I’m pro-print every day of the week. I’ve spent years working for companies that make their living producing print and delivering results for clients. But I truly feel that there is a major overreaction the news this week that to GM is pulling their advertisements on Facebook.

Just because GM isn’t seeing any results from their Facebook Ads right now (that’s if they are even tracking it correctly), it doesn’t mean they won’t work for other businesses. Ford Motor Co. took to Twitter to say that Ads on Facebook are effective when used properly. “It’s all about the execution,” @Ford tweeted. “Our Facebook ads are effective when strategically combined with engaging content & innovation.”

GM pushes a ton of content and advertising out between TV, radio, and print. And then there’s the promotions that the Dealers run! I must get at least five to ten direct mail pieces from different dealers each week and I’m not in the market to buy a new vehicle. Also, I’d be very interested to see if the independently-owned dealers are using social media on their own behalf and finding success reaching prospective buyers.

For all of you who are pro-print as well – please do not overreact to GM’s Facebook news like some others in the industry are. In today’s world of communications, a multi-channel approach is more important than ever before! Also, marketers must avoid putting all of their eggs in just one basket as well.

I’ve seen some of our clients have great success with Facebook Ads, whereas others have not yet found an amazing ROI. But the same could be said for nearly every marketing channel that they may use as well. Some have tremendous success with outbound channels such as direct mail, or emails… others have found success with response channels such as personalized URLs and QR Codes, and the list goes on. But the same mix does not work for everyone!

Here’s what one spokesperson from GM said about the pulling of Facebook Ads – “This happens as a regular course of business and it’s not unusual for us to move our spending around various media outlets – especially with the growth of multiple social and digital media outlets.”

In my opinion, they are not saying that they’ll never use paid Ads on Facebook again; it’s just saying that they often move their spending dollars around to adapt to change.

In today’s world, all marketers should be constantly testing, tinkering, and analyzing to ensure that every dollar spent helps to achieve business objectives. Marketers cannot afford to be complacent.

But they also should not be too quick to abandon a channel or mode of communication.

Here’s a link to a local Detroit article – It has some great points; some of which I quoted in this post.

These are my thoughts… I’d love to hear yours! Feel free to disagree/agree, or leave a comment.

I know first-hand how Grow Socially’s services can help companies in the print industry improve their marketing efforts. Thus, I am quite happy to share the following news.

We Are Exhibiting at LabelExpo

Yes, this year, Grow Socially and interlinkONE will be exhibiting at the LabelExpo Americas conference!

If you will be attending as well, I’d greatly encourage you to swing by the Grow Socially and interlinkONE booth. We will be demonstrating how our online marketing solutions can help you to create awareness of your services, generate more leads, and close more sales.

Event Details

Event: LabelExpo Americas conference
Date: September 11-13, 2012
Location: Chicago, IL
Booth: 3802
Learn more: Event Website

If You Do Not Want to Wait Until September…

LabelExpo Americas will be here before we know it. However, I’d like to show you how we can help you succeed today!

Webinar:
On May 23rd, we will be hosting a very special webinar for Tag and Label Printers. The title is “How Social Media Can Help You Grow Your Print Business“.

Registration is free! Register today to reserve your seat >>

White Paper
We have a free White Paper that is full of marketing ideas and inspiration!

Download our free White Paper, “5 Ways to Grow Your Tag and Label Print Business with Online Marketing” today.

I hope to see you there!

If you are looking for ways to grow your business — whether it’s to generate more leads, reach more prospects, improve customer loyalty, etc. —, I’d like to encourage you to swing by our table at this show.

Solutions That I Will Be Demonstrating

We have a wide variety of solutions that you could benefit from to achieve your business objectives.

Here are a  few:

• Development of Marketing Strategies & Consulting
• Website Design and SEO
• Mobile Website Building
• Social Media Management and Monitoring
• And more!

I am absolutely looking forward to this event. I’d love to show YOU how we can help you to grow your business!

Event Details

• ASAE: A True Work of Art
• Associate Trade Show
• Thursday, May 17, 2012, 3 – 6 PM
• Statehouse Convention Center
• Click here for more information >>

Associations have similar objectives as other businesses that we work with (increase awareness, generate leads, build customer loyalty), but they also often face unique circumstances (Board-related management, limited resources, multiple priorities, etc.).

With that being said, I am happy to announce the release of a new White Paper that was written specifically for associations that are looking for ways to improve their marketing efforts!

