Social Media Survey Results – A Report on the State of Social Media in Northeast Wisconsin
In May, MarketingSavant and the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce conducted a comprehensive survey on the state of social media marketing in Northeast Wisconsin. The survey reflected the first attempt at a public survey to gather usage data and to determine the importance of social media to the business community of in Northeast Wisconsin.
The results overwhelmingly pointed to the fact that social media marketing is here to stay in Northeast Wisconsin! Some of the highlights from the survey include:
- 100% of survey respondents indicated that they felt social media has a place in the business world
- 35% of respondents are “very” to “extremely” familiar with social media
- 69% of Northeast Wisconsin organizations reported that they were already using some form of social media in their business today
- One-in-three respondents reported gaining customers through using social media
- Social networking is the top tool of choice to enhance business marketing efforts
- 50% of organizations allow their employees to participate in social media
- Brand-building and the perceived low cost of social media are the key benefits that respondents derive from social media
We don’t usually ask people to fill out forms for content but we put a lot of work into this one and would really like to know who and how many are downloading it.
So we hope you don’t mind our asking for a little info (it’s worth it) and we promise not to spam you.
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Live chat at noon: Using social media to find a job
If you’re looking for a job and haven’t yet jumped on the social media bandwagon using Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, join the chat at noon today on the Green Bay Press-Gazette website to find out more about how social media can help in your job search. I’ll be hosting the chat. Drop in at noon to ask your questions.
If you’re looking for some ideas right now, check out the article that I wrote for the paper today, “Social media can accelerate job search” right here.
If you want to whole packet of info that we’ve put together to help you get started with your social media job search, fill out the form below.
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Marketing Classics: The Hierarchy of Effects
I was sitting down with an advertising executive in the radio industry recently and we spent a considerable amount of time talking about marketing strategy. This, of course, is not an odd topic of conversation, but the context is what struck me. I (incorrectly) thought that broadcast advertising folks were generally predisposed to offering up a more tactical approach that would naturally include purchasing their media as part of any discussion with a local business owner or head of marketing. What I learned was that, contrary to my belief, there are actually some very strategic advertising sales people out there who understand customer behavior, marketing strategy and how their service actually fits into the mix, and more importantly, when it doesn’t fit.
The point of this is that my friend brought up the communication process that all customers go through when considering a purchase. He often explained this process (you might know it as AIDA, or something similar) as a ‘natural law’ and he further went on to explain that no one’s ever figured out how to short-circuit this natural law, so all marketers need to abide by it or risk the potential success of their marketing endeavors or worse, their whole business. What my friend was referring to was what academics know as “The Hierarchy of Effects”. There have been MANY iterations on this model, but at the end of the day, it points to a general communication process that takes place in the consumer’s mind on the way from “completely unknown” to “I must have your brand of widget now”.
Effectively marketing in and managing each of the stages of the heirarchy of effects is an essential ingredient in successful marketing campaigns, yet so many marketers ignore one or more of the stages and then wonder why a campaign or product launch produced lackluster results. Let’s look more closely at the hierarchy of effects model.
Why is it a hierarchy?
It’s a hierarchy because we lose customers as they move through the various stages. At each stage in the process, that marketer must meet different marketing objectives using differnet tools, strategies, tactics and even channels. That’s not to say that you need some elaborate plan for each stage that rivals the heft of War and Peace. What it does mean is that you need to have, in your marketing strategy, a plan that at least includes relevant elements for each stage and that you don’t skip or skimp on a stage in the hierarchy.
Do customers care about the hierarchy?
As in, do they know where they’re at? Yes, in fact, they do. And you will too if you’re measuring things correctly. In fact, if you turn the hierarchy upside down, it looks a lot like a sales funnel. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Each organization will have a unique hierarchy/funnel that meets the needs of their prospects and customers, but once you’ve spent the smallish sum that it requires to actually sort this all out for your company, and if you’re really savvy, for each of your core target marketers, you’ll be amazed at the efficiency with which you can plan your marketing campaigns from that point forward.
