Word Marketing Blog

Twitter...pated?

By Anna Lawrence:

In my ongoing investigation of the world of social media, I have recently begun to explore the phenomena of Twitter. Just when I thought Facebook was hard to figure out...

There are many mixed thoughts about whether or not to "Tweet" (the act of using Twitter in Twitter terms). Some find it trivial, others feel it has marketing potential and some find it just plain creepy. One friend said "all I know is that I'm following some people and some people are following me. Frankly, I feel like a stalker being stalked."

But the truth of the matter is that no matter what you think about Twitter, or whether or not you choose to participate. Twitter, Facebook and other social media are not going away. (And in fact, there are some marketing opportunities here.)

We all know the world continues to change, and the pace just keeps on growing. Take some time to familiarize yourself with how the next generation is communicating. You may find some surprising opportunities that aren't nearly as hard to navigate as you previously thought.

And if you need some help along the way, we'd be glad to provide some.

What's the deal with Twitter?

We have a running joke in our office.

People are following me on Twitter, and I'm not doing anything!

This week, I'm going to do something on Twitter. What? I'm not sure. DJ, one of our Associate Partners sent me a document I've read this weekend and so now I'm ready to do something with Twitter. I've been signed up for a while...even have some people "following me", but I haven't used it.

Twitter is the newest phenomenon.

A recent survey from MarketingProfs, LLC finds that a larger number of tweeters are doing it because they want to learn new things and get information quickly.

The study, which was conducted earlier this month among 425 Twitter users, set out to discover exactly why people use Twitter and how they feel about their participation and experiences with the site. It found that tweeters spend an average of 2 ¾ hours per day using Twitter.

Interestingly, there is does not appear to be one standout reason why people use Twitter, the research found. Rather, there are a variety of economic, learning and social motivations.

When tweeters were asked to rate the reasons why they participate, on a scale from 1 to 5 (with 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree), MarketingProfs calculated the following averages for each of the responses:

• “I find it exciting to learn new things from people”: Average score 4.65
• “I value getting information in a timely manner”: Average score 4.58
• “I like to be connected to lots of people”: Average score 3.91
• “I want to generate new business”: Average score 3.70
• “I find it gratifying to have people follow me”: Average score 3.64

The findings show that the highest number of respondents are motivated by learning new things and getting information in a timely manner.

Key findings:

• The mean of responses for both questions was the same: 2.74 (on the same 1-5 scale).
• In the case of both questions, only about 16-17% of Twitter users have strong feelings - one way or the other (”strongly agree” or “strongly disagree”) - about the etiquette of following/reciprocity.
• The remainder of respondents are roughly equally divided among “neither agree or disagree,” “mildly agree,” and “mildly disagree” answer choices.

If you are a Twitter user, I'd be interested to hear from you:

• What do you like best about it?
• What makes it fun?
• What are the best uses for you?
• How does it make you feel?

It's Monday, let's have a great week!

Spring Cleaning

by Anna Lawrence:

Spring has not yet sprung, but with all the rain we are getting here in the Midwest it can't be far behind. With everything about to start anew, this is a great time to assess your company's processes to see what needs refreshed, replaced and recreated.

When assessing, be brutal. Step outside your view of business owner and try to look at things from a different perspective, be it that of your employees, your customers or your competition. Some questions to ask when assessing each process are:

• Does the current process have employees engaged, or are they simply going through the motions?
• Is the process still necessary, or was it put in place to perpetuate a specific culture change and is no longer needed?
• Have you clearly examined the company goals and have they changed?
• Are there new emerging trends that the company should be more in line with?

It's important to keep in mind that once needed changes have been identified, you must then obtain buy-in from your staff. Thinks about how they will react to the changes, and what steps might be taken to make the changes as smooth and effective as possible. Then set your time line and check points to monitor progress.

Spring cleaning can sometimes be a daunting task. But just as the wet and muddy days of the season bear brightly colored blooms, the rewards of better efficiency, less clutter and a renewed enthusiasm are certainly ones worth seeking.

