Are you prepared for a social media crisis?

We noticed quite a few social media “disasters” in 2011, from large companies like Chapstick and McDonalds; we know it can happen to anyone. With more and more social media crises breaking out, you would think brands would be better at handling and resolving them! If your business were to experience a social media “fail”, what kind of plan do you have in place to help resolve the situation?

In an article by Jesse Stanchak, it said that if a social media public relation crisis were to hit your brand tomorrow, 63.81% of people said they have the capacity to respond, but have no formal plan in place. If you’re part of this 63%, let MCM help you out! Here are three ways to feel more prepared for a less than perfect social media situation –

1. Create a social media strategy
   When your team is prepared with a strategy, everybody knows their role and what’s expected of them.
2. Form a crisis management Team
   This team should include monitors and responders.
3. Develop a response strategy
   It’s important to know where and how you will respond. If a situation breaks out on Facebook, it needs to be resolved on Facebook. Your response needs to reach the maximum amount of eyes and ears as possible.

Don’t let your business get stuck in a social media crisis; even the little ones can unravel into a huge mess! Let MCM help, contact us today to create an efficient plan to keep your business booming!

Happy Employees = Successful Business!

Small-business owners face a lot of pressures; it comes with the job! So what’s the best way to relieve some of the pressure? Hiring the right team! Your employees are essential to your business being successful. Happy employees work harder and are both healthier and more creative. Keeping your employees happy allows them to project a better image of your company, treat your customers better and spread excellent word of mouth.

Ways to Keep Employees Happy

1. Pay and Benefits – Make sure you are paying your employees what they’re worth. Chances are you’ve found a team who is creative, hard-working, strong-willed, and passionate about what they do. Not to mention, they kick ass while doing it!
2. One-on-one communication – With a busy schedule, it can be tough making time for employees individually. Client, creative, and status update meetings are always good to have, but it’s just as important to save some time for one-on-one communication with your team members. It lets them know you are available and showing compassion.
3. Recognition – When a team member does a great job dealing with a client, planning an event, bringing in potential leads or handling difficult situations, praise them for it! They want to hear congratulations, as it tells them you are paying attention to what they’re doing. It will also boost their ego a bit
4. Fun and comfortable work environment – Don’t coop up your team in a tiny closet without windows. They are your peacocks;
   

   From left: Lauren, Hillary, and Chad

   you need to let them fly! (“The Other Guys” reference, anyone? ) We have a great “community table”. Each of us has our own desk, which allows us to communicate when needed and most importantly, we can listen to great tunes!

I’ve been with MCM for almost two years and I’m very happy and comfortable here! The environment is fun and the people are great.

Why do you love your job? In what ways does your boss make sure you are happy? Share with us on our Facebook page!

Client Spotlight – Presenta Plaque

Do you know Presenta Plaque? They are a family owned and run business located in Tempe. Their origins began in Long Island, New York over thirty years ago. “It was the birth of a grandson in 1993 that resulted in the founders relocating the entire business and their household to Arizona.” Presenta Plaque is a friendly bunch, and we very much enjoy working with them.

Presenta Plaque wants to make it as simple and rewarding as possible so show appreciation to the people in our community working hard to make it a better place for everyone. Presenta Plaque has an incredible campaign going on right now that allows you to nominate a person, group or community for their strength, dedication and benevolence. Back in September 2011, Presenta Plaque caught wind that Amy Donahue would be presenting at Social Media Breakfast, so they awarded her a plaque for donating her kidney to a friend she met through Twitter. Are you familiar with “Tiny Fab Kidney”? You can read about that here.

You can read more about the campaign and nominate someone today, just check out their blog!

Do I Need a Consultant or an Order Taker?

Since 2005 when I founded Maggiore Consulting & Marketing, I’ve worked with many personalities and learned a lot along the way. There are many reasons that people seek out consulting; they need some direction, they need to know available options and they need assistance with creating a plan. Often times though, people seek out consultants for the wrong reasons.

Consulting is extremely difficult, and I think different than what many people expect they are going to get. I’ve channeled this experience into clearly defining expectations with new clients, especially with those who have never worked with a consultant before. I let clients know ahead of time that they are going to hear things that they don’t want to hear- we’re going to let you know that some of the things you are doing with your marketing are spot on, some other things are counteracting your good work. If you’ve hired my company to perform an audit of your company’s marketing, you have already established that something isn’t working. We don’t come back with audit results to hurt feelings or to make any of your employees feel inadequate. The intention is to find out where the wheels are falling off, and to fix it.

