Last week, I worked an abnormally early schedule. I don't have to walk far downtown, but still, I was blown away by the beauty of my early morning commute.
This is just a small sample of the sights...
Jan 8, 2012
Thursday Night Lights
Last week, I worked an abnormally early schedule. I don't have to walk far downtown, but still, I was blown away by the beauty of my early morning commute.
This is just a small sample of the sights...
Late snow...
 |
| This is the view outside my cubical window at work. |
The roads were actually pretty bad for a couple of hours after this.
I'd say this is the first real dump we've had all year...not normal for us. Temperatures have been abnormally high this year.
Oct 2, 2011
Nov 24, 2010
“Friending” your clients via social media
One of the most memorable scenes in the hit TV series Mad Men featured the main character Don Draper and his secretary. They had a secret affair and the secretary had fallen in love with Draper.
The secretary complained she felt invisible to Draper. She inevitably decided to leave the firm and she told Don. Don said he understood. The secretary asked for a letter of reference and Don said he’d be happy to sign off on any reference letter she wrote. Then, the secretary flew into a rage, threw a paperweight at Don and ran away never to be seen again. At that moment, Don had no idea what he did wrong.
I happened to be watching this particular episode with someone else. After the scene, my companion said, “I don’t get it. Why was she so upset?”
And I replied, “She never really wanted to leave. She wanted him to stop her. The reference letter was the last straw…he didn’t even care enough to take the time to write it himself.”
“Well, how the heck is Don Draper supposed to know that if she never communicated that? Really, she’s hot. I’m sure if she put on a nice dress and she told him she wanted to take things to the next level, he’d be receptive to it. It could have worked out for both of them.”
I thought about this comment for days…what a concept to use marketing to help build a relationship. I already knew that all my most successful communications and marketing initiatives were successful because I created a relationship with the audience, but it wasn’t until that moment that I realized how interdependent relationships and marketing/communications actually were. This is part of the reason why taking advantage of social media is such a necessity in today’s day and age – because you can use it to build relationships with your clients.
Social media can be a great tool, yet many businesses create dreary, poorly executed Facebook pages and terribly awkward Twitter accounts….just because they’re told entering the world of social media is what’s expected. A poorly executed social media campaign can result in a waste of corporate time and money. Further, clients will also feel you are wasting their time and boring them.
In order to be successful in the world of social media, you need to know how to build a relationship with your audience. In order to build a successful relationship with your audience, you need to understand this simple concept – people don’t enter relationships unless they are gaining something from them. It sounds harsh, but it’s a reality.
A baby gets food, shelter and love from his or her mother. A lover gets physical reassurance and pleasure from their partner. Merged businesses get an expanded clientele when they unite. Humans have needs and relationships help humans satisfy those needs. Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow has a theory on the needs of humans called the Hierarchy of Needs. Many of the communications and marketing principals today have elements of Maslow’s Hierarchy.
You are the expert when it comes to your business and if you want to be successful in the world of social media, the first question you need to ask is what do your clients gain from your product/services? Next, what added benefits are they going to receive if they follow you using social media sites?
Here’s a list of offerings you can make in order to help build social media relationships:
1. Rewards/prizes
2. Product sneak peaks
3. Ideas on how else to use your products and services
4. Status
5. The warm and fuzzies (if your products involve babies or puppies, you are a shoe-in for this.)
Once you have established relationships, you develop brand loyalty – and that’s the ultimate goal for any business entering the world of social media.
The secretary complained she felt invisible to Draper. She inevitably decided to leave the firm and she told Don. Don said he understood. The secretary asked for a letter of reference and Don said he’d be happy to sign off on any reference letter she wrote. Then, the secretary flew into a rage, threw a paperweight at Don and ran away never to be seen again. At that moment, Don had no idea what he did wrong.
I happened to be watching this particular episode with someone else. After the scene, my companion said, “I don’t get it. Why was she so upset?”
And I replied, “She never really wanted to leave. She wanted him to stop her. The reference letter was the last straw…he didn’t even care enough to take the time to write it himself.”
“Well, how the heck is Don Draper supposed to know that if she never communicated that? Really, she’s hot. I’m sure if she put on a nice dress and she told him she wanted to take things to the next level, he’d be receptive to it. It could have worked out for both of them.”
I thought about this comment for days…what a concept to use marketing to help build a relationship. I already knew that all my most successful communications and marketing initiatives were successful because I created a relationship with the audience, but it wasn’t until that moment that I realized how interdependent relationships and marketing/communications actually were. This is part of the reason why taking advantage of social media is such a necessity in today’s day and age – because you can use it to build relationships with your clients.
Social media can be a great tool, yet many businesses create dreary, poorly executed Facebook pages and terribly awkward Twitter accounts….just because they’re told entering the world of social media is what’s expected. A poorly executed social media campaign can result in a waste of corporate time and money. Further, clients will also feel you are wasting their time and boring them.
In order to be successful in the world of social media, you need to know how to build a relationship with your audience. In order to build a successful relationship with your audience, you need to understand this simple concept – people don’t enter relationships unless they are gaining something from them. It sounds harsh, but it’s a reality.
A baby gets food, shelter and love from his or her mother. A lover gets physical reassurance and pleasure from their partner. Merged businesses get an expanded clientele when they unite. Humans have needs and relationships help humans satisfy those needs. Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow has a theory on the needs of humans called the Hierarchy of Needs. Many of the communications and marketing principals today have elements of Maslow’s Hierarchy.
You are the expert when it comes to your business and if you want to be successful in the world of social media, the first question you need to ask is what do your clients gain from your product/services? Next, what added benefits are they going to receive if they follow you using social media sites?
Here’s a list of offerings you can make in order to help build social media relationships:
1. Rewards/prizes
2. Product sneak peaks
3. Ideas on how else to use your products and services
4. Status
5. The warm and fuzzies (if your products involve babies or puppies, you are a shoe-in for this.)
Once you have established relationships, you develop brand loyalty – and that’s the ultimate goal for any business entering the world of social media.
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