"VerticalResponse Customers We Admire" is a series in which we highlight a customer and the things they're doing well with their email, social and event marketing. Below, we discuss a Bastille Day email promotion from Kimpton's Grand Cafe, including key lessons and take-aways.
Photo Courtesy of Grand Cafe
Grand Cafe is a modern French brasserie, Kimpton restaurant and VerticalResponse customer whose email and event promotion we admire! Their fresh take on traditional French cuisine is paired with an extensive wine list and handcrafted apértifs, located in a gilded Barbary Coast ballroom. Below is an example of an email promotion they created to announce their special Bastille Day events. Scroll through the awesome email campaign for five event promotion take-aways:
1. Get Creative - Buttons and links are awesome, but with this refreshing call-to-action (click the mustache for details) who wouldn't want to click for more details? Include images, colors and tactics that stand out to recipients and they'll be more likely to engage with your email.
2. Appeal to Everyone - Grand Cafe predicts Bastille Day might not resonate with all of their recipients (i.e., yours truly) and cleverly offers an alternative "Bastille Day not your thing? Our new misfit dinner starts July 19th...". By appealing to all their subscribers, they get the most from their campaign and avoid alienating certain readers.
3. Stay Relevant - Coordinating a holiday like Bastille Day with an event gives Grand Cafe the opportunity to remain current, timely and relevant. Stay up-to-date with upcoming holidays and current events and make sure they're reflected in your marketing.
4. Make it Accessible - In layman's terms, a restaurant makes money when people visit their location and pay for their food. Grand Cafe makes sure to include their reservation phone number prominently at the top of their email. Lesson? Whether it's a link to sign up, purchase or a phone number to schedule a reservation or appointment, make it easy and accessible for your customers and prospects to reach you and your services.
5. Your Business + Technology = BFFs - Grand Cafe realizes the increasing rate of email being viewed on mobile devices, made evident by their link to "view a mobile version" of their email. They further embrace the power of social media by including social sharing icons and forward to a friend links. And, including access to a Google map of their location makes their restaurant even more accessible. Technology is ever evolving; Using it to your advantage as Grand Cafe does in the examples above makes promoting your event and company that much more powerful.
Posted by Savannah Stewart
Savannah Stewart is a Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.
This article by VerticalResponse CEO and founder Janine Popick originally appeared on Inc.com.
It's usually assumed that when it comes to marketing, small businesses can always learn from their larger counterparts, right? Chances are, the big guys have survived their fair share of marketing campaigns, whether good, bad or downright ugly. Factor in an ample marketing budget and a well-paid marketing team and they're probably light years ahead of smaller businesses. But is that really the case? I beg to differ.
Corporations tend to keep a closer eye on their bottom line, which means they're far less likely to take risks or test out new ideas. Conversely, the folks in charge could also decide to gobble up every last penny in the budget knowing if they don't use it now, it might not be there next year. But what if those dollars came out of their own checking accounts? They'd certainly think twice before spending it now, wouldn't they?
Most small business owners experience pangs of guilt after opening up their pocketbooks. I know I did when I first launched my email marketing company,VerticalResponse. It seemed like every dollar spent on advertising was one less dollar going toward buying new supplies or technology, hiring employees or even clearing their paychecks. It's a pretty tough pill to swallow. Because every dollar is so important, small businesses want to see results for everything they spend, and they want to see them quick.
That's why small businesses must be super creative when it comes to acquiring customers. Here are some things that I think small businesses are doing good that larger companies might learn a thing or two from.
Grassroots Marketing
Remember the days of good ol'-fashioned face-to-face networking? Ever see anyone from a huge corporation at a local Chamber of Commerce function? Small business owners frequent these gatherings and network like there's no tomorrow, because a lot times this is their only opportunity to get out of their store or office to meet like-minded people. The San Francisco Chamber, for example, holds after-hours events where local business owners meet, exchange ideas, establish leads and stay in touch however they can. Bigger companies should follow suit by designating community coordinators who can get to know owners by name and attach real, human and hopefully smilling faces to corporate logos.
Social Networking
Small businesses excel at building genuine connections, engaging existing customers and leveraging their networks to secure new prospects. Take San Francisco-based pet boarding facility Pet Camp. They keep in touch with email marketing and include lots of easy-to-share content. They take photos of their campers and post them to their Facebook page (often with hilarious captions), so proud moms and dads can check in on their four-legged family member while away. Of course, larger companies do encourage social media participation – as long as employees follow their gazillion-page social media rulebook. Now I'm not saying social media should be a free-for-all, but companies of all sizes can benefit from having a personality and some flexibility when it comes to social media.
Over-Delivering
In order to set themselves apart from competitors, "mom-and-pop" operations realize a few extra touches make all the difference in the world. I once bought a pair of shoes from a seller on eBay. The package not only arrived in pristine condition, but came with a free shoehorn, leather protection and hand cream. Talk about making the most of your packaging real estate. When was the last time you were treated to a freebie by Amazon?
Being Human
Small businesses do a great job at showing what happens behind the scenes, which helps establish a stronger and more genuine connection with customers. Sonoma, Calif.-based winery Longboard Vineyards encourages readers to learn about Oded the owner, his passion for wine-making and his loyal Longboardians while browsing photos of the lush grounds and their trips to Costa Rica and San Diego. What an great way to immerse people in the company culture.
