What is Social Media Marketing?

May 16, 2009May 16, 2009 · 1 Comment ·

So, we’ve already defined “Social Media” in a blog post earlier this week. Let’s take it a step further and see how Wikipedia defines “Social Media Marketing.”

According to Wikipedia, Social Media Marketing is an engagement with online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales. The number-one advantage is generating exposure for the business, followed by increasing traffic and building new business partnerships.[1]

Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

In the context of Internet marketing, social media refers to a collective group of web properties whose content is primarily published by users, not direct employees of the property (e.g. the vast majority of video on YouTube is published by non-YouTube employees).

Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites.

Social media marketing has two important aspects:

(1) Adding links to services such as Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us so that their pages can be easily ‘saved and submitted’ to and for these services.

(2) Building ways that fans of a brand or company can promote it themselves in multiple online social media venues.

Some social media marketers offer to write content (such as white papers) that are unique and newsworthy. This content can then be marketed by popularizing it or even by creating a “viral” video on YouTube and other video sites, including getting involved in blogs, forums, and niche communities. Others in the social media world consider this form of social media marketing Astroturfing or “fake grass roots”.

According to Lloyd Salmons, first chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau social media council “Social media isn’t just about big networks like Facebook and MySpace, it’s about brands having conversations.”[2].

Supporting Salmons claim, Jim Tobin and Lisa Braziel liken rules of social media marketing to rules of etiquette commonly practiced at a cocktail party. In their book, Social Media is a Cocktail Party, the authors suggest rules of engagement commonly practiced at a cocktail party are often the same or similar rules for engaging others in social media spaces.

The parameters surrounding social media marketing are arguably elusive today. The trend is still so new many bloggers, public relations, marketing, and social media experts vary in their definition of what social media marketing entails. Nielson published [3] suggesting that blogs and social networks make up an emerging social web. The social web includes social media sites and is a location within which social media marketing might take place.

References

1. Social Media Marketing Industry Report
2. IAB appoints first social media council chair
3. Global Faces and Networked Places

Women, Social Media and Franchising: A Winning Combination?

May 16, 2009May 16, 2009 · 3 Comments ·

Women, more than their male counterparts, have embraced social media as an integral part of their typical day. From getting their news online to communicating with family and friends on social networking sites to blogging about their personal and business experiences, women are spending more time than ever before on the internet.

As more and more women explore franchising as a career alternative, choosing to control their own destiny, franchisors must market directly to this rapidly-growing group of opportunity seekers. Joining the force of today’s more sophisticated, educated and technologically advanced transitioning corporate executives, women will use social media to explore and investigate franchise opportunities. Tending to be more diligent and thorough than men in general, women relish relationship building and sharing of information making social media marketing perfect to attract female franchise candidates.

The article below details the continued usage of social media by the female population. Franchisors should pay close attention to the various stats provided by the author and make social media marketing a key component of their franchise marketing and development strategy.

42 Million U.S. Women Use Social Media: Blogs Most Influential
By Anita Campbell on Small Biz Trends May 10, 2009

Is the jury still out in your mind as to whether social media matters in business? If so, a recent survey might make you change your mind. In fact, it may cause you to re-think your entire marketing outreach, especially if you market to women.

The study found that 42 million women in the United States (roughly 53% of the 79 million adult women in the United States who use the Internet) participate in social media at least weekly. As they spend more time with social media, women are spending correspondingly less time with traditional media: 39% less on newspapers, 36% less time reading magazines, and 30% less time watching TV.

That’s according to a recent social media survey by BlogHer, the women’s blog network, along with iVillage and Compass Partners.

Read the entire article here

What is Social Media?

