Business owners need to ‘evolve or die’.
The expression ‘evolve or die’ always felt a little over-the-top to me, but now I say it with conviction. If your business isn’t paying attention to the changes online, it will be left behind.
One of the biggest changes in marketing and media is turnaround times. This is evident with the immediate nature of social media, where things are happening real-time. So if your business wants to play ‘real time,’ keep in mind that idea-to-execution has to happen quickly. There’s no time for lengthy meetings, drawn-out proposals or over-planning. The emphasis is placed on taking action. This doesn’t mean quality is at stake: when you have laser focus when it comes to your business strategy, and know where you are going, the steps to get to where you need to be become quite obvious.
Companies also need to become more lean and agile. For example, if something happens on social media, and you want to react or give your opinion, you need to be present then and there, not a week from then. If you want to do a video segment related to something timely, it needs to be pushed out while it’s still on people’s minds. Being overly attached to plans will become a detriment – and it’s the hardest thing for larger organizations to deal with. As a small- or medium-sized business, this is where your advantage sits. While large corporations will spend months planning something, you can be already doing it.
Another requirement is the willingness to take risks. There are many innovative businesses and brands out there hustling like they never have before, while their (soon-to-be extinct) competitors are still sitting in their board rooms deciding and meticulously planning what to do. Need to enhance your website? Get it done. Thinking about trying social media? Don’t wait. Wondering about how video can work? Do it. It can be scary trying something that maybe has never been done before, whether in your city or your industry, but it gives you the opportunity to pave the way for how things should be done. Plus, if you decide whatever it is doesn’t perfectly fit with your business – you are agile enough to change course and try again. It’s better to try something new while you’re ahead of the curve rather than waiting for the opportunity to pass you by. It’s been said many times over: taking risks has its rewards.
For those who are scared of what’s happening, maybe in denial or perhaps even thinking it’s all temporary, you need to give your head a serious shake and start swimming, hard. It’s better to get ahead now, start living in this digital world and trying a few new things because by the time you are finally ready to execute, there’s a good chance the wave will have passed you by.
via Business owners need to ‘evolve or die’ – Lisa Ostrikoff, The Globe and Mail.
- Published in Lisa Ostrikoff - The Globe And Mail, Social Media Video, Video Marketing
There’s so much social media. Where do I start?
As someone who runs a business in the social media space, I’m often asked ‘where do I start? There’s so much out there these days.’ There’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and the list is getting longer and longer, with no signs of stopping. The most popular platforms are seeing their growth continue to increase. Twitter, for example, boasts about 500 million IDs and Facebook recently hit the one-billion user mark.
It can be overwhelming to keep up with the fast-paced digital world we live in, but learning to evolve your business with it is critical. If you’re heavily involved in social media marketing & advertising already, you’re likely aware of the potential it has when it comes to connecting with and engaging consumers for greater brand awareness and sales. If you haven’t jumped in, it’s worth a shot to discover the benefits it can have for your business. So, back to the original question: where to start?
1. First ask yourself: Why are you using social media? Just like when you started your business and wrote a business plan (or even just scribbled your vision down on a napkin), it’s a good idea to pinpoint what you want to achieve using social media tools for your business. Since the aim of these tools is to ‘social’, gaining new clients isn’t your only goal. Consider objectives such as: ongoing engagement of current customers, building brand recognition, positioning yourself as an expert in your field, offering amazing customer service or gaining more exposure in your niche and local area.
2. Who are you targeting? A focused social media plan will have better results than a random, broad campaign. It doesn’t matter if you have ten thousand followers and fans, if only two of them end up being qualified leads in your target demographic. Re-familiarize yourself with your business’s specific target markets and where they are. Keep your eye on the prize.
3. Where are you posting? Unless you have someone managing your social strategy, it’s nearly impossible to have a fully active and valuable presence on every single one. I recommend, based on your niche, to identify which platforms your target audience is on. Choose a couple to make your presence known and commit.
