Columbia Business School's BRITE - which stands for branding, innovation, technology - conference is one of my very favorites. I've participated in it since 2006 [before it was officially BRITE], and always emerge inspired and energized.
The 2012 BRITE Conference takes place March 5 and 6 at Columbia University in NYC and features, as usual, an impressive group of speakers including John Hayes (Global CMO, American Express), Marc Speichert (CMO, L'Oreal USA), Cathy Benko (Vice Chair and Managing Principal, Brand, Deloitte), Bob Garfield (host of On the Media, editor for Ad Age), Stephen Baker (author of Final Jeopardy, on artificial intelligence), and one of my favorites, Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.
Check out the full BRITE '12 agenda to get a feel for the topics, the speakers and the level of business innovation you will be exposed to.
You might also enjoy exploring articles about previous BRITE sessions. They'll surely whet your appetite for dynamic conversation and intense business innovation:
If you are available and in the NYC area, I recommend that you consider attending.
If you do go, be sure to enter discount code britesocial for a $100 discount when you register.
I hope to see you there.
Meet my friend Bill Buyok, owner of Avente Tile LLC. Bill is an avid, yet deliberate, user of social media for his small business. He's also effective. Whenever I need an example of a business owner successfully using social media, including to generate leads, I refer to Bill and the Avente TileTalk Blog.
I'm not the only one! Bill contributed to the Floor Covering News Social Media Guide for Business 2011 with an article titled "Build your small business with a blog" on page 12.
I met Bill IRL [in real life] at Coverings 2010 in Orlando at that show's first ever Tweetup [see Meetups and Tweetups: Building Community]. Ever since, we've been in regular contact via Twitter, blog comments, email and Skype sessions. I'm looking forward to catching up with him at Coverings 2012 where he will be participating in the show's Social Media Lounge program!
Meanwhile, I think you will enjoy Bill's insights on why and how he uses social media for his business.
C.B.: Bill, tell me about yourself and how you got started with Avente Tile.
I started Avente Tile because I was looking for hand painted tiles with an old world design similar to some I had seen from Spain. I couldn’t find any designs in local showrooms, tile stores, or online. Once I found the right tiles, I fell in love with them and decided I would start a company to sell them.
Our namesake, Avente, is derived from the Latin 'abante' that means “before” or “at the forefront.” Avente LLC (“Avente Tile“) is dedicated to providing handcrafted tiles that are at the forefront of their class.
C.B.: How did you get started in social media? What made you start a blog?
I started blogging after a trip to the Dominican Republic after seeing cement tiles being made. I thought, “Wow, I want people to see how these tiles are made, how they are used, and the history.” It was then I realized how much information a blog can convey through dialogue that a corporate site usually can’t. Being able to provide a story about your products helps everyone understand their unique qualities and value. I also enjoy writing, but always find it challenging. What better way to hone my skills and share my unique perspective?
I started using social media in the fall of 2009. Friends encouraged me to use Facebook and Twitter. I naturally resisted – who had the time? But, I could see the possibilities behind these tools. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing; at the same time, I knew I could learn if I got started.
C.B.: What are all of the digital tools you use for your business? Why do you use them?
Blogging allows me to share my unique perspective about a product I love, Tile.
I use Twitter and Facebook to help broadcast this message. Facebook helps me connect with friends from my past. Twitter allows me to network with vendors, professionals and colleagues in my business and areas of interest.
LinkedIn is a great way to find professional support and share your message.
Pinterest is a great way to easily share visual concepts from me and others – which comes in handy with tile!
Flickr allows me to organize and share photos of tiles and installations.
YouTube gets a lot of traffic and can’t be ignored. Video is the most difficult media for me to work with, but it's very effective at showing processes like how tile are made or an order is packed.
C.B.: How do you integrate your blog with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.?
Social media is a tool. Different tools do different jobs. Having different tools in your toolbox and knowing when and how to use them, makes you more effective. They all work best when they work together to help achieve your company’s marketing goals. I use Twitter and Facebook to broadcast my message and promote my brand. A new YouTube post can be part of your weekly blog post or included in your monthly newsletter. The connections you make on LinkedIn or Twitter might allow you to source new products, vendors, or services to improve your bottom line.
