Bots(robots), affiliate marketing sites, discount sites and link farms are all making the conversation very crowded for brands trying to get their message heard online. All the entities have one purpose and that is to sell product. Some of it is discounted. Some of it isn’t. Some are names of sites you have never heard of, and some are names like Amazon.

Recently, we were asked by a leading brand in the outdoor and ski markets to search for it and see what we find. Well, it wasn’t pretty. Channel Signal search engines, which have blacklisted over 10,000 authors and sites, still came up with a ton of junk surrounding this brand.

Why? Because the company had not delivered good online content and sales pitches (selling primarily discounted product) had taken  over the brand’s identity.

We searched Twitter…could barely find any content about the actual brand.
Blogs…junk everywhere.
YouTube…better content here.
Online traditional media…not much.

To be clear, all of this sales noise is not all bad. A retailer, Amazon, posted 1,900 customer review ratings in the past year on a product produced by the brand with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Now, if you figure 20 percent of the customers who bought from Amazon wrote a review, that means about 10,000 sales in one year. Not bad from the online retailer.

However, the brand is being drowned out by the sales pitches. Can’t really call it noise because it does move product.

What to do?

First a brand must sharpen its identity online. Advertise to your target market about where to go…on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, your blogs, etc. In short, drive consumers to where you want them to go for your content. Then…

Fill these places with good content. Not content that sells stuff, but content that educates consumers. How to layer? Why a hat is important. Goggles and what they can do for you. Breathable socks. And make this information directly applicable to your product lines.

And then, build online relationships with your retailer partners.

1. Support online retailers with content they can push out and reprint on their own sites.

2. Train retailers to understand how to do things like embed a YouTube video, update their blog and utilize basic search engine optimization techniques.

3. License content correctly for reprinting/republishing through retailers with photographers, writers, video producers.

By building a grassroots content strategy through retail partners, brands can deliver better content online, serve their customers and drive sales with key accounts.

So, break out of the noise by building your content and building your partnerships with retailers.

Recently, while talking with executives about social media, I got three different messages from them:

1. I get it and we are building our social media presence. 

2. I don’t get it and until somebody shows me the money, I’m not gonna get it. 

3.  I know that we need to get on top of the social media thing, but I’m not sure if it will do us any good. 

Ok. Here is what social media data can do.

1. With the proper analysis, it  provides insight and justification for your major decisions.

2. It gives you the truth. And remember, every post, whether good or bad, has a good deal of truth to it.

And your “truth” and their ”truth” may be completely different. Not the same picture at all.

3. It gives real-time feedback on the performance of your products.

4. It provides trending information, which will be a leading contributor to upcoming sales forecasts.

Here are some things that data cannot do:

1. It can not make decisions for you.

2. It should not be  manipulated. If it is, it will be at great risk to your company and your career.

3. It cannot be your friend. When data says the momentum is good, it doesn’t care. When momentum is bad, it doesn’t care.

4. It cannot be ignored. Data is direct from are your customers, your life-blood. Ignore them and you ignore the performance reviews of your products. It is the beginning of the end for your company in the 21st century.

I say these things because recently there has been too much emphasis on both the power of social media and the weakness of social media. Both are true.

Social Media Reporting becomes a competitive weapon when you:

1. measure correctly

2. analyze

3. deliver the data in a way that senior managers can understand and compare to performance in other sectors of the enterprise.

And when data is delivered this way, it is still your gut, but with more ammunition.

Our last article was about how companies are building traffic by creating hashtag Twitter accounts, and driving traffic to them by offering discounted products. I feel this doesn’t work and builds no value. We left off with…be known for something.

Well, this is supported by a new Environmental Leader article that puts forth research that 83% of consumer want to buy from companies adapting causes that improve the quality of life. This information was uncovered in the Cone Cause Evolution Study just released.

Article

As Channel Signal gets deeper into measuring the social media efforts of its customers we are becoming more aware of what works and what doesn’t. And what works is creating social media events and programs that improve lives. What doesn’t is when companies use social media as a distribution channel to sell product.

Let’s go back to the tired old theme of social media being like a cocktail party. Well, it isn’t. Unless you want to attend a cocktail party with 10 million people, and your 100 friends are scattered throughout the mass of humanity. And you are relieved when you see someone you know because you can have a conversation: local politics, friends, and upcoming events.

However, if your company is known for something, a cause close to the hearts of many, now you have strangers coming up to you and wanting to talk about the popular initiative. Now, the cocktail party is less intimidating and much more welcoming. Now, there is a common thread of conversation that you helped create.

