Yesterday, I was fortunate to hear a speech entitled "A Winning Combination - Hard work and Perseverance" from Dan McDonnell, University of Louisville Baseball Coach at a meeting run by Greater Louisville, Inc. Dan's speech was motivational for all of us who have goals and who do the hard work to meet and exceed them. I've included a video he referenced on the "Wisdom of Will Smith" that McDonnell has all of his players watch to better understand how to achieve their goals "one brick at a time." It's terrific and, if you've got 10 minutes, take a look.
My big take away of the morning though came from his answer to a question about how he coaches his players on a day-to-day basis towards a championship. McDonnell said that when he was a player at the Citadel, he met with his head coach one-on-one about three times total. While that was effective 20 years ago, it's not now. Today's students are in the Age of Information. This means that they are constantly getting information from TV, the Internet, their phones, etc. and that they need to get constant feedback on that. As marketers, marketing to our audience is really the same thing. We can't control the information that our audience is receiving from all of the places/ways they receive it. But, if we don't participate in the stream of information, we risk losing their attention or getting our message to them at all. Knowing your customer means knowing how they get their information and make their decisions and being there.
And, now for the Wisdom of Will Smith. I wouldn't want to be between him and his goal, would you?
Knox’s presentation was titled "Brand Manager 2.0" and it focused on managing a brand and digital marketing from a big brand perspective. He quoted the American Marketing Association when he explained that marketing has changed more over the last three to five years than in decades before that. How do we marketers survive and thrive. Well, in five easy steps:
1. Become a marketing technopologist - this is from a WSJ article which originally coined the term that describes a person at the intersection of anthropoligist, technologist, and marketer.
2. Try purpose-inspired brand building - as Know explained many of the products that have been marketed over the last 20 years have focused on upgrading products to better, faster, cheaper, whiter, brighter, etc. Companies that are standing out from the pack and doing the right thing include those like Nike who is "bringing inspirational innovation to every athlete" and (a favorite of mine) LEGO who is "providing fuel for children's imaginations."
3. Practice consumer collaboration - if you think about it, the most successful companies stay close to their customers. Knox gave the example of how Starbucks is running "My Starbucks Idea" to gather feedback from their customers.
4. Facilitate conversations and community - Knox's example here was a site created by P&G called "Man of the House" that focused on the men who are shopping and taking care of kids who were not only P&G customers but who appreciated talking with other guys like themselves and who don't want want to be marketed to like the lady of the house.
5. Get to know the everywhere shopper marketer - marketers need to understand that the "digital revolution" is all about customer empowerment. Every product review, recommendation, piece of signage, and ad is helping customers make decisions. To ignore that this is happening can be a waste of your marketing budget and efforts.
Special thanks to Jason Falls for organizing it and to Kix.com, the Kentucky Indiana Exchange, an online community that presents a new opportunity for growing, retaining and attracting talent in the Wired65 region for their sponsorship of the event.
Foursquare is "a service that mixes social, locative and gaming elements to encourage people explore the cities in which they live." I started using the Foursquare iPhone app in April and I've got to say, it's pretty cool. So far, through the check-ins in my neighborhood, I'm the mayor of three places: the local gift shop, one of my favorite Italian restaurants, and the local burger joint. I'm leaving the hardware store and the 7-11 for Nick C since he seems to be working the other half of the 'hood.
Geolocation Software is Here to Stay
For years, I've heard pitches from entrepreneurs about direct marketing to my cell phone so that as I walk through a mall I can get barraged with coupons from retailers to come inside and shop. That always sounded like a nightmare to me. And, something that benefited a retailer and would annoy me.
With today's geolocation software, smart phone or Internet-connected computers can be identified in terms of a meaningful location like a street address rather then just a set of geographic coordinates. Using programs like Foursquare becomes more like a game you can play with your friends. And, it's finally coming around with promotions from firms like Starbucks with $1 off coupons for people who have reached mayor status (those with the most visits to a location.)
Foursquare Offers Analytics for Business
As of March of this year, check-in-based Foursquare has added analytics tools for businesses. A dashboard provides data such as total number of customer check-ins, unique visitors to the site, gender comparisons, and breakdowns by time of day. And, of course, businesses will be able to shoot out coupons and promotions to Foursquare members as well. Foursquare users can opt-in to how they'd like to receive this information (through Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
I'm told the cool kids don't hook up their Foursquare account through Twitter or Facebook, but prefer to share information with their Foursquare friends instead. For security reasons, this could ensure that you're Foursquare location doesn't appear on sites like Please Rob Me who is trying to raise awareness around oversharing of information. Instead, when you check into your local burger joint on a Friday night, you can see if any of your friends might be there too without advertising that you're not home.
The day began with a chat with, Barbara Lynch and Jody Adams, two Boston restaurateurs who once worked together right around the corner at Michela's Restaurant. When asked where the most creative food was coming from in the Boston area, both answered "Cambridge." And when asked what was the most important technology affecting the Boston restaurant business, it was a toss up between OpenTable and the Microplane grater.
