Month: October 2012

Curiosity May Have Killed The Cat But…

Curiosity May Have Killed The Cat But Complacency Will Kill The Marketer

Not long ago I told you of the One Quarter Of American Consumers (who) Are Brand Loyal. That indeed is a very telling statistic which came from a survey conducted by Ernst & Young. Today comes the results of another survey, this one done jointly by Acxiom and Loyalty360, which sheds some light on why so few consumers are brand loyal. And it all comes to down one word.
com·pla·cen·cy – a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger
I give you exhibit A…
That’s right boys and girls, 60% of all the respondents – who were comprised of executives in both B2B and B2C companies from a cross section of industries, dedicate less than 20% of their marketing budget to customer retention.

ROR (#RonR), Return on Relationship™… what is that?

Facebook fans, retweets, site visits, video views, positive ratings and vibrant communities are not measureable financial assets—they aren’t reflected on the balance sheet and can’t be counted on an income statement—but that doesn’t mean they are valueless.  Instead, these are leading indicators that a brand is doing something to create value that can lead to financial results in the future. In addition these relationships can be leveraged through initiatives, campaigns, and events to create real dollar value for a brand. In other words, ROR – Return on Relationship!

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Did You Hear The One About The Marketer Who Didn’t Use Pinterest?

Ok, I admit there’s no punch line to that query or maybe there is now that I think about it. The punch line would be ‘they were soon looking for another job.’

Now I know what all you marketers and brand managers and brand marketers and everyone out there is thinking ‘gee Steve, a little over dramatic wouldn’t you say? Are you really saying a marketer who doesn’t use Pinterest could be out of a job?’
English: Red Pinterest logo

Alright I admit, I have seen too many after school specials and Lifetime movies (hey, Tori Spelling is one underrated actress) so perhaps I was a tad melodramatic in implying or flat out stating that any marketer who doesn’t use Pinterest may soon find themselves updating their resume but,

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3 Business Reasons to Join a Social Media Club

C Panel at the Harrisburg Social Media's Social Media at Work Conference

Our Harrisburg Social Media Club has been active for two years now, and we have a diverse membership of entrepreneurs, media, academics, B2C, B2B, and the public sector.

Why would business people, joined by the principle of If you get it, share it, want to spend time after work tweeting, Instagramming, and Facebooking with strangers? Is there any business value to this stuff? Isn’t Twitter inane chatter?

With Facebook’s user base surpassing 1 billion, it’s inane to waste time discussing the communications heft of social media. New media has collided with traditional media at such force that entire industries and careers have been born—Content Creator, Content Curator, Social Media Manager, Digital Strategist. It’s hard to find a news channel that isn’t running a Twitter hashtag at the bottom of the screen directing the viewer to integrated information. Even The Wall Street Journal cites tweets as sources. So to “get it,” puts you at a business advantage.

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Lead Generation Continues To Challenge B2B CMOs

B2B customers have become more independent buyers in the procurement process as a result of their increasing access to information, research and peer-recommendations.  In fact, this modern buyer is something of an enigma to B2B vendors.   Traditional lead generation efforts such as trade show and publication advertising, direct mail, email, etc. are decreasing in effectiveness. Lead generation through social marketing has received much hype yet case studies demonstrating real bottom-line impact are still few and far between. How does one capture their attention (and wallet-share) in an environment where competition has surpassed competitive vendors to include the increasing availability of information and perception driven by customers and non-customers alike?

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Marketing with a Mirror

What makes great marketing? I think it’s when you can really see, through the eyes of your customer, how great it is to use your product and are able reflect the emotions and passion related to the use of your product back to the masses.

I’ve studied marketing and word of mouth for 20 years. Marketers love control, but over the last several years of social media growth we, as marketers, feel we’ve lost some control. That’s not a bad thing. If you have a great product or service and you know how to facilitate rather than broadcast, you can catapult past competition.

In 1995 I wrote a book called “How to Market WITH Computer User Groups.” Back then, user group leaders and members (i.e. the geeks) were the analog version of every person in today’s digital participation culture.  The point of the capitalized “WITH” in the book title is that it was ineffective to market “TO” user group leaders. The only way to be effective was for them to be the voice. It was important for them to own the message. And for the marketer, to enable them by reflecting the voice of the customers back onto them. Marketing with a mirror. 

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3 Business Reasons to Join a Social Media Club

Social Media at Work 2011
The C-level panel at Social Media at Work 2011. Join us in Harrisburg for this year’s event on Wednesday, October 17!

Our Harrisburg Social Media Club has been active for two years now, and we have a diverse membership of entrepreneurs, media, academics, B2C, B2B, and the public sector.

Why would business people, joined by the principle of If you get it, share it, want to spend time after work tweeting, Instagramming, and Facebooking with strangers?  Is there any business value to this stuff? Isn’t Twitter inane chatter?

