Deeter Gallaher Group, LLC

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5 Steps to Add Social Media to Your Marketing Mix: It’s Never too Late

Social media participation is a marketing game changer for every size of business. The playing field is leveled and companies from @Ford with 198,000 employees, to @AmeriChoiceFCU with 60 employees, to @GoodHlthRewards with 7 employees have equal opportunity to tell their story, attract an audience, listen to the customer, and make the sale.

Perhaps you think blogging, tweeting, and checking-in is a fad. Who cares if @AlanBr82 had coffee at Starbucks in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania? @Starbucks cares and commercial real estate developers like @RichardEJordan2 care.

“Social media brings new tools to our preliminary market studies,” says Rick Jordan, CEO of Smith Land & Improvement Corporation. “In real time, we can learn consumer trends and desires. Twitter is one massive focus group. As a property owner who leases office and retail space, it’s good to know that our tenants have a loyal following and are building community. By tracking conversations, we can discover what products and services people want in a region and attract specific tenants to fill the needs. That’s good for business.”

Chances are high that your competition is already engaged on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Foursquare. To find out, go to www.socialmention.com, www.trackle.com, or set up some Google Alerts. If you’re not on at least one of these social platforms, you can join the conversation today to add social media to your marketing mix. It’s never too late to tell your story.

Where should you start?

1.     Meet with the CEO to establish executive buy-in. Top-down support drives a social media marketing campaign. Peter Aceto (@CEO_INGDIRECT) is an excellent example of an executive who harnesses the power of social media for a business advantage. He tweets about his institution, his team, his family; and he has gained loyal customers and fresh insight because of his transparency. Ford’s Global Digital Communications Director @ScottMonty explains the power of these tools and the CEO’s support in this video interview at Ford’s World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Whether an executive understands these nascent tools or not, dismissing them can be business suicide.

2.     Develop a social media strategy. Don’t make this step too difficult—plan for where you want to engage your target audience (are they on Facebook or LinkedIn, are they local or global, are they retail or B2B), and plan the content of your messages. Focus your strategy, and commit to participation in at least two channels where your customers or clients are. Determine objectives, messages, and who will lead the messaging. Every tweet and post embodies your brand. Don’t be fooled by the language and brevity in the social media. Those 140 characters carry tremendous potential to boost your brand or set off a PR nightmare. Are you determining trends, seeking opinions, looking for new customers, finding influencers, or pitching the media? Start with measurable objectives and allocate sufficient people, time, and money to accomplish them. (This is where the value of #1 is realized.)

3.     Choose two platforms to engage in. While you are “doing” business—producing, servicing, selling—smart companies are listening to conversations about their competition and searching the public timeline for opportunities to create their own Blue Ocean Strategy. Engaging on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and reading blog posts from consumers in your industry provides enough data to develop a competitive landscape. What’s your competition doing? Who are their customers? Is there a need being unfulfilled? Is there a weakness? Is there a service delivered unsatisfactorily, hence an opportunity? You’ll find your answers 24/7 in social media channels.

4.     Choose what topics to follow. On Twitter.com, use the Search function to find people talking about your products or to discover wholesale conversations on your topic—energy, analytics, IT, commercial real estate, non-profits. When you begin to build a Facebook page, invite customer feedback and build a reputation for responsiveness. When Ann Taylor Loft (@Loft) posted Facebook pictures of models wearing their new line of pants, a few customers commented that it would be nice to see pictures of the employees wearing their new styles. The Loft engaged immediately (proving that real people are listening and responding to consumers) and posted photos of their own team sporting the fashions. On Tweetdeck, you can organize your columns by topics or people, and listen to real-time, continuous conversations. Brands we follow are @Nordstrom, @Wegmans, @Ford, @Loft, @JetBlue, @Gevalia, and @InteractiveJag. We listen to streaming topics which are connoted by a hashtag—anyone talking about #IABC, #marketing, #PR, #cre (commercial real estate) #sustainability, and #energy is noteworthy to us. It won’t take long to find the influencers in any conversation.

5.     Choose who to listen to within a topic. Follow the people with the best content and valuable connections. Find the industry experts and leaders by evaluating their tweets and reading their posts and comments. We listen to PR/marketing colleagues @SocialNetDaily, @HowellMarketing, @PRMoxie, @Michael_MBA, @Barb_G, @LynnDesantis, @RoyJWells, @marketingbyDM, @2morrowknight, @AllanSchoenberg, @EricFletcher, @TreyPennington, @DebWeinstein, @TheSocialCMO, and @manuchat around the world and learn from them. We read their case studies and comment on their blogs. Who are the influencers in your field? Glen Gilmore (@TrendTracker) has developed such a strong knowledge-flow and group of followers that he is a media channel himself. The quality of information delivered in his tweets attracts more than 75,500 followers who quite often check his Twitterstream first to see what’s happening in the world.

By adding social media to your traditional marketing mix, you can redouble your marketing efforts, increase your SEO (check that out on Website Grader), build your reputation, tell your story, and deliver Return on Information—that’s good news for the CFO, your clients, and for business.

