Capulet Communications blogs

A Facebook Page Isn't Always the Answer

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:37:18 +0000

This post, written by Julie, first appeared as a guest post on Sage's Business Management Blog:

“My boss says we need a Facebook page.”

As social media strategists we hear that a lot. Our response is often, “why?” Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean a Facebook page is the right choice for your business. Here are a few questions to ponder before diving head first into your corporate Facebook account.

Are your customers on Facebook? With 500 million people on Facebook, it’s likely your customers have Facebook accounts. But, are they using Facebook for business or as a personal networking tool? If you’re a very technical B2B business–maybe you sell circuit boards for solar panels–then it probably makes more sense to build a community in the more corporate LinkedIn.

Do you have internal resources for managing your Facebook page? This is a serious consideration and one that often gets overlooked. For Facebook to work as an engagement tool, you’ll need to create and run contests, offer giveaways, write useful articles and point fans to quality content elsewhere on the web. These marketing activities take time and effort. If no one in your organization takes ownership of the project, your Facebook page won’t succeed.

Is Facebook a PR liability? A corporate Facebook page provides the perfect public platform for people to vent their frustrations with your organization. If your business regularly endures public criticism–say you’re a sports team, an airline or an oil and gas company–then be aware that Facebook may create a PR burden for organization.

Will Facebook (and other social media channels) take away from current marketing activities? Social media can be a fruitful addition to your existing marketing programs, but shouldn’t come before old-school marketing activities that are working well. Time and again we see email marketing results out-perform Facebook and Twitter when it comes to sales and conversions. Though it can be tempting, don’t abandon existing programs for the shiny new bobble.

Is it imperative to get Facebook fans to your website? Converting fans to customers is easier said than done. One reason is because once people are in Facebook, then tend to stay there. They’re disinclined to click a link to your website that takes them out of Facebook. So, if you can’t replicate your website’s functionality in Facebook with a Facebook app–a widget that registers fans for your workshop, or enables them to sign a petition or buy products directly from your Facebook page–you may be disappointed by the number of fans that actually make it over to your corporate website.

There are hundreds of examples of successful Facebook pages that actively engage fans and reflect positively on an organization’s brand. Coca-Cola and Unicef, for example. But, for every success there are thousands of flops. Before you click “Create a Page”, be sure you have a clear understanding of how Facebook will complement your marketing goals and who in your organization will “tend the garden”.

Want to Be More Creative? Here's Where to Start

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:26:32 +0000

I've been helping Lee-Anne Ragan of Rock Paper Scissors get her blog up and running. We've had a great time discussing the ins and outs of social media and the benefits of using the Web and blogging for marketing.

Lee-Anne's dedication to blogging is remarkable. She consistently writes three posts a week, and all of her posts are thoughtful and relevant to her work as a corporate trainer. Given that our last blog post on Capulet.com was March 25 (this is where I hang my head in shame), I'm impressed with Lee-Anne's commitment to her blog.

Yesterday, Lee-Anne posted something that intrigued me. It's a six question, multiple choice creativity assessment. I took the assessment and discovered that I'm missing a solid process for harnessing creativity.

Now, I have the chance to learn from Lee-Anne! I'm attending her one-day workshop, "Embracing Creativity: How to Rediscover Your Creative DNA" on June 23rd and hope to find some creative inspiration to share with clients. Want to get a creative shot in the arm too? Here's the goods:

Embracing Creativity: How to Rediscover Your Creative DNA
June 23rd, 2010, 10 am to 5 pm
Langara College, Vancouver

Lee-Anne says: "You’ll leave the workshop engaged, refreshed and with a plan for how to put your newly (re)discovered creativity to work." For more information about this creativity workshop go to the Langara website or email or call Leslie Kemp at 604-323-5981 or lkemp@langara.bc.ca.

A Blogger's Night at the Opera

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 01:16:39 +0000

I've long admired Vancouver Opera's approach to its Blogger Night program and got the opportunity to experience it first-hand when Darren and I were invited as blogging guests to "Nixon in China", the Vancouver Opera's most ambitious project to date--at least financially.

