Written on January 21, 2010 by admin
Filed Under: book, marketing
I have been talking more to the people who are doing the work of social media so the readers of Marketing Pilgrim can step back from the news and the theory to get some feet on the street perspective. More and more those feet on the street are C level executives who are embracing social media to brand themselves and their companies. Kent Huffman of Bearcom Wireless has put together a list of these socially active CMOs on Twitter.
One of these folks, Ted Rubin (@tedrubin), exemplifies the energy and effort that is required to make a place for oneself in the social web for business. I interviewed Ted by e-mail recently to learn about the who, what, where, why and how of his social media efforts as the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of the Eyes Lips Face (e.l.f.) Cosmetics line. I challenge you to find a more active C-level marketer out there.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your marketing experience and what is your mission as CMO for e.l.f. Cosmetics?
Prior to joining e.l.f., I served as Senior Managing Director of Marketing and Business development for Eastern Union Commercial and RealProspex.com, the fastest growing and most innovative commercial real-estate-listing site in the country. I was also President and CEO of The Black Book and responsible for its turnaround and eventual sale to a private equity group, and have held senior level positions at 1-800-Flowers and Yoyodyne, a Yahoo! company, in addition to running my own internet marketing and business development consultancy which serviced a vast array of online and traditional companies.
As Chief Marketing Officer for e.l.f. Cosmetics, my responsibilities include communicating with and building e.l.f.’s client base, leveraging brand equity through strategic marketing programs, and creating/managing a major thrust into social media initiatives and partnerships. I also focus on strengthening both core products and line extensions, including the extremely successful Studio line and Minerals collection, both launched under my tenure and growing rapidly.
EyesLipsFace.com considers itself not only an e-tailer, but a pioneer of social commerce… a beauty and trendsetting destination site with approximately ten to twelve million page views a month, several hundred thousand monthly visitors and over two million members. I believe the key to continued success is identifying with the customer. Listening is finally getting the respect it deserves through Social Media… listen and adjust your message to make it relevant to your consumer. Brand loyalty declines due to lack of relevance… a direct result of not listening.
Number one is always try to understand who your customer is and stay true to your brand. At e.l.f. we position the brand with a unique approach toward beauty, accessibility, interactivity and consumer engagement.
2. Tell us how long you have been engaged in digital marketing (social media , search etc) and what venues you are currently using.
I have been involved in digital marketing since 1997 when I joined Seth Godin at his online direct marketing company Yoyodyne, which was acquired by Yahoo! a year later. I scaled and continued development of Yoyodyne’s most successful and only profitable product, “Get Rich ClickSM”. My team blew away sales projections from $20,000 in February 1998 to sales in excess of $6 million in the back half of that year – beating projections by more than 200 percent.
Currently at e.l.f. we are very totally immersed in affiliate, search, email, word-of-mouth, and social media marketing… as well as intertwining all of that with a robust earned media presence. In addition we maintain a seven day a week blogging presence and have built a very strong relationship with the Mommy and Beauty Blogging community.
3. Why have you chosen these avenues and are there others that you are considering?
I have chosen these venues because they lend themselves to performance marketing and allow us to either only pay for acceptable results or extend our footprint without the need for a traditional media budget.
We have an extremely high brand visibility and combined with our phenomenal “Affordable Luxury” model we are a great fit with many publishers (and work with most including Hearst, Conde Nast, Hachette Filipacchi, Time, etc.) and websites/bloggers for special features… especially in today’s economic environment.
We are featured regularly in blogs, magazines, newspapers and TV news reports on a daily basis. e.l.f. does not have a traditional marketing budget. The majority of our marketing is through PR, cross promotion, partnership, content sharing, and/or rev share with other websites. We work very aggressively enhancing the e.l.f. client base through hands-on marketing initiatives and are focusing on leveraging and continuing to grow brand equity through strategic marketing programs, partnerships and an aggressive Social Media strategy.
4. You stated in a tweet recently, “This recession, unlike past few, w/hav long term impact on consumr shopng habits. Ignor new valu paradigm at ur own risk. Could you explain what you mean by this?
