Developing your Social Strategy

It’s become clear over the past 2-3 years, maybe even longer, that communication is no longer a one way street. In days gone by companies sent out their marketing messages and consumers decided to buy or not to buy. Communication has taken a massive shift and now we have the power to publically answer back to organisations, and we’re doing it in our droves. Ok, it’s true, we’ve always been able to write a letter of complaint and if you could be bothered, you could always send it to the local newspaper or current affairs TV program. But all that takes effort. Social media makes this process so easy. We can post a comment on a forum or discussion site, share it with our friends, and a multitude of other people we don’t even know. It’s mind boggling how powerful social media can be.

People power can make or break an organisation in a matter of minutes. Globally. Like it or hate it, marketers simply must embrace social media. Whether that’s to watch from the sidelines and monitor PR or actively join the conversation.

But before you go out there and willy-nilly start setting up a Facebook page and Twitter account for your company, stop and think about what’s going to work for your organisation. Like anything else in marketing, social media needs a strategy. Here are a few pointers to consider in formulating your plan:

How are you going to manage your social media? It takes time, a lot of time. Do you have a dedicated resource?

Who are you trying to communicate with? Different audiences use different social media sites. Approximately half of Twitter users are professionals aged 35-50. Myspace has a young demographic. And if you think Facebook was for kids, consider this: the fastest growing segment on Facebook is the over 35s. (Source: Nielsen online)

What are your goals with social media? Be clear on what you want to achieve and how you will measure this.

Listen to the conversation before you jump in. Monitor forums. Follow Twitter feeds. Set up a Google alert for key words to find out what people are saying about your product or company. Then, work out a way you can turn social media to your advantage.

Get familiar with the various social media sites and decide on the best medium for you in terms of presenting the content you want to share.

Be prepared to set up some rules for social media in your organisation. You may need to write a formal social media policy to curb employees inadvertently, or otherwise, creating bad press. Don’t go overboard, remember you’ve already placed your trust in your employees by hiring them. It really all boils down to common sense.

These are exciting times for marketers. The fast pace of social media means there is always something new on the horizon. We are constantly challenged and have new mediums to work with and have new creative ways to interact with our audiences.

Do you have any comments on your experiences with social media and how it has benefitted your organisation? Lets start a conversation!

Keeping it in the family – developing a suite of brochures

One of the key things about branding is maintaining a consistent message. This is especially true of your printed collateral items. If you work in a marketing department, you’ve probably created a brochure or two. You may have created many. 

Brochures and flyers are often developed over time as needs arise. Yours probably all have the same basic look and feel. Or maybe they don’t. There could be a good reason for this, but chances are your suite of brochures has been developed by different people and different creative agencies over a long period of time.

Perhaps it’s time to add another task to your 2011 "to do" list: Review brochures.

Every organisation is different, so only you will be able to make a judgment call on your sales collateral. However, here are a few things to think about if you’re conducting a brochure review:

Who will be reading your brochures, and what information will they expect to see?

Do customers need technical details in order to make a purchasing decision, or do they simply require confidence that your company is a good operator. Ensure you pitch technical information at the right level for your reader. Consider their gender too. Men and women will value different pieces of information in different ways. Ensure your brochures are user friendly. Remember it’s effectively a sales pitch on paper and you want to create a good impression.

Consistent look and feel

We all know that cross selling and upselling to existing customers is the easiest way to grow your business. So you need to ensure that your product brochures look like they come from the same company. They need to contain the same branding message about your business no-matter what the brochure is about. This includes imagery, colour schemes and style of writing. It may be worth investing in a five colour print process to ensure your logo always comes out in a consistent PMS colour, especially if you will be presenting several brochures together. Blue, in particular, is a difficult colour to reproduce consistently in a four colour print process.

Develop a family tree

When reviewing your brochure suite, it’s useful to think about how your group of brochures will represent your whole company. You can think about it a little like a family tree. You might start with a corporate profile as a high level overview of your organisation and its products. Then you might have the next tier of more product or market specific brochures, followed by a series of single page technical flyers on individual products. Think carefully about your needs as an organisation. You will also have to consider any rules for adding to your series of brochures if your product range expands. Many organisations use colour coded brochures to differentiate their various products or market sectors.

Many businesses are reducing their reliance on brochures as a marketing tool, preferring to provide online information for customers. However, there’s still very much a place for brochures in today’s digital world. Many companies still use them extensively.

CraftWrite would be happy to assist in improving or creating brochure copy for your organisation. Contact jill@craftwrite.com.au for an obligation-free estimate.