Another conference, another hotel, another plane ride.
We were attending PRSA08 in Detroit as exhibitors, which is an interesting exercise in time management.
You see,typically people attend these shows to participate in workshops, listen to speeches, eat and drink..... lots. Sometimes, although very rarely, these people are also interested in meeting with exhibitors; the rest of the people you talk to are mostly not at all interested in you or your products. You are there to provide a minimal level of distraction between sessions. The trick is being able to spot the time wasters from the interested folks.
We were fortunate that we have a product that is well respected and sought after by many companies. This allows us to avoid a habit that many exhibitors display time and time again in an effort to attract visitors to their booth; giveaways.
I have never understood why companies believe there is any value in the endless array of trinkets and trash they give at these shows. Do they really think it will make a potential customer remember them when they are in need of their service? Decide they need the service? Remember their name?
Even more interesting is the variety of items you see. Pens, sponge balls, book lamps,CD's, balloons; the list is endless as companies try to be creative in their approach. One booth was even giving away sapling trees in a tube. A unique gift to be sure, but a wisely spent marketing dollar? Not so much.
What makes this all worse is that for some people who attend these shows, the only interest beyond the sessions seems to be collecting as much free stuff as they can get their hands on, while committing as little time as possible engaging with any member of the company offering the items.
So, we were trinket-free, and concentrated on having good conversations with people genuinely interested in our social media monitoring tool. Oh, and we gave away a few laptop stickers.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Are you building your Social Brand?
Finally found time to write, after two very long full days in Arizona. I was there with our company to exhibit our product at the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer. The host company had invited companies to discuss three areas of B2B internet marketing; Email, Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, and Social Media.
There were 300 people from North America, Mexico and Australia in attendance, representing all three areas.
We had many visitors to our booth, which by the way, almost never made it, due to a shipping foul up.
I was amazed by the change in perception to social media by the email and SEO crowd, as the event progressed.
Early on, as I spoke with these people, there was a clear lack of understanding about Social Media, and its relevance to customer reach. These were, after all, people who were grounded in the other two disaplines, sure of their ability to reach their customer and prospects in the best and most efficient manner.
Throughout the event, there were numuerous guest speakers who repeated the message we in SM live and breathe; your customers are having conversations about you and your products everyday...are you listening?
To see the realization of this truth in peoples’ eyes was incredible. They were coming to the realization that SEO and email reach programs are the internets’ mature business model.
The two Keynote speakers were impressive. Arianna Huffington spoke of her site, the Huffington Post, at length. While I don’t agree with everything she said, I respect that she is clear in conviction and opinion, and despite her obvious distaste for Sarah Palin, seems even-handed.
Gary Vaynerchuk, the keynote speaker for day two, was a completely different affair. If you don’t know Gary, he built an online brand called winelibrarytv.com. Taking an unconventional approach to a very traditional industry, he has built a $60M a year business, and is justifiably proud of his effort. A brash, sometimes foul mouthed New Jerseyite, he is nonetheless energizing and thought provoking.
If I were to take one thing away from his speech, it is this: you are your own brand, both as an individual, and a representative to your company. Having a great product (either as a company, or as your own abilities and strengths), is no longer enough. You must build you brand every day. You do this by reaching out to people you want to know, and repeating your brand message, as often as you can.This, dear reader, is the core message: if you want to monetize social media, build your brand. When you are done, build it again. Never miss an opportunity to introduce someone to you, because peoples’ natural instinct is to want to get to know others. Then, let them in turn tell others about you, and they will help you to build your brand stronger. Simple in theory, it takes daily effort. So, do you build your brand?
There were 300 people from North America, Mexico and Australia in attendance, representing all three areas.
We had many visitors to our booth, which by the way, almost never made it, due to a shipping foul up.
I was amazed by the change in perception to social media by the email and SEO crowd, as the event progressed.
Early on, as I spoke with these people, there was a clear lack of understanding about Social Media, and its relevance to customer reach. These were, after all, people who were grounded in the other two disaplines, sure of their ability to reach their customer and prospects in the best and most efficient manner.
Throughout the event, there were numuerous guest speakers who repeated the message we in SM live and breathe; your customers are having conversations about you and your products everyday...are you listening?
To see the realization of this truth in peoples’ eyes was incredible. They were coming to the realization that SEO and email reach programs are the internets’ mature business model.
The two Keynote speakers were impressive. Arianna Huffington spoke of her site, the Huffington Post, at length. While I don’t agree with everything she said, I respect that she is clear in conviction and opinion, and despite her obvious distaste for Sarah Palin, seems even-handed.
