Blogging & Why Companies Should

Hey Everyone,

 I am taking a class on Social Media Marketing at BCIT.  We had a question posed to the class this week regarding whether or not we felt that blogging should be important to companies.  In my opinion, the answer is YES!  Why not separate yourself form the competition?

Although blogging can take a lot of time, I feel it is a valuable tool for any industry and something they should partake in.

1. Blogs give you some insight to what a brand is really about and what it stands for.
Myself as a consumer, I am more apt to purchase something from a company that I know about and aligns with my interests in values.  For example, I am a fan of Lululemon.  Not only because I like their products, but because they give me information on things that are of interest to me on their blog.

2.  Relational Marketing
Blogs are an easy way to communicate with your target audience.  I don't want to be blasted with advertisements constantly.  However, post an article that interests me and ask my opinion? I'd be flattered and more than happy to offer my two cents.

3. Blogs are cheap
By cheap, I mean inexpensive.  The only large cost associated with blogs is the time it takes to create insightful content and respond to those who hopefully engage with you.  Companies spend thousands of dollars pushing a single advertisement out hoping to get a single message across.  Why not get your message across constantly? Makes sense to me!

4.  Blogs are great for SEO
Blogs are great for giving companies an increased presence on search engine rankings and driving traffic to company websites.

Do you read company blogs that are of interest to you? Any in the fitness and health industry that you could recommend?  I would love to hear from you.

Happy Trails!

Court

On Track? Steve Nash Fitness Clubs

Hey Everyone!

I have been a member of Steve Nash Fitness clubs for a number of years (formerly Fitness World).  I tend to use the gym when the weather is poor, which I suppose, is right about now.

There seems to be a lot of competition in the fitness club industry in Vancouver and surrounding area.  We have seen a lot of new facilities popping up all over the place,  some offering very competitive prices.  So, I decided to see were my gym fit in among the masses.  What are people saying about Steve Nash Fitness?

To figure this out, I took to social media.  There are a number of social media tracking tools available to not only see what Steve Nash Fitness Clubs are saying to us, but what and how we feel about them.

I started off using Addict-o-matic which is a free search tool that combines your search over a whole plethora of social media platforms, such as blogs, Twitter,  YouTube, etc.

Addict-o-matic gave me some good insight as where to start and where their social media presence was. Being that Steve Nash is a prominent athlete, I did end up receiving a bunch of results that were not really relevant to my search on the fitness facilities.

I really liked the layout of this app as everything was very clear to read and easy to navigate through.

Next, I moved on to Social Mention.  This site is pretty cool.  This site not only gathers information on your search on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, but also picks up content from blogs.  Social Mention also shows you stats of keywords, platforms and the top hashtags used.  It also attempts to rate sentiment.  Once again, because of the chatter of Steve Nash, the athlete, a lot of the results were irrelevant but it was not difficult to filter out.

I went on to explore Boardreader to see what people were saying about the gyms in Vancouver to see where my gym ranked.  This is neat tool for anyone looking for any specific threads on discussion boards. You just plug in your keywords and it pulls all of the results for you.

At the end of the day, here is a sample of what people had to say regarding Steve Nash Fitness.

I looked at what people were saying to try to get a feel for how my gym was doing in the big scheme of things. For each comment, I used a ranking system. (-1 for negative, 0 for neutral, +1 for positive.

I do tend to believe that people tend to complain more than they do boast on social media so I take everything with a grain of salt.  For this exercise, however, I am looking to see what problems people are having with my gym and what Steve Nash is willing to do about it.  For the most part, the company did respond to all complaints.

Here is a summary and you can find the comments/conversations below.

What do you think about Steve Nash Fitness Clubs?  Do you belong to a gym that you would recommend?  If so, why?  I would love to hear from you!

Happy Trails!

Court

Lululemon X-STATIC about Strategic Alliance Partnership

Social Media Release: 

On September 12, 2013, Noble Biomaterials Inc. announced a global strategic alliance with Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc. The partnership gives Lululemon exclusive use of Noble's X-STATIC antimicrobial technology into their sought after performance wear.

Noble's X-STATIC is made with almost one hundred percent metallic silver and is woven directly into the garment providing permanent odour protection.   It is said that it will not come out, even after having being washed. It is the same material that has been integrated into Lululemon's Silverescent fabric for a number of years.  More information on the "Anti Stink" ingredient can be found  on the x-static site.

This exclusive partnership will help Lululemon in keeping the competitive advantage when it comes to 'Anti Stink' workout gear.

See the Silverescent Story Here



Quotes:
"lululemon has worked with Noble for nearly a decade to differentiate our products and we welcome the opportunity to solidify this partnership" said Christine Day, CEO of lululemon.


Relevant Link:

Original lululemon press release

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=1af16202-5f14-4161-87fe-be77bb87ab1e&k=85007

http://luluaddict.blogspot.ca/2011/06/stinky-men-silverescent-love.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/lululemon-selling-anti-stink-clothing-2013-9