Online Branding: Beyond Facebook Renato Cruz Sogueco CIO, Society of American Florists

Technology Challenges Continual Innovation & Disruption  Web (html > Flash > faster broadband > video)  Social Media (MySpace > Facebook > Pinterest)  Desktop to Mobile (Blackberry > iPhone / Android > iPad) The Internet continues to be The Wild West  Must stake your claim  “Lawless” e-commerce practices Florists Reaction to Challenges?  We’re busy! Staying on top of technology innovation unlikely  To leverage technology, you must understand it

Trends & Methodologies Sources  Outside industry sources: Gartner, Pew, Forrester, ComScore; ASAE; Web & Technology Conferences  SAF Technology Committee  SAF Retailers Council  SAF Joint Member Services Council Goal Today: “On the Internet, people will know you are an exceptional local retail florist”

Agenda  Explore Online Branding  Taxonomy and Website  Social Media  References  Pay Per Click Advertising  Monitoring and Management Tools  Resources

Rules of the Road  No Silly Questions  Crowd source answers  Overview  Deep dive using Resource CD  Demos

Branding “Branding is a marketing process based on the concept of singularity. It creates in the mind of the prospect, the perception that there is no product on the market quite like yours. The power of a brand is its ability to influence purchasing behavior. Branding incorporates a singular look, feel and message in building a belief about your association and its products.” -- Michigan Society of Association Executives

Internet Branding Recall: “On the Internet, no one knows you are a florist”  It’s good to start from scratch  Must scan and correct Brand must evolve with technology innovation  Social Media: no strings attached  Be the consumer – use social media, use tools like mobile No control of your brand  Reviews, blog posts, posts (text, photos videos) by customers, comments in social media, website, shares  Constant monitoring is key (talk tools later)

Secure and Protect the Website Brand Claim domain variations  Godaddy: $10-12 per domain; capture all.com miss- spellings, hyphenated domains, consider other top-level domains such as.us,.florist (this is new) Expand the brand – capture geographical domains    

florist, local delivery fresh flowers, roses, Fairfax, VA, WeddingsEveryday Flowers Corporate Events Taxonomy of Renato’s Flower Shop Local family business, Vienna, Reston, Oakton, lilies, gladiolas Primary Secondary Business Activity Subpage Subpage Content Homepage & Content St. Leos Catholic Church, Fairfax Country Club, Chantilly Country Club Get well bouquet, Anniversary, Romance, Birthdays, red roses Hyatt Regency Fairfax, George Mason University Auditorium, Hilton Fairfax Jones & Smith Wedding Penn & Jenkins Wedding Berg & Hoyt Wedding Hoffman & Boyd Wedding Smith Memorial, Judith & Jim’s 50 th Anniversary, get- well flowers for Sally, Bob proposes to Jenny VMWare Corporate Retreat, HP Great Ideas Conference, ASAE Idea Swap, Oracle’s Weekly Reception Flowers,

Social Media Posting Best Practices How often and which media?  Small Shop (1-5): Facebook, twice to four times a week  Medium Shop (6-10): Facebook once a day, add Google+, Twitter and Pinterest to grow wedding or event business, track and measure results with analytics programs  Large Shop (11+): all of the above, add LinkedIn, YouTube, dedicate staff to social media duties Quality over Quantity  It’s like investing – content compounds over time  Rich, consistent posts that originate from Web site content  Posts include links back into appropriate subpage of Web site  Posts cross-posted to other suitable social media (YouTube to Facebook if video)

Secure Social Media Brand Develop consistent social URL format: consider character limits  (16 character limit)     Demo: Best Practices  Open accounts on all social media – before someone else does  Create and use one address to manage all: -- you can redirect mails to those responsible and avoid complications due to staff departures

Online Reference Is your information singular and accurate?  Demo:  Demo: Best Practices  1-3 hours to sign up, complete information  Fill out all optional information  Use one

Online Reference Top florist online references    smallbusiness.yahoo.com/local-listings/sign-up/  biz.yelp.com  

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) Just do it!  DEMO: Dominate the search results screen  Protect your brand Google Adwords (Bing too)  Capture searches for your business name  Ad displays business name Someone using your business name as a keyword?  Trademark your name  Send notice to Google and offending advertiser

Monitoring & Management Tools Automate monitoring of your brand  DEMO:  DEMO: Assess, Manage and Measure  DEMO: ($8.99 per month)  DEMO: ($49 per month)

Comment & Review Mitigation Response Protocol  Negative (or positive) review or comment = answer everything, provide direct contact information and state goal to resolve to their satisfaction  Request best or happy customers to post comments or reviews Boost number of positive reviews   (DEMO: Mitchell’s Flowers)

Resources    SAF Floral Management (Plugged In)  Call me! ext.210 