HepHazard

Almost half of the moms who "Like" your brand on Facebook do so without you doing a thing, according to recent SheSpeaks survey. 

The survey raised some interesting questions:

• Do moms really want to have a relationship with brands through social media?
• If so, who should be initiating the dialogue?
• Do women just want coupons and promotional information, or do they want to have a conversation with a brand?
• Is social media replacing email as the key communications channel between moms and brands?

Additional Findings

• About two-thirds of moms (68%) don’t mind having brands contact them through social media if they feel the content is relevant to them.
• 62% say that a positive product experience is the biggest motivator for them to talk with others about a brand. 33% most wanted to share coupons with friends.
• 72% trust the content of a brand/product website, followed by third-party content on Facebook (68%) or articles (68%)

What It Means for Brands

• Don't overvalue Facebook ads and apps. Yes, Facebook ads can increase the number of "Likes" you get. So can other forms of advertising, including apps, contests and games. But the #1 thing you can do to increase apps is be extraordinary. Not just good...extraordinary.
• Keep up your social media efforts. Consumers want to interact with you, as long as you're conversing about things that matter to them. Don't be afraid to interact.
• Focus on improving your brand experience. That means a better product, better packaging, better customer service...your brand needs to be the concierge and your customers are VIPs.

So, it's been 24 days since Google Plus launched. I quit blogging about these over-hyped releases a long time ago. Couldn't keep pace with those who are so under-employed they blog 30 seconds after the baby pops out.

But I digress...

Are you sick of Google Plus yet? Sick of reading about it? Sick of avoiding it? Sick of using it?

I've seen (and ignored) countless blog posts pontificating about Google Plus. The best posts I've seen are those reminding you to not get your panties in a bunch over Google Plus. My favorite are the posts calling BS on "How to Use Google Plus" webinars and "Best Practices" articles.

Here, I'll tell you how to use Google Plus: Just like you use all the other tools.

It's that damn simple.

If you help people on your blog, help 'em on Google Plus.
If you talk about trends in your industry on Twitter, do it on Google Plus.
If you're a name-dropper on Facebook, be a name-dropper on Google Plus.

You don't need a blog post titled "Top 10 Tips for Using the Crapper" every time a new toilet comes out. It's a crapper...use it the same way you used the last one. Your bathroom "strategy" doesn't need to change: Shower, shave, brush your teeth, use the john...stick with what worked in the last bathroom.

So, if you're like me and sick of hearing about Google Plus, just unplug. 

Is it really THAT revolutionary? You can find and play darn near any song on Spotify. You can do that on Blip, too. You can share songs with friends on Spotify. Ditto Blip. You can connect Spotify to other social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Ditto Blip. You can discover new music, see what friends have played, and access music from the cloud, rather than from your hard drive. You can do all that with Blip, too.

I'm not saying Blip (or any other option) is the best choice, or that Spotify hasn't brought a few new features to the table. It just seems the lovefest over Spotify is disproportionate to the small step forward it represents.

Another case of Shiny Object Syndrome...or am I missing something?
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Yet in all my posts about blogger relations, there's one tip I always forget: Remember, most blogs aren't written between 9am and 5pm.

Most bloggers (according to my pseudo-scientific guesswork) have other jobs. They blog at night, or on weekends, or if they're especially adept, on a phone while riding the light rail. They respond to comments when they get time...usually during non-business hours. Same goes for emails.

Good blogger relations is about building rapport: Read the blog, comment on it, retweet well-written posts. Get to know the writer. Be attentive. Complement them for a job well-done. Send 'em an email once in a while.

Just remember that your 9-5 job as a PR pro may not fit their schedule as a 9-5 yoga instructor, restaurateur or civil engineer.

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My take:

* Advertising in high school sports programs is more about supporting the community, schools and students than anything else.

* Since they're usually pretty low-cost, it wouldn't hurt to try these ads to see if they drive business.

* Use a special offer ("Bring this program in to receive 10% off...") to measure results.

* include a specific call to action. Too many small businesses deem these channels ineffective, when in reality it's the absence of a clear CTA or a poorly designed ad that caused a low response.

* Remember, an offer must be COMPELLING to drive results. A 10% discount might sound compelling to you, but if it only saves the customer $2, it's not likely to get them to change their behavior (aka, switch from a competitor).

* Go back to point #1. These ads are mostly about supporting the community. For bigger results, you'll probably need a bigger approach to marketing.

WEIGH IN: Have you done local, grassroots advertising? What channels have worked well for you? What types of promotions worked best?

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