All  reports indicate that successful cause-marketing in social media starts and ends with getting the employees on board. They, in turn, reach out to their respective networks and the viral power starts to generate momentum. However, the corporate cause and effort must be real. Here is one the the experts, Simon Isaacs who leads the cause-marketing division for ignition Inc and works with major corporate clients like  Coca Cola and nonprofit brands like United Nations Foundation. He talks about what not to do in an interview with Rachael Chong, a respected blogger.

Issacs:

“Here are five things consumers need to watch out for:

1. Fluffy Language: Words like eco-friendly or “good for you”, which fail to provide any specific meaning to a claim
2. Silly Pictures: Suggestive pictures to promote an unjustifiable green image, like flowers in exhaust pipes
3. Unproven or Irrelevant Claims: Unproven sustainability claims or playing up one green or cause-related achievement of a company’s operations, while other areas are lacking
4. Fake friends: Made-up third party endorsements and labels
5. Just downright not credible: Promoting the social or environmental benefits of “harmful” products like cigarettes

An authentic and effective cause-marketing campaign is a win-win for the brand and the cause/nonprofit partner. To answer your first question, “winning” for the brand does not necessarily always mean direct sales. It can also be about corporate reputation, brand love or employee engagement, but it does need to connect back to the business.”

Companies who take up a cause, bring it online, give money, and devote content and people to it, do build their businesses…and in the long run that means selling more product to a growing base of loyal customers.

Next time, we address how adopting a cause creates internal momentum for a company.

Channel Signal loves the article Real Time, Real Discussion, Real Reporting-Choose Two by Tech Crunch. This, of course, is a take-off on the old adage: “Do You Want it Cheap, Fast or Good. Choose Two.” Here’s the article.

Choose Two of These

Author, Devin Coldewey, explains that there is only so much that a certain channel of media can provide. Twitter is real time discussion. Broadcast media is real-time reporting. (NBC, CNN, ABC radio,etc). Print and other delayed media is delayed reporting and discussion. (NY Times, etc.) All media is quickly evolving, but for the moment we believe these premises basically hold true. The author points out that blogs, in this mix, are the wild cards. They can be real reporting, real-time discussion and delayed reporting and discussion.

Here’s a new perspective on the premise of choosing two.

Twitter- Real-time discussion. Blogs-Thoughtful analysis. Facebook-Customer engagement and storytelling. Choose two.

We believe a company should engage in just two. Concentrate on doing one very well, and support it with the second channel. For example, concentrate on Facebook but support it by broadcasting its content through Twitter. Or concentrate on Twitter but provide in-depth commentary of the conversation flow via a Blog. What channels are chosen should be matched with what best reflects your company’s voice.

Here’s the run-down of the three major Channels.

Twitter. The commitment to real-time discussion is time consuming and its demands are relentless. A company must assign a person to Twitter and that person must not only tweet (and make sense) , but retweet great content, and stay up with the conversation. Zappos has done real-time conversation very well by encouraging all employees to tweet. This strategy is revolutionary because many Zappos employees are broadcasting and a part of the brand’s collective voice. This requires that a company let go, something many brands can’t do. I attribute the Zappos success to the CEO, Tony Hsieh, who has provided the freedom for employees to talk, engage and make mistakes…all in real-time.

Employing Facebook means your employees and your customers are engaging in storytelling. This is really a scrapbook about the customers who have stories to tell about their experiences with a brand’s products and events. The brand needs to provide the products and events…and then encourage consumers to tell their stories on its platform. Time intensive again. A brand must respond to customer stories, encourage them, and, at times, reward great storytellers with product. A brand should assign several employees to this task. They speak for the brand, are encouraging, provide content which sponsors reaction, and customer interaction. Vibram does a great job on its FiveFingers FB page. 70,000 friends and growing. Customers who are now barefoot runners go to this FB page because it is a true community. Vibram FiveFingers

Blogs. Thoughtful analysis. Again, time intensive.  They must, at times be controversial, edgy and logical. It takes work, and guts.  Here’s the problem. Many in senior management have accepted the challenge of a blog for the company website only to find that they don’t have the time to devote to it. Or they don’t have the writing talents or thought processes to engage readers. Consequently, many of these blogs have fallen by the wayside. Or the posts degenerate into a pep rally for the brand, which is boring for everyone. A rock climbing blog we like is this one: rockclimbergirl. Sara Lingafelter does a good job of covering the climbing landscape and occasionally takes on tough topics with an honesty that is refreshing.

Why not include YouTube,Vimeo or the other video platforms as channels?  Because they can be easily incorporated into the other three major platforms.

