How can I make Social Media work for me?

A few days ago I came across this image explaining the social media landscape in the most simplest terms and I believe that this is one of the best written. (Click image to enlarge)
Sure there are other social media platforms but in terms of business, these six are the most popular.

As highlighted previously on the Jarvis Blog social media allows businesses to talk to their target audience in a social setting and is a a key part of the modern marketing mix. However, many businesses are still very unsure as to where social media fits into their larger marketing strategy and are sometimes loosing sight of the real reason social media exists.

One can argue that the earliest inkling of social media started in online chatrooms and Instant Messenger (Eg. MSN). In 2002 the social networking site, Friendster was opened to the US public and grew to around 3 million users. In 2003, MySpace was created as a way for individuals to share updates and photos, and LinkedIn was also launched as a business-orientated social networking site. We then saw the launch of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and Google+.

So why does social media exist?
Think about the primary reason YOU use social media.
Social media is initially used by individuals to connect with friends and family, share updates, photos, videos and opinions. The secondary function of social media is for individuals to connect with businesses.

How does social media fit into my larger marketing strategy?
Social media should be seen as a supporting channel to your existing marketing efforts and strategy. Depending on your industry and level of spend on advertising and promotion, the level of support will be different.

At Jarvis we like to say, ‘You can’t be all things to all people’ and the same goes with social media. Pick and choose which social media platforms will work best for your business and your goals. Don’t try and be on all social media platforms just because you think you need to be – it wont work.

Social media is part reactionary and part planning. Just like advertising and any other business efforts, it is important to have a strategy in place to create goals and objectives, measure your success, an editorial calendar to plan your time efficiently and maintain consistency. It is also a good idea to research what others in your sector are doing.

Creating great content and driving traffic back to your website is going to remain the number #1 way to generate new leads. Publishing content that is interesting, engaging and informative is a great way to stay in the minds of your target audience. The main aim of your social media content is for it to encourage public engagement and to keep your business top of mind when they are on the path to purchase.

When thinking about content for your social media accounts have a think about yourself and others.. if a page you are following posted this would you like it? would you find it annoying? spammy? If you wouldn’t like it, then it probably wouldn’t be appropriate. The way the public engages with Facebook is completely different to Twitter, Pinterest is completely different to Instagram so why should the messages be the same on each platform? I discourage the program HooteSuite as I believe that each social media platform has different ways of communicating with their audiences. Tailor your messages to suit and make sure the message is short, sharp and shiny! No one reads a paragraph Facebook status!

From a public relations perspective, a big social media no-no is forgetting about, failing to respond, deleting or ignoring negative comments. See these instances as an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer into a happy one.

If you think you need a professional social media/digital strategy or just want ask a few questions, contact us! We are the pros! 🙂

Article By Mel Elsdon

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

Or visit our social media platforms:

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST | YOUTUBE  | LINKEDIN

Make your emails work harder

Email is a beneficial and cost effective marketing tool – but what makes an email campaign effective?

Think about the amount of emails you receive per day and each of their content. What makes you read some and discard others?
The two most important components to consider in an email campaign is relevancy and segmenting your list to target your content accordingly.

Compelling Content
Relevant and captivating content is one of the most important ways to make your email campaign effective and keep your customers interested and engaged.No one wants to stay subscribed to boring and irrelevant email blasts! With so many ways to find out information especially on the internet and an average online consumer spending around 51 seconds scanning over your newsletter; engaging and relevant content and the way in which you deliver this, could make all the difference.

Target Effectively
Instead of sending one generic newseltter to your entire target list, break your readers into smaller segments with similar interests and buying behaviours to tailor content to best meet their needs.For Example: You own a local shop and have started selling your goods online. If you segment your email subscriptions into two groups – local customers and online/interstate customers – you can send updates on your local store including sales and events to your local customers and information regarding online discounts and free shipping to the other. This keeps your content relevant and informative.

By Jo Marshall

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

Or visit our social media platforms:

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST | YOUTUBE  | LINKEDIN

 

QR Codes – Are they dying a slow and painful death?

If you’re a marketer or have paid any attention to digital trends over the past few years you’ve most likely heard of QR codes and maybe even used them. For the benefit of those who haven’t: A QR code – short for Quick Response code is essentially a square barcode that can be scanned and read by anyone with a smartphone with a camera and compatible app. The QR code can then direct your mobile device to a website link, video, image or file, check you in on Facebook, enter you in a competition, add items to a shopping cart and more!

QR codes have been used in mainstream marketing  for a number of years now but haven’t ever really taken off like some may have predicted. It’s not really the poor QR codes fault, the technology works but the application of them is generally poor.

Here’s a few things to consider before using a QR code:

1. Does it make it easier to access the information?

The main issue with QR codes is that they’re mainly used to direct customers to a website when it’s far quicker and easier to just type the url  into your web browser or search the company than download an app (or open it if you’ve previously downloaded) and then scan the code.

2. Is it easy to scan?

A giant QR code on a billboard might seem like a good idea (or not) but how are people meant to scan it as they’re driving by? Just simply take your eyes off the road, download or open the app, stick your arm out your window with your phone out your car window, attempt line up the code from 100m away while moving and scan it all the while trying to avoid crashing your car and hopefully you’ve done this before you’ve driven past the billboard.