May 14, 2009May 15, 2009 · 1 Comment ·

With all the recent discussion on Facebook and Twitter about Social Media guidelines, we have received many inquiries from the franchise community about Social Media training for their employees and franchisees. During these conversations, it was quite evident that many did not understand Social Media and some did not know what it is. So, we thought we’d take it to a basic level and explore the various definitions of Social Media as it is defined by different sources online. Here’s what we found:

Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

A category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, or My Space, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Simpy, and other sites that are centered on user interaction.
www.lazworld.com/glossary.html

Online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other.
www.tvb.org/multiplatform/Multiplatform_Glossary.aspx

Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, wiki or video hosting site.
www.capilanou.ca/help/active-cms/glossary.html

An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words and pictures. …
www.anvilmediainc.com/search-engine-marketing-glossary.html

Software tools that allow groups to generate content and engage in peer-to-peer conversations and exchange of content (examples are YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace etc)
www.bottlepr.co.uk/glossary.html

Social Media is the collection of tools and online spaces available to help individuals and businesses to accelerate their information and communication needs. [Axel Schultze]
communitymanagers.pbwiki.com/Glossary-and-Reference

Regional Franchise Development as a Growth Strategy

May 13, 2009May 13, 2009 · 2 Comments ·

The following article, the first in a series of articles on the subject of Regional Franchise Development as a Growth Strategy, has been submitted by franchisEssentials Guest Author, Dan Durney, Partner and Co-Founder of PowerHouse Franchising. Dan has a wealth of business and franchise experience including:

•Expert in analyzing business opportunities and clearly explaining the details in a clear and concise manner.
•Thoroughly enjoys the “exploratory” phase of business qualification where the goals, expectations and capabilities of the individuals seeking to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves, are matched up with the individuals who are looking for partners to help launch their concept.
•Directing the development of the current Internet strategy for PowerHouse Franchising, including enhanced pipeline and lead-generation reporting.
•Currently owns multiple Regional Development Concepts in the U.S.
•Experienced (and entertaining) presenter for conferences, training seminars and business opportunity expos.
•Prior experience in sales and support to large Corporate Enterprise customers as well as small “mom and pop” operations allows for comprehensive understanding of today’s business climate.
•Has started and successfully run three separate businesses (Telecom, IT training, & Marketing).

franchisEssentials is pleased to have Dan as a Guest Author and we look forward to posting additional articles in the future from Dan and his excellent team at PowerHouse Franchising.

Regional Franchise Development as a Growth Strategy

It’s not for everyone to be sure. In fact, it’s for very few. Estimates range from 3-5% of all franchisors use this method of growth as a corporate strategy. Maybe, only about 15% even should consider it. However, when the right franchise concept, with a dynamic business model and strong unit economics embrace it… it can be MAGIC and make the brand a “Force” to be reckoned with.

What is Regional Franchise Development? Do we know it by any other name? Oh yes we do – Regional Representative, Area Director, Area Representative and of course Master Franchising. Oh ok, now I’ve heard of those – so what’s the difference? Basically, not much but if the Franchisor shares the Franchise Fees, Royalties and sometimes Distribution income with these Strategic Market “Partners” (legal guys – please don’t sweat the use of “Partner” here – I use it mainly for illustration purposes and not strict legal definition – thanks!) then you have the makings of a Challenging, exciting and VERY rewarding business building opportunity – both for the Franchisor and for the Regional Developer (RD) (we’ll stick with this Acronym for these articles).

We’ll start off this series by discussing WHY a Franchisor would decide to develop their brand this way and what they can expect to see in terms of growth and infrastructure development. Then we’ll explore what benefits (branding, revenue opportunities, etc.) are in store for the company, the RD and the Franchisees too.

FOUR Reasons for a Franchisor to Consider Regional Development as a Growth Strategy

1) Faster Growth – more sales efforts in each Region.

2) Lower Corporate overhead costs – staff up to support approximately 60 Regional Developers.

3) Greater collective EXPERIENCE of Regional Developers brings more objective input with local experience. No ”Ivory Tower” syndrome.

4) Better ongoing franchisee support with costs pushed out to the Regional Developers.

The RD has an incentive to develop the Region as quickly as possible; therefore the franchise recruiting efforts can begin immediately within the local market. Using Business Brokers, Franchise Consultants, Local Networking, Online Portals, Classic Advertising, Social Media (I won’t even get started on THAT here), etc. are some ways to find the most interested, qualified and “ready to move” candidates. Of course, once the “Pilot Unit” is open, customers of many concepts have become franchisees themselves after experiencing the products / services of the franchise as a consumer.

