Final Paper (Ye Olde Pepper Companie)

•             Executive Summary

 

According to the book “The New Influencers”, in Web2.0 world, anybody can use blog and the Internet to become somebody. Blogs and the Internet can make it possible for people to publish quickly and easily under their own name. However, small business can also use social media to have more visibility and gain more attention from customers. It’s a good chance for small business to promote their products or services through social media. Because social media is really easy to use and it’s free.

Web 2.0 technologies can help small company create a virtual community that will keep the business on the top of your fans’ mind and  allows them to engage with new prospective customers. (Klein, 2009) Small business can utilize social media to communicate with potential customers and it also can help to build and maintain the relationships. The best thing is that small businesses are capable of acting quicker rather than big companies.

Above all, these are the reasons why I think Ye Olde Pepper Companie should use more social media and more often to promote themselves. The following paragraphs show a brief overview of how Ye Olde Pepper Companie uses  social media and what kind of social media they chose to use. I will explain the effectiveness of the social media. I also will utilize the metrics to analyze the data and see how well they are doing online.. Moreover, I will give Ye Olde Pepper Companie some recommendations and sample campaigns to accomplish this paper.

•                  Introduction of the Company

According to their main website, Ye Olde Pepper Companie is the oldest candy store in America which located in Salem, Massachusetts. The company is rich in history and dates back to 1806, it started with an English woman named Spencer was shipwrecked and landed in Salem in a rather destitute condition. When Mrs. Spencer died, her son carried on the business until about 1830, after which he decided to return to England. The company was then sold to a John William Pepper, under whose leadership the company prospered for many years, adding many items to its catalogue such as the Black Jack (an all natural stick candy made from black strap molasses).

•             Overview of Social Media which they use

a.          Main Website

Ye Olde Pepper Companie’s main website is http://www.peppercandy.net/index.html. This website provides the basic information about the candy store. The design of the main website is really simple and easy to use. Even if it is their first time to this website, visitors still can find anything they need easily. You can find lots information through it. You can see the lists of the candies, the location of the store, and the contact information on this website. Customers can order their candies online. If visitors have any questions they can see the frequently asked questions to find the answers.

b.          Facebook

The Facebook page of Ye Olde Pepper Companie provides much information, such as the new events and the latest photos on it. You can also see the interactions between the company and customers. This candy store will post their updated events for the coming festival. Most of the messages which posted by customers were replied to in a short time. According to Facebook, you can see there are 237 people like this page.

c.          Foursquare

Based on the record, there are only 1 people visits this page and have the only check-ins. There is no mayor and no post on the page so far. Obviously, it needs lots of improvement to attract more potential customers to visit this page.

•           Current Metrics

a.          Social Mention

According to Socialmention.com, in mid-April, the Ye Olde Pepper Companie had a neutral and positive brand in social media. Overall, Social Mention gave Ye Olde Pepper Companie 2% in strength, 31% passion, and 8% in reach.

People can use many key words to find this candy store, but the most common word is pepper. According to the listed sources on Socialmention.com, there is no retweets this month. Moreover, this brand will be mentioned every 6 hours in the Internet.

b.          Google Insights

According to Google Insights, worldwide searches for Ye Olde Pepper Companie peaked in October (2009) last year. The search key words are “Ye Olde Pepper Companie”.

c.          Compete

According to Compete.com, the people who visit http://peppercandy.net/ are growth 28.94% in March, 2011. The visit times also growth 28.94% last month.

•       Recommendations

In present world, the company can use social media to listen to their customers and embrace low-cost, low-control social media technology to drive awareness and increase word-of-mouth. They don’t have to pay lots money to promote themselves. The company can also use social media to connect their customers. The opinion from the customers is a good way to realize what their real thoughts are. The company can listen where are the problems and decide how to solving these problems. Social media can let company connect with consumers directly.