Lightening Up
Many entrepreneurs start their own businesses for the chance to do what they truly enjoy, not to make it to the top of the corporate ladder. Customers sense this the moment they enter their stores or visit their websites. Vermont's Magic Hat Brew Company injects fun into everything they do, whether it's telling folks about upcoming events or where to buy beer. My own company once shot a rap video to increase awareness of what we do and years later, it's still getting views.
I challenge big businesses to lighten up, get creative and take a few cues from small business owners. Urge your CMOs to pretend they're spending their own money and you'll be surprised at what they come up with to battle the competition and the "little guys." But watch out, we're sure to put up a fight!
Posted by Janine Popick
Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @janinepopick, and check out more of her Inc.com columns.
It used to be that you literally had to throw your name into a hat for a chance to win something. Now that online promotions are the norm, you have more tools than ever to create a cool, engaging contest to excite your audience and build your brand. Just recently, the VerticalResponse Next Teen Tycoon video contest came to an end and we wanted to share what we learned (some of it the hard way!).
If you’re thinking about launching a contest of your own, these eight tips will start you off on the right track.
1. Set your goals
Just like any marketing campaign, you need to establish what you want to get out of the contest before you get into anything else. Is it more Facebook fans? Traffic to your website? Press coverage? Set specific metrics you want to accomplish at the end of the contest, whether it’s an X percent increase in fans or traffic, or X number of stories and articles written about the contest. Then develop your promotion, user interaction flow and follow-up based on those goals.
2. Know the laws
This isn't a whole lot of fun, but the most important. There are different laws and regulations for different types of promotions (sweepstakes versus giveaways, for example), and they can vary by state, too. We strongly advise having a lawyer or legal expert review your official contest rules. Check out Social Media Examiner’s great post on online promotions and the law.
Additionally, if you’re using Facebook or another third-party platform to host your contest, they may have their own set of guidelines. For example, promotions on Facebook must be administered within Facebook Apps. Here are the latest Facebook Page rules, including promotions.
3. Make it easy to enter
It makes sense: The more hoops people have to go through to enter a contest, the less likely they’ll do it. It’s best not to require participants to do something complicated unless the potential payoff is in line with the large amount of effort. Sweepstakes have the lowest barrier to entry, since all you need to do is throw your name and email address into the bucket. With giveaways, a prize that’s exclusive or in limited supply will attract more interest than just something off the shelf. Video contests, with all the preparation and equipment needed, tend to draw fewer (but more engaged) entrants.
4. Give ’em something worth their efforts
When was the last time you entered a drawing for a free pack of gum? Yeah, I can’t remember either. I’m not saying the prize needs to be worth X amount of dollars, but it should feel special. Some of the most creative online promotions are memorable and successful because they speak directly to their audience’s interests. Side note: Having multiple, tiered prizes makes people think they have a greater chance of winning, something to think about.
5. Consider an online promotions app
The idea for your contest might be a simple one, but the technical aspects of running it – tracking, sniffing out fraud, measuring success, etc. – might be beyond your in-house abilities, especially if it turns into a wildly popular contest. We used Wildfire Interactive to help manage our Next Teen Tycoon contest and that decision ultimately saved the team a ton of time; their prices are small biz-friendly too, starting at $5 per promotion plus $0.99 per day of the contest.
6. Be prepared for fraud
You’ll be surprised at how “creative” people can get to try to game the system – especially if there’s a big prize up for grabs. Sites like Fiverr.com and FansGalore.net make it super simple for someone to buy votes, likes, fans, views, etc. We’ve also seen people on forums trading points, virtual gifts and other types of currency for votes (we learned this the hard way). Not cool.
What to do? First and foremost, include a clause in your contest rules that states you have the right to disqualify a contestant at any time for any reason. Once the contest is launched, monitor things closely. If someone gets a big, sudden spike in votes, strange comments/commenters, email addresses or social media accounts that don’t seem real, you’ll need to put on your detective hat. This is when a third-party app vendor comes in handy: They can provide vote logs, IP addresses and other information you might not have easy access to otherwise.
7. Partner up
Reach out to other companies, individuals and organizations that might be interested in supporting your contest so you can leverage their clout and willingness to spread the word. You’ll be surprised at how willing folks are to help, especially if your contest is tied to a feel-good cause. Being associated with well-known organizations boosts your contest’s credibility, too!
For example, with our Next Teen Tycoon contest we partnered with respected groups like TEDxTeen, The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and Teens in Tech. They promoted our contest like crazy to their own networks because we were looking to help teen entrepreneurs, and teen entrepreneurs are their audience. Even big companies like Dell and Inc. Magazine hopped on board because they wanted to be associated with a program that promotes entrepreneurship and small business.
8. Get ready to shout from the rooftops
Just because you built it doesn’t mean they will come. Create a link or badge for your website’s home page directing visitors to wherever your contest is hosted. Once it’s launched, mention it regularly on social media (don’t forget to create a unique #hashtag for Twitter). Send out a dedicated email marketing campaign or two. Ask your employees to include a link to the contest in their email signatures. And don’t forget to remind your partners to let their peeps know!
If your contest involves a semi-finalist or finalist round, those who advance will likely be super motivated to get their followers to help them win. Make it easier for them by creating badges that they can post to their websites or blogs, and provide suggested copy (with link, of course) for their social media posts and tweets. Don’t forget to include a clear call-to-action so their followers know what to do.
Running an online contest or promotion takes time, effort and a leap of faith in your audience, but the results can be well worth it, if done right. Have any cool contests come across your radar lately?
