By JP, on January 29th, 2013% Early today, I gave a presentation about using social media throughout the sales process. Our sales process, in Education, is a long one; over the course of 8-10 months, our sales people visit prospects face to face and introduce our brand to them. As this process moves forward, I was considering that there are very few brand touch points. Going over the course of the 8-10 months, I’ve found only 10-15 times where the prospect interacts with either our brand or our sales people.
As we move forward, we’re aiming to use social media to close those gaps in communication and hopefully increase those touch points to a point where prospects engage with us twice as often. The key here is using the sales person who visited that prospect to develop a personal connection immediately. While this seems obvious, maintaining that connection through the process is very important, as our competitors are trying to establish the same thing – a connection.
While this connection becomes personal, it also becomes more efficient. Throughout the process, the prospects have many questions, and they struggle along the way to find the answers to their questions. They end up sending an email with many questions or large questions that take our staff hours to answer, this can all be avoided by increasing the amount of touch points and predictive info pushing over our social channels – answer their questions before they have them.
Of course, all of these things are the basics and seem obvious, but the execution is where the plan goes from idea to success. It’s our job as a resource team in marketing to fuel and follow up on the execution, and to incentivize the sales peoples’s behaviour. It’s our job to make sure we get results.
As you head into your next planning session, plan to execute and more importantly, execute the plan.
By JP, on October 12th, 2012% This presentation, slightly modified from another deck I use, was delivered to 4th year Marketing students at Laurentian University in Sudbury. Here’s an overview of the presentation:
- Trends
- What are social marketers doing today?
- Which channels are they using, or considering?
- Metrics
- How can you measure your success?
- How can you measure your success AND explain it to your CEO?
- Best Practices
- What is everyone wishing they were doing
By JP, on July 20th, 2012%
With nearly all PSE institutions on Twitter, we’ve established that it is important to have a presence. That presence has differing levels of dedicated resources, different goals and varying measures of success. Like Ornithology, this presentation will cover the study of behaviours, effectiveness, and measurements of PSE Twitter presences.
Defining your success on Twitter can be difficult, even more difficult when trying to explain it to someone who is Twilliterate. If being on Twitter is merely a way for your organization to check a box, that’s fine. But, if you are interested in taking that check box and turning it into an easily attained performance measure, this presentation is for you.
Like any dedicated birdwatcher, we took a look at some of the more successful Canadian PSE Twitter accounts and aimed to find commonalities in their behaviours and how that translated to their successes.
Finally, after searching for ways to define success from # of followers, % breakdowns of interactions to 3rd party measurements, we take a look at the different ways (free!) for you to measure your success.
Look past your number of followers and turn that check box into a CEO friendly success story.
By JP, on March 9th, 2012% Most recently I sat in the vast ocean of audience that was listening to a keynote from @JesseHirsh CBC’s national correspondant in technology, thinking to myself what Social Media consists of for the audience.
Jesse mentioned that “Social Media” really began with smoke signals, this dates back to ancient china when soldiers would send smoke signals to alert their countrymen over 750 kilometers away. This was really significant to me. Every time I face clients who are apprehensive about “social media” I’m of the view that this fear is really fear of the unknown. However, this media is already “known” to them, it’s merely an extension of their current communication strategy. The tools have changed but the game is the same.
If you believe in Marshal Mcluhan’s “the medium is the message” then the message may be different, however the goal is the same. The real change is in the tools, much as the evolution from radio, to television to internet, all of these mediums have relied on similar content. The most important thing we can teach is the tools.
Our mission should be to build the confidence in clients that they already have message, and that we can transform that message to fit the new mediums.
Social Media isn’t about followers, or fans, or click-through rates, it’s about building relationships with your network. Once that network is built on trust and value, then you can start looking at the numbers.
Those numbers are the measure of success but can only exist if you understand the reason behind the smoke signals.
By JP, on December 14th, 2011% In this season of holiday cheer, social media brings us a chance to communicate with those far and wide. However, its really important to remember that people are getting overwhelmed with the traditional holiday greetings. Where is the innovation?
The most valued greetings are those you remember, and you remember those that are unique. Your warm picture by a fireplace, or in your back yard. This year I tried something new and sent out Holiday Cards via YouTube private link to friends and family, it was a personalized message wishing them happy holidays and giving them a small annecdote that is relevant to our friendship.
This isn’t earth-shattering, new or really innovative but it does show you care a whole lot more than if you send off a picture of your family photo with the title “Happy Holidays” to your contact list.
