What is Marketing Vlog

Now that we have established that customer stories are important to include on our website, how do we get them? Depending on your business, there are several ways to find customers who are more than willing to recommend your product. But you have to be willing to ask! Ask anyone that you connect with that has something positive to say about your product.

Click the photo above to read an example of one of EasyStand's customer stories - "Incredible Ian"!

1. Ask people you are connect to on social media websites. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are great places to find potential candidates for customer stories. If someone writes a tweet, shares a picture or comment on Facebook, or posts a video on YouTube about your product, start a conversation with them that ends in agreeing to participate in a customer story. It might actually take writing a post or tweet simply asking for customers to come forward.
2. Create a share your story page on your website; this makes it easy for customers visiting your site to sign up. This page should be in the same area as the customer stories page of your website. Reading those stories will inspire them to share their own. You can also link to this page when posting comments on your social media sites.
3. Make sure that when you are interviewing customers that you ask the right questions. Get the information that your customers are looking for. They want to know what your product will do for them, if it can improve their life, solve a problem or simply make them smile. Show them through the stories of others, they won’t be disappointed.
4. Finally, try to include a photo(s) and/or video! Most people find it easier to relate to someone when they can visualize them. It’s a bonus for you if the photo or video is of them using your product. Photos and videos make stories believable!

Now that you have these wonderful customer stories at your fingertips, use them to their full potential! Include them on your website, post them on your social media sites, and write blog posts about them. Let your best customers promote your product for you!

Bryanne Freitag is the Marketing Coordinator at Altimate Medical Inc./EasyStand in Morton, MN. Bryanne helps maintain their websites at easystand.com,  blog.easystand.com and the company’s many social media sites.  Thank you Bryanne for contributing this guest post! 

Vivid Image will be featuring several guest blog posts this year, if you are interested, please contact us today.

For the Beginners: A “check-in” is when a person uses their Smart Phone to share their location to their friends via a mobile app like Foursquare or Facebook. So a customer could check-in to your establishment, basically announcing their loyalty of your business to their friends. The apps usually allow users to tag friends,  add a photo, comment or tip.  This is part of Location-Based Marketing, and with the surge of Smart Phone usage, is becoming increasingly more popular and effective. No matter what your location, word-of-mouth and customer loyalty matters. But, why will your customers check-in?  You need to give them a reason – by offering a Special or Deal, whether it is targeted to first-time check-ins, after a certain number of check-ins, or to the mayor (whoever has checked-in to your business the most).

Local 4Square Check-in Specials:

• Affiliated Community Medical Center, Willmar, MN – Discount off purchase of eye wear with check-in
• Fieldstone Vineyards, Redwood Falls, MN – Free glass of wine with your first, and every tenth check-in
• Walgreens, Willmar, MN -With every check-in, a chance to win a $200 gift card
• Vivid Image, Hutchinson, MN – Free Seminar when you check-in 3 times
• Remax Preferred Realty, Olivia, MN – Free Re/Max Coffee Mug for first 10 check-ins

 Local Facebook Check-in Deals:

• Pep’s Barber Shop, Willmar, MN – $3.00 off haircut
• Stacy’s Nursery, Willmar, MN – 25% off one regular priced item
• Redwood Area Community Center, Redwood Falls, MN – Check in at RACC and get a free day pass

*All specials/deals were active at one point but are not guaranteed to still be running. If you check-in to a business who has a special or deal, be sure to tell them that you like seeing them there!  Let your favorite businesses know that you enjoy checking in!

If you like the idea of having your customers check-in, ask yourself, “what is in it for them?” Offering a check-in deal will reward your loyal customers and potentially bring in new business. If you are considering running a incentive for checking-in, be sure to promote it within your store, on your website, and through your other social media sites.  The best part about setting up a check-in special or deal, is that besides the reward that you give the customer, it is FREE.

Interested in learning more about Mobile Marketing?  Download this free white paper “Simple Mobile Marketing” or  contact us. Or better yet, Stop in to Vivid Image in Hutchinson, MN, and check-in!

Did I miss a business in your area who is using Foursquare or Facebook check-ins to their fullest potential?  Please tell us what they are doing in the comments below!