First, a little background. For the last year, social media manager Ling Chan has been engaging with online influencers, initially a radical approach for a traditional organization with an aging audience. Ling also launched the successful Vancouver Opera blog. Likewise, the Opera's Facebook page (more than 1500 fans) and Twitter efforts (more than 2200 followers) have grown continually, bouyed by the Blogger Night program.

Blogger Nights at the opera offer a way to introduce and engage a new audience with an old art form. Not only do Blogger Nights provide a reason for online influencers to write about the opera--either about their experience or to review the show--the program represent a genuine effort to educate a new generation of potential opera fans.

Educating our little group was what Vancouver Opera did best at "Nixon in China". Prior to the opening night performance, bloggers got a backstage tour of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Darren and I had a previous engagement so we missed the tour, but it sounded like an informative peek behind the curtain. Before the show and during intermissions (yes, two intermissions!), we were encouraged to hang out at the Blogger Night table. A surprising number of guests approached the table and chatted with us opera newbies. Personally, that set-up is a bit public for my liking--print reviewers aren't asked to write their reviews in-situ--but the other bloggers didn't seem to mind and it did provide a chance to chit chat with colleagues.

At Capulet we talk with a lot of not-for-profits about using social media effectively. Vancouver Opera's approach to new influencer outreach really is an example of blogger outreach done right. After seeing a Blogger Night up close we'll continue to tout this model as an effective way to build a new, real-world audience.

Using Social Media for Crisis Management

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:08:43 +0000

Having a social media presence is mostly about building relationships, not unlike conventional marketing. But in social media, communication works both ways and in real time.

If a hard copy journal gives your product a bad review, the copy disappears from the shelves in a month or two and you can move on. Not so with a bad online review. Google’s cache system and internet archives ensure bad reviews stay online forever.

So, what can you do about it?

Domino’s Pizza was getting a lot of negative attention about the quality of its pizza on Twitter and in focus groups. Rather than ignoring the feedback, they took the opportunity to make a better product and responded to criticism on social media channels. They even went so far as to change their pizza recipe. They tell the story with a video called Pizza Turnaround and the Twitter hashtag #newpizza. When they were criticized for initially censoring negative comments on their own website, they decided to post them along with an explanation of what they were doing to make customers happier.

Domino’s turned a negative situation into an opportunity for engagement. Not only did they respond to the problem, they showed the world what they were going to do about it.

If your customers or critics are on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, you should be too. Not responding to online criticism makes it look as though you are not a part of the internet community and that you are not monitoring the web closely enough. Even worse, it looks as though you don't care what customers and critics are saying. Though a negative review may last indefinitely on the web, so will your response and evidence of dialogue with your community.

The Golden Rule: Listen First

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:04:32 +0000

As Jane Goodall discovered, the best way to learn about a species is to live among them. The social web can be a bit like the “wild west” of online communication. But there are some key communication protocols to be aware of before striking up conversations with the locals.

If you understand the social web’s code, you’ve got a better chance of breaking into the inner circle and getting mentioned or reviewed by online influencers. They can send thousands of visitors your way. Remember the golden rule of the social web is this: Listen First.

By emulating the behavior of influencers and learning their dialect, you can become more confident when approaching them. Begin by finding blogs and online communities that focus on your product, organization, or industry.

You can start by doing a search for [your company] blog and you’ll probably find references to your company. Poke around any associated blogs to find more references. Then, start reading them regularly.

If you can’t find blogs dedicated to your company, try searching for [your competitor’s] blog. Start reading these corporate blogs and the third party blogs that cover your competition.

You can certainly find blogs dedicated to your industry. Don’t believe us? Try searching “funeral blog” and you’ll find dozens. Now try searching for [your industry] blog. If your industry has newsletters, conferences, and magazines, it has bloggers. Find a few and start reading them today.

With just a few clicks, you’ve got a virtual stack of reading material that will help you get to know the new influencers in your industry. Find out what they are talking about, and which companies they’re watching. Perhaps most importantly, find out what they’re not talking about. You don't want to pitch bloggers irrelevant stories because that wastes both your time and theirs.

If you do your homework and read the right blogs weekly, you lay the groundwork for future, positive interaction with these influencers.

Social Media Top Tips from Intern Shoshana

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:37:40 +0000

We're pleased to introduce Shoshana Berman to Capulet's blog readers. She is a writer who is working with us on some projects and is writing blog posts about social media, using our book "Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook" as inspiration.