Fatal Fear #4

How you lead as a business manager, department head or owner is critical in times such as these.

You have to keep a calm head and not let the pressure of the doom and gloom enter into your actions or your emotions. Over the next week, I'll share four fatal fears which can creep in and destroy your leadership if you are not guarding your thoughts and attitude.

Fatal Fear #4: The Fear of Emotional Discomfort

When leaders need emotional comfort they lack the capacity to remain present and engaged when faced with resistance from others.

They tend to avoid emotionally charged discussions and miss the natural opportunity for learning and growth. Leaders who attempt constant emotional comfort become cut off from their own emotions and therefore unable to correctly respond to the emotions of others. It is almost impossible for leaders to make difficult decisions when they are paralyzed by the fear of others' emotional responses.

• Did anything make you emotionally uncomfortable today?
• What did you do to avoid the discomfort?
• What did not get resolved because of your emotional discomfort?
• What did you learn about yourself today?

Make sure the fears I've shared in these posts do not replace your values. If that happens, it will lead to ethical lapses, poor and untimely decisions, ineffective communications and dysfunctional relationships.

Listen Now, Reap Later

by Anna Lawrence

If you went to your doctor and he told you, without performing any examination, that you needed a liver transplant - you'd probably seek out a new doctor.

When it comes to our customers, it's just as important that we spend the time to listen and decipher their needs, rather than simply prescribing a product or service that fits our sales goals.

For most, this seems like common sense. Few business owners would believe that they have ever sold something to a customer that the customer didn't need. But I'm proposing going even a little deeper.

By spending the time to be truly inquisitive, and unraveling the reasons behind your customer's motivations, you will also discover how you can continue to service this customer... in the future. The customer will sense your genuine interest, likely become a repeat customer and even a source of referral.

Taking the time to talk with and listen to our customers now is an investment that will provide multiple returns later.

Fatal Fear #3

How you lead as a business manager, department head or owner is critical in times such as these.

You have to keep a calm head and not let the pressure of the doom and gloom enter into your actions or your emotions. Over the next week, I'll share four fatal fears which can creep in and destroy your leadership if you are not guarding your thoughts and attitude.

Fatal Fear #3: The Fear of Rejection

The fear of rejection makes it difficult for leaders to take a stand and define themselves in situations where they feel relationships feel endangered. Leaders who fear rejection are also afraid to confront performance that is running against standards or culture. This causes leaders to try and force themselves to present themselves in a palatable way to everyone except themselves. This can only lead to stress, burnout and lack of confidence. Other leaders, especially if introverted, will pull themselves away from the relationships and isolate themselves from the very people to which they desire to connect.

• How can you engage those people?
• In what situations are you feeling rejected from your team?
• What situation did you avoid today for fear of being rejected?
• What did you learn abut yourself and your leadership style from this experience?

Taking time to think about these questions and answers will give you confidence and direction as to how to solve the issue at hand and get back on track to productivity.

Women More Picky In Shopping

There's no doubt I always harp about how you have to know your customer's current mindset. It's critical, because as culture and economies change, so do consumer attitudes.

There's also no doubt today's shopper is more cautious with spending. As has also been suspected for some time, and proven in many surveys, the primary shopper and home finance decision maker is female. Here's some new shopping data from a survey recently conducted by Miller/Zell.

Perhaps not surprisingly, increases in pre-store purchase planning and Internet research before shopping indicates shoppers are coming to the retail store more armed with knowledge of pricing, product capabilities and competitor products:

• 60% of respondents are doing more pre-planning before shopping trips than they were a year ago.
• 44% say they are doing more online research than they were a year ago (42% of men and 45% of women).

The Internet is the researcher's dream weapon. Everyone who uses the Internet is doing some form of research.

At least two out of five respondents are spending less on most categories tested except grocery, where 46% are spending the same as before, and 16% are spending more, the survey found.

Miller Zell noted that this could be a result of higher prices and/or more decisions to eat at home. In terms of other categories with large decreases in spending, 61% of respondents are spending less in electronics and 64% are spending less in apparel.

