Tag : Social Media

Don’t worry, Wichita small business marketers, you’ll find your own bacon connection someday

Posted by Dave Mace at 4:46 pm

Today, I found my bacon connection. Today, the worlds of business, personal life and bacon collided in a delicious, greasy, explosion of network connectivity that rivals the best of multi-level marketing down-chains. Today, I received a Facebook friend request from someone connected to me in all three areas. When I looked at the person’s public profile, I realized we have 18 mutual friends, but we did not go to school together. We don’t even live in the same town. We don’t work in the same industry. We’re not related. But we both love bacon.

Wichita marketing tastes better with bacon.

As someone who advises dozens of Wichita businesses on marketing plans, digital marketing strategy, and creates digital content for Wichita Facebook pages, I was both bemused and amazed at the depth and breadth of the electronic network at our marketing disposal. After all, this person has never emerged as a Facebook suggestion before, despite being a friend of 18 of my 1,398 friends (as of 530 CDT Aug 16). It was our bacon connection that brought us together. And now, I’m thinking to myself, “What else can I find out about this person that will benefit us both?”

Well, it turns out this person is actually from the town where I went to high school, but I never knew her because she is five years my junior and I didn’t move to the town until my sophomore year. But because we both like bacon, and because I created a bacon page with a growing Facebook fan base, we got connected. I’m looking forward to learning more about what she does in her job and where further connections might lead.

With previous Facebook-kindled re-connections, I’ve actually been able to gain project-based business.

I think there are really three big takeaways from today’s experience:

1. Our network is more vast and complex than we can imagine.

2. Facebook brings us a quantum leap closer to comprehending and utilizing our network.

3. As a Wichita marketer, I owe it to myself to be everywhere in that network I can efficiently touch. Even if it means creating a new Facebook page about green beans.

Via Christi Wichita sets a fantastic small business marketing example

Posted by Dave Mace at 11:24 am

You know what I love about hospitals? The people. You know what I hate about hospitals? Everything else. Seriously, I’ve always viewed hospitals as places where people go to die. I know they’re all about saving lives, which they do quite well, but it’s been hard for me to get past the stigma of brightly-lit, tiled corridors that belie the sad endings behind the doors.

With that said, my outlook has been changed greatly by two major healthcare-related events in my life. First, the birth of my nephew at 23 weeks, five days. His subsequent survival and beautiful life at five years old are an inspiring story, thanks to God and the skilled, caring hands at Stormont Vail hospital in Topeka.

Via Christi is a Wichita marketing powerhouse.

More recently, my wife’s breast cancer diagnosis and surgery at Via Christi Wichita (St. Francis) has provided even more insight into the most important marketing asset a hospital possesses: great customer service.

It’s easy to say, “Sure, they’re nice to you at the hospital. They have to be.” But think about it. You’re not tipping the IV nurse or the radiology technician like a good server at the wine bar. The medical staff already have their money. Most of them are paid well, and the insurance industry has much more to say about their reward than you do.

So, when I took stock of the kind of service we received at Via Christi Wichita, the genuine care and concern, coupled with expertise and professionalism, I realized that no amount of broadcast, print or outdoor advertising can do as much for this hospital’s Wichita marketing image as what happens inside its walls.

Certainly, the experiences in the hospital that are shared with friends, family and coworkers, are the most vital part of Via Christi’s Wichita marketing campaign. And they cost the least. I know I tend to believe a person more when I’m having a conversation with them than when they are up on a billboard.

This firsthand customer service experience also reminds me of the importance of Facebook, twitter and email to spreading the good word about Via Christi’s great service. I tend to think of word of mouth as the best kind of advertising. Until the past few years, the biggest drawback to word of mouth was that it was hard to spread widely. Not anymore. When you have a great customer service experience today, you can post it to Yelp! and broadcast your review to all your Facebook friends. Now, if I’m a small business owner in Wichita, I call that great free advertising. Don’t you?

You don’t have to look far to find good reasons to use social media for marketing your Wichita small business

Posted by Dave Mace at 12:42 am

While there are all kinds of benefits of social media for Wichita small businesses, some of the most important benefits are also the simplest. If you’re still on the fence regarding starting or increasing your involvement in social media for your Wichita marketing campaign, here is some more evidence to support it.

As highlighted in an article from American Express Open that has been referenced many times, having a social media presence and maintaining at least minimal contact with your audiences can help you keep tabs on competitors and get all kinds of feedback from customers. What would you rather do, conduct expensive research or get actionable data straight from customers on Facebook?

You can also use Facebook to build relationships with current friends, prospects and customers.

Best of all, it doesn’t take nearly as much time to engage with these people via Faceook as it does to write an email or even a blog post. But you can still communicate and offer deals with ease.

While there are all kinds of benefits of social media for Wichita small businesses, some of the most important benefits are also the simplest. If you’re still on the fence regarding starting or increasing your involvement in social media for your Wichita marketing campaign, here is some more evidence to support it.

As highlighted in an article from American Express Open that has been referenced many times, having a social media presence and maintaining at least minimal contact with your audiences can help you keep tabs on competitors and get all kinds of feedback from customers. What would you rather do, conduct expensive research or get actionable data straight from customers on Facebook?

You can also use Facebook to build relationships with current friends, prospects and customers.

Best of all, it doesn’t take nearly as much time to engage with these people via Faceook as it does to write an email or even a blog post. But you can still communicate and offer deals with ease.

If  you want to learn more, call us at 316.305.8358. Or visit http://littlebigadguys.com/the-marketing-needs-assessment/.