Posts Tagged ‘sales’
Friday, October 7th, 2011
Ruth Mesfun*
If you mistook the clattering of keyboards for cicadas in heat and saw your Twitter feed explode with the hashtag #prndigital, yesterday, then you were probably with me at the PR News Digital PR Next Practices Summit at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. The all-day event was a smorgasbord of useful topics and speakers flinging words such as SEO (search engine optimization), influencers, engagement, and fangate pages.
However, if you have ever spoken to your boss about using social media it probably went like this:
justincaseyouwerewondering.com
If your digital campaign does not translate to the C-Suite language (increased sales, decreased costs, or high ROI) then it wouldn’t matter if you grow their Twitter page to 100,000 followers. They will pull the plug.
Here are eight steps I took from the panel on Prove the Value of Your Digital Efforts to the C-Suite featuring Margot Sinclair Savell, vice president of Measurement and Analytics at Weber Shandwick, Angela Jeffery, APR and member of IPR Commission and Nick Panayi, director of Global Brand and Digital Marketing at CSC.
1. Define organizational goals. Make sure your goals are strictly C-suite speak. (e.g., Our goal is to increase sales by 30 percent.) That way they see that you are on the same level.
2. Research stakeholders and prioritize. This should be done regardless if you are presenting a digital campaign or not; you should always know your audience.
3. Ask yourself: What do they care about? I want to add in a perfect line from Margot Sinclair Savell, “Don’t just measure communications; measure the impact on your bottom line.”
4. Set social media objectives that correlate with their goals. Now this is where you link your social media efforts to their C-suite objectives. (e.g., With the Twitter campaign, we are launching, our goal is to increase our followers by 50 percent and positive sentiment by 40 percent which in turn will increase our sales by 30 percent.)
5. Choose (the right) tools and establish benchmarks. Once your campaign has launched, use tools and benchmarks to monitor how your campaign is playing out in The Media. Remember to monitor both the social media goal and the main goal (C-suite objective).
6. Analyze, Analyze, Analyze! Be sure to use both qualitative and quantitative metrics and have these also tie back to your communications and C-suite objectives.
7. Present to management. Remember to add charts of correlation between the campaign and the C-suite objectives. Translate metrics into the language.
8. Continue to build on that foundation: monitor, analyze, and improve. Review and revamp your strategy and tactics, making sure to revise as departmental and C-suite objectives evolve.
So, how are you proving your value of your digital efforts to the C-suite? Please share your thoughts with me, here, on BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.
***
Before joining the BurrellesLuce team in 2011, as social media specialist, Ruth worked as a marketing assistant in a kitchen design firm and, later interned with Turner Public Relations. She holds a BA in Economics with a minor degree in International Relations from Rowan University. In addition to economics, education, and finance – Ruth is passionate about understanding the business implications of social media, including how it can be used to increase ROI, find and maintain a career, and create a business. Connect with her on Twitter: @RuthMesfun LinkedIn: Ruth Mesfun Facebook: BurrellesLuce
Tags: #prndigital, Analysis, Angela Jeffery, APR, audience, C-suite, campaign, communications, CSC, digital, Engagement, global, goals, Grand Hyatt, influencers, IPR, Margot Sinclair Savell, marketing, media measurement, metrics, monitor, Nick Panayi, objectives, PR, PR News, Qualitative, Quantitative, ROI, Ruth Mesfun, sales, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Social Media, stakeholder, strategy, tactics, The Media, tools, Twitter, value, Weber Shandwick
Posted in Industry Events, Media Measurement, Media Relations, Public Relations | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 13th, 2011
Flickr Image: Sebastian Fritzon
Valerie Simon
Listening, as I define it, is not a passive exercise. Listening is not a matter of simply hearing words. Listening requires a concentrated method of digesting the information, and using that information to take action. So like any exercise program, I’ll recommend you do a quick check up before starting to strengthen your listening efforts.
Check Up
Take a quick pulse: Review your business objectives and marketing plan. Keep in mind that social media participation should be integrated with your overall communications plan.
Set Goals: What business objectives will your social media participation help you to achieve?
- Sales
- Donations
- Event attendance
- Customer Service (response/retention/loyalty)
- Brand Awareness
- Crowd sourcing/ product development
- Membership/Admissions
- Communications amongst different stakeholders
- Recruitment
- Thought leadership
Warm Ups
Who are you trying to reach? Consider what social media channels will be most beneficial for your organization. Stretch. Extend beyond Facebook and Twitter. Consider Flickr, YouYube, Tumblr, LinkedIn and seek out forums and blogs with strong communities. BurrellesLuce offers several tools to help get you warmed up quickly, including ContactsPlus™, which helps you to identify new blogs by matching up a current release with those bloggers who are writing on similar topics, and Social Media Monitoring and Engagement solution, Engage121, which enables you to explore what is being said across social media channels and effectively build and manage your online communities.
