Archive for the ‘social networking’ Category
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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I am off to Boston!
Monday and Tuesday I’ll be at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum and I am really looking forward to it! After attending the MarketingProfs’ Digital Marketing Mixer in October, I have no doubt that the B2B Forum will deliver on its promise to re-charge, re-invent, re-engage us marketers!
The B2B Forum will focus on three key areas:
- Integrating marketing programs for better results
- Measuring and evaluating marketing programs to prove ROI
- Keeping customers and prospects engaged
With the economical situation in the US and marketing campaigns, well, just not working quite the way they used to…we can safely say that these are the top three areas a lot of marketers are concerned about.
I am looking forward to meeting a lot of new people, meeting people I’ve only known online and hanging out with good friends.
While at the B2B Forum Ann Handley and I will be taking turns doing one-on-one Twitter therapy sessions so if your attending and need some help integrating Twitter into your marketing or communications strategy, stop by!
I also plan on blogging some of the sessions so you can see the value you’ll receive by attending MarketingProfs events. Some of the sessions I’ll be attending include:
- Marketing 2.0: Integrating Social Media into Your Marketing Mix with Sandy Carter, IBM
- The 2009 Economic Impact on B2B Marketing Budgets and Practices with Roy Young, MarketingProfs; Sandy Carter, IBM; and Laura Ramos, Forrester
- Developing Online Communities that Increase Customer Loyalty with Diane Hessan, Communispace; Gretchen Harding, Intuit; Joanne Del Toro, Network Solutions; Nathan Beverly, WellPoint Corporate Marketing
- Tales from the Trenches, How Organizations are Measuring Value in Social Media with Katie Payne, KDPaine & Partners
If you’ll be in Boston for the B2B Forum, I hope to see you there!
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The Seven Deadly Sins of Public Relations 2.0
Tonight on our weekly #pr20chat we discussed the seven deadly sins of public relations 2.0, a topic suggested by Rodney Rumford and Kat Calbes.
I had no doubt that we’d identify some sins that are keeping PR pros from harnessing the power of social media to engage ALL of their publics. Without further ado:
Deadly Sin #1: Becoming too involved in relationships
Deadly Sin #2: Only focusing on media and blogger relations
Deadly Sin #3: Not understanding technology [Christopher Pollock]
Deadly Sin #4: Thinking you can still control the message [Christopher Pollock, Susan Getgood]
Deadly Sin #5: Approaching social media as a channel [Jason Kintzler]
Deadly Sin #6: Not understanding group dynamics, sociology, anthropology [Giles Crouch, Brian Solis]
Deadly Sin #7: Not Integrating communications efforts
Other Deadly Sins…
- Setting unrealistic, over promising expectations [Lauren Vargas]
- Cramming traditional “push” PR tactics into conversational social media [Jason Kintzler]
- Your client’s brand has no friends, fans or followers [Jason Kintzler]
I hope I didn’t miss anyone or any other sins! What other sins would you add when it comes to PR 2.0?
[Image: iStock]
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Tags: deadly PR sins, PR, pr 20 chat, Public Relations |
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Social Media: The marketing miracle!
Back in April, Mack Collier and I had an interesting conversation about social media campaigns and how they are ineffective. I said that I was going to write a post called “Social Media Campaigns are like Crying Wolf” (but never got around to it until now…). In response to our conversation, Mack wrote a great post about how social media isn’t a one-night stand, but a relationship.
Why are social media campaigns like crying wolf? We all know the famous fable about the little shepherd boy who entertained himself by crying wolf just to get the villagers attention. Well, eventually the villagers stopped coming when he cried wolf and when the shepherd boy really did encounter a real wolf he was left alone to battle while it ate his flock.
I think if you replace the shepherd boy with “company,” the villagers with “community,” flock with “customers” and wolf with “competition” I think we might be able to draw a conclusion as to why social media campaigns aren’t effective. The moral of this new fable? It’s never wise to use the social community for attention seeking or self-serving needs.
However, that said, after much thought I think some social media campaigns are less about crying wolf than they are about approaching social media as the last bastion of lead or buzz generation hope because all other marketing is failing…the social media miracle. And, unfortunately, it’s a miracle that often ends in failure.
