Social Media: the power of “the story”
Social Media to drive Office Leads? You Bet.
I gave a presentation last week on “Harnessing the power of Social Media to build brand, foster community and drive revenue”. While there was definitely a sense of intrigue in the room and while the majority of attendees recognized the importance of this communication tool, just about everyone was trying to figure out how or whether embarking on a Social Media initiative would work for his/her business.
Let me start by bringing this topic down to its very basic form. Now, I’m betting that there will be a few critics out there who will feel I’m over simplifying a complex communication structure – but this overview will provide you with an effective way to wrap your brain around whether or not to put your toe in the water.
The net, net is… Social Media is simply a distribution channel. Like direct mail, print advertising, email, billboards, radio, TV and press releases this forum simply allows you to share your message. The difference, and reason why this media is so powerful is that it allows for true interaction / engagement / two-way communication with your audience.
So, how do you get the most from this medium? There are three core legs to this stool: (1) the Story, (2) Packing the story (3) Distributing the story. In this entry I’ll discuss the first leg and then follow up this week with the other two.
With all marketing outreach you need to first establish your “story”. On a broad basis you need to begin with your brand – that is the Unique Bundle of Promise that you deliver seamlessly day in and day out to your stakeholders. Then, take that overarching promise and identify the stories that you’ll tell to build brand equity, foster community and communication amongst your target audience and ultimately drive that audience to call upon you for your expertise (whether it’s office space, home sales, consulting services etc..).
I suggest you create rolling 90-day story calendars. Break the stories out into a grid that includes the following columns: (a) Target Audience, (b) Product focus (c) Story description, (d) Objective of the story (e) Who will tell the story (you, a client, broker etc..) and (f) Key word targets (ie: for Organic Optimization). Ultimately, you’ll want to have a calendar with 2-4 entries per week at 150-300 words per entry.
The calendar is really a critical tool to ensure that you are sharing a story with your audience that has continuity. By identifying the audience you’ll be sure to adapt your storyline to meet the specific needs of each target. Including a product focus will help to tell the full breadth of your story and how each product interrelates with the other to optimize your clients’ performance. The story description will allow for a simple brief for the person who is actually writing the story (even if it’s you!). The objective column ensures you stay focused on driving home your core message for that topic. Identifying who will actually tell this story is important to ensure that your story is told through relevant voices (Head of the company, manager, sales, operations, vendor and client features). Finally, Social Media is a powerful tool for organic optimization so you’ll want to appropriately weave relevant keywords into your entry.
My next entry will focus on “packaging” the story to ensure you are using the right communication methods for each Social Media venue.
Andrea Pirrotti is a ROI-driven marketing maven with proven successes in creating, executing, monitoring and optimizing marketing programs in the business center category.
From of 1999 to 2005 Andrea worked for The Regus Group and ultimately served as Vice President of Global Marketing in charge of 750 locations across 60+ countries. She was the marketing lead and member of the executive team that fueled the firm’s growth from $200 million to $1 billion in revenue over a six-year period. During her tenure she crafted the marketing strategy for Regus’ IPO, the firm’s product, location and country launches, bankruptcy (and early emergence) and acquisitions. She has been consulting in the industry ever since.
In addition to her experience in the business center world, Andrea served as the outsourced head of direct sales and marketing for Helicor where she re-launched the StressEraser, a FDA regulated biofeedback device that eliminates the harmful impact of stress on your body. She exceed sales and costs per acquisition targets while achieving a 100%+ increase in sales volume year on year.
While at Antares, a private equity firm with $5 billion in real estate assets, Andrea reduced marketing costs by 62% while increasing leads by 35%. Notable press placements include: VH-1, Fortune, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The New York Times, Alpha Magazine and Deal Maker.
From 1991-1999 she headed up marketing for the Technology, Communication and Entertainment tri-state group at Ernst & Young LLP, Graduate programs at the Princeton review and served in Product Management roles at WarnerVision (now Warner Home video) and Gramavision records.
Andrea received a BS in Communications from Boston University and an MBA in Marketing from Pace, Lubin School of Business. She lives in Fairfield, CT with her husband Johnny and their newest addition to the family – baby Johnny and Sophia.