So, choose  two. Real-time discussion. Storytelling by your customers. Thoughtful analysis. Why no more than two? Because most brands engage in all three but invest the human resources to do a good job on just one, with another channel as support.  And one channel normally fits the brand voice the best. Engaging in a second platform will push and pull viewers to the primary communication channel.

At the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market boosters of specialty products and services had a unique opportunity to participate in a conversation about the show, brands and events. Broadcast over the #ORWinter Twitter feed hosted and monitored by Channel Signal, even outdoor professionals who couldn’t attend the event were able to login and share the flow of information
“From my perspective, it was great to be able to participate with OR, without being there,” said William Roth (@williamroth), social network coordinator of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming. “I liked seeing twitpics with new/conceptual products. I was able to learn about #guerillapanel and build my outdoor industry base of twitter users. It also made me realize just how much I need to be attending OR in the summer.”
By simply including #ORWinter in their entries of 140 characters or less Twitter users shared photographs, videos and abbreviated links to blog web sites. Anyone on the planet with Internet access could see and follow the comment stream in real-time throughout the four-day event, including the on-snow demo. And on the show floor, exhibitors and key industry influencers were able to use the power of social media to generate excitement and drive traffic to their booths.

Those brands that hosted exciting industry events generated the most traffic. Teva’s live music party on the 2nd night of the show raised the conversation quotient among Tweeters with large followings, posting 29,250 social media impressions at the show. For each Tweeter who shared information about Teva, an equal number of their total followers got the word. Keen Footwear also had an impressive showing with 24,241 impressions during the show. In-booth promotions to benefit Haitian earthquake relief as well as several videos posted to YouTube were likely contributors to Keen’s success. The brand encouraged its fans to become engaged throughout OR and for a few days afterward
“We wanted to keep it simple and authentic so that people could have real-time interaction with our brand, “said Keen spokesman Chris Enlow. “ We wanted to come up with creative ways to reach our fans and not just the people at the show. If we just focused on ‘Orwinter’, the hash tag, we would have missed out on an opportunity to build our community.”

But it wasn’t just the big brands that did well in the social media rankings. The company Naturally Bamboo was ranked 4th with 18,754 impressions. Owner and exhibitor April Femrite aggressively used the #ORWinter channel to talk up her business and she enlisted the help of others. For example this message was posted by leading outdoor industry social media influencer Sara Lingafelter AKA @theclimbergirl: “Wardrobe change thanks to @naturallybamboo. This dress is so incredibly comfy, I feel like I’m running around naked. #orwinter”  Original messages like this one about @naturallybamboo were shared repeatedly across the Internet. It’s likely that a conversation about a naked @theclimbergirl was passed around peer to peer with more than a few chuckles. And with each re-tweet was also sent and received a message about the comfort of a dress made by Naturally Bamboo. “I hope this proves to be a social media success story,” said Femrite. “I don’t have a huge marketing budget. All I have is social media, Facebook and Twitter, to build buzz and bring my brand to the attention of my customers.”

Two of the most talked about exhibitors weren’t brands but non-profit organizations, 1% For The Planet and The Conservation Alliance. With the help of key influencers who support these groups the issues of wildlife conservation and environmental conservation became top-of-mind.

“Social media makes the connection between brands, causes and adventurers clearer than ever before,” said Emily Nuchols, an industry influencer and a principle at Under Solen Media. “It’s not about who gets the most action on Twitter, it’s about who uses their social media to take action on things that matter. We believe in the power of social media to make positive change, and we believe in people who are passionate about their causes — be they businesses, advocates or adventurers.”
Nuchols posted information about the groups bi-annual breakfast meeting and spread the word on several promotional fundraising events held on the Conservation Alliance’s behalf at the booths of many different exhibitors.

On the other side of the issue, Malcolm Daly, founder of the climbing equipment company Trango has been attending OR since the 70’s and is a self-described skeptic. “I have high hopes but low expectations for the #ORWinter channel,” he said in a blog post a week before the show. “It’s already inundated with 140 character versions of the 40 year old press release, posted (tweeted) up by people and companies who don’t get it. Why would I bother to take notice of those if I never even bothered to take notice of them before?”
To Daly’s point if users of social media employ traditional techniques of one-way communications to connect with their audience very little of the conversation will change. But those brands and individuals who actively engage in a dialog, sharing and responding to pertinent and compelling information, can indeed use networks like the #ORWinter feed to their benefit.

