Social Media: A Sprint AND a Marathon

For the past couple of weeks Andy and I have been rolling out an exciting local social media strategy and engagement campaign for a local restaurant management group here in the Jackson, Miss. metro area. It has been a BLAST to work locally and to work with such a passionate client who is ALL in – and totally get it. It’s a rare treat to get to play in our own backyard, so to speak, and tonight the treat was all ours.

After a day out of town to work on-site helping a brick and mortar boutique launch their new e-commerce project, Andy and I opted to take our middle daughter out to dinner at our clients’ cafe (one of three restaurants in the group). For this particular restaurant, we are six days into the launch of a Facebook Page presence with a goal to increase guests IN the restaurant during this immediate push. We were looking for immediate results – so the past week has been a sprint to get that initial boost. Our fan base topped well over 1,000 today (celebration all around) with interactions between ownership, staff and guests along with rave reviews from guests exploding all over the Page wall almost continuously. But that’s obviously not our endgame. Our endgame has everything to do with measuring a bottom-line increase, right?

So, tonight we walked in, and the typically slow dinner hour (this is definitely a place primarily known for breakfast and lunch) was bustling. By bustling,  I mean that most tables were filled at 5:45 pm. By the time we settled in and walked up to the counter, two registers were three deep in customers. A few minutes later, the tables were full, the order counter was filled with happily networking guests, the restaurant was filling orders quickly, busing tables efficiently, and serving up the most beautiful fruit salad that has ever landed on my table anywhere (Did I mention there was yellow watermelon in my salad?).

As I watched, the enthusiastic shift manager skillfully navigated and managed his staff through a much busier than expected Tuesday night crowd. He led by example by filling needs where they happened: working the cash register, order window, kitchen AND not missing an opportunity to sell (out of) day-old and “after 6″ discounted pastries, take-out and much more. When we left (they needed our table, or we would have watched until the end), all tables in the main restaurant area were full, there were people ordering and the food looked amazing. The manager texted us later to let us know that tonight was a “major improvement” over the previous week. (Yes, that’s text messaging, and yes, we text with our clients all the time. It’s part of our accessibility motto – we also Facebook chat and Tweet). P.S. It was a RAINY/STORMY evening this week!

So, the sprint was a winner… The initial boost appears to have happened… And for us, it was definitely a runner’s high.

But here’s my point.

Sure, we won the sprint. But we’re also staring straight into the miles and miles of marathon that lie ahead. You see, launching social media right means launching with a sprinter’s attitude. Go big or go home. Cross promote off-line, draw a crowd, grab attention – all the while, be thinking LONG TERM. If you don’t continue to deliver that promise long-term, keep it relevant, keep it valuable and most of all, keep it REAL, then over the long-haul, social media will kill you. (Why? Because you will have done the worst thing: you will have disappointed your customers because they thought you were going to do something – that you didn’t.)

Everyone says this: It’s NOT about numbers REALLY. It’s about long-term relationships. And that is all oh so true. But when you get together a group of folks who CARE about your business through a Twitter following or a Facebook Fan Page or some other method, you’ve gotten together a group of folks with whom you can engage, educate, cross-promote, convert – over and over and over again… They can talk, tell their friends, recommend you, participate with you and help you build your community. They will be more loyal, and your retention rates will go through the roof.

IF YOU STAY IN TOUCH.

What good are a bunch of followers and fans if you don’t talk to them? Carry on conversations (those work two ways), say thank you, reward them, engage them… Ask their opinions, give them exclusive updates and behind the scenes information. You certainly can’t do all of that in a week (the sprint) and expect it to last for the lifetime of a customer. Every week is a new week, and a new opportunity to be a better friend, a more valuable resource, a greater source of comfort, a more relevant alternative, the go-to guy, a more important connection, a more impressive experience…the first and last thing they think about in your category.

When you examine your social media strategy – and really, any marketing strategy – do you launch with a big, fast sprint that sets the stage for a win at the marathon?

What say you? What have you done to make the sprint successful? To maintain the discipline of the marathon?

