Small businesses have always been at a disadvantage when it comes to reaching out and communicating with consumers on a broad scale.
Unless you had a mountain of cash to splash (waste?) on advertising in mainstream media—or you had a story the tabloid press was clamoring after—reaching your audience en masse, on a sustained basis, has been notoriously difficult.
By the way, it still is difficult, but it’s eminently more do-able these days to expand your reach at little cost, within reason, compared to five or so years ago thanks to the power of social technologies.
Traditionally, ‘reach’ has been about targeting as many people as possible and hitting them with a one-way sales message to generate a quick transactional response. Strike, hit, run—give us your money, thanks for playing. No relationship, just a lot of effort invested in a ‘one night stand’.
This strategy used to work reasonably well too—during a time when people were starved of media choices, and the marketplace wasn’t so cluttered. Not today though.
We’re at war with noise. All we want is clarity. We want to deal with companies that are on our wavelength—that show us respect by not interrupting us and encroaching on our precious time. We want to do business with people whom we know, we like and we trust—businesses that add value to our lives in meaningful ways.
See full article - MYOB 'Pulse' Blog
Is your company interesting?
No, seriously. Can you say, hand-on-heart, that people are genuinely attracted to your organisation because it is interesting? Not just to customers, but potential employees and partners, or key influencers such as journalists and bloggers?
I’m not talking necessarily about the products you sell or services you offer. You can have deadly boring products but still be an interesting brand.
I mean being interesting in a “Wow, that’s cool” kinda way. Doing interesting and engaging things that make people sit up and take notice (and then talk about you via their online social networks), genuinely capturing people’s attention by creating value over and above your products and services, or demonstrating a usefulness to the broader community in which you operate.
The Free Dictionary defines interesting as “arousing or holding the attention”.
Arousing or holding the attention of people is a massive challenge for companies today. People have enough going on in their lives; they are time-poor and information overloaded. They don’t take notice of your advertising and they’re adept at ignoring your overly-polished nonsensical spin.
Hence being interesting is a key marketing imperative today.
It’s easy to say obviously but much harder to do, especially as ‘being interesting’ has as much to do with culture and attitude as anything. Weaning off the corporate communications diet – a one-way blasting of messages – and replacing it with a philosophy of ‘doing interesting things to attract people to your brand’ will in all probability require a mind-shift.
But it’s a shift you’re going to need to make if you are to flourish and stay relevant in an increasingly hyper-connected marketplace.
This gent is, errr, interesting: how about your company?
So what does “being interesting” look like? Importantly, it’s not about a one-off project, but rather an ongoing series of activities that engage people and get them talking, and then rinsing and repeating.
Being interesting could be as simple as running an online weekly TV show or radio program interviewing experts and debating issues relevant to your industry, or community, or business in general.
It might involve backing a small but very cool social enterprise and helping guide it to success.
Perhaps your company could run an annual benchmark survey relevant to your industry that measures sentiment and behaviour across a certain topic (for example, Sensis has for years produced a quarterly business index that tracks the confidence and behaviour of Australian SMEs).
Maybe you (or your company’s CEO) could jump onto Google+ and hold a ‘Google Hangout’ every now and then, chatting to anyone who’s interested about an industry topic that’s relevant to you and your particular audience.
One idea might be to run an event featuring a panel of speakers that debates a pressing social issue. This could be filmed and uploaded to YouTube for all to see post-event.
Another may be to instigate a weekly chat on Twitter using a hashtag so anyone can swing by and join the conversation.
I’m speaking generally, of course, and what business you’re in will be a factor in what constitutes being ‘interesting’. That said, I know there will be naysayers reading this and shaking their heads: how is all this going to generate leads for our business? How’s it going to sell any products?
As a rule, successful businesses are recipients of sustained positive word of mouth. Having great products, services and responsive customer service today is a given.
But what other value do you provide?
What other contributions do you make to the people within the community or industry in which you operate?
Do you stimulate people’s thinking? Do you provoke thought through action over and above your products and services?
American Express gets it
In the US, American Express understands the ballgame has changed when it comes to marketing.
Underpinning Amex’s commitment to helping businesses do more business is the brand’s OPEN Forum, an online community where entrepreneurs and business owners and managers can “exchange insights, get advice from experts and build connections”.
Not satisfied with building an ongoing content-driven community platform that adds real value to the community it serves, American Express OPEN also runs Small Business Saturday, an initiative designed to drive shoppers to local merchants across the US on a day sandwiched between the two big post-Thanksgiving shopping days in the US: ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’,
Now in its third year, the initiative has more than 200 corporate and advocacy group supporters, has helped thousands of small businesses (here are some success stories) and its dedicated Facebook page has attracted more than 2.8 million ‘likes’.