Speed
Are you planning/prepared to provide immediate responses? The W Hotels “Whatever/Whenever” promise may well be on its way to becoming the standard, rather than the exception, in customer service. Social media allows stories to break and quickly spread at any time of day. I encourage those using BurrellesLuce’s Social Media Monitoring and Engagement solution, to experiment with setting up alerts using filters such as Klout rank or sentiment to sift through the noise and make sure that they are advised of critical information whenever it breaks. Of course a quick, well thought out and efficient response across all channels is critical.
Strength
Do some heavy lifting, err, searching. Investigate the current conversations being said about you, your competitors and the industry. Identify recurring themes and study trends. Review sentiment and compare how the conversations vary across different platforms. Identify key influencers and pay attention to the language and tone. What topics evoke passionate responses?
Flexibility
Don’t get stuck monitoring the same keywords you have always deemed important. As you study industry trends and influencers, adjust your searches accordingly. Begin listening to your communities even when they are not actively speaking about “relevant” topics. What do they care about? Consider what new topics or audiences may be interested in your organization.
Endurance
Set yourself up to succeed over the long term. Put in place a structure to collect the data that will allow you to learn from both your communities and your own social behaviors. There are a myriad of ways to measure social media buzz, sentiment, link tracking, share of voice, fans and followers, geo-location check-ins… slow down and take another pulse check. Review business objectives and consider what metrics can best indicate whether your activity is supporting those business objectives. As you embark upon this listening exercise, look at the data in a number of different ways.
Cool Down
Evaluate all of the data you have collected and all your new knowledge regarding trends and influencers. Go back to your business goals and consider how you will align your social media activity to meet those goals. What channels are best suited for your organization? Where should your voice be heard? Where can you build a strong community that will offer business results? Participating in social media will require an investment of time, so consider the time and resources you can devote.
Prepare to Play
Listening exercise complete, you are ready for the big game… engagement. But that, my friends, is another post!
What would you add to your listening exercise? What activities are included in your daily listening routine? Share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.
Tags: activity, brand awareness, BurrellesLuce, business objectives, buzz, communication, communities, crowd sourcing, customer service, Engagement, event, exercise, Facebook, fans, Flickr, followers, Fresh Ideas, geo-location, influencers, keywords, Klout, language, LinkedIn, listening, marketing, media measurement, metrics, monitoring, planning, product development, Public Relations, resources, sales, sentiment, Social Media, social media monitoring, themes, thought leadership, tone, trends, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Career Advice, Media Measurement, Media Monitoring, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Image Source: The Age.com.au
Over the last 10 years the music business has resembled the “boy” in lyrics from any of the countless number of songs written over the years about “boy meets girl,” “boy loses girl,” and/or ”boys falls back in love with girl.” The music industry has been in a tailspin since 1999 (coincidentally the same year Napster was spawned). The advent of peer-to-peer services caused massive music piracy and, with free music just a click away, proved to be the direct blow that would send CD sales plummeting and ultimately crippling a once very profitable industry.
However, the music business seems to have bottomed out and actually managed to grow over the last two years (the entire British music business grew 5 percent from 2008 -2009). One way it has managed this is by returning to its roots – live performances. When I attended my first concert, (Ozzie Osborne – What was I thinking?), I had no idea at the time Mr. Osborne, for the most part, was touring as a way to market his new album. Although I would like to think the bands I saw back in the day were there because they truly enjoyed playing live (I’m sure some did), the concert was more of a live commercial to promote their new albums and get people to buy them.
These days’ bands are touring again to cash in on booming ticket sales (with top acts commanding over 100 dollars) and are laughing all the way to the bank as they play in front of sold out crowds. “Many of the acts selling out stadiums are old,” says Rob Hallet, the president of international touring at AEG Live. The top three American touring acts last year were U2 (average age: 49), Bruce Springsteen (61) and a double bill of Billy Joel (61) and Elton John (63). All have contributed to a surge in ticket prices – tripling from $1.5 billion in 1999 to $4.6 billion in 2009. It’s not that more people are going to live performances, but rather paying more per ticket. According to Pollstar, a research firm that tracks the market, the average ticket price should be $35.30 today if they increased in line with inflation. Instead the average price of a ticket costs a whopping $62.57.