Social media isn’t a marketing miracle by any stretch. But a lot of marketers (client- and agency-side) look at social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogging, podcasting, etc.) as vehicles for self-promoting (or crying wolf) to be just that…a miracle that recreates the lead generation and buzz they once had. And social media just doesn’t work that way. For social media to be effective, a long-term commitment to community relationship building is required…as Todd Defren calls it, uncampaigning.
Shel Holtz also has a great post on organic social media vs. marketing campaigns in which he states that ‘organic engagement in social media will have greater long-term payoff for an organization, and can even bolster shorter-term campaigns.’ That’s the key to social media campaigns being successful because they aren’t one-off, they are part of an on-going, organic relationship.
For companies out there considering a social media campaign, ask these questions before you expect a miracle:
- Do I have an established community that wants to hear from us?
- What does the community want from us?
- How does this social media campaign affect the long-term relationship with our community?
- Will this social media campaign be scrutinized by the community or others?
- Is this social media campaign a quick fix to combat competition?
- If I hold a mirror up to this campaign, will I like the reflection (i.e. are you engaging in social media in response to detractors)?
- Are we doing this social media campaign just because it’s cool or we think it’s buzz-worthy?
- Why is my agency pushing this social media campaign (or why is my client pushing this social media campaign)?
- How are we going to measure the success of the social media campaign? What are the objectives?
- Do we have a contingency (or crisis) plan in place for this social media campaign?
Your turn…do you think one-off social media campaigns work? What’s been effective (or ineffective)? What else would you add to this list of questions?
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You’re so vain
I bet you think this post is about you, don’t you…
Are you hearing Carly Simon in your head now? Good. That’s the effect I wanted, although I’ll probably regret it later [when you want to kill me because you can't get the song out of said head]. Maybe I am just taking a note from my friend Narciso Tovar over at Method + Moxie, he always equates his posts to music and a serious point.
I have been mulling this over for a few weeks now and I think it’s just something that has to be said. My blog posts are not about you. Let me clarify, they are about us as collective marketers and the marketing industry…but they aren’t about any one person, company, or situation in particular.
As marketers we have a lot of experiences and interactions with different industries, bosses, co-workers, agencies, customers, etc. and each leaves a lasting impression, especially for analytic types.
Now, think of all those experiences from the point of view of a marketer that also blogs. We look for trends (people are getting bored with Twitter…), we see trends recycling (just like flair bottom jeans & clogs), we learn about and analyze what’s effective and ineffective (Motrin, anyone?), we look for what’s new (oh, hello latest new social tool!), etc., etc., etc.
And, of course, marketers who blog are usually also very socially connected. That means we use Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, forums, etc. We go to offline association meetings (like the PRSA, AMA, IABC, SMC, etc.). And we read…a lot! Especially other blogs with viewpoints other than our own, books and magazines.
All of these additional experiences, social interactions, conversations, debates, and reading often spark an idea or thought that leads to an entire post for a marketing blogger.
The next time you read a post and vanity rears its ugly head, Nikki Massaro Kauffman at .eduGuru suggests you ask yourself three questions before you comment:
- Is this post even about me/us?
- Is there any truth to this post?
- Is this post completely untrue?
Essentially ask yourself is the blogger holding a “mirror up to nature?”
For most marketing bloggers, the answer is a resounding “YES!” We are holding up a mirror to our experiences, the profession, and more. If we didn’t, we’d be quite boring!
So the next time you’re reading a post and the thought crosses your mind that it could be about you or your company, think twice, maybe even three times, because most likely it’s not. Marketers, especially those who are passionate about being marketers (you know they type, they eat, sleep, drink, tweet, blog marketing 24/7) are, for the most part, blogging to be reflective, thoughtful, analytic and well, marketers…
Now you can scold me for Carly Simon bouncing around in your head.
[Hat tip to Rachel Reuben for leading me to Nikki's post. Thanks Rachel!]
[Image: iStock]
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Tags: Blogging, Marketing, Social Media |
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The Harte of Marketing by Beth Harte is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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