This recession, unlike other recent downturns, has reached deeper into the wallets and more importantly psyche of most consumers. In addition the effects on the purchasing power of the average consumer will be longer lasting and most have seen the light for the first time in many years about the importance of building a savings base. Due to this, “Value” is now king… “Value” being a combination of price “and” quality. Simply put… consumers want more for less and will insist upon this for a long time to come.
5. Moving forward how do you intend to embrace this new paradigm for e.l.f? What will your marketing efforts look like in 5 years as a result of this shift?
The beauty of our business at e.l.f. is that we were pioneers, trailblazers and trendsetters in this regard. We were doing this when everyone else was raising their prices… even those brands that offered nothing more than fancy packaging for the higher prices.
EyesLipsFace.com is not just an etailer, but a pioneer of social commerce… we have become a beauty and trendsetting destination site with a few hundred thousand monthly visitors and in excess of 2MM members. Check out “the buzz” section on our website… . The majority of e.l.f.’s products are sold for only $1. Our single item price points for our three lines are $1 (our standard line), $3 (Studio line), and $5 (Mineral line).
In today’s rapidly evolving marketing world I am not sure what we will be doing next year, so five years out is not something I am even pondering. My hope is to continue to build upon what we have done to date with regard to engaging and interacting with our members/customers/prospective customers to build a relationship with our brand that will be loyal and enduring.
6. If you were to give someone who is new to the marketing game a bit of free advice what would it be?
Research the social media/marketing medium and become knowledgeable. There’s nothing better than first hand experience. Later, there are many things you will be able to delegate, but this is the one thing that you need to do. I spent months researching and understanding social media before I made many moves in the space for e.l.f.
Build a following for your personal brand. If you are able to build a sizeable audience for your personal brand then you are closer to developing a social marketing strategy for your company.
Set management’s expectations properly so everyone understands what you are trying to accomplish and how to measure those results.
Build a strategy with measurable goals, such as number of followers, growth rate and interactions, but don’t avoid areas that may not be measured accurately as these are potentially very valuable to the company’s bottom line down the road.
Get your hands dirty… interact with your audience and provide that personal touch that a brand so desperately requires.
7. How important do you think video and interactive content will be in the near future?
I think video, and the ability to put a face to the name of user-generated content, will play a huge role in the growth of social media marketing. When the next phase is complete, and the average consumer can manage the ability to embed a link that can click through to a product from a YouTube or other ubiquitous video platform, the next generation advocate/affiliate will arise and become incredibly valuable to a retailer/brand.
In January 2009 we launched a sister site ASKelf.com that hosts all user-generated content posted about e.l.f. around the web, primarily focusing on video, and will soon be integrating it into our site in a significantly upgraded format as the The e.l.f. Beauty Network.
We just re-launched our site this month with a new design and will be adding the The e.l.f. Beauty Network as soon as the design is ready to fit in and some important upgrades are made.
Thanks to Ted for his time. As noted at the start, he may be the “hardest working man in C-level social media”. If you have any questions ask away. I suspect Ted will be willing to “interact” here at Marketing Pilgrim.
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C Level Social Media Action from Ted Rubin
Tags: consumer ,cosmetics ,customer ,director ,energy ,light ,marketing ,mommy ,network ,people ,president ,street ,yahoo
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Written on January 20, 2010 by admin
Filed Under: book, chat, marketing, seo
Last week Erik Qualmann posted a list of “All Star Social Media” players in his ClickZ column. Being included in such a list with the likes of Chris Brogan and Scott Monty was humbling to say the least. Erik qualified the list by saying they were mostly people he knew and he welcomed suggestions. I noticed few women were mentioned and knowing there are so many power players, I decided to create a list of my own featuring women that I think “rock” the social web.
The photo to the left is my flexible business partner, Susan Misukanis, who “Rocks” as President of TopRank Marketing.
Many in the list below are from the PR industry that I know so it’s biased in that way. Suggestions of other accomplished & influential women in social media (consultants and corporate) are welcome. Now on to the list:
Katie Paine @kdpaine – Katie is a world traveler, author, consultant and PR measurement guru that has been publishing, presenting and educating us about PR and social metrics long before social media, social web, social this and social that became fashionable amongst communicators, marketers and certainly, mainstream media.
