all the tension the incident is bringing JetBlue, experts say that, in the end, Mr. Slater is likely to bring mostly positive attention to the brand.

“Usually when a flight attendant gets called out it’s for something they have done wrong that pissed off passengers,” said Mr. Bellinger. “But when an attendant does something where passengers say they wish they would do the same thing at their own job, that’s great. It’s a net positive story for the brand.”

We at OTW, like the rest of the country, are fascinated with this whole situation, and want to know what you think.  Read the full article from Ad Age, and let us know how it will affect Jet Blue.

It’s the rage. Everyone is doing it… but is it right for me? Will it really help my business? Is it worth the time? These are the questions we are asked time and time again by clients who are considering putting their toe into social media. The biggest question is always, “How do I measure social media ROI? Will it be worth the time we invest in it?”

As with any newer form of media, there is always the question of whether there is a measurable ROI. Reviewing what my peers have to say on this subject results in answers that are as varied as the media form itself. I am in the camp that social media is measurable if you define the goals that you want to get out of your social media program. It is like any media “buy” or program that you enter into. You need to have clear expectations of what your expectations are.

If you are strictly looking for business leads, your social media platform will be entirely different than a social media platform built to evaluate and deal with customer satisfaction. If you are looking to beef up your brand awareness, your social media program will look differently than a company that is working on a participatory relationship with its customers. Social media can be effective in determining qualitative satisfaction, brand loyalty, confirming your company as an authority, and a way for interaction and feedback.

The real deal is that if you set your expectations in advance, you will have something to measure when you start evaluating effectiveness. Social Media takes time to figure out what the best combination and elements are for your business for best success. You have to be ready to test and re-test. Everything does not work perfectly the first time out of the gate.

There are plenty of stories of raging success and there are even more stories of companies that aren’t seeing measurable success … even to the point that they are convinced social media is making a dent in their business. If you have considered evaluating social media and how it can impact your business, there’s no better time than the present to dive in.

OTW is a full-service advertising and communications agency that has embraced the positive side of social media. If you would like to discuss how social media can impact your business, give us a call. We’d be happy to meet with you and help you get your social media program on the map.