Within the White Paper, “Online and Mobile Marketing Success Tips for Your Association“, readers will find a number of strategies, tools, technologies, and tips that will help them to reach their business objectives.

Best of all, the White Paper is absolutely free!

To receive your copy, simply fill out this form today >>

On a daily basis, certainly enjoy seeing how it is helping our business! I see the traffic that it drives to our websites, I see the ways that it enables us to engage with customers and prospects, and I see the leads that it generates for our sales team.

However, I have a question for you. It’s in the video below!

If social media is not helping you to generate leads and achieve other business objectives, then I’d like to encourage you to join me on the NAPL/NPES Executive Briefings Road Show!

I, along with a few other speakers, will be traveling to 4 cities on 4 different dates to provide printers with strategies, tools, and tips that can help them to succeed!

Register today for the Executive Briefing that’s closest to you!

Learn more at either the NAPL or NPES websites today.

Thumbnail Credit

Getting Ready for Fishing

In order to succeed at fishing, you must prepare properly. The same applies to social networking.

Before you dive into social media, you will want to make sure that you have the right resources. You will certainly want to ensure that you have people that are experienced with using different social networks… but who also have an understanding of marketing and achieving business objectives.

Also, you will want to fill your tackle box with content that is useful and effective. Don’t fall into the trap that every piece of content needs to be a flashy lure either! The bottom line is this: you need lures/content that deliver results.

When it comes to fishing, it’s important that you have the right captain. Someone with experience that is also willing to take risks. When it comes to social media, it’s important that your management team supports the efforts in some fashion. Your management team can help you to build a plan that guides you in the right direction, and enables you to grow and develop with each project.

In regards to team members, you’ll certainly want to target individuals that are flexible, creative, and willing to work cohesively with you through your campaigns.

Having designers to make your pages attractive and interesting to your potential customers is crucial.

Last but definitely not least are the people who create the content that carries the message or voice of your company. These people will help build a relationship with your customers that will last.

Bait & Cast

With fishing, you could have the right bait and right team, but you also need to cast your lures at the right time.

The same applies to business. While it’s important to have creative folks and people that can create content, you also need someone that can help you to determine what the right time is to publish your content and other online materials!

When making that decision, they will do with the goal of “posting with a purpose” — whether it’s to create awareness, generate leads, or to simply be helpful (which will hopefully position you as a thought-leader).

Hook em’, Reel em’ in, and Keep Them Around

The most exciting part of a successful social media campaign and a fishing trip is when you successfully bring in your catch. In social media, you might start to measure this by the amount of “Likes” that you receive on your Facebook page, or re-tweets and Twitter followers.

Always have the goal to attract your audience with useful content and give them a reason to “like” you! If you do that, you’ll develop a relationship with clients that continue to grow as you interact and reward them for being a part of your community.

Once you’ve got them on board, it is important to remain in contact with them and reward them for connecting with you. Incentives motivate people to be a part of your community and to continue to stick around. Why would a fish eat your bait if it knows there’s better meals elsewhere? Keep reminding them that you are glad they’ve come to you and keep them around with more rewards and incentives.

Now the final part of fishing and maintaining your customers is a little different since you eventually stuff, eat or let go of your fish — but hopefully you get the idea! Getting a customer on board is your main goal as a social media marketer. Knowing the right steps to success is critically important.

By executing a successful strategy, you will generate more leads and develop better relationships with your customers as your company grows.

Get connected with us and see who’s in our boat at Grow Socially!

Photo Credit

When it comes to a company’s Facebook page, it certainly is important for one to have “Likes”. Now, the size of that number itself is not necessarily important — that truly depends on what a company sells, the size of its customer-base, the percentage of its customers that are on social media, etc.

And of course, it’s not just important to have people that “Like” your page. It’s certainly far more important to have a Page that your audience engages with.

But even with that being said, one of the first steps before engagement can happen is to create awareness of your Facebook presence.

Below is an email that the folks at Bed, Bath, and Beyond recently sent out to accomplish that task:

I think that this is a great example of how multiple channels should always be used in a marketing effort.

When it comes to social media, we should never rely on the “build it and they will come” approach to building our fan-base!

P.S. If you would like help promoting your company’s social media presence, we would love to help!

Fill out this brief form today to get started, and a Grow Socially team member will contact you soon!

Your Blog

When you set inbound marketing into motion, you will soon find it is a strategy that thrives on consistency.  The most powerful tool in your arsenal is the Blog on your company’s website. You control how much information you disseminate, what information you provide and how often you distribute that information. Ideally, your blog will consist of multiple short (but not too short) articles on relevant topics that set you up as an authority in your field.