Posted by Connie Sung Moyle
Connie Sung Moyle is the Public Relations Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @sungmoyle.
Contests and promotions are a great way to get people excited and talking about your business. They can be a refreshing addition to your usual advertising. And, when done right, they’ll encourage word of mouth marketing, serve as a way to give back to your fans, followers and customers, and promote levels of happiness all around you (or maybe that’s just your intelligence and good looks). In either case, the following contests/promotions had me smiling and eager to participate. Check them out and you may even be able to leverage some of their strategies for your own business!
Let Your Customers Do the Talking
Who: GoPro (VerticalResponse customer, woot!) offers the world’s most versatile camera; their motto is “Wear it. Mount it. Love it.”
The Promo: They use promotions to show the professional quality of their products through customer footage. Not only do they give away one of everything they make daily, all of their commercials are provided by customers. GoPros ongoing promotion asks customers to submit footage using their GoPro camera for a chance to be featured in a commercial.
The Benefit - No cheesy advertising ploys, they let their product sell itself. Product giveaways are a great way to allow individuals who may have never otherwise tried your product to test it out. This can be done in the form of a promotion where the prize is a gift certificate, free trial, or waived setup or installation fee. Not only will you garner new customers, but you'll show confidence in your product or service. Giving something away for free says, "we're so confident in our product/service that we want you to try it for free because we know you'll be hooked." In addition, what's better advertisement for your product than showing customers having an awesome time as they use it? (Take Apple's dancing product users as an example). This is not to say everyone has to feature customers in their commercials. Testimonials and customer case studies can be an effective substitute.
Take Advantage of Trends
Who -ModCloth is an online indie retailer that provides “retro, indie, and vintage-inspired clothing styles that are distinctively and uniquely ‘you!'”
The Contest - ModCloth put on a "punny" contest called “Fashion Faux Pas-t” where entrants were asked to post a photo of themselves rocking their favorite fashion misstep of the past with the hashtag #fauxno to Tumblr or Instagram. Three random winners received $100 ModCloth gift certificates.
The Benefit - ModCloth used social media to promote their contest and made people laugh while they were at it. It doesn't get better than social media when it comes to getting the word out about your contest or promotion. ModCloth hit the nail on the head with this concept by using not one but two social media sites to publicize their contest. As a result, they were able to leverage their loyal customer's friends and followers each time someone entered the contest via Tumblr or Instagram. They also knew their audience demographic, as many individuals who are fans of indie, retro and vintage inspired fashion are likely to be younger and therefore likely to be users of Tumblr or Instagram. According to a study done by consumer behavior research group Experian Hitwise, "over half of the visitors to the Instagram website are under the age of 35." Facebook on the otherhand saw their two largest user age groups were between 25 and 34 and 55 and over. So, know your audience and select your social media accordingly.
Goodwill Goes a Long Way
Who:Bare Escentuals is a retailer of mineral makeup with the philosophy that "products can actually be good, makeup can be fun, business can be personal and companies can behave more like communities."
The Promotion: Bare Escentuals' "Force of Beauty" promotion sought out models who were more than just pretty. They sent out a survey to models and actresses and went through a selection process based on survey responses to choose five well rounded individuals to represent Bare Escentuals in their Force of Beauty campaign. Their goal was to find women to feature based not only on their looks, but on their accomplishments, personalities, and inner beauty as well. The casting was blind, so Bare Escentuals chose models without even seeing their faces.
Bare Escentual's "Force of Beauty" Commercial
The Benefit - The promotion generated goodwill and established beauty as more than something that is skin deep. Bare Escenuals not only helped to diminish the stereotype that cosmetic companies are just looking for a pretty face to sell more of their products, but they also showed that they want their business to be represented by individuals who can serve as role models for young women. A good deed goes a long way, so reward those who truly are deserving. Run a promotion or contest to find those who are helping in the community or using your product or service for good. Giving back represents that you are interested in more than making a dollar and as a result you'll earn more respect and more of your customers will stand behind your promotion and your business.
Bonus Takeaways
Here are some key takeaways from these promotions and other successful ones like them:
1. Make your contest or promotion easy to enter - if people can't figure out how to enter your contest or find it difficult to submit requirements, they are unlikely to participate at all.
2. Relate to your company's product, brand or philosophy - you'll want your promotion or contest to relate to your product or brand so that the momentum it develops will easily relate to and come back to your business.
3. Make it a positive experience - whether it's fun, funny, or heartwarming, your promotion or contest should leave participants and observers feeling good about entering, regardless of whether they win.
Have you run any contests/promos that you're proud of recently? We have! Check out VerticalResponse's recent Teen Tycoon contest. Share yours as well, we'd love to hear about them!
Posted by Savannah Stewart
Savannah Stewart is a Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.
So I just got back from a week at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, TX. I have to admit that this was probably the most impactful trip I've had since I first attended back in 2009. The impact wasn't derived from going to a ton of sessions or attending the hottest parties, but from connecting with people from my online world, face-to-face.
In today’s fast-paced social world, we often take our connections for granted. You may have a couple of thousand followers on Twitter or several hundred “Friends” on Facebook, but how many of those people have you had a conversation with in-person?
I’ll be the first to admit that I used to go wide with my connections but made a very conscience decision about a year ago that I wanted to go deeper with the relationships I already had. This involved participating in more face time with the people I wanted to get to know better. This is a tactic that we are also trying to implement with our VerticalResponse relationships too.
