Victor Del Villar Victor Del Villar

Public Relations

Conclusion: I am Your Customer – Why PR is Important

As a marketer, I pay attention when I am out and about, and a lot of companies need help. From paying attention to a company’s signage during the commute to work, to a company’s online presence, I often ask myself how I could help this company. From things like consistent branding by setting up company emails (dumping Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail), or even something as simple as setting up a voicemail. Believe it or not, I tend to notice simple things as an opportunity for your company when I buy from them. When these important items are not in place, your business can look sloppy to your consumers.

My other half and I went on a cruise recently and decided to park off-site at a third-party cruise company parking with shuttle service to our cruise terminal. We did some online vetting by going to the websites, social media profiles, and checked out reviews. The most common theme with these companies was the lack of online presence. They had a real lack of any tangible information about them online that could help me make the best possible purchasing decision. Because of this lack of real company information available online and like many other consumers, we decided to roll the dice so to speak and book with the closest company to the cruise port.

We mapped out our entire disembarkation strategy based on the parking company’s direction and protocol.They were clear when they took us to the cruise terminal before the cruise “Try to get off of the ship early! From 7:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., we only pick up cruise passengers at the terminals, so the wait times will be much less.” They continued “After 10:30 traffic is two-way and the wait times will be much longer”. We were among the first 30 people to disembark from the ship at 7:15 a.m. Upon debarkation,, we called the company so that we could be picked up. We noticed the phone just rang and rang with no recorded voicemail, or real way to identify the company. The website did not list the customer service hours of operations nor did the Google My Business Page. That’s when we realized this company needed a lot of help. We thought it would be smooth sailing but it was a disaster.

Something as simple as listing customer service hours of operations on your website and via your Google My Business page can save customers a headache trying to reach you. Having consistency in the information a company puts online can mean the difference between getting more business or losing customers to a competitor. Unfortunately, none of our options did a great job with their public relations. If we were able to vet these companies and not base our decision off of solely location we would have moved on to the next company. As consumers, these factors make or break a sale, which makes having a positive branding experience and consistency for your company all the more critical. Even having updated images on social media, your website, or Google My Business page can give a company a big boost and seem more reputable to a consumer. The information has to be easy to find.

During our cruise to the Bahamas, we took a tour of a Rum Distillery. We were very impressed with the branding of the company and their tour guide who was very articulate and knew the history very well. Looking online there was no question as to when the company hours were, it was written clearly. From social media to the website to Google My Business page. Looking at their Instagram, it appeared as if they had an in-house marketing team or hired an advertising firm. Their graphics were high quality, their captions were captivating, their hashtags were relevant, and their Pinterest profile was wanderlust worthy. If given the choice between two distilleries, I would opt for this one in my vetting process every time.

The moral of the story is that if companies take the time to invest in their public relations, branding and online presence it can and will attract more customers, and make a company stand out above the rest. Small attention to detail could help sway a purchaser’s decision and it could even help with word of mouth both on social media and in talking to their friends. It does not matter if a company just started out or if it’s been in business for years. Investing the time and money can help provide more convenient service for customers and keep them coming back. It can also help prevent one-star reviews and help create more 5-star reviews.

Social Media Marketing Melbourne FL

Why Your Brand Should Be On Pinterest.

What are the perks of having your business or brand on Pinterest to utilize social media marketing Melbourne FL?  It’s a place to showcase your brand or business to an engaged, niche market.  There are over 200 million monthly Pinterest users worldwide. Out of that figure, a lot of folks are looking to seek and share helpful ideas.  Pinterest often acts as an information resource for many users and that’s why it’s a good place to showcase your brand or business. Did you know that 40% of Pinterest users have a household income of $100k+?  That is a huge audience with spending power!

Pinterest is where people come to for inspiration based on their interests.  Every inspiration is represented by a Pin, which is an image that is searched and saved to a users board.  Pins can also have links back to a brands website. This is why Pinterest is great for generating traffic back to a business website.  Some folks may be coming to Pinterest for an idea and may accidentally discover a brand or business that they like. It is recommended that a link always is included with a pin.  This could be to an article, a brands blog, or a website. The difference between Pinterest and Instagram is that one can add links to each pin on Pinterest. On Instagram, a user can only put a link in the bio. Adding a link to a pin makes it super easy for a user to get more information about a product or service and all the more likely that they take out their credit cards to make a purchase. Pinterest drives 3.8 times more sales than other platforms and 87% of Pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest and social media marketing Melbourne FL.  

Pinterest may not have as many users as Facebook or Instagram but what makes it especially valuable is it’s a search engine.  Another thing to note is to take a look at who uses Pinterest and if that is the desired target audience. Let’s take a look at who is using Pinterest.  In the U.S. it has been reported that up to half of all millennials use Pinterest. 66% of users are females ages 25- 54 globally, with the male demographic growing everyday. There is a wide variety of interests that are being shared on Pinterest daily.  There are a lot of users who use Pinterest for inspiration every day. That inspiration could be in the form of Travel, Food, Fashion, Interior Design, Hairstyles, Makeup, cars, and many more interests. Let’s take a brand or a business in the Travel industry as an example.  Someone can create boards with their top bucket list destinations but may discover a new dream destination they may not know about. They spend all their extra time learning about this new dream destination like for instance say Tulum Mexico. Before Pinterest, they may not have known about this destination using Google or Facebook.  For a hotel in Tulum who has their business on Pinterest, they could find their pin being discovered all of sudden. One thing may lead to another and before you know it, you may have a reservation booked.

Another example is a user who loves coastal decor.  They want to decorate their new home but does not know where to start.  For a business who carries coastal decor, this is great because they may be discovered by this consumer and many others like them.  The user types in coastal decor as their keyword. They will get a lot for pins with ideas from a coastal living room to a coastal dining room. As the user scrolls down looking at the pins, they can create pins of their own or add pins to their Coastal Decor Ideas board. That board may then be discoverable to that user’s network.  Now the chances of a pin being viewed by more users have gone up.  If it is repinned and shared, then it just multiplies in views.  They say that the life of a pin goes on forever. That’s because if people keep sharing it, then it won’t just sit in the dark like on other social platforms.  If a brand or business’s target audience is on Pinterest and they have not tapped into a part of the business strategy, they could be missing out on a wonderful opportunity to grow and a huge aspect of social media marketing Melbourne FL.

Anyone who has been on Pinterest knows that it is highly active.  A Pinterest user can go from Pinning a dreamy Tulum yoga retreat to organizing a week trip complete with Tulum outfit ideas, places to eat, and what to do.  Pinterest boards keep everything organized so that users can later refer to their Pins in an organized fashion. Brands and Businesses like to ask the question, how did you hear about us.  They love to hear Pinterest because they know they are well represented on this social platform.

The AD Leaf ® wants to help get your company on track for successful social media marketing Melbourne FL with Pinterest and all social platforms! We focus on the big picture and understand the strategies to get the most out of your social channels. We will collaborate with you to cultivate your unique brand, improve your internet presence, exposure, and client base. For more information about the benefits of social media marketing Melbourne FL, contact us today at info@theadleaf.com or give us a call at 321-255-0900.