The same goes for on moving objects like the outside of buses or trains. Do you really want your customers to get run over? And to a similar extent TV commercials. By the time you’ve opened the app the ad is over, it’s a great way to frustrate your customers.

3. Can they view the content?

While a QR code in a magazine sounds like a much better idea then the above options, you must think about where the magazine is in circulation. If it’s an inflight magazine then how can the viewer see the content it directs them to when they have no access to internet? Some flights do now have wifi onboard but currently this is not readily available on commercial flights. Yes, people can take the magazine with them, sure I’ll just add that to my pile of inflight magazines sitting on my coffee table (correct me if I’m wrong but who actually does that?). The question of content also applies in places where there is no mobile reception such as subway stations.

4. Is there a better alternative?

The problem with technology trends is everyone wants to get on board, just to be seen to be cool and trendy. You must think before putting a QR code on any advertising medium, is there an alternative that. Among the most ridiculous examples of this are QR codes in emails. Firstly many people read their emails on their phone now. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to scan a QR code with your phone if the QR code is on your phone!? I know many people receive emails on their computer so they could scan the code with the phone off the screen right? Right, but why not just put the link in the email so they can simply just click it instead!?

5. Do people know why they should scan it?

Tell people what the QR code is directing them to or what it’s for. Is it going to direct them to like your facebook page, open a video, download a coupon to redeem. Let them know why they should scan and where it’s taken them. It’s also good practice to include another option other than scanning.

6. Is it worth scanning?

Give people a reason and a benefit to scan. Is it worth them downloading an app or getting out their phone to scan it? If it’s simply just your website url then the answer is no, probably not.

7. Have you checked the link?

Make sure it’s not a broken link and works on all mobile devices including android and iphone. Other things to consider… Are you directing your customers to a mobile friendly website? Does the link work?

So the next time you’re thinking about slapping on a QR code on something just think about it.

It’s not all bad news for QR codes, here’s some examples of QR codes that redeem their not so well thought out counterparts:

I believe one of the best and most successful uses of QR codes was Mastercards Priceless campaign using QR codes onYankee stadium seats placed around New York.

QR codes used to make life easier in Taiwan:

New York Central Park “World Park” turned the park into an outdoor mobile museum.

A clever use of QR codes to animate a static print add instead of just linking a video

So what’s next? A number of companys have come up with alternatives, notably touchcode which requires an additional invisible layer to be printed on to the material. According to the creators it’s both cost effective and easy to implement. Once the additional layer has been printed on the item users can simply touch their phone to it and access the information.This does away with having to line up the code and scan but does require additional process unlike QR codes.

Whether this will become a viable replacement to QR codes remains to be seen. One thing is for sure there will always be new technology and as a good marketer your job is to decide whether there is a good reason to use it.

By Daniel Martinovich

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

Or visit our social media platforms:

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Social media tips for 2014

Social Media allows businesses to talk to their target audience in a social setting and is increasingly becoming a key part of the modern marketing mix.

Below are a few social media and digital tips to help your business make 2014 a great year!

1. Be mobile
We’ve been told time and time again, every website needs to be optimized for mobile. But what does this mean? To put it simply, your website needs to be user friendly on a variety of screen sizes. Having a responsive design and thinking about how your consumers will interact with the website on a variety of devices is extremely important. The biggest annoyance I have found in some mobile optimised sites is that they are boring – they might be easy to navigate but sometimes I would rather use the desktop site on my mobile and tablet than use the mobile version. Make sure when you are creating a responsive design that you ask others for their opinions. Also start thinking about other ways you can incorporate the mobile experience such as apps, SMS, responsive emails etc.

2. Niche Sites Will Make An Impact
Even though Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites can allow you to really nail down your audience when advertising, it may pay off to investigate specific niche sites that will often be an affordable and highly targeted alternative.

3. Content is KEY
Creating great content and driving traffic back to your site is going to remain the number #1 way to generate new leads. Publishing content that is interesting, engaging and informative is a great way to stay in the minds of your target audience. The main aim of your social media content is for it to encourage public engagement. We ultimately want your followers to like, comment and share the content, for it to appear in their friends feeds and to generate greater awareness.

4. Spammy Content Will Be Eliminated Everywhere
You may not realise but the public is getting smarter when it comes to advertising. Spam-like content is becoming increasingly frowned upon in the public eye and is not tolerated. This brings us back to content. If any of your content comes across as spammy, irrelevant and unwanted it will be deleted and they will hit the ‘unlike’ button. When thinking about content for your social media accounts have a think about yourself and others.. if a page you are following posted this would you like it? would you find it annoying? spammy? If you wouldn’t like it, then it probably wouldn’t be appropriate.

5. Consistency and Planning is Important
Social media is part reactionary and part planning. Just like advertising and any other business efforts, it is important to have a strategy in place to create goals and objectives, measure your success, plan your time efficiently and maintain consistency. It is also a good idea to research what others in your sector are doing, what are you competitors doing differently to you?

