Green Rising Marketing - Blah Blah, Tweet, Blah Blah

“Green Rising Marketing has brought energy, commitment, information and skills to our very challenging efforts to develop a client data base. Their resourcefulness in finding inexpensive ways to advertise to our target audience has been exceptional. Green Rising is deserving of the highest recommendations we at The Sheldon can offer.”

- Carolyn & Bing Sheldon, The Sheldon Cooperative

The Marketing Minute

No Greenwashing!

Why talking and not listening is NEVER socially acceptable (or profitable)

The Idea:

Most clients come to Green Rising either baffled by TWITTER or very proud of their frequent posts.

Let me ask you a question…are you tired of your cell phone company, your electric company, and mechanic all shouting at you with “valuable information” they think you’ll be anxiously awaiting all day? The easy delivery of social media means we talk about ourselves a lot more. A LOT MORE. For some reason we think people want to hear it.

Unfortunately, they don’t care about you, they care about themselves…and getting the kids to school on time, taking a much needed break, or finding career success is much more important.

The Case Study:

Take Matilda’s Restaurant in Toronto. They listened well. True story.

John was in Toronto and tweeted to his Twittersphere: “In Toronto on business, send me good restaurant recommendations!” Recommendations included a restaurant called Matilda’s. Shortly after, Matilda’s “owner” direct messaged John offering a welcome note and free drink with dinner. Where do you think he went?

The Case Study 2: An eco-lodge in Costa Rica searches for "Costa Rica"

Travelgirl: Just booked my tickets for Costa Rica! Woo-Hoo!

TheEcoTico DM Travel Girl: Welcome! Looking for sandy beaches, dolphins, & tico hospitality? Be greeted like family and have a drink on me-Jose. http://bit.ly/9EpZB8

Travel Girl DM TheEcoTico: It’s beautiful! Making my reservations now! PS – I like Pina Colada.

WHY it's great:
Your search can be location specific and intent-specific (ie: your business name, “restaurants in Toronto”, etc) ensuring you get direct communication with someone who needs your services. Instantly, it’s about them because you are conveniently filling a need.

HOW it affects you:
Use social media creatively. Know all of the search features. Play around with:

o Search.twitter.com (advanced) – to see options for choosing keywords and
locations.

o Using Video & Photos – which say much more than 140 characters!

o Facebook Ad Profiling – explore ways to target people who need you. Narrow down wasted clicks by including profile keywords.

How to achieve expert status & influence customers in 8 seconds

50% of web visitors will leave your page in under 8 seconds…that’s less than an elevator speech, and generally not much time to tell someone how amazing, intelligent, reliable, or tasty you are. So, what are these discerning and sophisticated people scanning for in those 8 seconds that makes them stay?

Potential customers want to know what you’re selling, and if it’s any good (according to someone other than you and your mom). How to do that takes some finesse.

OOOooh….how do you do it? (Read more on this scintillating topic)

Credibility Indicators :

- Should stand out in eye-catching text blocks or titles

- Should be located above the website fold

- Use a minimum of 2-3

Ahhhhh….what do they look like?

- Testimonials or Quotes from happy customers

- Years in service

- Awards/Recognition

- Press about YOUR organization (yes resources are nice, but they don’t need to be on the home page)

- Statement of superior quality

- Pictures of happy customers in action

- Portfolio (product pictures don’t count…this refers to businesses that one-off products)

- Community Partnerships or Professional Affiliations

The Stats:

Green Rising Marketing reviewed SBN patrons from the largest brewing companies to the smallest accounting firms, including baby diapers, retro bathing suits, health clinics and more for their credibility indicators.

- A shocking 44% of mostly smaller businesses used NO CREDIBILITY INDICATORS at all!

- Sadly, only 6% used the highly effective testimonial quote

- 16% displayed small well hidden Professional Association logos at the bottom

- 40% used one of the other listed C.I.

- 16% used a combination of two C.I.

- Only 6% used a combination three C. I.

The BEST Example, you ask?

Full Sail Brewing Co., which claims a long history as a “Specialist in the liquid refreshment arts since 1987.” They also post a Facebook Fan box with the first few images of their 4,265 fans as well as their twitter feed. Their News & Awards section feeds onto the home page and is prominently listed as a tab. And, they proudly display their Brewers Guild Association logo. Friends, take note of how the big dogs achieve expert status & influence customers in the field of Liquid Arts!

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