I hope you discover some gems these holidays.
By JP, on October 24th, 2011% The most recent Ontario election has left me wondering whether or not the results were impacted by the activities of the candidates on Social Media. With that, I decided to take a look at 3 races where an underdog came up to take the win in a close race. This will hopefully give us an idea as to whether social media may have had a positive influence on voters. Through these 3 races, I’ve tabled the social score of Facebook fans/friends + Twitter Klout score in order to establish which candidate is interacting more effectively with constituents online.
Trinity-Spadina 
It’s easy to see in this case who had the handle on their “handles” with Thomson dominating social media. This landslide was explained by Marchese’s Facebook presence with his high privacy settings on his profile and he had linked his Twitter account to auto-update his Facebook status – classic mistake, no one wants to chat with a robot. Meanwhile, Thomson’s efforts of engaging posts and interactions were impressive. While this didn’t translate to a seat in office, the race was much closer than the anticipated result of Marchese doubling up on Thomson.
Ottawa Centre
 Naidoo held a 12 point lead however was trounced it the polls, similarly, in Klout score. As for Facebook, Naidoo had no updates to his personal profile close to election time and few interactive posts on his Facebook page. Naqvi was not much better on Facebook, with few updates but a much higher response rate on his page. Where Naqvi separated himself was in his use of Twitter, with a true reach of over 1K (175 for Naidoo) his tweets were focused and influential. In this case, again, use of social media was a pre-cursor for an unexpected result.
Northumberland-Quinte West
In conclusion, the results have shown that the social media presences of these underdogs had a tangible impact on the end result of the elections. It is safe to assume that social media in general has a positive impact on ridings but may be further influential for city centre ridings. For me, what has been proven here, is that the impact of social media must be measured by political campaigns in order to properly gauge their polls.
Time will tell whether the winners of the election can properly use these tools in order to keep listening to their voters, or at least make the voters feel like they are 
 This 10 point lead for Rinaldi disappeared quickly on election night as he was supplanted by teacher and beef farmer Rob Milligan. Rinaldi was non-existent on Facebook but did have a small presence on Twitter with a true reach of 148. His handle was the unassuming @VoteLouRinaldi and he rarely had tweets of any relevance, other than when he congratulated his competitor @RobMilliganPC. While Milligan’s usage of Twitter was not impressive either, his Facebook presence was tangible with updates and a significant amount of followers. While this riding did not prove the same result, however it did show us that this rural riding (and potentially others like it) may be less likely to be influenced by social media.
By JP, on February 27th, 2011% Why you should get Twitter.
Let your news come to you: Twitter brings the information you want directly to you. No waiting until 6pm for the daily news, or waiting for the journalist to have the IT guys update the website. Twitter’s trending topics can quickly show you what everyone around the virtual water cooler is talking about, right now. Never before has communication on world shaping events (think Haiti earthquakes etc.) happend so instantaneously. The stories are happening right now, go to one application and hear from all the sources. You can create topical lists in order to keep track of certain contacts or follow a search term (similar to Google Alerts, but on demand).
Connect with industry leaders: whether work, play, interest or hobby; odds are Twitter has your industry leader. Whether that is Justin Bieber ( ~8M followers), Biz Stone (~1.5M followers), or Martha Stewart ( ~2M followers) they all hold something of value to specific audiences. You get direct access to their sought after ideas and have the ability to add to their conversation. Most of all, you create friendships, well, at the very least, acquaintances. To some luddites this can be scary, but don’t worry; unless you have a “please rob me sign” you’re safe. Just check out UnMarketing`s Scott Stratten and you’ll understand.
Be up to the second:Twitter can send notifications to your mobile device the second your most sacred source updates (for me, TSN’s Bob McKenzie). This doesn’t have to be activated, but it sure helps you when you’re waiting to hear something (hockey’s trade deadline). This is a wonderful tool if you are at any major events or conferences. Using a search term or a Twittter #hashtag you can find other members of the conference and get their opinions on the subject quickly (great for speakers or event managers). After all, if Charlie Sheen can get one million followers in just over 24 hours, why can’t you #win as well and find some of your own followers.
Build your brand: one of the more selfish reasons, you can build yourself up and show off some of that hidden knowledge you have. If you love to talk about something, there are people on twitter who do too – and they’re easy to find with the search term feature. There is someone in the world that probably does the same things as you do, and earning the respect of your peers can be quite rewarding. Even if you have a question, your community can help you find the answer.