A. Jo. Martin @digitalRoyalty – Amy Martin’s Twitter bio (and follower count of 1 million plus) is one hell of a resume: “Work w/ Shaquille O’Neal, UFC, White Sox and other sports, athletes, entertainment and corporate brands to develop measurable digital & social media strategies”. That’s not all: There’s YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, UStream and others. Walk the talk 
Charlene Li @charleneli – A true pioneer in the field of social computing, Charlene’s accomplishments with Forrester and as co-author of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” propelled her into starting Altimeter Group providing thought leadership, research and consulting on new technologies. She shares insights on her blog.
Tamar Weinberg @tamar – A techie at heart, Tamar has been an active power user and social media marketing practitioner for several years. She’s also an author of an excellent book on Social Media Marketing called, The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web.
Valeria Maltoni @ConversationAge – I like to think of Valeria as an Italian secret social media agent that helps others learn the value of conversations and connecting people on the social web. Among her many other accomplishments, she’s authored an eBook, “Marketing in 2010 – Social Media Becomes Operational” (pdf).
Jessica Smith @JessicaKnows – Once a Wal-Mart mommy blogger and now VP & digital integrator at Fleishman-Hillard, Jessica and I met on a panel (Looking Ahead: The Nexus of Social Media & Public Relations) at PRSA International in San Diego. Her practical insight made a big impression. So very smart.
Shonali Burke @shonali – A true social butterly, Shonali can be found speaking at conferences or Waxing Unlyrical on media & communications topics. More likely, you’ll find her working with clients on strategic communications, PR and social media as an independent consultant – a career she moved into after working with the ASPCA.
Beth Kanter @Kanter – Beth Kanter is a social media force of nature in the non profit space. She has the longest running blog for non profits, is the CEO of Zoetica and co-author of the upcoming book, “The Networked Nonprofit”. In 2009 Beth was named by Fast Company Magazine as one of the most influential women in technology and one of Business Week’s “Voices of Innovation for Social Media. Be social, do good. Walk the talk.
Maggie Fox @maggiefox – Maggie is CEO of Social Media Group, which is a very large social media consulting agency that has worked with the likes of Ford Motor Company, SAP Global Marketing, Yamaha Motor, Corbis and Harlequin Publishing. She’s also a frequent conference speaker and contributes to the SMG blog.
Mari Smith @MariSmith – With enthusiastic Mari, 8,688 Facebook fans and nearly 60,000 followers on Twitter, there’s no question she a power social media practitioner. That “walk the talk” perspective helps her provide social media training and share her insights as a speaker and consultant.
Jennifer Cisney @kodakCB – I think Jennifer is the first blogger with a “Chief” designation, given for her role as Chief Blogger and Social Media Manager at Eastman Kodak. She’s active both in her professional role and personally on sites like Twitter, Facebook and blogging. More walk the talk.
Kami Huyse @kamichat – Not content with simply running her own PR and social media consulting practice, running workshops and publishing her insights on effective social communications, Kami decided to co-found another agency, Zoetica, serving the non-profit sector.
Deirdre Breakenridge @dbreakenridge – Author and c0-author of several important books on PR and social media including, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations“, Deirdre runs a successful agency, PFS Marketwyse, and is an adjunct professor teaching courses on Public Relations and Interactive Marketing.
Beth Harte @BethHarte – Community Manager for MarketingProfs is a position Beth takes to heart (ba dum bump). It’s a great intersection of social media and marketing plus PR position that allows this long time marketing professional to show her stuff, besides blogging, teaching and speaking at conferences.
Shannon Paul @ShannonPaul – The “very official” Shannon Paul was helping the Detroit Red Wings with their social media before she landed a spot at PEAK6 where she excels even more as a social media manager.
Amber Naslund @AmberCadabra – In my opinion, Amber as Director of Community is exactly what Radian6 needed. Her mix of marketing and social media expertise is shared on Altitude Branding as well as through several eBooks and speaking at conferences.
Liz Strauss @lizstrauss – Don’t be alarmed if Liz calls you a SOB. That’s a good thing. Her SOBCon event is a think tank for social media and attracts the brightest and the curious-est. Liz is another “walk the talk” and highly networked social web enthusiast that blogs, consults and speaks at industry conferences.