Many will likely ask: “Was the #ORWinter experiment a success?” That’s like asking if a conversation at a cocktail party was successful. The more pertinent questions are: Was the discussion lively and informative? Did you discover anything new? Did you come away with the knowledge that you were not only heard but also listened to? Would you engage in this kind of conversation in the future?
Social media neither succeeds nor fails, it simply is. In the free exchange of ideas one will only get out of a conversation as much as he or she is prepared to put into it. Those who created meaningful content, those who responded directly to the questions or comments of others and those who shared what they discovered with the conversation at large will inevitably be the most successful users of social media.

Below are the top tens in both Brands and Influencers.

Note: Possible impressions= the number of  mentions of that brand by unique users (X)  their followers. This number excludes retweets, ( people who were passing a tweet along).

Top Ten Brands                                                           Impressions

@TevaMeansNature (Teva)                                                        29,250

@keen_shoes ( Keen Footwear)                                               25,241

@conservationall (The Conservation Alliance)                   21, 252

@naturallybamboo (Naturally Bamboo)                               18,754

@DfaDogs (D-fa Dogs)                                                                9,981

@hardwear (Mountain Hardwear)                                           9,633

@1PercentFTP (1% For The Planet)                                         7,276

@haikubags (Haiku)                                                                    6,780

@montrail (Montrail)                                                                   4,917

@chacousa (Chaco)                                                                      4,045

Total generated by the Top Ten                                             118,375

Top Ten Influencers                   Mentions                           Followers

@theclimbergirl                                 15                                  3,370
@PembaServes                                   12                                  1,123
@Eliz_Castro                                      11                                  1,662
@undersolen                                       10                                     461
@wude72                                             10                                11,181
@saralingafelter                                 9                                      549
@canoelover                                        9                                       461
@RepGirl                                              8                                       215
@TheGearJunkie                               7                                    3,191
@highsteph                                         7                                    1,758

Total number of Followers                                                   23,971

In recent conversations I have been painfully reminded that many me-too brands in the Outdoor Industry are not building solid funnels but building buckets with holes and no bottom.

How? Well, these companies crow that they have a Web Site, Facebook Page, are on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr.

And consumers are initially engaging…entering the bucket. But they are not directed or invited to go anywhere.  They  just sit in the bucket, quickly draining to the bottom…without direction.

And then an analyst from Channel Signal investigates. We find that they had good sign-up for the Facebook page, a decent  following on Twitter, and that YouTube and Flickr had good traffic, but that it fell off quickly.

Why did the traffic fall off?  Because these companies did not allocate the resources to engage. Employees were not assigned to respond to consumers, and direct them to the next point of interest. Consumer questions and comments went unanswered. They were not invited to go to Facebook or the Website, or YouTube, or a User Group. And because there was no natural momentum of engagement, no funnel, consumers were stranded and then took the easy way out….quickly out the bottom of the bucket. They were invited to the conversation and then nobody talked to them.

So they didn’t stick around. And  they took all of their knowledge about the brand with them.

A study by the Chief Marketing Council shows that 38 percent of the 480 executives in the industries surveyed say their companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word of mouth among customers. And only 29 percent rate highly their ability to handle and resolve customer problems or complaints

All that money to make products that attract consumers. All that money to sell into retail. All that money for advertising to attract consumers. All that money to set up conversation channels.  And then the pay-off…consumers responding online by engaging in one of the channels. And…

And silence. All that wonderful potential data about consumers and what they like and don’t like about your brand and products…out the bottom of the bucket. And all those potential Influencers, gone.

Never to be captured again.

Say goodbye to measuring ROI.

I’ve been to many of these and have always been struck by, in general, how well the event was managed. It seems to consume all facets of the company, including the top. Recently I’ve been communicating with executives and they have all been saying that “for the next two weeks I am out of pocket. Have the sales meeting coming up?

I have a suggestion on how to further leverage all those dollars invested in sales meetings

The Sales Meeting is still aimed at Sales Reps and their organizations. Not to minimize reps, but there are other forces at work besides the reps. Your online retail partners, powerful bloggers, athletes…all of these have growing influence in New Media.

Bring all of these forces together at once. Have each entity present to the group. Choose a rep to talk about challenges and potential solutions as they present, sell and clinic in the traditional distribution system. Have that rep talk about what rep orgs are diving into new media, and the results. (Pemba Serves comes to mind here.)

Also have a major blogger/influencer in the new media outdoor space address the group. One who is on board with the brand and its products. Have him or her talk about the trends…what’s working for brands and what isn’t. Give examples.

Same with a traditional retailer and an online retailer. Have each address their markets and what they are seeing.

Give each group 1/2 hour. Then at the end of the sales meeting set aside two hours for brainstorming about the brand and what it should be doing the following year. Have brand leadership in these meetings and taking notes.

Now, you have a sales meeting that is addressing the ever growing distribution system.

