Posted in Corporate Strategy, Marketing, blogging, customer evangelist, social media
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21/04 2010

The Beauty of Purpose Driven Marketing for Business

I have never been a huge fan of the book Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. For the readers who are fans… I apologize… I hope this does not ruin our “friendship.”

This post is not about hating on the famous book by Pastor Warren but is only the connection point between a thought I had this morning. I was scanning the book titles on my shelf at the office and happened over Purpose Driven Life. The thought of having a “purpose driven life” slapped me… straight in the mouth.

Of course… being fully surrounded by business and marketing on a daily basis… I connected it to marketing and corporate communications.

How can you lead a purpose driven marketing initiative? How do train your corporate culture to drive towards a goal with purpose?

Is it an awesome… kick butt mission statement? Not really.

Is it creating training and communication modules to help employees communicate with each other? 50/50

Purpose driven marketing is a two-fold process.

1. Your purpose should be defined (much like your mission statement) as the reason you are in business. What need are you fulfilling?)

2. Driving that purpose should be the stories told by the people being fulfilled by your purpose…. the clients.

Only when you have clients and positive contacts sharing your message will you understand the full extent of purpose driven marketing.

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Posted in blogging, business, content, customer evangelist, customer service, relationship
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4/02 2010

The Only Way to Business Success

I was in a meeting with a potential client… a company called Fanimation… and we were discussing the different parts of our proposal process. At Brandswag we have a 50/50 policy where half of the 12 month social media campaign is paid by the client and the other half is pay-by-performance. So.. long story short… if we do not hit the goals for the client in the last 6 months of the contract… we do not get paid.

(Side note: If you have a couple of minutes after reading this blog post… check out their website. The products Fanimation creates are absolutely unique and AWESOME… no joke… If you are a sucker for product design… check them out)

Nathan Frampton works for Fanimation and said something extremely peculiar to me… “I just want to write you bigger checks.”

I have owned a company for almost three years and have never had a potential client say that to me. I proceeded to ask Nathan what he meant by writing me bigger checks. I had a vague idea of the concept but wanted to hear it straight from him.

It is an easy concept to comprehend… do great work and you will be rewarded. There is always a base pay but if you create marketing vehicles, promotional campaigns, and tell the story of the company with enough gusto… you sell product… and when you sell product… you get paid. It reminds me of something that Barry Labov (owner of Labov and Beyond) told me recently… “You know you have done a good job for a client when they send YOU gifts.”

But let’s be honest with ourselves…is it really that easy of a concept? It hit me like a ton of bricks even though it makes complete sense after I thought it through..

Deliver and grow with a client… deliver what they need, want, and desire… THAT is the only way to business success.

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Posted in Corporate Strategy, Marketing, customer evangelist, social media
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30/11 2009

Marketers Can’t Speak Human

This graphic hit me hard. A simple design and yet such a profound message. Why don’t marketers know how to speak human?

Also… a simple questions. Why is it so hard?

As marketers… shouldn’t we strive for perfecting communication on a daily basis? How do we create a message that will resonate with our customers… our company? How do we take an idea and transform it into a living… breathing… story? How do we take a product/service/offering and make it speak Human? Why is it so hard?

In my opinion… the root of the problem is our inability to separate the bottom-line, our text book learning curve, and our customer voice. It is hard to get to the point where we are being more genuine… than business driven.

Could the answer be the Internet? We are only beginning to understand the power of the Internet and the tools inside of this vast network of people. We are no longer products and services but people. Customers are people first… and buyers second.

Why don’t businesses know how to speak human? They should. We should. You should.

There is no better place than here. There is no better time than now.

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Posted in Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Micro-Blogging, blogging, customer evangelist, innovation, small business, social media, social media marketing
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12/11 2009

Why Do People Follow Brands? Conversation or Deals?

This is the second post about the Razorfish FEED 2009 Report… as promised. I was reading a post from my friend Todd Muffley over at Fat Atom and it got me thinking about the future of online communication. His post is entitled, “Is Social Media One Big Coupon Book?” The premise of the post is captured in two sentences:

“If Social Media does become one big coupon book, watch out Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, TV and Direct Mail (to name a few). The old school push model of coupon distribution may just go the way of the VCR.”

