Turning Fans into a Community.

Who do you believe? A business telling you how great they are? Or, a past guest, repeat customer or ardent advocate telling you how great that business is in their own words and from their own experience? This is the major paradigm shift in marketing brought about by social media. The business's role in this space is to facilitate and respond appropriately to the conversation going on, not dominate it.

Since LHWH launched a Facebook page for Carolina Beach, NC, its fan base has grown from zero to nearly 17,000 in almost a year. The conversational tone of our postings has helped to engender a high degree of interactivity among fans. It's all about giving people who love this place a forum to talk about it, ask questions and share their vacation memories and photos with a group that also has an affinity for this seaside destination on the North Carolina coast.

"Are there public accesses to the beach if we stay off the beach?"

"Is that ice cream parlor still on the pier?"

"Who serves the best crab cakes?"

Our client, in fairness to all their member businesses, can't answer all questions. But, other fans can and do! And that's what it's about. Create a vibrant online conversation that's consumer driven and ultimately believable.

The success of our social media efforts on behalf of Carolina Beach (and neighboring Kure Beach) led LHWH to new social media responsibilities for both Wrightsville Beach and the Wilmington/Cape Fear Coast CVB. Extraordinary fan growth and fan interaction occurred within the first month of the new assignment.

Sharing the Good Times.

Sharing vacation pictures with friends and family has been around as long as the first snapshot ever taken. But, (thankfully) gone are the days of dreaded, hours-long vacation slideshows in darkened living rooms. With social media sites like Facebook and Flickr, sharing our good times has never been easier or more efficient.
One reason social media has become so viral is because it taps into a basic human desire to share our experiences. We enjoy sharing our good times (and sometimes bad), and enjoy being part of a community of like-minded people.
Since launching a Facebook page for the Family Kingdom Amusement Park in Myrtle Beach, SC, we've a accumulated a significant fan base in less than a year. The consistently high fan interaction rating since it was launched shows that Family Kingdom customers have deep feelings about their visits to the park and look forward to returning.
A photo contest last fall resulted in over 200 submissions -- a 21st century version of the old family slide show. And what better way to showcase the park and the experience than through the eyes of its guests. Nowadays, real, customer-generated content will always trump the commercial in the minds of the consumer.

Can Social Media Enhance Customer Service?

The answer is absolutely, assuming it's done right. But, it's not just about putting out sales messages, the deal-of-the-week, etc. If your strategy is to cultivate a dialogue, not a monologue -- and your voice is genuine and responsive -- social media can be a great channel for connecting with your customers or prospective customers.
Fans of the LHWH-moderated Mar Vista Grande Facebook page are using the site to ask questions of this luxury beach resort, rather than picking up the phone or sending an email. The added benefit of this channel of communication is that other fans can see the questions and answers as part of deepening the engagement of the Mar Vista Grande community.
Actively-managing, daily responses to inquiries via Facebook hasn't just led to customer goodwill (a worthy goal in and of itself), but has actually been tracked to direct bookings. If you're serious about utilizing social media to augment your existing marketing and customer service you have to be totally on top of it...and keep it real.

What's on your mind? Why updating your business Facebook page is so important.

We all have friends on Facebook that seem to spend every waking moment online updating their status. Several times a day their profile picture pops up with some mundane information about their life. Or what about that person who asked you to be their "friend" and you haven't seen a post on their page in months? Personal Facebook pages are hit or miss, but when it comes to your company's page, there's a delicate balance. It's a balance you need to be very aware of.

If you can't remember the last time you updated your business page on Facebook, you need to start paying more attention or risk losing fans and credibility. Posting too frequently can have the same result.

It may seem like a simple plan: update your page regularly. But you'd be surprised how many businesses are still setting up Facebook pages without a strategic plan to follow up. If your business has a page and no plan, your reputation could be at stake.

If you're feeling a little lost, here are some tips:
1) Make your posts engaging and invite interaction. People want to interact. Give them the opportunity.
2) Answer questions. People are looking more and more to social media as "customer service."
3) Don't let them down. Be responsive and be honest.
4) Posts should be unique, informative and interesting to read with a personality -- and not mostly advertising messages.
5) and, most importantly, have a plan to regularly update your status. What does "regularly" mean? It could be a couple times a week or a couple times a month, as long as the content is interesting and relevant.

Facebook can be a great business tool if used correctly. While showing a return on your social media investment is still in its infancy, it's clear that the more you connect with and engage your customers and prospective customers, the better it is for your business.

So, tell everyone "what's on your mind," and then listen.

Don't "Get" Twitter? Could be your own fault.

Several (actually more than several) people have said to me things along the lines of "I don't get Twitter - why do I want to know what people are doing all the time?" "Twitter is stupid, it's a waste of time." Ok - while I'll agree that Twitter can be a time-sucker, I absolutely don't think it is stupid, because MY Twitter isn't.

That's right MY Twitter. Lot's of folks don't understand that the beauty of your Twitter feed is that YOU build it yourself. You decide who to follow. You decide who you want to hear from. My Twitter is completely unique, to me. If I'm following someone who is uninteresting to me, or adding too much "noise" to my feed, I un-follow them. I'm sure plenty of people have un-followed me. No big deal, doesn't hurt my feelings. I don't see Twitter as a popularity contest.

How do I use Twitter? For me, I follow primarily 4 types of tweeters.

#1 People in my business - specifically in Internet marketing, search, social media. The links shared and questions answered are immensely valuable in keeping me on top of changes and new ways to be effective in the interactive space.