Hmmmm. Sounds pretty interesting to me.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON LEADING COMPANY
As of next month I will have been on Twitter for five years. In social media terms, that’s an eternity.
Of all the social web technologies out there, Twitter continues to astound (and confound). For many large companies and organisations, Twitter still seems to be a source of worry and angst for senior executives. That’s generally because they’re not on it personally and haven’t got a practical knowledge of how it works and the nuances of the Twitter community in action.
Indeed, late last year digital analytics firm comScore reported that “microblogging (ie the key platforms Twitter and Tumblr) had emerged as a disruptive new force in social networking”. That wasn’t news, of course, merely validation of what we all suspected.
According to comScore, in October last year Twitter had reached one in 10 internet users worldwide, and had grown 59% in that year.
In terms of Australia, SocialMediaNews.com.au estimates Twitter has about 2.11 million users. While this figure is dwarfed by Facebook’s user base of 11+ million Aussies, we need to remember that Twitter is public, real-time – and its users tend to be more connected and influential online than most.
Here are some things I’ve learned from being on Twitter these past five years.
Twitter is nothing like the media says it is
If your view of Twitter is shaped by the mainstream media, then it’s likely to be a narrow one. If you believe what you read in the tabloid press, then you probably think Twitter is out of control – a place where everyone is out to hurt everyone else.
I can say without hesitation my experience has been exactly the opposite. I’m not saying nasty things don’t happen online – social media is reflective of the real world, after all – but my number one observation is that Twitter has a disproportionate number of ‘inhabitants’ who are smart, witty, generous and respectful. In other words, they’re great people to hang out with!
Twitter is the ‘digital coalface’
More than any other social network, Twitter truly is the ‘digital coalface’ of what’s going on out there in the connected marketplace.
If you want to find out what’s going on in your industry, or the world generally, if you want to get a real ‘feel’ for what’s happening in social media, then regularly spend a bit of time on Twitter listening, exchanging views and adding your voice to the conversation that swirls around in 140-character bursts.
Twitter takes time, and persistence
Twitter is all about relationships, thus to be successful and build a following and a reputation in the space it’s important to do the same things on Twitter that you would do in real life to build relationships.
That means adding value, giving back, being interesting... and interested! Show up, get involved, have fun and help people. And don’t tell me companies can’t do this: they’re made up of people, after all.
Twitter teaches humility
On Twitter (and social media generally), you’re not going to make any headway as a brand if your company acts like it does in traditional media channels.
From my experience, observations and what I hear anecdotally from others, too many major organisations are very inward-looking; it’s all about them, not the customer (despite what the ‘mission statement’ on the reception wall says). On Twitter, it’s not about you at all – it’s about THEM (the people).
Many companies probably don’t like Twitter because they join up and discover the world doesn’t revolve around them. Take this onboard and your experience in the Twitterverse will be a lot happier and more productive.
Twitter is for leaders
If senior company executives want to know what all the fuss is about in terms of social media, you could do worse for yourself (personally and professionally) and your organisation than throwing caution to the wind, joining Twitter and participating.
Saying you haven’t got the time doesn’t cut it. Nor does the “I’m a private person”-type argument. The world has changed, and we’ve all had to move with it.
Having a CEO or several senior executives actively participating on Twitter (and other social media channels) says more about a company than any million-dollar TV advertising campaign.
It shows you’re an open organisation that’s part of the community (or at least trying to be); it indicates a willingness to connect and collaborate with people and listen to others’ views – these are all important things for a company’s reputation.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON LEADING COMPANY
“Today I have a FreshBooks announcement to share with you. But first, a story almost 10 years in the making…”
And so starts an open letter
from Mike McDerment, the CEO and cofounder of FreshBooks, an online
company based in Toronto, Canada, that specialises in cloud accounting
for small businesses.
The
letter, which recently appeared on the company’s blog, is how the
company chose to communicate to customers, partners and the media the
brand’s change in positioning from ‘online invoicing’ to ‘cloud
accounting’.
FreshBooks
caught my eye some time back for the way it goes about its marketing.
It appears to be very connected with the marketplace so it’s probably no
surprise the brand leverages online content and social media better
than most companies. It’s also no surprise that McDerment penned an open
letter like this.
