How many of you eagerly await for the smell of fresh cut grass, a warm summer breeze and the crack of a bat? I do and Target Field has been open now for 3 days and I haven’t been there yet this season. As the season gets underway I have decided there are a lot of things business owners can learn from the game of baseball and apply it to their social media campaigns.
As Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven always say, in praise of the Minnesota Twins, “It’s the little things” that the Twins do right that allow them to be a “small market” team and go toe to toe with organizations like “The Evil Empire”–The Yankees, who just seem to have had our number for the last decade or so. It’s the little things that can bring your company into social media and make you play with the big boys in your field.
5 Little Things You Can Do
1. Use Your Auto Signature–Everytime. Like a batting routine at the plate, I learned this at a Constant Contact Seminar. Most people use it on work email, but you should incorporate an auto signature into personal email, it helps others find ways to contact you and that’s a good thing. Let the audience find you in the way they want to, just like fans can stream a game, listen to the radio or watch on tv.
2. Be Interesting. Don’t reiterate the same thing someone else has posted, unless your take is significant or you’re bringing something new to your target audience. Bert Blyleven took something simple like using the telestrator and created a “Circle Me Bert” phenomenon. He made something free and at his disposal interesting.
3. Tell Your Story in Multiple Ways. Your Story is unique. Much like a Player’s Statistics, this is your time to shout out your differentiations and the gold nuggets of who you are. Blogging is the best place to do it, but even changing out and freshening up your Facebook Business page every 6 months can keep your fans on your toes.
4. Pick one or two things and do them, really well. There are very few people who can play more than 1 or 2 positions on the field (except for Michael Cuddyer). In the same way, you should focus your social marketing. There is no need to be on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, FourSquare and other social sites at the same time. Pick one and add that channel, but do it consistently. Start Small.
5. Deliver What Your Customers Want. Pay attention to what they are asking and find ways to give them the content they desire, in every channel you can. Like a front office or a good manager, periodically evaluate your organizations’ strengths and weaknesses to find areas to improve the overall company and make it complete. This evaluation will lead to more customer satisfaction, which leads to sales.
EXTRA INNING
6. Be Prepared When You Need Something Extra. If you are know your competition and you are evenly matched, look at your unique strength and inject it with personality. A good manager prepares for the possibility of a 10th inning.
Paying attention to conversations when you discuss your business with a stranger. Those interactions can provide you with your next marketing slogan or tagline. If you follow these little things, you will hit a home run with your social marketing this year. What little things are you doing this year to start your social media program?
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