How do I get started on my own or improve my current hierarchy?
This is pretty straightforward. What we generally do is:
- Look first at what you’re doing across all of your marketing activity today and map those activities to the stage in the hierarchy of effects that’s the closest fit.
- Next we do some brainstorming or primary research on customer behavior (whatever your budget allows) to determine what feelings, behaviors, information needs and actions they exhibit in each of the stages.
- We then start to look at how our existing strategy and actions meet the customers needs at each stage and start to measure (or dig up the measurements & metrics reports that we have) to determine the effectiveness
- Finally, we start working, one stage at a time, to determine the ideal strategy and marketing plan for each stage and then roll that out over a period of weeks or months.
- Wash, rinse, repeat, measure and improve!
With a full understanding of the hierarchy of effects, specific to your company and your customers, you can now truly begin to see the effects of a genuine ‘integrated marketing’ campaign and strategy. The tools, tactics and channels will all work together to meet the overarching marketing and business goals while meeting each of the sub-goals in each stage of the hierarchy. When it’s truly functioning as it should, the hierarchy of effects is a beautiful thing!
Looking for more information on the Hierarcy of Effects? Download our newest Executive Briefing Paper on how to use the Hierarcy of Effects to your marketing Advantage.
The briefing paper contains everything you need to know about the Hierarchy of Effects with tips and ideas on how to adapt the models to your own marketing strategy.
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Day 8 is Entrepreneurs DIY Marketing Month E-course Review Day
“Eat a live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
– Unknown
I’ve had a few emails asking something to the effect of “so, this stuff is great, but how am I supposed to keep up?” We’ll take care of that issue today!
For the past several days, you’ve been fed a constant diet of marketing ideas, planning tips and action items. Some of them might seem out of order (like, shouldn’t we have done some segmenting, targeting and positioning somewhere in the mix here?) but I assure
you that in the order of DIY importance for every entrepreneur, there are multiple paths that you can take and this is just one version.
Let’s look at what we’ve done so far:
*** Day 1: Every Good [Marketing] Journey Starts With a Map!
*** Day 2: Does everyone know about you who should know about you?
*** Day 3: Time to work on your “number one, number two” strategy. Are you playing offense?
*** Day 4: Are you giving back enough of what you’ve gained?
*** Day 5: Friday is “make me a smarter marketer” day.
*** Day 6: Let’s talk about building your marketing database/list this weekend!
*** Day 7: 31 Ways to Build Your Mailing Database.
We’ve been through a lot already, and there’s so much more to go! I hope you’re all looking forward to a great month ahead!
There’s still time to catch up if you want to get in on the program! If you’re still not signed up, you can join the entrepreneur’s DIY marketing e-course and get the free e-book “30 Ideas in 30 Days” today. Just fill out the form below!
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Social Media Breakfast Recap
We’re eating our own dog food and trying to keep up with this marketing consistency thing that we’ve been talking about by holding the 3rd New North Social Media breakfast this week. We started out with about 11-13 people and have grown to over double that. I know that some of the ‘large city’ groups like Minneapolis are drawing upwards of 100, but they’ve also had 15 breakfasts…who knows what will happen by then! (by the way, our 15th breakfast will likely be on June 3rd, 2010…in case you’re wondering…)
Anyway, in light of the wonderful coverage that we received in the Appleton Post-Crescent entitled “Appleton’s Social Media Breakfast shows how businesses can ‘tweet’ their marketing“, we decided (meaning, as I put together the agenda the night before the event) to focus on Twitter.
Greg and Abby at the Weidert Group put together the venue, which was a wonderful place, save for a few hiccups by doubling the group size in a space setup for a group half the size.
When people ask about the group and what it does, I’m going to rely on a comment that someone posted in response to the article in the post crescent. Their words capture this so much better than mine.
