How Valuable Are Your Relationships?

A lot of time has been spent talking about what a business can get from a customer or what a customer can get from a business. But the real question is which transaction is more important? Who is ultimately getting the most value in a business to consumer relationship? Until recently I would have said that without a doubt a business receives much more from its consumers, however my opinion has been changed forever. 

Ted Rubin, a keynote speaker, suggested that the most important transaction that takes place is called the “Return on Relationship”. He defines this term as “the value accrued by a person or brand due to nurturing a relationship.” 

As a concept this seems very simple but the implementation is a very different story. It takes a lot of work to keep an open line of communication with your consumers, and timing is everything. Jay Baer states that 40% of consumers expect a response within 60 minutes of posting to a social media platform – and that is a lot of pressure for a brand. However, by giving consumers a return on their relationship consumers will move up Seth Godin’s relationship ladder from stranger to friend and from friend to loyal customer. Innately this growth has a monetary value attached to it. Relationships are the new currency!

After listening to Rubin at Pivot Con earlier this year my mind has been forever changed. I now see more value in social media that I have ever seen in social before. I have significantly changed the goals for my marketing plans in order to adopt this new way of thinking, because in my eyes, it works! Brand evangelist play a huge role in the success of a brand and quite simply these people would not exist would the Return on Relationship principle.

What brands do you know of that have provided a great relationship experience with you? It can be in-store, online or over the phone – as long as you felt the connection and it was maintained. Palm Bay does an amazing job interacting with their consumers online and responding very quickly to questions or concerns. MANY businesses could learn from this example.

Who is your Blogging Guru?

As a young duckling of the blogging world I have been sent on a mission to learn from the great “swans” of the industry. On my journey I have come across some amazing blogging artists but three authors in particular really caught my attention. Not only did these bloggers design and write their blogs well but they also taught me the art of a successful blog, which I plan on using in the future.

Mitch Joel was my first mentor. His blog had a lot of really great lessons that we all can learn from. First is that size matters! Joel’s blog used a variety of different blog lengths in order to keep his readers on their toes. He also uses great reader grabbing headlines. By using this technique readers are engaged right off the bat and are not only wanting but willing to read more. Joel’s final strong point is that he writes how he would speak. When reading his blog I felt as if he was sitting across the table telling me a story. I found this made his information more relatable and enjoyable to read.

I found my second advisor in Seth Godin. In the past I had read his book entitled “Permission

Marketing” but just recently did I discover his blog. Godin is known for posting his blog on a very reliable schedule. Users know exactly when to come back in order to receive more of his knowledge which I found to be an amazing strategy. Godin is also the master of creating momentum. His content is engaging and he gets the readers coming back time and time again.

The final blogging guru I learned from (and my personal favourite) was Bernadette Jiwa. Her blog has a very clear and defined focus of “the story of telling”. When you go to Jiwa’s blog you know exactly the type of post you are going to get. Her blog is very well designed. The colour palate is not only visually appealing but soothing/comforting to the reader. Strangely enough what I found most interesting about Bernadette’s blog is her ability to mix her content. She uses videos, images and social media in order to keep the content up to date and engaging. This is a strategy I think we can all learn from!

All of these people are more than bloggers - they are authors! I believe that the learning I have received from reading these blogs have helped me grow from a little duckling to a full grow duck! I look forward to my blogging future after learning these strategies!

Rethink Your Social Media Marketing

This week was full of information! Not only did I get to attend Pivot Con (a Conference held in New York City) but also I was able to sit in on the Social Media Success Seminar held online. One of my favourite Keynotes was held by Jay Baer. His topic was “Why You Need to Rethink Your Social Media Marketing”.

From the very beginning Baer points out the main reason for using social media – it is not to obtain new customers but it is primarily about building customer loyalty. And when you really think about it, that makes total sense. Who among us follows someone or something on Facebook that we haven’t already been introduced too? The things we “like” we have already built a relationship with and are seeking a way to stay better connected.