The VerticalResponse team has been out in the field at various tradeshows and conferences connecting with our existing and potential clients. Not only does this provide a human face to both sides but provides the opportunity to LISTEN to what our customers want and need so we can make our products and services a long-term piece of their business strategy.
This personal interaction is something that I encourage all businesses to try. Whether it’s throwing a client appreciation party at your boutique or organizing a tweetup for your Twitter followers at a local watering hole, nothing beats face-to-face interaction. This provides an excellent opportunity to take your surface connections to a much deeper level and possibly build a solid customer relationship for many years to come.
So don’t lose sight of face-to-face interaction because sometimes the best customer might be the one looking you right in the eye.
Posted by Derek Overbey
Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.
Faux pas – the literal translation meaning “misstep,” inevitably results in the question, “What were they thinking?!” When someone performs a faux pas, all eyes are wide, ears are open, and that “misstep” can spread faster than you can say ‘wardrobe malfunction.’ And don’t be fooled into thinking that faux pas are just for fashion. Faux pas performed (by people, brands and/or businesses) on something like say, social media not only puts you and your company’s credibility on the line, but also your money.
According to a survey by Symantec and Applied Research, the cost of public relations disasters, lawsuits, security breaches and other risks associated with social media blunders averages $4.3 million. The survey also reports that after a social media mishap, 28% of companies have reported damage to their brand, or a loss of customer trust averaging a cost of over $638,000.
So to avoid putting our businesses and ourselves on the virtual chopping block, let’s get our social media etiquette on and learn from the missteps of others:
1. Don’t post something public, if it’s private
Showcasing your personality to your customers is important, but in the case of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, sharing a little too much, like your privates in this case, should be kept private. After Weiner tweeted a photo of his unmentionables to a woman in Seattle, he initially claimed his account had been hacked. After finally admitting the photo was self-sent, he resigned from the House of Representatives after 12 years in office. This case may be extreme, but the concept isn’t. Keep private information to yourself, this goes for your business and personal accounts. We want our friends and customers to be aware of what’s going on in our lives, but racy photos, updates about bodily fluids and/or ailments, cheating significant others, family legal battles, etc. need not be included.
2. Don’t pay for or create fake followers
Being honest and genuine is the name of game when it comes to social media. Faking the number of Twitter followers you have is a serious faux pas, just ask Newt Gingrich. With more than 1.3 million Twitter followers (more than any other GOP candidate), Gingrich seemed to be in the lead until word spread that most (92%) of those followers were fake and/or bought. If you try to fool others, you’ll only look like a fool. Think quality over quantity. Legitimately build your social media fan base by reaching out to your network. Tell people you’re on social media, ask them to find/like/follow you, (just don’t use 'I’ll follow you back' as an incentive) and make those pages easy to find.
3. Don’t lash out; do think twice before you post/tweet
If the name Boners BBQ doesn’t turn you off already, their very public Facebook lash out in response to a customer’s honest yelp review will. The small biz BBQ joint based in Atlanta obviously wasn’t pleased with a particular customer’s Yelp review, and instead of getting in touch, apologizing, or taking the feedback to heart, the restaurant posted the customer’s picture to their Facebook page, called her a *beep* and told her to *beep* off. Once other customers took concern to the restaurant’s unsavory behavior, the boys (and owner) at Boners told those customers to *beep* off too. A lash out like this could cause their ribs and reputation to both go up in smoke.
Charlie Sheen is another prime example of displaying erratic social media behavior. His incessant rants on Twitter included name-calling of former coworkers and the use of random hashtags such as #tigerblood. He also accidently tweeted his phone number to more than five million followers. Sheen may be a celebrity, but after his drama filled debacles, the thought of working with him would be anything but #winning.
4. Don’t use Twitter autoresponders
Social media should be just that, social. Nothing’s worse than following someone on Twitter, only to be immediately greeted by an obvious response generated from a non-personal Twitter bot: “Hey! Thanks for the follow! Like my company on Facebook too.” Not only do Twitter autoresponders come off as spammy, they’re impersonal and a quick fix. If you want your fans or customers to know you care, connect with them personally, don’t let a bot do the talking for you.
5. Don’t mix up your personal and business accounts
Using social media tools like Roost or Hootsuite are excellent ways to organize and post to multiple social media accounts using just one interface. However, make sure your personal account isn’t one of them. Accidently posting something you intend for your personal account to a business profile can cause some serious embarrassment. Red Cross learned this lesson when an employee accidently posted to the @RedCross Twitter account that she was drinking beer and #gettngslizzerd at work. Red Cross, however, responded in good nature: “We’ve deleted the tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.” In response, Red Cross received several donations AND beer koozies for handling the mishap so well.
6. Don’t piggyback on trending topics
Trending topics on Twitter are a great way to join in on a mass discussion, however, abusing those topics in a distasteful or unrelated way for the exposure could land you in a PR nightmare just like Kenneth Cole. During the riots in Egypt, the Kenneth Cole founder sent an offensive tweet relating their new spring collection to the uproar in Cairo. The distasteful tweet caused a viral uproar on the Internet resulting in #boycottKennethCole hash tags – Not the kind of exposure I’m sure they were hoping for.
7. Don’t send all of your posts at once and/or sound like a broken record
Blasting your customers with a multitude of posts not only hijacks someone’s screen, but also screams, “look at me!” In, return your fans will just “delete, delete, delete.” Using a social media tool/platform (like Roost) allows you to time your posts so that you can enter several at once, but release them in a spread-out and timely manner.
