New, Old, Simple, Easy… Shifting from words to experience
May 22nd, 2009 | Author: Beth Harte
Over the last few weeks I have noticed an interesting trend. Or maybe it’s been around and I just didn’t notice it until I was confronted by it.
So, what’s the trend you may be wondering? Well it goes something like this…
You aren’t talking about anything new…
That’s old-school…
PR isn’t simple…
It’s easy for anyone to be a marketer…
Why do we describe the areas of our profession and each other in this manner? I am as guilty (really guilty sometimes!) as the next marketer for throwing around a few of these words/phrases and I’ve decided to stop. Why? Because I think it’s a missed opportunity to learn and gain a new or different perspective. [And you know, hindsight is always 20/20!]
NEW: The act of being social isn’t new (on- or off-line), but for some people it is. As social media practitioners, we should provide everyone the space and, more importantly, opportunity to figure social media out for themselves whether it’s through blogging or Tweeting, etc. We tell people/companies that the best way to “learn” social media and the online culture is to engage. It’s not quite fair then to tell people (or over analyze what they have implemented), based on their new and unique experiences, that what they are doing/saying is nothing new. Perhaps if we listen to these first time experiences something new just might be learned.
OLD: Integrated marketing communications is coming back to the forefront and I made a comment that it was, well, old school. That’s a limiting perspective because as social media (the tools and the concept) disintegrates marketing silos, there’s an opportunity to learn or implement something new…even all these years later.
SIMPLE: We all work at different speeds and levels of understanding. We are at a point where early adopters are looking for more advanced conversations and information and those lagging a bit behind are scrambling to find all the information they can. We need to be aware of the different levels within our social networks and respect them.
EASY: There is a notion in marketing that “anyone can be a marketer.” I think that’s a disservice to our profession. Just like with any other profession, years of experience leads to knowledge, instinct, intuition and confidence…and sometimes those traits often lead others to a false sense of marketing being easy. Great marketers know that they need to continually learn, listen, test, ask questions, build relationships and push limits. [And when I say marketers, I mean all aspects of marketing from research to product to communications (PR, advertising, direct marketing, etc.).]
We are in a tremendously exciting & turbulent time in marketing…can we just put these words (well, adjectives) aside and focus more on the experience? What do you think? Am I looking at this the right way?
[Image: iStock]
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Beth – I enjoyed the post. A good marketer looks for different perspective and the labeling you describe (which we are all guilty of) limits that ability. It is actually the ability to gather and synthesize different perspectives that separates a marketer from the non-marketer who believes anyone can be a marketer. In our attempt to help people new to social media understand its concepts, we over rely on the analogy that being social in our day to day lives is the same as being social online. While similarities exist, you’re right, it is a new experience, and what a great opportunity we have as marketers to listen and learn from these different perspectives.
I agree. I am new to this and have just really dove into it hard core in the last few months. I still consider myself a student of the Social Marketing space.
Jamie Favreau’s last blog post..My NEW Internship and You can Help!
As a relative newcomer to marketing (sometimes it feels like longer) I think that the best thing to do is to just keep learning. Age, experience, status be damned. I just want to learn how to do things better. I think if we all had this attitude…we’d be able to sell a lot more stuff
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Stuart Foster’s last blog post..7 Posts Where I Learned Something This Week
I agree we are in an exciting time for marketing. It is a time where people who can bring ideas and adapt will thrive and some will fall away.
I’m a huge believer in integrated marketing (I call it balanced marketing) – using the best from traditional techniques and m2.0 to really get results.
David’s last blog post..Blog of the Week – Discomfort Zone
Great post, Beth. I think labels often make things worse. Yes, they’re needed at times, I see them often causing more harm than good. Marketers still need to evaluate their audience and plan accordingly. While the tools and tactics may change over time and publics, many of the objectives and strategies will be similar. I don’t care if it’s simple, easy, old or new, as long as it’s effective.
@AliciaFalcone, “we over rely on the analogy that being social in our day to day lives is the same as being social online…” I think this is a challenge we all face. It makes me wish that I had taken more sociology and anthropology classes in college.
@StuartFoster, indeed! Smart folks that know it’s okay to keep learning and asking questions.
@David, thanks for sharing your insights… I like “balanced marketing.” It makes makes more sense…because in some cases traditional marketing will be the more weighted area and in some cases not.
@JenWilbur, this post was in response to the conversation that you, Jeremy and I were having last week (but, you probably know that). You are right, effective is the only adjective we should be tossing around right now.
