Which Game Face Makes The Perfect Campaign Face?

With the U.S. Open’s prize money a whopping 37% higher than last years, it makes us think about who gets what and how these players bring in cash throughout the rest of the year. Clearly it's endorsements - but these endorsements are big hitters for the big names then taper off quickly.

So what makes these players perfect for the advertising world other than the fact that they are the best tennis players in the world? Lets take Federer for example – the marketer’s dream… and I’m not just saying that because us ladies at Purple Arrow think he’s a god. As illustrated by Forbes “He has been at the top of the sport for a decade. He is handsome, graceful and has not sniffed any controversies of note during his career. He is European, but speaks English (and several other languages) perfectly. Federer also plays a sport that runs practically year-round, which keeps his name and image front of mind for many.” So there ya go... he literally defines the word 'perfection'.

Federer, Nadal and Sharapova are prime examples of the ‘all-around perfection’ that makes these elite players the ideal ad.  Although other players may possess the same beauty that translates perfectly to the media world, unfortunately they can’t all be the face of a brand.  The reality is that endorsement money doesn’t reach much further than the top 100 players and as travel and training costs add up the life of luxury isn’t all tennis pro’s reality. I guess if we all had it all there would be nothing to strive for! 

What do you think?

Forbes Article by Kurt Badenhausen Referenced: http://onforb.es/17BHgJf

Pinterest of any interest? How to get followers.

This week we learned that J.Crew's at-home catalog subscribers won't be the first to glimpse the brand's September issue...That honor fell for the first time to J.Crew's Pinterest followers !

It's a big move for a company that, until a year ago, did not have a social media department, nor a Pinterest account. In fact, so far as we've aware, J.Crew is the first clothing brand to debut its catalog on the image-based network.

J.Crew isn't the only apparel brand to choose social media over more traditional channels to introduce its lineup this fall. Late last month, Oscar de la Renta premiered its fall campaign via Instagram. Each image garnered more than 1,000 likes in the first hour.

So you are probably wondering how to get going on Pinterest? We found an interesting article on 'Social Examiner', that sums it up in 10-steps (they do 12 but we've chosen the top 10).

But first...Why More Pinterest Followers?

More Pinterest followers can help you get more likes, repins, comments, clicks and impressions.
This can then help drive traffic, build your profile, generate leads and therefore increase sales.
It also provides an opportunity for you to generate more engagement with your customers.

Here is a summary:

#1: Add the Pinterest Follow Button

Install the Pinterest button in several prominent places on your website and blog—the header, footer, sidebar, etc. Make it easy for people to find your brand page and convert them into followers. To create your button, use the widget builder page on Pinterest or create a custom button that matches your branding. Similar to the Follow button, the profile widget also leads your website visitors to your Pinterest page. But you may find the profile widget more effective than the Follow button because it’s bigger and can display up to 30 of your latest pins.

Find out how to install a profile widget here: Pinterest Business Accounts: The Definitive Guide to Getting Started.

#2: Share a Lot - Be Active  

When you share often, more people will see your pins and those pins lead people back to your page by displaying your details below the pin. Also, when you pin a lot of images people enjoy, Pinterest will recommend you more often to people who pin the same image. This will help you attract a lot more followers.

#3: Comment on Popular Pins

The Popular section on Pinterest consists of pins that have been repinned, liked and commented on several times. Take advantage of this and get people to check out your own page by commenting on these pins.

#4: Mention Others

When appropriate, mention others in the description of a pin or the comments section.

#5: Connect Your Social Networks

Connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts with your Pinterest account to attract your Facebook and Twitter friends and followers to your Pinterest account.

#6: Find Friends From Other Social Networks

Another advantage of connecting your other social networks is you can find friends and connect with them. Connect your accounts and click on your business name in the top right corner of the screen. In the dropdown menu that appears, click on Find Friends. You can then choose the social networks you’ve connected to find friends and followers and follow them on Pinterest.

As you follow people you already have relationships with, they’ll be very likely to follow you back.

#7: Promote Your Individual Boards

Instead of following an entire profile, people prefer following boards on subjects they’re interested in. Work on getting followers for your most popular boards instead of the entire account.
Go through your brand page and look for your most popular boards and promote them to gain more followers.

#8: Contribute to Others’ Boards

A quick way to attract followers is to contribute to popular group boards that already have a lot of followers. When you contribute quality pins to these boards, their followers become your followers, too—if they like your pins.

#9: Follow Others

Look for people with similar interests, follow them and a fraction of them will follow you back. Continue to follow the ones who follow you back and unfollow the ones who don’t. Repeat the process.