Engage! Author: Brian Solis

Engagement.  It’s a term used a lot in our world of social media marketing, and I believe there are still many people who are unclear to it’s meaning and significance.   My goal in this post is to help clarify this important action term in the marketing process.  It’s not just the latest buzz word.  You may have even noticed the Vivid Image mantra, front and center on our home page: 1. Plan, 2. Build, 3. Engage.  No marketing and communications strategy is complete without this crucial 3rd step in the process!   Gone are the days where ‘you can build it (leave it alone) and they will come.‘  Ignore engagement and you will be lucky to grow let alone survive.  One of the thought leaders in social media business strategies, Brian Solis, wrote a book titled, “Engage!”  A recommended read!

A simple definition of Engagement:  Connecting with people (not robots online) and developing long term loyal relationships.  I’m the first to admit, the process of engagement is not quick and easy nor is it a natural talent everyone is born with.  The process of engaging your customers, clients or followers takes time, effort, action, consistency, creativity, and critical thinking.  In social media marketing, you are primarily making this happen online through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Blogs, and Email.   There are now so many more opportunities to engage with people that were never possible before social media.

Speaking of time, to be successful at engagement requires a long term commitment.  However, taking small steps and focusing a little at a time over a period time is possible for everyone!

A few rules to keep in mind:

• Take the spotlight off  you – stop pitching yourself and your business!  Focus on the needs of your clients/customers/followers
• Ask questions and respond to comment on questions they ask.  Actively participate in discussions/conversations
• Educate, Educate, Educate.  Share helpful tips, tricks or advice (usually related to your industry or business..but could relate to life or business in general if they see you as a trusted resource)
• Let your unique personality and creativity shine!  If you have a sense of humor, go ahead and be funny!
• Thank them and show gratitude (not just once, but as many opportunities as you can)

Things that can happen during the engagement process:

• Someone comments on or likes your Blog, Facebook or LinkedIn post
• A recommendation is written on your Facebook Business Page, or LinkedIn Profile
• You get mentioned on Twitter or Facebook – or someone RT’s/Retweets your Twitter post
• A link you posted (Facebook, LI or Twitter) gets shared by someone your network
• Someone signs up for your newsletter – or better yet, shares it with friends in their network
• And the ultimate engagement happens when……someone sends you a direct message or walks in your doors to do business because they knew you, liked you, and trusted you to help them!

I repeat, successful engagement is the most important step in the process.  It is not always easy to accomplish alone, takes time and a long term commitment.  But the rewards are a healthy, thriving, growing business or mission!  Please know that the Vivid Image team is here to help you come up with creative and innovative ideas ways to engage in 2012 and beyond!

Do you have any engagement challenges (related to marketing – not weddings )or success stories to share with us?  We’d love to hear from you!  Please comment below or send us an email with your story or engagement questions!

During a recent family vacation, Steve Gasser got the opportunity to feed and play with dolphins. Upon receiving some instructions from the dolphin trainers, Steve learned there is a “best” way to feed dolphins, by placing a hand under the chin before offering fish. Who knew?

As with any small business, there comes a time to evaluate new opportunities and listen to the needs of clients. Steve, president of Vivid Image, recognized that the “best” way and the “best” time to grow Vivid Image is now, in 2012 by opening an additional office in the Twin Cities area. With a growing number of clients in the metro area, coupled with the request for our web design and social media consulting services, Vivid Image is delighted to offer facilities for meeting and training space in Minneapolis, MN.

The opening of our new office is big news, however, we will continue to provide customers with innovative, cost-effective tools to encourage engagement and sales growth as we’ve done for the past seventeen years. If you have a business idea you’d love to discuss, contact us today and let us know at which location we’ll be having an inspiring conversation and a hot cup of coffee.

First write down how often you want to post; daily, weekly, monthly?  This schedule helps determine a writing schedule.  Then look at the calendar, are there industry events/tradeshows which may provide content?  Schedule which posts and topics you can do.  Are there gaps?  Those might best be filled in with employees, customers, industry leaders who can write on the posts you need filled.  You don’t need to do it all; utilize company resources to offer a 360° view of your organization to blog readers.

Contact

Contact identifiable stakeholders, maybe the shipping department manager can write a post on how to package your product for shipping.  The Director of Nurses can write about the reduction in trauma cases in the ER and the education initiatives that are underway within the department.  Make it easy for them.  Suggest a topic. Recycle ideas.  Ask them to write about something that is part of their job and something they already care about. Never make a guest contributor research and edit new ideas/concepts.  That’s unfair. Save the research intensive posts for someone who has that as part of their job.  Give a word count and a clear deadline.  When the project is vague, the writer will be less likely to commit to or complete content.