And leverage? All will be talking, blogging and tweeting about the exciting future of the brand.

The last day of the OR Show is basically a throwaway. Many retailers are gone. Senior management is gone. Those still at the show are shopping for discounts and all are just waiting for three o’clock to break down the booths. Let’s open the Show to the public for the final day. Invite all of the bloggers, the influencers, and the public. Charge them 5 bucks at the door to see the new stuff. And then watch what happens. 

It will be jammed. Traditional media will cover the event, in advance, due to the newsworthiness of admitting the public.  Booths will be crowded with consumers asking questions. Athletes will be on hand to talk with the public and pose for pictures.  Bloggers and influencers will be asking questions, taking notes, and preparing to write reports as soon as they get home. And traditional media will be doing reports live from the show floor. The energy of Day 1 and 2 will not only have been restored, but doubled. 

And what about the retailers? They should be smart about this. Take the opportunity to invite all of their customers to the show for this final day.  Will customers get on a plane and get to the Show? Doesn’t matter. The very fact that retailers are inviting them as their guests on the Show Floor will only increase customer loyalty. And why not take the five top customers to the show as guests of that retailer? Work out the travel and lodging in advance. Make it work. Then take pictures of the customers on the Floor. Put it on the web site. And do you think those customers will talk about their experiences when they got back home?  Oh, and one more thing. Work a deal with the brands so that you can bring back some new product so all of your customers can get a sneak peak at next year’s offering. Make the OR Show a storewide event. 

Buy in from the companies will be automatic to this public day. Why?  Because it is their chance to talk directly with consumers. And consumers are direct customers because companies are now selling to them online. Influential bloggers should be identified in advance and personally invited to the booth for a product line review. Companies should know which of their best retailers are bringing guests to the booth and senior management should be on hand to greet them. Management, reps, pr, product development and marketing should be engaged all day long. Why? Because this is monster leverage. A company can create more marketing momentum in one day then in the previous six months. 

And OR? Its pr effort ought to be in high-gear pre public day. And then it should have the common sense to get out of the way. Let it happen. And then post public day, report the results. All good for OR. 

So, it’s time for all of us to face reality. Retailers can own the show for the first three days. On day four, open the doors and let the great unwashed in. The time for exclusivity is over. Over. The time for inclusion, openness, and a new business model is here. Every one of us will benefit.

Now, let’s address the new situation. Winter Market was not full. Tens of thousands of square feet lay vacant. Everybody, even the best friends of the Show, knew that the announced 5% decrease in attendance was a joke. 

Many retailers did not come to Salt Lake City due to travel costs, and the simple fact that they don’t need to come to the show. Why? Reps will gladly come to their stores and present the lines. In fact, reps have been on the road showing the lines to both retailers who attended the Show and retailers who didn’t. 

Media is also cutting back so coverage is thinner. 

Consolidation is another force at work. The larger manufacturers continue to buy the smaller brands in hopes of filling holes in their product offerings. Often the larger manufacturer is seen as not authentic in a certain area, and thus the bucks fly.                                                                                                                

Retailers are also in the act, buying up smaller retailers to either eliminate competition or expand into other geographic areas, or both.

What does this consolidation mean? It means a chance for manufacturers to cut down on booth space. It also means a chance to scale back on the number of people going to the show, which both brands and retailers are doing.

Just last month that very conversation about booth space took place at one company that had purchased a smaller brand. Should we consolidate into our booth, but give them their own identity? Or should we continue to have that brand autonomous and have them keep their booth space?  Well, dollars and cents will settle that debate.  And that probably means consolidation into one booth. 

Another company opted out of WSA. It figured that each rep appointment with retailers would cost the company $1,000. No way to recoup those costs. 

Trek and Specialized have pulled out of Interbike. Cannondale did too and used the savings to bring retailers to the factory for several days of hands-on product introductions, business discussions in a calm setting, and entertainment. 

One of the largest line items in any manufacturer’s budget is Outdoor Retailer. OR charges a lot. And it says it delivers a lot. And it does. Show starts on time. Runs smoothly. Great programs. So far, the value falls on the side of OR. However, during a recession hosting a smaller group of retailers and presenting empty space or the perception of empty space means trouble. That leads to further examination of the return on investment. With a dwindling return comes manufacturer and retailer defections and that eventually will lead to failure, ala NSGA and the Super Show. 

OR needs new excitement. New energy. It needs to update and expand the business model and increase the return on investment…for everyone. 

We present that idea next time on Channel Signal.

Here it is. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

What does all of this mean? It means that at no other time in our lives is there greater opportunity for those willing to risk, and no greater risk for those who seek safety.