Today, Richmond Biz Sense launched the 1st of a 3 part series on social media in Richmond, Virginia. Interesting stuff, especially the quotes from Charles Collie (shameless self-promotion) and my good friend Nhat Pham (he's Pham-tastic).
http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2009/06/17/richmond-20-tweeting-for-business/
The point that may have been missed about Twitter is its usefulness beyond selling and marketing is that it is a great information resource. We actually use it as a very powerful research tool. Actually all social media has the potential to inform in a very "real" way.
New Perspectives = New Value
--Charles
Showing posts with label marketing strategy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing strategy. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
How to talk to customers when times have changed
Here's a good article from HBR on how to talk to customers (when you don't know what to say). It equates talking with clients in the current economic downturn filled with layoffs and belt tightening to a personal situation when a friend has lost a loved one. Sometimes you just don't know what to say.
I've been telling my clients for months now that the things their clients cared about just a short time ago are not the same today. The message still comes from your brand's core strength but it needs to be communicated in a new way that takes into account the new behaviors and attitudes as well as the changing strength of various touchpoints/media. I also have been chanting as my mantra that this is not the time to stop or greatly reduce your marketing. It's time to make it more efficient, yes. But to just take the tact of cutting the marketing budget without a strategy to make it more efficient (and effective) by honing your communications by taking the steps outline above is just increasing the speed of your downward spiral.
Be responsible, but be responsible in an intelligent way.
Stay focused.
--Charles
I've been telling my clients for months now that the things their clients cared about just a short time ago are not the same today. The message still comes from your brand's core strength but it needs to be communicated in a new way that takes into account the new behaviors and attitudes as well as the changing strength of various touchpoints/media. I also have been chanting as my mantra that this is not the time to stop or greatly reduce your marketing. It's time to make it more efficient, yes. But to just take the tact of cutting the marketing budget without a strategy to make it more efficient (and effective) by honing your communications by taking the steps outline above is just increasing the speed of your downward spiral.
Be responsible, but be responsible in an intelligent way.
Stay focused.
--Charles
Friday, January 02, 2009
Listening is rare, but it's the key to Social Media
Recent research indicates that the average individual listens for only 17 seconds before interrupting and interjecting his/her own ideas.
In social media it usually works like this:
I see that there over 100 million people on Facebook, Bebo, Xing, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter etc., etc., etc. I think, "Wow, I need to get involved. Maybe something good could happen for me." I register, fill out my profile and then start connecting with everyone I know and a bunch of people I barely know or would like to know. I join some groups and ask everyone to connect with me. I spend hours making comments, posting stuff, sending people cutesy flair, etc., etc., etc. It's interesting and even a little fun but nothing is really happening other than a bunch of my old girlfriends are trying to get in my friends list. Lots of talk and no real action (business-wise that is) Hmmm. Why am I not having any luck making something happen?
I think it's because you didn't spend time listening first.
Here's another scenario:
"Wow, I need to get involved..." You google social media and find some interesting articles that talk about the different reasons people get involved with social media. Some of them actually cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand up. But you now understand the type of people you want to be in touch with to accomplish something. In this case finding resources and networking for business opportunities. You decide to spend some time on each of the most popular social media sites and learn about the tools available for each. You search the groups and find several that seem to fit your interests. You take the time to read some of the posts and comments in the groups and decide on 3 that are great fits. By this time you realize that getting involved with all the social media sites you can find is impossible. But you can manage 2 or maybe 3. You find that there are ways to post once and have it show up on multiple sites. Efficiency is my friend you think. There's more to learn so you continue to monitor posts and follow links to learn more about the people that are saying what you're thinking. You contact a couple through e-mail and find that they are full of advice. You ask about results and listen extremely closely when you hear what some have been able to accomplish. Now its time to get involved... and maybe think about starting a business helping others accomplish their goals through social media... maybe even write a book about it... (that's what David Meerman Scott did).
Listen, Learn and Act,
--Charles
In social media it usually works like this:
I see that there over 100 million people on Facebook, Bebo, Xing, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter etc., etc., etc. I think, "Wow, I need to get involved. Maybe something good could happen for me." I register, fill out my profile and then start connecting with everyone I know and a bunch of people I barely know or would like to know. I join some groups and ask everyone to connect with me. I spend hours making comments, posting stuff, sending people cutesy flair, etc., etc., etc. It's interesting and even a little fun but nothing is really happening other than a bunch of my old girlfriends are trying to get in my friends list. Lots of talk and no real action (business-wise that is) Hmmm. Why am I not having any luck making something happen?
I think it's because you didn't spend time listening first.
Here's another scenario:
"Wow, I need to get involved..." You google social media and find some interesting articles that talk about the different reasons people get involved with social media. Some of them actually cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand up. But you now understand the type of people you want to be in touch with to accomplish something. In this case finding resources and networking for business opportunities. You decide to spend some time on each of the most popular social media sites and learn about the tools available for each. You search the groups and find several that seem to fit your interests. You take the time to read some of the posts and comments in the groups and decide on 3 that are great fits. By this time you realize that getting involved with all the social media sites you can find is impossible. But you can manage 2 or maybe 3. You find that there are ways to post once and have it show up on multiple sites. Efficiency is my friend you think. There's more to learn so you continue to monitor posts and follow links to learn more about the people that are saying what you're thinking. You contact a couple through e-mail and find that they are full of advice. You ask about results and listen extremely closely when you hear what some have been able to accomplish. Now its time to get involved... and maybe think about starting a business helping others accomplish their goals through social media... maybe even write a book about it... (that's what David Meerman Scott did).
Listen, Learn and Act,
--Charles
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)