Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Social media seems to be the only marketing platform that anyone talks about anymore. How to do facebook ads, when to post on Instagram, how to improve Google SEO… it’s a broad topic that seems to dominate the conversation in marketing.
Ashkahn and Derek explain not only why it seems this way, but the misconception of relying too heavily on social media in marketing strategies, as well as a defense of social media as a platform.
Show Resources
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Ashkahn: Alright. Welcome, everybody.
Derek: Hello.
Ashkahn: Hello, this is Ashkahn.
Derek: This is Derek.
Ashkahn: We got a slightly altered crew here in the DSP Studios.
Derek: Altered Solution States.
Ashkahn: That’s right. Graham is over in Idaho for the moment, for a couple of days, hanging out with his pops.
Derek: Yep, yep. That’s awesome.
Ashkahn: Yeah. I’ve dressed up Derek here to look like Graham.
Derek: Got my mustache growing out.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Derek: It’s good.
Ashkahn: Yeah, he’s into it.
Derek: Yeah.
Ashkahn: So we got a question.
Derek: Do we? You’re supposed to read it.
Ashkahn: I’m supposed to read them.
Derek: Yeah.
Ashkahn: Hold on a second.
Derek: We’ve got one, but really you have one.
Ashkahn: Okay, alright. The question is, “Hey guys.” Hey.
Derek: Hey.
Ashkahn: Hey. “Why are most marketing strategies dependent on social media?” Yeah. I mean yeah-
Derek: What is, they shouldn’t be?
Ashkahn: Well you do see, I get where they’re coming from, right?
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: You see so much about social media.
Derek: Well Facebook ads is the number one way people are drawing people to their float centers, according to the industry report.
Ashkahn: Right, so we see that and people say that all the time too, when people try out other forms of advertising.
Derek: I would say a good strategy would be integrated with both social media and offline procedures. But the reason that it’s heavily weighted in the outward appearance, is because that’s the hot thing that people don’t know how to do, so that’s why they hire someone, right.
So it’s like, I don’t know Facebook Ads, or understand Facebook Ads, so I’m going to Google “somebody to help me with my Facebook Ads”. Now if that person tried to respond back with more than just what the person was seeking, then it’s going to be a miss on their part.
Ashkahn: Yeah, I mean you think it’s fair to even call social media the hot thing anymore?
Derek: I would just call it a part of the thing. It’s not going away as we have found. It’s just going to evolve and change throughout time. It’s one of those things that you’re really going to need to understand either to execute it yourself, or hire somebody who can do it for you.
So again, it’s the thing that’s new. And that’s why I think a lot of people’s awareness is leaning towards social media. Every strategy involves social media, it’s because before social media, people grew businesses various ways. And those have been established for minus, the past 20 years. The current 20 years in the internet phase, we’ve introduced all these different ways to market your business.
But before then there was so many different ways that we’ve forgotten about, but are still pretty viable. That incorporates selling within your center, and community building, and print and branding flyers and brochures, and throwing events. All of that has nothing to do with social media. But we forgot about that, and the problem we want solved is social media, so that’s why everybody’s leading with it.
Ashkahn: Yeah, I guess it feels. I don’t know, to me it feels like a couple things. One of them is that in the age of internet advertisement, for a localized business like a float center, who’s selling this service to a geographic area, social media makes so much more sense than so many other things.
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: You’re not going to just be blasting ads out on the internet, right. There’s not these communities. Even if you found a floating specific forum, it’s probably not worth your money to be spending money on advertising for it, in the hopes that a certain subsection of those people are going to be geographically around you.
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: And see with social media it just gives you the ability to do this laser focus, like “I’m going to spend my money showing ads to people with these certain interests in a certain mile radius of my location”. You just don’t have those other tools with so much other internet advertising.
Derek: Well and it’s cheaper right.
Ashkahn: And it’s way cheaper because of that, right.
Derek: To reach 1,000 people on Facebook it might be $10 to $20. To reach 1,000 people on television you’re looking at $100.
Ashkahn: Yeah, so compared to all these other forms of advertising too. I mean obviously with the internet there’s a whole much more sophisticated platform of advertising. And I think social media specifically within that is especially well suited to something like a float center.
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: As opposed to, if we were selling phone charger batteries, or something way more generic that people could buy anywhere, I’m not sure we would be at least thinking about things like putting ads on forums that have to do with electronics, or other places that I just think don’t make any sense for floats centers.
Derek: Well let’s look at where the attention is. If we’re wondering why the attention on business-growing strategies is heavily associated on social media, what are people tuning into more than anything else in today’s day and age?
We’re checking our phone 100 times an hour, right. So wouldn’t you want to be in front of where the other people are checking? So I think that’s why a lot of people lean on social media, is that’s where just the eyeballs are. You know.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Derek: Even people are watching TV with their phone in their hand still tweeting and Facebooking.
Ashkahn: And then watching your video in their phone.