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5 Ways Interns Add Value to a Business: Don’t Sell Us Short

By Marisa Beauduy, Marketing Intern at the Deeter Gallaher Group LLC

1.    High Standards We have the same expectations of employers as employers have for us. We interns want to be impressed by the company, the job, the atmosphere, and the work ethic in the office. Both good and bad experiences can have a major impact on the company, and we can be your brand builders. Are we not potential contenders for openings in the company’s future?
2.    Access to Information Since we’re still in school, textbooks, teachers, mentors, and peers are readily at our disposal. Almost all of my coursework was used in my internship and at the work place. I needed public speaking and writing from my communication courses, analytical and logical thinking from my statistics and math courses, and all of the marketing knowledge that I’ve accumulated so far.
3.    We Can (And Do!) Teach Of course we work as sponges and soak up as much information and know-how as we can, but we also have something to offer. We want to voice our opinions and add our young and fresh creativity to projects and teams. Our insight can help lead to efficient and effective ideas to pass along to company employees. Our goal is to be contributing while learning.
4.    Understanding the Differences Between Social Media Platforms We grew up with Facebook as our staple, and now it’s competing with Twitter and countless apps. Social media has ramped up our communication with our peers and the world. With our expertise in these platforms, we can share what we know and help present your company to a greater audience.
5.    Mindset of GenY Why settle for mediocrity? We search for new challenges in technology and desire to make them a part of our lifestyle. Embracing the thought process of our generation leads to being open-minded and engaging in what we care about the most—learning. We know we can add value whenever and wherever; give us the task, and we will strive for excellence!

Marisa M. Beauduy is a senior at Towson University, in Towson, MD, majoring in marketing. She is completing a summer internship at the Deeter Gallaher Group in Mechanicsburg, PA. You can find her on Twitter @MarisaBeauduy.

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We Need More Leaders Like Mulally

 The following is a Wall Street Journal Letter to the Editor by Anne Deeter Gallaher, which appeared in the March 5, 2010 issue.

"The Weekend Interview With Alan Mulally" by Paul Ingrassia (Feb. 27) shows a rare glimpse of what we desperately need: an injection of realism. "It’s all about producing products people want," says Mr. Mulally on Ford’s long-shot restructuring and revival. It’s a message entrepreneurs know firsthand—create a product to fill consumer demand.

Mr. Mulally has been described by the media as a Boy Scout, with his clean-cut appearance and keen ability to make everyone in his presence feel important, and I’m sure that contributes to the company’s international "One Ford" focus. But you don’t prune a "Fortune seven" organization and negotiate with the United Auto Workers armed with kindness and good intentions. In a time of global uncertainty, we need a business leader with orienteering skills who acts like a leader—no blame, no excuses, no retreat. His strength of purpose appears to come from a deep resolve to prove "There is no reason that America can’t compete in a global economy." The consumer response is clear as shown in Tuesday’s WSJ.com headline: "Ford Outsells GM in the U.S."

One positive outcome from our economic vertigo is that strong leaders are refined and weak leaders are exposed. In an industry that was comfortable with glutting the market with too many nameplates and too little innovation, Mr. Mulally is the maverick. "I love hanging out with skilled and motivated people," he says. An executive who commands respect, leads with resolve and delivers results. How refreshing is that?

Anne Deeter Gallaher
Mechanicsburg, Pa.

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Survival of the Informed: At Deeter Gallaher Group LLC, We Put our Passion into Practice

"Many marketing firms offer cutting-edge copy, award-winning design, and deep media placement—and we are successful in all those areas—but I believe our compelling advantage is our passion and genuine belief in all our clients. We love what we do, because we believe in what our clients do. That’s a service you can't buy." —Anne Deeter Gallaher, president and CEO, Deeter Gallaher Group LLC

Influentials in Action
Creative, conative, and compelling, the Deeter Gallaher Group is an army of three communications professionals who build strong relationships on a foundation of trust, respect, and information sharing. President and CEO Anne Deeter Gallaher, Communications Strategist Marisa Corser, and Marketing Strategist Joshua Gallaher are passionate about out clients' services, products, and markets. Every word we write carries our distinct exuberance.

Our advocacy on your behalf creates a powerful and pervasive marketing force in diverse circles of influence. Although our names never appear on our clients' marketing materials, we invest the same brio and creativity into them as if they were our own. In addition to award-winning messaging, we bring a multiplier effect to your brand by whispering your firm into the ears of decision makers and target audiences. Fully immersed in mastering the latest Web 2.0 technologies, we also believe that word of mouth is still the most successful marketing engagement on the planet. Although mass communications and the Internet whisk us around the world before a thought is complete, the global economy begins in our community.

We do not strive to be central Pennsylvania's largest marketing firm, but we do strive to be the best marketing firm. The Deeter Gallaher Group has built strong alliances with graphic designers, photographers, Web site architects, and printers—individuals at the pinnacle of their fields who like us, insist upon excellence in all they do. Our accountability, accessibility, and short chain of command promise our clients proactive marketing strategies and measurable value.

A Creative Outlier
At the Deeter Gallaher Group, we are not industry specific, we are quality specific. Our team is privileged to "keep company" with some of the most respected and time-tested companies in business, including development firms, financial services institutions, information technology trendsetters, mechanical contractors, medical professionals, and the luxury market. Our best-in-class clients include Centric Bank, Smith Land & Improvement Corporation, McClure Company, Gannett Fleming, Pierson Computing Connection Inc. (PCCi), LB Smith Ford Lincoln Mercury Inc., Counsel Trust Company, Annville Family Medicine, The Turnbridge Group at RBC Wealth Management, and Graystone Bank.

"The Deeter Gallaher Group brings a fresh perspective and a focused, critical eye to all our marketing messages. Their impressive creativity and boundless capacity to advance our core strengths have opened marketing opportunities in areas we never would have pursued. We appreciate the energy invested in every piece they produce. They continue to surpass our expectations." —Richard E. Jordan II, CEO/COB , Smith Land & Improvement Corporation

These clients and a host of others are strategically well-positioned leading media outlets at the local, state, and national level, including The Wall Street Journal, The Patriot-News, Central Penn Business Journal, Harrisburg Magazine, Business2Business, Susquehanna Style, paBanker Magazine, and Time Magazine. "As business storytellers, our ultimate mission in marketing our clients is to create and deliver the best message to their marketplace," said Anne Deeter Gallaher. "The power of language defines our business because it defines your business." Click here for information about our Services.

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