In terms of dining out and entertainment, 68% of survey respondents say they are doing more “insourcing” of out-of-home dining and half have brought special occasions or family nights into the home that they previously enjoyed out:

• Special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries are the most likely to be brought into the home, followed by family night.

• Guys’ and girls’ nights out are the two events least likely to be brought into the home.

When profiling downgraders, Miller Zell found,  age and income have very little variance from the overall sample, while women have a higher likelihood be downgraders,  specifically in eating at home, downgrading grocery and department stores, and going from specialty retailers to value mass merchants.

Despite behaviors that indicate they are buckling down now, respondents in all gender, age and wage categories indicate greater optimism (as represented by increased expected future spend) six months from now than currently, the survey found.

If you are female and reading this now either on our blog, web site or my Facebook page, I'm interested in your comments and thoughts. Agree or disagree?

 

Fatal Fear #2

How you lead as a business manager, department head or owner is critical in times such as these.

You have to keep a calm head and not let the pressure of the doom and gloom enter into your actions or your emotions. Over the next week, I'll share four fatal fears which can creep in and destroy your leadership if you are not guarding your thoughts and attitude.

Fatal Fear #2: The Fear of Failure

One of the characteristics of leadership is the sense of adventure one gets out of the daily process. When leaders begin to possess a fear of failure, they are often reluctant to act. They may procrastinate in decisions and miss great opportunities. Unless someone has a highly analytic-type personality, most effective leaders do not need every possible piece of information before moving forward. Most of the time, they can intuitively "fill-in" the blanks through experience or knowledge. This is why this fear plagues young leaders more than experienced ones. They believe their career hinges on each decision. It's not true, but it will hinder the decision making process at times. Risk vs reward is what makes the world go around!

Don't get stuck in the context of finding answers rather than re-framing questions. Questions are always the key. Fear of failure will force a feeling of information poverty. All-or-nothing thinking is never where you want to be as a leader.

There is no formula for 100% success all the time. There is only continual improvement from where you are on your batting average. I made 27 major business decisions in 2008 at our firm. I don't want to tell you how many of those were wrong decisions. I will tell you the ones that were right were tremendous. That is what keeps you out front.

Banks and Advertising

Who needs more sound marketing now than banks?

Nobody.

Notice I said "sound advertising". It has to be the right strategy and the right message for this time. Ads which worked in the past will not work now. Which leads people to believe that advertising no longer works. Not true. It just doesn't work with the previous strategies and messages. That was then...this is now.

Because the beliefs and behaviors of the consumers have changed, the strategy and message must change also. This blog is about banks because I will post some new research here specifically about banks, but it applies to every category, every business and every advertiser. Why? Because it applies to every consumer and the tendency is to forget them and they are the the most important component.

So check this research data out from The Center for Media Research:

When asked about their banks, insurance companies and investment firms, the study found that 55% of consumers who say they had seen more advertising for their financial institution reported having "complete confidence" in the financial health and soundness of their financial company. Among those who said they had seen less advertising, only 18% had "complete confidence" in their financial company and a significant 45% said they had "little or no confidence" in their company.

• Less than 38% had confidence in their checking and savings bank
• 28% were confident of the company that manages their investment or retirement accounts
• 28% had confidence in their life insurance company

 In response to what factors would increase confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution, respondents cited:

• Reading positive stories in the press about that institution (44%)
• Seeing regular advertising for that institution (25%)
• Receiving regular mail or email offers from that institution (25%)
• Regularly seeing internet offers/advertising from that institution (21%)

So, one could conclude from this data...let me finish before you tell me that your financial institution is different..that not only seeing more ads would make the consumer feel more confident about that institution but also if the messages were positive.

Like it or not, the work has to be more diligent and more in touch with what the consumer is thinking and feeling.

Who cares about free checking if less than 38% thinks you will be there tomorrow? Who cares about debit cards if 45% have little or no confidence in you at all?

Think on this.