Derek: I’ve done tha- I know people that have done that. Can we edit that part? I have not, swear, watched videos while watching videos.
Ashkahn: I feel like there’s another part of this too, where I when this thing about why are so many marketing campaigns focused around social media. In my mind, I think a more appropriate way of thinking about it, or a statement that I would make is why are so many advertising campaigns focused around social media?
‘Cause I feel like, I feel like there’s a much bigger part of marketing that if you think everything you’re doing is dependent on social media, you are, I think, missing a lot about what you could be doing to market your float center.
You know, if you listen to our podcast, you know where our opinions are coming from on this stuff. But we think marketing is the quality of the floats you’re doing, and the experience when people come in. How cushy your couches are, and how nice your tea is, how well you’re talking to people.
That whole experience of coming into float, interacting with you, having people go in and float and have good experiences and go tell their friends. To me, that’s way more important than … We could lose social media and we would still have the foundation of our marketing, which is providing good experiences and having a reason for people to come and float and spread that word against other people.
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: To me that is so much more fundamental to what we’re doing. But-
Derek: Well the reason we lean heavier on the experience the person has is because you spend all this money on social media to bring them in, and they have a bad experience, that’s a waste of money.
Ashkahn: Right, yeah.
Derek: Again, that’s why I say, it’s more of an integrated. Social media is not just the thing, it’s a thing in a complete marketing program. So a good marketing solution would be to attract their attention on social media, get them to become a lead through email acquisition or a client through scheduling a float. From there you bring them into your offline world, right.
You’ve captured their attention online where all their attention’s at, and then you’re able to cultivate the relationships, provide them a good experience, explain to them how important a membership is and how they can save money, and then getting their friends to refer.
And guess what, it circles back to social media, because now they’re tweeting, and Instagramming, and Facebooking that they’re at your float center, and it becomes this loop. You have to prime the engine at the beginning of it to get those people aware.
Ashkahn: Yeah, and I also feel like in defense of social media, there is something nice about-
Derek: You’re defending social media?
Ashkahn: I am. I’m going to defend social media for a second.
Derek: I’m down with social media.
Ashkahn: In defense of the fact that so much advertising and stuff, or people’s focuses on social media, in some ways I think it’s a nice improvement. The content that companies put out on social media is in my mind, a lot nicer than billboards and stuff like that.
Derek: Sometimes it’s nicer than TV, which is why they’re watching their phone instead of TV.
Ashkahn: Social media, it forces companies to put a more personal, behind-the-scenes face forward. If you’re just using social media and blasting out pre-formed ads on your pages and stuff like that, people are really going to like to follow that.
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: But if you’re putting out interesting content, or letting people get to know you guys as people, where the backend of your operations or keeping them in the loop on developments. That’s the stuff people are interested in.
Derek: Transparency is the best marketing. It builds trust and it gets people more comfortable to walk through your doors.
Ashkahn: So there’s something nice about the fact that social media has forced a bunch of companies to be more transparent and more personal online.
Derek: Right.
Ashkahn: And then when they’re not, or they suck at it, people don’t like those companies as much. To me there’s something positive to say about the impact of social media on advertising, and just what it’s forced companies to have to adapt to, and how much it’s more transparent where companies are douchebags now, which is also a nice benefit.
Derek: Right. Unless you’re the douche bag.
Ashkahn: Unless you’re the douchebag, and then it sucks for you.
Derek: Yeah. Well would you ever know? I guess you would just go out of business, and then blame something else.
Ashkahn: We’re getting into a very philosophical question at that point.
Derek: Okay fine.
Ashkahn: If a douchebag was alone inside of a forest.
Derek: Does it make a noise?
Ashkahn: So I don’t know. To me the answer is it’s not all about social media. There’s a lot more about running your business that I would encourage people to think about as marketing.
And then it also is a lot about social media, because it is a really well-built platform to reach the people you’re looking to reach, and it’s a nicer way of connecting with people than blasting them with very generic ads.
Derek: Well said, for somebody who doesn’t use social media much.
Ashkahn: Yeah, but I can sit back and ponder it from a distance.
Derek: That’s true. That’s true.
Ashkahn: Okay, good. Feel good?
Derek: I feel great.
Ashkahn: I feel really nice.
Derek: Yeah.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Derek: So make sure you Facebook, Tweet, and Instagram us all of your questions.
Ashkahn: Yeah, follow us on all of our social media platforms.
Derek: Or you can go to a website, I suppose.
Ashkahn: Yeah, old school. Yeah, www.
Derek: Http://www.
Ashkahn: That’s right. That’s right. Floattanksolutions.com/podcast
Derek: Yes.
Ashkahn: That’s it. That’s where you can type in questions.
Derek: Or social media.
Ashkahn: Yeah, or just reach out to us on social media, or send us a letter, you know.
Derek: If you reach out to us on social media, I’m probably going to have to receive that, and it’s probably going to get answered.
Ashkahn: Yeah, just put up a billboard in front of our shop with your question on it and we’ll answer it for you.