Here are four lessons - from a brand communications perspective - gleaned from McDerment’s letter:
1. Establish a company blog
Having
a corporate blog is a definite plus for companies of all sizes. A blog
is an effective tool for small companies because it gives them a global
stage from which to tell their brand story, add value and connect with
customers and partners; large companies can benefit from a blog for the
same reasons but more importantly because it can help an organisation to
appear more ‘human’ with posts written by employees and, preferably,
senior executives including the CEO.
2. Be open
People
appreciate openness and a sense of transparency from company leaders.
Earlier this year PR firm Edelman * released its annual Trust Barometer,
a global survey that gauges the public’s trust in government, business
and the media. One damning statistic from the survey was that only 35 per cent of Australians
found CEOs credible as a company spokesperson. Being open and
transparent at all times in your communications is one way to win back
the trust of people - if you personally have made a mistake or the
company has mis-stepped along the way, say so. Be open to your foibles
as much as your strengths when the situation requires it and people will
respect you (and your brand) all the more for it.
In his open letter, McDerment writes:
“The
road hasn't been easy. It took over 16 months to bring a product to
market. When we launched no one cared and 24 months after starting we
had only 10 paying customers and revenues of $99 per month. We moved
into my parents' basement for 3.5 years. But despite all the evidence
pointing to our failure, we carried on.”
3. Tell stories
Going back to the first line of McDerment’s open letter: "But first, a story almost 10 years in the making…”.
Stories.
We humans love ‘em. We’re hardwired to tell (and listen to) stories,
it’s in our DNA. If companies in Australia want to improve their levels
of communication and engagement with stakeholders, they could do worse
than to develop and tell authentic stories that move people to action
rather than bore them to tears.
4. Use your own voice
Too
many senior company executives rely on the crutch of jargon and
‘gobbledygook management-speak’. Their words - whether spoken or written
- are impenetrable to the point that people - customers, employees,
journalists - switch off.
Use
your own voice, speak to people as you would at a barbecue rather than
how you would to your executive board. Don’t try and emulate other CEOs
who baffle people with impenetrable language designed not to communicate
but to impress. You won’t get your message across and you will lose
standing as a leader.
McDerment finishes with: “I
know this note was long – perhaps unnecessarily so. I wanted to put it
all in one place. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. If you
have any questions, feel free to send me an email, I'd love to hear
from you.”
When
you read this, you know it’s from the heart of the CEO who wrote it and
not some highly-polished blurb written on their behalf by the internal
PR scribe.
(Oh, and there’s a bonus lesson there: Be accessible! As McDerment writes: If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email.
In the letter on the FreshBooks blog, McDerment has embedded a
hyper-link to his email so people can write him directly. Rather than
back away from communication with his customers, he embraces it).
* Disclosure: I consult to Edelman Australia.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON LEADING COMPANY
The emergence of the social web and the increasing popularity of real-time platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have led to companies creating a new internal position that looks after not only the day-to-day goings-on of social media but also how it’s handled strategically within the organisation.
This new role – variously called ‘social media manager’ or ‘community manager’ – started life in a pretty ad hoc way, generally in the form of additional work handed to a digitally-savvy junior burger working in marketing or PR.
Savvier Organisations
Then, as companies woke up to the fact social media was much more than simply banging out the odd tweet or two, and that it involved listening, responding, creating content and massaging metrics for internal reportage, the savvier organisations started developing more dedicated resources around the role.
I saw one recent job ad for a social media manager where the salary was about $90,000, so things are getting serious.
Whether the role should be filled by a young person who ‘gets’ social media or someone older with runs on the board and bruises on the knuckles is a point that’s been hotly debated in recent weeks:
(My view, for what it’s worth, is the role should go to the person who is mature enough to handle it regardless of their age; someone who is passionate, sociable obviously, can write efficiently, understands the power of stories, is savvy when it comes to the basics of issues management, and is sufficiently ‘zen’ in their demeanour to ignore senior managers who claim that “social media is a fad, who wants to know what someone ate for lunch?”. Oh, and this person doesn’t necessarily need massive followings on Twitter and Facebook etc but they do need a high degree of social proof, and by no means does it hurt if they’re an avid blogger who actively participates on the social web for free because they love it!).
Introducing the ‘brand evangelist’
However, I see the establishment of this position as a potential catalyst for companies to take it up a notch and potentially recruit someone who not only understands (and can execute) strategic social media programs, but who is also a whiz at telling stories, a demon at creating multimedia content, and who can, in effect, be a quasi cheerleader or ambassador for the brand.
I’m thinking a ‘brand evangelist’, for want of a better term (I’m not enamoured with the title but hey, it helps me tell the story) – something of a multi-disciplinary, hybrid communications role.