C.B.: What have you found to be most beneficial about blogging? [Note: click on "Build your small business with a blog" to read Bill's article.]
The list is long; the benefits many and a few surprised me. A blog is a great way to build your brand and create an online presence for your niche. Good blogs provide content that focuses on solving specific problems or providing valuable information.
Thanks to our blog, you can easily find our company website through online search and traffic to the site has increased. I negotiated better vendor pricing by blogging about specific products. I’ve received leads for commercial projects from my blog. I connect with architects, builders and designers by following their blogs and through guest posts. Most importantly, it provides another way to find and connect with customers and build their trust in me by sharing my knowledge and listening to their feedback.
Recently, a customer called to place an order. She asked for me by name and said, “I know you. I read your blog.” I established a relationship and trust with the customer even before meeting her.
C.B.: Which are your favorite blog sites, Twitter chats and/or other social media places to hang out and gain insights?
I hang out on Twitter during the business week – it’s my office water cooler for news, tips and ideas. I use Facebook to get the latest from family and friends.
Favorite Blogs:
C.B.: What has been your biggest surprise in using social media?
The community is extremely supportive and helpful. The benefits are not always quantifiable; but you’ll notice them.
C.B.: What advice would you offer businesses considering social media?
Don’t be afraid to try it. Be consistent and follow a plan. Engage your audience about topics that interest them and focus on creating dialogue and conversations. Don’t forget to listen and make it fun – its social medial after all!
C.B.: Bill, what great advice! Thanks so much for sharing with us how you have made use of social media for your business!
Here is how to connect with Bill Buyok and Avente Tile - Hand Painted Ceramic & Cement Tiles:
Comments, questions for Bill? How might you start applying social media for your small or not-so-small business?
Will you help me? Will you share with me your Facebook and Twitter business success stories?
I'm engaged in a face-off on Floor Covering Weekly with a formidable flooring foe: fellow columnist Jonathan Trivers. Both of our articles will appear in the same issue in March 2012.
Jon is legendary for his 'Marketing Wit & Wisdom' which comes to life during flooring industry trade presentations and in print. Not only is he respected for his retail consulting and his experience running Abbey Carpets, but he is also author of One Stop Marketing, published in 1996. He is an acerbic observer of the flooring industry.
Jon Trivers has long claimed that Facebook and Twitter are a waste, especially for flooring retailers. He is now taking his anti-social media opinions to his Floor Covering Weekly column and plans to reduce to rubble the new, social ways of conducting business online!
I will rebut his claims in my Floor Covering Weekly column. Twitter and Facebook can be effective for business; many have been undeniably successful connecting with customers using the tools of social media.
To make the case ironclad, I need your help.
I want to prove him wrong with your help, showcasing your success stories and using the tools he despises so much.
More specifically, let me know ASAP...
- What you find most valuable about Twitter and Facebook.
- How do Twitter and Facebook help you in your business?
- What successes have you had with Twitter or Facebook?
- What advice would you offer retailers getting started with Twitter and/or Facebook?
- Invite others whose Facebook and/or Twitter stories should be included.
You can do so via comments to this blog, tweets to @cbwhittemore, your own blog response, as well as comments on the Simple Marketing Now Facebook fan page.
I promise to recap all responses here.
Thank you! I am counting on the most social column winning! That means we will all win!
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Image credit: Is Social Media a Waste of Time?
Managing Online Reputation, Credibility & Trustworthiness closes out the series of conversations with TalkFloor's Dave Foster about websites and building trust online. This last segment focuses on the role SEO [search engine optimization] plays in communicating credibility and trustworthiness to website visitors.
The segment runs 14 minutes and can be accessed by clicking on the following link [I've included Dave's description]:
Christine B Whittemore, Simple Marketing on Retail Websites Part 7
Christine B Whittemore, Simple Marketing Now in an ongoing series evaluating some of the industry’s retail websites talks more about the various elements of a site that express credibility and trustworthiness to the consumer. In this segment Christine focuses on search engine optimization as she looks at some of the poor optimization she has found with many sites.
