REPORTSPECIAL
Are you one of the many skeptics out there
thinking, “Why in the world has ValleyCrest ventured into social media?” Cat’s out of
the bag, folks—social media has become one
of the main forms of personal and business-
to-business (B-2-B) communication across
the globe and it’s here to stay. Still not a
believer? Remember the days when e-mail
was considered a “trend?” How many times
have you e-mailed today?
Looks like that statement got your attention!
How did social media get its start? Well, marketers
found many of their customers were talking about
them online. Instead of ignoring, deleting or just plain
scrutinizing those discussions, companies decided to
join in and engage in real-time, open, honest and casual
dialogue directly with their customers. At ValleyCrest,
we had to face the facts—we could join in or be left
behind.
Let’s talk about ValleyCrest’s approach to social media,
how we’re performing and why we know we’re making
a significant impact. Before we get into it, an important
disclaimer:
Nothing replaces face-to-face interaction in our line of business. Social media helps to build relationships, trust and credibility by enabling us to listen to our customers, share informative content and provide another avenue of customer support.
ValleyCrest has long been the best-known landscape
industry brand offline. Now, we’re widely considered
VALLEYCREST, MEET SOCIAL MEDIA
the best online landscape company, too, recognized by
many as social media pioneers and industry innovators.
We’ve had major successes since our start and are
continuing to measure and fine tune the fruits of our
labor. Our social media goals include:
•Increasebrandawareness•ShowahumansidetoourBIGcompany
•Nurtureexistingrelationships•Drivenewbusinessopportunities•Identifyqualitytalent&prospectiveemployees•Demonstrateindustrythoughtleadership•Increasenetworkingopportunities•Boostabilitytofieldcustomerservicesuccesses,inquiries&issues
One of our most successful campaigns is #landscapechat, a weekly Twitter discussion about landscape topics and
trends. From snow management plans to design-build
and sustainable landscape best practices, we cover the
gamut of hot button industry topics. We’ll spotlight a
customer (i.e. Associa) or association (i.e. Design-Build
Institute of America) and position ValleyCrest as the
expert. We’ve found the involvement of our customers,
associations and the media on Twitter is growing each
and every week. Snippets of our discussions have been
shared on Twitter and beyond—via blogs, association
newsletters, industry news articles and customer
Facebook pages.
See how fun and informational it is for yourself—tune in on Wednesdays 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific (just click
the Twitter icon on the intranet Homepage to access
the ValleyCrest Twitter feed).
ValleyCrest’s social media campaign, started January 2011, has directly impacted the number of sales leads coming throughwww.valleycrest.com from 217 in 2010
to 356 as of October 2011
“Social media is the
use of web-based and mo-
bile technologies that turn
communication into inter-
active dialogue” — Wikipedia entry for
“Definition of Social Media”
ValleyCrest has hosted #landscapechat discussions on Twitter since March 2011
Each #landscapechat
reaches an average of
30,000 Twitter users WEEKLY
90%
28 A few of the customers tweeting with @ValleyCrest
regularly:
There are
28,000 corporate blogs
on the Web today
55% of
the construction industry has a Facebook account
10 LinkedIn Groups to Join & Network:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
SOCIAL MEDIA SNAPSHOTS2,980,000
LinkedIn users
are in the
construction industry alone
(Source: Construction Marketing Association)
LinkedIn has
800+ property management
networking groups
of LinkedIn’s
100 million
users participate in groups to network & share subject-matter expertise
56% of users are more likely to recommend a service provider they fan on Facebook (Source: Mashable)
Visitors arriving on
www.valleycrest.com via
social media channels spend
(on average)
longer on
our site than
anyone else
Of the Top 10 referring sites to www.valleycrest.com, social media channels rank:
#3
#8
#9
www.valleycrest.com receives
22,000visitors each month
2minutes
WHEN&HOWWEGETSOCIAL
Social Media Channel
Social Media Channel GoalsNetwork Reach Where To Find Us
Corporate Blog a.k.a. ValleyCrest Takes On: Water Management
5,000+ Followers5,300 tweets to date
500+ Fans or “Likes”
800+ unique visitors each month
1,100+ Followers on Company Profile; Fantastic business development usage company-wide to build relationships and share thought leadership
Average 3,180 views per month; 102 views per day
Average 670 views per month
27 customers who publicly reviewed us in four months – all with 4 or 5 stars
Build brand awareness, spread company news, increase thought leadership
Strengthen brand awareness, trustworthiness and efforts to attract talent by presenting “human side” of ValleyCrest
Promote thought leadership by discussing relevant trends, innovation and resources concerning water management
Leverage B-2-B networking, increase sales opportunities and recruitment opportunities, promote thought leadership
Showcase beautiful photography across nation
Showcase talent and thought leadership through how-to, informational and viral videos
Customers can post public reviews of ValleyCrest’s work directly on new tree care websites. The approach is much like the Yelp philosophy—let them speak, let others decide and hopefully we learn how to be a better service provider because of it
www.twitter.com/valleycrestSearch: #landscapechat @ValleyCrest
valleycresttakeson.com
www.linkedin.com/company/valleycrest-companies
www.flickr.com/valleycrest
www.youtube.com/valleycrestlandscape
www.facebook.com/valleycrestlandscape Check It Out – we just launched the corporate Facebook page!www.facebook.com/careersatvalleycrest
www.treecareservices.com
Toseereviews,visitourPhoenix,So Cal or Nor Cal pages!
ValleyCrest Tree Care Services
Local Websites Customer Reviews
1. Like,Follow&ConnectWithUs. Visit the intranet Homepage to access the LIVE feeds of all our pages. Simply click on the icons on the left hand side. Then, “Like,” “Follow,” and “Connect” with us. Note that except for LinkedIn (open to all users) you’ll only be able to access pages via the direct links we’ve provided while inside the ValleyCrest network. Attempting access any other way or trying to sign into your account will block you from the social sites.
2. Spread the word! • VisittheintranetMarketingpagefortools&tips
• Sendyourcustomersane-mailthatlinkstoallournetwork pages
• Printoutoursocialmediaone-pagerstouseat trade shows, meetings, Lunch n’ Learns, etc.
3. Learn the ropes. Create a LinkedIn account. If you’re already a user, get more familiar with all the bells and whistles and you’ll be leveraging your relationships in no time.
4. Know your stuff. Check out the cool facts on the precedingpagetobecomeaSocialMediaSuperstar!
5. Enjoy yourself. Mostimportantly,haveFUN and get engaged!Asareminder,you’rerepresentingValleyCrestwhether you’re on the clock or off. Use social media wiselyandrefertoValleyCrest’sSocialMediaPolicyshould the need arise.
5WAYSTOGOSOCIALWITHVALLEYCREST!
BREAKING NEWSispublishedfortheemployeesofValleyCrestbyitsMarketingDepartment.Please send branch news and information, digital photos and story ideas to
[email protected], or call 818.737.3131. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our apologies and notify us.