Social Media Case Study: Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse
Justin Levy of New Media Labs, talked about how after buying into Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse, he immediately cut the traditional marketing budget by approximately 80% and began implementing a social media strategy that lead to increased sales. He said that you should think of your blog as your home base and that you should not get hung up on other platforms like Facebook or Twitter. Always think of what a platform can do for you and use it to your advantage, but remember that your website and your blog belong to you and are your magnet for attracting business.
How Are They Doing It?
There was a great panel made up @eatBoston, b.good restaurants, City Search, Yelp, Upstairs on the Square, Amy Traverso, and Zagat who talked about how they are using social media in action. Of special interest to me was listening to Mary-Catherine Deibel of Upstairs at the Square (a favorite restaurant of mine) talking about marketing today. She said that they rarely buy advertising any more. Instead they depend on "capturing the hearts and the e-mail addresses of their customers" and marketing to them via e-mail and special events.
Geolocation and You
It's fascinating to see the technology of Foursquare and Foodspotting in its nascent stage. It's amazing to see folks (or perhaps geeks like me) using geolocation technology available through their smart phones to learn more about what's good on food and drinkwise where ever they are. Already a Foursquare user, I downloaded the Foodspotting app to my iPhone while it was being presented. Can't wait to start using it in my neighborhood and when I'm on the road.
Thanks, Tyson & team for pulling this event together. You deserve all of the great praise you're going to get for pulling the foodie community in Boston together for this event. Bon appetit!
I love a good video that gets across a product message in a humorous way that people want to share with each other. The folks at Digital Lumens have created a great video using Easter candy that demonstrates the heat generated by HID high bay lighting vs. LED lighting. (Hint: HID high bay lighting is much hotter which a) melts the chocolate bunny and b) will cost your facility a lot more in electricity needed for cooling given the amount of heat generated). The video has just been up a week, but it's poised to go viral on it's cleverness alone. Bravo!
Sometimes it's hard to be a marketer - especially when you're talking to people who just don't understand how marketing works. I've been thinking about this lately as I've been talking to a lot of them. I've watched folks blindly switch whole marketing campaigns away from traditional marketing to social media marketing. And while I manage three blogs, three Twitter accounts, and juggle dozens of search terms and love social media, I also know that while technology changes and the channels to get the message out change, you still need to have the basics in place or you just won't be effective.
Great marketing still begins with a great product or service. If you haven't developed something that somebody wants, then you've got nothing. The old definition of product management: know your customer, know your market, know your competition, and know your product hasn't changed. If you haven't developed a product built on that foundation, then what you're doing is potentially taking something to market that no one ever wanted. Now, it will be cheaper on your marketing budget, if you simply decide to tweet about your product that if you launch it at a major trade show with a splashy TV ad campaign, but it's still a waste of time and money if no one wants what you're selling.
Marketing Today
Marketing today means more analytics for measuring how online programs are working than the guys in Mad Men ever had. While we get to see immediately how many people have searched on the terms used to describe our products on the website and through press releases, the old print advertisers had to measure effectiveness with product sales figures when they came in. Marketing today also means repurposing content in multiple ways to get the message out on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, white papers, brochures, and ebooks. The goal should always be to either build awareness or generate leads by using content to send prospects back to the website for more information.
There is no magic pill for getting your message out to your market. All the new technology and distribution channels in the world won't help you sell something that no one needs. Although, if you don't know what you're doing, there are plenty of people out there who would love to sell you a magic pill!
When I was applying to colleges back when dinosaurs were still on Earth, I applied to four colleges and I filled out all of the applications and typed up all of my essays on a typewriter by myself. Call me an underachiever, but I did manage to get accepted into all of the schools I applied to and I also managed to graduate in four years without summer school. When I look back at my four years at the University of Rhode Island, I'm not sure sometimes what I learned or how it prepared me for the working world, but I did have a good time.
The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on a new way to apply to Tufts University that I found really interesting - the YouTube essay. Student applicants are able to create a 1-minute video that demonstrates creativity and shows a little more about a student than the 450-word essay. It doesn't have to be professionally done, just uploaded to the Internet with a URL. About 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants for Tufts sent one in. I've inserted my favorite video below. The rest of the favorites can be found on The Christian Science Monitor site or on YouTube. To date, one video has pulled in over 55,000 hits!
The January 19th election for the next Senator of Massachusetts has made the national news. Looking at the state I've lived in for over 20 years that leans heavily to the Democratic side, I'm asking myself how in the last couple of weeks is a Republican candidate that I've barely heard of now running neck-and-neck with the Democratic candidate the people assumed had the race all but won.
Great Marketing Begins With Understanding Your Customer
Senator Ted Kennedy loved Massachusetts. He never took a vote for granted. When he was elected to the Senate, the Massachusetts economy was based on clothing mills and shoes and the high-tech industry was just getting started. There's a great blog post by Joyce Plotkin on how Ted Kennedy took the time to champion the tech community because it was important to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Kennedy understood his base. He also understood that in Washington, while people could vehemently disagree on issues, if you could get to some common ground like your love for your country, you could find a compromise to make things happen.
