Four Things To Do If Social Media Is NOT Increasing Sales

I won’t pretend to have some secret formula for Social Media ROI for franchises or any other types of organizations. I’ll leave that to the software companies who have recently popped up and discovered how huge the franchising industry is and want to build your Facebook page…

What I will tell you is this: you need to measure Social Media activity against your bottom line.

Is there a correlation? Is SM making an impact on sales, leads, customers, or your other most important metrics?

Social Media ROI — Is Social Media Making an Impact on Your Sales?

If Social Media engagement is increasing your numbers, then keep going!

If not, then you need to do one of these four things:

1. Increase Social Media activity

2. Change Social Media tactics

3. Improve the content

4. Stop using Social Media

I don’t advocate #4, but it may be the right thing for some organizations. Let’s focus on the other three.

1. Increase Social Media Activity

How often are you engaging in conversations with consumers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all of the others? How often are you updating your blog(s) with something other than marketing materials and ads?

Too many organizations rely on the Field of Dreams method of social media places: build it and wait for them to come. Sure there are 600 million users of Facebook, but how many actually run to your fan page once a week?

Best Practice: Post engaging content to your pages three times per week to set a cadence.

2. Change Social Media Tactics

Maybe you’ve been posting to a Facebook Fan Page but getting no conversion of fans to customers. Perhaps your targeted consumers aren’t “living” on Facebook; they may be more apt to engage you on Twitter, a blog, or a LinkedIn group. You must cover all bases and try all avenues to find your community.

Best Practice: add a new platform or channel every 60 days for the rest of 2011. And, try setting up individual Fan Pages, profiles, or blog sites for each store, location, or franchisee.

3. Improve the Content

Is there value for others? Or is there value in this content for only you and your organization?

Here’s a good test: Take a quick look right now at the content on your blog(s), Facebook pages, or Twitter account. Is it all press releases, announcements about your company, promotions, and broadcasts about products and how you’re better than the other guys? Guess who’s going to engage with you over this content? No one (except your co-workers and maybe some current customers who are being kind).

Best Practice: include marketing content in one out of every ten posts. The other nine will draw consumers into the conversation about the industry, lifestyle, or other information in which they see value.

Don’t Be a Social Media Electrician

In previous posts, we’ve discussed the negatives of being a Social Media Hammer Guru. Now I’m asking you to avoid becoming the social media equivalent of an electrician.

Ever talk to an electrician who’s starting a job or project? What do they talk about the most?

Other electricians.

Specifically, they criticize the previous work done by other electricians who wired or rewired the place. There’s always lots of “that was done wrong”, “I would’ve done this differently,” and of course “that guy doesn’t know what he’s doing!”

The same goes for many trades: computer programmers, sales managers, and NFL coaches. It happens in any job. Maybe I’m giving electricians a bad rap.

Social media marketers and communicators can easily fall into this trap of spending all day pointing out flaws in others’ social plans and tactics. But unlike the electrical trade, there is not yet enough history to establish absolute Rights and Wrongs. As soon as we get close, platforms’ rules change, public sentiment shifts, or research appears showing us that we didn’t really know how few or how many consumers were engaged.

We will do ourselves a favor by not going down the path of the social media electrician or armchair quarterback. Social Media Marketing is still so new (yep, still no “experts”!) that we should relish this time of experimentation and crowd learning.

PR: Step Up and Lead Social Media

A friendly word to all PR practitioners: start LEADING social media within your organization NOW.

Too many PR pros are aware of the opportunities within Social Media, but are not pushing for integration of consumer engagement with their media relations work.

Too many senior leaders at agencies may be creating a path to irrelevance by giving clients what they want or expect (i.e. media relations work, traditional pitching). But, they are not giving them what they need: messages that reach consumers directly along with the traditional intermediaries such as journalists.

Too many corporate communications pros have remained in the shadows and see their Marketing or Advertising counterparts provide the C-Suite strategic guidance through the social media waters.

However, Public Relations professionals are the logical choice within any organization to lead Social Media because they have the skill set to engage in consumer conversation, not just broadcast messages.

If you’re in Chicago, a GREAT place to start is a series of upcoming luncheon programs featuring social media topics for professional communicators and PR pros.

The first is a great starting point for any social media program: Measurement. Panelists include Rodrigo Sierra, Chief Marketing Officer, Johnson Publishing and Johna Burke, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, BurrellesLuce.