Imagine the growth curve for the franchisor as the RDs begin to recruit in their local market – face to face – filtering out the unqualified and presenting the ones who are properly vetted to the franchisor for approval. What kind of candidate would an RD be looking for? One with whom they feel they can work well together, who will be a TEAM PLAYER in the market with the other franchisees, and will be receptive to coaching and mentoring that the RD will provide.

What would the Franchisor’s costs be to hire, train, house, and compensate franchise sales people to accomplish the same thing? The Franchisors who “do the math” clearly understand this concept. It can result in strong, controlled, and calculated growth. Who doesn’t want that?

One VERY SUCCESSFUL franchise concept that rolled out exclusively thru Regional Development has over 540 units open (800+ awarded) across the USA and is supported by a staff of only 40 at corporate HQ. Those staff members support the RDs and the RDs support the franchisees in their local markets. It’s a tiered distribution of support. Remember, the RDs are compensated for this with the sharing of the Royalties paid by the franchisees. (More about the revenue streams to the RDs later).

It still needs to be done correctly, having sufficient staff to support initial RD location openings, etc. This company did it right, for the most part, enduring some bumps and bruises along the way, but there are certainly others who haven’t. What caused their downfall? That’s for another installment…

Bubbling up the “Best Practices” from the Regions thru the RDs provides the Franchisor with invaluable “field research” to improve the brand, its offerings and stay better apprised of the competition.

If you think about it, it is actually a “selling” feature of a franchise to have local support by someone who has a vested interest in the success of the franchisees in their market. Often the RD is only a short distance away and visits more frequently than head office staffers dispatched quarterly or less frequently.

Branding is better controlled as well since the RD is responsible for monitoring the local co-op advertising activities in their market.

So, we see the benefits for the Franchisor, RD and Franchisee can be substantial. What are we looking for in a Regional Developer? What characteristics should be avoided for an RD? Is it for you? Is this the right time in your life and personal circumstances?

Employee Training: The Key to Controlling Workers Compensation Cost

May 11, 2009May 11, 2009 · 1 Comment ·

The following article has been submitted by franchisEssentials Guest Author, Margaret Spence, CWC, RMPE – President/CEO of Douglas Claims & Risk Consultants, Inc. and WorkCompSeminars.com. Margaret is a Board Certified Workers’ Compensation Consultant, Speaker and Trainer who ranks among the experts in the field of injury management and return to work implementation. For more than two decades, she has managed workers’ compensation claims for Fortune 500 Corporations, Public Entities and small businesses. She is an expert at showing companies how to slash their workers’ compensation cost by implementing strategies that drastically reduce injury rates, increase productivity and energize employees to work safely. She also is the author of – From Workers’ Comp Claimant to Valued Employee. Margaret pioneered adding National Return to Work Week to the 2009 US calendar – this week highlights the importance of implementing Return-to-Work or Stay-at-Work Programs. To learn more about Margaret please visit her website at www.cdouglasrms.com.

Employee Training: The Key to Controlling Your Workers Compensation Cost

Imagine if you could hire the right candidate, keep them safe and retain them for years to come? As your company grapples with layoffs, budget shortages and declining profits – is this realistic? Can you balance employee retention, injury prevention and economic sustainability? The answer is easy – in tough economic times businesses can not afford to overlook retention and injury prevention. Training is the key to sustaining profits, decreasing workers’ compensation cost and retaining employees.

How would you rate your company’s training program? (a) Exceptional – (b) Great – (c) Adequate – (d) Needs Improvement

Most employers rate their training programs as Great to Adequate; in reality most programs need drastic improvement.

The typical employer describes their training program in the following manner: “Well, we have new employees come in to the HR Department to complete the hire package, then we go over their benefits, we show them a safety video and then we send them to their department for job-specific training.” What the employer is actually saying – new employees are put into a buddy situation, you are asking their co-workers to train them to do the job. Guess what —this is not training! That is passing the torch from Employee A to Employee B.