Gary Vaynerchuk, the keynote speaker for day two, was a completely different affair. If you don’t know Gary, he built an online brand called winelibrarytv.com. Taking an unconventional approach to a very traditional industry, he has built a $60M a year business, and is justifiably proud of his effort. A brash, sometimes foul mouthed New Jerseyite, he is nonetheless energizing and thought provoking.
If I were to take one thing away from his speech, it is this: you are your own brand, both as an individual, and a representative to your company. Having a great product (either as a company, or as your own abilities and strengths), is no longer enough. You must build you brand every day. You do this by reaching out to people you want to know, and repeating your brand message, as often as you can.This, dear reader, is the core message: if you want to monetize social media, build your brand. When you are done, build it again. Never miss an opportunity to introduce someone to you, because peoples’ natural instinct is to want to get to know others. Then, let them in turn tell others about you, and they will help you to build your brand stronger. Simple in theory, it takes daily effort. So, do you build your brand?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Nothing to fear but fear itself
A core componant of the function of my job is product demos. As a director, this function would be foreign in other more established enterprises. However in a small start up, everyone wears multiple hats, and anyway...I really enjoy it. Over the last five years, my work roles have kept me away from customers sales and squarely in front of executive management, and lots of process. Its fun to be out "pressing the flesh" again.
I find myself in front of a diverse cross section of people. Most have some interest in social media, or at least what customers are saying about them or their customers. We have made a huge impact on the PR agency market, and are seen in some circles as the defacto leader in the social media monitoring space, by many who experienced in these areas.
I also speak to people who are not at all experienced nor comfortable with social media. Suprisingly, these people are very often long tenured public relations professionals who, I expect, have been somewhat blindsided by the impact that social media has created. These people distinguish themselves by displying an emotion I was at first shocked to see: fear.
I think these people are the survivors in a profession that seems short on tenure. They came up their trade in a time when traditional media was king, and terms like" impressions", "focus groups" and "buys" were what drove the market, and influenced their customers.
And then...the internet became more that websites and email. Customers have slipped off the radar of traditional PR, and seemingly out of their grasp of comprehension. As the consuming public raises their voice on forums, blogs, and tweets, it becomes a whisper in the ears of these poor souls.
So they come to me, with hat in hand and eyes wide, ready to be overwhelmed with new technology and new terms to learn. They fear the technology, the need to learn what we do, what to tell customers, how to interperate data; most of all, I think they fear the future. Comfortable in their knowledge of all things media, they were the experts in public relations, trusted by their customers to make wise decisions about where money should be spent to maximize return.
What I would say, if I could, is don't fear this. It is easy to understand, easy to explain, and most of all, it IS the future of the internet. People have found voice in the internet, and sharing thoughts, ideas, feedback and advice, to all parts of the consuming public. Embrace the future, it looks so fun!
I find myself in front of a diverse cross section of people. Most have some interest in social media, or at least what customers are saying about them or their customers. We have made a huge impact on the PR agency market, and are seen in some circles as the defacto leader in the social media monitoring space, by many who experienced in these areas.
I also speak to people who are not at all experienced nor comfortable with social media. Suprisingly, these people are very often long tenured public relations professionals who, I expect, have been somewhat blindsided by the impact that social media has created. These people distinguish themselves by displying an emotion I was at first shocked to see: fear.
I think these people are the survivors in a profession that seems short on tenure. They came up their trade in a time when traditional media was king, and terms like" impressions", "focus groups" and "buys" were what drove the market, and influenced their customers.
And then...the internet became more that websites and email. Customers have slipped off the radar of traditional PR, and seemingly out of their grasp of comprehension. As the consuming public raises their voice on forums, blogs, and tweets, it becomes a whisper in the ears of these poor souls.
So they come to me, with hat in hand and eyes wide, ready to be overwhelmed with new technology and new terms to learn. They fear the technology, the need to learn what we do, what to tell customers, how to interperate data; most of all, I think they fear the future. Comfortable in their knowledge of all things media, they were the experts in public relations, trusted by their customers to make wise decisions about where money should be spent to maximize return.
What I would say, if I could, is don't fear this. It is easy to understand, easy to explain, and most of all, it IS the future of the internet. People have found voice in the internet, and sharing thoughts, ideas, feedback and advice, to all parts of the consuming public. Embrace the future, it looks so fun!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Are you really listening to your customers??