Following that discussion Baer moved onto this quote “Do less social media, but do more with the social media that you’re doing”. It seems like such a simple concept but honestly it makes sense. The point of social media is not to repeat the same message over and over again on different platforms – that is how you loose engagement. The point is to develop a strategy for each platform individually in order to keep the content fresh and consumers interested. If your customers are already “loyal” than they are gaining nothing from hearing the same message on multiple platforms. Below is a list of questions that you must ask yourself when creating different social platforms. If you cannot talk yourself out of doing a social media platform using these questions – its probably a good idea.

• Who is the audience for us on this channel?
• What can we provide them that they will find interesting and useful?
• Where will the content for this channel come from?
• Who is going to take care of this thing?
• When will this channel be updated and by whom?
• Why are we spending even one minute or even one dollar on this channel?
• How do we justify this?

Baer challenges all of us to rethink how we are using our social media platforms for business. He asks us to "give it a shot" and really challenge ourselves to create different content for each platform. By doing this we can move strangers to friends and friends to loyal customers - which as he mentioned above is the ultimate goal of social media.

Overall I loved Baer’s voice throughout his speech. He is very blunt, real and almost cynical which ultimately kept my interest during his lecture. He is clearly knowledgeable about this topic, which only added to his over all presentation. I would not only be willing to sit in on another one of his speeches but I want to. I strongly believe you need to learn from the best in order to be successful and Baer meets that mark.

Should Instagram Insta-Regret Their Ad's?

With over 80 million users seemingly popping up out of nowhere, Instagram is the latest and greatest in the social media craze. Started in 2010 this photo-sharing platform has changed the way of picture sharing forever.

Until recently this social media platform has been virtually ad free – yes, businesses have used it to share images of their products and what not but the overt placement of advertisement were nowhere to be found. To me this was a huge selling point. Spending a lot of my time online it was reassuring to know I could always go to Instagram for a clutter free experience but this is no longer the case. In early October Instagram announced that they would be jumping on the advertising bandwagon and would start to implement them immediately.

To many of us this did not come like a shock. All of our beloved platforms must become commercialized at some point in order to make money – but it never makes the transition any easier. With information hubs like Statigram we were able to see the value in our posts very early on in Instagram's creation. It's sites like this why I believe this change has taken so long. The point of ads are to see value in a post but when it was so readily available it slowed down the need for this advertising change.

From a marketing perspective this was the smartest move Instagram could make. Its now been active and thriving for three years and it's time to start making some money. Before this change brands could make a profile, share images of the brands persona, products, staff members, locations etc. and have users opt-in to follow their image feed for FREE! As a marketing tool this was genius – but now not only can they have all the above (still for free) but they can also pay to have ads pop up on users feeds that do not currently follow them. This could drive traffic to their page or simply sell a product. 

I am left wondering what other users feel about this change. Unfortunately, due to the field I’m in I am forced to see both sides and I do see where they are coming from. This change not only makes Instagram a stronger marketing tool but a more valuable business overall. Good thing I love you Instagram! I guess we will have to make this transition together. Like it or not!

Blogging a 2 for 1 Tool!

The Internet world is expanding every single day. Not only with professional websites, social media platforms and hilarious videos but also with high quality user generated content. With the ability to create, imagine and share online we as a society are much more connected and in tune with what is going on in the world around us. We have the ability to expand our minds



Blogging is one of the main platforms people use in order to start this sharing process. As a marketing tool a blog is an amazing asset that will allow your brand to further establish your brand persona but is can also be used as a communication tool. Consumers can comment on your posts and share your story so the conversation can continue.

Strangely enough blogging as a medium also has tremendous Search Engine Optimization capabilities. Using keyword strategies, linking to websites and generating creative content your blog can help drive traffic to your brand.

A keyword strategy allows the user to choose words that best describe their brand or product and “bulk up” on those words. This allows Google to easily recognize what the post is about and place it accordingly.

Linking to other blogs or websites will help build the authority of your page. By using a number of different resources consumers will trust that you know what you are talking about and that you are telling the truth. This will drive traffic and encourage sharability. Another strong addition to your SEO would be to have others linking to your blog. Search engine watch agrees that this link building technique allows you to build a connection with other brands and establishes your credibility. If the goal is to drive people to your website this is an excellent approach.

Finally blogs allow you to design new content to share with your consumers. This step helps with both the keyword strategy and the linking process. Content is the “meat” of your blog. It is the reason people will continue to come back time after time. Without content the other two SEO strategies are useless.