With this scenario, you are hoping that Employee A, your superstar employee, will pass down all of the requirements for the job. In reality, Employee A is frustrated because she has to train all of the new employees without additional pay, and she passes down her bad habits, her frustrations and what I like to call her accumulated employee baggage to Employee B. Before Employee B has a chance to get her feet wet, she is already forming a negative opinion of your company. Before long, you are totally surprised when Employee B is injured and out on workers’ compensation. What went wrong? You failed to provide the employee with adequate training to prevent the injury – you created a “tribal training program”.

As employers, you have to stop passing the torch – or doing what I call “tribal training”. In the olden days information was passed down from generation to generation using verbal queues, thousands of years later, employers are still doing this every day when they hire new employees. Employers have to recognize that “tribal training” is not training at all – job specific, formal, documented training is what prevents injuries. Like a cookie cutter, every employee in the same job should have the same training – Consistency.

Where should you start?

a. Determine the specifics tasks required to do the job.
b. Determine the essential functions and demands of the jobs.
c. Write a clear job description that addresses the minimum requirements to do the job safely.
d. Determine the safety rules that should apply to the job or work areas.
e. Determine the minimum competency required to do the job safely.

Use this information to create a Training Matrix that charts the job task, minimum competency required to do the job, the safety requirements and a time table for the employee to achieve competency in the position. Then use this information to develop your training classes and start training your employees – Simple.

Do not accept experience for training, even if employees come to your job site with impressive amounts of experience. The previous employer may have done things the right way, but they may not have; the employee may have been adequately trained to perform the job, but he or she may not have been. It is up to you to provide training specific to your work environment and the job tasks you are asking your employees to perform.

Remember training should be an ongoing initiative, not a one shot deal. It should be Simple, Specific and Consistent. As the Employer you must recognize that bad hiring decisions and improper training programs can increase the likelihood that an employee will be injured. Spend the money to train your employees correctly—from the beginning. If you evaluate the overall cost of one workers’ compensation claim—including: the loss of manpower, the administrative cost to manage an injured employee, the workers’ compensation premium cost and the overtime to cover jobs that would have been done by the injured worker—you will see the cost benefits of integrating an effective training program that emphasizes safety into your workplace.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), mandates that you provide training to your employees. In today economic climate, most employers are asking their employees to do more with less staffing, it is imperative that your employees are highly trained and remain injury free. The most cost effective scenario is preventing injuries not managing them. In this economy, you can not afford to continue the training scenarios of the past. Job specific training will ensure that your company moves from one that is trying to survive, to one that is looking for new ways to thrive.

Exploring Twitter Basics

May 11, 2009May 11, 2009 ·

The following is some great information submitted by Guest Author, Gini Dietrich, Chief Executive Officer at Arment Dietrich PR. The information explores Twitter basics and how to get started using this innovative tool in your social networking efforts. Gini fully understands franchisors’ public relations and communications needs and was a keynote speaker at the Franchise Finance and Development Conference recently held in Las Vegas. Arment Dietrich PR is among the country’s fastest growing boutique public relations agencies. Their motivation is a relentless drive to find new and better ways to help clients boost their businesses and bottom-line results.

Getting started on Twitter

As budding experts on social media, believe us when we say Twitter is not dominated by gossiping teenagers and social butterflies (though they are there). Many corporate executives, reporters, and entrepreneurs recognize social media not only as a powerful tool for communication, but also as a resource for networking and attracting new business. And though the excuses people use to avoid social media are plentiful (”I don’t get it,” or “it takes too long,” or “I don’t know how to get started”), it really isn’t painful or difficult, as long as you commit a little time to get started.

So what is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking site where you can meet new people and exchange ideas and information. You are allowed to say whatever you want, as often as you want (in 140 characters or less), in a message called a “tweet.”

Types of Tweets

DMs, RTs, and @replies. What do all of those mean? A DM is a direct message you send to anyone in your network who is also following you (we’ll get to following later), and is not viewable by anyone else. It is like an email between you and another person. If you find a tweet of particular interest, you can RT or retweet it. All of your followers may not be connected, and retweeting a post shares the information with your network. Lastly, @replies are simply a reply to someone else’s tweet. Your followers may not see the initial message, but they will be able to read your @reply on your Twitter page.

When you’re tweeting, don’t forget that Twitter is just like any other information source, so it’s important to give credit where credit is due and reference your source when sharing other people’s tweets.