Bands not only are relying on live performances. They also are looking to alternative revenue streams to help mitigate the drop in CD sales, such as merchandising, sponsorships, online streaming and emerging markets. One area that is booming is publishing. Music’s best customer is television “Watch any evening’s worth of TV and count how many times you hear music in the background,” says Jeremy Lascellas, chief executive of Chrysalis.
If the music business could figure out a way to share a synergistic relationship with the Internet, other forms of media and entertainment can surely learn from their long strange trip. Although the music industry is relying less on CD sales and more on alternative revenue streams – one thing is certain: people continue to pay a premium for quality content regardless of whether it’s coming from a 3-D movie screen ($20 average price per ticket in New York) or Mick Jagger’s 67 year old vocal pipes.
Tags: AEG Live, album, alternative, Billy Joel, British music, Bruce Springsteen, BurrellesLuce, business, CD, Chrysalis, content, Elton John, emerging markets, Entertainment, free, Fresh Ideas, industry, inflation, International Touring, Internet, Jeremy Lascellas, live commercial, live performances, lyrics, market, media, merchandising, Mick Jagger, music, Napster, online streaming, peer-to-peer services, piracy, Pollstar, premium, publishing, quality, research, revenue streams, Rob Hallet, sales, songs, sponsorships, television, ticket prices, ticket sales, U2
Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Media Industry, News Coverage, Public Relations, Technology | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Valerie Simon
How do you get everyone – from your maintenance team to your CEO – participating in the sales process? During a special Twitter chat last Wednesday evening, Heather Whaling and Justin Goldsborough, co-moderators of Twitter’s #PR20Chat, and Beth Harte and Anna Barcelos, leaders of #imcchat asked this question to more than 100 participants.
Here are a few takeaways every business should consider.
Top down and bottom up, goals must be aligned.
AdamSuffolkU: First step, make sure goals are aligned and input is asked/received from all-bottom on up
SuperDu: It starts w/ CEO creating top-line strategic plan. ALL divisional plans & emp. objectives feed into that one plan
jeffespo: It should be the trickle up effect. Everyone knows the brand and wants to sell it and make more money.
Create a customer-centric team environment
BethHarte: If all employees understand the customer is #1, they will all work to make sure they work hard from top to bottom
LoisMarketing: Communicate successes and celebrate at all levels. Make all staff aware of “wins,” new clients. Sincere appreciation.
Transform employees into evangelists
kimbrater: It’s more than the sales process, everyone has to internalize +evangelize the brand in order to sell it.
CASUDI: everyone has to be in love with, believe in the product ~ everyone will have the desire to sell
IABCDetroit: Engage employees thru educational, relevant communications so they’re empowered to relay company message, align w/ company goals
Everyone can have an impact on sales
BethHarte: Sales starts the minute someone walks through the front door. Better hope the receptionist isn’t cranky/mean
rpulvino: Everyone in the company is involved in sales in some way. Employees are the most important spokespeople for an organization.
And my respond: ValerieSimon: Education. When you take pride in, and understand your organizations strengths, you’re compelled to share the story!
Beyond 140 characters, I’d also emphasize that a strong and positive corporate culture is an investment that will not only pay off in increased productivity but sales. As I’ve mentioned before, I am a firm believer that everyone in an organization, regardless of title or department, should consider themselves a part of the sales team. Here are some ways organization can provides the training and follow-through to make the most of this extended sales force:
- Make certain that ALL employees are educated on your products or services and the benefits of these services to your clients and customers.
- Keep employees updated with a daily report of news for and about your organization, the competitors and the marketplace.
- Create a simple process whereby all employees can easily submit referrals through to the sales team to close.
- Share success stories. Recognize and reward those who are referring business, as well as the teamwork with sales that helped to win the new business.
Do you consider yourself a part of your organization’s sales efforts? What does your company do to harness the sales power of all your employees? Please share your thought with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.