Submit

Determine the process for submission.  Make sure your blog post contributor knows their deadline at least 2 weeks in advance.  Writing or editing a post for the night before publication almost always ends in errors.  As editor, give yourself enough time to review and edit the post from a guest blogger to ensure it conveys your corporate message appropriately.

Structure – How should blog posts look? How many words, images, bullets, sub headings, etc.  Who optimizes the post for keywords and SEO?

Tone – What is the tone and goal of the blog? Give a quick sentence or two to help writers understand.

Links – Can they link out to any site?  Who checks the links to make sure they work?

Media – How should contributors handle images and video? Do they need to add images? Are they from copywrited sources?  Are YouTube videos allowed?

Recognize

Thank your contributors when they write a blog post.  Tell the president who your best contributors are inside of the company.  Compliment your vendors/partners and customers who contribute.  Also feel free to contact HR and let the appropriate person know the employee went outside of a job description to help marketing, it is great for personnel files and LinkedIn profiles.

PS. The Secret to Good Blogs

Good bloggers may come from unlikely places.  Good posts don’t always come from the marketing department.

A good marketer looks at internal resources as part of the marketing team to help propel sales.

Does this approach to blogging planning help you determine your next steps? Work your plan and give it time and start analyzing results.  Simply start.

Our newly launched website, www.vimm.com focuses on THREE SIMPLE STEPS that hundreds of our small business clients have told us we simply have to bottle up and share with new customers. Simply put, our new website features proven processes, small business stories, online experiences, interesting business examples, a dash of humor, and client led information that we promise to give to you in easy to understand and fun to learn ways. Is it an oxymoron to call it “intelligent business gossip”?

Three Simple Steps

We’ve been saying “get inspired” for years, so it’s no secret that the most familiar of the three steps is PLAN: Ideas and Inspiration. The new website is filled with cutting edge ideas, examples to inspire, and stories from other small businesses that will get your wheels turning. We’re committed to  making it easier to access our blog posts with valuable, practical marketing tips to help your small business grow; all you need is an email so be sure to subscribe to our new site right away via email or RSS feed.

The next step is BUILD: Innovation and Execution which is a direct result of helping over a thousand small businesses and entrepreneurs over the last seventeen years; trying out new ways for old processes, simplifying methods, cutting time and headaches, and celebrating the amazing results. From detailed case studies and simple “how-to” articles, our new website is dedicated to helping you reap the benefits of cumulative experience of our staff and clients. You’ll be able to subscribe to our newsletter, signup for trainings, and read more innovative ideas.

Finally, ENGAGE: Your Audience is where the conversation never ends. We want you, our reader engaged with us, just as you’d like your customers engaged with you. Our social media consultants, community managers, writers, and presenters will have you connecting with your audience in sincere, valuable ways. We return the favor by making ourselves available to your questions and concerns on our blog, via email or mobile device, and on Facebook/Twitter. You’re never very far from a Vivid Image friend.

Ready to get started? We’ll help; here is a great place to start!

Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” or “image social bookmarking” tool so instead of using only tags or words to find and save what interests you, you just browse and pin images.  Pinterest is kind of like a virtual marriage between Flickr and Delicious with an extra twist of creativity. Pinterest makes it easy to quickly scan photos (most that link back to DIY blogs) until something catches your eye. Plus it is functional – you can use it as a bookmarker and organize your pins into boards (your custom categories).  For instance, some of my Pinterest boards are “Social Media Stuffs“, “Things Kids are Made of“, and “Eat Me”. When users (pinners) pin something, they can also choose to share it on their other social networks (Facebook and Twitter) at the same time which sets the sharing factor into overdrive.

You can search for all types of creative items on Pinterest and usually find oodles of fun things to look at.  However, most of the items that get “pinned” on Pinterest are very “pretty” and have to do with style, décor, food, and crafts and link to a “how to” tutorial, recipe, or blog.   So it is not a surprise that the majority of heavy users on Pinterest right now are females  - brides to be, fashionistas, and artists of handmade crafts whether for a hobby or business (i.e. many sellers on the Etsy marketplace).

