Jeremy Blanton – Page 50

Gap is our “Social Media Winner of the Week”

In case you missed it, over the past week or so, Gap decided to change their corporate logo, then got pressured (largely via social media channels) to change it back. My initial reaction on seeing this was to assume that they planned it this way from the beginning, but I don’t have any contacts in the “Gap circle of trust” to know for sure. Gap has been around a little longer on the earth than I have, and my cursory research didn’t reveal whether their iconic blue box logo had been around since they were founded in 1969, but I know that they’ve had the same logo at least since the 80’s, when I used to shop there during high school.

So, one of two things happened here, and I see them as mutually exclusive:

1. In a stroke of business branding genius, Gap knew that their new logo would fail miserably and cause a public outcry, at which point they could save the day by reverting back to the original, comfortable logo we’ve all known for years, OR…

2. Gap simply messed up, but they were paying attention and responded swiftly to the unhappy consumer audience.

Frankly, it doesn’t matter which of these comprises the truth. Either way, Gap wins.

Why is that, exactly?

Well, do you remember the last time you talked about Gap with your friends before this incident? Or the last time Gap made headline news? Yeah, me neither. In fact, this could be the first time in their 41-year history that they did something worth talking about. I applaud them for this move (and for the change back, because the new logo really did kinda stink), since they did something buzzworthy. How often do you see large corporations making bold moves? Every once in awhile, you might see a risque GoDaddy commercial, but, by and large, companies tend to play it safe.

The bottom line question: Will this sell more clothing for Gap? My guess is that it will, simply because they managed to get top-of-mind awareness this week, even among people who were mocking them. This much exposure can’t ever hurt a brand, and I bet Gap’s holiday earnings are better than expected.

So, whether it was accidental (a la New Coke) or intentional, congratulations to the Gap executives. I bet this is one risk that will pay off for them.

P.S. I considered posting the new logo, then thought better of it. It’s ugly, in my humble opinion.

Social Media Relationships is the ROI Overlooked By Many

Online Consulting, Social Media Advisors, Social Media Training

So many times when you discuss social media with someone they want to know what type of Return on Investment(ROI) they can expect from using social media in their marketing efforts. They want to know how business will increase from the time they spend in tweeting each day and Facebooking. They want to know how many blog posts have to be written before they will see results. But the one factor that gets passed over many times is the relationships that are formed through social media.

I was listening to a keynote today by Scott Stratten of Unmarketing and the one thing that rang so loud and clear to me was that we often overlook social for the media part of marketing. We are so busy trying to figure out how to grow our sphere, increase SEO and more that we forget about just interacting with others. Those interactions can be much more effective to your business than reaching 5,000 followers on twitter.

Shortly after finishing listening to Scott’s Keynote, I looked at the mail for the day to find a package there with my name on it. This envelope was rather large in size and had *as requested! written on the top. I saw the return address label said my good friend Mike Mueller. Mike and I met about two years ago through social media. He lives in California while I live in South Carolina. We had commented on each others blog numerous times and became friends on Facebook. Then, through my business partners connection we both became co-hosts on a radio show. We also connected on Twitter and had multiple conversations since.

To say we became friends would be an understatement. We now talk regularly about various things in business and are huge supporters of each other. Mike creates amazing custom Facebook pages. Our company helps businesses with their online social media presence through coaching and also builds affordable custom WordPress sites. Whenever a client of ours mentions the first thing about Facebook, we instantly send them over to Mike. He knows about the current and upcoming things with Facebook batter than anyone I know. He does amazing work and is better at it than anyone else I have ever seen. When it comes to custom Facebook Pages, there is none better. Because of our trust in Mike’s work, we have been able to send multiple clients his way and increase his revenue.

On the other hand, Mike has done the same for us. I have been able to help several of his clients that wanted to learn more about SEO, or how to write blog posts, and much more. Our social connection has become a win-win for both of our businesses. I’ve never once tried to sell Mike something nor has he tried to sell me his products. He doesn’t need to market to me. Why? We have formed a trust relationship that allows us to freely recommend each others services without hesitation. To give you an idea of how powerful social media can be for building trust, I only recently met Mike in person for the first time while in Orlando. We shared a hotel room at a conference we both were speaking at.

So you may be wondering, what sparked writing this post. Well, it was two things. The first was the speech by Scott that I listened to today. The second was to share a funny story about Mike. Last week Mike and I were chatting on Facebook and he said that he was heading out the door with his wife to pick up some things at Costco. I immediately said, “Hey while you are there can you get me some pizza?” Later that evening Mike sent me a message saying he had it, and that I needed to come and get it. I replied “don’t you deliver?” Which brings me back to the package in the mail today.

As I began to open it I was immediately greeted with wonderful smells of that pleasant pizza from Costco. Unfortunately, with it’s week delivery time thanks to postal carriers, it was already starting to grow things that most people are not fans of consuming. I guess it just goes to show that we should stick to social media for our jokes for quicker delivery. 🙂

In closing I leave you with this, take time each and every day to focus more on your social and less on your media. You never know when that person you are connecting with could be your next client, or send you 10 prospective clients. And lastly, don’t mail pizza across the country!

Goo.gl Changes Link Shortening

SEO, Social Media Advisors, Social Media Training

Today I took some time to play with a new favorite of mine Goo.gl. This is a great product that the search engine giant created that simply rocks. What Goo.gl does is allows you to shorten links quickly and easily.This feature alone is nice, but it isn’t the reasons that fell in love with this new product. There are three major pieces that I simply love with Goo.gl. Here’s a short synopsis of it.

