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Take Our Wine Trends Survey To Win A Free Book

Carin Galletta — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:48:58 +0000

THANKS FOR TAKING OUR SURVEY! It is now complete. The wines by the glass survey statistics will be released shortly and the winners will be notified.

Cheers!

Everyone who enters our wines by the glass trends survey is eligible to win the groundbreaking customer service book by author Jeanne Bliss, I Love You More Than My Dog. Ink Foundry is randomly giving away a grand prize of a Wine Enthusiast Complete Aroma Tasting Kit and 3 copies of the book.

About the Book
If Ms. Bliss had met my 100 + lb. of Chocolate Labrador before naming her book, she certainly would have changed the title. No one could possibly love a company more than I love my yellow-eyed smelly beast. But it’s exactly the traits of man’s best friend; loyalty, clarity of purpose, authenticity, and acceptance, that if companies can master, will make them as lovable to their consumers as your dog is to you.

Bliss writes about five, easy to understand core principles that companies can adopt and follow that will endear customers enough so they truly care about the health and welfare of your brand.

This short, easy to read book with inspiring case studies from Zappo’s, Trader Joe’s, Lush Cosmetics and others, is a must read for any business that relies on positive word of mouth to sustain itself. Even if your company is living the principles that Bliss lists, the book is an excellent reminder of what generates lifelong consumer devotion that will help differentiate your company from your competition.

Not sure if your company is generating sustainable word of mouth? Review the list of principles below and decide if your company lives up to them. If you want to win this book, please take our 1st Annual Wines By The Glass Industry Survey wines by the glass survey.

BELIEVE – This may be the most difficult for many mature brands to adopt. It is a suspension of a cynical view of customers and employees. Bliss recommends that companies believe in the basic decency of both.

CLARIFY PURPOSE – Live by the principle that the company’s primary role is to serve customers and that profits are a consequence of that.

AUTHENTICITY – Throw hype and deception in the trash and elevate and reward honesty and integrity.

LOYALTY – Accept that loyalty goes both ways. Your company needs to be as loyal to its customers as your customers are to you. Maybe more so. Think about how to do something extra for customers and employees every day.

SORRY – One of the best ways to maintain customer loyalty is to admit mistakes and make a genuine and heartfelt apology. However, it’s not enough to give lip service, a company must take proactive steps to make amends.

This is a must read book for anyone in the wine, restaurant or hospitality industry whose daily survival depends on grassroots word of mouth recommendations from trusted family, friends and co-workers.

The Social Media Junkie’s Amazon Wish List: 10 Great Books

Rachel Tolle — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:12:46 +0000

By Rachel Tolle

Happy Cyber Monday! I hope everyone has found some magnificent deals. I have compiled a list of some of the best social media marketing books that are available today. If you are having a hard time coming up with the perfect gift for your social media junkie friend, worry no more.

You now have ten options. There’s a good chance that if your friend, family member, or yourself is, in fact, a “social media junkie” like me, they already know a lot about social media. You may even be thinking they couldn’t possibly learn anything from these books. Wrong!

You can always learn more. These would also be perfect gift ideas for people who are new to social media. Do you know a college student who is majoring in public relations, communications, or marketing? They will benefit from these books!

I won’t lie, and tell you I’ve read them all. I haven’t. I will tell you the truth – I wish I owned them all. In fact, I added the books I haven’t read to my Amazon Wish List! All of them have been rated between 4 and 5 stars on Amazon.com, and are all under $20. While you can’t take my word that the books are amazingly informational and educational, you can take the words of the hundreds of other people that have read, rated, and commented on these books.

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, 2^nd Edition by David Meerman Scott, $10.87.
The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick, $14.16.
Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business, by Josh Bernoff, $18.45.
Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and more) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by Ann Hadley, David Meerman Scott, C.C. Chapman, $15.64
The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue by Shama Kabani and Chris Brogan, $11.53.
Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series) by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, and David Meerman Scott, 16.47.
Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman, $11.53.
The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success by Lon Safko, $19.77.
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, $9.66.
Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm and Anthony Robbins, $10.54.