Before you decide that Pinterest is not for you, consider if and how your product, service or blog would  be displayed on your customers’ “Products I Love” or “Gift Ideas” boards, as an example.  If you have a  product that displays beautifully in a photograph, Pinterest could be an opportunity to network with a creative community, drive traffic back to your website, and possibly create sales. In fact, I have had some of my Facebook friends comment that in addition to getting great DIY projects and recipes, they have made purchases or started following blogs, as a result of following Pinterest links.

Although Pinterest does not have pages specifically  for brands yet, many brands are doing it well and fitting right in without being obtrusive. One nice feature of Pinterest is that users can follow specific boards from people, without following everything from people they follow, which helps create a unique user experience.  There are many creative ways that you can use Pinterest for your business or personal brand (depending on what type of business you are in). Photographers, artists, retailers, interior designers, and graphic designers are just a few of the general areas where Pinterest could be a great fit. The possibilities are endless if you have an amazing idea or product, are good with a camera, and of course, a zest for social media.

Here are some examples of brands on Pinterest:
Whole Foods
Real Simple
Unity Stamp Company
Travel Channel
Nordstrom

Get Started

1. Request a Pinterest invitation from their website or a Pinterest friend (or email me!)
2. Complete your Pinterest Profile- You will be able to display an avatar, bio, website, Facebook (will link to a personal profile only right now), and Twitter account on your profile which can help connect people to your brand and your other social networks.
3. Link your Pinterest to your Facebook account so you can easily invite or be notified of when your Facebook friends join Pinterest.
4. Search for items to Pin, Like and Comment  and follow pinners that interest you personally or are related to your business or website’s niche.
5. Start inviting people through your email list or Facebook.  Pinterest is still invite only, so go ahead and invite your friends!

4 Ways to Pin Images

1. Browse or search the images already in Pinterst and “Repin” or “Like” onto your boards.
2. Upload images from your computer. In Pinterest, goto Add, then upload a pin. This is easy and fast, but one disadvantage is that you don’t get the link back to your website (unless you add it manually, and it is relevant to the pin).
3. Make it easy to pin while searching the web: Download the “Pin it” Button into your browser to make your pinning easier.
4. Download the Pinterest app for your iPhone, so you can easily take photos and pin your images, on-the-go.

4 Ways to Get Re-Pinned & Shared

1. Take stunning photographs and add captions, @mentions, #tags, or $prices.  When you @ mention a friend they will get notified, and when you add a $ price banner and it will automatically go in the gifts category.
2. Organize your Pins into interesting and unique boards that will help you create your niche.
3. Make it easy to be pinned: Add Pinterest follow buttons and promote your Pinterest profile on your blog to make it easy for your readers to share and connect with you.
4. Engage with other pinners – follow, comment, re-pin and like their pins. Build relationships just like you would in other social network like Facebook or Twitter. Search out and recognize your customers and friends– for instance if you find a pin of your customer using your  product or displaying your DIY project, repin it on your board with a comment, showing  appreciation for the purchase or adaption.

Pinterest is fun, inspiring, and growing like crazy! You may find it is a great fit for your personal creative side, for your business/blog or both.  Do some pinning and determine if your products have the niche (products that are pretty or cool and photograph well) and target market (currently 60% of Pinners are women ages 25-44) that melds nicely with Pinterest, and have fun.

If you have tried Pinterest, what did you think?  How have you used it for personal or business use? Do you see potential for your business or blog?

Diet

Look at what you did last year, what was a waste of money (minimal ROI) and time?  Get rid of it, reduce the amount of it or repurpose the content in a new channel.  It’s just like dieting; cut the fat/sugar/carbs, whatever makes you inefficient.  Then budget for this year.  What do you want to do more of and what are you willing to give up or change to make that happen?

Don’t just add more to your plate; reorganize what is on the plate.

How does your website look?  If it is out of date and is difficult to update, this should be your first order of business; because it is your 24/7 salesforce and it needs to be current.

Exercise

Ok, so if your website looks good (the food); then it is time to look at exercise. If you haven’t been engaging with customers and prospects lately, here’s where you begin.  If you aren’t on Facebook, that is the number one place to start, go there and create a landing page.