Now, this role would vary considerably from organisation to organisation but the spirit of it is to employ a person who interacts with the marketplace and tells the company’s story via the plethora of mediums available to us today.
The role would encompass a raft of diverse activities such as:
Cohesive Social Media Program
Importantly, the person in this role would be charged with helping to bring the silos of an organisation together for the sake of a cohesive social media program.
In essence, this is a public relations role because all of the above activities fall under a ‘modern’ PR remit. However, that’s not to say a traditionally-trained PR person would be right for the job, either.
Essentially, the person undertaking this role needs to fulfil a number of functions: part-PR, part-content marketing, part-social media and part-customer service. It’s an interesting hybrid, but one that could play a hugely valuable internal and external role in the ‘right’ company.
Example: Scott Monty from Ford
While perhaps not 100% fitting this hybrid role, Ford’s global head of social media, Scott Monty, is an excellent example of a de facto brand evangelist by the sheer fact he’s on social media day in, day out, representing Ford.
He’s more than a community manager or social media strategist, although both those functions variously fall under his remit. His role appears to cross numerous boundaries to the point where he has become something of a spokesperson for the company.
Food for thought!
Further reading: Social Media Thought Leader: Ford’s Scott Monty Parts One and Two.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON LEADING COMPANY
In this video I introduce the concept of 'The Connected Brand'.
It's more of a philosophy, a smarter way to market your business in today's hyper-social world.
My definition of The Connected Brand is one that:
How do they do this?
Connected Brands do this through content creation (and curation), by kick-starting and facilitating conversation with customers and stakeholders, and building sense of community around its brand by being empathetic and inclusive.
Then the brand can instigate call to action.
(Too often brands go for the kill straight up without going through any of the above steps- this kinda doesn't make much sense to me).
What do you think? Is this the way we should be marketing our brands in today's super-busy, information-overloaded world?
Love to hear your thoughts.
Too often you hear from brands (large and small, but quizzically it generally comes from larger organisations) that they haven't got much to say that’s interesting and therefore social media and content marketing would be a waste of time for them.
Hmmm, really?
You know, just when you think there are deadly boring categories out there populated with brands that at first glance probably DON’T have a lot to say, along comes King Arthur Flour to effectively take that argument and knock it out of the park.
Vermont-based King Arthur is America's oldest flour company.
Yes, you read correctly. FLOUR. That powdery white stuff used for cooking.
This is a business that’s nailing both social media and its online kindred spirit ‘content marketing’, and doing so better than most large Australian companies operating in higher interest categories.
Content Marketing
What is King Arthur Flour doing that’s so progressive? First of all, the brand focuses on producing interesting and relevant content.
It doesn’t flog us about the ears just talking about its flour and why it’s so great, but rather it takes a more considered and bigger picture view. Its content strategy is to educate the public on cooking with flour, celebrate the art of baking (also known as ‘food porn’ - see its blog here) and generally build and cultivate community of people who are interested in baking.
Furthermore - and importantly - King Arthur Flour markets its brand by telling interesting and informative stories across multiple mediums, especially video.
In keeping with its goal of educating amateur, professional and aspiring bakers, King Arthur Flour runs a baking education centre (pictured below), a schools-based ‘Life Skills Bread Baking Program’ and a series of free travelling baking demos.
Social Media
Let’s shift our attention to King Arthur’s social media channels, an area where it is excelling.
The brand has a thriving community on Facebook, with nearly 90,000 people ‘liking’ the page.
Its Facebook updates are regularly ‘liked’ and commented upon. One such post - in which the brand asked its fans to show “support for American farmers in so many parts of our country battling terrible drought conditions” - attracted over 2000 likes (this update also featured a video inviting the public to “take a tour with us through the wheat fields of Kansas and meet some of the people who grow wheat that becomes King Arthur Flour”.).
Many of their updates attract between 70 and 100 comments (unlike ‘likes’, comments demonstrate a deeper level of engagement on the part of consumers).
They’re a creative bunch at King Arthur Flour too.
On the right-hand side of the Facebook page - in the ‘timeline’ - the brand cleverly takes the reader back to 1790 when the company was founded, then on to the 1800s, 1900s and so on. In other words, it uses mini-stories to tell its overall brand story, but produces it in such a way so people can discover it in their own time.
The brand is more active on Twitter than most companies (it has tweeted over 5500 times and boasts 14,000+ followers). Extending to another social network, 124,000 people have placed King Arthur in their Google+ ‘circles’ while on YouTube, the company’s 70+ educational and storytelling-based videos have had over 700,000 views.