Now, here’s where you come in. Have you read any of these books? If so, let us know what you thought of them! If there are any books you think should be added to the list, let us know what they are, too!

18 Word of Mouth Marketing Statistics Every Restaurant Owner Should Know

Carin Galletta — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:15:08 +0000

By Carin Galletta

Restaurants, especially fine dining establishments, live and die by word of mouth recommendations. Below are 18 statistics from some of the biggest brains in the business to help you understand word of mouth marketing better.

In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)

A March 2009 study by Knowledge Networks found that between 10% and 24% of US social media users turned to their social networks when making purchase decisions about various categories of products and services. (eMarketer, October 2009)

According to Technorati there are roughly 33,000 food and restaurant blogs in the United States.

McKinsey & Company reports that word of mouth is driven by both direct experiences (56 percent) and by company driven activity(44 percent).

67% of shoppers spend after recommendations from their online community of friends. (Internet Retailer, September 2009)

Facebook, blogs, Twitter and customer reviews are considered the most effective tactics for mobilizing consumers to talk up products online. (Etailing survey of 117 companies, September 2009)

Consumers trust friends above experts when it comes to product recommendations (65% trust friends, 27% trust experts, 8% trust celebrities). (Yankelovich)

84% of consumers said they were more likely to check online for reviews prior to making a purchase compared to twelve months ago, according to a recent survey by Brand Reputation (Retail Bulletin, October 2009)

Word of mouth activity is generated by unexpected experiences, both positive and negative.

Traditional social network ads fail to engage 96% of users; users “are looking for buyer reviews.” (Telegraph UK, August 2009)

Customer reviews are the most effective social tactic for driving sales, followed by question-and-answer features and a Facebook fan page where companies post information. (Etailing survey of 117 companies, September 2009)

The Trust in Advertising survey of 26,000+ found that Consumer Recommendations are the most credible form of advertising. (“Social Media Marketing: The Right Strategy for Tough Economic Times” Awareness, 2008)

A May 2009 Forrester Research demonstrates ROI of guest service through social media finding that it increases guest lifetime value by creating more loyal guests that spread positive word of mouth, buy more and purchase frequently over a longer period of time.

In a Harvard Business Review experiment found Facebook changed customer behavior for the better. People who had replied to both surveys and had become fans ended up being test restaurant’s best customers: Though they spent about the same amount of money per visit, they increased their store visits per month after becoming Facebook fans and generated more positive word of mouth than non fans.

40 percent of Twitter users regularly search for products or services via Twitter.

12 percent of consumers have purchased a product online because of information they found on Twitter.

According to ICOM research most word of mouth recommendations happen offline.
On April 23, 2009, Twitter was responsible for 15 percent of Naked Pizza’s total sales on that day.

How To Set Up A Restaurant’s Facebook Fan Page

Rachel Tolle — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:00:48 +0000

By Rachel Tolle

A Facebook fan page for your restaurant can dramatically increase your ability to reach and engage with your biggest fans as well as connect with their friends. This How-To is a simple tutorial that will guide you through the set up process like you are an old pro!

We will follow up with a social media marketing for restaurant series on the best practices, helpful case studies and some pitfalls to avoid, so check back every week or so.

A few tips before creating your restaurant’s Facebook page:

Gather all of your assets in one place on your computer (logos, photos, etc.).
Make sure to set up the Fan Page on an email that your restaurant controls. Do not let the part-time employee set up the Facebook account with his/her gmail account.
Take some time to write your restaurant description. Spell check it, re-read it and then post it.

Creating Your Restaurant’s Facebook Fan Page

Go to http://facebook.com/pages.
Click the “Create Page” button.