March 15, 2011
Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL

Registration: Click Here

Sponsor: Richard Day Research

The second is a fireside chat with Gini Dietrich discussing Social Media for Senior Executives. Gini is the CEO of Arment Dietrich, Inc., founder of the popular Spin Sucks blog, and a nationally recognized leader and speaker on the subjects of online technology in communication, marketing, sales, and HR.

April 19, 2011
Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL

Registration: Coming Soon!

Sponsors: MSL Chicago and Big Shoes Network

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Why Being On Facebook Is A Mistake

Today’s guest blog post is by Thomas Scott, CEO of Brand Journalists, a firm that is creating breakthroughs for several franchise companies using a mix of content and Engage121.

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Why Being on Facebook is a Mistake

Almost every session I attended at this year’s International Franchise Association conference in Las Vegas touched on social media. No matter what the subject matter, the dialogue eventually focused on the impact of social media. Just as in past years, there was standing room only space for social topics and several times the crowd spilled over into the hallways.

Throughout all the conversation, a disturbing trend emerged as a best practice: Facebook is where you should focus your social media efforts. The message to franchisors: when it comes to social media, it is a Facebook world.

On many levels, this makes sense. Facebook is growing at amazing rates and has quickly become the most popular social network. Our customers are all over Facebook and we feel the pressure to be where our customers are. Our franchisees want to be on Facebook and we are struggling to develop a plan makes everyone happy and produces results.

This is a mistake.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a presence on Facebook; at Brand Journalists, we do a ton of Facebook work for franchisors and franchisees, both of which have a large opportunity to connect with customers via the popular network. I believe in Facebook and we are always looking for ways to coax a return out of our marketing.

The mistake is in thinking that all your social media efforts should be focused on Facebook.
Franchisors today need to exploit four areas of social media. They are all important but not all equal. Some are easier to use and some are better for driving sales. In our experience managing social media for several franchise brands and individual franchisees, Facebook is the least likely social activity to drive actual sales and revenue.

Here are the four areas of social media listed in order of importance and impact on your sales:

1. Blogging – every day, millions of people search for billions of things on Google. Despite Facebook’s size, Google is still many multiples larger and growing. Your customers are looking for you and your services on Google; the humble business blog is the best social media tool to help you get your content in front of your target customers. The business blog is the most overlooked social media tool and by far the most underused. Companies that get good returns on social media are heavy bloggers simply because the blog allows creation of optimized content that gets in front of people who want what you have to sell. A good blog leverages emotionally compelling stories and relevant keywords. If content is truly the backbone of a successful social media campaign, it needs a place to call home and its home is your blog.

2. Google Places – in several IFA sessions we asked if franchisors knew much about Google Places and few understood this important tool. Google Places is Google’s business directory and one of the most important social media platforms. Search for a business or service in your city and you’ll see Google place pages for your local franchisees. This is a mini-website that provides basic information about your business, showcases user reviews and gives business owners spots to update statuses and upload media such as photos and videos. Potential customers who are ready to buy your product or service are influenced more by Google Places than any other social media. If you want to drive sales, spend time claiming, optimizing and managing each of your local franchisee place pages. Spend time to train franchisees on how to manage local pages and gather positive reviews. You’ll get an immediate return.

3. Social Loyalty Programs – Don’t know what social loyalty is? You are not alone. This is a very new field of social media and it holds immense promise for building repeat business and generating referrals from existing customers. Social loyalty programs tap into point of sale systems. Similar to a grocery store customer card, you issue your customers who register online a swipe card. They indicate which social networks they use and give you their email. Why would someone hand over this information? People respond to incentives. If you are a yogurt shop, they agree to post positive messages about your brand and earn points for every posting. Once they reach a set number of points they get free yogurt. When a loyalty customer swipes the card in the store, the program checks them into foursquare, posts on Facebook and even tweets. Every posting has a coupon or promotion for others so you just turned your customer base into a guerrilla marketing sales force. Not only do you entice customers to visit more often, they build brand loyalty within their networks. Talk about word of mouth on steroids……

4. Facebook – last but not least, Facebook is not to be overlooked. In this list, however, Facebook is the most difficult way to generate a direct sales return, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Facebook is a closed system. That means your content stays within the Facebook network. Facebook wants it this way to encourage sharing and eventually tap into a lucrative ad market. For businesses, this means creating a business fan page. The best advice I’ve heard is to think of your fan page as a business website with similar functionality as your main company website. Don’t use Facebook as it comes in its default mode. Don’t have people see your wall when they click on your page. Do get help customizing your Facebook tabs and think about ways to serve up blog content, store locators and Facebook-only deals on custom – built tabs.

