Conversations Aren't Marketing

Conversations aren’t Marketing

An Important Management Insight
Gary Hammel in Mckinsey Quarterly
“ In any field of human endeavor you ultimately reach a point where you can’t solve the new problems using the old principles. I think we’ve reached that point in the evolution of management. When you go back to the principles upon which our modern companies are built—standardization, specialization, hierarchy, and so on—you realize that those are not bad principles but are inadequate for the challenges that lie ahead.”

We no longer live in a world of silos and back room deals. We live in an interconnected world which requires companies to rethink everything… Rethink Everything

Social Media is tearing down the walls that keep us apart and changing the rules that have kept us from being human inside our companies.

Why is Social Media Important

Social Media Influences Journalists
Blogs are not only having an impact on the speed and availability of news and
reporting, but also influencing the tone and editorial direction of reporting,
according to a survey of US journalists by Omnicom Group. The majority of
journalists said blogs were having a significant impact on news reporting in all
areas tested – except news quality:
The biggest impact of social media is in the speed and availability of news
Over half also said that blogs were having a significant impact on the “ tone ” (61.8%) and “ editorial direction ” (51.1%) of news reporting

So What?
The way the entire market functions has changed drastically, we have reached the digital tipping point
Broadcasting AT large crowds doesn’t work
Having conversations with PEOPLE does and always has
Digital tools and social media enable these conversations cost effectively across great distances
Ultimately, conversations with people we like and trust develop relationships

Conversations Aren’t Marketing So What Are They and How do they work for my business?

Required Reading

What is conversation?
Markets are conversations.
Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.
Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived.
People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.
The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media. -- Cluetrain Manifesto (Thesis 1-6) cluetrain.com

How do we join conversations? How do we join conversations?

Lurking and Learning

Seagull Commenting

Adding Value

Belong…
Learning to speak with a human voice is not a parlor trick. It can't be "picked up" at some tony conference.
To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities.
But first, they must belong to a community. -- Cluetrain Manifesto (Thesis 33-35) cluetrain.com

What’s your intention?

Paying Attention

Be of Service

Being Served

What does it feel like when… ?

Belong…
Don't worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it's not the only thing on your mind.
Have you noticed that, in itself, money is kind of one-dimensional and boring? What else can we talk about? -- Cluetrain Manifesto (Thesis 80-81) cluetrain.com

Business is Personal

Scott Becker photo by Kris Krug Scott Becker Meet my best friend

Kristie Wells photo by Kris Krug say hello to my wife Kristie Kristie Wells

Kris Krug photo by Chris Heuer Kris Krug President of Bryght Friend Source of Referrals One of my vendors Our Wedding Photographer

It’s nothing personal, it’s just business. Do you want to work with anyone you personally don’t like or respect? Me neither.

Employees are Social Brand Ambassadors Already!!!

Belong…
We know some people from your company. They're pretty cool online. Do you have any more like that you're hiding? Can they come out and play?
When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn't have such a tight rein on "your people" maybe they'd be among the people we'd turn to. -- Cluetrain Manifesto (Thesis 84-85) cluetrain.com

Social Media isn’t an object, Its what you do with it

The New Kula Ring

A Social Object

So What do we do?

The Golden Rules of Marketing

Social Media Principles
Be Human
Be Honest
Be Aware
Be a Participant
Be Smart
Be Open
Be Courageous --- “The Social Media Playbook”

The Marketing Shift of Online Socialization
Yesterday
Long term
Brand
Messages
Mass
Reductive
“ talk to…”
Integration
Today
Short term / immediacy
Customer
Content
Customized
Expansive
“ converse with”
Integration and enablement

Social Marketing is more then pulling levers
It’s a new way of looking at your business
It’s turning CRM into VRM
It’s serving the market as you would serve your friends
Understanding the new landscape early, and engaging appropriately will create long term sustainable competitive advantages

Social Media Web Strategy The next big thing: Web-based media projects designed to serve customers and influencers directly (some customers may be considered “influencers”). These social media projects – which are beginning to siphon dollars from ad budgets – may have nothing to do with advertising and PR, at least on the surface. They are intended to serve content in a variety of mediums designed for sharing and participation across platforms.

But the Social Rules Trump the Tools People are only using the tools and technologies to get the things they need from each other , rather than from traditional institutions like corporations. Corporations who can appropriately empower individuals to be communicators and part of the online social ecosystem will benefit from the digital social world.

General Tips for Integrating Social Media
Success and failure are equally important
Everyone is experimenting
Understand how people themselves are already using the channels first and foremost, and try it yourself
Do not deceive
Remain authentic to your brand persona
Creative must be engaging, thought provoking, and stimulating
Content is truly king
Be conversational as opposed to using marketing speak
Actively participate - write & listen on a regular basis

When Integrating Social Media Tools Into Any Corporate Communications / Marketing Program…
Establish marketing, business objective & goals, as usual
Develop metrics to measure on these objectives & goals
New media means different, new, and potentially fewer metrics
Resources are required to manage efforts over time (listening, participating, measuring, refining)
Executives are the big draws (i.e. star in video, post on blog, produce a podcast)
Marketing teams typically own the projects, but content experts from across the organization (or subject-matter experts) and leaders may be the best “faces” of social media efforts
Understand the type of content that works best for each medium
It will take evolution, trying and testing, readjusting
A huge positive: one can fail relatively quickly and cheaply

Be The Media Company

Will it Blend | Eeepy Bird

Chris Heuer http://www.chrisheuer.com/ http://twitter.com/chrisheuer [email_address] m.408.834.0884

Conversations Aren't Marketing

by Chris Heuer on Oct 24, 2008

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