4. What are you trying to say? Content is still king, but this can be tricky for some companies that don’t have much existing content to share. If you have a blog, for example, itwill be a bit easier to begin. If not, now is the time to start creating content for your desired audience that is either relevant, engaging, interesting or entertaining. This can come in the form of articles, videos, pictures, etc. Curating content is also key. If you don’t have your own articles to share for example, scour the Internet to find content that is relevant to your audience. Whether or not your content is engaging will become obvious quickly. You’ll know by the number of shares, re-tweets, or comments you get – depending on which platform you place it on. No action? Keep on trying until you get the reaction you are looking for.
5. Commit. Hard. Consistency is key to a successful social media marketing approach. You can’t go hard for a month and then stop – that’s like telling the people who did follow you that you no longer care, which will do more harm than good. Put together a daily plan detailing what you will be doing and assign time limits to it. Also, decide how you will manage the various results you get through social media like customer service questions, new sales leads, requests for information, etc. You may need to delegate certain areas to people within your organization.
6. Let technology help you. Do some research on some platforms and software which can help you manage your accounts, depending on where your online assets will be. Hootsuite, TweetDeck, SocialOomph are just a few examples. These platforms help to organize your efforts, and make it easier for you to manage your campaign.
Committing to a social media marketing & advertising strategy is worth your time if you approach it strategically and thoughtfully. If you don’t have time to spare, there are people out there who can help you, just make sure they are qualified. Social media isn’t something you should ever hand over to an intern to manage. Your online brand assets will quickly become your most visible and vocal representation of your business. It’s well worth it to invest time to making sure it’s done right, the first time.
Lisa Ostrikoff: Special to The Globe and Mail
First Published Thursday, Nov. 08 2012
Lisa Ostrikoff is a TV journalist/anchor-turned-creator of BizBOXTV, a web video and social media marketing agency.
- Published in Lisa Ostrikoff - The Globe And Mail, Social Media Video
In the rough seas of social media, will your brand sink or swim?
When I left a career in broadcast television and launched a new media company three and a half years ago, it seemed like a risky move to my family, friends and colleagues. But to me it was obvious that when it comes to media, the one thing I could bet on was change. One of the most dramatic changes is the way people consumer and search for information.
Remember that thick yellow book containing categorized businesses in alphabetical order? It was delivered to my door this week in Calgary and my social media feeds were full of people making jokes and coming up with creative uses for something they deemed irrelevant. While YellowPages.ca has certainly evolved online – its main search now offers ‘in the area’ mapped listings and video profiles for some businesses, with ‘alphabetical’ as a secondary option, as well as business video profiles for some – one can’t help but wonder how the company will maintain relevance in a search world dominated by Google and with more and more users turning to social media for search.
There’s no question that social media has disrupted what ‘was’ in a big way by turning the internet into a platform for two-way communication between brands and their customers. Large and small businesses alike are leveraging this opportunity to position themselves as being a source for useful information for their customers. In turn, those customers receive responses and feel a ‘personal’ touch behind what was a faceless brand previously. Out of all of my tweets to brands over the years, to this day, WestJet’s Twitter approach is consistently awesome: they respond in minutes. Sometimes seconds – even if it’s to say ‘have a great flight’ after being mentioned in a basic tweet. Truthfully, this in itself has turned me into a loyal WestJet flyer because I feel like they care. Basic and true.
When it comes to engagement, we’re also seeing media groups encouraging their listeners and/or viewers to join the conversation. Some have deployed this more successfully than others: Just this week, Huffington Post/AOL launched it’s live web video news platform HuffPost Live which was created to be highly interactive and highly disruptive – and at a first glance – it likely will be, because it fills a gap in the marketplace to meet the public’s evolving media consumption habits. With live streaming video running nearly all day, viewers can tune in when they want to, and participate directly in the conversation live. It’s a huge departure from what the majority TV news as we knew it looked like even a year ago.
When it comes to information consumption, search habits and related technologies, so much as changed over the past couple of years. So, if you’re an advertiser trying to build your brand – and are still doing the same things you were back then – it’s time to step up your game, so you can stay in it.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Lisa Ostrikoff is a TV journalist/anchor-turned-creator of BizBOXTV, a web video and social media marketing agency based in Calgary. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.
- Published in Lisa Ostrikoff - The Globe And Mail, Social Media Video