Also, share unique information on each of your social media channels. If you’re posting the same information on each channel, your followers won’t have enough incentive to follow or like you in multiple places. Offer discounts just to Twitter fans, share fun photos on Pinterest, or place a poll on Facebook. Mix things up to avoid the broken record syndrome.
8. Don't forget to use social sharing buttons
According to research by BrightEdge Technologies, websites donning social sharing buttons received 7xs more mentions/shares as a result. You have fabulous content, make sure people can share it to their social media accounts. Sharing content has somewhat replaced engagement such as leaving comments (on a blog for instance), so let them and don't prevent them! On every blog post, email, newsletter, etc. that you create, enable social sharing buttons, and test them to make sure they work.
9. Don't lauch a campaign without a little research
Here’s food for thought: Find out what people are saying about you/your company (and in McDonald’s case, your food) before you launch a testimonial social media campaign. As Forbes put it, McDonald’s latest Twitter campaign fail went from hashtag to “bashtag.” McDonald’s promoted the hashtag #McDStories on Twitter in hopes that it would inspire customers to tweet about their favorite Happy Meal memories. Instead, people weren’t lovin’ it and the campaign created an eruption of graphic, gross and/or cheeky responses, including “One time I walked into McDonalds and I could smell Type 2 diabetes floating in the air and I threw up. #McDStories.”
Now that we’ve divulged in the social media blunders of others, are there any other faux pas you wish others wouldn’t commit? Put your social media faux pas police cap on and spill all!
Posted by: Colleen Corkery
Colleen Corkery is the Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @youcollme.
Our 11th VR-versary is tomorrow (!), February 22nd, so social media manager, Ellery asked if I would publish a post about lessons I've learned in the past 11 years of building and leading VerticalResponse. Forget a blog post, I could probably write an entire book on everything I've learned! But when I thought about it, there were a few lessons that really rose to the top. So take what you want from my successes and failures and put them to work for your own business:
What's Old is New Again
Just because something didn't work a year or two ago doesn't mean it won't work now. I learned a hard marketing lesson about this myself. If you advertised on a site or even Google perhaps a year ago and didn't have the success you wanted, you might want to try it again. The site may have merged with another company or got a great source of brand new leads and it just might be the perfect thing to test again.
Dream the Impossible
Things that weren't possible before, might be possible now. Organizations are run by different people at different times, so the way things are accomplished also changes. This was a lesson I learned when we wanted to offer promotional discount codes to our customers for many years. The people who were here before just didn't have the background to engineer it, so to them it wasn't possible, or it would take many, many months to create. Since then, new people have come on board with fresh and creative ideas, and we got our promotion code engine. Don't be afraid to ask.
Embrace the NEW
Fifteen years ago, Email Marketing barely existed and now it's a multi-billion dollar business. Now, social media is the new marketing and we didn't really know it would be a force for businesses even 5 years ago. It's abundantly clear that things are moving faster than ever so you need to keep up on as much of the "new" as possible for your business to compete. And, there's never been a better time to use tools that are free and simple. Use a tool like Roost (a company we just acquired), and spend the extra 5 minutes a day or 10 minutes per week to communicate with your followers and allow them to communicate with you. The rules of engagement have all changed so make sure you're there.
Shut Up and Listen
Your customers want to talk to you, so listen to them. Check Facebook and Twitter daily, watch what people say about you, and "listen" to all the conversations happening on these networks about your brand and industry. Thanks to the social web, genuine customer insight has never been easier to access, so take advantage! Also, reach out to your customers directly and send them surveys from time to time to get a real read on how they're feeling about you. One question to ask? On a scale of 1-10 (10 being high), would you recommend us to a colleague? Then act on what they're telling you and don't forget to thank them when you make the changes.
Open the Kimono
Transparency is tough, but if you embrace it all the way it can be pretty rewarding. In the 90's, companies wouldn't dream of talking about the things they do today. It's a tell-all world. Screw up with your customers? Own it. Say you're sorry, talk about how you'll try to avoid it and move on. Doing some really great things with your employees? Talk about it. Giving people a window into your business makes them feel closer to you and connect with your values. When we've screwed up we use Jason Fried's mantra "Just say you're sorry," because we actually are.
Get Your Customers Talking
When we found out most of our business comes from our happy customers we were shocked! It sure gave us more of a reason to give even more to our customers. We try to go above and beyond for our customers by making sure those who need help aren't waiting too long for a phone or a live chat to be picked up or an email answered. But we also don't cut anyone off to hurry and get to the next person. It's a tough balance! We really try to get to the heart of our customer's questions with answers they can do something with. We've even been awarded several customer service awards by our peers and for us that's really saying something.
Spend Some Time Thinking
Every now and then do yourself a favor: stay home and think. Think of what you aren't doing and what you want to do. Think about what your competition is doing that you should also be doing. Think about where your business fits into the landscape. Think about the important stuff like keeping customers around or getting them back in the door. Sometimes home is the best place to have some breakthrough ideas.
Show Your Face
There is nothing stronger in this world than face-to-face communications, but you can't be everywhere all the time. When you can get face-to-face time with a customer, make the most of it. When you can't, using live webinars, videotaping yourself or putting yourself out there in a blog like I'm doing now really lends credibility and adds personality to you and your company.
I've been running this great company for 11 years; (I was 19 when I started! Kidding.) and the best lesson from being a part of this every day, is that I learn something new every day. What have you learned?