Chances are you know someone who doesn’t value Twitter yet (or that’s you?), send them this post and help out this lost soul If you convert anyone, tweet @jplaurentian and I’d love to follow them.
By JP, on December 20th, 2010% Gave this presentation along with @matthewmelnyk to the Student Services staff of Fleming College in Peterborough, Ontario.
By JP, on December 14th, 2010% The recent emergencies in Canadian Universities and Colleges have received a lot of attention within their local spheres. In the last two weeks, the University of Western Ontario, Georgian College and now more recently York University and Acadia University, have all been shut down to due unforeseen emergencies. 
In the cases of Western, Georgian and Acadia, the campuses were closed due to extreme weather conditions. For York University, a fire in the central heating building shut down their Keele campus.
These shut downs were primarily announced via community e-mails, web news items and finally social media updates. The latter, is my point of interest.
All post-secondary institutions have some sort of Emergency Management plan, like this one from the University of Windsor, for example. Within these policies, processes are outlined to respond to emergencies. However, very few of them touch on communicating the messages to stakeholders past e-mail or web updates.
With students quickly consuming any messages provided, they will continue to look for instant access to information and they are turning to social media for answers. Are we ready for them?
In the most recent example, Western updated their 11,000+ Facebook community instantly on their official page and was able to address the issue head on. They received 55 likes and only 8 comments on a post updated at 5:14am announcing the school’s closure. Their feedback from students was largely positive and their community was informed before their morning coffee.
In other cases, infrequent updates can lead to unrest among students, confusion and many questions pilling up on official pages. With extra time on their hands and a topic in mind, students can get creative and having your institution on the right end of the joke can be crucial. In a most recent case, a shutdown became fodder for Twitter’s #1 trending topic in Toronto.
South of the border, our American counterparts have experienced this already. In September, Jessica Krywosa of http://doteduguru.com/ wrote about the #utshooter experience of the University of Texas at Austin. The University was able to quickly respond to an emergency and left many schools asking the question “Does your Campus Security Have a Place in Social Media?”.
In social media we always talk about providing value and being transparent, but in these cases being prepared and providing instant information to stakeholders is critical. Is your institution or company ready to respond to emergencies through social media?
By JP, on November 29th, 2010% In the post-secondary education realm it is extremely difficult to create awareness around the benefits of your specific product without outside influences. Students (current and future) are bombarded with ads and are used to it. These millennials are quick to move past the 5,000+ messages they see every day and continue ignoring your brand. They are experts at discerning what is relevant to them; a subject line, an impression of an image or context of the message will ostensibly be enough for them.
Here are 4 lessons I’ve learned in having your ad win the battle and your Facebook page win the war.
Targeting: Facebook has great resources on how to target your ad and reach the desired audience. No other platform will allow you to reach the new audience in a measurable, interactive way. Want to reach 16 year old males in Markham who are interested in Sports? No problem; that will be 46 cents per click, please. If you’ve targeted ads properly, you can then review your statistics and find out what all of your “clickers” had in common interests (providing new targeting insight).
 Budget: We’re all on tight budgets and can’t afford to mess this up. You can customize your spending to reflect your budget, a daily spending limit, a campaign limit and suggested bid price will help you understand the price of your desired results. This process will give you a good idea of what it will take to get those 200 extra likes.
Creative: Now that you are on target and within budget, getting them to see you is crucial. You’re ad will be featured on the side of pages. You don’t need to hire a creative ad agency to develop your ad but you will want to be direct with what you say. Your immediate challenge is saying who you are and why they should click on your ad.
This ad (left) was used to attract alumni to our University’s primary page. Offering up the visual of the University’s logo provide an immediate known quantity and their attention was captured. The ads were successful as they had over 1,000 clicks and 460 fans on a limited budget (less than $200).
Your value proposition has to be the clincher, in this Free Samples ad (below), the value is clearly defined. Unfortunately, their “Wagjag.com” free samples don’t apply to my city (see: poor targeting).
Destination: Facebook ads are most efficient at promoting something housed on Facebook because they provide instant social recommendations (Your friend likes this) and a direct call to action. Posts with a social recommendation are 47% more effective in gaining clicks – of course you more likely to visit a site if your friend recommended it. The direct like button will allow users to join your page without even visiting it, increasing the likelihood of further interaction with that user. After all, the average Liker, has 2.4 times more friends than the average Facebook user.
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