Derek: That might work too.
Ashkahn: That would definitely … If someone actually does that, absolutely we’ll answer your question.
Derek: Direct mail. If somebody mails us a hand-written letter, we’ll answer it that day.
Ashkahn: If someone tattoos their question on their body and flies here to show it to us, we’ll answer your question twice, in two different ways. How about that?
Derek: That’s too much.
Ashkahn: Okay, it’s too much. Alright, we gotta go.
Derek: Alright, bye.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Should Float Centers use Light or Heavy Gauge Studs? – DSP 269
Still no Ashkahn today. He’s taking a couple of post-conference days to himself.
Jake and Graham are on the scene though to answer construction questions, though. Even the straight forward ones, like today. Jake informs us which to choose when doing construction, light or heavy gauge studs when constructing a float center, while getting a little sidetracked when comparing wooden and metal studs.
Construction to Make Your Life Easier – DSP 268
Graham and Jake cover a wide range of construction tips to make running a float center easier. Everything from making sure you have extra storage to installing mop closets with sinks in them for dealing with heavy duty chemicals.
The advice is pretty much a shotgun approach of tips, tricks, and hard lessons learned throughout the years.
Draining Float Tanks into Septic Systems – DSP 267
Graham and Jake tackle the difficulties of draining float tanks and how that process can differ based on different municipalities, different water treatment systems, or whether you’re using a septic system or not.
Water treatment typically involves whole contained ecosystems and highly concentrated epsom salt water can impact that pretty drastically. The guys provide good tips for each type of system and what to be prepared for if you’re operating in a rural area with a septic system.
The Difference Between STC and Decibels – DSP 266
Post-Conference Ashkahn is still out of the recording studio, but fortunately Jake is keeping Graham company in there.
Graham and Jake break down the differences between decibels and STC ratings, two very important to understand when figuring out soundproofing. There’s a lot to digest in this episode, but fortunately the guys keep it easy to understand by providing a broad level overview of the different concepts.
Should I Wire my Float Tanks into the Wall? – DSP 265
Ashkahn is currently recovering from his talk and the after-party last night, but Jake and Graham have gracefully taken the time to answer a construction question again today.
On the docket today is a question about wiring a float tank directly into the wall. Graham and Jake provide an overview of why some people may prefer this (it’s much easier to keep waterproof, e.g.), and why at Float On they use the twist lock for their outlets and how to properly utilize them.
Latest Blog Posts
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #28
Home sweet home! After so many months on the road, it was strange being back here in Portland. We were exhausted, excited, and a little travel weary. The first night back, I slept in my own bed for the first time in three months and the world just melted away.
Having travelled across the United States, I’m reminded of how insular Portland is. We are aggressively fixated on keeping things local. Local beer, ketchup, bikes, pet food, pillows, phone cases… it’s part of our charm. We want to reward people for living here and being a part of the community. It’s so pervasive that, after living here for so long, I kind of forgot that Secret Aardvark hot-sauce isn’t available everywhere, and that most cities don’t even recycle, let alone compost.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #27
Our northern neighbor – a sister city, of sorts – Seattle is the largest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest. It’s the land of Microsoft and Kurt Cobain, and the culture here embraces both simultaneously. It’s tech business professional in the front and rock n’ roll grunge in the back. This blend creates a perfect storm of high energy business life and high energy nightlife, making relaxation a valuable commodity. Floating helps fill the void left by nightmarish traffic and overcrowded restaurants.
Given that it’s so close to home, the float centers in Seattle are a lot more familiar to us. Our visits here were more like a high school reunion than they were like the first day of school. During some of our visits, we were picking up conversations right where we left them.
The Float Tour Blog Issue #26
Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, and third largest on the West Coast. It’s a major hub for international trade, with one of the largest ports in the world, giving it a large migrant population, mainly from Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. It’s also been a long-time home to the Canadian film industry, and has even been nicknamed “North Hollywood.” Dozens of film and television productions from major studios film here every year.
Vancouver is very much an international city. It has large boroughs dedicated to varying cultures, including one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. The society here is more receptive to new ideas, always looking for the next big thing; it’s not surprising that floating has blown up in Vancouver as much as it has.
In the last 3 years, 10 float centers have opened up, most of them being larger 4–6 tank centers. The really interesting thing is how they all opened within the same short amount of time about 1 ½ to 2 years ago, within months of each other.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #25
We finally made it back to the West Coast! We went through the Canadian Rockies and were overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. We drove through hours and hours of winding mountain roads, fertile valleys, and tiny towns so picturesque they looked like movie sets. It was so captivating, in fact, I suspect Graham and Ashkahn may have secretly replaced themselves with robotic doppelgängers to hike throughout Banff.
This post will focus on the smaller communities in B.C. that are bringing floating to new people every day. We also get to visit Canadian manufacturer Pro Float. They’re relatively new to the scene, just opening up earlier this year – another exciting sign of the growth in the industry.
