Archive for the ‘Case Study’ Category
microMARKETING: From the One Big Thing to the Right Small Things*
[*Read to the end of the post to find out how to WIN A FREE copy of Greg’s new book!]
When I found out last summer that my friend Greg Verdino was writing a book, I thought “Finally! A chance to get inside of that brilliant mind of his!” And trust me when I say, microMARKETING does not disappoint.
And when I heard about the “lots and lots of small reviews” experiment, I invited myself to the party (thanks again Aaron & Greg!) and asked to blog about Chapter 9.
Just know, I did it for you dear readers! I was going to write a review of Greg’s book anyway (because I had already bought it, read it, and loved it), but this way I could score a FREE book to give away to one lucky micromarketer!
Success through the Right Small Things
“…the concept of the global microbrand—the seemingly humble small business that gets big results by thinking and acting small—not only isn’t oxymoronic; it is actually perfectly in synch with the times.”
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In Search of Integrated Marketing Genius
Yeah, you. You’re the genius I am referring to!
In all the years of blogging here at The Harte of Marketing, I haven’t really asked for much, but I need your help.
I am looking for examples, case studies (I dread using that term, trust me), or even bread crumb trails that might lead me in the right direction. I’ve been digging around for examples of smart integrated marketing and customer-centric organizations to shine a spotlight on here at The Harte of Marketing.
While exploring the depths of the interwebs (my friend Tish Grier says it’s akin to spelunking), I have found some great articles, examples, interviews, but I know there is more to uncover. I am looking for examples where companies have…
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“It’s About People, Stupid.”
I can’t think of a better way to kick off a book that’s not about today’s latest buzz word or tomorrow’s new shiny object, can you?
My friends over at Brains on Fire know better than most that it’s about people. They are the experts behind some of today’s notable and successful word of mouth movements. Their new book, aptly titled “Brains on Fire” (written by Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church, and Spike Jones), graciously shares ten lessons when it comes to creating and sustaining a movement.
Movement? You’ve Lost Me.
Most marketers think in terms of campaigns. The problem with that thinking is that campaigns are short-term and are usually created with one purpose in mind: lead generation. Once the funnel is full and sales stops complaining or the sales quota has been met, it’s time to move onto the next campaign and product or service push. Come on; tell me you don’t live in that world? Say no and I’ll call you a fibber.
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Where have all the references gone?
I don’t know if you’ve notice, but over the past few weeks I’ve been commenting on Twitter about self-promotion and the need to bring it back. With the impetus of social media being towards limited, if any, self-promotion (unless I missed the memo that it was okay), I’ve notice that the pendulum for people engaged in social media has finally swung from 100% to 0%.
I don’t know about you, but I have about 5-8 people nationally that I feel confident referring for marketing, PR or social media consulting. Locally, it’s even less than that. For all the people I know on- and off-line, it’s a little sad that I have such a small pool of people to refer. And isn’t that the point of social media to build relationships that could potentially lead to referrals? That’s what we tell companies all the time, right?
What’s the issue? Sure, we all follow the social media “rules” and we try to build relationships with people first and foremost and that’s great…but then it falls apart.
The people that I feel comfortable referring are people that I met online first, then offline, and then they’ve shared links to their client work or have outright been a part of their clients’ campaigns online. I’ve been able to see their campaigns and get a 360 degree view of the person, how they think and their abilities. I’ve also had conversations with some of them about their campaigns or projects.
There are people who I follow on Twitter or Facebook that I that feel comfortable saying I know them pretty well, but honestly I have absolutely no clue where they work and/or what they have done as marketing, PR or social media professionals that would deserve a reference.
I have people asking me all the time to refer consultants, agencies or speakers on particular topics because, in their minds, I am “well connected.” And I am consistently drawing a blank, which, needless to say surprises most people.
Honestly, I have to question this “no self-promotion” rule and why we all (I am guilty of it too) make people feel SO uncomfortable to do so. It goes back to my favorite adage “people don’t know what they don’t know” and right now I don’t know what you all do.
I am not talking about blatant, outright self promotion…I hate that as much as the next person. But once we have gotten to know someone, haven’t they earned the right to share online with us the campaigns they are working on or a project they are proud of?
And yes, I get it…sometimes there are NDAs or confidentiality issues. But find a creative way to let us know what it is you are working on or what benefits you might provide a potential client/customer.
I’d like to be able to refer all the smart people I am connected with…but I need more than just knowing what you share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or your blog to be able to do that. I need some kind of evidence that you are strategic, tactical and deliver results so I can feel comfortable telling people to give you a call.
Please, help me out. I’d like to be able to provide references for you or your business. If we know each other and have connected either here on my blog or on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn let me know what you’ve been working on or share with me some of your recent campaigns/projects.
Anyone else having this issue? What can we do to help people get business or job referrals? Is the lack of self-promotion actually hurting us?
[Image: iStock]
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Are you a social media tease?
While at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum I attended Sandy Carter’s packed session on Marketing 2.0: Integrating Social Media into Your Marketing Mix. This session was an in-depth look into how IBM integrated social media into their traditional marketing mix/plan to engage with an active online SOA (Software Oriented Architecture) community. For this particular case study, we learned that Sandy and her team used social media to continue building the community, get feedback on their sMash beta, share information on an event and for lead generation.
One of the really interesting aspects that Sandy talked about is how they engaged the community for their sMash software. IBM reached out to the online community to get software requirements for developing the software, test the software, provided feedback, re-test and even for the product name.
Sandy shared a story that at one event the 13 sMash developers were asked to stand up for a round of applause and over 1,000 people in the audience stood up! Truly amazing!
From a B2B perspective hearing a case study like this is truly inspiring to say the least. Having been a technology marketer for 15 years, I’ve always tapped into customers for alpha and beta testing, but in a more traditional manner (usually a phone call and meeting).
Based on my experience, I’d like to warn marketers out there that tapping into social customers is a lot different than offline customers. Why?
Well, let’s think about this from a dating perspective…
Remember when you were in high school and you really dug a girl/guy and all your friends knew about it? Then that one special day said girl/guy comes up and flirts with you, your friends see it and you all think “Wow! See that he/she is interested…when’s the first date?”
But in reality, they aren’t really interested in you, who you are, or what you have to say nor do they have plans to ask you out on a date. When you realize that there’s a feeling of embarrassment, anger, mistrust, humiliation, etc.
The social web works in the same way in some aspects. When people (customers in this aspect) are used to being heard, sharing their thoughts, getting respect and feedback from others in the community…they don’t like to be played.
If you are a B2B business considering tapping into an established online network of customers, you really need to be sure that you have the internal mechanisms to implement what the community shares or wants. Because if you pick and choose or just ‘flirt’ to look good, you can cause more damage in the long run.
IBM was successful tapping into the community because they were willing to listen, incorporate the feedback (many, many times!), have the internal mechanisms and buy-in, and let the community build sMash. They didn’t say well, we’ll listen only to these 5 people because their suggestions are convenient and already fit into our already established software requirements and release roadmap and we’ll ignore the rest until “we’re” ready.
While this is an example social media being used for software development, I think my analogy lends itself to any social media campaigns.
So, are you a tease or planning on being one?
[Image:iStock]
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Tags: B2B social media, business-to-business social media, IBM, Marketing 2.0, MarketingProfs, Sandy Carter, Social Media | 
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