Blogging is a great way to show your talents and interest to prospective consumers in your brand and products but it has so much more to offer. With its ability to be both a successful marketing tool as well as have numerous SEO strategies blogging is an amazing opportunity for businesses/people. I for one have been building my online brand through my blog for a few years now and I can certainly see the benefits.

The Key is Content!

Since the beginning of advertising different groups have struggles with whose part of the ad is the most important. The art directors swear by the image, the sales people say it’s all in the pitch; account managers say you need good client relationships and the marketing team thinks it’s all about where the ad is placed. The funny thing is they are all right. Their part is equally as important as the others because if one of these sections is lacking then the whole ad suffers.

But I am compelled to pose this question. Without the proper content what is the point of having an ad in the first place? The content is what drives the consumer to learn about the product, calls them to action and even closes the sale. It is also undeniably the only piece of the marketing puzzle that has not changed in all these years. Customer service techniques, graphics, sales pitches and ad space has all changed over time with the market but good, creative content has been valuable all along. 


“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant andvaluable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined andunderstood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”



The Content Marketing Institute (created in 2007) has determined that there are seven steps that will turn a visitor into a brand evangelist all using content marketing.

1. Brand Awareness 
2. Lead Conversation & Nurturing 
3. Customer Conversation 
4. Customer Service 
5. Retention/ Loyalty 
6. Upsell 
7. Passionate Subscribers

The best part about these steps is we know that they work! Think about an experience you have had with a brand. No one can say they magically fell in love with a product over night. Your loyalty took a lot of work from the brand. Not only did they have to create a good product but they also had to earn your trust - and that trust building comes from a clear content strategy.

Joe Pulizzi is one of the great content marketing developers of our time. He focuses on the value of telling a story rather then just simply writing content. Pulizzi knows that consumers want to feel like they are apart of something bigger than themselves, and what better way to do that then let them into your brand story. With his new book (Epic Content Marketing) he quotes,

“As a business, your content marketing goal is to become part of the fabric of your customers’ lives. Once you can do that, selling to them becomes relatively easy... The good news is that we can all be epic”

Pulizzi also has the facts to back up his statements. For example in his blog he quotes “only 11 percent of marketers who don’t have a defined content marketing strategy for their enterprise describe their efforts as being effective.” Yikes! With facts like that it is hard to deny the clear value that good content or a good story can brings to your brand.

Story telling itself is not all that new of a concept. It has been going on for years, centuries even! Check out this video to see how far back story telling for the purpose of content marketing really goes.

Gila de Vries from Mashable takes a slightly different approach when looking at content as a marketing tool. He believes that with content must come with design, multiple platforms, balance between professional vs. user generated content and share ability. He thinks that even with great content must come a fair amount of engagement. By making your online content available on multiple platforms, shareable and interesting (both written and graphically) you are bound to have success. Gila also notes the power of on offline content strategy. He sates,

“A solid offline strategy can be one of the keys to bringing your online content to life, engaging your audience, and attracting new eyeballs. Red Bull has become an inimitable force in the field of content marketing and has blended online and offline marketing to become synonymous with extreme sports. In addition to a hugely popular website and magazine, Red Bull organizes sporting events from freestyle motocross, to extreme downhill sledding, to chariot racing. These offline events allow it to own the agenda, while engaging with their community in a very natural way.”

If I have not convinced you yet about the value in content marketing I have one more "Guru's" insight to share with you. Content Marketing Spot's creator Kevin Yeaman is passionate about his field. He specializes in a number of different content fields such as press releases, webinar hosting, social media content, business blogging and more. Yeaman shows us how content has a clear path to increasing sales. 

He posted this quote to his website, 

"Businesses must operate cost-efficiently, and either lower break-even costs or raise sales revenue to grow profits. Content marketing in 2013 provides the highest return on investment solution for increasing sales revenue and lowering long-term marketing cost trends."

Content marketing as a whole is an amazing promotion tool – don’t you think? The power to build a relationship with your customers through words and stories is simply amazing. But we cannot forget about the value in its overall design, placement and share ability as stated by de Vries. If we as marketers can develop a brand story and stick to being "epic" like Pulizzi then we should have no problem with this concept. The content evangelists have paved a road for up and coming advertising/ marketing people to be successful - all of the information is right at our finger tips if we are willing to listen. I for one am convinced that this works and I know I will be using these techniques in the future. 