The notion of managing online reputation and actively thinking through how to express credibility and trustworthiness in a website highlight the importance of marketing for an organization. Although we are talking technology [i.e., websites and computers], what is far more critical is considering the business implications of online communications.
More specifically,
- attracting prospects to the business and converting them into leads and eventually customers
- delivering value that a customer associates with the business' product or service and differentiates it from the competition
- communicating dependability, competence and trustworthiness in a credible manner
Does your website do all of that for your business? If you were to experience your site as a new visitor - and potential customer - what perceptions about the business do you form? Is it good or do you notice strange, out of place, nonsensical elements?
Here's my advice for ensuring that your business website credibly communicates trustworthiness:
- Each webpage needs to have an unique goal and should focus on one primary keyword which appears in the page title, meta description and within the content. This requires that you know what your business is about, how it is diferent and how it adds value. Don't try to do too much on one page [or to 'stuff' keywords].
- Think of your website as your digital storefront. How do you ensure an enjoyable online store experience? How do you welcome visitors, use signage to communicate valuable information, answer questions and provide value? The same applies online.
- Identify your ideal customers [see Developing Personas For Content Marketing].
- Write to speak to that customer.
- Write your website content for real people. Not for search engines. Make sure it actually communicates valuable information that is relevant to online visitors. The better the quality of the content and its relevance to your visitors, the more likely it is to get indexed and appear in search results.
- Make sure you have enough content on each page. If you have an image or a video, explain its relevance.
Resources I mention in the interview with TalkFloor's Dave Foster:
What do you focus on when you examine your website? What have you found does the best job to support your reputation? How do you build online credibility and trustworthiness?
Have you identified personas for your business? Do you tailor your content marketing to your personas?
I first learned about personas and how they shape online content when I took a FutureNow online copywriting seminar, led by Holly Buchanan, based on "persuasion architecture" [check out the white paper].
The section on personas which begins on page 30 explains:
"There is no average visitor. The path to mediocre and uninspiring conversion results is lined with project managers who imagined every visitor would think and behave in exactly the same way. People have varying strategies for accomplishing tasks, conducting research, managing their time and making decisions. The very concept of an average user makes it impossible to construct a persuasive process that will motivate a broad spectrum of individuals... "
Personas represent another way of 'walking in your customers' shoes'. They go hand-in-hand with customer centricity [see Best Buy Stores Target 'Barry', 'Buzz' and 'Jill'] and force a business to ask customer-targeted rather than product-centric questions about how to deliver value. From an online, digital and inbound marketing perspective, personas help shape content so it addresses the needs and pain points of one vs. another.
To develop personas for your content marketing, consider the following 5 tips:
1. Think of your customers. How does one differ from the other? Perhaps you notice a pattern consisting of solo-decision makers as well as more complex buyer-committees consisting of CMO, CFO and CEO.
2. Consider each individual a distinct persona. Give each one a name and a role. You may even want to add a picture to make them even more real.
3. Detail each persona's biggest concerns and painpoints. What does each one need? What keeps each up at night? What terms does each use to describe the business problem you could help with?
4. Consider the questions the different personas ask. How do you answer them? How might you solve their problems and simplify the decision process? Which products and services would be most valuable and why? How would they be used? How would your solution be unique? What constitutes a 'deal killer'? What matters for establishing your trustworthiness?
5. Which are the best tools to use as you develop the content that addresses your personas' needs? Think both physical -e.g., a business card with QR code - and digital - e.g., that QR code will connect to a landing page on your website with specific and relevant information. Does one persona live by text message? Is another tied to a desktop computer? Think how you might use several tools to support and promote a primary message. Remember to write for people and, more specifically, your personas.
What do you consider important for developing meaningful personas? How do you use your personas to guide your content?
Image credit: Personas on Flickr.com
Many who scoff at the notion that social media tools can lead to business relationships haven't had a chance to explore how the tools work, let alone appreciate that their social nature means that etiquette and good manners matter for success.