Debbie Weil @debbieweil – Debbie “wrote the book” on corporate blogging (The Corporate Blogging Book) when most online marketing and communications professionals were still trying to figure out what a blog was. She runs a successful corporate blogging and social media consulting practice, works as a strategic advisor for Compendium software and continues to share her insights via blog and public speaking.
Laura Fitton @Pistachio – Laura was an early star on Twitter and with a mutual embrace, she’s turned that knowledge and network into a new business, oneforty along with consulting, speaking and co-authoring a book, “Twitter for Dummies”.
Sarah Evans @PRsarahevans – Sarah Evans showed up on Twitter like a firecracker (on my radar at least) and hasn’t looked back since with #journchat, blogging, Facebook, Twitter and plenty of real-world social networking at conferences.
Toby Bloomberg @TobyDiva – Toby is the original social media diva in my book and a long time business blogging evangelist for companies since 2004. She consults with companies on strategic marketing plans that incorporate social and traditional media.
Li Evans @storyspinner – As Director of Social Media for Serengeti Communications, Li is one of the few SEO savvy social media people I know that also has a public relations background. She’s a very active conference speaker, blogger, social network participant and publishes “how to” videos on internet marketing and social media.
Julia Roy @juliaroy – Julia is a Senior Manager of New Media at Coach and is yet another “walk the talk” social media participant with an active blog and participation on social sites ranging from Facebook to Vimeo.
Sally Falkow @sallyfalkow – Sally and I have been on many panels together at Search and Public Relations conferences talking about blogging, SEO and social media. She’s an active social media marketing and PR practitioner that blogs and runs an agency as well as a software services company called Press feed.
B.L. Ochman @whatsnext – B.L. “tells it like it is” as you would expect from one of the few people actually born in NYC, which makes her blog, AdAge DigitalNext articles and tweets both snarky and interesting. B.L. works with Proof Digital Media (part of Burson-Marsteller) as Managing Director of Emerging Media. She’s led some of the earliest social media consulting projects and has been blogging since 2004 (at least).
Check out the Twitter list of social media divas for a much larger group including Serena Ehrlich, Connie Bensen, Jane Quiqley, Rebecca Kelley, Lisa Stone, Lisa Barone and many others. By all means, make suggestions in the comments too.
Written on December 9, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: Object, marketing, seo
As many of you know, I recently joined BillShrink as Director of Search Marketing, which will essentially be my 4th time leading In House SEO efforts, as either my full time role or part of my role at an organization. We start-up folks wear many hats! That said, every single time I’ve had a new [...]
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Starting A New In House Search Marketing Job
Tags: 4th-time ,billshrink-as-director ,director ,role ,role-or-part ,search ,seo ,spzmu ,start-up-folks ,techniques-for ,weekly-at-search ,which-will ,you-know
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Written on December 2, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: Advertising, marketing
“You gotta be freakin’ kidding me!”
That was my reaction to a Reuters article that I came across. I am still a little taken aback, as they say, about the even the threat of the US government looking into ways to bailout the struggling newspaper / old school media industry. Right now it’s more talk than anything else but if someone said it in a public forum then you know there are greater rumblings going through Washington with a similar stink on them. I guess you can guess where I stand on this one, huh?
The Reuters article starts off
A top Democratic lawmaker predicted on Wednesday that the government will be involved in shaping the future for struggling U.S. media organizations.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, saying quality journalism was essential to U.S. democracy, said eventually government would have to help resolve the problems caused by a failing business model.
Waxman, other U.S. lawmakers and regulators are looking into various options to help a newspaper industry hurt by the shift in advertising revenues to online platforms.
Can you see me shaking my head now? Did the government bailout the horse and buggy industry when the automobile was invented? Did the government bailout the radio industry when TV came along? Did anyone bailout the transcribers of the world when the Gutenberg press started producing the printed word?
If journalism is essential to the US democracy then let the free market system that has built this democracy into one of the greatest powers of the modern age (at least until recently that is) take care of how this plays out! The last thing we need is the government handing tax benefits and even worse, more deficit funded handouts to the likes of the Washington Post, New York Times and anything that Rupert Murdoch is whining about these days.
So who will profit from this concept more: our democracy or the likes of Rupert Murdoch? Hey let’s just go out and figure out which failing business model victim looks the most like AIG, Bank of America or Government General Motors and throw money at their executives business and see just how much better it gets. WTF!
