A lot of clients these days opt for a social media campaigns as part of their marketing package. And they should. Social media is a great way to learn about your audience, gain website traffic, target your customers, get your name out there and receive instant feedback. However, a lot of people misunderstand the true value of social media. It is part of your marketing arsenal, but it is also wrong to view it as your primary strategy.
Social media can do a lot for a company. Here are some examples:
If you are participating in a tradeshow, it can help get the word out and target potential customers. No one will show up if they don’t know you are there.
If you have rich media to share (such as a video or image), it can help you reach a broader targeted audience (primarily using social media advertisement tools).
There are also specialized social media for each industry – a more corporate business could benefit from LinkedIn, whereas a news/media company might do better with Twitter. It is important you choose the right platform and know time saving strategies that allow you to post to on multiple platforms at once.
It is important to note that social media acts as a support for other marketing strategies. If a company relies exclusively on their social media campaign, they may be disappointed. Social media does not replace having a brand or having an in house marketing/sales team, rather it complements them. A lot of companies have recently started to reduce their teams because they have social media. This is a mistake. Social media is a wonderful tool and great support, however it doesn’t replace a marketing department.
If you need some help with marketing, as well as social media, check us out at Mirror Marketing.
http://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/family-friendly-vibe-is-key-at-montreals-mirror-marketing
Feeding’s over, and Sadie grants her company colleagues permission to return to work — as long as she’s kept amused. Otherwise, no siesta, and all bets are off for the eight-month-old “HR manager” of Mirror Marketing.
“My daughter’s loud, demands constant attention and tells everyone what to do — just like her mother,” says company founder, Miranda. “She’s already exhausted three babysitters, so it made good sense while I was breastfeeding to bring her to the office.”
She finds that Sadie’s presence at work creates a family atmosphere that unites her team and appeals to the company’s clients. The millennial mother’s unorthodox approach to management has paid off in less than a year for her design, marketing and PR startup.
Last February, at seven months pregnant, Miranda decided it was time for a change, and quit her well-paying marketing job to start her own company.
“It might have been the hormones,” she says. “But I believed I had the skills and contacts. A friend told me about an available office in an old Mile End building that houses design studios, workshops and high-tech startups. The place has a great vibe, so I signed the lease knowing I had to make it work.”
With a creative team of six (including Sadie), Mirror Marketing sees itself as a one-stop-shop that has taken on everything from website management and wine label design to political campaign publicity, lesson plans for primary schools, union newsletters, and brochures for security systems.
“We offer everything a startup or established company needs to build its brand and online presence,” says Miranda.
The company found its first new client within minutes of opening.
“A neighbour saw me moving in and asked what we did,” she says. “He needed a web designer and some flyers and offered me work. Satisfied with the job, he referred me to other clients and that’s how I’ve been building up the business.”
“It’s been very encouraging as I believe referral is the greatest compliment you can offer a business.”
But it goes beyond referrals. Miranda is also quick to seize an opportunity, and that has resulted in one of her more unusual clients: a California-based motorbike company that customizes Harley-Davidsons so that daredevils can do wheel stands on their quarter-tonne machines.
“I think you have to be in it to appreciate it,” says Miranda. “My husband’s a Harley rider and complained to the company he had trouble ordering parts from their website. ‘My web designer never returns my calls’ was the plaintive response, so Nigel recommended me.”
“I followed up and fixed their website that weekend. Impressed by such full-throttle service, they’ve used me for design work ever since.”
Being unresponsive to the public is unfortunately all too common in the online world, Miranda says, as some web designers display what she tactfully describes as “an artist’s attitude toward business.”
Instead, she says her model is “always answer the phone, reply to emails and never leave people hanging.” Another of Miranda’s mottoes comes from leadership guru Simon Sinek: Customers will never love your company until the employees love it first.
“I try to make the office a happy place where we have fun,” Miranda says. “We order lots of pizza and have chocolate on hand.”