Doug Kessler, fellow Content Marketing Institute contributor, got at the heart of social media etiquette when he posed the following question on Quora:
"What are some tips for social media etiquette for businesses? Any dos and don'ts? Across any or all social media -- Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, blog commenting... No tip too small! I'm doing a crowdsourced article and would greatly appreciate your contribution!"
The responses he received on Quora and other social networks [LinkedIn and Focus] led to the following article - Social Media Business Etiquette Tips. A crowdsourced guide for everyone- with 52 tips.
Although I have extracted highlights, I recommend that you read the entire article.
How To Be Social Using Social Media in Business
Social media is about having a conversation with a person.
Be human. Be helpful, personal. Be helpful at all times.
Mind your manners. Don't always be selling. No self-promotion. Every moment is an opportunity for customer service.
Respond. Engage users and build trust. Thoughtfully participate in conversation. Build relationships and trust. Interact. Ask questions. Educate.
Have a sense of humor. Have fun.
Be authentic and interesting.
Have your audience in mind. How can you offer them value? Add to the conversation. Offer feedback.
The benefits of social media for networking can also be threats.
Practical Social Media Business Tips
Keep headlines short ~65 characters.
Offer great content and variety. Offer high quality content. Quality matters over quantity.
Develop a social media strategy. Document it. Plan in advance.
Use Facebook differently than you would Twitter.
Be consistent and regular. Post strategically over time.
Use Twitter to search keywords.
Use Hootsuite or Co-Tweet.
Pay attention to time management.
Here is my tip:
It's important to acknowledge and say thank you when someone mentions you, RTs, comments or contributes to the conversation. To get a feel for community on Twitter, I recommend taking part in a Twitter Chat. It makes you realize that although the tools are digital, they enable old-fashioned conversation and relationship building.
What tips do you consider important when you are building relationships? How do you apply them to your social and digital interactions? What are your social etiquette dos and don'ts for your business?
Do you spend time thinking about 'keywords'? In the digital world, keywords are critical. They define our business, the solutions we offer and our relevance to potential customers. They unlock meaning!
Keywords affect our ability to get found online. The right ones can be elusive, especially if the solution offered represents a problem prospects may not realize they have, let alone search for on an ongoing basis.
Once identified, keywords become a beacon for conversation, website content, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles and blog updates. They become measurable and the basis for ongoing improvement. Keywords bring meaning to digital and social marketing.
And, yet, keywords can be confusing.
Here are my 10 tips and observations about keywords, how to make sense of them and identify them, and how to use them effectively to get found online.
1. Keywords can be single words or multiple words [i.e., phrases] that relate to a core word. Example: 'books' vs. 'books by Jane Austen'. Pick 3 to 5 relevant to your business. These should not include your business or brand name. Focus instead on words/phrases that capture what your business or product/service is about.
2. Keywords can help you get found online when you thoughtfully and deliberately focus on one keyword or phrase per web page [this includes blog articles]. You can include variations related to your one keyword. I think of that primary keyword as my thesis or core topic for a web page.
3. Be sure to include that core keyword in your web page's meta description and page title - in position #1 - and in your content. Your entire page should be about the keyword you have chosen to focus on, making sense of it and the value you offer to your visitors. In other words, write for people! [Note: 'meta' data can be viewed by right-clicking on your browser page and selecting 'view page source'.]
4. Although no longer an element of the Google search algorithm, including meta keywords forces you to think about and identify the keywords you intend to focus on for that web page. That in turn puts you in a better position to create content focused on the core thought/keyword of the page in a way that makes sense to readers and visitors. [An excellent guide is Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide.]
5. Don't forget to add <alt> tags that include your keyword to photos and images. Be thinking, too, of keywords in your headers and anchor text [i.e., the text you use for a link - don't use 'click here' when you can have more descriptive and keyword rich text].