As I said in a post a few weeks back, I have recently made the move from an established software company to a start up company, that specializes in social media monitoring. It's a realatively new industry, commonly referred to as Web 2.0.
Social media monitoring, for the those who are not sure( me a few months ago!), is the ability to monitor comments, conversations, and feedback across the global landscape of the "social" part of the Web; namely, blogs, video, forums, micromedia like Twitter( check it out if you haven't seen it yet), and the like.
My company has figured out a way to watch for words of interest ( to our customers) being used during comments, conversations and postings, across this new area of the internet. So...imagine...your "brand" gets mentioned , either positively or negatively, in a blog...and we can pick it up, instantly, and track the response other people reading have post have to that very topic....
A few short years ago, this would have been improbable, if not impossible, for a number of reasons. Technology has made impressive gains, allowing companies like mine to "watch" an ever widening array of sites. As well, individuals and businesses alike are finding value in posting to, and monitoring of, the social part of the internet.
Why is this important to companies?- Simply put, people now view chat forums, blogs, and even video sites, as a viable alternative to gathering opinions and facts about products they either have now, or are considering purchasing.
Image, if you were able to eavesdrop on customer conversations, discussing your brand, or products you sell; people speaking candidly to each other, offering feedback, advice and reviews on your price, quality, service, and just about anything else to do with you and your company.
Well, this is happening everyday on the social media web; more and more each day.
And yet..many companies that I reach out to, just don't get it. They are stuck in a rut of customer surveys, tele-marketing campaigns, and trade show efforts; all customer outreach programs that not only hugely expensive, but are also yeilding lower positive returns evey year.
Meanwhile , companies on the cutting edge of technology utilization are waking up to this new way of listening and responding to their customers. One of our newest customers, a large computer manufacturer that I won't name( that starts with a"D" and rhymes with "bell"), is using our services to reach out to ANYONE that posts about a bad experience with their products. Agressive? Sure. But I think we now live in a society that demands instant gratification, and mostwill not see this as an invasion of their privacy. Alreay, they have recieved positive feedback about these efforts. After all, if you posted something on the internet, who did you think was going to read it?
Its a very exciting time to be in this field; I feel like the guy, who back in the early 90's, was going door to door in the business world, talking to people about this new fangled way of contacting people called "e-mail"....It's just a matter of time, folks..
Social media monitoring, for the those who are not sure( me a few months ago!), is the ability to monitor comments, conversations, and feedback across the global landscape of the "social" part of the Web; namely, blogs, video, forums, micromedia like Twitter( check it out if you haven't seen it yet), and the like.
My company has figured out a way to watch for words of interest ( to our customers) being used during comments, conversations and postings, across this new area of the internet. So...imagine...your "brand" gets mentioned , either positively or negatively, in a blog...and we can pick it up, instantly, and track the response other people reading have post have to that very topic....
A few short years ago, this would have been improbable, if not impossible, for a number of reasons. Technology has made impressive gains, allowing companies like mine to "watch" an ever widening array of sites. As well, individuals and businesses alike are finding value in posting to, and monitoring of, the social part of the internet.
Why is this important to companies?- Simply put, people now view chat forums, blogs, and even video sites, as a viable alternative to gathering opinions and facts about products they either have now, or are considering purchasing.
Image, if you were able to eavesdrop on customer conversations, discussing your brand, or products you sell; people speaking candidly to each other, offering feedback, advice and reviews on your price, quality, service, and just about anything else to do with you and your company.
Well, this is happening everyday on the social media web; more and more each day.
And yet..many companies that I reach out to, just don't get it. They are stuck in a rut of customer surveys, tele-marketing campaigns, and trade show efforts; all customer outreach programs that not only hugely expensive, but are also yeilding lower positive returns evey year.
Meanwhile , companies on the cutting edge of technology utilization are waking up to this new way of listening and responding to their customers. One of our newest customers, a large computer manufacturer that I won't name( that starts with a"D" and rhymes with "bell"), is using our services to reach out to ANYONE that posts about a bad experience with their products. Agressive? Sure. But I think we now live in a society that demands instant gratification, and mostwill not see this as an invasion of their privacy. Alreay, they have recieved positive feedback about these efforts. After all, if you posted something on the internet, who did you think was going to read it?
Its a very exciting time to be in this field; I feel like the guy, who back in the early 90's, was going door to door in the business world, talking to people about this new fangled way of contacting people called "e-mail"....It's just a matter of time, folks..
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