Nice post Beth.
Your “Easy” point is the saddest I think. Because, the sad thing is that actually anyone can be a marketer and that has gotten our industry into a real pinch. Because clients can’t see the real you before they hire you, only the you that you “present.”
But here is something to make you go hmmm just like marketing everyone can be a stripper too. But I’m guessing a lot of us would get real poor real fast if we tried that line of work — that is if we could even get a job.
Why? Because stripping is very public. What you see is what you get – literally. Thus it’s easy to see the “good ones” and the “bad ones” and set the “pay scale” accordingly.
But marketing is a lot of smoke and mirrors. You find folks that are great presenters but it is only after you hire them that you realize they were just presenting another person’s ideas. They have no ideas of their own. You don’t see what you get BEFORE you buy. Unlike stripping.
And I think it is that lack of ability to sense or see the real marketers from the wanna be’s that causes clients to just lump us all into that commodity basket.
So the real problem that most of us have isn’t that clients think anyone can be a marketer, but more importantly that we wait until it is too late to make the case that there are levels of marketers and not all of us are created equally. We wait until we’re unemployed or looking for a new client to make that case. But by then, it’s too late. You have to invest in your marketing brand BEFORE you need it.
Marketers have to understand that from the very beginning of their career, they are building a brand that prospective companies will view and the more that brand can show them to be a true marketer and less of someone that does marketing the better. You have to use the tools available to you to in your words, show “experience leads to knowledge, instinct, intuition and confidence.”
You gotta be a stripper. Make it obvious. Make them understand, what you see is what you get so look closely and know that you’re going to pay for higher quality.
@TomMartin
Tom Martin’s last blog post..Launching Free Idea Days Bring me your marketing problems
@TomMartin, nice analogy!
You bring up some very valid issues…call it smoke & mirrors, call it dog & pony, it’s all the same.
Thanks for approaching it from a client/agency perspective…I was looking at it from an internal corporate perspective (my background). As in, anyone can be a marketer…including the admin, the engineer, the sales person, the customer service rep, etc. They can all easily be moved into marketing, right? A rhetorical question, but to your point…I guess they could be if they market themselves properly. Part of the mindset is based on the fact that marketing is seen as creative fluff versus the science it is (just like engineering or accounting). We need to work together to change that mindset and prove it wrong.
Wonderful post -very timely. My daughter just graduated last week from college
with a double major, PR and English-writing intensive. While she has completed two very successful internships both PR firms have suffered major layoffs and a hiring freeze. So like a lot of other bright, aspiring recent grads looking to launch PR careers she is working hard in a job search. I’ve been a small business owner for 30 years who lives & loves marketing. I counseled her that while social media represents a marketing game changer, remember that they are technology tools. These tools are most effective (there’s that word again) when used by marketing professionals. In my humble opinion marketing pro’s are those who hone and develop their skills so as you said their “knowledge, instinct, intuition and confidence” makes it look easy.
I do not see where marketers have a wide range of levels. Sure, some are better than others, but what it really comes down to is the product your pushing.
For example, I hate when people say Phil Jackson is an amazing NBA coach, blah, blah. Think about it, he won six championships with the Bulls (Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, etc..) and a couple with the Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Shaquele O’Neal). I give him credit that he is a good coach, but its the product he was given that led him to success.
I don’t care how good of a marketer you are, if the burger you are trying to sell tastes like dog food, and the kid down the street, 2 weeks out of college, is pushing a burger that tastes like heaven on earth, who do you think is going to win that battle???
So I guess my point is that i feel in the marketing game, skill and talent will only get you so far. Comes down to the product you are trying to push that will determine your success.
@MarkMeredino, of course you don’t see it because you aren’t a marketer… As well, you have completely missed the point of my post because you aren’t engaged in this space and have no exposure to the ongoing debates/conversations taking place that I am referring to.
Just to be clear, marketing isn’t a ‘game’ and products can’t be ‘pushed.’ There is either a market or their isn’t. It’s that simple. Social media is changing the traditional marketing funnel as we know it and engagement is key. There’s your Marketing 101 lesson for today….It’s up to you to figure out what I am talking about, because the people who read this blog already get it.
@BethHarte, I may not have understood your whole post, but I did get your ‘EASY’ point and that is what my comment was referring to. Sorry I did not make that clear in my original comment. My bad.