6. Keywords require that you understand the value you offer customers, that you listen to the terms they use. Always ask: how did you find me? What words did you use to search for me? Be aware of the stages of the purchase process and the words prospects use as a result. Don't forget regional differences affecting how visitors search [e.g., read Liana Evans Blends Social Media & Search For Greater Marketing Impact].
7. How to find keywords:
- Google analytics will show what terms visitors use now to find you. Be aware that searches using your name represent people who know you already. These may also be visitors who are ready to buy.
- Google Adwords offers a tool to explore terms based on a URL as well as search terms. The results can be downloaded into an excel spreadsheet.
- Don't forget: 'Google suggest' and 'Google related terms' for ideas.
8. Pick your focus keywords based on relevance to your business and customers and difficulty. Realize that words with huge search volume results are hard to rank for, whereas ones with small search volume are much easier. Also realize that general, generic terms [i.e., single words such as 'book'] aren't necessarily relevant to your business and customers.
9. Tools like SpyFu show what terms you rank for so you can validate whether what you think your site focuses on is what it ranks for.
10. Publishing blog articles allows you to focus on a specific keyword topic exclusively and build content that makes meaning for a reader. Blog articles allow you to address issues of relevance to a persona [i.e., type of visitor at a certain point in the buying cycle] and address the questions s/he has.
What would you add? How do you use keywords to get found online?
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Image credit: Keys on Flickr
I recommend spending time up front understanding the key terms or words that matter for your content and to your audience. Think how your keywords and phrases can reflect the critical themes of your content strategy. That then helps cascade relevant content.
Here are more tips on getting started with content marketing:
Joe Chernov: realize that "
content marketing is a political role. It sits in-between multiple departments and even more functions within each department."
Claire McDermott: "
Before launching a big project, make sure you have the enthusiasm/ support/ effort from your subject matter experts."
John Bottom: "
content does not always have to be detailed and lengthy, it should be high-quality, interesting, and well-planned. Ad-hoc content production — squeezed in around the day job — is not a solid basis for success."
Russ Henneberry: "
The content must be distributed and marketed properly to gain traction..."
Amanda Maksymiw: "
content marketing is really a mindset that helps shape and enhance all aspects of an overall marketing strategy."
Paula Crerar: "
to come up with more content... repurpose as much of our content as possible and encourage user- and employee-generated content."
Ahava Leibtag: be ready to educate clients about the value of testing and iteration in content creation.
Arnie Kuenn:
"... to come up with new, engaging content targeted to your audience, ... requires research, thought, and a long-term plan to all be documented in an editorial calendar."
Stephanie Tilton: "
You don’t have to create content from scratch to deliver value."
Doug Kessler: cross-promotion is powerful and effective for content marketing
Scott Aughtmon: "
The widespread need for content and the importance of creating content for others."
Michael Brenner: appreciate how hard it is to put the audience first in your marketing content.
Wendy Marx: "
Content marketing requires an ongoing commitment, an understanding of your buyers, market segmentation and a commitment to use content to help move customers and prospects through the purchase funnel."
Joe Pulizzi: "
The best content marketing results come after listening and then continually tweaking the product."
Anna Ritchie: "
Content marketing requires a shift in your thinking, from “all about us” to “all about the reader."
Nenad Senic: "
Content marketing is not doable in the long-run if it doesn’t include thorough planning."
Jessica Eastman: "
Content marketing strategy needs to mold to the company, fitting each need of the business. Content marketing is not cookie-cutter."
Sarah Mitchell: it's important to manage customer expectations around the '
slow burn' aspect of content marketing.
Tom Pisello: "
You constantly have to work at producing recent relevant content to fuel the various channels and facilitate the audiences need for more information and intelligence."
Tracy Gold: "
Content marketing operates on a combination of strategy, planning, and randomness more than most marketers will admit."
What do you wish you had known when you got started? What tips would you offer those getting started content marketing?
To further make the point that I introduced in TalkFloor Interview
#5 about Building Trust with Customers Online, I want to share with you perspectives from 3 experts.