The office is also equipped with a large corkboard that showcases team ideas and achievements.
“I try to make employees feel valued and allow them creative freedom to go for it.
“I don’t micromanage, but send out a weekly list of what needs to get done. I don’t care if you play Angry Birds in the office so long as you deliver what’s needed.”
Miranda extended her sense of fun to a recent photo shoot that involved a range of men’s bathrobes she’s designing and promoting for a fashion house.
“Instead of using an agency to book the male models, we went on a Facebook and Instagram hunt for a hot-looking hipster, businessman, athlete and musician — plus a playboy-looking gentleman (for the older customers),” she says.
“I left messages asking if they’d like to pose in a bathrobe. Surprisingly, they all agreed. That’s one advantage of being a woman. I don’t think it would have worked the other way around, but just considered creepy. You have to use your strengths.”
Another of Miranda’s strengths is a knowledge of food, which she has used for a supplier of specialized mustard products to Montreal’s top restaurants. In addition to designing promotional tools, like flyers, she attracts return visitors to the client’s social media page by posting her own recipes that include mustard.
“I work longer hours than ever before,” says Miranda. “But looking back, I was miserable for 10 years. I believe now that if you wake up dreading the day ahead, you’re wasting your life. I used to hit the snooze button for two hours before waking up. Now I rise before the alarm, excited every morning and can’t wait to get to the office.”
That said, Miranda admits she took a big risk starting her business and could have done some things better.
“I started with just enough capital to cover only one month of expenses. Even though it worked out, I don’t recommend it. Many startups fail in the first year and you need a bigger cushion.”
“I should have also saved more on unnecessary purchases. I bought a sports Audi and a $5,000 Mac before I started Mirror Marketing. I didn’t really need either, and realize it would have been better to invest that money in the business.”
As an occasional guest speaker, Miranda is similarly frank about life as an entrepreneur, but she’s also inspirational. A recent presentation at McGill University ended with PR students clamouring with offers to intern at her company and one even offered to babysit Sadie.
“Perhaps it’s all a family thing,” says Miranda. “I helped my mother with her Internet company when I was 12, so I guess Sadie’s from three generations of crazy ladies.”
You want to sell your product, service, event or idea to a major buyer, employer, investor or some other person of influence. But no luck so far in making contact. Then, one day, the person who could make your dream come true steps into the elevator.
You have 60 seconds to nab their interest and score a business card, the offer of a meeting or some other positive outcome.
Welcome to the Elevator Pitch…
The concept of a one-minute pitch came into its own during the early IT days when applications for venture capital exploded. The winners were often those who could summarize the value of a software service in simple words to a finance representative with little knowledge of the digital world.
Business schools now teach the Elevator Pitch for encounters outside elevators, such as a supermarket queue, a company party, networking event, cold call, job interview or even a voicemail message.
How to use the Elevator Pitch
Make contact. Recognize the person, show your awareness of their current needs (“I believe you’re looking for a…) or break the ice by some other method. It might be as simple as comment on the weather or an offer to press the button of their floor.
Identify yourself in a way that creates interest and opens up a conversation.
For example:
Hello, I’m Jane Smith and I’m a financial planner.
Better:
A: Hello, I’m Jane Smith and I help people enjoy their golden years.
Don’t ramble or just present a CV. Emphasise your competitive advantage and the benefits you offer the listener. Answer the unspoken question: “What’s in it for me to hear this person out?”
Success = preparation + opportunity
Write and rehearse your Elevator Pitch in about 150-250 words. Develop different versions of your Elevator Pitch for different situations and audiences. Make your speech sound enthusiastic, sincere and conversational. Don’t come across like an overseas call centre.
Stay focused on what you want from the speech and build up to a final ask, such as a business card, meeting, audition, referral. Watch the listener’s body language and responses. If you think your speech worked, follow up with an email to remind them of the meeting and what you have to offer.
You can find many good (and bad) examples of the Elevator Pitch in action on YouTube, Dragon’s Den and crowd funding pitches.