Because you are a restaurant, and your business comes from a fairly small radius (in comparison to the whole Facebook world), select “local business.”
Name your page – WARNING: You will not be able to change the name of your page, so make sure you’re okay with the name you choose. HINT: Make it the EXACT name of your restaurant.
Make sure you have permission to create the page from the restaurant (hey, if you own the restaurant, then I guess you have permission) before checking the box, clarifying that you have permission to create the page.
Click “Create Official Page.”
A window will pop up, asking you to proceed only if you’re the official representative – click “Create Page.”

There are a few things Facebook is going to ask you to do, so everything you need is going to show up automatically. Just click the links/buttons next to the things it’s asking you for, and you’re good to go. Don’t worry, most items, except the page name, can be edited later, so if you don’t like it, you can always change it.

Upload your logo– it is important to have a large (especially lengthwise) logo for the page’s profile picture, where you will be able to create a thumbnail that will stand out in your fans’ news feeds. Depending upon your logo, you may need a graphic artist to give you some help with this.
Provide basic info – make sure you fill this out completely. It adds credibility, and lets your fans know more about your company. It will ask for your website, company overview, mission, and products. We also recommend putting your restaurant’s hours of operation on here. Make sure your phone number is on this page, as well.
Aside from the “basic info,” there is also a box under your restaurant’s logo on the left. It says, “Write something about [yourpage].” Click that, and add a short description of your restaurant. Include your webpage address and phone number.
Post status updates.
Add a “Like” box to your website – you can do that here http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box. If you’re not particularly tech savvy, you may need some help from your web master. They should not charge you much at all to do this. It’s an easy addition.
Set up your mobile phone – this is optional. If you’d rather not have your phone going off every time something happens on your restaurant’s Facebook fan page, you can just log in and check it manually.
Send status updates to your Twitter followers – this is also optional. If you want your Facebook status to sync with Twitter, go for it. You should definitely let your followers know about your new Facebook page, though, and encourage them to become fans.

Vanity URL

Once you have 100 fans on your restaurant’s Facebook page, you can set up a vanity URL. This is very important, and something you should look forward to doing. The URL you originally get is going to be a mess. It’s going to be entirely too long, and you will never remember it. After you have 100 fans, go to http://www.facebook.com/username/.

It’s pretty simple. You just choose your page from the drop down menu, and choose a username. You can only change it once, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Choose wisely. Your new URL will be http://facebook.com/whateverusernameyoupicked.

Like Your Page

You may think that since you created the page, Facebook will make you “like” it by default. However, this is not the case, so go ahead and click the “like” button.

Ta-Da! Now all your friends will see the page you just “liked” in their news feeds, and hopefully they’ll become fans, too. Stay tuned for other ways to gain fans and promote your new fan page!

7 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools That Kick Ass

Rachel Tolle — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:21:43 +0000

By Rachel Tolle

If you are as extremely hip and cool (nerdy) as I am, you probably spend entirely too much time checking what people are saying about you or your brand on social media channels.

You can check Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc. all individually, and granted it can be addicting to monitor your brands (or your personal reputation) online, but it can also be time consuming. Unfortunately, for me, I usually am not the main topic of conversation on the Internet, but many companies are, and need robust conversation monitoring tools, so you don’t have to stage a 24/7 vigil over your company’s Facebook page.

Brands should definitely check the conversation taking place on social media channels by category leaders, influencers, brand advocates, competitors and consumers. Listening to conversations is one of the best things you can do to have a successful social media marketing program.

With the low barrier to entry, any consumer can tweet, blog, or make a YouTube video about your company, and unless you were looking for it, you would never know… unless it goes viral (iJustine’s iPhone bill).

There are many great social media conversation-tracking services you can use to monitor your brand. But today, I will focus on the ones that are free, since they automatically receive 50 cool points from me based on that one, fantastic fact alone.

Some of the free social media conversation tracking tools are great for finding mentions on Twitter, some are great for discovering blog posts that mention your company, and some aren’t great at all, so that is the precise reason you won’t see those mentioned below!