This is not a government issue for goodness sake. This is a paradigm shift issue. The world is changing and not everything survives change. Why are we so obsessed with keeping something alive that may not have a place in the new world media order? And if it does have a place let the free market principles that allowed it to thrive for so long determine what piece or pieces will move forward as we boldly go further in the digital age.
Of course there is some press constituency that thinks this a great idea. Wonder who pays their bills?
Free Press, a public interest group, said the search for solutions to the crisis in journalism should be premised on the idea that news-gathering is a public service, not a commodity.
Waxman’s “indication that government has a role to play is both bold and soberly sensible,” said Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott on the sidelines of the FTC conference.
I call BS on this one. Honestly, if the newspapers were truly a public service shouldn’t they have acted more responsibly to the change that very public is undergoing in how it consumes news? Business change is not always about failure; it’s usually more about progress and smarts or lack thereof. If the newspapers have ignored the myriad tell tale signs that have been written on the wall for years now why should MY TAX dollars save them from their own arrogance and stupidity? What have they done for me and my business?
Geesh, just the rumor of this happening really ticks me off! Hey, Senator Waxman and anyone else who thinks this is a good idea! Shut up and go read your Washington Post while it’s still here!
Phew! That felt great because I am part of the new free press and I plan on being around in the digital age as long as I can identify what people really want. Will it last forever? Probably not but if I am not smart enough to get on board the next train that is heading for the future don’t bail me out. That’ll be my problem not yours.
See the rest here:
News Bailout Next?
Tags: a-similar-stink ,chairman ,crisis ,democracy ,digital ,director ,free ,general ,government ,modern ,newspapers ,rupert-murdoch
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Written on November 26, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: seo
Posted by Sam Niccolls
Tags: development ,director ,holiday ,location ,operator ,plugin ,post ,related ,seo ,spying ,theory ,training
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Written on November 19, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: book, chat, marketing, searchengineguide
by Jennifer Laycock
Regular readers of Search Engine Guide probably noticed I’ve been less than active as an author and Twitter voice this past year. All of that’s about to change. Over the next few months you’ll all see me getting back into the swing of things here on Search Engine Guide and hopefully back to my chatty self on Twitter and other social media sites.
Returning to My Roots
As of this week, I’m back at Search Engine Guide full time to resume my position as Editor-in-Chief. I’ll also be launching my own consulting company so I can continue to work with small businesses and larger corporations to build practical and impactful social media strategies and campaigns.
Regular Search Engine Guide readers know that apart from a false start on a new Facebook series last month, I’ve been fairly quiet this past year. Those in the industry know my lack of writing was because I’d joined my good friend Matt Bailey as his new Director of Marketing for SiteLogic and simply didn’t have the time to develop content. After five years of churning out thousands of words of content a day, I was severely burned out and was itching to get my hands dirty with client work again.
While I’ve enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to go back inside an agency, I’ve missed Search Engine Guide and my readers immensely. As such, after eight months with SiteLogic, I’ve made the decision to strike out on my own as a social media strategist and consultant to give myself the freedom to spend more time with my children and to once again get back to cranking out the type of content Search Engine Guide readers have come to expect from us.
Want to Hire Me?
I’m obviously exploring my options right now, but for those of you who may be interested in working with me, there are several types of services I’ll be offering. You’ll continue to see me on the speaking circuit at shows like Search Engine Strategies, PubCon and various others. I’m also available for corporate training, local events and speaking at anything else social media, blog or reputation management related. Of course you’ll also find me over at Market Motive continuing to crank out training courses and content for their Social Media classes and expert certification. (In fact, their next round of social media certification starts in January, which makes it a great time to get your budget approved and sign up!)
I’ll also be accepting a limited number of social media consulting clients. I’d like to keep my load light to allow plenty of time for Search Engine Guide, but this past year has taught me how much I really do enjoy the strategy side of things. While I’m open to working with all types of companies, readers here know that my heart lies with small business. My ideal client is the type that has internal staffing and resources or a willingness to put some time in themselves, but needs guidance, strategy and creative ideas from someone with experience in the industry. Coming along side those types of businesses to help them build their internal processes and learn how to create and manage their own campaigns is what I really enjoy.