As franchise companies, social media has become part of our integrated marketing strategies and it’s a good thing: we have tremendous opportunities to build brand awareness and leverage fans. For the first time, companies are really beginning to show solid track records using the social media tools above to drive sales. If you are trying to tackle social media, start at the top of this list and work your way down — you’ll get a much better result and your franchisees will thank you.

If you don’t know where to start, outsource or get help. You won’t be sorry.

Brand Journalists is a content, PR and social media firm based in Nashville, TN that uses Engage121 with all of its clients to help manage content on social networks to create marketing breakthroughs and drive sales.

www.brandjournalists.com
Twitter @brandjournalist
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomscott
Facebook: facebook.com/brandjournalists:

Social Media in Real-Time at The IFA

Here are lots of links to sites, apps, and content surrounding the 2011 International Franchise Association Convention.

Thanks to Paul Segreto for hosting me today on Franchise Today. We discussed how to experience the conference in real-time via social media channels. Listen to that conversation on demand here.

Also, check out Social Geek Radio’s discussion on Social Media at IFA here with Deb Evans, AK Stout, and Greg Pitkoff.

Twitter Searchable Hashtag for IFA conversations: #IFA

RSVP to Tweetup, Sunday 2/13 at 8:30pm: http://tweetvite.com/event/ifa

IFA Blog: http://franblog.tumblr.com/

IFA Convention Downloadable Application

IFA’s Tweets

My Tweets

Do you have others? Let me know and I’ll post them here!

Social Media Marketing for Franchises – Webinar

I’m pleased to be part of an upcoming free webinar with some smart marketers in the franchise industry. And, this is your invitation to join us for free! On Tuesday, February 8th, Engage121 is hosting a free online panel discussion called Social Media Marketing for Franchises: Approaches to Making it Work. Panelists include:

AK Stout: Founder, Saying It Social

Bill James: CEO, We Engage LLC

Jack Monson: Vice President, Engage121

Tammy Nienaber: Communications Director, Great Clips, Inc.

Thomas Scott: CEO, Brand Journalists

Moderated by: Nick Perold, Marketing Manager, Engage121

See below for more details and click register to reserve your spot. This is highly recommended for Franchisors, CMOs, Marketing Directors, PR Execs, and Social Media Managers and will be a terrific lead-in to more marketing conversations at this year’s IFA Conference.

Title: Social Media Marketing for Franchises
Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Cost: Free

The franchisor-franchisee relationship is a unique one – combining oversight and support. As a result, when it comes to marketing and promotion, franchisors and franchisees often find themselves asking “whose responsibility is this?” – and the answers are different for every system. Join Engage121 for a webinar on February 8th as we host a panel of franchise industry experts who will present different approaches to making social media marketing work for franchisors and franchisees alike. We’ll spend an hour discussing topics and answering questions from the audience such as:

– Should franchisees operate their own Facebook pages?

– Is social media marketing covered by the national ad fund?

– How do brands protect brand guidelines on the social web?

– Can franchisees opt-out of (or into) social media promotions?

Social Media: Candy for Franchises

Social Media is a means to give your brand a voice, put a face on your corporation, and give consumers “someone” to engage. Remember, people don’t buy from companies; they buy from people.

Nowhere is the opportunity greater than in the Franchise Industry, where even the biggest global brand is represented by a local business owner (and many times literally mom n’ pop)! The explosive growth of social media platforms means most of your potential customers are now reachable. Smart franchise systems are reaching those customers by empowering their franchisees with training and tools to be that local voice, face, and identifiable part of the community.

And, last but certainly not least, a social media plan and tools will give your franchise sales team a boost by presenting franchise candidates with an attractive – and affordable – benefit to selecting your system above others. The very fact that you have a plan of attack in social media may a deal-maker for some potential franchisees.

If you’re in franchising, I hope to see you at the 51^st Annual International Franchise Association Convention . Perhaps we can continue this discussion!

I have organized a Tweetup at the IFA show with Deb Evans, Matt Haller, and my colleagues from Engage121. If you’re attending, please join us on Sunday evening. Here are the details: http://tweetvite.com/event/ifa

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