And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Monitter

Monitter is a great Twitter tracking tool. It tracks keywords, hashtags, Twitter usernames, or just about anything else your little heart desires. It tracks in real-time, which is cool, except it does freeze occasionally, and then all the items tracked come flooding in at once, making it nearly impossible to read. Monitter also lets you track multiple items at once. If you’ve always wanted a widget for your website that shows whenever you’re mentioned on Twitter, you’re in luck! Monitter has those. *Side note: “Paranormal Activity” was a “promoted” trending topic. It was moving much slower than the other two that weren’t promoted. Is that a fail? I haven’t decided.

Addict-o-matic

This social media tracking tool is pretty excellent. Everything is on one page, so now you don’t have to visit 30 different pages. That is a beautiful thing. It searches Twitter, Bing, Google, YouTube, FriendFeed, Flickr, Truveo, WordPress, Yahoo, Ask.com, Wikio, Twingly, Tweetmeme, and Blinkx. Some of sites that it tracks are really random, but the great thing about Addict-o-matic, is that if you’re not addicted to things like Twingly, you can remove it to make a “custom page.” Brilliant.

Twitter Advanced Search

Twitter has its own built-in search engine that tracks tweets by keyword, user, location, language, or hashtag. This free social media tool is only good for Twitter, of course, and unlike Monitter, you can only track one thing at a time (unless you open multiple windows). One thing I don’t like, though, is that if you’re trying to track the amount of times a certain keyword/hashtag has been tweeted over a period of time, Twitter only lets you go back the last seven days or so. Boo. Step it up, Twitter.

Gist

If you’re already aware the influencers or blogs that may be mentioning your company or your competitors, Gist is a great way to keep an eye on them. You can add in as many contacts as you want, and include their Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or any RSS feed. Then, everything feeds right into your dashboard. Whenever they mention your company, you’ll see it! Woot!

Hootsuite

If you manage many different Facebook and Twitter accounts, you should probably have Hootsuite. You can manage multiple Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, LinkedIn, PingFM, and Foursquare accounts using Hootsuite. This makes it easier to check all your mentions and direct messages for all your Twitter accounts, but Hootsuite only tracks keywords on Twitter. You can’t use Hootsuite to track anything on Facebook, blogs, or anywhere else. This is a fabulous program for managing social media accounts, but it’s not the best for tracking keywords across multiple platforms.

Google Alerts

You can set up Google Alerts to monitor whenever certain keywords are mentioned in news, blogs, groups, videos, and discussions. You can chose how often you want to receive notifications, and then all the results will be sent automatically to your inbox or feed. After you set up the alerts, you don’t really have to do anything else. Everything comes to you. Me likey.

Trackur

You can use Trackur to search Twitter, images/video, Digg, Delicious, custom feeds, news, blogs, and here’s the kicker… Facebook!! The reason I find it so spectacular that you can search Facebook is because it’s usually pretty hard to find Facebook mentions unless you are friends with the person mentioning you or your company. Quit trying to use other programs to search Facebook. They are a pain. Trust me. Be a Trackurer. Pretty confident I just made that word up. Let’s make it a trending topic!

Congratulations. You have officially made it to the end of this insanely long article (YOU RULE!). Which social media monitoring tools do you use? Which ones are you going to start using now? Which ones did I forget? Don’t hesitate to pass along any others that I may have overlooked. I’m always looking for newer and easier ways to e-stalk!

16 Secrets Every Marketing Director Should Know To Find The Right Agency

Carin Galletta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:04:59 +0000

By Carin Galletta

In addition to sharing more than 10 years of agency experience, I’ve also been on the other side of the fence as the in-house marketing director responsible for hiring outside word of mouth and public relations agencies. Above and beyond the ability to perform the work, which forms the baseline of the relationship, I’ve learned that there are other considerations that help make an agency partnership long lasting, profitable and rewarding for both parties.