#2 Funny, witty or cool tweeters - My life requires comic relief - my tweet stream brings me some every day. I love @roland_hedley, the uber-correspondent from the Doonsbury cartoon. Cool - like @Astronautics - keeping up with what the astronauts are doing on the space station.

#3 Friends and inspirational folks - Inspiration and connection are also a requirement for life. (But even friends may get un-followed if their tweet streams become only noise for me.)

#4 News outlets - local news like @TVAmy , @wmbfnews, @gcemd (my county's emergency management division) national & world news @breakingnews etc. Also, since I live on the coast, weather feeds @HurricaneAlerts @usoceangov (NOAA's feed).

So, that's what Lauren Cobb's Twitter looks like. Tomorrow, I'll post about the best tools to use to sculpt your feed into something that is valuable for you.

By the way - if you want to follow me - I'm @llcobb. Go ahead, if you decide to unfollow me later, I understand. ;-)

Beware: The shrinking sphere of influence

I caught myself doing something on Facebook that I wouldn’t dream of doing in the “real” world.

I was un-friending people from my list of friends. My list of friends is a pretty healthy mix of personal and professional relationships. Several friends are former co-workers in Dallas Texas. People I worked closely with. Smart, funny, engaging, interesting people who I considered myself lucky to have worked with and know.

So why was I in the process of shunning some of the very people I sought to re-connect with?

I’m a little embarrassed to say that It’s because they have different politics. What?
Differing political views is enough for me to cut ties with people I used to find so interesting? Wow. I never thought of myself as narrow minded. Again, why was I doing this?

Simple: I wasn’t practicing something that I’ve always told my kids is so important;

“Keep an open mind, Welcome people in to your life who challenge you. Be confident enough in your own ideals and beliefs that you allow them to be challenged.”

Is it possible that the bigger our on line Social Network becomes, the smaller our scope of influence also becomes?

I think I should stick to my own advice and keep an open mind. I know I’ll be a better person doing so.

Social Media - Blurring the professional and personal?

When I teach a social media class, I always get this question, "How much personal do I put in my profile if I'm using it for business?" Sometimes I get this statement, "I don't want anyone I work with knowing anything about my personal life." (I don't wonder about those folks, really I don't . . . really.) (just kidding - you know who you are)

But really, some of us are open books, well at least partially open and others are more private. That's perfectly fine - great in fact. I currently have two blogs (well. . . ok, three). Two are business, one is personal. The folks who are interested in reading my personal blog may not care one whit about social media or search marketing. Those folks who want to know about business issues - may not want to know about my personal musings on life.

However, on Facebook, my profile is a big mix of both personal and professional. I like to know some of the personality of the folks I do business with, and I don't mind sharing my personality with most people I do business with. However . . . as more of my college and high school friends come on my friend list do I need to worry about photos being tagged of me that might project a less that professional image? (hey, come on, it was spring break and I was 19!)

So, to paraphrase an iPhone ad - the "new" Facebook has a privacy setting for that.

Here's how to use it:

Look at your Facebook Home page, on the left side you have a "News Feed" with lists. At the bottom of that list is a "+ Create" link. Click there to create a list and choose what contacts are part of that list. OK, let's create a list "business" and choose all your business contacts to be part of that list. Save it.

So, let's say I don't want my "business" list to be able to see photos other people tag of me.
I go to my Settings>Privacy Settings and click on "Profile"
Down the list I see "Photos tagged of me" with a drop down menu next to it.
I click on the drop down menu and choose "customize. . ."
At the bottom of the customize box is a place that says "Except these people" - there you can enter specific people OR a list of people that you have defined. So I choose my new list "business."

Now, my business contacts can see my profile, except for photos tagged of me.

Whew . . . safe. :-)

Website or "Blogsite" for small business?

The beginning of this is a post I wrote in back in March of 2005- I've added to it for today.

One of the biggest problems with company websites is they are boring and many seem to be out of date. I have visited many sites and clicked on a "news" tab to find that the "news" was last updated an average of 2.6 years ago.
OK - I didn't average them all, but that feels about right.

What's the answer for small business? A boring, seldom updated website - or a "blogsite?"

----------- jump to 2009----------

Now more than ever, I believe a "blogsite." Not to the exclusion of an informational website, but a blog of regularly updated, relevant, and interesting content is essential. A blog can be a stand-alone, it can link to your website or it can be incorporated into your website. It isn't an either/or question, it's the "you can have it all" answer. Your blog content gives people a reason to come back to your online space.

I work with many Realtors and I've been a Realtor. (in one of my many past lives - another story or 1000) The big news back in the day (read mid to late 90's) was this thing called the Internet. It seems that every real estate services vendor was selling website design and hosting packages - and they were pretty expensive for a new agent on a commission-only-I-don't-think-these-sales-will-ever-close budget.

The blogosphere has changed all that. Low or no-cost entry to the Web has democratized the Internet. And in my opinion, made it better and much more interesting.

Why blog?

It's obvious.

To communicate.

We've taken the lead in teaching social media to clients but as the old fable of the cobbler's children who have no shoes - we took care of others before building our own blog.

So without further ado - we launch the LHWH Advertising & PR blog.

Think First.

Why "Think First?" It's our tag-line, our mantra, but more than that, it's our corporate personality.

We're a group of thoughtful people and we believe you will enjoy meeting the variety of talents and personalities within our walls.

Come back often, subscribe to our feed, enjoy.