As always, you can feel free to get in touch with me about any of these things via email. (I wouldn’t complain if you spread the word to friends and associates about my new availability either!)
What Type of Content Are You Looking For?
I’ve got quite a few content ideas up my sleeve, starting with the Facebook series that I haven’t had a chance to finish. I’ll also be diving back into social media strategy, a new take on creating a viral marketing campaign, various social media tools and perhaps a new series on blogging. If there are specific topics, tactics or tools you’d love to know more about, leave me a note in the comments and I’ll add them to my list of ideas.
Photo Credit:
Check out our small business news site.
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Striking Out On My Own All While Staying Put
Written on November 18, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: Object, marketing
Most of us have blogs, right? How do you react to anonymous vulgar comments? Hit SPAM, right? Yeah, me too. And so did the Director of Social Media for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Kurt Greenbaum. The first time. But when the anonymous commenter again posted the single-word vulgarity, Greenbaum tracked his IP address—to a school.
Probably thinking he was reporting a misbehaving student, Greenbaum contacted the school and explained the situation. Six hours later, the school called back: they’d found the commenter—an employee. After they confronted him, the employee resigned.
Most of us probably have an intrinsic notion that the anonymous commenter and Greenbaum both acted inappropriately (although there was no way for Greenbaum to know he was turning in an employee and not a student)—but perhaps the more important question is whether they were acting legally.
Greenbaum, a Post-Dispatch employee, should be bound by the paper’s online privacy policy, which states:
We will not share individual user information with third parties unless the user has specifically approved the release of that information.
However, at the beginning of the policy, they stipulate that “Your IP address does not contain personally identifiable information, nor does it identify you personally.” So is that individual user information? Sounds like it’s not.
And the Post-Dispatch’s ToS is an exercise in CYA (they define “submission” to include comments):
- You automatically waive any claim that any use of such content violates any of your rights, including privacy rights, publicity rights, moral rights or any other right, including the right to approve the way we use such content.
- You are responsible for the content of all Submissions and acknowledge that third parties may hold you responsible for content related claims including libel, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of likeness and disclosure of confidential information.
- You shall indemnify, defend and hold us, our parent company and our affiliated entities (including our officers, directors, owners, agents and employees) harmless from all liability and costs incurred by those indemnified in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you of the above representations and warranties and for any claims related to the content or your Submissions.
And, naturally, the ToS stipulates that using the site to “upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available content that is harmful to minors in any way, or that is harassing, harmful, threatening, abusive, vulgar, obscene, defamatory, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable” violates the ToS, too.
And how were Anon’s actions illegal? Well, setting aside possible obscenity charges (while legally problematic, “obscenity” is not protected under the First Amendment), the school probably also has policies—policies that dictate the use of school resources. Most likely, this comment was made on school time, from a school computer, using the school’s Internet connection. Somehow, I can’t imagine there’s a provision in the policy that allows for use of school resources for posting vulgar comments online. By violating these policies, the employee could face discipline or even termination.
What do you think? Would these policies hold up in court?
Read the original post:
The Price of One Anonymous Comment? Your Job
Tags: angel-investors ,content-or-your ,director ,employee ,first-amendment ,greenbaum ,insistence ,marketing ,policy ,school ,spam ,under-the-first ,user
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Written on November 11, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: Advertising, book, marketing, seo
From the perspective of some, it seems like Vegas was late to participate in social media (according to the PubCon panel description).
However, the prominent brands on the strip have stepped up to the plate and are actively engaged in social web participation. They’re leveraging digital platforms for a variety of purposes – from customer service to promotion.
This open-format panel at PubCon 2009 analyzed how Vegas marketing departments are using SM as part of their overall marketing plan and featured some of the largest names on the strip. Brands represented were:
- Brad Goldberg, Vice President of Marketing, Luxor
- Brandie Feuer, Director of Interactive Marketing, Planet Hollywood
- Peter Arceo, Executive Director of Casino Marketing, Las Vegas Hilton
- Michael Perhaes, Assistant Vice President of Marketing, MGM Grand
- Bryan Allison, Vice President, Marketing, Vegas.com
The session moved quickly, but I was able to jot down the good bits from each of the speakers.