QR Codes

QR Codes are the newest & latest craze that is sweeping the digital community. Many think it is a way to make paper marketing once again effective. Personally, I don’t think things are quite there yet. I understand the concepts of QR codes and think they are cool, but unless consumers have a smart phone they cannot use QR code. I have seen many people starting to remove all their contact information and placing just a QR code there for people to scan. I am all for cutting edge technology but, I think that is a little more on the bleeding edge. Nevertheless, you can create them very quickly and easily by using Goo.gl. All you need to do is add .qr to the link. I simply copied the image and then linked to it and the QR code to the right was made. In the future as QR codes continue to grow in popularity, I see Goo.gl becoming a very important tool used to creating them.

Goo.gl Allows Easy Link Tracking

Wonder how many people are really clicking on the links you share on Facebook, Twitter, and more? If you shorten the links with Goo.gl, you can then track instantly how many times your links are clicked upon and also where your efforts are paying off. I ran a test earlier today with one of Jason Crouch’s posts on Using Social Media to increase Face to Face Meetings. I then shared the shortened link on Facebook and also on Twitter. You can see the results below. It shows you how many clicks, where they clicked in and also you can see the time where I posted it as well as when Jason did. At both times there was a quick spike in traffic.

The other things I enjoy is that Goo.gl shows me what browswers, what country and also what platforms the person was using when they clicked the link. I know, you may be thinking who cares about how many times something gets clicked and where they click from, but three situations where you may care.

1. Clients want to know what your online marketing efforts are doing for them. Ever have a client that wants to just see the numbers? This happens so many times when things may not be going perfect. You are doing your job, it is just taking a little more time to bring the results they expect. The next time you have someone ask you well what is going on with (insert so many things here) that you could respond with, let me see what type of clicks we are getting.

When the client sees that you have generated 28,000 clicks, they will be able to see that you are doing a good job and hopefully reduce the heat.

2. What network is my sweet spot? I share things on Facebook all the time but don’t really see a ton of interactions on my Facebook profile or our company Facebook Page in comments/likes. But when I started doing the test, I noticed quickly that on my first test link that Facebook connections clicked on the link a lot more than those on Twitter. While Google Analytics gives me some of this info, I am not crazy about the fact that it takes time for the analytics to update. With Goo.gl it updates instantly. I am a big fan of instant results. (not a Google Instant pun)

3. Effective Time Management. Ever wonder what time of day is best for you to be tweeting and sharing info? Well, with Goo.gl you can quickly and easily view when your links are getting more clicks and adjust your strategies accordingly. Test it out over few different days and times and you will learn quickly.

Collaborative Link Tracking

If you are like me, you work on projects from time to time with teams. Or maybe even with just your clients. One of the coolest features that Goo.gl does is allow you to create a shortened link, give to a group to share and then also let the entire group track the Results. In the first comment below you will see a link to track the clicks on this post. So if you want to share the Goo.gl shortened link for this post and see what type of traffic you generate you can. Anyone and everyone that you want to share the data with can by simply visiting a URL.

No longer will clients be contacting you wanting updates on numbers. They can simply follow along with you as you share with your online friends about their product or service.

Go give Goo.gl a try now! By the way, all the links in this post have been shortened, so when you click around, I am gonna know! 🙂

Using Social Media to Enhance Face-to-Face Meetings

How to Use Twitter, Social Media Advisors, Social Media Training

For the past couple of years, I’ve been helping others to market effectively online, having done this for my own businesses since 1996. One of the interesting trends I’ve noted is the fact that some people (and companies) spend a lot of time and effort working on their online presence, at the expense of “real world” interaction.

Social media (or “new media”, if you prefer) tools and platforms aren’t intended to supplant face-to-face interaction and networking, but to ENHANCE them.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course. Perhaps you really don’t want to meet and engage in a personal manner. The only valid example I can think of is if you are a full-time eBay seller and you never meet customers or you happen to provide a product that doesn’t require much trust or a relationship to sell (not sure what that might be – perhaps paper clips or straws?).

However, for the rest of us, those of us who want to make an impact, or to have a wide network of friends and resources, you need to get out and press the flesh when you can. Sorry – I guess “press the flesh” sounds a little vulgar or old-fashioned these days. It’s best to make an effort to meet and speak with real, live people. Better?

I’ve been guilty of this myself in the past, especially since we have a large family and it’s not always easy to make time for travel and/or events. That being said, I thrive on working a crowd at an event, especially when I know a good number of people already. It energizes me.

My son thinks I’m already pretty famous. Of course, I don’t want to dispel this notion too much, but I am clearly not Ashton Kutcher or even Clint Howard (Google that one if you like). I once saw Chris Brogan speak to a crowd of about 300 people, and it put things in perspective for me when he asked, “How many people here know me personally?” There were a few hands that went up. Then he asked, “How many people here FEEL like you know me?” Almost every hand in the room went up. To me, this is a good way to gauge if you’re doing things right with your online efforts. It’s one thing to build a tremendous number of followers, but it’s quite another for them to actually care about you as a human being or about your company.

I joked a few days ago on Twitter that I think there should be an award given for “Most Followers with the Least Engaged Audience”. There are many hundreds of accounts vying for this title. I like to equate this type of “blind broadcast” to having the chance to speak at halftime during the Super Bowl while the entire audience puts on blindfolds and those fancy noise-cancellation headphones. What a waste! If you want to actually grow a business, or make valuable connections, or basically build any real influence at all, face-to-face goes a long way, especially when combined with an engaging online presence.

Can you build a solid audience without meeting everyone in person? Of course you can, but it will grow faster and bond more quickly when you’re out and about, shaking real hands and giving real hugs. Even politicians do that. You want to be more trusted than a politician, right?

Just some food for thought…

Image credit: Jerry (found on Flickr.com)