Mirror Marketing’s team of experts can also help you prepare your Elevator Pitch along with the company’s other communications and marketing services.
Richard Andrews is a Montreal-based media consultant, freelance writer and PR lecturer who has also worked in Australia, China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“Fifty per cent of advertising works,” goes the industry saying. “The question is: which 50 per cent?”
In other words, no one can predict exactly what an audience will read, click on, forward or respond to.
However, a few basic tips can help shift the odds in your favor.
KISS your audience – Keep It Short & Sweet
Attention spans are decreasing, while reading off small screens is increasing, so large solid blocks of text don’t cut it. You have about five seconds to catch a reader’s attention with your heading and lead sentence(s). Think of them as a Tweet and place your main message clearly up top. Don’t make reading content a treasure hunt for meaning.
Use simple words. Get a job, instead of “achieve an employment situation.” Keep sentences below 25 words. One thought per sentence. Don’t ramble on. Use the online Flesch Readability Test to check how easy your text is to understand.
Show don’t tell
Go for concrete descriptions rather than abstract terms and use strong verbs.
For example:
Participants in last Sunday’s fun run for charity were hindered by bad weather.
Better:
Charity fun runners last Sunday battled heavy rain and icy winds.
It’s shorter, more graphic, the verb is stronger and the ‘victims’ are turned into ‘heroes.’
Appeal to the senses, give examples and use language that fits the subject.
Version 1
The Rio Café in the Plateau is known as a great place for cool ambiance, good coffee and a venue where famous musicians gather to relax.
It’s all a bit vague. What’s “cool ambiance?” Who are the “famous musicians?”
Version 2
The sounds of Miles Davis mingle with the smell of Brazilian espresso at Leonard Cohen’s favourite hangout, the Rio Café on Rachel Street.
Paints a picture, appeals to two senses and provides details. (The Rio Café is made up, but you can see what I mean.)
What’s in it for me?
Think of what your audience wants to hear rather than what you want to say.
For example:
We are pleased to announce the opening of our new hardware store in NDG.
Most readers probably don’t care whether you’re “pleased” or not, but they might show more interest if you offer to improve their lives:
Revised message:
New NDG hardware store will save locals long car trips just to buy a few screws.
Note that the main keywords (New NDG hardware store) have moved to the top left of the text, where people start reading first. Also the revised version contains more of the vital 5Ws: Who, What, Where, When & Why.
These are just a few tips to get you started — more to come
Whether it’s a website, social media, a brochure, video, ad or flyer, Mirror Marketing’s team of experts can help kick start your efforts to get more bang for your communication buck.
Watch out for my next blog, about the Elevator Speech: the 60-second sales secret used by startups, job seekers, Dragons Den hopefuls and crowd funders.
Richard Andrews is a Montreal-based media consultant, freelance writer and PR lecturer who has also worked in Australia, China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Mirror Marketing prides itself in having what it takes to bring your business to the forefront.
Brand recognition and online popularity are necessary to promote you and your company in todays world of online business.
What is SEO?
SEO is search engine optimization.
SEO is getting your website optimized to rank high in the search engines. It is getting your site to stand out and to appear everywhere. More traffic to your site means more customers.
75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results, making it key for your business to show up on that 1st page!
How do you do that?
It is important to have an SEO professional that can build your websites architecture. Having the right tags, signals and keywords will get you where you want to be. At the TOP of the search engine listings.
Other factors for success are getting the word out through Social Media and Blogging.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogger are a few social media channels that cannot be ignored. They can be vehicles to drive you to the forefront. They can make you known and bring you a large following of visitors that are potential clients.
Social Media is an important tool to keep you ahead of the competition, when it is used correctly.
Would this be a good investment for me?
It would be a great investment, as having your name branded online and the endless possibilities of reaching more clients is tantamount to what you want for your company.The investment in a fully functional website with an SEO marketer is minimal when considering the success that it generates.
