Put Twitter to Work for Your Business

You first opened a company Twitter account because everyone was doing it. You started to tweet because it was fun to try to get a full thought out in 140 characters or less. It probably didn’t take long before the honeymoon was over and tweeting became just one more thing on your to do list.

Before you let that Twitter account go cold, consider these tips for getting the most for your business out of this social media site.

Get Linked Up. Chances are if you are using or thinking of using Twitter, you probably already have a LinkedIn Group, Facebook Page, a blog or all of the above. Programs like TweetDeck integrate all of your social media sites allowing you to post content across multiple sites easily. Not only will this save time, but it will ensure your Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections are all receiving your posts.

Strike the Right Balance. Resist the urge to be overly promotional or "salesy." Your customers know that you are on Twitter to promote your business, but if you treat your account like a 24/7 infomercial, no one will be listening when you have something important to say. Start a conversation with your followers and give them a reason to listen.

Make Friends with the #. You’ve probably seen hashtags peppered through peoples’ tweets. Hashtags are a simple way to connect tweets about a specific topic. They make it easier for users to find tweets on a given subject. So why is this important to you? Twitter users often search hashtags for content from people they aren’t currently following. Using hashtags can be a great way to extend your reach and connect with your current audience in a new way.

Twitter can be a valuable way to communicate with your customers (and prospects) online. While it’s not a panacea, it can play a key role in an integrated branding and awareness campaign.

Still unsure how to get started? We can help!

Kaitlin Friedmann

PR Manager

kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

CMA Displays its Many Talents to New Clients

CMA has begun launching marketing campaigns for three new clients: PIERS, Commercial Cleaning Corporation and KNF Neuberger.

For PIERS, a global trade intelligence organization, CMA is revamping its online presence through a custom-designed blog called Data in Motion, LinkedIn profile and Facebook page. CMA will additionally be conducting digital marketing for PIERS.

Commercial Cleaning Corporation, which offers maintenance services to both public and private sectors, turned to CMA update its brand including a the development of a comprehensive corporate brochure. After completion of this project, CMA plans to focus its efforts on the company’s website.

CMA is also working with KNF Neuberger, a manufacturer of diaphragm pumps for gases and liquids, supporting the company’s tradeshow sales follow up through digital and print communications.

Put Life Into Your Blogs with Video

Keeping your blog fresh and engaging is an ongoing battle that can wear out even the most committed blogger. Once you’ve won the battle of capturing followers, or just regular visitors to your site, you have to consider how to keep them coming back. Video content is one way to help keep your blog fresh while giving readers a new way to interact with your business.

Here are some easy tips for incorporating videos into your blog strategy:

Put a face to the brand. It might be daunting to select a visible spokesperson to represent your brand, but in the end, building a personal connection with your target market will help your company build relationships that are crucial to growing business.

Consider the message. Jumping straight into lights, camera, action could result in a crash and burn situation. Take the time to consider what will be said or presented in the video. This isn’t the time for off the cuff remarks or adlibs.

Keep it simple.  With today’s technology, there isn’t always a need for green screens or video production studios. Video has come a long way from your mom’s heavy duty camcorder, but you will still want to take your time putting together your video blog. Keep an eye out for good lighting and an ear out for distracting background noise. This video will be an ongoing representation of your business. Make sure the end product meets business standards and doesn’t look like a home video.

Have some fun. Always consider the reader or in this case the viewer. They are already on your blog because they value your insights or are interested in your product line, but at the end of the day, no one wants to view a dull lecture. Keep things engaging with imagery and personable delivery. Give them a reason not to hit the STOP button.

Need help getting the camera’s rolling? Give us a call.

Erin Higgins

Director of Marketing Services

ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

CMA Selected to Launch Energy Watch Blog

CMA was recently selected by marketing veteran, Bill Attardi, for the launch of the blog version of his popular Energy Watch newsletter.

For over a decade, electrical industry insiders have turned to Attardi for breaking news in lighting, distribution and other related business segments. Trusting in CMA’s understanding of the industry as well as our team’s rapid adoption of digital media, Attardi selected CMA to develop the structure and new look of the Energy Watch blog and maintain fresh content on a weekly basis. The blog retains popular features such as Attardi’s monthly commentary “Something to Think About,” provides critical news updates in a more accessible format and introduces a newly designed Energy Watch header, custom created by CMA’s design team.

Since September, the blog has developed a devoted following and CMA continues to work with Attardi to increase readership and interest in the new format.

How Heavily Should You Rely on Social Media?

We’ve discussed social media strategies quite a bit since the inception of CMA Central, but it’s an ongoing conversation that needs to be had, as many organizations have come to rely on various social media to stay connected to key audiences.

But how much is too much reliance on social media?

In one of the most poignant speeches on creativity I’ve heard in a long time, Brian Crooks, a seasoned creative director and regional speaker, cautioned a crowd of New Jersey Communications Advertising and Marketing Association members to be careful about two particular things: 1) don’t proclaim anything “dead,” and 2) don’t put all of your eggs into the social media basket.

I tend to agree with Brian’s perspective, where social media should exist as just another medium to be considered. As creative professionals, it’s our challenge to create a plan where a website, traditional printed pieces, public relations and perhaps social media campaign interlock and complement each other in a way that resonates with the target audience. The tactics are a means to an end—a way to achieve the goal—and not necessarily the goal themselves.