More specifically: Robert Hurley, professor at Fordham University and author of the book "The Decision to Trust: How Leaders Can Create High Trust Companies", B.L. Ochman, author of the What's Next Blog about Internet Marketing Strategy, social media trends, news and community, and contributor to Digital Next, AdAge, Mashable, Business Week and others, and Ted Rubin, a leading social media strategist and fierce believer in the concept of 'Return on Relationship'.
Building trust with customers - as this McGraw-Hill advertisement illustrates - begins before a customer signs on the dotted line to buy something from you.
Building trust doesn't happen overnight. Rather it builds up over time as a result of the actions you, your people and your organization take not only IRL [in real life], but also online and via social networks.
Building trust is a pretty critical aspect of doing business when you consider how much distrust exists in prospects' minds. It's not something to be passive about.
Why then aren't more companies engaging with customers online, building relationships and taking every opportunity to establish trust? Is it that it's not important enough? That it's frivolous or a waste-of-time?
I came across these expert perspectives from Robert Hurley, BL Ochman and Ted Rubin as I thought about this challenge.
Robert Hurley's Wall Steet Journal article titled "Trust Me" explains that "the most-trusted companies have lower employee turnover, higher revenue, profitability and share-holder returns..." He offers five principles for demonstrating trustworthiness, all of which translate into reasons for companies to be active online and via social networks:
1. Show that you share the same interests
2. Demonstrate concern for others
3. Deliver on your promises [for more on that, see Guy Winch's advice on how to build word-of-mouth from complaining customers]
4. Be consistent and honest
5. Communicate frequently, clearly and openly
BL Ochman describes 7 reasons why your company should be blogging.
- Humanize your brand
- Establish Trust
- Generate Leads
- Communicate frequently with your audience
- Be recognized as an authority and source of exclusive news
- Crisis Communications
- Because blogging is fun! [yes, it is :-)]
I like the concept that Ted Rubin describes in "Return on Relationship" as the New Measure of Success. He made the following recommendations during his presentation at the United Insight Contagious Content conference in June 2011 when I first heard him describe ROR:
- listen
- make it about them
- Ask 'how can I serve you?'
- aim for ongoing engagement
- know the people in your audience
This modern day interpretation of the McGraw-Hill advertisement above reinforces for me how critical it is to take every online opportunity to build trust with customers...
[Note: I first brought up the McGraw-Hill ad in Digital Visibility: The Reason Behind Content Marketing. Image courtesy of McGraw-Hill.]
Do you agree? How critical is building trust with customers in your business? How do you do it in person and online? What would you add to the suggestions above? How would you go about restoring trust?
Building trust with customers may be one of the most critical aspects of business. This is true not just in a traditional sense where relationships are built through in person interactions, but also online where more and more prospects begin the purchase process. It's a really big deal, especially when you place yourself in your customers' shoes and think about the potential risk being taken in doing business with an unknown entity...
Here are four ideas to consider based on part 5 of my ongoing Retail Websites interview series with TalkFloor's Dave Foster explores Building Trust with Customers Online. The interview is 16 minutes long.
Dave describes the interview as follows:
Christine B Whittemore, Simple Marketing Now in an ongoing series evaluating some of the industry’s retail websites discusses the elements of sites that express credibility and trustworthiness to the consumer including the use of social icons, the degree of optimization on the site and the efficiency of blogging.
Customers, whether online or in-store, look for clues to determine whether they can trust you and should do business with you. What are those clues? Are you sensitive to them? Have you looked at your website and business with a fresh pair of eyes? Here are four ideas to get your thinking...
- Does your website express your human side? Do you include information about who you are? What about photos and links to your LinkedIn profile? People make businesses come to life. Does your business employ real people?
- Do you identify who speaks on your behalf in your digital communications? Who's publishing updates on Twitter or Facebook? What about your blog? Do you include pictures of your people?
- Do you have a plan for fresh, ongoing and relevant content? Are you prepared to interact with visitors, friends, fans, followers and customers who leave you messages? A plan ensures that you don't create negative feelings for your visitors...
Your turn. What do you look for when you seek signs of trustworthiness?
How do you go about building trust with your customers online? How do you avoid being perceived as a 'scumbag'?