The key to successful Facebook and Twitter interactions is to be genuine, original, authentic, bona fide, valid, true, unquestionable.  You get the picture.  Here are a few simple tips for keeping it real.

Get to Know Your Customers – To truly be seen as genuine to your customers you need to go beyond defining them only in terms of marketing demographics.  You need to dig deeper and get to know who they are when they are not buying your products and services.  Going about this is really pretty simple.  There is nothing you need to “do” except sit back,relax and observe your customer’s online social behavior.  Before you know it you will really feel like you know your customers as you do your own friends – what’s important to them, their likes and dislikes, their passions and interests. Then you can speak up and interact in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them.

Be Likable – Let’s face it…  Being friends with brands is not, well, cool.  So how do you get past this?  By creating an online personality that your customers can’t help but like.  Again it all goes back to; you guessed it, being real.  Be honest, admit your faults, let your hair down, have fun, crack a joke and don’t take yourself so seriously.  Be…  REAL!

Do As You Say – Find out what customers want from you and then make it happen. If you say it’s important to you, demonstrate it.  If you solicit feedback, be prepared to make changes. Social media is not just about acting sincere; it’s about being sincere.  The way you do that is by backing up your words with actions (you know the old saying) and always follow through. Just be sure that you don’t lose sight of your brand and your business: keep your connections and queries relevant.

At Fishnet Media we specialize in keepin’ it real!  Let us help you create a winning online persona that your customers can’t help but like.  Contact us today!

So many companies get caught up in thinking that with a knock-out logo they’ve got their brand nailed.  Think again.  Aside from the fact that practically every logo is taken and that any given design element of a new logo is sure to remind you of someone else’s brand, today it’s all about the cross-sensory experience that your brand offers.  Cross-sensory refers to not only the emotion, beliefs and desires your brand evokes, but its feel, touch, sound, smell and personality, of which the logo is just one small part.

Coke was onto something when they coined the term “smashable”. They wanted a bottle design that could immediately be recognized as a Coke bottle even if it was smashed into a hundred pieces.  Clearly their logo would do them no good if the bottle was shattered into hundreds of pieces.  They would need to rely on the color, contour, size, texture and thickness of the glass bottle to be the differentiators.

Companies today need to think along the same lines and acknowledge the value that every single communication element plays in defining their brand’s identity.  Think of it like this, if your logo suddenly disappeared from your product, marketing materials, signage and website would your brand still be easily recognized by your customers?  Would your packaging, copy, colors, design, font, spacing, graphics and even the navigation of your brand enable widespread consumer recall?  Challenge your company to “smash” your brand and find out, and if you’re not happy with the results, it’s time for a change.

Fishnet Media can help you go beyond the logo and create a smashable brand.  Contact us today.

Social media can be a great way to connect with customers and build long term relationships – if done right.  Dabbling in social media here and there can actually do a lot more harm than good to your brand, but when taken seriously, it can do wonders.  Here are a few things to keep in mind when pulling together a social media strategy:

• Be attentive. Don’t just create your strategy and then jump right in and engage.  Take the time to listen to your audience first to find out where they hang out and why. This allows you to provide customers with an opportunity to connect with you where they feel comfortable socializing. Just be careful not to stretch yourself too thin; it’s better to have a meaningful presence in one or two places.
• Be committed. To really do social media right, you need to be committed to invest resources into your online relationships for the long-term, otherwise you could do some serious damage to your brand.  For each platform you decide to engage in, be prepared to listen, moderate, converse, analyze and adjust.
• Get real. The appeal of social networks is that it’s all about real people coming together to share real stories and experiences.  If you want to fit in and gain the trust of your customers, then you need to be real too.  Made a mistake?  Admit it.  Be human, be honest, be approachable, just be you!
• Get analytical. Make sure your results are measurable and stand ready to adjust where needed. Standardize metrics across the tools and help different teams identify what to measure. This will allow you to compare the success of similar efforts and provide relevant data for more effective decision-making and ROI.

There are a lot of things to think about when deciding to engage in social media.  Let us help you navigate the process with ease.  Contact us today!

Personalization is just as important as ever, but with the growing number of options for how consumers choose to access your site (web, Mobile, email, etc.) it’s also a lot more challenging than ever!

Here are five helpful tips to help you deliver a more personal and relevant digital experience and align your marketing strategies with consumer demand:

• Make it easy
  Ensuring that your site is easy to navigate will make it easier for your visitors to find the products they want and keep them coming back for more – no GPS needed!
• Privacy please
  Make personalization is a priority, but never at the sake of privacy. The majority of consumers are not comfortable trading their personal information for a more personalized experience. Build trust and loyalty by making it easy for visitors to opt-out of personalization features that require extensive personal profile information.
• To retarget or not to retarget?
  Retargeting should be approached as one of those “proceed with caution” yellow- tape areas. If the risk (causing serious damage to your brand), outweighs the reward (a potential sale) – it’s not worth it.
• Don’t ignore social media
  The percentage of purchases influenced by Twitter and Facebook promotions (while still low compared to other forms of digital media) is certainly on the rise – a trend where you can expect to see progressive growth.
• Go mobile
  Expect to see many more people using smartphones to research and purchase products – be one of the first to catch this wave and ride it in.

Creating a personalized digital experience that is relevant to your customers can help you increase sales and customer satisfaction– we can help! Contact us today.