FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE FREEZER TO TOP OF MINDMICHELINA’S: HOW TO TAKE A BRAND ONLINE IN 2013

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Mobile Websites & Apps

Social Media Marketing

Search Marketing

Email Marketing

Analytics & Reporting

Responsive Websites & Design

STEVE RETKA: SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

ABOUT ME ABOUT SPYDER TRAPMINNEAPOLIS-BASED DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY

Selected as one of the “100 Best Companies To Work For” two years in a row, here are few of the reasons our clients have said they’ve chosen to work with us year after year:

Involved with all aspects of social media marketing, from digital strategy and ideation to campaign execution and reporting. I have coordinated the launch of multiple profiles across different social media channels, as well as organized promotions, contests, and engagement events.

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THE CHALLENGE WE FACED

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ABOUT MICHELINA’S

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FROZEN FOOD BRAND THAT HADN’T WARMED TO DIGITAL

Michelina’s is a nationally-distributed frozen food company based in Minneapolis.

The brand had little to no online presence before 2013

• Limited traditional marketing

• No social media presence

Underwent a complete rebranding before coming to Spyder Trap

• Refocused the brand on positivity, sentiment, and appealing to life enthusiasts

• Branding re-defined by CBX

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RESEARCH & GOALSMEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE APPROACH STILL APPLIES

Before developing a digital strategy, we had to assess 3 things:

• Where the brand was at digitally

• How they stacked up against competitors

• What they wanted to get out of social

What we found:

• A lot of conversation was already happening

• Polarizing sentiment among users

• Social media was a highly competitive space

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THE PATH WE TOOK

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HOLISTIC APPROACHSOCIAL MEDIA IS JUST ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

Once we had a strategy determined, we utilized all aspects of digital to strengthen each other

Strategy components:

Established Facebook and Twitter profiles

Launched paid advertising effort

Revamped email marketing strategy

Designed and launched the new Michelinas.com

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HOLISTIC APPROACH

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FINDING THE VOICE OF MAMA MICHELINA WAS KEY

Tone was a major part of the new branding we were given, and had to be incorporated

Prewritten content tone matched the new branding and reflect the language on the website

• Positivity and life enthusiasm

• Warm and wholesome

Tone on Twitter was adjusted to better fit the channel

• Users talking about the brand didn’t fit with the new branding’s demographic

• Kept the overall positivity in tone

• Introduced more humor for broader appeal

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REAL RESULTS

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STRONG DIGITAL GROWTH SO FAR

Apr May Jun Jul Aug0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Social Media GrowthMichelina’s has seen remarkable growth in the first 5 months on social media

• Over 20K Facebook fans

• 4K Twitter followers

• Thousands of new social media traffic referrals, a

previously untapped resource

• Increased coupon downloads

• Stronger and more streamlined customer service

protocol

• Improved sentiment in the social media space

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THE LESSONS WE LEARNED

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BE AGILE AND TAKE RISKS

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MAKE PLANS FOR THE LONG TERM, BUT BE READY TO CHANGE THEM

We knew the brand was slow getting into social, but we were determined to make them fast once they arrived

Social media was completely new ground for the brand, and user reaction was unknown at launch

Initial ad spend was influenced and adjusted based on popularity of posts

• “Mama’s Words of Wisdom” post was promoted after initial traction, wound up getting 19K likes

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BE AGILE AND TAKE RISKS

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SPEED IS MORE IMPORTANT TODAY THAN EVER

We wanted to capitalize on Game 7 of the NBA Finals with a 2-hour microburst Twitter ad campaign

• Targeted promoted tweets to followers of each teams Twitter account

• Each team’s fan base was shown a specific tweet

The entire process went from ideation to completion in 6 hours

The results justified the approach:

• 187K impressions

• Over 2K clicks• 37 mentions

• 5% increase in followers

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DON’T HEAR, LISTEN

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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CAN PAY DIVIDENDS LATER

We set up a listening campaign to find existing conversations about Michelina’s that were already taking place

• Taking advantage of low hanging fruit

• Grassroots effort to build rapport with users

One on one engagement was important

• Low risk, high reward

Variety of conversation allowed for more creative responses

• Humor and customer service became our distinguishing factor from competitors

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RISE ABOVE THE NOISE

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CAMPAIGN-LEVEL THINKING HELPS YOU STAND OUT

Organic content alone makes it difficult for brands to stand out from the millions of other accounts

• User attention is now a commodity

“Make It Your Michelina’s” campaign

• The first campaign for Michelina’s

• Encourages users to share how they make their Michelina’s recipe ideas through user-submitted entries

Offers a variety of media opportunities:

• Owned: Brand-created content in August

• Paid: Paid advertising efforts and influencer outreach

• Earned: Blogger content and user submissions

THANK YOU