It is also our responsibility to look at the whole picture and find the easiest and most cost effective way for you to get from point A (having a product or service to sell) to point B (connecting you with the people most likely to need your product or service). More times than I can count, clients ignore these recommendations. That’s part of the job and I understand it– sometimes we suggest something outside the comfort zone, or we don’t have the resources to fully realize a campaign. But other times it isn’t discomfort or lack of resources, it’s a client that wants us to fulfill a list of marketing To Dos. They want something very specific done, they have a vision for where they want to be (which is great!), but sometimes this group is so focused on that vision that they are unwilling to see other possible options (not great!). They want someone to take their order.

It makes me feel like a bit like a waitress, “What can I get for you today? Ok, clean up your email database, design a flyer and start a Twitter profile. We’ll have that right out for you”. When a business owner or executive is that clear on what he wants, he is really saying that he needs an employee with the time and skills to execute his plan. These are the clients who become frustrated at what they are paying us (it does cost significantly more to work with a company comprised of experienced experts than an individual that can fulfill job duties), and are annoyed when we suggest something outside of the plan. It’s understandable – we charge a premium because we look at the entire situation (does it even make sense for you to be on Twitter? Why are we cleaning up an email database right now when we don’t yet have a place for it in your strategy?). Think of me as the Iron Chef who jumps into the kitchen, and based on what you have on-hand, surprises you with a satisfying meal that you wouldn’t have thought up. It is frustrating to pay a premium for the Iron Chef and then use her only to walk the plate of food from the kitchen to the table. So ask yourself, do you need an Iron Chef and are you willing to let her whip something incredible up, or do you need an order taker?

Consultants come to the table (it’s a pun, like that?) to look at a challenge and develop a set of solutions. Do you know what your organization needs to successfully market itself? If the answer is no, a good consultant that brings clarity and answers will be well worth the investment. If the answer is yes and you simply don’t have the time to implement the plan, or you just need to find someone who knows how to insert meta data or use Photoshop, then you’re looking for an employee to follow your recipe.

You don’t even have to leave me a tip- this one’s on me

How to use Social Media Better than your Competitors!

Admit it; you like to be number one. No one ever starts a business or develops a product and only strives to come in second to the competition. You want to be top of the market, crushing opponents, becoming better than the rest. It’s the American dream! In order to do so, it’s important to start with your marketing; specifically, your social media strategy. If a business has not started at least one social media platform yet, they are far behind in the game. So chances are, your competition is already using social media, and possibly better than you. Here are a few ways to beef up your campaigns and get an edge on the competition.

1.       Perform an audit

Review your social platforms that you have set up. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Blog, Foursquare, Pinterest, whatever you have! What is working for you? What’s not? Are you spending time and energy in a place where you are not gaining engagement? The most important part of social media is heading to where your audience is and placing your focus there. I am not suggesting you kill all your platforms and focus only on Facebook (or Twitter or whatever), but start with your strongest element and build out from there. You may find that there are platforms to kill, or maybe some you could find a better way to utilize.

2.       Listen and Learn

The best way to find out what your competitors are doing out in the online marketing world, is to investigate what they are offering and how they are using their own social media platforms. Are they running contests? Do they have a fully branded Facebook page? Take ideas and improve upon them, taking it to the next level to outshine everything else out there. But remember, do not go onto your competitor’s social platforms and bad mouth them or try to steal their customers. This is unethical and unwise and can come back to haunt you in the future. Shady business actions go viral faster than anything good you could ever do, so play nice and keep your head in the game.

3.       Develop a Game Plan

Once you’ve figured out where you need to be and what your competitors are doing on these platforms, write out your own strategy. You can start with three months or go up to a year! I recommend at least quarter plans though so that you can fully analyze how well your campaigns go over. Put together goals for each platform you are tackling and the steps needed to reach those goals. Make sure it is clear how you want to run each social media platform, so no matter whom in your company touches it, it will always be cohesive.  Your plan should be well thought out and very detailed. For help with creating your strategy, see my blog post “Three Tips for Creating Your Marketing Strategy!”

4.         Have Fun and Be Creative

If you want to be successful in social media, you need to engage your fans and followers in fun, unique, brand-centric ways. It is important to creatively interact with your customers while incorporating clear calls-to-action. Pushing your product/services down your follower’s throats is the fastest way to get unfollowed. Put some thought into how you’d like to communicate on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/insert your favorite channel here. Each platform can serve a different purpose and the possibilities are endless! If you really want to go all out, check out Mashable’s article on the Top 5 Game Changing Social Media Campaigns.

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