Social Media Strategy

by Lisa Peyton, VP Bonfire Social Media
Deals. They are everywhere these days. With our economy in a serious recession, consumers are laser-focused on getting the most for their money and EVERYONE loves a great deal.

With the advent of location-based applications like Foursquare and Facebook Places, deals are becoming more relevant than ever before. The ability to geo-target a consumer walking into your store or down your block is a marketing first so it’s not surprising that many platform developers are jumping on the ‘location-based’ bandwagon.

All the hype surrounding these new tools makes it difficult for business owners to make informed decisions about where to put their efforts. So let’s examine the facts and compare some of the more popular applications side by side.

I chose to report on the most popular applications for location-based deal creation as well as those I have the most experience with. These include Facebook Places Deals, Foursquare, Gowalla and Yelp. I implore readers to comment with any information about additional platforms they feel have offered value to their business. continue

By Lisa Peyton, VP Bonfire Social Media

Let me start off by announcing that none of the platforms mentioned have compensated me in any way or asked me to promote their products. I simply hoped to find a good tool for a reasonable price that would allow me to track metrics associated with campaign goals. I would also like to add the disclaimer that with the dozens of great tools available, there was no way to include them all. If you have experience with a great tool, PLEASE SHARE with the community by commenting on this post.

The information provided on each tool below is only PART of the equation when searching for a good social media monitoring solution. The MOST important question that should be asked is – what do you need to track and why? Most tools out there will report on endless amounts of data; the real trick is finding the tool that will report on the data you need to determine if campaign goals are being met.

Goals

The first step to finding a great tool for my client was taking a look at campaign goals. The primary goals included growing their Facebook fan base as rapidly as possible (BAD GOAL) and tracking – that is, which social media platforms and influencers were the most active for their brand terms. A good goal is measurable and time-sensitive, but not many clients come to the table armed with goals that include this level of detail so I made a few changes and came up with these working goals:

• Grow Facebook fan base by 100% over the next 3 months
• Increase overall fan page interactions by 100% over the next 3 months
• Identify the most active social media platforms for brand terms over the next 3 months
• Identify the most influential and active brand advocates on social media networks continue

For the first time, social media platforms were included in recent reports on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The platforms included Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia and YouTube. ForeSee Results recently released their Annual E-Business Report that  highlighted the surveys key findings. continue

We have compiled the latest statistics reflecting current online marketing trends. Online social media platforms are continuing to grow rapidly and are becoming even more a part of our everyday life. Advertisers are taking advantage of this by moving marketing dollars away from traditional media and moving into the digital and interactive space.

Company: Mio Gelato
Social Media Marketing Team: Lisa Peyton/Ryan Lewis, Bonfire Social Media
Campaign Length: 3 months
Result: Up to a 44% increase in sales at various locations
SoMe Award ‘Peoples Choice’ Winner 2010

The Challenge

Mio Gelato is a locally-owned cafe with 4 locations around the Portland metro area. Best known for it’s  frozen gelato, Mio’s owner wanted to combat slower  sales during the winter months. He hoped to utilize the power of social media along with great promotions to keep patrons coming back; not just for gelato, but for soups, Italian hot cocoa and/or a quick lunch.
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Twitter launched it’s anticipated revenue model today and  I’m a bit disappointed.  I know many people are keeping their opinions to themselves and letting the ‘Twitterati’ do the talking, but I’ll take my chances by speaking out. continue

This story is by Joel Gorthy of Oregon Quarterly:

Talk about a beer buzz.

In barely four years of existence, Ninkasi Brewing Company of Eugene has grown into Oregon’s seventh-largest brewery—no paltry feat in a state where icons such as Widmer, Deschutes, and Full Sail cap a roster of some eighty beer producers. continue

When entering into the complicated world of social media marketing, a business must have clear goals and realistic expectations of their efforts.  There are several examples out there of companies that have seen huge results from a simple YouTube video or a photo that went “viral” and changed the whole company’s quarterly performance. Business is a tall-tale factory when it comes to these stories and it is important to dig deep to uncover the methods, tools and preparation that makes for a successful social media marketing campaign. continue

It may sound crazy, but I love chaos. I love having drastic change effect business and life. I even love tornadoes, snow storms, floods and earthquakes. Maybe I should have been a Fireman, but that is besides the point. I love chaos because it means opportunity and to me, there’s not a more opportune time to be in marketing than right now. continue

Relevance is something I have been talking about for about a month on various panels, client training and internally at Bonfire. What the idea truly comes down to is making sure you are recognizing people exist. Now I know this seems like a no brain-er and, well, it should be. But it is something that’s often forgotten in the hustle of running a business. continue