King Arthur Flour also publishes a glossy hard-copy bimonthly newsletter (which it sells) as well as an award-winning cookbook series.
And to cap everything off, King Arthur features on its website a forum-based community area where consumers and B2B customers can ask questions, share recipes and start discussions around baking and running a bakery business.
Does all this mean King Arthur Flour doesn’t promote its products?
Not at all, but the brand is adept at earning the attention of its customers and adding value to their lives in interesting, relevant and respectful ways. This way, its ‘sales pitch’ can be deliberately low-key and still be effective because consumers have already bought into the brand and its story.
This is marketing today.
Telling authentic stories with passion and enthusiasm.
Educating customers by creating relevant and meaty content and distributing it across via a number of different media formats.
Connecting with the marketplace and building a sense of community via multiple social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
And finally, understanding that it’s not all about online communication and that face-to-face and event-based activity is the, ahem, icing on the marketing cake.
THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON LEADING COMPANY.
In 1974 Rolling Stone critic John Landau declared: "I've seen rock 'n' roll's future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen."
In the spirit of Landau and Springsteen, I make a similar bold statement: "I've Seen Marketing's Future, and its Name is Amanda Palmer."
To the uninitiated, Amanda Palmer is an American singer/musician who first made a name for herself as one half of the punk cabaret duo, The Dresden Dolls.
According to Wikipedia, Palmer announced on her blog she will record a new solo album in collaboration with The Grand Theft Orchestra. The album reportedly will be recorded in Melbourne where - according to Palmer's Twitter bio - she is partially based, along with Boston and New York City.
So what's this got to do with marketing?
Everything! The independent-minded Palmer recently raised $1 million+ from nearly 25,000 backers (read: fans) via the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com to help finance a new record, art book and tour. A pretty fair effort and something you wouldn't think possible without a strong fan base.
(Further evidence of her following - her Twitter account has nearly 600,000 followers while she has 147,000 Likes on Facebook).
Palmer has been on my 'marketing' radar for a while now, thanks mainly to best-selling author David Meerman Scott who is not only a big fan of her music but also the way she uses social media to connect with her audience.
Here are three posts David has devoted to the recording artist:
So, while the Amanda Palmer story has been well covered by David and others, this week I had my own epiphany. It came after reading this story in Techdirt:
The article is a guest post written by Palmer in which she explains the incredible connection she has with her fans that, in turn, enabled her to raise so much money via the Kickstarter project.
Palmer tells the story of how bamboo grows, likening it to developing a community of fans around your brand:
"A farmer plants a bamboo shoot underground, and waters and tends it for about three years. Nothing grows that's visible, but the farmer trots out there, tending to this invisible thing with a certain amount of faith that things are going to work out. When the bamboo finally appears above ground, it can shoot up to thirty feet in a month."
Photo credit > Gregory Nomoora >
Palmer writes that she has been "tending this bamboo forest of fans for years and years":
"Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that i curiously follow, every strange bed I've crashed on...all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record...And they help because they know I'm good for it. Because they KNOW me."
Palmer is in-sync with today's 'connected consumer', where multiple micro interactions over time prove more effective than in-your-face chest-beating:
"I tweet all day. I share my life. My REAL life. The ugly things, the hard things. I monitor my blog religiously. I read the comments. I ask for advice. I answer questions. I fix problems. ... I don't try to hide behind a veil of fame. I don't want to be anything more than totally human. I make mistakes, get called out, and apologize. I share my process. I ask for help SHAMELESSLY ... I'm the kind of person they WANT to help, because they know me well enough, after years of connecting, to know WHO I ACTUALLY AM. They don't just get a photoshopped snapshot of my every time I have an album to promote. They see the three-dimensional person, in motion, in real-time. Living and working."
But this is the kicker for me - there is no substitute for passion and authenticity:
"There is no marketing trick. There is human connection, and you can't fake it. It takes time and effort and, most importantly: you have to actually LIKE it, otherwise you'll be miserable."
As Palmer's tech/blog/social media support guy Sean Francis adds at the bottom of the article:
"While you were sleeping, Amanda Palmer built an army."
Great stuff! Highly recommended :)
IMPORTANTLY, WHAT CAN YOUR BRAND LEARN FROM AMANDA PALMER?
BELOW: Amanda Palmer + Neil Gaiman talk about the effect of twitter and the internet on music business A discussion at MOFO Festival 2011 Hobart Tasmania
Trevor Young has built PR Warrior into one of the world’s foremost showcases of what can be achieved at the intersection of public relations and social media.” - Brad Howarth, Smart Company, September 2011 More »
Recent Comments