The post is (of course) fueled by the Razorfish study which states that of “those that follow a brand on Twitter, 44% say that access to deals is the main reason. The same holds true for those that added a brand on Facebook or Myspace, where 37% cite access to exclusive deals or offers as their main reason.” (pg 9)

Now, the Razorfish study does not give a voice to all 200 million people using broadband Internet access but it does create a platform for discussing the main draw of social media. I would venture to say that the main reason a user FIRST joins a fanpage or follows a brand on Twitter is because of a contest or promotion. Once the individual becomes a fan the SECOND step is interacting with that fan in order to build some type of trust. Repeat customers are the best customers… nay… repeat customers with friends are the best customers.

There is always a conversation buried in the depths of a relationship being built between a customer and a brand. Where that relationship starts? Who knows? The important thing to remember is to have the conversation… which eventually leads to conversion.

Of those
who follow a brand on Twitter, 44% say access to
exclusive deals is the main reason. The same holds
true for those who “friended” a brand on Facebook
or MySpace, where 37% cite access to exclusive
deals or offers as their main reas
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Posted in Advertising, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Social Media Community, Social Strategy, blogging, customer evangelist, small business, social media, social media marketing, social networking
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24/08 2009

Balancing Perception and Reality in Social Media

Is social media everything we really make it out to be? Is there an imbalance between perception and reality when it comes to social media? I would venture to say yes. Before we get into the underlying argument of the two terms… let’s define them (from dictionary.com).

Perception: a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.

Reality: something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.

There is probably a universal argument of perception versus reality in terms of marketing. We are going to touch on that briefly. The majority of marketing communication exists in order to balance the worlds of perception and reality among consumers… among your clients. When it comes to social media  there is an imbalance of the two worlds. There seems to be more perceived value of the tool than the the actual reality (at this given moment).

We can talk about the growth of networks and the stats surrounding the baby boomer adoption of Facebook. We can talk about the growth of Twitter and the role it plays in international foreign policy. However, the fact remains that only 22% of the globe (350 million) has adopted social media as an  avenue for communication.

We are still in the infancy of this communication medium. That is the reality.

However, I am not discounting the value of perception. If a tool is perceived to have high value… it is my belief… that mass adoption is going to come much, much quicker than previously anticipated. What happens when perception turns into reality and your company is left behind because you didn’t change… you didn’t adapt?

There will always be the balance of perception and reality in any form of communications advancement. Did anyone really perceive the true value of television before mass adoption? What about radio? Newspaper? We tend to only leverage a communications medium after mass adoption.

It only makes true business sense to stay ahead of the curve. It is your job as business owners, marketing directors, and C-level employees to watch for the perception turning over to reality.

What do you think? Do we actually have an imbalance?

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Posted in Marketing, Social Media Community, Social Strategy, customer evangelist, customer service, small business, social media, twitter
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27/07 2009

What The Top 10 Banks on Twitter Have in Common

ComputerWeekly released a detailed list of the top 10 banks on Twitter and what made them valuable to the end consumer.  I made it a point to go through each of the bank’s Twitter pages and figure out (at least) one thing they had in common. This one thing is based around the overall usage of the Twitter tool and how the banks communicate with current and potential clients. What was the overall theme for most of the Twitter bank pages?

Customer support and communication. To be more specific: customer centric.

The majority of the top 10 banks on Twitter use the tool to support customers with Q&A, idea generation, and live feedback on account information. From my viewpoint… the top banks are actually using Twitter in the right way when it comes to communication. Customer support and service is a huge pull when viewing Twitter as a business tool (whether you are a bank… or not). What other points did I take away from the bank pages?

1. Communication is Key. Do not broadcast a message. If you are wanting to use Twitter for another RSS feed to share PR releases and company news, you have the wrong idea.

2. Listen to Customers and then Respond. It is important to take personal time and invest it in the use of the tool. If you are communicating with your clients it is important to reply back to their inquiries. The same concept applies to a missed phone call or email. Put major emphasis on replying back to questions and comments. Do not let any tweet go unanswered.

3. Every Follower is Important on Twitter. Let me rephrase that… Every follower is important on Twitter if they are REAL and actually MATTER. A Twitter user being real or fake is pretty easy to measure over the long run. We do not want to be communicating with spam accounts. You can tell is a user matters if they are actually sharing content and communicating a universal message to their followers. If they have something to be excited about (new content)… help them by sharing that content.

Take the top 10 banks examples and use Twitter effectively.. both for customer support and communication. Remember that social media is a two-way strategy… listen, speak, and then repeat.

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Posted in Corporate Strategy, Reputation Management, Social Media Community, customer evangelist, facebook, relationship, small business, social media, social media marketing
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13/07 2009

233 Million Hours Spent on Facebook in April

(Stat courtesy of the Seattle Times)

Nielsen recently reported that there was an average of 233 million hours spent on Facebook in the month of April. 233 Million HOURS! Let me repeat that.. Americans are spending 233 million hours a month on Facebook. That is unbelieveable.