What brand do you know of that does a great job with their content? Personally I believe brands like Coca-Cola, Apple and Gatorade do fantastic job of connecting to their customers through content both on and off line. Let me know what you think. 

How To Create Amazing AdWords

Have you ever wondered how to create amazing Google AdWord campaigns? Well, here is a relatively simple template that you can follow for almost any business. These steps will help you define your target set, a goal and create dynamic ads to reach your target! I used Farm Girl Food (a local Kingston gourmet food truck) as my model for these work sheets to use as an example.

WORKSHEET 1: Organizing your Account

Step 1: Design your advertising plan by answering some questions about business needs

What do you offer?
Gourmet locally-sourced comfort food

Who do you want to target? (in Kingston and the surrounding area)
- Young business professionals
- Queen’s students
- Sustainable food activists

What's your budget?
$5 per day > $35 per week > $140 per month

Step 2: List campaign goal (which can be used as your campaign name)

Campaign Goal:
Increase Lunch Sales

Step 3: Create at least three ad groups for your campaign (optional)

A delicious Farm Girl Meal Arancini di Riso

WORKSHEET 2: Picking the Right Keywords

Step 1: Expand - list keywords that relate to both your business and campaign goal. Use the keyword Tool for ideas.

Kingston, Gourmet, Gourmet Food, Dinner, Lunch, Food Porn, Small Business, Food Truck, Comfort Food, Lunch Time, Seasonal, Local Food, Fresh Food, Farm Girl, Seasonal Food, Downtown Kingston, Home Made Food, Cheap Lunch, Gourmet Food Truck, Kingston Menu, Kingston Lunch, 
Kingston Local, Kingston Dinner, 
High Quality Food, Catering, Sustainable  

Step 2: Group - separate keywords into ad groups by common theme

Theme 1:                                      Theme 2:                                                Theme 3:

- Local food                                - Gourmet                                               - Kingston
- Kingston Local                         - Gourmet food                                      - Small Business
- Sustainable                              - Gourmet food truck                              - Downtown Kingston
- Catering                                   - Comfort food                                        - Kingston menu
- Lunch                                       - Fresh food                                           - Kingston lunch
- Dinner                                      - Local food                                            - Kingston local
                                                   - Homemade food                                  - Kingston dinner
                                                   - High quality food


Step 3: Refine - cut out any irrelevant, unclear, generic or too-specific keywords from the list above.

Food Porn, Food Truck, Lunch Time, Seasonal, Seasonal Food, Cheap Lunch, Sustainable

WORKSHEET 3: Write Targeted Ad Copy

In this section Google AdWords has you create 3 sample ads for each Ad Group! However, I've simply included a few examples along with the breakdown of how Google formats your targeted ads.

Google Ads consist of 3 parts:

1. Headline - A 25-character headline
2. Description - You get 2 lines of 35 characters each to describe what you have to offer
3. URL - www.your-35-character-URL.com

My Examples:

Private Catered Lunch
Meeting with the boss over lunch?
Contact us for a private catering
www.farmgirlfood.ca

Local Gourmet Food Truck
A fresh, homemade comfort food menu
Come visit us today!
www.farmgirlfood.ca

Kingston’s Hot Lunch Spot
Homemade, locally sourced menu options
Join us today!
www.farmgirlfood.ca

Let me know what you think about this model and if it benefited you on your AdWord journey!
See you all later this week with a new post.

Connecting with Customers One Video at a Time

Funny cats, laughing babies, epic fails and “oopsie daisies” - this is how we know and love one of the most popular social networking platforms, YouTube! Since its creation in 2005 YouTube has had an amazing success story.

Although we love our hilarious videos, in recent years YouTube has taken on another role - that of a marketing tool. Personal brands, small businesses and corporations alike are using the power of YouTube in a number of different ways in order to satisfy, engage and empower customers.

There are three key ways to make a successful YouTube account for you or your business. The first and most crucial part of having a successful YouTube channel is selecting a username that correlates with the brand (if not the brand name itself). It may seem like a simple concept, but consumers are generally mistrustful. If you have already done the work to build trust with your consumers at a product level, choosing the right username should fluidly transfer that trust.