Those of us who have built careers on sales and marketing know that no one is entitled to a sale from a customer. You develop a product or service based on an understanding of what real people want. You do your due diligence to see if there's enough of a market out there to build a business on and if there is, you go out there and try it. By understanding what your customer needs and how they receive information, you define your own success.
Did the Democratic party in Massachusetts think they were entitled to this seat because Democrat Ted Kennedy had held it for so long? Is that why they ran the Attorney General for the Senate seat? Why the sudden scramble to hold on to the seat? What does Scott Brown have that's causing such a ruckus?
I'm reading a lot of articles today on who has the best social media strategy, i.e., who's got more Twitter followers or who's got a better Facebook page. I'm reading about mistakes made on radio talk shows about who doesn't know that Curt Schilling is a Red Sox fan. I'm getting at least three robocalls a day encouraging me to get out and vote. And, I'm watching Scott Brown ads on TV that talk about change followed immediately with a negative ad by the Coakley campaign. More importantly, I'm reading the comments left by readers of articles on the campaign in the Boston Globe and the New York Times.
Tapping Into the Mood of the People
Massachusetts is an interesting place. We've got about 9% unemployment and we're covered for health care based on state law. People here are worried about the same things they are worried about around the country - jobs, savings accounts, paying the mortgage, and being able to provide education and opportunities for the next generation. As long as Senator Kennedy was looking out for the interests of Massachusetts, he had the majority of the vote. Ironically, over the last few weeks, Scott Brown seems to have done a better job of assessing what the voters in Massachusetts want in Washington than the Democrat looking to fill Senator Kennedy's seat. I'm talking to a lot of people who don't like the negative ads, but who aren't ready to vote Republican so they are staying home on election day. They don't care if on Massachusetts seat goes to the other party as long as they don't have to be the one who voted for it. I think that the Scott Brown campaign figured this out a while ago. He looks like he's having fun driving himself around Massachusetts in his pickup truck talking to voters about what they really want. Even if he doesn't win, he's tapped into the mood of Massachusetts and he'll be a force for change going forward.
The term, "Cyber Monday" was invented by Shop.org, part of the U.S. trade association National Retail Federation, in 2005 when retailers noticed a trend of people shopping online on the Monday after Thanksgiving when they were back to the office using their high speed Internet connections.
Cyber Monday Has Evolved With Faster Home Internet Connections
With faster connections at home, CyberMonday has become more about online retailers offering bargains than people shopping from the office. "Americans appreciate the convenience of shopping online, which doesn’t require standing in line, circling for a parking spot, or even changing out of your pajamas,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. “Cyber Monday promotions are enticing, so shoppers can expect incredible bargains on popular holiday items, percentages off entire websites, and a lot of free shipping.” The survey says that while some Cyber Monday shoppers will choose to shop from the office, the large majority will shop from home. And, 3.8 percent of them will shop from a mobile device like an iPhone or a Blackberry.
Is Cyber Monday For You?
Before I wrote it off as a gimmick, I decided to see if there were any deals online for the things that I was going to buy the people on my list any way. I'm happy to report that there was! My nieces love to use my Flip Camera, so I decided to get them one of their own for Christmas this year. American Express is letting you cash in points for one. But, before I did that, I decided to type "Cyber Monday deals" into Google. This search term took me straight to cybermonday.com (a shop.org site) where I typed in "Flip Video" and was presented with options from $119 to $189 from online retailers. So I just went ahead and bought one from Amazon.com for $119 and took the free shipping option.
I'd encourage anyone to at least give online shopping a shot to see what deals you can find regardless of where you're doing your online shopping or which day you're actually shopping on. In this competitive marketplace, you might as well take advantage of the Internet to help you save some money.
A recent survey by Vertical Response of 831 respondents at businesses with fewer than 500 employees found that 74% plan to increase email marketing and 68% will increase their use of social media marketing. Of particular interest is that only 4% of the respondents do not plan to use e-mail marketing in 2010.
The folks at Constant Contact, a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and on line surveys for small businesses with more than 300,000 customers would agree. In fact, their senior vice president of global market development, Eric Groves, has written The Constant Contact Guide to E-Mail Marketing. I just finished reading it and, while I've been doing email marketing for at least 10 years, I learned a lot of things that I can be doing better.
Why is e-mail marketing the choice of 96% of small businesses? According to chapter one (down-loadable for free) of Grove's book, while email marketing is an amazingly cost-effective way to reach your customers, the main advantage is that it is "simply the most effective way to stay in touch with most of your customers." You don't need to hire me or another marketing consultant to tell you that it's hard to find new customers. It's your returning customers who are going to spend more long term with you. And the best way to keep them coming back is by building a relationship with them.
When you begin using email that you send to your customers containing relevant content that is of value to them, you'll see immediate return on their investment. And, you'll have the metrics to prove it. It's important to look professional in your communication and to be ready to respond when your customer gets back in touch with you because that's what they'll expect from you. By constantly reviewing the results of your e-mail campaigns, you can fine tune your marketing strategy using what is working best for you.