Here's the deal, fair small business owners of the world…niche businesses are the most successful right now. But what happens if someone steals your niche – or moves into your niche with you? Or turns your niche into a commodity (making it, uhm, totally no longer a niche?). Well, as usual, Jackie makes a fine point – you just find a new one. You can't sit around, glum and grumpy. You can't complain or point fingers. You must simply stand up, chin up and lead the way into a new niche with all the gusto with which you found your previous niche.

Whole Foods once owned the "organic grocer" category, but no more. Health Magazine's list of healthiest grocery stores now includes traditional chains like Safeway and Publix.

The niche is gone. Organic has gone mainstream.

When that happens, pricing advantage dissipates, as do margins, as Whole Foods announced some ugly profit results last week, including taking a big cash infusion
from an investor. With competitors hammering you on price and stealing
your market growth, do you compete on their playing field of lower
prices, or do you develop a new niche?

A new niche, of course. For Whole Foods, or a like-minded store, one
opportunity is "special diets," including those related to food
allergies.

Happy niche hunting!

The following list is excerpted as the "Takeaway Points to Consider" from Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense e-newsletter that appears in my box every week or so. I love his pithy comments and years of experience summarized in his weekly essays based on current events. This week's Takeaway Points to Consider was terrific – and I've added a few comments of my own to make it more "small business friendly"

• At
  least 70% of your corporate assets are inside the heads of the people who
  work there. (Marianna: which should be scary if you're the only one working there…time to start writing down your systems people!)
• Everyone
  in the company should be part of the quest for revenue. (Marianna: So obvious, yet so often overlooked by small business check takers who think work is a right not a privilege – to some of you – let this statement be a wake-up call to clean house and only employ those who do contribute to your bottom line!)
• Set
  up a system that encourages employee suggestions and formally discusses
  and considers them on a regular basis.
• Reward
  employees for ideas that are implemented.
• Call
  a meeting of your department, and tell everyone to come with up to three
  ideas that will: (1) generate revenue; (2) save money; or (3) improve
  productivity. (Marianna: I'm thinking a staff meeting of all employees will work just fine in a small business setting.)
• Walk
  into this meeting with a stash of crisp new bills: ones, fives and tens.
  Silly ideas get nothing. For every reasonable idea, hand out $1. Reward
  every good idea with a $5 bill. Great ideas deserve $10. (Marianna: This works – I've seen it in action.)
• Nobody's
  going to get rich, just as nobody gets rich playing liar's poker with
  dollar bills. But it adds a fun dynamic to the creative process.
• At
  the end of the meeting, vote on the best idea of the day and award the
  winner $50. If you go through $200 and don't get back more than $200 in
  ideas, have patience. You will next time. (Marianna: You will be able to pull this off in most small businesses and organizations with only $100 – and your chances of earning it back are doubled!)
• "When
  colleagues make suggestions, write down the ideas and have a system in
  place to implement them."
  -Marty Edelston
• "I
  cannot stress this enough: In order to foster a flow of ideas, the
  atmosphere must be totally free of negativity. People must feel
  comfortable about saying things right off the top of their heads, since
  that's where some of the best ideas come from."
  -Marty Edelston (Marianna: This goes back to the attitude issue: as a business owner/manager, you MUST set the standard that ONLY the most positive attitudes are welcome in your business. No matter what.)

• When an employee comes up with a seminal
  idea-and it is implemented department- or company-wide-that positively impacts
  the bottom line-shell out some big bucks as a thank-you.(Marianna: Do NOT be stingy – it is better to give than to receive. You will continue to get great ideas out of employees and tremendous loyalty when you treat them better than family.)

These tools are tasks we all should have been doing if we were in business to be successful. But sometimes we get complacent. I get asked all the time how to deal with complacent employees. Usually that means dealing with a somewhat complacent business owner first. We must face reality, be willing to change ourselves, our attitudes, our habits – and then, we can affect change on our employees. Often, positive change by a business owner is all it takes to transform a business and set it on the path to success, on the right track in the quest for revenue.

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