Shoshana has a varied background in both science and drama. Writing for Capulet is low key compared to past jobs, including doing reptile education shows for children. She's also a classically trained chef. When she isn’t reading, cooking or eating, Shoshana is mildly obsessed with following online news. Having watched the internet progress from a science experiment at universities in the 1980s to surreptitiously “talking to people in Russia” to become the ubiquitous communication tool it is today, she is fascinated by Web 2.0 and its potential to connect like-minded people around the globe.

"Friends with Benefits" Makes Computerworld's Must-Read List

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:25:49 +0000

For a tech marketer, like me, Computerworld is the big time. Getting ink in the publication is on all of our clients' wish lists and goes a long way to validate a product. Which is why I'm so delighted that Todd R. Weiss included Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook in his article, "Social media marketing: 5 must-read books".

The "essential" books on Weiss' list provide a starting point for businesses that are new to social media marketing and are looking for some help planning their strategies and getting social media programs up and running.

We're in good company with Joel Postman's SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate; David Meerman Scott's The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly; Maria Azua's The Social Factor: Innovate, Ignite and Win Through Mass Collaboration and Social Networking; and Tamar Weinberg's The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web.

If implementing a social media marketing strategy is on your list for 2010, these resources will put you in good stead. Happy reading!

"Friends with Benefits" Hits Bookstores this Month

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:13:45 +0000

After months of writing, rewriting, editing and then editing again, our book, "Friends with Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook" is finally hitting bookstores this month!

We've been delighted and, frankly, relieved to see good reviews coming in early. Here's a roundup of some of them:

“If you’re ready to get off the sidelines and get serious about social media marketing, you must read this book first. Friends With Benefits is tactical, practical, and above all, useful.”
- Lee LeFever, Common Craft

“Friends With Benefits is a must-read for social media marketers and those new to the field.”
- Monique Trottier, So Misguided

“This book is invaluable and there’s nothing like it out there in terms of a realistic portrayal of what works and what doesn’t.”
- Chris Abraham, Marketing Conversation

This month, our book is featured in BoxCar Marketing's Underwire newsletter. Not sure if you're spamming your customers and potential customers? Check out the section of our book BoxCar excerpted on that topic.

We'll be sharing more tips from the book with you on this blog and at the book's website, www.friendswithbenefitsbook.com.

Social Media Marketing Bootcamp Heads Back to Calgary

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:45:09 +0000

We've had a fantastic month leading Social Media Marketing Bootcamps in BC and Alberta. We've met many creative marketers who are ready to embrace social media and who ask great questions and bring new marketing insights to the full-day workshop. Thanks to all of you who have made the sessions so fun and thought provoking.

And we're not done yet! There was so much interest in Social Media Marketing Bootcamp in Calgary we're heading back over the Rockies next week for sessions on September 29 and October 1.

If you're in Calgary and would like to join us, there are a few spots left on both days. Find out more about bootcamp or register now. We're looking forward to seeing you in Calgary!

I Never Click Ads

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:25:47 +0000

During our social media marketing bootcamps and some of the other speaking we do, we briefly cover advertising on the web. The 15-second precis: only spend your money where you can target your audience with razor-like precision, and rapidly measure outcomes. Google AdWords and Facebook ads are two good places to start.

It's right around this time that somebody usually raises their hand and offers some variation of "I'm skeptical about your advice, because I never click online ads".

It's a classic misstep of logic that everybody makes occasionally: "I behave a certain way, so my customers will behave the same way". Its assumptions like these that can limit new ideas about reaching your audience.

I also sometimes encounter a certain snobbishness from tech marketers, who assert that most of their geeky target audiences uses browser-based ad-blockers, rendering online advertising ineffective. As with the above assumption, I encourage them to spend a little money and test that hypothesis. We've had clients who get the lion's share of their annual revenue (which was not insubstantial) through judicious use of Google AdWords.

I guess this is just another blog post about assuming, an ass, you and me, but I encounter the behaviour often enough (and sometimes in myself) that it's worth keeping in mind.