Although there are many reputable agencies with the ability to perform the tasks, the best agency/brand relationships I’ve experienced have had little to do with work quality and more closely resemble a great marriage. Finding a great agency partner for your brand is about the dynamics of the personal relationship you have with your communications team, both internal and external and finding an agency partner that is the right emotional fit.

Below please find a list of our top tips for marketing directors looking to find the right word of mouth marketing agency. For a comprehensive list of qualifying questions, please read our article, 26 Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Social Media Agency.

Define Your Needs and Objectives
All Referrals Are Not Created Equal
Evaluate Brand vs. Agency Pace
Seek Passion
Find The Right Personality
Define Roles & Responsibilities
Cultivate Mutual Respect
Articulate The Plan
Fine Tune Targeting
Shun Guarantees
Require Ethics
Determine The Budget
Define The Length of Relationship
Remain Committed
Review Previous Results
Understand Agency Resource Allocation

At Ink Foundry if we don’t think we can help you or we don’t have the bandwidth, we’ll refer you to someone else and we believe that the best agencies will do the same. One of our greatest achievements is our ability to develop long term relationships with our clients because we’ve done a thorough job of making sure we are the right agency for the brand before committing to any relationship.

PHOTO CREDITS: Crane Gears: TallKev ; The Ponderer: Striatic

6 Books For The Social Media Marketing Enthusiast

Carin Galletta — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:23:58 +0000

If you are looking for a book about social media to buy as a holiday gift or if you’re going to have some extra time over the Christmas break to curl up next to the fire and read, I’ve put together my list of current social media marketing favorites.

I am a voracious reader and would re-arrange deadlines to finish a compelling book! However, I am not a book reviewer/critic so this list includes my quick top line thoughts, not full blown reviews, you can find a ton of them on Amazon. I will be adding to this list regularly, and I’m always looking for the next great book, so feel free to share your favorites in the comments below.

The links are affiliate links back to Amazon.

Happy reading!

Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
This is a great, easy read for anyone interested in finding out more about social media who is looking for a good primer on the subject. You won’t find anything new in here if you or the person you are buying it for are familiar with social media channels. That being said, Brogan and Smith make social media sound so chimp simple, I do think everyone should read it.

Crush It Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk figured out how to take his personality and leverage social media tools to build his family’s retail wine business. At first I was a bit put off by his loud personality (you’ll “hear” it immediately when you start to read), but was won over by his work ethic. He’s 10,000 watts of entrepreneur. A great book for an entrepreneur, someone trying to build their personal brand or anyone even marginally interested in the how social media channels can help their small business.

The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited: Real Life Lessons in Word of Mouth Marketing, by Emanuel Rosen
I’ve heard Rosen speak at a couple of social media marketing seminars and he’s a marvelous story teller. This book continues in that tradition. This book was in the gift bag at the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit and I’m so glad that it was. A must read.

Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods, by Shel Israel
Again, like Emanuel Rosen, this is a guy who knows how to tell a story. Israel uses case studies to demonstrate how companies, many you’ll recognize, have leveraged Twitter to help their business explode.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin
It’s hard to beat Godin’s thinking on social media and how unconventional leaders can achieve unexpected greatness. He makes a compelling arguement that there are groups of people, “tribes”, who are looking for leadership. So stand up and lead. He section titled, “Should They Build A Statue of You” is of particular interest.

Crowdsourcing, Why The Power of the Crowd is Driving The Future of Business, by Jeff Howe
Jeff Howe is genius. Although I have to admit, I have a bias toward just about any reporter from Wired magazine. Howe coined the phrase “crowdsourcing” back in 2006 and his book explores how the collective brain-trust of the many can frequently achieve much more than the specialized few. Great storytelling. I had to pry this one from my boyfriend’s hands so I could read it first.

