RyanShell.com

Marketing, public relations, social media... and a little of this and that.

Creating the Purchasing Environment – North Face Example

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People keep telling me that I’m going to need a heavier coat than what I currently have to survive the winter in New York City. Finding the “right” coat hasn’t been the easiest thing in the world to do thus far, but that could be a story all by itself.

As I continued my search for a heavy coat yesterday I made my way to the North Face (their products have received great reviews by friends) store at 72 St and Broadway. It was around 50 degrees or so outside, which is not exactly a motivating factor when trying to buy a heavy coat.

Upon walking in the store it felt like I’d walked in to a sauna just heating up – it had to have been 70 – 75 degrees inside (sales person eventually mentioned it was hot). I couldn’t help but immediately be confused as to why they had it so warm in the store.

From a consumer standpoint the last thing they were making me want to do was exert energy to take of my current coat and try on other coats – that would only make the situation warmer.

Create the Environment

During the winter months North Face likely has one focus: cold weather clothing. In that case, wouldn’t it be great if they created some sort of room that could emulate the elements outside?

They could have a 20 degree room, a 30 degree room… and heck; they could even add a little wind to the situation.

As a consumer I’d absolutely love this.

By creating this type of environment they would enhance the value of their product and could hook me right on the spot; they’d also help eliminate the fear of, “I wonder if this is going to be warm enough” out of my mind.

This North Face store had tons of great products, a helpful staff and a clean environment, but at the end of the day it was hot in the store and not a great purchasing environment.

And no, I still don’t have a heavy coat.

A Tool to help Businesses Build Relationships

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In many instances, life is fast paced and you have a “circle” of people that you routinely interact with (and a relatively set routine).

If you believe that statement it’s highly likely that you aren’t being actively exposed to new people, new thought processes, new ideas, etc.

No matter what I say you’re going to keep putting your pants/dress on the same way, but there is one word that comes to mind that may help you expand the circle of people you come in contact with.

Twitter.

When I moved to New York City I didn’t know anyone. As in, it was me and a ton (millions) of strangers.

Thankfully, I’m familiar with Twitter and know the value of search and proactively taking part in conversations. These two things have helped me meet some really awesome people, many of which are brilliant, and build a network that was previously nonexistent.

Bottom line, Twitter has helped me build relationships.

This same methodology can/should be used by businesses to create relationships with consumers.

Ever heard about those little small towns where everyone is friendly and it seems like business owners have great relationships with their customers? Well, Twitter is your small town and the conversations you have are the building blocks of fruitful relationships.

If you’re in management and you don’t necessarily “get” Twitter, that’s remotely ok. If you understand the value of building a relationship with consumers you’re on the right track. From there, you can hire smart people to help build said relationships and create your small town environment.

What Makes a Good LinkedIn Group?

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Someone recently asked me the following question.

“What makes a good LinkedIn group?”

Content is an obvious answer, but is it the most important element? For me, the answer is no.

The most important element of a good LinkedIn group is the moderator (aka, community manager).

Why?

It seems like 95% (maybe an exaggeration) of LinkedIn groups are full of people essentially spamming the group telling everyone about their product or service. Blah.

A good moderator will help move the discussions along and most importantly, control the obnoxious vendors that do nothing but pitch the group.

Upon creating a group you could even instate a rule that helps stop members from detracting from the helpful discussions.

Here’s an example of a test group (Still active, but I’m not actively managing it) that I created (motivation for trying this) a while back that has one very important rule. I’ve since used this same model for another professional group and it’s worked flawlessly – feel free to borrow the idea.

Without a good moderator LinkedIn groups have absolutely no value, to me. When I visit a group and the first 10 discussions are product / service pitches I tend to leave without looking back. And if you think I’m part of a small minority – think again.

PS – here’s someone that sees very little value in LinkedIn, period.

Create Your Environment – 5 Steps to Making a Change

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While riding home on the subway last night I overheard a conversation from a lady complaining about a situation she’d been stuck in for a while.

I wasn’t exactly trying to listen, but it was one of those situations where you are in close proximity and you can’t help but hear what’s being said.

The situation didn’t sound the least bit pleasant and I eventually thought to myself, “Wonder what she’s doing to make a change?” Given what she was saying the answer to that question would probably be, “nothing.”

I’m not going to bust out some type of sha ka ka stuff on you, but I am a believer in that individuals play a big part in creating various situations in life.

If you are surrounded by negativity and do nothing about it, you are part of the problem. By taking that perspective you have two paths to take:

  • Let the negative situation continue
  • Put things in motion to make a change

This same thinking can be used when thinking about business related issues as well.

Not moving enough widgets? If so, you can stay on the same path or decide to do things such as increase marketing / advertising budgets, freshen up the sales presentation, critique staff performance and make changes where necessary, etc.

Here are 5 steps to help you sort through the process.

  1. Recognize that a problem exists.
  2. Evaluate the situation and determine the best course of action.
  3. Put things in place so you set out to achieve #2.
  4. If what you first attempt in #3 doesn’t work, reevaluate and try something else.
  5. “Never, never, never, never, give up.” – Winston Churchill

Think about various situations in life and how you can apply this sort of thinking. Heck, make a list… you might be surprised at what you come up with.

How my Klout Jumped 4 points in 3 Days

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It’s highly like you’ve heard of Klout, but if not, here’s a quick word on what they do from a post tilted “Thoughts on Klout and Psychology” by Peter Shankman.

“For those living under a half-mile of earth for the past 69 days, Klout is making quite a stir lately, as the company that’s assigning each user of social media (Twitter, Facebook, and the like) a “score” to determine their influence in the online world.

The more you engage, the more people find you interesting enough to respond, repost, or retweet your information, the higher your Klout score will go.

Essentially, Klout is using various algorithms to determine your relevant worth in the online world.”

Out of curiosity I recently did a little test to see how RT’s impacted a Klout score. Specifically, I ran a little contest that prompted people to RT something I tweeted. The goal was to:

  1. See if a contest with minimal reward would work (Amplify the reward and audience and it’s valuable for a brand)
  2. See how it impacted my Klout score.

The tweet seen below is what I sent to prompt the little contest.

Then, three days later I sent the following tweet to the winner.

The contest was only promoted with four tweets – not exactly mass promotion and the end result was 69 RT’s and according to the chart below, an increase in Klout.

At the end of the contest the RT’s did in fact have a positive impact to my Klout score.

Do I care?

Sure, it’s cool to see the dots go up and down (primarily up), but I don’t get overly wrapped up in yet again… another social media version of the popularity contest.

If I were prepping a brand campaign and looking for influencers, the answer to “Do I care?” would be much different.