Tags: #imcchat, #PR20Chat, @BethHarte, AdamSuffolkU, align, Anna Barcelos, appreciation, Beth Harte, bottom-line, brand, BurrellesLuce, CASUDI, celebrate, chat, clients, communicate, communications, competitors, corporate, culture, customer, edcuation, educations, empower, Fresh Ideas, goals, Heather Whaling, IABCDetroit, internalize, investment, jeffespo, Justin Goldsborough, kimbrater, LoisMarketing, Marketplace, message, objectives, participation, plan, process, product, productivity, Public Relations, referrals, reports, rpulvino, sales, sell, spokespeople, story, strategic, strengths, success, SuperDu, team, Twitter, Valerie Simon
Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Career Advice, Industry Events, Public Relations, Social Media | 10 Comments »
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Valerie Simon
Early on in my career I received a phone call from a client who began the conversation with, “Hey Valerie, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine…”
I very much enjoyed and respected this client and was thrilled that he wanted to introduce me to his friend. In my mind I fantasized about his intentions. Perhaps we would all go out for dinner, or maybe he was setting me up on a date… my thoughts were interrupted by the words “director of corporate communications” and “in charge of media monitoring.” My heart began to pound as I realized what was happening. I was getting my first referral!
Today I regularly receive such phone calls, but the thrill has yet to go away. While 
referrals add up to quantitative results of your efforts to build relationships, they also offer bona fide proof that your relationship is one of trust and confidence (Cue Sally Fields, “They like me, they really like me!!!)
In order to earn new business, you’ll need to invest both time and resources and maximize your opportunities in the most efficient manner. Below are 5 steps to help you become more strategic in your relationship building and increase the number of referrals you receive:
1. Perform a SWOT analysis. Identify your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and then clearly identify the organizations you are targeting. As you consider different prospects and prospect categories, evaluate the customer needs against your analysis. Brad Douglas, vice president of sales and marketing with Shipley Associates, offers some excellent considerations to help you better assess your opportunities for targeting the right customers.
2. Determine the influencers you need to reach. As mentioned in this post from the Harvard Business Review, you may think you know the decision maker, “the one that is described in the RFP or articulated by those who actively participate in the formal decision-making process.” However, there are often key influencers within the organization who carry informal power as it relates to your opportunity. Take the time to uncover and develop those relationships.
3. Utilize ALL of your current relationships. While most organizations have a sales team or business development group, I am a firm believer that everyone in an organization, regardless of title or department, should consider themselves a member of the sales team. If you are proud of your organization and even if you are not (though you may want to ask yourself why are you working there?), it is your responsibility to help your company grow. Communication and collaboration between the sales team and other departments is essential. Beyond your organization, consider your vendors, partners and affiliates, clients, industry contacts, and even personal networks. If you aren’t actively using LinkedIn it is a great place to start organizing and expanding your network.
4. Ask for the referral! It is interesting that many people shy away from asking for a referral when they need/want it. Consider what’s stopping you. Are you afraid of creating an uncomfortable or potentially annoying situation? If yes, then that is good because it means you are thinking about and potentially being considerate of the person you wish to ask. And that is what distinguishes a “pushy salesman” from a friend you want to help. So be professional to and respectful of the person you are asking, their relationship, and their reputation. But don’t let that stop you from asking. After all, if you have real relationships, qualified targets, and a product/service you believe in, the person you’re asking should have no issue referring you and the person you’re introduced to will soon be thanking your friend for making the introduction.
5. Beyond ABC’s… ABH. While I certainly understand and appreciate the need to “Always Be Closing,” my personal philosophy is to “Always Be Helping.” In sales, and perhaps maybe in life, your reputation is everything. So be the person you want to be perceived to be – whether or not it meets an immediate business goal. In this case, that person is one who is helpful and informative and acutely aware of the needs and goals of his/her clients, prospects, colleagues, friends and family. In other words, take every opportunity to add real value and help them achieve their goals.
How are you making the most of one of your most precious resources – your relationship with others? Do you find it easy to ask for referrals and network when needed? What tips would you add to the list? If you are having trouble, what do you think is holding you back? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.
Tags: affiliates, always be closing, always be helping, Analysis, Brad Douglas, build, BurrellesLuce, business, business development, business goals, Career, client, clients, collaboration, colleagues, communications, company, confidence, contacts, conversation, corporate, customer, decision maker, decision making, efficient, efforts, evaluate, Fresh Ideas, goals, Harvard Business Review, industry, influencers, informal power, informative, intentions, introduction, invest, LinkedIn, marketing, Media Monitoring, needs, opportunity, opportunties, organizations, partners, personal networks, product, prospects, qualified, Quantitative, reach, referrals, relationships, reputation, resources, results, RFP, sales, Sally Fields, service, Shipley Associates, strategic, SWOT, targeting the right customers, targets, Time, tips, trust, Valerie Simon, value, vendors
Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Career Advice, Public Relations | 4 Comments »