CMA creates social media campaigns where it makes sense. Is your target audience on LinkedIn, for example? We won’t direct resources and energy in any area of social media until we are sure it’s the best medium to reach them. It helps to start to dip your toes into the waters of social media yourself, if you haven’t already. For the best information on new social media developments and guides, check out Mashable.com to learn more about social media’s capabilities for business applications. Or give us a call to learn more about the ways we can help you determine the path that’s right for you and your brand.

Jeff Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Finding Your Social Media Identity

With social media evolving nearly everyday, it’s become tough for marketing experts to say what is the right and wrong way to strategize, execute and measure the effectiveness of your campaign. Every company, person and product has different goals, and social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter were designed to celebrate individuality. Here are some pointers to help you decide how to brand yourself and your company in the social media space.

Step 1: Start with yourself. What kind of social media user are you? An August article on CNN.com categorized “annoying types” of Facebook users, and there is truth to author Brandon Griggs’ complaints. For example, I classify myself as somewhere between a “Self Promoter” and a “Lurker,” as I am comfortable mixing my personal and professional worlds on Facebook, Twitter and this blog. My Facebook status might one day congratulate my sister on her new job or it could state how excited I am about a new client PR initiative. I believe that only through developing your own personal brand on social media can you truly understand how to utilize it to promote a company or product.

Step 2: Find a prototype. At this point, marketing and PR professionals are relying heavily on case studies and success stories of their peers to determine what works and what doesn’t. The good news is social media success is achievable whether you are a local dentist or a major airline.

Step 3: What’s Your Name? To promote a company, professional service or a product, there are a few things to determine right off the bat. First, what name will you use to identify yourself? For some social media sites, this is obvious—Acme Widget Company would naturally have a Facebook Fan page called Acme Widget Company. Twitter and other industry-specific social networking sites might prove to be more difficult to find something short and clearly identifiable.

Step 4: What do you want to say? In setting up this blog, CMA decided we would provide useful marketing information and showcase our in-house expertise in a conversational, but still professional tone.

It’s an exciting time for social media development. Check back on this blog for more information or email us with your questions. We’d be happy to help you determine how to approach this exciting new medium.

Kaitlin Friedmann
PR Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

Don’t Rely on Luck! Promote Your Web Presence

Now that St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, it’s important for marketing executives to realize that really establishing a web presence is not accomplished with the luck of the Irish. It’s a combination of integrated marketing and public relations tools that help build a brand and keep the target audience engaged.

For example, a company with a blog that is maybe two or three months old that isn’t seeing any traffic is not providing people with the right avenues to get there. Remember the old saying “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound?” Think of this when planning your strategy for social media.

It’s become more common for companies to add “Follow Us On…” notes on their e-mail signatures, websites, e-newsletters and any other area that it makes sense to let your audience know there is an additional way to learn about your products, services and company culture. Blogs also often receive some of the most foot traffic from links embedded in other social media postings. For example, an employee’s Tweet may link to your company website providing a whole new network of potential customers with access to your company’s bloggers.

Social media components such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook provide a customer with a less formal way to get to know who they are doing business with. Candid, transparent insights into that company’s business practices and how a client can benefit are easier to find on social media sites than in a corporate brochure or on a website. Both serve wonderful purposes to educate a customer, but think of social media as taking your mission and vision statements a step further in a literal and conversational sense.

It takes planning and the effort of dedicated individuals to run an effective social media campaign that is constantly kept fresh and new. Rushing to jump on the bandwagon can end up being an unlucky move in the end.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Social Networking: Becoming one of “them”

Like many PR professionals, I have made a conscious effort in recent years to get on board with social networking. How else can I effectively manage a client’s social media campaign without being one of “them,” the increasing community that communicates largely via 140-character sentences?

I started out on MySpace a couple years ago, but gravitated more toward Facebook and LinkedIn after realizing their more professional, grown-up format. Twitter has the potential to reach a wide audience, as we saw with recent news events as the Presidential Inauguration and the struggle of young Iranian protestors, but requires a lot of up-keep and the right message to gain followers.

Along with these core sites, I participate in other social media by blogging and frequenting several news and political blogs, PR professional blogs and message boards, along with the all-important entertainment scoop sites, providing an occasional comment when I feel I just can’t keep my opinion to myself.

What I have found is that, for the most part, regarding Facebook and Twitter, I pay real attention to a core 20% of my “friends.” For example, a few of my friends are in event planning and public relations. They have, by far, the most interesting “status updates” and “Tweets” because they constantly recommend and mention the best restaurants, hotels and other useful services they come in contact with. I have learned about great New York hot spots, which resorts have the most comfortable beds and websites where I can check out videos of tourist attractions before I visit.

Our clients, current and potential, can gain from this perspective. Many companies want to jump on the social media marketing bandwagon, and I don’t blame them. It’s all anyone is talking about if they are not talking about the downturned economy. But so far, there are specific niches that can use social media as an effective way to raise awareness and drive sales.

It seems obvious, but most of the time, market research may be in order before social media marketing is implemented—the question “is your audience online?” must have a definite answer.

A well-known social media expert said at a seminar I attended recently that the press release will be dead within three years. While that remains to be seen, it’s certainly clear that one-way marketing needs to make room for emerging two-way, user-generated content that has a strong voice and purpose.

Kaitlin Friedmann
Public Relations Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com