I know marketing is not a ‘game’, sorry for the slang, it is a true profession, but don’t kid yourself, at the heart of marketing its all about pushing product. The goal is to get the word out about your product to gather interest and generate sales of your product.
The methods of doing so can be new, changed, or rehashed. This is where the talent of the marketer falls. But I still say its the quality, price, and necessity of your product is what is going to make you rise above other marketers.
@KevinFerrasciOMalley, congratulations to your daughter! PR [and marketing, of course!
] is a wonderful industry to get into right now because social media (the concept) and the social tools we use are slowly but surely forcing PR pros to really engage in all publics (not just the media/bloggers). And it’s also changing how we engage with the media and bloggers…for the better. I am really looking forward to the next 2-3 years to see how the industry changes.
Also, it’s typical for most PR students come out of Communications/ Journalism departments and they sometimes lack the understanding of how marketing effects PR and vice versa (because marketing isn’t typically taught in a Comm/Journ dept). My suggestion, if your daughter would even be interested, is to take some marketing classes. That will give her an advantage in connecting the dots…
Also, here’s a great blog post by John Bell at Ogilvy to share with her: “The 13 Skills of the Public Relations Pro of the Future” [http://johnbell.typepad.com/weblog/2008/08/revised-the-13.html] You can see where some marketing understanding comes into play.
@MarkMeredino, I guess another Marketing 101 lesson is required here. Product doesn’t make a marketer…customers determine the product (it’s the marketer’s job to listen, make sure the product is what the customer wants and to engage/communicate with the customer. It’s a continuous cycle.). The days of sales-driven, ‘if we build it, they will come’ companies and messaging push have been over for quite some time…
If you truly want to understand marketing, here are some great books to read: Groundswell, Marketing to the Social Web, Putting the ‘Public’ Back in PR, Marketing Champions, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, and The New Influencers.
As a software engineer, they should be enough to help give you an understanding of where marketing is today. After you give them all a read, feel free to come back and participate in a more thought leadership level conversation with the rest of the community here.
@MarkMeredino @BethHarte Yes, that is why some products seem to be so good and so easy to market.
It is because of the work that was done up front, to produce a solution to particular needs or to solve problems.
I’ve worked in companies where a product would be designed (often with some really clever ideas included) that would then be handed over to marketing and sales to run with and try and actually find a reason why someone would buy it.
I’m sure this still goes on in some industries, but I can’t imagine it can be successful.
Mark, learning what clients really want or need is one area where the new style of social media marketing really has a role to play – make sure that the burger your company makes is just what your clients want – which almost certainly isn’t tasting like dog food. Heck even my dogs don’t like that too much
David’s last blog post..Another good reason to use Firefox
Well, I was biting my nails to see how the conversation would turn out and David wraps it up perfectly with : “It is because of the work that was done up front, to produce a solution to particular needs or to solve problems.” We all fall in love with our favorite tools but our job requires an open mind to any method of creating a tighter connection between customer and product. When a marketer accepts that this is a two way communication process that needs to spread throughout the organization then the real work begins. Never easy. Always interesting.
Fred H Schlegel’s last blog post..Reality Check – -Have You Out-Innovated Your Customers?
Thanks Beth.
There is something to be said for taking each situation and project as a new, unique experience. Just as with any sport, the more we do it the more we can rely on our instincts and confidence, but the plays you made in your last game will not work in your current game as the players and situation are different.
So much of the conversation online seems to be around positioning the individual verses collaborating, sharing, adding value and acting like a community.
I love the spirit of this post.
Alasdair Munn’s last blog post..Social Media, a Vehicle to Organisational Change
@David, you did wrap it up perfectly…thanks! To your point, there are still a lot of companies that do marketing that way…the difference is with social media, we (companies who “listen”) know A LOT sooner than later that customers aren’t happy… Tropicana anyone?
@FredHSchlegel, no need to bite nails, my friend…Mark is an ex-coworker, a software developer, who has suddenly taken an interest in marketing for some reason. I am sure David’s and your comments will be very helpful to him…thank you!
@AlasdairMunn, a great analogy. I think we will see social media shifting how internal departments collaborate as well…silos don’t work whether they are marketing silos or organizational silos. Looking forward to reading your post on the subject!
By the way, did I mention how uber-smart you all are? Thanks for the continued insights and great conversation!
Very interesting how a little micro community has formed around this story.
I feel a blog post coming
David’s last blog post..Another good reason to use Firefox
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