Getting started

First create a Twitter handle (also known as a screen name), upload a picture, and write a bio. Use your real name and a current picture so people recognize you. (For some quick tips on how to write an online bio, check out Gini’s recent post on the Geek Girls Guide.)

Start networking

If you want anyone to read what you are writing, you need some followers. When you subscribe to someone else’s Twitter stream, it is called following. The easiest way to build your online community is to search for people you already know using Twitter and start following them. (Follow the Arment Dietrich team here!) You can also search keywords to find like-minded people. And, start tweeting! Use DMs, RTs, and @replies to engage and connect.

Making time for TwitterCheck Twitter morning, noon, and night. Or, at least three times per day at first. Once you get used to checking it and reading your updates, you’ll see you don’t have to make a huge time investment to become involved.

There are many programs out there to make your Twitter experience as easy as possible (such as TweetDeck), and allow you to group your followers and track tweets based on interests or people. Programs like these are a big timesaver.

Social Networking and Business Growth: A Winning Combination

April 27, 2009April 27, 2009 · 6 Comments ·

Social Networking is the perfect answer to growing your business, economic downturn or not.

Over time, personal interaction within a social networking environment creates trust. In turn, it develops relationships, shares information, provides two-way communications, and provides points of reference for follow up. It creates a multi-tiered platform of information that benefits both business development and customer generation efforts alike. Often, simultaneously.

How are you using social networking (and Web 2.0 tools) to grow your business? Are you using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to full benefit? Need some questions answered? Post them below and we’ll be sure to answer them. If we don’t have the answers you need, we’ll get them for you as soon as possible.

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95% Will Maintain or Increase Social Media Spending

April 26, 2009April 26, 2009 · 2 Comments ·

The following article about Social Media spending was originally posted on the Forrester Research website. We’re sharing this article because we feel it’s an excellent follow up to our last article about social media marketing. All trends are pointing towards significant increases in social media spending.

Recession resistant: 95% of social media marketers will maintain or increase social media spending
originally posted by Josh Bernoff

Last year, we surveyed interactive marketers and found a strong desire to continue investing in social applications, even with a recession looming. Now the recession is here. What are they saying now?

Based on a more recent survey from December of 2008, they still will maintain or increase their social media investments. The full statistics are in a new report by my colleague Jeremiah Owyang called “Social Media Playtime Is Over.” Remember, in late ’08 the recession was nearly as gloomy as how it looks now. And yet:

1. More than half of interactive marketers plan increases in their social technology spending. (These stats are from 114 marketers currently using social media, out of the 145 interactive marketers we surveyed.) Only 5% plan decreases. Go ahead, name another marketing investment that’s anywhere near this strong in recessionary times.

2. The most rapidly growing categories are social networking, blogging, and user-generated content.

3. Remember that the base of this growth is small. While the marketers in this sample all come from companies with at least 250 people, three quarters of them are still spending $100,000 or less on these social technology projects. This is a drop in the bucket compared to other marketing expenditures.

This has reinforced what I’m hearing out there anecdotally, which is an awful lot of marketers asking for (and paying for) advice on this topic.

What’s driving this? As the executive summary of the report says:

These inexpensive tools can quickly get marketing messages out through interactive discussion and rapid word of mouth, and properly managed, can deliver measurable results.

The report includes recommendations for marketers. Here are some for my blog readers:

•If you are a marketer interested in social media, use these stats to get a realistic budget, then concentrate on measuring the results of your efforts to prove they work. Don’t dabble; dabblers will see their budgets cut. Social media playtime is over.

•If you are a consultant or recently laid off person, yes, this is a growth area. But it is one in which there are already an awful lot of experts. To become successful, concentrate on developing expertise in implementation, management, moderation, or measurement of social media efforts; that’s where the need appears to be, from the companies I speak with. In other words, social media playtime is over.

•If you are a technology vendor, case studies with proof of value will be far more effective than features, functions, and technology claims. If you can offer a consultative sale and handholding service, you’ll be a lot more likely to win clients and thrive in this space. Say it with me, now. Social media playtime is over.

Got it? What do you think? Is the recession halting social media efforts at your company, or encouraging them?

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