Monday, May 27, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Got content? You need it. Why? Because it's already happening withoutyou.
Yelp. Twitter. Urbanspoon. TripAdvisor. Facebook. Yellowpages. Google Places. People are talking about your business, whether you want them to or not.
And if you're in the highly competitive, small-margin business, like the food industry, for example, it can be scary to have people telling your story when you don't have one of your own. (Please visit hanspetermeyer.com for the rest of this story).
Content basicsIf you've got a content strategy and are rolling it out, and especially if you're a food or beverage business doing so (because it's what we're about at EatDrinkMEDIA.ca), I want to hear from you. Please tell me about your content strategy here...
If you're wanting help (content creation, coaching, etc), and you've got content delivery mechanism (blog, Facebook page with Notes enabled, YouTube channel), I can help.
If you don't have these basic elements... time's a wasting folks!
-hpmChief Creative Officer
EatDrinkMEDIA.ca
"media + research services for Vancouver Island's local food sector"
21 May 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Organic? Local? Cheapest? What you told us during week 3 of #26Q
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| Q4 of #26Q asked: Organic? Local? Cheapest? How do you choose your groceries? |
On March 11 we asked via Facebook post: Organic? Local? Cheapest? How do you choose your groceries? The static SayZu image (above) shows the results. For the interactive SayZu results, click this link.
We started #26Q because we wanted to generate some intelligence about people's attitudes, and because we thought that just asking the questions would start people thinking about what's important about food in their lives. The results so far have been fun, and they've helped the "story-telling" side of what all socio-economic change and business growth needs. Thanks to Salt Spring Coffee for sponsoring a weekly draw for coffee as an inspiration to participate. Here's why they're on board...
Related articles
#26Q - Just 1 question a week (about Vancouver Island #localfood)(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Week 2 of #26Q about #localfood on Vancouver Island(hanspetermeyer.com)
We asked about your top 5 veggie staples and you said...(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Who makes the best clam chowder on Vancouver Island? Tell us to win a "Backyard Oyster BBQ" for 6!(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Monday, May 13, 2013
Is your Vancouver Island local food business getting enough attention?
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| Results of our week 13 question |
Our #26QLocalFood series of questions about Vancouver Island local food is about several things. Most of all, it's about getting attention for local food businesses.
But it's also about getting people thinking about the Island's local food and beverage sector. As others post and comment, the "presence" of this sector as part of our food system and as part of our regional economy is elevated. A good thing.
Market research
Secondly, it tells those of us working in the sector – whether as growers/producers, vendors, or in marketing – about the "state of the online conversation." How informed are people? Where are we missing the mark? Where are we hitting the mark? What are the opportunities for growth? What are the obstacles? And so on. Basic market research.
Three, it tells us who is doing a good job of getting their message out, and who's got a devoted volunteer marketing force at work for them. This graphic is an example. We asked you to tell us about 5 Vancouver Island wineries you've visited or are planning to visit. How many wineries are there on Vancouver Island? One of my trusted wine sources says about 46 (the number changes frequently). How many were identified as "places visited or planning to visit?" 18. And at least 2 of these are not wineries but cider producers.
Want to get noticed?
Are Island wineries doing a good job of getting their name "out there" and in front of media-savvy folks? It doesn't look like it.
If you're a Vancouver Island producer and you want to be noticed there is help available. It's what we do at EatDrinkMEDIA.ca via blogs, print, and EatDrinkVancouverIsland.tv. But we're just one option and may not fit what you want to do. There are plenty of writers, photographers, videographers, and skilled social media folks who can help you change your game. Get in touch with them – or us – and get your brand and your flavour on the tips of people's tongues. Once you've convinced them you're worth tasting, they'll be helping sing your song.
-hpm
13 May 2013
ps. one of the easiest ways to raise your profile amongst Island food-savvy folks is to work with us on one of our Island local food campaigns. We're all about growing the local food culture and economy on the Island. Take a look and see if our values are consistent with yours.
Related articles
- We asked about your top 5 veggie staples and you said...(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
We asked about your top 5 veggie staples and you said...
On April 29, 2013 we asked you – primarily via two Facebook posts – to tell us, What are 5 staple veggies that you always want on hand? This graphic shows you the top 10 (of 1300+ words) from the greater Vancouver Island region. Thanks to SayZu.com technology and sponsorship for making this easy.