With Facebook’s user base surpassing 1 billion, it’s inane to waste time discussing the communications heft of social media. New media has collided with traditional media at such force that entire industries and careers have been born—Content Creator, Content Curator, Social Media Manager, Digital Strategist.  It’s hard to find a news channel that isn’t running a Twitter hashtag at the bottom of the screen directing the viewer to integrated information. Even The Wall Street Journal cites tweets as sources. So to “get it,” puts you at a business advantage.

The first presidential debate on October 3, 2012 distinguished itself by the attention, predictions, and sentiment analysis paid to conversations on Twitter. More than 10 million tweets piped the Web in the 90-minute debate.

Why are your friends in Social Media Club priceless? They help you keep up with the platforms, the analytics, and content creation and curation. To survive as a communications professional—or even in business—understanding social media is a must-know, not a nice-to-know.

So, what’s the business value in joining a Social Media Club?

  1. Google Juice. The information we tweet and share on Twitter is Google gold for your brand and your business. It’s valuable for both the SMC members and the host business. And it’s fodder for blog posts, op-eds, and videos. An added bonus is the regional broadcast power. Harrisburg has been suffering from a fiscal crisis and any news that shines a positive light on our region is considered oxygen. The more we tweet about our smart people, strong businesses, vibrant tourism, and special places, the better Harrisburg looks on Google. When we tweet and post pictures about our events, a riverboat ride, or the state capitol building, it gives the world a better, more holistic story of who we are.
  2. Your friends in Social Media Club are priceless. In-the-trench social media leaders give an insider’s look at how to market, share content, respond to snarky comments, and build communities. The digital channels are evolving daily and our SMC colleagues are the first people I turn to when I have a digital question.  And it’s a wonderful community to build and foster should your company need support in a public relations crisis.
  3. A digitally active region is a vibrant region. Although social media is not new to tech savvy people and early adopters, it still remains nebulous and elusive to many small businesses. QR codes, Yelp, Pinterest, and Instagram are good marketing tools for small business. When you help local small business understand new marketing tools, you help the entire region and economy.  A rising tide lifts all boats, and it’s time to share the knowledge—If you get it, share it.

 

Defining Social Metrics

I talk often about ROR, Return on Relationship™(hashtag #RonR)… simply put the value that is accrued by a person or brand due to nurturing a relationship. ROI is simple $’s and cents. ROR is the value (both perceived and real) that will accrue over time through loyalty, recommendations and sharing. But don’t let that lead you to believe that I do not think metrics are incredibly important. What are the numbers we’re aiming for? What will tell us if it (the implementation and use of the tool / process) was a success? How will we get that information and make sense of it in a way that can inform our business strategy?

Defining metrics around social media advertising and marketing campaigns has been challenging enough that for a while many people said it simply could not be done. Now, however, we are learning that social media measurement (re: use and impact) IS possible – just not always using traditional metrics and methodologies.

One of the most important ways to establish social media metrics is to set “conditions of satisfaction.” In other words, what are the specific outcomes that will bring satisfaction to you, your brand, your business, and your customers? Notice how the word “satisfaction” here requires you to think not just about actions, but about the whole experience resulting from the outcomes. This is absolutely critical for successful social branding!

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Truth and consequences

There’s a huge chasm in most markets: People who want to be isolated from the consequences of their actions, and those that are focused (sometimes too much) on those consequences.

For years, Paula Dean sold cooking shows to an audience that refused to care about what would happen if they regularly ate what she cooked.

Rep. Anthony Weiner wasn’t open to buying warnings about what would happen to his photos and tweets.

At the same time, there’s the audience of new moms that are overeager to baby-proof their home (just in case), the conscientious recycler who doesn’t want to know about the actual costs of picking up that bin out front, and the passionate teacher who sacrifices every day so his students can thrive a decade from now.

If you are selling tomorrow, be very careful not to pitch people who are only interested in buying things that are about today. It’s virtually impossible to sell financial planning or safety or the long-term impacts of the environment to a consumer or a voter who is relentlessly focused on what might be fun right now.

Before a marketer or organization can sell something that works in the future, she must sell the market on the very notion that the future matters. The cultural schism is deep, and it’s not clear that simple marketing techniques are going to do much to change it.

Seth Godin

Originally published on This is Seth’s Blog

Why Do Customers Use Social Networks for Customer Service? Because They Can…

Every day, an increasing number of connected consumers are taking to social networks to ask for help or express sentiment related to business or product related experiences; some do so to seek resolution from their peers, others broadcast questions or comments as a form of catharsis; and a smaller group of consumers actually hope to receive a response directly from the company. The reality is that social media is the new normal. A myriad of social networks, whether you use them or not, are now part of the day-to-day digital lifestyle with Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Youtube among others becoming the places where your customers connect, communicate, and engage around experiences. They take to these social networks and more because they can. The question is, what are you going to do about it?

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