The goal is two-fold:

• You get readers who learn to seek you out for your expertise.
• You get others to link to your material…thereby bringing more readers who will learn to seek you out for your expertise.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an integral part of inbound marketing. You don’t have to become an expert in SEO yourself, but you do need to know what the right keywords are and how to use them effectively. The goal is to increase your search rank. You want to be on that first page of Google and bing results when internet users search for your keywords.

The great thing about SEO is that it is something that can be tweaked and worked on to help your visibility. Over time, you will be able to determine what your effective keywords are – what words are bringing visitors to your site. And you will be able to track links leading to your site.

You can also track links from within your site. Perhaps your current blog post has a hyperlink to an older post on related material. Instead of using a direct link, you can use a tool that will allow you to shorten the link and also see the traffic reports on that url. For example, we use ilnk.me and get a special shortened url. Later we can obtain the information on how often the link was clicked, the highest traffic times and so on. Remember, information is power and you want that information to know what is working and what is not.

Social Networking Platforms

A bit overwhelmed by all the social media platforms out there? Start with two. Perhaps it’s Twitter and Facebook. Maybe it’s LinkedIn and YouTube. But start with two and build from there.

Don’t assume more is better.

You should only have as many social media profiles as you can manage to maintain. And while your main goal with social media may be to promote your brand and distribute content, don’t forget that these platforms are interactive. They invite a conversation with the internet visitor. That’s something you never want to lose sight of.

The Online Marketing Audit

Yes, you’ve got a business to run. But even if you use tools to automate as much content as possible, you should schedule regular “check ups” on each platform to make sure there isn’t a question or comment lingering.

Also, the technology behind online marketing can change quite frequently and at a faster pace than traditional media.

Thus, having an online marketing audit conducted regularly may help alert you to new features that you should be taking advantage of to promote your business.

Integrating Inbound Marketing into Your Sales Process

The reality is – visitors are not customers. It’s up to you to turn them into your customers.

As you integrate the SEO aspect with the content and the social media visibility, you will find that you will get those visitors.

In order to turn them into customers, you need to cultivate them into leads. Content can also play a big role in that! Your company should have a stash of content in hand that can support the Sales team at each step in the buying cycle.

Whether you are trying to convert a visitor into an inquiry, an inquiry into a lead, or a lead into a sale, you will need specific content to help move people through each step.

By doing that, you will be working to ensure that your inbound marketing efforts prove to be a success!

For one, the weather up here in New England has been quite nice. Also, I’ve had the chance to work for some of  Grow Socially’s clients that come from the fishing industry.

This activity has caused me to start thinking about how using social media is a lot like fishing.

Laying the Bait

Each new lead generated through social media is like a fish that was baited with creative posting and effective marketing.

Whether it’s that awesome post you made about how your customers can make the most of their experience through your services and products or an event you promote that drives more traffic to your website, those activities are the bait.

Having the right type of bait and a solid fishing strategy is important if you want to bring in the big fish.

The same applies to online marketing. Having the right social media strategy and effective content is crucial to generating leads.

Having the Right People In the Boat

While fishing can certainly be done on your own as a leisurely activity, catching the really big fish often involves having help from multiple people.

Before the boat leaves the dock, you would absolutely take steps to bring the right types of people with you in the boat.

When it comes to succeeding with online marketing, having the right resources on board is very important. This applies to all aspects of your campaign efforts. You need people that can help develop the strategy… you  need folks to create and place the bait…. you need someone to monitor activity… and you certainly need people that can help you rail in the big fish!

The same applies to your social media efforts. You need resources to accomplish each of those tasks — developing a strategy, creating content, monitoring and measuring, bringing in leads, and then, of course, converting leads into sales.

More Similarities?

These are just two of the ways that I see similarities between fishing and effective social media use. I hope that you found them helpful.

In my next post, I will share a few more!

P.S. Would you like some help using social media to catch more leads for your business? Contact us today!

Also, I’d love to hear what you thought of this post. Please let me know on Twitter!

Photo Credit

This one comes from our CEO John Foley, Jr.!

In this video, John discusses the upcoming NAPL/NPES Executive Briefing Series. We’ve blogged about it  a bit here… but in this video, John provides more information about what attendees can expect from these events.

Are you ready to learn how online marketing, including social media, can grow your business? Then we hope to see you at one of the stops on the NAPL/NPES Executive Briefing Series!