If you've missed our #26QLocalFood series, find out more at the "landing page" here. You can also answer all current questions (we're asking just 1 per week) at our online survey here. Please share these links. It's a good way to support our local food economy on Vancouver Island.
-hpm
6 May 2013
Related articles
- Who makes the best clam chowder on Vancouver Island? Tell us to win a "Backyard Oyster BBQ" for 6!(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Chef Philipe Gagne talks about the Spring menu at The Breakwater(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Update and focus your content strategy to reach influentials
I came across this post by Jason Mogus this summer. It's a great summary of a "lead by communicating content that matters" message. I think this is an important strategy – for small businesses in the food/drink sector as much as it is for the NGO, big business, or government sector. Here's a quote:
"Many clients are asking whether it still makes sense to have a blog in today's busy world. Related questions about how to focus diffuse social media experiments, what the point of their website is, and whether they need to refresh their email newsletters all point to the lack of an up to date organizational content strategy. As most folks I work with are in the business of influencing decision makers, with important solutions, analysis, and commentary on the major issues of our times, the answer is clear: yes you need to do it all well!"
Jason's latest post talks about the importance of keeping the focus on the "one big thing" that you, your business, your organization is about – at the same time as covering the many bases needed to be effective as a communicator. More good stuff. Thanks Jason!
If you're interested in what this means for you, as the owner of a restaurant, local food co-op, chef, bartender, or anyone involved in local food on Vancouver Island, be in touch.
-hpm
for EatDrinkMEDIA.ca
14 November 2012
Beer on Twitter, 200km around Vancouver. Who's listening?
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| Image 1: What the "beer" chatter looked like at 12:45pm, 12 February 2013 200km around Vancouver, via SayZu.com |
The opening graphic, thanks to SayZu.com campaign monitoring and engagement software, is a static image of what the top 200 words in the Twitter beer chatter looks like in a larger market: 200km radius around Vancouver. To see the dynamic, always-updating image (with over 5000 tweets about beer as of 13 May 2013) go here: http://www.hanspetermeyer.com/2013/02/beer-on-twitter-200km-around-vancouver.html
Another word cloud?You'll see a word cloud. But not just another word cloud. This is a word cloud that updates as people tweet about beer within 200km around Nanaimo. This is a word cloud that you can "drill" into: Clicking on words or "re-clouding" on words helps us understand the jumble. Filtering words out using the dictionary function helps to clarify the image and identify key themes, ideas. If you're selling beer in the highly competitive BC market, you should be finding this kind of tool very useful.
Why is this important?
The work we do through EatDrinkMEDIA.ca is all about "good food, local food." Mostly we focus on what's happening on Vancouver Island. Right now – February 2013 – we're asking people to tell us about their Vancouver Island local beer experiences.
EatDrinkMEDIA.ca is about using various media channels and survey tools to find the Vancouver Island good food, local food story, and then help spread it around. Using tools like SayZu as part of our "social media command centre" (see more about what that means at this Hootsuite webinar) means we can capture images of online chatter, and then drill down to see what's important: Not only who's saying what (Hootsuite does a great job of that - hat's off to them!), but what's the mood, what are the dominant ideas/memes in the chatter.
Knowing the dominant ideas/memes helps us to understand both how to tell the story of our clients, but also to respond. We can answer areas of concern. We can help celebrate good news, good feelings. We can see what's important to people. And that, from a social media management perspective, especially given the "firehose of information" that hits whenever you turn on the faucet, is very important.
hanspetermeyer
Chief Creative Officer at EatDrinkMEDIA.ca
12 February 2013
Related articles
Like Vancouver Island beer? Tell us about it. Win $100 at The Wave(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Celebrating Vancouver Island #localfoodhero(s) - early results(bonvivantvancouverisland.com)
Don McLellan talks about local food, local beer at the Waverley Hotel in Cumberland(eatdrinkcomoxvalley.com)
7 Essential Social Media Tools To Stand Out Online
A reblog of a collection of useful online tools everyone should have s look at
7 Essential Social Media Tools To Stand Out Online
We asked: What are your kids' favourite local foods? You told us... and @SayZu interpreted
Every week we ask a Vancouver Island #localfood question. On Monday, April 8 we asked: What are your kids' favourite local foods? Here's what you told us, as described by the SayZu.com interactive word cloud and analytics machine.
We asked: What are your kids' favourite local foods? You told us... and @SayZu interpreted