Brad Goldberg, Vice President of Marketing, Luxor
We Saw successes from other brands using social media and decided we wanted to pattern the same results. While not everyone may check their emails in Vegas, many of them still check their social profiles while traveling. People are looking to what is happening right now, up-to-date. We wanted to be a part of those real-time conversations and top-of-mind for our consumer base.
We want to keep it fun – staying away from “cold” messages that are too commercial. We think it’s important with regards to the social web is to maintain personality/voice. That’s one of the most important things we want to hold onto and maintain. Otherwise, it’s just another advertising vehicle.
Making it easier for those interacting with your products to communicate how they are interacting with your brand is something we see as important to our future.
Peter Arceo, Executive Director of Casino Marketing, Las Vegas Hilton
At the Hilton, we don’t necessarily have the same resources of our competitors. So what we do is staff social media with people actively interested in what we’re trying to do – spread our brand. We try to get customers to both sample our offerings and make it social. We have a “toys for Tweets” promotion that will bring awareness to the fact that there is a Hilton in Vegas in a positive light. Our approach to get employees involved in social media isn’t to guide them, but take the Zappos approach and let them have their own voice. We want to find people internally interested in doing social media organically.
We design promotions and events to get people together – not just to meet us, but to meet each other. There is a hunger and a need for people to meet each other. We want to be the connector.
Brandie Feuer, Director of Interactive Marketing, Planet Hollywood
We see social media as a great direct response channel. But we’re also cognizant of providing value to users. We do things like give out last minute concert tickets to our followers and promote little things that might not be worth a press release. Social media rests with PR and our interactive department, however we also encourage others to be a part of the space. All employees should be empowered, where possible. We want to move towards more of a social business model.
Michael Perhaes, Assistant Vice President of Marketing, MGM Grand
The MGM Grand was late to the social media game compared to competitors on the strip – we finally joined for a few reasons. The effectiveness of our email marketing was beginning to degrade a bit. The value of email has diminished in the last few years. We’ve seen sites like Facebook have taken up that role for many. We want to put content into social media that may have been ignored in email. In a few years time, social media will become an even more important network than email for our brand.
We have high expectations on response for social media as a full-blown marketing channel. The people that choose to follow us on the social web have affinity for our brand and we want to be able to market to them.
We have specific pages for some channels, for example we have a separate food and beverage Facebook page for that department since there are people passionate about those items. We want to engage other departments too. Most importantly, we want to find ways to make this more meaningful even beyond direct response and reach people interested in Vegas. We’re creating personas to try to build affinity with people.
We read (and respond) to posts customers put up on their Facebook page – specifically things like customer complaints – in order to make their next experience better. It allows that two way communication – if someone complains about their room, we have a way to respond to them immediately.
As a promotional effort we launched a “confessions campaign” on Twitter where you can Tweet your sins, and there’s a livestream of people tweeting those sins. Users can vote on sins which are forgivable vs. unforgivable. The best sins can win a free night. We’ve done advertising in LA to support it and create more buzz. The goal is to gain additional awareness on Twitter, gain more followers and experiment.
Bryan Allison, Vice President, Marketing, Vegas.com
We identified people internally who were passionate about social media and empowered them to get involved and answer consumer questions. The entire company is leveraging the social web. We just launched a campaign called “Vegas Experts Exposed.” This wasn’t the idea of the marketing department; rather it was the idea of some other employees in the company. We want everyone to contribute ideas across the company.
We’ve done things that are both commercial and fun on social channels and we’re continuously surprised with how people interact with the more fun items. We want to have something that people will look forward to on their live feed.
We use a mix of “power users” internally for promoting the product, and also customer service representatives talking to customers and alleviate their problems. There are people internally who are really passionate and want to share their workplace/what they do all day. We encourage them to do so, however to use common sense and ask us first on appropriateness if there is a questions.
Many of our younger employees are already involved – use them, tap that resource. They know how to communicate and engage in these channels. We use them to help the people who may not be as experienced in social media.
Written on September 17, 2009 by admin
Filed Under: marketing, searchengineguide, seo
by Manoj Jasra
[Guest Post by Tom Demers]
Tags: a-major-driving ,a-quick-handle ,analysis ,analytics ,comparison ,data ,director ,internet ,marketing ,metrics ,organic ,seo ,traffic
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