Secondly, brands must arrange a channel that resonates with the company’s strategy. Mirroring the brand’s colour scheme, core values and persona allows the business to appear tech-savvy and also helps to enhance the overall brand cohesiveness.

Content is third on the list, and arguably the most important. From a business perspective this is where most of the confusion takes place. What to post, when to post it and content value is often challenging for a new YouTube user. After looking at other successful YouTube accounts, there is a clear trend in the content. It is most important to compose imaginative and interesting content relating to your products. Videos could include anything from product advantages and functionality to happy customers giving rave reviews. Second is honestly and openly discussing common product or service problems. Similar to an FAQ, this will open a line of communication with your consumers and reinforce the trust they have already handed to you. Lastly I would suggest uploading videos of people in the company speaking in seminars, volunteer events or presentations. This will emphasize the pride you have in the people that work for you as well as demonstrate authority and community spirit. Any chance you have to pat yourselves on the back – Go for it!

Simply put, YouTube is a great way to develop a “voice” for a business. In my field I hear that word-of-mouth is the most powerful form of advertising and YouTube takes that saying to a whole new level. Now instead of telling my ten friends about how much I love a product, I can make a video and share it with 10,000 people. If those numbers aren’t convincing enough to convince you to use YouTube as a marketing tool, I don’t know what is!

Now after all that reading you deserve a reward! Here is one of my favourite YouTube Videos!

Simple Term or Valuable Knowledge?

This week in class I was challenged to define and understand one of the many SEO terms we that are going to learn about next week. Me, being a busy student and having no extra time tried to take the easy way out and choose the word “Play Rate”. To me the concept seemed relatively simple. The play rate was the rate at which your video or ad is played. But upon doing some actual research I found that this term has a lot more value than my simple definition.

Play Rate can be defined as “how often your ad’s video was played compared to how often the ad was shown.” That basically means that the play rate is a ratio that calculates the number of plays verses its total impressions. These numbers can and will have a huge effect on the overall marketing campaign on platforms like YouTube. If your ad has a low play rate then we as advertisers know we need to enhance the ad or the experience the ad is giving in order to engage our customers more. This can be done a number of different ways. You could have a stronger call to action or even something as simple as having a more graphically appealing opening image.  

With this knowledge we cannot only better understand our consumer but we can focus our marketing techniques for the future. The play rate gives us clear data that we can use to support our AB testing methods or to solely show the success of our work. Search Engine Watch believes that video has the perfect balance between creativity and data - with information like this we need to ensure that we are taking advantage of tools like play rate in order to give ourselves the best chance of success.

I think its safe to say that this basic term holds a lot of value in the strategies and technique I will be using in the future. This just once again goes to show “do not judge a book by its cover” or a term for its value in this situation. 

Pinterest - A Marketing Tool?

Originally, Pinterest was a website designed for users where they could create themed boards and pin interesting/ creative ideas to share with others. Who would have ever imagined that soon after its creation, Pinterest would become a major social media marketing tool? Personal branding and business marketing alike, Pinterest has set itself apart from other social marketing platforms by using images as its main focus on content sharing. Simply put, the concept makes sense. As consumers living in a fast-paced world, we are stimulated by images. Pinterest gives users an outlet to consume a lot of bite-sized information pieces, while keeping our attention.  

Many social media experts have spent their time studying Pinterest and how it can be used as a business tool. Jayson DeMers, Founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, understands the power of Pinterest from a business perspective. After researching the benefits of Pinterest, he has shared these top 10 tips on how to be successful using this platform:

1. Be Selective
2. Use Teasers
3. Add Pin it Buttons
4. Use Lots of Images
5. Pin Often, Pin Variety
6. Pin Interests
7. Pin Vertically
8. Pin Mashups
9. Feature Customers
10. SecretBoards

If a business decides to implement these rules to their Pinterest platform, they are sure to be successful. Pinterest has potential that has yet to be discovered and there is power in potential.  I look forward to seeing this platform grow and watching how businesses in the future utilize its power to enhance their marketing strategies.

Click here to check me out on Pinterest and let me know what you think!