Stop Driving Your Traffic to Facebook

Originally posted at Engage121 Blog

You see it everyday in retail stores, coffee shops, and pizza places:

Like us on Facebook!

Here’s the issue for the owners and managers of these stores: the people reading that sign are already in your store!

And instead of engaging them in real life, having a conversation, or selling them stuff (!), some retailers are pushing them over to Facebook or some other online presence to Like them, take a survey, etc. Don’t fall into this hole! Again, these people are ALREADY in your store! And, don’t worry about Facebook; Zuckerberg’s traffic will be just fine.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s extremely valuable to have your current customers join your online community. Engaging those folks on Facebook or other social channels is key in cementing your relationship, offering customer service, and perhaps creating a returning customer. Also, I think many people are drawn to the Facebook logo and would read anything on that sign!

But please don’t let your engagement in social marketing end there! So far, you’ve preached to the choir. Now you need to find a congregation.

Focus your resources on attracting people who are not currently in your store to come to your Facebook Page. Find consumers who are not already customers and invite them to learn about your business. Use Facebook to drive store traffic, not the other way around.

Remember the progression you want:

Person living in your community —> Person interested enough to go to your Fan Page —> Person interested enough to go to your shop —> Person who buys a product or service

FranCamp 2012 Registration Open Now

I’m please to helping my friend Deb Evans organize FranCamp – The Franchise Social Media Camp – once again this year. Last year’s turnout at the Nashville event was so well received that we’re expanding the agenda for our May 4 event in Atlanta. Please check out the FranCamp registration page now and check out the description below from our FranCamp website.

FranCamp

We realize that social media is a rapidly changing field and many marketing professionals, CEOs, franchise development staff and franchisees lack a clear roadmap for where to start with social media and how to weave together all the relating pieces that make up a successful social media and online content strategy.

What FranCamp is Not

If you work in the franchise industry, you know that franchise conferences are often full of vendors making pitches for services and products. Sometimes the information is helpful and it rarely goes into the real ‘recipe’ for using social media.

We want to change that.

What FranCamp is About

Everyone who works in franchising is affected by social media and the last thing any of us need is a speaker talking about ‘why you need to be using social media’ or big picture talk about ‘social media strategy.’ What franchise professionals hunger for is simple: real, actionable steps anyone can take that will make a HUGE difference in your marketing.

If you want to educate yourself on the best of current thinking and learn the real recipes that work from the most advanced franchisors, franchisees, consultants and experts in the field of social media, this is a one-day conference you can’t afford to miss.

You won’t get sales pitches. You’ll walk away with a very sophisticated level of understanding about ALL of the pieces of a successful social media strategy.

FranCamp follows the wildly successful PodCamp format – a low-cost, one day event fully loaded with a fast paced and aggressive agenda full of super-helpful content. What you will get is a good education in almost all of the relevant topics that marketers must understand to make good decisions. If you want to launch your own campaigns and make sure your marketing department is pointed in the right direction, this is for you. If you have a budget and need a better level of understanding about social media related issues so you can make good hiring and vendor decisions, this is especially for you.

Who Should Attend

Anyone who works in franchising: Franchisors – CEOs, COOs, VPs of Marketing and VPs of Franchise Development. Anyone who deals with franchise sales and lead generation, anyone who handles consumer side marketing should attend. If you work in the marketing department of a franchise system, this is for you. If you own a franchise and want to learn more about how you can boost your local marketing, this is for you.

Limited Registration

Registration is open and is limited to one hundred attendees. This is a high-power and intimate session. FranSocialCamp is designed to by inexpensive – total cost for flights, hotel and the $149 per person, making it one of the least expensive social media conferences in the country. Less costly doesn’t mean we skimp on content – you’ll have a hard time finding a better and more packed agenda than this one.

Breakfast and Lunch are included on Friday. Tuition comes with a very cool FranCamp T Shirt and copies of all presentations.

WKRP: Thanksgiving Turkey Drop

Arthur Carlson WKRP — “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

Several years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Gordon Jump, aka Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson of WKRP in Cincinnati. He was passing through town on a PR tour for Maytag (he was the Maytag Repairman in the commercial campaign at the time) and did a live studio interview at the radio station I was programming.

What a pro! Mr. Jump was a PR person’s AND a media outlet’s perfect interviewee: he promoted the Maytag event for which he was the guest, and also was open to reminiscing about his WKRP glory days. It was near Thanksgiving, so he gave us his best on-air recreation of his classic quote from the WKRP turkey massacre episode. He was thankful for having such a good run and for still acting and portraying fun characters.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
-Jack Monson

Oh, the humanity!
-Les Nessman

Franchising Equals Jobs

In advance of the Franchise Social Media Summit next week and October’s FranCamp, both of which will offer advanced discussion on who franchise systems can leverage social media to grow their business, here’s the latest from the franchising front. My colleague Jack Serpa of Engage121 participated in this week’s International Franchise Association Public Affairs Conference and offers this guest post as a refresher on the importance of the franchise industry to the US economy.