Posted by Janine Popick.
Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at@janinepopick.
Did you know that the earth isn’t just comprised of four hemispheres, but there’s actually a fifth we’re living in? It’s called (cue dramatic music) …the Blogosphere! Did you also know that “blogosphere” is a real term? I’m not even making it up! The term was coined in 1999, as a joke initially, but is now used, in all seriousness, to describe blogs as a connected community or collection of communities.
The blogosphere is an ever-changing and evolving hub and Technorati, a blog search engine directory, has been examining the growth and trends within the blogosphere since 2004. Since then, they’ve been reporting and releasing their findings, which they collect through a series of surveys. The findings may surprise, interest, please or appall you. They reveal who bloggers actually are; what, where, when, why & how successfully they blog, and for the second year, the findings also discuss consumers. To get to the heart of the good stuff, here's a breakdown of interesting facts to note from 2011’s State of the Blogosphere findings:
BLOGGER DEMOGRAPHICS
65% of bloggers are ages 18-44; 1/3rd are over 44.
59% of bloggers are men (down from 64% in 2010).
The annual household income of a blogger: $50,000+.
Majority of bloggers are married and half of all bloggers have children.
1/4 of bloggers are self-employed, and just less than half are employed full time.
1/3 of bloggers have worked for traditional media, with a monthly magazine being the most common form (41%).
Of the 14% of bloggers who earn a salary for blogging, the average annual amount is $24,086.
States with highest concentrations of bloggers: California 15%, New York 7% and Texas 6%.
BLOGGER TYPES
1. Hobbyists – 61% of bloggers within the blogosphere are blogging “for fun,” and don’t report any income from blogging. 2-3. Professional Part and Full-timers – This group makes up 18% of the blogosphere and are independent bloggers. Most of these bloggers don’t consider blogging their primary source of income and tend to blog about personal musings and technology. 4. Corporate – 8% of the blogosphere. They blog as part of their full-time job, or blog full-time for a company they work for. They primarily talk about technology or business. 5. Entrepreneurs – 13% are entrepreneurs or individuals blogging for a company they own.
BLOGGER HABITS - WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY & HOW?
70% of bloggers write to share expertise, 61% blog to gain professional recognition/personal satisfaction and 52% blog to attract new clients.
60% of bloggers blog up to 3 hours a week and 40% blog more than 3 hours a week. Professional full-time bloggers (26%) update their blog at least 3 times per day. Majority of bloggers update their blog 2-3 a week.
80% of bloggers have been blogging for at least 2 years.
79% describe their blogging style as "sincere," 67% describe their style as "conversational." Professional, Corporates, and Entrepreneurs also describe their style as "expert."
Wordpress is the most popular blog hosting service among all respondents, used by 51% of them, followed by Blogger (21%) and Blogspot (14%).
BLOGGER MOTIVATON & SUCCESS
What's the leading metric of success? Among Professionals, Corporates, and Entrepreneurs, they gauge success according to the number of unique visitors they receive. 69% of Hobbyists say that personal satisfaction is a way they measure the success of their blog.
54% of bloggers say they’ve made friends through their blog, and have become more involved with their passion areas as a result of blogging.
More than 60% of Corporate and Entrepreneur bloggers have gained greater visibility in their industry through blogging.
SOCIAL MEDIA
82% of bloggers use Twitter, 89% use Facebook.
TRAFFIC & REVENUE
Across bloggers, Google Analytics is by far the most popular service used to follow blog traffic.
50% of Professional bloggers receive more than 10,000 views per month.
Display ads, affiliate marketing links, and search ads are the most common ways bloggers generate revenue from their blogs.
60% of Corporate bloggers said they do not have any advertising on their blog.
Overall traffic drivers to blogs: Twitter, Facebook, and blog tags.
BLOGGER INFLUENCES
Number one influence for bloggers regarding the topics they blog about: Other blogs (68%). Second and third most influential for blog topics: Conversations with friends and social media.
CONSUMERS
Blogs continue to outpace other social and traditional media in terms of gaining consumers' trust and generating their recommendations/purchases. Almost 40% of consumers now believe blogs are being taken more seriously as a source of information. "Facebook remains somewhat influential, but less so than blogs, and Twitter has seen a drop in influence over the past year."
TAKEAWAY
Now that we know the depths and demographics that make up the blogosphere (if you’d like to dive in further, you can find the full report here), does anything surprise you? One of the most important aspects to note is that 60% of Corporate & Entrepreneur bloggers have gained greater visibility purely from blogging. This means, if you don’t currently have a blog, it’s probably an excellent time to jump on that blog bandwagon (plus, it's pretty fun too!). And, while most of us won’t be living purely off a blogger’s salary alone, the blogosphere as a whole is still strong and striving. Blogs also continuously climb the ranks as a trustworthy reference for consumers.
If blogging charters unfamiliar territory for you, have no fear, there’s a webinar for that! Join us on Wed, January 25th at 1pm (PST) for Getting Started with Blogging, and soon, you'll be a blogging fool, too (in a good way, promise!).
Colleen Corkery is the Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. She writes and reaps about all email-related things. Connect with her on Twitter at @youcollme.
