IF I WERE A BRAND………
IF I WERE A BRAND I would be full speed ahead finding where my customers are hanging out online; and I would be discovering who & where my brand “influencers” hang out, because of course influencers will lead me to my customers.
While big brands have the resources to apply complex analytics programs, sometimes just plain old ‘careful observation’ works in some of the more obvious scenarios….
When watching an online community carefully, you can soon identify the influencers; often you don’t need a Klout or Kred tool, though there are those who say @Klout is the ‘must have’ for brands to find their influencers. I’ve recently read comments that you can identify who the influencers are in just a couple of weeks, and while I agree, I am a researcher and have trained myself to know what to look for.
Twitter chats are an obvious starting place; with names that can signpost you in the right direction. The Interior designer chat community #Intdesignerchat is an excellent example, where 150-200 architects, interior designers, set designers, lighting professionals, multi-media experts, and successful artists hang out for a one hour chat (Tuesdays at 6PM ET). All in one place, at the same time Wow! If I were a design-oriented furniture, bath, kitchen, lighting, paint, you name it brand, I would be ecstatic. Over 8 million impressions in a one-hour chat! Wow, again! Compare this to tv advertising, where you just hoped your influencers and customers where watching the show the ad agency sold you on! And just like Neilsen ratings you have to know how to read & interpret Hashtracking stats!
You can actually watch the conversations about your product or service; and even join in! I am an enthusiastic participant in #Intdesignechat on twitter, enjoying exchanges with architects from Italy to Shanghai, and designers from LA to Atlanta; hearing their take on a variety of design and design business topics, and getting to know interesting & engaging design celebrities who guest-host almost every week.
A favorite chat guest James Swan, best selling author of “101 Things I Hate About Your Home.”
Check out the DESIGN blogging conference DBC2012. The home design brands sure get it; it’s a live event featuring the online design blogging communities, a community of communities; think that one through…. Of course matchmaking architects and designers with the various categories of design brands they recommend to clients and customers is pretty obvious. 
When I joined Pinterest January 1 (yes…. yet another mention of @Pinterest….) I noticed that almost everyone who followed me, had a ‘dream home’ and if it was not called a dream home board’, then it was still this by another name. ‘My home’, ‘for the home’, etc.
Interesting, I thought, maybe they’d like me to design their dream home? I am after all ideally suited for this…. With this in mind, I discreetly pin images from our one-of-a-kind designs. But not much interest except for my ‘spa style’… so maybe my design clients are just not on Pinterest. Good thinking. Every social media network is not appropriate for everyone; as many of you know I don’t do FB.
So who was pinning those dream homes, and where was the instant brand response? Remember, this was only 2 weeks after I joined. In my mind, West Elm was a good candidate, and wouldn’t you know it they have taken their Pinterest audience by storm. Obvious when you know how….
Lots has been written since then about West Elm, and how they are using social media, topping it up with pinterest. Though I use West Elm for cool accessories from time to time, my clients are generally not their customers. (I wonder if West Elm can tell that about me?) I am however an advocate, and maybe even an influencer, as I think they’ve done an outstanding job (as Ikea has), of affordable good design, and I often recommend them to friends and neighbors.
Maybe the luxury products networking community FANCY is where my architectural design clients hang out…. Too soon to tell, I’ve only been there a week.
When you do find the right community, it’s an easy sell. For over two years I attempted to sell, with out success, a brand new original style front axle which I removed from my vintage Chevy pickup soon after I bought it (I changed to a Corvette suspension). Sooo heavy, and cumbersome to store, it had to go! We tried CL 3 times in different geographic areas. No luck. We offered to sell it for 10 % of new cost, even to give it away! Nope. Nothing worked.
Then my design partner put a note on the HAMB, at a reasonable selling price. Within 24 hours we had 14 interested potential buyers! From all parts of the country! 2 days later ‘Fred’ (name changed to protect the innocent) drove 6 hours from Portland with cash in hand. So, it’s easy to sell your product when you identify the right community. In case you’ve never heard of HAMB it’s where the do-it-your-self hot rod enthusiasts hang out. Obvious when you know.
The other side of the coin is where brands build their own communities; attracting their influencers and customers via the content they create; there’s lots written on this this. Check out Content Rules? Didn’t want to leave it out, and anyway content rules whether you are attracting customers or sponsors. Now to the case in question, please help if you can?
The Woody Boater blog is evolving after four years into a Woody Boater Lifestyle Community. I visit and comment from time to time, and they have featured our Italian Speedboat and when featured they had one of their the best ever traffic days…happened twice.Woody Boater continuously sends traffic to our niche blog. Thank you Woody Boater.
So, how do you turn a successful blog into a lifestyle community, and attract name brand sponsors? Woody Boater has a presence on Facebook, and is headed to Pinterest, as I write. Will Pinterest be the right venue to fuel the online community? Are Woody Boaters or their cohorts on Pinterest? Will pinners who routinely pin architecture, dream homes, design or travel be so enamored with the Woody Boater lifestyle they will become instant converts; building the Woody Boater brand and community via pinning?