Social media breakfasts are a simple & economical way to bring together an online community in person & on a regionally-based model. Once these online “Social Media Friends” meet face-to-face there’s historically almost an immediate bond w/people they’ve only “seen” online. Meeting in person, many times, strengthens these relationships & helps grow new business partnerships & alliances.
I think that about covers it, don’t you?
Anyway, if you’re interested in joining us at the next New North Social Media Breakfast, it’s going to be held on Thursday July 9th at a TBD location in the Green Bay/De Pere area where our focus will be on ’social media toolkits’ and doing (finally) a proper presentation of what people use to ‘get their social media stuff done’.
Join us on LinkedIn or better yet, become a member of the NNSMB Ning group.
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Marketing Classics: The Rule of Three and Four
Those that know me know that I’m a huge fan of classical marketing writing. Stuff from the 20’s through the 80’s that most of us have forgotten but that’s still so highly relevant today, especially with all of the new tools & channels that we have to wade through. So, in each newsletter from now going forward, I’ll be highlighting a classical marketing concept and pointing a a resource to learn more about it or to refresh your marketing memory.
This week’s concept is from some work done in the 60’s & 70’s by the Boston Consulting Group on what they called the "The Rule of Three and Four".
The Rule of Three and Four states that in any stable competitive market (now, it’s up to you to define the ‘market’) there are rarely more than three or four main competitors (think soft drinks, diapers, cars, etc) and those competitors exist in a world where the largest of them has no more than four times the market share of the smallest.
Why does this matter?
1. Defining your relevant market and its boundaries is of utmost importance. (redefining is even more important, over time!)
2. Challengers who expect to topple a competitor must out-market them by capturing independent market sectors first.
3. The rule is not easy to apply, but it’s effects on the company that does not abide can be undesirable (to say the least)
For those who are still looking at this cross-eyed, remember back in the early 80’s (or, from your business textbook that talked about the early 80’s!) when Jack Welch, the then CEO of GE told the company that every GE business unit should be number one or number two in its market, or else. Or else what? “Fix it, sell it or close it”. Well, the Rule of Three and Four is one of the oft forgotten business & marketing classic where Jack’s mandate was derived from.
This ‘rule’ that Welch applied turned out to be one of the more effective mandates of his time, so much so, that scores of companies have adopted and profited from it since, even if they don’t know where the idea originated.
Read more about The Rule of Three and Four»
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Consistency & Frequency – Ingredients for Success in Social Media & Thought Leadership
“The secret of success is consistency of purpose.”
– Benjamin Disraeli
This article is part confession and part lesson. One of the greatest challenges of any marketing program, especially in companies that are not ‘marketing organizations at heart’ (for marketers at heart, think P&G or Coca-Cola) is keeping up the consistency and frequency while staying the course. It seems that every week I have a conversation with an organization that’s challenged with marketing consistently and with the right frequency, especially when it comes to adding social media marketing into the equation. As a confession, I have the same challenges. Yes, you know it… In light of all this, I have a few thoughts on consistency & frequency and how to keep things on track. Further, I’m always searching for ways to combine social media and thought leadership marketing. These concepts are extremely important in both. To be a thought leader, you need to be consistent and engage in constant relevant dialogue with your audience of customers & prospects. That goes double for social media.
Sean D’Souza of the PsychoTactics™ newsletter recently penned an article on consistency where he advocated putting together marketing communication plans that operate on fixed days until 2025. The thinking here is that if you’re going to commit to customer communication, your customers will come to expect that you communicate with them on regular intervals and that it’s your responsibility to put yourself on a schedule to communicate with them until 2025. I’m not sure that 2025 is the goal we all need to shoot for, but if you’re not collecting ideas & committing to marketing communication for at least the next couple of years, you’re missing an opportunity to gain significant mindshare and trust in the minds of your clients’.
Now, before you dismiss this as stuff you’ve heard before, let’s look at what simple consistency as a core operating competency has done for an organization that you all know. This comes from a recent article in Fortune magazine.
Read the rest of this entry »
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