PHOTO CREDIT: “Naughty Librarians” by CheeseBikini

Seducing The Boy’s Club, Nina DiSesa

Carin Galletta — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:36:23 +0000

Nina DiSesa is an incredibly witty writer and shares some hilarious anecdotes about working in a jungle full of arrogant (no judgment!) creative (their saving grace) men. As Chairman of McCann Erickson New York, DiSesa plays den mother, dabbles in S&M(only in the sweetest way), seduces and manipulates to get her boys to perform for McCann Erickson’s lucky clients. Her true genius is that she figures out a way for both sides to win.

Crowdsourcing, Jeff Howe

Carin Galletta — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:03:45 +0000

Very intriguing book. Crowdsourcing describes the process of how the many can accomplish feats that were once only the province of the few. Jeff Howe, Wired magazine reporter, reports from the front lines of this revolution. A great read.

Top Twitter Trends

Carin Galletta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:23:47 +0000

thinktank research (via thinktank8.com)

Presented at TWTRCON, May 31, 2009

Summary:
Current Twitter users are early adopters of technology, entertainment and emerging services. They are more likely to use social networks and Internet 2.0 technologies to stay connected and be informed. Most are eager to learn about new products and services. They are loyal users, with 70% likely to continue using Twitter. As such, Twitterers leverage the power of word of mouth and are a valuable audience.

1. Twitter users are super engaged consumers.

Typical Twitterer is a technical or creative professional in their 30s, who tends to adopt new products or trends more quickly than others. Almost all are on other social networks, two thirds watch online video, read blogs, and play video games. Over half have HDTV, forty percent have DVRs and about a third have smartphones.

2. Consider it the Oprah effect—most of the U.S. knows about Twitter.

Over three quarters of Internet users are aware of Twitter. While friends (43%) have driven greatest awareness, a whopping 35% heard about it through television. Other sources of awareness include websites (22%), social networks (18%) and family (17%).

3. What does Dr. Horrible, coffee, Tom’s Shoes, flowers and a Sony Vaio have in common?

They were all purchased because of Twitter. 40% of Twitter users regularly search for products or services online via Twitter. About 20% follow at least one product or service. Specifically, 12% note they’ve chosen a service or bought a product online because of information they found on Twitter.

4. Is the social networking and Twitter phenomena half empty or half full?

It depends on the user. While 44% believe that Twitter has long term value, 52% believe it’s a trend.

5. Brands beware! Use Twitter wisely!

40% of Twitterers note the way a brand utilizes Twitter affects their perception of the brand. Two thirds would use Twitter to communicate good or bad information about a brand.

6. Make social networkers loyal: Cues from Twitter: easy, fast, and well designed.

Social networkers note community and friends as top reasons they’re spending more time on social networks. Variety of activities (46%), ease (39%), and speed (30%) are key.

7. Search and find most popular, multimedia not fully adopted.

About half of all Twitterers are using search and find. Less than a quarter are updating to blogs, posting photos or posting videos.

8. Ashton vs. CNN: News actually trumps celebrities! (but not by much!)

About half of all Twitterers are interested in news and entertainment. Other popular Twitter themes include politics, products and services, sports, celebrities and restaurants.

9. Social networks and Twitter: It’s not just about finding your old prom date.

Two thirds of all social networkers use them to connect and communicate. However, about a quarter use them to follow news, play games or professionally network.

10. Smartphones: A Twitterer’s best friend.

Twitterers are almost twice as likely to own smartphones than Internet users. Top two phones include BlackBerry (15%) and iPhone (10%). Twitter users have advanced mobile behavior: half take photos, a third go online and twenty percent play games regularly. About 25% of Twitter users update some type of social networking status regularly via their mobile phone.

From a thinktank research study of Internet, mobile and social networking users, fielded May 2009, n=1,850, twitter users, n=665. (For the full report, contact Robin Boyar at thinktank research. The full report is available for $495 or $995 with an in-person presentation)