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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

Soulati-'TUDE!

More SMB Chat Recap

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It’s been an exciting few days growing a community of SMBs (that’s small-t0-medium businesses) yesterday and the day before right here. To recap the heretofore in brief:

  • The news about health premiums rising to “pay for” health reform and targeting SMBs, individuals put me over the edge. In speaking with Neicole Crepeau   in a fabulous Twitter conversation detailed here, I asked how we bloggers could unite and create a larger voice. She suggested a Facebook page, and off we went.
  • By engaging my tier one tweeps (you can see their identities via links in this post), what resulted was the most rewarding exchange of social media brainstorming world-wide without speaking one word. (I am in awe and thank each of you for participating in this experience.)

The results are still unfolding:

  • Facebook was initially suggested as the forum for our SMB community to reach the small service businesses and others needing  information and peer group support we’d offer. Comments to the contrary said it was a “personal” place while LinkedIn was pushed as the first choice.
  • Comments about LinkedIn say it’s highly professional and peoples’ experience with its groups hold low regard. My sense is lack of familial exchange and inability to create a friendly forum in which to exchange commentary and free thought.
  • This blog, Soulati-TUDE!, is new. Its voice written by moi as a public relations practitioner is not theme oriented per se; it’s about social media, PR, teaching and observation about what impacts me. While some see this as not having direction, it is perfectly me — I thirst for knowledge and return it back strategically. The SMB audience is always a focus albeit not an emphasis.  
  • To grow the SMB community here, this blog’s backend needs work with new plug-ins, upgrades, and a general-take-it-to-the-next-level thrust; Facebook Like, LinkedIn button, e-mail comments plug in, and other things as advised by you. (I develop content; the tech stuff kills me until I learn, learn, learn.)
  • I’ve officially registered #SMBChat on What the HashTag. (Thanks, Jenn!) People asked for a Twitter forum to review issues easily and trend the topic, too. No official name as of yet for this; I like SMBChat, really. (How about you?)
  • Neicole suggested yesterday this blog would suffer SEO if some of it is devoted to SMB and the other posts to PR. Not sure I really care about that? As said earlier, my agency PR background pings me all over. Who has expertise to share on the importance of that, please?
  • On that note, differentiating a blog from others in the same vertical takes consistent effort. This emphasis would engage hundreds of tweeps in no time at all from across verticals and offer rich perspective for those with no voice at all.

And, so, away we go! Please suggest other thoughts to push us into the home stretch. Thank you!

Planning to SMB Facebook

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So great we can open source this discussion right here to determine what a small-to-medium business forum, community, partnership, etc. looks like. Yesterday, I invited several tweeps to join in the creation of this endeavor, and nearly all accepted.

To recap, Neicole Crepeau and I determined the need for a forum, place, community location to address issues of concern pertaining to SMBs. That’s us. I invited (and they graciously accepted) Michelle Quillin, Jon Buscall, Michelle Hellyar, and Jenn Whinnem.

Another questioned the choice of platforms and said “Fail” to Facebook although he agreed it was “easy to set up.” Am hoping Gregg Morris weighs in here to share  his expertise for the back end. I believe, Davina Brewer at 3Hats will come forth, too, right?

What never fails to frustrate me is the back-end tech requirements of all things social media. Folks not in the know believe it’s “so easy” to set up a blog and take off to the moon. Or, launch a Facebook page with nary a glance at its design or interactivity; or, set up a SMB forum only on Facebook because the knowledge about other platforms is non-existent (sigh).

As a public relations strategist, I am an idea person through and through. It’s these tech details that kill me (and mark my words right here, that I will master this dark tunnel), and that’s why having varying levels of expertise on board for this is fabulous. Without further ado, let’s collaborate on what this puppy looks like. Please weigh in and please also forgive my lack of plug in for “email comments to me.” (The house is not in order!)

Strategic Plan for “The SMB Forum” or WHATEVER!

Objective

  • Create community for SMBs frustrated with new and befuddling rules of engagement for businesses
  • Provide forum for collective opinion and determine ability for call to action oriented to issues
  • Invite SMBs from all verticals to share among peer groups, collaborate freely while supporting and learning one anothers’ plights

Strategy

  • Communicate issues of import to SMBs based on breaking news, state laws, and other items pertaining to general business administration.
  • Inform and educate all SMBs about news that affects us regardless of size or industry sector.
  • Collaborate with independents, solos and other really small businesses and create a familial community where all questions are respected and all comments delivered in like manner and in good humor.

Audience

  • All SMBs who engage online
  • Bloggers seeking partners with whom to collaborate
  • Business owners seeking suppliers

Tactics

  • Assess rules of engagement for group leaders; determine topical interests and purpose for joining
  • Name the group!
  • Launch the group on a platform that is Facebook, ning, LinkedIn or elsewhere? What is preferred/why? (LinkedIn may be a great place to do this…?)
  • Develop some basic rules of engagement: i.e. comments on issues, welcomes to new group members, news articles that pertain to SMBs (many each day re laws and Congress) etc.

OK…your thoughts, please? Thank you!

Got Messaging?

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One of the widest differentials between marketing and public relations teams is messaging. Marketing launches campaigns with seriously involved step-by-step initiatives that involve a framework for branding, value proposition, and so much more. When complete, a company has a sense of its clothes, so to speak – what will we wear today to present ourselves in public? (Please weigh in marketers!)

In public relations, when launching a new relationship, service, product, or program strategy, we do messaging right up front as step one much like marketing. When conducting integrated marketing communications, the need for messaging by both marketing and public relations duels for attention. When public relations can’t get an opportunity to do its thing in re messaging, practitioners are left to dangle.

Messaging by PR is the voice of the company to its tiered audiences. Used to be message maps were created for media relations only. Now, I use a message map to help gather, hone and develop approved messages usually collected from the executive team in a facilitated meeting.

No one would believe executives answer questions about the company differently. One would think all company leaders are on the same page about the what, who, why, how much, and when. Not really. That’s the number-one reason messaging is important – disagreement among a company’s senior echelon and how to position external messaging.

Prior to launching program strategy, consider these suggestions to secure content for external messaging:

1. Get the senior team in a room and garner consensus about the 5 Ws + how.

2. Lacking the ability to corral the senior team, then the senior public relations team needs to draft suggested messages for delivering up the chain for approval. Sometimes seeing wording in print will get needed attention.

3. Tier two messages ought to complement a larger corporate message map – the approved song sheet for all spokespeople. When there’s a turn-key program being launched, ensure messaging is one of the foundational tactics executed.

4. Share the approved messaging with marketing teams; they will thank you as copywriters always need public relations driven content to tap.

5. Get in the habit early and often to ask “what shall we say, why does this matter, who are we speaking to, how much does it cost, when will it launch?”

No message is set in stone; adjust as you go, but never launch a program without some messaging guidelines to work with.