6. Limit Your Platforms
 At Jarvis we like to say, ‘You can’t be all things to all people’ and the same goes with social media. Pick and choose which social media platforms will work for you and concentrate on them. Don’t try and be on all social media platforms just because you think you need to be – it wont work.
For example: If your business is in the financial sector, you might find that Twitter is helpful in reporting up to the second finance trends and news; and a blog may be effective in explaining in a more in-depth way what these changes mean to your clients, where other platforms don’t really offer your customers anything useful. If your an artist, visual platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram will help you showcase your work to the world and other platforms such as Twitter may not fit.
It is important to evaluate each social media platform and really nut out whether they will enhance your messages.

7. Influencers and Word-of-Mouth Hold Power
Like I said before, the public is getting smarter when it comes to advertising. The younger market doesn’t want to be sold to. They don’t want you to tell them what to do and what to have. It has become more and more important to have your products endorsed by someone credible, be recommended by word-of-mouth or appeal on a personal level. By empowering your best customers to spread the word for you, you can gain trust in a new audience and hopefully turn them into new customers.

8. Everyone Likes a Picture
Image based platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest are great ways to showcase visually what you are about. While text is not dead, it would be a great idea for you to think of ways you can incorporate images into your other social media platforms that will compliment your written content.

9. Video Consumption Will Increase
Whether it’s meant to inform or advertise, consumers like to watch short videos to learn more about businesses. People are lazy – they like to watch things to gather information rather than read copious amounts of text. It may be relevant to your sector or it may not (see point 5 & 6) but you should investigate as to whether video content will add value to your website or even allow you to relay information to your target audience in a personal fashion.

10. Evaluate Your Messages
The way the public engages with Facebook is completely different to Twitter, Pinterest is completely different to Instagram so why should the messages be the same on each platform? If you are using social media tools like Hoote Suite to publish content on ALL social media platforms with one click.. think again. Evaluate the medium, how are others using it? Keep in mind the different ways of communication and tailor you messages and their language to the appropriate channels.

2014 is going to be an exciting year. Be sure to stay on top of your businesses social media efforts.
If you think you need a professional social media/digital strategy or just to ask a few questions, contact us! We are the pros! 🙂

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

Or visit our social media platforms:

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST | YOUTUBE  | LINKEDIN

Where should you place your advertising?

There are so many advertising mediums. This can be the most confusing step for any brand manager or anyone in business.

Where you place your advertising should be based on a simple principle.

Go where your target audience is most likely to see, read or hear it.

There is no single medium that is good or bad. All will reach an audience.

Simply put, the medium or mediums to use are the ones that fit your advertising objectives reach your target market and fit within your budget.

 

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

Independent advice

There are so called advertising experts everywhere. It is one of the only professions where you don’t need some sort of accreditation or licence to operate.

One simple rule applies. Are they independent?

Whatever you do avoid listening to a rep peddling a particular medium. They are being paid to sell that advertising medium so will never offer independent advice.

No amount of razzle-dazzle, flash presentations, graphs, research and spin should convince you of anything.

OBTAIN INDEPENDENT ADVICE – should I repeat that?

 

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

 

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Working on your Marketing Budget

Take stock!

This means work out exactly how much you are spending on marketing and advertising.

Review everything that is remotely about marketing and communications in your business.

It is going to be a scary exercise but be brave. Include people, yellow pages, messages on hold, the corporate box, sponsorships, donations, and all the trade press advertising you have been sold over the years under the name of branding. Also review promotional products. Do you really need to give suppliers a stubby holder, mouse pad or pen that last a day or two. Even events where everyone gets to drink and eat at your expense.Do you really need to go into every feature that is produced for your industry?

You get the idea. Now do this first!!!!

 

For more information about Jarvis, our work and team – please visit jarvismarketing.com.au

Creative strategies that lead to good advertising

 The purpose of creative strategy in brand advertising is to position the product.

Correct positioning has more effect on sales than any other step.

Positioning is placing your product uniquely in the customers mind. It is setting the product apart from its competition in the mind of the consumer.

Positioning is the result, strategy is how you get there.

What about brand Image? The image of a brand is the products personality beyond its physical characteristics.

Creative strategy 

1. Objective

• Clear statement – the position you wish to occupy in the consumers mind
• The essence of positioning is sacrifice – you can’t be all things to all people

2. Target Audience

• Paint a three-dimensional portrait of the consumer
• Demographics are a start but go further and describe the consumers’ attitudes, personality, lifestyle etc.
• Include the competitors we must replace
• The target market is a key strategic issue. Do research

3. Promise

• Search for a promise of benefit to the customer
• What is the benefit of the product to the consumer?
• A good strategy always leads to a consumer promise
• A benefit on which to build the advertising

4. Support

• Can you give the customer a reason to believe the promise
• A reason why can help support a product benefit

5. Tone and Manner

• Search for a distinctive tone for the advertising
• Tone helps build personality
• Personality helps separate brands from their competition
• This is the area where brands are built. Make every effort to separate brands from competitors.

For more information about our work or us, visit jarvismarketing.com.au