#10: Run Contests

There are two ways to gain followers when you run a Pinterest contest. You can either base entry in the contest upon following you or you can use a tool like Rafflecopter to give away a few extra entries for those who follow you.


Remember...

It’s not just about getting followers, it’s also about keeping them happy. Make the extra effort to keep your followers satisfied so they’ll continue following you instead of leaving you.
Here are a couple of ways to keep followers happy:

• Don’t share everything at once: Instead of clouding your followers’ feeds with your pins all at once, time your pins to go out at regular intervals. You can easily do this by using a scheduling tool like Curalate.
• Stick to one topic per board: One way to lose your board followers quickly is to share irrelevant pins to your boards. It’s okay to share lots of different topics on different boards, but make sure you stick to one topic per board to keep your followers happy and get them craving more. 
• Aim |  Shoot | Acquire!

We Know You're Posting... But Is Anyone Listening?

Content marketing consists of compelling, relevant content that is not directly promotional but is of value to your audience. As you can imagine, marketing with a focus on pertinent information is attractive to your audience as it shows that you care about them and your relationship with them, not just making a sale.

Now more than ever, we are able to reach our target audience due to the various media channels in use today. While this is a positive for businesses, it can also be misused and overused- resulting in a dwindling audience. Just think- what is the first button look for when you get too much information that doesn’t interest you…? UNSUBSCRIBE!

So, in efforts to avoid losing followers, here are some rules to live by while marketing to your target audience:

1.    Make sure your content is truly compelling:

Before you post, ask yourself if what you are posting would grab your attention. Is it entertaining or informational? If you can confidently answer yes, then post away!

2.    Don’t forget about your existing relationships:

This may seem obvious but many people become shy when it comes to utilizing their existing relationships. The fact of the matter is, people with whom you have a connection with are the most likely to share and compliment your content. This will allow their network to reach (and hopefully hold onto!) your content as well.

3.    Get organized:

Compile a list of media outlets and your contact at each channel. This will allow you to form a relationship (and most likely get price cuts, etc.) within each company you are promoting through. It will also keep you on top of what media outlets you utilized for what and gives you a place to keep track of your success rate for each. Maybe one media channel is better for more entertaining content and another has an audience that searches for more information-based content.

4.    Be consistent:

As important as it is to reach out on a regular basis, it’s also important to be consistent with your message and branding. Take time to craft your message in a way that grabs your audience’s attention and that reminds them of your brand every time they read something that comes from you.

At the end of the day, these four ‘rules to live by’ are ensuring a company is strategic in their outreach. Just as our logo illustrates, rather than throwing anything out there hoping something sticks, make sure it’s relevant and shoots straight to the point!

Social Media For Sales?

Anyone who has worked in sales knows how often a call can be made, an email sent or a meeting held, without any conversion occurring. And we ALL know how it feels to be constantly bombarded by sales calls and have become pros at turning them away. Bottom line - it's tough to make a sale, but forward-thinking business people are utilizing a modern sales tool in order to to break down these old communication barriers: social media.

Social Media is not only being used to get a company's message out to it's audience these days- it has become a sophisticated way to gather foundational information, analyze reactions, network and more. A recent study shows that salespeople using social media in the office outperformed peers not using it by 73 percent! Clearly, social media is giving people a competitive advantage- let's figure out what they are doing to catapult their sales...

1. Using Social Media to Break the Ice
Using insight from social media platforms can give you a basis of information that is invaluable while reaching out to new clients. For example, analyzing mutual friends may give way to a personal introduction or seeing an executive's pictures of summer vacation my lend itself to the perfect conversation starter. Having some background information on a company or person may give you the edge to get that face-to-face meeting or phone conversation you've been working at.

2. Using Social Media for Referrals 
Back to mutual friends and degrees of connections- social media allows you to discover that you may know someone within that company that you have been trying to land a meeting with for months. As we are all bombarded with sales calls, the average person is much more willing to meet if they know you are being referred or have some kind of connection to them.

3. Using Social Media for New Opportunities
When people are not happy with the service or product they receive, it is not uncommon for them to blog or write a status about it and this can be used to your advantage. By keeping an eye on your competition and their client's social media pages, you will gain insight to their strengths and weaknesses, giving you a helping hand with your company's strategy.

Social media- once a way to keep in touch with family and friends, has turned into a major player in the business world. Learning how to use these tools to give your company insight that can take your business strategy to a whole new level will enable you to reach your clients in another way. How do you use your social media platforms? What have you found to be the most effective?