@tedrubin

The Social Path to Purchase… ~via @CollectiveBias

The Collective Bias influencer community creates shopper content By Stuart Feil

Septemer 10, 2012 ADWEEK

Shopping is, by its very nature, a social activity—people always want to know what other people are buying or discuss what they’ve bought themselves with friends and other shoppers. Nowhere is this more evident than in the blogosphere, where brand ambassadors (such as the ubiquitous Mom-blogger) share information and advice about what they buy and use. There’s power in this user-generated content, and brands and retailers want to take advantage of these influencers to drive excitement for—and sales of—their products.

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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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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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Listening to Me or Doing Something Else?

Social skills have suffered a great deal not necessarily due to “social media” per-say, but because of all the electronics we all carry and are addicted to in our daily lives. It did not used to be so easy to ignore people and seem disinterested because there was not much else to do during a meeting or when in a group. Now we have the world at our fingertips, so it is incredibly important to make it known to people what is acceptable and what is not. For instance when I am speaking to an audience, I do really want them quoting and posting about me via social channels as it spreads my words throughout the social graph, and to many who cannot attend. But when in a meeting or speaking one-to-one I certainly want their attention. But I also remember that many in the room are not really important to the meeting so I do not care if they are “off” somewhere else and I focus on those who “are” paying attention. We all need to set our standards and agenda’s and focus on those who are worthwhile and can deliver. You cannot truly impose ethics, but you can lead by example.

Originally posted at TedRubin.com

Marketing Lessons from Children: Listen for “Moments” — and Make it Personal

As marketers we think we’re all grown up, and that business has nothing to do with being personal. Like the pat excuse we’ve all heard when a business decision affects other people’s lives, “This isn’t personal, it’s a business decision.”

It’s that kind of thinking that kills us as marketers and brands—when we take “personal” out of the equation we always lose. However, we can turn that around and win! And the quickest way I know to learning how to do this is to closely observe children in action. Think about it… when our kids are young we can talk to them, share with them and really relate on a kid level—and we can also control them to an extent. But when they’re teenagers, they’re not as open to what we tell them; pushing things on them just builds more resistance. And if they think you’re going to give them a speech, they shut you down in a hurry.  If you want to get through to teens you have to look for moments when they’re receptive, tamp down the desire to push your opinions on them, and just listen. Be there for them. Help them when they ask for it, but don’t preach at them. It takes practice to learn to recognize those opportunities.

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Twitter/Social and Small Business

Twitter has not been readily accepted as a small business tool yet but there are those who are having a great deal of success using it in many ways. So why should small business be using social media at all? The most prominent reasons are responding to customer questions, networking and education… but there’s more. To date, most small businesses have not been looking to help build the sales funnel through these channels. This is interesting considering some of the success that can be found with a small business that gets it. And for those who do, and execute effectively, the opportunity to directly facilitate and create sales are out there and have the potential to be huge since the volume of additional sales that can make a difference are fractional compared to what it takes for a large organization.

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If you are only focused on the Money, you risk completely overlooking the People

I was with a senior marketing executive from a major retailer recently and we got into an hour long conversation about Return on Relationship™, my philosophy, and what it means to me. He was incredibly interested personally and for his company, is a very thoughtful person and was interested in digging down to what my mission is… or better yet, what I want most to accomplish with respect to ROR (#RonR). What it seems to come down to, after discussing, riffing on the topic, and a bit of introspection, was helping others without expectations of what you get directly from that person in return. And how that plays into the old adage… “what goes around, comes around.” We then had an inspirational discussion of what that means to us personally and can mean for brands with consumers.

Short and simple: if you are only focused on the money, you risk completely overlooking the people. Don’t make that mistake! If you don’t know who your people are, you might as well toss your marketing and prospecting money down the drain. It is not that complicated.

Relationships ARE the new currency – honor them, invest in them, and start measuring your ROR

Originally posted at TedRubin.com

Message to Businesses: Change Your Framework—Change Your Future

 

 

 

 

 

Originally posted at IBM Smarter Commerce… Redefining commerce in the age of the customer. 

A comment by Dino Dogan on my post regarding Scaling Social Messaging got me thinking recently. He said:

“Businesses try to force-fit their own framework onto the existing social framework. That’s a mistake. Social framework is much bigger and stronger. When two frameworks meet, one has to give in. In this case, biz framework has no choice but to give in or lose out. “

This is totally in opposition to the way businesses approached frameworks in the past. In the past, the frameworks were controlled, imposed, and enforced onto consumers by a business.”

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A Secret to Innovation: Childlike Imagination

Need inspiration to do a better job of marketing, collaborating and growing a better future for your business? Then observe your kids (or somebody else’s kids if yours are grown). The kind of imagination we had as children tends to get put away as we grow older—but as a father who cherishes every moment I can get with my kids, I see the need for it more and more. And I’ve learned TONS of things from just watching my children interact that can (and should) be applied to growing a business.

For instance, kids are natural explorers—they’re open to ideas—they’re spontaneous. They play constantly. And it’s when they’re in a state of play that they’re the most focused and creative. We need to play MORE in order to get out of our adult box, build stronger relationships and let those creative juices flow.

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Are Your Customers Lying to You? How Can You REALLY Tell What They’re Thinking?

In John Nosta’sThinkology blog post, “The Fundamental Marketing Dilemma: Language is a Lie,” he discusses books like Malcom Gladwell’sBlink and Tor Norretranders’s The User Illusion, which explore the ideas of how we perceive things. These authors assert that our first impressions are processed not by conscious thought and language, but by much faster processes that are rooted in our reptilian and mammalian brains.

Nosta’s take is that language is really “a corrupted surrogate for what’s REALLY happening.” He says that maybe we shouldn’t be asking our customers what they’re thinking. Maybe we would get more and/or better information by trying to measure direct neural function such as eye tracking, facial coding and other biometrics.

What about surveys and focus groups? Bunk! According to Nosta, people’s thought processes pollute their first impressions about a product or service to the point that the language expression we get in response to asking a question isn’t reliable—and yet 90% of market research focuses on verbal communication, while verbal accounts for only 23% of most communication.

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