Our office has new artwork – lovely fabric covered frames. When I was making them I looked at my local fabric shops but couldn’t find fabrics I liked. So what did I do? Googled “fabrics”. I ended up buying them from a shop in Brisbane which shipped them down in a few days. 
Last Thursday I arrived in the office on a massive sugar high. I had spent the morning sampling handmade chocolates. Hard work, but someone has to do it!
I was invited by Myriam from Mytinerary's to join her and other friends on her brand-new chocolate tour, showcasing some of Sydney's most talented chocolate artisans. In addition to traditional PR she very smartly did this experiential marketing activity. And who doesn’t want to experience chocolate!
The group that attended are all on Twitter and combined we have 57,313 followers. Throughout the morning we tweeted about the chocolates, the tour, and the artisans, using the hashtag #choctour so people could easily follow the tweets.
Our tweets were being retweeted throughout the morning so our experience was shared beyond our followers. Everyone on the tour took a camera with them and most have blogs so they will post their experiences with photos.
Not only do the chocolate artisans get increased customers from the tour, in this case they were also promoted on Twitter. (It was interesting to note they are all using twitter as well.) What a clever way of promoting Myriam’s new chocolate tours – and we were all happy to share (and tweet) the fantastic experience.
Featured in SMH.com.au – I was featured in an article Speak up! Why you should speak at events on Enterprise in SMH.com.au. Take a read.
I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
Key Strategies for Online Retail Success
Retailers need to think bigger than their local area - they have an opportunity to find customers all over the world.
At Permission’s recent Online Retailing: Get Set for Success breakfast seminar, Director, Jeremy Glass, offered five key strategies for Online Retail Success.
1. Understand your customers and tell them what they want to hear.
Watch how your customers interact with your website, learn what they want and give it to them. This will involve research and responding to what you observe with preferences that suit the customer.
2. Increase Customer Lifetime Value by valuable lifetime relationships.
Be aware that customers’ needs change over time and the way you communicate with them and the information you provide them with must change with them.
3. Engage customers with your brand in a timely, relevant and motivating manner.
Remember that stronger relevance equals better value in the eye of the customer and therefore this makes a sale easier to close. If a customer is pleasantly surprised with your relevant and timely message they will be impressed and more likely to buy.
4. Employ behavioural targeting to increase opportunities for engagement and sale.
Again the focus is on watching and learning from your customer’s shopping and browsing behaviour then turning that into an engagement opportunity.
5. Develop a social media and networking program.
Although direct sales are not always evident through building up a social media strategy, social interaction is definitely impacting Online Retail. Just as IRL (in real life) social influence has a strong impact on purchase decisions and brand identity online. Harness the advocates who are already engaging with your brand and are your loyal customers, especially those who already choose to be active in social media.
Last week one of our team, Bron, was lucky enough to attent a fabulous two course lunch at MUMU Grill to join a group to discuss why Twitter is so good for business.
Leading the discussion was one of Australia’s most successful online foodies, Rebecca Varidel (or @frombecca) and MUMU Grill head chef and owner, Craig Macindoe (@chefmumu).
@frombecca shared with us, her three Twitter R’s - her reasons why those of you who are not on Twitter should create a Twitter account for your business.
1. Reputation – Twitter is an excellent way for others to get to know what you do, learn about your skills and your expertise in a completely unobtrusive way. By tweeting useful information you can help others learn and this will help position you and your business as an expert.
2. Revenue – Twitter can be used to help build revenue, but you have to remember it is not to be used as a tool for direct marketing. The real revenue raising comes from building relationships with people who would not have otherwise been aware of your business.
3. Research – Twitter can be used to help you research your target market. It can be used to research how people really feel about something. You can type in a keyword and search what people are saying, or you can tweet a question out to your followers asking their thoughts and get a few suggestions.
@chefmumu said that Twitter is like being at a massive cocktail party and you choose which conversations to be part of. Some people are loud and talk nonstop, some are quieter and some are there to listen. Whichever type of tweeter you are remember to enjoy yourself!
To read more insights from the session at MUMU go to our blog Public Relations Sydney.
Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:
Getting Results from Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is the name used to describe how companies access resources from large groups of people, often around the planet. There are many platforms and approaches to tap the power of the crowd, including services marketplaces, competition sites, idea platforms and even crowdfunding. This event which will provide practical insights on how to get fantastic results from crowdsourcing for your business.
31 May 2010
Join the Direct Mail Revolution
Contrary to popular perception, direct mail marketing has made significant resurgence through recent years, and today continues to deliver outstanding results. This event will focus on key skills necessary to execute a successful direct marketing campaign that will dramatically increase your response rates.
1 June 2010
Breakfast Connect
Paul Borrud, head of Facebook Australasia, will be presenting how to learn to use Facebook for business through engagement, referrals, apps and ads. He will also discuss Facebook’s new social plug-ins and privacy.
3 June 2010
Web3.0 and the Future of Social Media
A number of figures from prominent social media organisations including Youtube, Live Journal and Facebook will lead discussions on the future of social media. Speakers will explore the profound effect Web 3.0 has had on information, analysis and insight. They will also investigate the impact Web 3.0 has had on marketing and the opportunities it now offers the field.
3 – 4 June 2010
Women, Management and Work Conference
Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference, will canvas solutions to increasing the number of women elected to parliament, appointed to boards and senior management positions and achieving salary equity. Leading women speakers will be discussing equal opportunity in the workplace and strategies to achieve higher levels of women in leadership roles.
29-30 July 2010
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