Social media also become a good way to promote the company and can create buzz without any payment. In this way, I suggest Ye Olde Pepper Companie should use more social media to communicate with more customers. I will give some advices directly for each social media medium they used and the social media they should use. In order to improve the ways how they use social media to reach out the potential customers.

a.          Main Website

You can find lots information about Ye Olde Pepper Companie through the main website. However, you cannot see the messages from the social media they use. The company should post the links to each social media on the main page. They also should update the event related to social media on the main website. In order to attract more customers who use different social media. It also can make sure all of the channels are deliver the same messages at the same time.

b.          Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site that haslots of users around the world. Through Facebook, Ye Olde Pepper Companie can receive the comments from the customers and can have conversations with them directly. It builds two-way communication. Facebook users who check in to a store or click the "like" button for a brand may soon find those actions retransmitted on their friends' pages. (Ortuay, 2011) It’s a good way to promote a company.

I suggest Ye Olde Pepper Companie should post messages more often and can have votes or some interesting discussion rather than just delivering marketing messages on Facebook. It can reveal the real thoughts of their customers. You also can get the ideas from them. For example, Ye Olde Pepper Companie can have a discussion on what kind of chocolate they want to eat most right now. That may make people have the desire to eat chocolate and create more business. Or they can have a vote on what kind of fruit they want to eat with chocolate. It may become the new product in the store.

c.           Twitter

Attracting a large group of local followers on Twitter can be a great asset for a local business. It allows the company to extend special promotions and aggressive offers in real time. The tweets can be received from mobile devices. 40 percent of all tweets are now composed on mobile devices — which is twice the amount of mobile tweeting a year ago. (Janisch, 2011)

I recommend Ye Olde Pepper Companie should start to use Twitter to communicate with their customers. If they have a new product, the company should post the messages on Twitter let people update the information immediately.

a.          Foursquare

Only one people checked in on their Foursquare page. Ye Olde Pepper Companie should promote itself more often through Foursquare. I suggest they can offer some free chocolate when they become the mayor and to the 50 check-ins at the same time. It can encourage repeat visits and more check-ins among its fan base.

b.          YouTube

If you type Ye Olde Pepper Companie as the key word to search on YouTube, you will get 7 results. None of them were posted by Ye Olde Pepper Companie. There are 140 million viewers per month and there may have plenty of potential customers in it. It’s a good way to interact with the viewers and get instant feedbacks from them.

I recommend they also posted some videos on YouTube to promote their candies and deliver the messages to the customers. For example, Ye Olde Pepper Companie can post the process how they make their candies or they can just tape the chocolate and candies. Sometimes the simple way is the best. Tasty chocolate can always attract the attention from the customers. The messages which Ye Olde Pepper Companie posted on YouTube can spread out immediately without the framing of time and space. Without spending lots money, Ye Olde Pepper Companie still can earn customers and have more visibility.

•          Sample Campaigns

a.          Testimonials

I suggest Ye Olde Pepper Companie can encourage people to record how they think about their candies and post the videos on YouTube and Facebook. People will believe opinions from the peers on the Internet rather than advertisements on the television. Moreover, they can have a vote or discussion on Facebook and Twitter. Try to make customers express their voices through social media. Those reviews and opinions can create traffic to attract more and more customers through social media.

b.          Festival Campaigns

I recommend Ye Olde Pepper Companie can have special campaigns based on different festivals and also served unique kinds of chocolate in limited time. For example, they can offer a chocolate looks like a witch served during Halloween. Or during the Valentine’s Day, all the chocolate and candies will have a heart shape. It can make customers feel interested and have willing to taste the special chocolate.

c.          Mail Catalog or Flyers

Vivid catalog and flyers can create the desire to make people want have chocolate. I suggest Ye Olde Pepper Companie can email the catalog and mail to the mailbox at the same time. It should also contain how to order online or through mail and the shipment information in the messages.

d.          Networks in Salem (Combine with other tour)

There are some tours in Salem, Massachusetts. I recommend Ye Olde Pepper Companie should corporate with the tour. For example, they can provide a coupon to the people who join the tour to raise more visibility. It can also build a new business network in Salem.