Marketing Mayhem - Can You Hear Me Now?

“Marketing Mayhem”Can you hear me now?
8/15/09
Robert Pease
Vice President of Marketing
Gist, Inc.
www.gist.com

If you are not listening, you don’t know your market
People are talking…
And they are saying a lot…
“Looking for a new database app for the Mac. Any suggestions?”
“I hate Acmeco. Your products and service suck.”
“Thinking about flying VirginAmerica. Anyone have any experience with them?”

Who are these people?
8/22/09
confidential
3
Sources: Mashable, Gist, TechCrunch, Discovery Communications

Do my prospects care about what is being said?
8/22/09
confidential
4

Getting Started – Listen First, Write Second
Step 1: Awareness
Step 2: Content
Listen
Amplify
Enhance
Contribute
“Write a blog”
“Post to Twitter, Friendfeed, etc.)”
“Start conversations”
“Answer a Linkedin Question”
“Email a blogger”
“Comment on a blog post”
“Reply to a Tweet”
“Ask a Linkedin question”
“Read blogs”
“Follow on Twitter”
“Search & discover”
“Look at a profile”
“Email a blog post”
“Retweet”
“Share/Favorite a link”

Four Zones of Engagement
Zone of Amazement
Zone of Affection
Zone of Indifference
Zone of Disdain

Response within 1-10 minutes
Personal & authentic
Actionable & meaningful
Complete coverage
Response within 4 – 6 Hours
Personal & authentic
Actionable & meaningful
Over 6 hours to respond
Generic response
Direct sales tactics
Nothing worth sharing
Partial coverage
No coverage
No response

Real-time/Near-time Response
No Clue
Batch & Act
#FAIL

This blurs organizational lines
Sales=>Marketing=>Support
The customer sees no difference
New role(s) emerging
Community manager/concierge/liaison that is hybrid sales/marketing/support role that “owns” the customer
Support is sales
You are in the renewal business
It is not “free”
Requires skilled & experienced staff but could be the majority of you marketing program spend

Seven Rules of Engagement
“Amplify” others through your channels to help them build their personal awareness & credibility…you become a promotion engine for your customers.
Avoid the frontal assault – not the forum or channel for generic sales pitch, respond in context and be helpful.
Be personal and authentic – not to be outsourced or placed in entry-level hands
Always respond with a smile…no matter what. You do not control the conversation.
Always in public…build the echo chamber. Go off-line when the time is right.
Always transparent…both good and bad. Your advocates will stand up for you.
Point them somewhere like Facebook, Linkedin, or a user community that you host. You want them to connect & share….even about things unrelated to you.

Your Tone is Crucial
Authentic & value-added
Share things not about you – add domain knowledge/expertise to the flow; contribute
Supply questions to followers – don’t be afraid to ask
Leverage competitors but be mindful of exposure & reciprocity
Let your followers answer questions about you

Target Those Who Make Noise
Those with a voice
Bloggers, Tweeters, Linkedin users, content creators
Focus on self-reinforcing groups
Have a place to not just collect them, but activate them on your behalf
Facebook Fan Page, Linkedin Group, Twitter followers
Connect them to each other and let them carry the conversation

ABC –Always Build Content
Use blog posts, tweets, video testimonials, media coverage, survey data, thought leadership, content routing (sharing) to create a dynamic pool of content that you & your community can constantly tap
This is “anchor content” that carries your message – blog, press releases, coverage (mainstream or users)
Share it!

The Echo Chamber
Others share, like, repost, create blog posts about, retweet, etc.
You share, like, repost, create blog posts about, retweet, etc. Others
Others share, like, repost, create blog posts about, retweet, etc.
You distribute/publish content (blog post, tweet, email update, etc.)
You create content (blog post, press release, video testimonial, etc.)

Old vs. New Marketing Techniques

Live the funnel

Track competitor mentions
Track business problem/need mentions
Provide content that contributes
Answer questions/be helpful – do not pitch
Passively engage generally
Directly engage selectively – “you’ll know it when you see it”

Outreach
Registration

Measure it at the user level – touch to registration
Follow up to assist – technical & usage
Maniacal focus on ease of registration & on-boarding
Enable users, provide usage tips, connect them with power users
Less about sales/marketing & more about support
Rule of 30 – 30 secs, 30 min, 30 hours, 30 days outreach/follow up

Trial
Usage

Understand where your users spend their time & how
Support is sales

Referral

Make it easy
Reward behavior
Provide shareable content
Enable with product functionality (invite, share, etc.)
The only question that counts…

Measurements of Success
# of Followers/Friends/Fans
What you do with them after you assemble them is most important
# of conversions to trial/conversions to pay that result from this lead source
Tracking is key…and is not easy
# of self-selected advocates of you product/message
# of referrals from Followers/Friends/Fans
Overall noise-level, mentions, buzz, etc.

Areas to Improve
Measurement
Is it working?
List Management
Leverage friends/fans/followers across platforms and outreach options
Micro-segmentation
Who are these people & what do they have in common?
Keeping up…

Thanks
robert@gist.com
twitter.com/robertatgist
www.gist.com