I would like to think that the majority of the time spent on Facebook is productive and not a MASSIVE time suck but that is not what is important. The important thing to take away from this Nielsen Online study is that the online communication platform is still growing. There is a massive shift happening in how people communicate. Whether you like it or not…

People are moving online to share ideas, thoughts, opinions, and their lives.

What does this mean to the business owner? Your customers are experiencing a new way to communicate. They can now connect to individuals through their daily lives! Get your sales people on Facebook. Teach them how to interact with people in the REAL sense of true interaction. This is not a hard sell environment… this is a relationship based environment.

Create relationships and win… and maybe… you will find that 233 million hours spent on Facebook can actually drive leads to your door.

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Posted in Marketing, business, customer evangelist, customer service, productivity, social media
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10/07 2009

Who Are You Targeting on Social Media?

This is an old post but has been adjusted based on conversations over the past 6 months.

Jason Baer has a great post over at Convince and Convert called the 7 Critical Elements of Your Social Media Strategy. The post is brilliant for the small business owner wanting to get more involved in social media.

Why is his post brilliant?

It talks more about the internal business development than what TOOLS you should be using.

I am all for using Twitter, Plaxo, Myspace, Facebook, and LinkedIN but if you don’t have the traditional elements of your company connected… you are going to fail.

In the post he lists the third step in the seven step process as: Where is the Audience Cyclically? This explains that there are four different relationship patterns inherent in the promotion of your company.

Awareness: Maybe heard of you. (The-Lost)

Interest: Heard of you. Visited your Site. No Purchases (Stumbler)

Action: Made a single purchase (One-Time Charm)

Advocacy: Raving Brand Lunatics. (Jackpot) (Lunatic)

I decided to re-name them and go over how they fit into the overall social media marketing strategy.

Jason suggested that you should only pick two of the 4 Customer Profiles listed above when you are planning your social media strategy. I can agree with the fact that two is more than enough but I would suggest picking only one for your social media marketing strategy.

Why Pick Only One?

If you have planned your SM strategy correctly it is a part of your overall marketing strategy. You only have a limited amount of time and resources to fully promote your business. If you can use SM marketing to only target ONE of the groups… the strategy will be stronger and more effective.

This is especially true for beginners in the world of social media. One is enough for now.

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Posted in Corporate Strategy, Marketing, blogging, customer evangelist
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8/07 2009

Should a CEO Use Social Media?

Well.. this is an important question to ask. This is even more important to consider if you are a CEO. There has been quite a bit of chatter in the social media world pertaining to a CEO’s use of social media. Should the overall leader in a company be involved in the online communication strategy being implemented by employees or an outside firm? There are many cases when the answer is YES and a few where the answer can be a resounding no.

The answer should be yes if you are a CEO of a company that is developing a unique (trust based) relationship with the customers or your product or service. This concept can be contained in the B2B and B2C world.

If you are running a small business where you (as the CEO) are the main source of business development it is important for your prescence to be known in the world of the Internet. The best start for a small business CEO? Blogging, of course. As a small business, you are building a reputation based on YOUR interactions with individuals. If you are not implementing (at the very least) a blog.. you may be missing out on a huge opportunity to influence potential buyers.

Now, there could be a case where social media should not be implemented by a CEO. I have been debating with myself on the abilities of a Fortune 500 to 100 CEO implementing such social strategies… and frankly… sometimes there is way to much on the plate of a corporate leader to implement personal social media. Blogs can be excused from this topic because there are plenty of corporate CEOs using blogs to communicate but there is only so much time in the day.

In the long run, as a CEO, you should evaluate where you can best represent the company. If you have a VP of Communications that is much better suited to run the social media of a company… by all means.. let the best lead.

However, you will find an increase in the trust behind your brand on behalf of your customers when you are communicating to them on a daily basis.

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Posted in Corporate Strategy, customer evangelist, innovation, small business, social media
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29/06 2009

Your Customers are Changing. Are You?

This video has be circulating for quite some time and it is absolutely brilliant. If you want to understand how the marketing and communication world is shifting watch the video below.

Are you listening to your customer? Are you changing with the way they are communicating to each other? Where is the personality? Where is the love? Remember that the world changes and it is important for businesses to understand that their clients are people and not a demographic analysis.

What are you do doing to communicate more effectively with your customers?

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