Franchising Equals Jobs

If you believe that economic recovery is dependent on job creation, you’ll be both impressed and frustrated with the impact the franchise industry holds in the balance.

I just returned from Washington DC where the International Franchise Association held their annual IFA Public Affairs Conference.

Consider that one out of every eight jobs in the private sector is with a franchise company. When a local Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins opens in your area, 30 new jobs are created. There are 828,000 franchise businesses in theUS, employing 9.1 million people who are paid $304.4 billion in direct payroll. That creates $468.5 billion to GDP.

It gets bigger. Each franchise establishment needs supplies, services and professional support. Roll that up nationwide and franchising fuels 17.4 million jobs, $707.6 billion in payroll, which is 9.7% of all private/non-farm payroll, and $1.2 TRILLION to GDP

Now comes the frustration. So jobs grow when Franchising grows, right? To start a franchise business, a local business person (the employer) needs capital funding. The funding is not coming through. No new lending means no new jobs.

Ken Walker, the Chairman and CEO of Driven Brands (owners of MAACO, Meineke and EconoLube) said his company has 100 people signed up to open new franchises. They can’t get funding. Karen Powell, CEO and Founder of Décor For You, told me she has two new franchisees inPennsylvania, but the banks aren’t coming forth with the capital.

What’s being done?

The IFA’s Public Affairs Conference is a well-orchestrated lobbying blitz where owners of both local franchisees and corporate franchisors meet with their US Senators and Representatives. After great networking and instructional events at the JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue, the IFA literally buses this franchise army to the Capitol. With pre-scheduled meetings in the office of senators and congressmen, the franchise army presses the case for easing capital lending to franchisees to fuel economic growth.

The power of the purse strings in our nation’s banks can stymie or stimulate our economy. If you agree, send a tweet or post or a good ol’ fashion letter to your local congressional representative. For contact information on your local congressman or senator, go to http://www.congress.org. They work for you and you pay them. Be heard!

Franchise Social Media Summit

I am thrilled to be speaking at Franchise Social Media Summit 2011. As part of Social Media Week 2011, organizers Paul Segreto and Jeremy LaDuque have put together a one-day virtual conference for franchisors, franchisees, and any one involved in franchising.

Date: September 21, 2011

Time: 8am – 4pm (CT)

Place: Online and everywhere!

Here’s what you will learn at the summit:

> Why social media is different for franchising than other business models

> How to develop a social media program, including policies and procedures, specific to the franchise organization

> How to integrate new technology with traditional marketing and why you shouldn’t be afraid to do so

> Why today’s consumer and franchise candidates act differently than from years past

> How to create multiple benefits to the franchise organization through powerful brand awareness methods

> How to generate genuine interest in franchise opportunities and why a seamless transition from virtual world to in-person is essential to closing franchise sales

> Why improving communications and information sharing at all levels of the franchise organization is necessary for stability and future growth

Summit Speakers:

Keynote: Lon Safko, author of The Social Media Bible

Jon Carlston, Vice President, Process Peak

Joe Caruso, President, Capital Area Franchise Association

BJ Emerson, VP Technology, Tasti D-Lite

Jack Monson, Vice President, Engage121, Inc.

David Murray, Social Web Communications Director, re:group

Lee Plave, Partner, Plave Koch PLC

Nick Powills, CEO, No Limit Media Consulting

Debra Vilchis, COO, Fishman Public Relations

Paul Segreto, President & CEO, franchisEssentials

Jeremy LaDuque, President & CEO, Elements, Inc.

Franchising Goes Social

FranCamp 2011 is the first social media “un-conference” for the franchising industry and is happening this October in Nashville. All franchisors and franchisees are encouraged to attend to learn and share what’s working in social media marketing for franchise systems.

The format is simple: a low-cost, one-day event loaded with a fast-paced and aggressive agenda loaded with super-helpful content. After some sessions at this year’s IFA Convention, several IFA members and I discussed the need for a social media event for franchise systems that was more than just the typical “why use social media” discussion and really get down into useable, actionable takeaways.

I’m excited to be presenting on the topic of Twitter tactics and best practices for franchises. Some of the points we will be discussing are:

The dirty little secret of how your customers are actually using Twitter
Why Twitter requires completely different tactics than Facebook or Google+
4 things to do if your Tweets are not driving business

Here’s the current lineup of speakers and panelists with franchise leaders who are making an impact with social:

Deb Evans, CEO, Computer Explorers

BJ Emerson, VP Technology, Tasti D-Lite

Timothy Nobles, Founder, Words Go Here SEO

Jack Monson, VP, Engage121

Paul Segreto, CEO, FranchiEssentials

Jennifer MacDonald, Online Community Manager, WIN Home Inspection

AK Stout, CEO, Saying it Social

Joe Mathews, Founder, Franchise Performance

Amy Olson, Director of Marketing, The Maids International

Kurt Schusterman, CEO, Verlo Mattress Factory Stores

Thomas Scott, CEO, Brand Journalists

This daylong event will take place October 22 at CoLab in downtown Nashville. Plus, there will be a Tweet-Up on Friday evening at a Tasti D-Lite location in Nashville!

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.

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.

..
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:

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