PR Book Club

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:45:02 +0000

Last week an email was circulating among some of my PR colleagues discussing which PR and business books we're currently reading. I thought I'd share our top reads with you:

Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language by Don Watson
E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber
Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky
Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers by by Shel Israel and Robert Scoble
The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott
PR! A Social History of Spin by Stuart Ewen
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams

Have we missed some good reads? Please let us know which other books should be on our summer reading list.

Don't Miss Social Media Marketing Bootcamp in Victoria on June 4th

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:59:18 +0000

Back by popular demand... after a sold out session in April, we're running another Social Media Marketing Bootcamp in Victoria on June 4th. What's SMM Bootcamp all about?

In this full-day workshop, we'll show communicators and marketers, as well as small business owners, how to add social media into their marketing mix.

We'll discuss the dos and don'ts of social media marketing; look at successful marketing campaigns; introduce the social media tools every marketer should know about; and cover online communications etiquette. You'll learn how to:

Bring more visitors to your website
Increase your company’s visibility online
Approach bloggers and other online influencers about your products and services
Get your website social media ready
Craft a potent social media pitch
Incorporate online channels like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter into your marketing programs
Avoid campaign killers and online faux-pas

Students will leave with:

A copy of our social media marketing ebook, Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook
Templates for creating a social media marketing plan
Templates for creating an influencer database

There will be a session in Victoria on June 4th. The workshop fee is $299 (taxes included).

Want to save $50? Blog about our workshop on your own established (meaning not brand new) site. Don't have a blog? Ask a friend or a local blogger if you can write a guest post for their site.

Vancouver Bloggers Hit the Road with the BC Healthy Living Alliance

Thu, 07 May 2009 04:24:06 +0000

We recently helped to create an online marketing plan for the BC Healthy Living Alliance, an organization that focuses on British Columbians' health. One of their goals is to encourage politicians and citizens to recognize how social determinants affect the health of individuals and communities as a whole.

With the BC provincial election coming up, the BCHLA is encouraging British Columbians to Live Healthy, Vote Healthy: voting for a commitment to improve conditions that impact our health:

Neighbourhoods need certain things to be in place in order for residents to live healthy. In particular, we need safe streets to walk or bike on, parks to play in, affordable recreation, and local stores stocked with affordable veggies and fruits. Access to affordable housing, healthy food, a livable wage, education, early childhood education and recreational opportunities influence our physical and mental health as well as life expectancy.

Social Media Marketing Training in Vancouver and Victoria

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 04:56:34 +0000

Building on the sold-out course we taught for UBC Continuing Education this winter, Capulet is running full-day workshops in Vancouver and Victoria to teach communicators and marketers, as well as small business owners, how to add social media into their marketing mix.

Bring more visitors to your website
Increase your company’s visibility online
Approach bloggers and other online influencers about your products and services
Get your website social media ready
Craft a potent social media pitch
Incorporate online channels like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter into your marketing programs
Avoid campaign killers and online faux-pas

Students will leave with:

A copy of our social media marketing ebook, Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook
Templates for creating a social media marketing plan
Templates for creating an influencer database

There will be sessions in Victoria on April 30, 2009 and Vancouver on May 28, 2009. The workshop fee is $299 (taxes included).

Want to save $50? Blog about our workshop on your own established (meaning not brand new) site. Don't have a blog? Ask a friend or a local blogger if you can write a guest post for their site.

Mixed Reviews from South by Southwest

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:16:57 +0000

Last week, we shared some thoughts from the South by Southwest interactive conference on the TechVibes blog. Here's a brief summary of our impressions as first-time South by Southwesters:

Julie: If you didn't already know that social media marketing is the new black, then the huge number of panels on this topic at SXSW would certainly tip you off. The panels had plenty of conflicting advice on how to move marketing and PR to the web--from dropping your email newsletter in favour of Twitter to focusing exclusively on building word-of-mouth marketing programs. While I did not agree with all the touted strategies, it was good to see rooms full of marketers taking this stuff seriously.

Darren: Despite the star-studded line-up (hey, there's Heather Armstrong! There's Hugh McLeod! And so forth), the overall caliber of the panels followed the typical conference curve of average to great. In truth, the quality was not better than smaller technology conferences, like Gnomedex. It's the scope of SXSW that makes the conference unique.

We enjoyed meeting new people and connecting more deeply with aquaintances, but neither of us came away singing the praises of SXSW like we often hear others do.