What does a “classic boating lifestyle” mean? Where should the community hangout online? Who are the brands most likely to sponsor them? Remember, they are evolving from nuts and bolts, sandpaper and varnish, to LIFESTYLE.
This is a fascinating potential success story; so I am asking my social media friends, who tell it like it is, to pass along some Social Media savvy to Matt Smith, founder & the Captain of the Woody Boater blog. Check out Woody Boater, Matt has already gone to the blog readership and is asking questions. What’s next?
CASUDI
Designing Success.
March 5th, 2012 at 10:49 am
What a fantastic post and so important. A MUST answer question for all brands: Where is my audience, my community? With limited time and resources this and the “why” need to be the questions you answer.
One of the first things to do on Pinterest is check and see if you have been Pinned, http://pinterest.com/source/woodyboater.com/ This can be done with any site just include the source/site name without the http://www. Now check and see “how” and “where” have you been Pinned and with whom. What are they calling their boards, who else have they Pinned with you – this can help you start to get a picture for how your products/brand fit into their lifestyle.
And while they are evolving from nuts and bolts to lifestyle they need to still share that part of their story – because it is what makes Woody Boater, Woody Boater.
Invite fans to share the story through images of their restoration projects. Bringing the sea inside with images that showcase nautical themes for home interiors.
I think they are off to a great start.
March 5th, 2012 at 11:16 am
Thanks Kelly so much for commenting. What I should add for Matt’s benefit is that you host the twitter chat #PinChat on all things Pinterest and he might like to attend the one hour chat Friday evenings at 10PM ET.
From my searching there are not that many people who are into the Classic Boating Lifestyle that are on Pinterest, and perhaps this is because the exact Sociographic is not one that is prevalent pinning.
It would seem that one way to get the already very loyal members of the blogging community to be involved would be for each member to make a board about their own boat(s); the restoration process (as I did), the fun show events, beach picnics & river runs all related to their specific boat(s)and then invite Matt as a collaborator (as I did) on their board so all the individual “classic boating lifestyle” boards show on Woody Boater Pinterest. Just a strategic idea.
March 5th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Hi Caroline!
This is most certainly the (in my mind) best approach to any new social media platform. Is there a purpose for using that specific platform? Are your competitors there? Your customers? Will it benefit you in the long run, or will it just be a time-suck?
I still worry about companies who are using Pinterest right now. For me, there are too many questions about copyright and how the affiliate links work. But to try it out because you think your customers are there – that makes sense. I’d just be hesitant to jump in full throttle.
Great post!
March 6th, 2012 at 7:57 am
Margie thanks for your to the point comment. I see so many people trying to make a social network work, spending hours and hours, forcing the issue when it is not right for them. Time suck is putting it mildly. Testing the waters is not all bad just in case, but being ready to curtail or minimize activity if it doesn’t work is a prudent approach. Now comes the question as to how long a realistic and fair test should be?
March 9th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
You’ve nailed the essence of what a community can do for a brand – WHEN – they find that right one. Or create it. Key is to not sell in the community, but when it’s the right one, as you say, selling isn’t required. It almost just happens. And you’re right, you don’t need a Klout score to measure that.
You can’t force engagement. In my B2B world we’ve tried to create and nurture community and struggle on some platforms. In others, we gain traction. When you don’t force it, it’s amazing what you can do. It’s about finding the right context.
These examples are wonderful and I am naturally drawn to good design.
As for Pinterest, I love the platform although I spend very little time there. The concerns are valid, but I’m not sure they’re much different than Facebook’s concerns nor other platforms. They’re not alone in taking advantage of the data they receive from those on the platform. Target is pretty innovative in how they market based on consumer behavior, for one example.
Thank you!
March 12th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for the visit and comment Patrick. Right now it appears the buzz is outweighing the concern; but I am beginning to see some waning enthusiasm. You may be interested in the article “What People Are Pinning on Pinterest”, and that it validated my “Home” observation ~ can you believe over 3% being pinned is “Home” “For the Home” or similar.
So how does that help you in the commercial construction space? Or does it? Is it in fact worth your company’s time to design a very specific strategy for the Pinterest platform and even test it? Has your company identified where their customers hangout online? In fact do they even hang out as a group online?
We certainly live in interesting times.
March 12th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Some of the same points you made in your post and that are in the comments remind me of the points made in last week’s #KaizenBiz when we talked about Content Marketing. Finding the right place to share your information or to invite people to have a conversation with you can be quite a process. And it can take time. Perhaps that is what makes sites like Twitter or Pinterest challenging for some companies. Questions like, “why are we on this particular site?”, “are we doing this right?” and “what real results are we getting?” are very important to answer so we are directly communicating with OUR customers.
March 14th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
Thanks Elli for your comment; as usual asking exactly the right questions. IF the answers are remotely positive, how long should one use resources including time for testing the engagement & relationship value of focusing on a particular community where one believes ones influencers and/or customers are hanging out? If the ROI is immediate, I rest my case. If it is just taking too much effort and resources (as I have seen some do) there has to be a definitive time when the goal is not met and the initiative to engage within a social media platform is minimized or curtailed.