What's wildly successful, unbelievably adorable, and huge on social media? If you said, "cat videos," or "Ryan Gosling," you're absolutely correct, but I'm also talking about ModCloth. I've given kudos to the San Francisco-based indie online retailer before for their catchy promotions, (can we say obsessed?), however, their success doesn't stop there. For the last two consecutive years, ModCloth has experienced an annual growth rate of 600%, and they credit this rapid growth to their customer engagement and interactivity via the ModCloth blog and social networks. With more than 400,000 Facebook 'likes', 64,500 followers on Twitter, and a stream of guest bloggers galore (including Zooey Deschanel), Modcloth is obviously doing something right. So how exactly does ModCloth take the social media cake? Let's dig in…
Playing Games Everyone loves a contest and ModCloth is queen when it comes to giving things away, especially just for the sake of engagement. A slew of different contests pop up on a regular basis via ModCloth's Facebook page, blog or Twitter account. My personal favorite, which I've mentioned before, is called: "Name it & Win it,” where customers get three chances to name a new featured product. If your 'quirky' product name is chosen, you win said product, and get a feel-good creative kick for being one with the 'punny' ModCloth writers.
Twitter fans also get treated each week with ModCloth's Twitter-specific contest called "I Spy Thursday," in which a close-up photo of a product from the site is posted on Twitter. The 5th tweet to name the product correctly, wins a $25 gift card. There's also a "Book of the Month" giveaway simply for participating in a blog discussion, giveaways for creating a ModCloth wish list, submitting a photo, and the list goes on.
Most recently, ModCloth held a "Make the Cut" contest, in which they asked customers to submit their own fashion designs. The seven winners, decided by Facebook fans, receive $500 in cash; a sample of their design, and their product will then be sold on ModCloth's site. If that isn't customer engagement (and awesome!), I don't know what is!
Why it works: People love to play games, win free things and get involved. If you give your fans a chance to do all three, they'll be loyal, loving, and (hopefully) purchasing customers. Creating contests that bring people back to your site, encourage participation in multiple ways on multiple platforms, also opens up the chance to market to potential customers from a variety of playing fields.
That's What I Want With a core demographic of 18-30 year-old fashion-forward women, ModCloth does a stellar job of involving their customers in the retail-buying scheme of things. One of ModCloth's most engaging campaigns, "Be the Buyer," allows customers to rate clothing they'd like to see sold on the site, make commentary as to why they like/dislike the product, and if their product is chosen, they get an email notifying them that it's available for purchase. ModCloth also takes "Be the Buyer" commentary into consideration and makes improvements to the products based off of the feedback.
Getting to know your customers provides you with invaluable information that not only hones in on the core of your customer, but also allows you to understand how to actually approach/market to them. So, how do you get to know your customers? By asking! And what better place to do so than on social media. ModCloth's 'Social Butterflies' are a social media team entirely dedicated to sending out enticing tweets, asking engaging questions on Facebook, and simply sharing their favorite finds with fans.
Why it works: Listening to your customers is one of, if not, the most important thing a company can do. Customers will tell you what they want, and giving them the opportunity to do so, as well as implementing their feedback into foreseeable action, will resonate with them.
Now I admit, this may seem like one big ModCloth love-fest (did I mention they also have a pug mascot named Winston? Squeal!), but you have to give props to the started-in-a-dorm-room, rapidly growing company for knowing its audience so well, and how to properly engage them. With all of ModCloth's stunning success, they not only take the social media cake, they get to eat it ... in cute dresses, too.
Colleen Corkery is the Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. She writes and reaps about all email-related things. Connect with her on Twitter at @youcollme.
"Oh promos, you’re so fine, you’re so fine, you blow our minds! Hey promos!" - Like a catchy tune, a good promotion has the opportunity to successfully stick in the eyes, ears and mind of an eager or potential customer. In an effort to stand out amongst promotions-gone-wild this season, the holidays pose an excellent opportunity to hone in on our ‘let’s get viral’ skills. Below is a compilation of holiday promotions (and take aways), so catchy and fine, they blew my mind:
1. GapKids: I Want Candy
Do you like shopping? I know you do. Do you have a sweet tooth? Me too! What better way to feed both of these needs than with clothes and candy. This year, GapKids has a sensationally sweet holiday promotion and clothing line appropriately titled “I Want Candy.” Better yet, they’ve brought on Maria Aragon (You know, the little girl who became a YouTube star for covering Lady Gaga’s ‘Born this Way’) to sing and promote the line. Not only am I a sucker for sweets, but Aragon’s cover and all-girl rocker video for the song, “I Want Candy” is too cute to boot. Granted, I don’t even have children, but the promo hit a sweet spot, so I walked into Gap and headed to the kids section to check out the goods. And guess what? Not only were they selling cute clothes, but actual candy! You can bet your candy canes I bought a bag and it was delicious – Impressive! Way to go GapKids, I’m buying your products and I don’t even have a kid!
GapKids "I Want Candy" Video feat. Maria Aragon:
Take-away: Shine the spotlight on someone else. Featuring or repurposing content from others, whether it be a local star, someone unknown, or even a competitor, not only develops and displays professional camaraderie, but also gives you the opportunity to be exposed to new audiences brought in from your guest stars. Always make sure, however, to give credit where it’s due.
2. ModCloth: Name it & Win it
Speaking of sugar and spice and promosthat're oh-so nice, ModCloth, a retro online clothing retailer, has a cult fan following, and for a reason. Not only do they provide a constant stream of desirable products, they do an excellent job of engaging their customers in just about every promo they put on. One of my favorite’s featured on ModCloth’s blog is a contest called “Name it & Win it.” Every product sold on MothCloth’s website has a cheeky, ‘punny’ or cheesy name to it. In this ‘Cyber Monday’ edition of "Name it & Win it," Modcloth leaves it up to their customers to come up with a name for a featured product...in this case, a dress. The winner gets bragging rights for naming a permanent product on the site AND they get the dress! That’s not only interactive, but also engaging, and it promotes multiple site viewership. That's winning x2. Yahoo!