Get out there daily and read comments (and answer if appropriate).  Take small steps. Don’t “post and ditch;”  stay around to foster a real conversation.  Build your network and offer useful information about updates on latest products or deals.  Encourage Participation, if you are a recognized brand, expect fans to join you in demonstrating  their loyalty. Get new fans talking, when you create a contest and offer coupons to them. Another way to attract fans to your Facebook fan page is to offer them product samples or let their friends know about their loyalty.

Look at the Infographic created by Moontoast; try to move your fans to superfans.

Now what?  Merge a good diet on your marketing plate with good social media exercise. Try really hard to not think of social media as “separate, but equal” and think of them as part of an overall healthy marketing lifestyle.  Purge elements that are things your have always done because they contributed to the “fat”.  If you are already Facebook savvy, try another tool to get more visitors to your site.  Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are great starting points.

Weigh In & Make It A Lifestyle Change

Finally, determine your key performance indicators.  Ask these three questions:

1. What do I want to achieve?
2. What does success look like?
3. How often will I check in to evaluate my progress?

Measure, analyze and forgive if things get off track by the end of the month, it takes diligence to stick with a healthy marketing lifestyle.  To get exclusive content to keep on track, subscribe to our newsletter.  If you need additional help with diet, exercise, healthy lifestyles and weighing in, contact Vivid Image.

P.S.

We’ll be your personal trainer to get you in your best marketing shape your business has seen. Just Do It. You will love the results!

Two Key Components of Setting your Goals:

1)      Write your goals down. You hear people say this all the time, but some studies suggest that only 2% of people actually write down their goals. Writing your goals down makes it concrete and tangible and creates motivation to do it. If you don’t write it down, you lose focus on what your goals are, and your goals become more of dreams (most resolutions do not get written down at midnight with champagne in your hand).

2)      Keep your goals SMART. This is difficult to do but helps you clarify your goals, especially for business or marketing purposes. When writing goals, it is OK to start with a draft, then re-write or evaluate to make sure it fits the SMART model. Try to keep the goal positive (resolutions tend to be more negative or about stopping a bad habit). A SMART goal fits these criteria:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Realistic
T – Timely

Example Goals to Kickstart SMART Goal Writing:

Make more Connections

If you want to grow your network in 2012, there are many great ways to do it, whether you join a local organization or a broader industry-related group of like-minded people. Beyond our local communities, there are opportunities with networking via social media through Linkedin, Facebook, or Twitter.

SMART Goal Example: Grow personal Linkedin network to 200 connections by June 30, 2012.

Learn Something New

Whether you attend a class at Vivid Image, read a few new books, or subscribe to your favorite marketing blog’s RSS feed, there are tons of way to learn new skills in social media, web marketing, business, or whatever new venture or hobby you want to pursue.

SMART Goal Example: Attend 4 WordPress and Social Media seminars or webinars by the end of 2012.

Get Organized

Managing a business or even a family can require an immense amount of organization. There are many great social media and web tools to help you stay organized, such as Evernote, HootSuite, Constant Contact, and WordPress Editorial calendar just to name a few. When time and/or focus is needed in a specific area such as social media management or blogging, you could also consider hiring Vivid Image to help with the workload and offer insight.

SMART Goal Example: Plan an annual blogging Editorial calendar and write weekly blog posts that will lead to a 10% increase in blog traffic.

Help Others

Whether you volunteer with your favorite organization or just help friends and family out during their time of need, charity feels good all around. Do you have skills or knowledge that you can share with others?  Maybe just providing little things like a referral, a recommendation, or support via a blog comment or feedback can be a tremendous boost for someone.

SMART Goal Example: Support my favorite businesses and professionals by providing at least one written recommendation or referral monthly.

Grow your Sales

Above all, the first goal for most businesses is to grow their sales, because without a healthy bottom line, the rest of the goals become harder to tackle (here are some low cost marketing ideas for small budgets). Through building relationships online and off, creating valuable website content for customers, and creating products and services that people love and recommend, your business will achieve success.

SMART Goal Example: Increase overall sales by 20% over last year.

Start Now

SMART goals that are written down and shared within your organization (when business related) or with your spouse or family (when personal) can help create a team effort and support system.  Make sure to review them periodically or post in a spot where you will see them often. Go ahead and make adjustments and carry over goals to the next year as needed. With persistence you will reach the goals that once started as only dreams.

Do you think writing down goals makes a difference?  Will you be tackling your goal setting differently this year? What goals are you trying to achieve?