Take-away: Find ways to engage and interact with your audience. This may be through contests, giveaways, surveys, or even simple questions posed to your customers via blog/Facebook/Twitter, etc. Interaction with your customers encourages repeat visits and will most likely attract new customers to join in on the fun. Check out this recorded webinar, Social Media Listening and Engaging for more ideas.
3. Amazon.com: 25 Days of Free
“Free” and “music” are two of my all-time favorite words. When both of these words/worlds collide, I swear I hear angels singing, for free, of course. With the rise of music streaming services like Spotify, that encourage “borrowing” music vs. downloading it illegally (you know who you are), we’re all getting into the honest & sharing spirit. Amazon.com takes it one step further with their promotion, "25 Days of Free" where they're just giving music to you, for free! Going on now, and every day through Christmas, Amazon will unveil a holiday song to download for free for a limited time. It’s like a zero calorie advent calendar that goes straight to your ears!
Take away: Giving gifts to your customers for free, without any hidden catches, is not only appreciated, but will be remembered. And, when a customer does want to purchase a product, they’ll most certainly come back to you.
4. Starbucks.com: 12 Daily Offers
Starbucks fans are hardcore, and I can see why. Not only does Starbucks brew up some of the strongest coffee in the industry, but they put a lot of thought and effort into their promotions, even if they only last 12 days. From December 1-12th, Starbucks puts a new gift idea on sale for one day, in their "12 Daily Offers" promotion. It’s a gift guide & sale in one! There’s an animated site made specifically for the promotion displaying a lit up tree, falling snowflakes and carolers that transport me into a winter wonderland of coffee and hot deals. Starbucks run anyone?
Take-away: Offer a gift guide, a sale, and a sense of urgency. Some people need all the help they can get when it comes to buying gifts. Providing your customers with friendly ideas via gift guide along with a deal will ease their sense of gift-giving panic. Providing a limited time on your sale also urges customers to purchase sooner than later. The amount of effort you put into something, such as a sale, will also resonate with your audience, no matter how big or small the deal.
5. Kate Spade New York: Give Colorfully
Kate Spade is living in color. The 2011 Holiday campaign and collection “Give Colorfully” displays handbags, jewelry, clothing and more in splashes of color galore. To promote the campaign, their blog explodes with color and colorful topics, short, sweet and visually appealing videos, and more. There’s even an interactive gift guide on the site that allows you to virtually ‘unwrap’ goodies by scrolling your mouse over colorfully wrapped packages. The campaign, colors, design, videos, creativity and interactivity on the site are not only aesthetically pleasing, but fun to get lost in, more so than I should probably admit, but it was for research right?!
Take-away: Never underestimate the power of a clean, simple, colorful design. This concept doesn’t just apply to websites, but to your email campaigns as well. Eliminate clutter, keep it simple, and consider white space.
6. UrbanOutfitters.com: Take it Off
When you hear the phrase “take it off” are you thinking of savings? Sure, me too. Well, whatever your mind may be making up, UrbanOutfitters.com sure did a great job of grabbing my attention. In a ‘quickie’ of an email, I received the promo code: TAKEITOFF for an additional 20% off a $100 purchase. They placed the promo code in the preheader, and sure enough, I opened it up in a split second to check out the…er, savings.
Take-away: Attention-grabbing copy (when done tastefully and truthfully) is key, so take some risks! If you’re worried about performance, conduct a split test and send the catchy attention-grabber to half your audience. Make sure to track and measure your results – you might be pleasantly surprised!Here are some slides on holiday copywriting and content to get you in the catchy copywriting mood.
That 'wraps' it up! Hopefully this compilation of promos got your own creative brain geared up and ready to take on some catchy promo action, so fine, it’ll blow your customers’ minds!
Posted by: Colleen Corkery
Colleen Corkery is the Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. She writes and reaps about all email-related things. Connect with her on Twitter at @youcollme
Offline Relationships Are More Critical Today Than Ever Before!
In today’s fast-paced social world, we often take our connections for granted. You may have a couple of thousand followers on Twitter or several hundred “Friends” on Facebook, but how many of those people have you had a conversation with in-person?
I’ll be the first to admit that I used to go wide with my connections but made a very conscience decision about a year ago that I wanted to go deeper with the relationships I already had. This involved participating in more face time with the people I wanted to get to know better. This is a tactic that we are also trying to implement with our VerticalResponse relationships too.
The VerticalResponse team has been out in the field at various tradeshows and conferences connecting with our existing and potential clients. Not only does this provide a human face to both sides but provides the opportunity to LISTEN to what our customers want and need so we can make our products and services a long-term piece of their business strategy.
This personal interaction is something that I encourage all businesses to try. Whether it’s throwing a client appreciation party at your boutique or organizing a tweetup for your Twitter followers at a local watering hole, nothing beats face-to-face interaction. This provides an excellent opportunity to take your surface connections to a much deeper level and possibly build a solid customer relationship for many years to come.
So don’t lose sight of face-to-face interaction because sometimes the best customer might be the one looking you right in the eye.
Posted by Derek Overbey
Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.