This document provides an overview of digital branding and trends from a presentation. It discusses using digital tools like social media, mobile, and analytics to build personal brands and market clients. Digital branding is about controlling how people find and perceive you online. Trends like social media, mobile, and measurement are always changing, so the focus is on communication skills that remain relevant. Experts in specific tools may not stay valuable, while storytelling abilities can transfer between mediums. The presentation emphasizes continually learning about trends and using data to prove marketing success.

1. Digital Branding & Trends
July 14, 2011

2. Before we get started…
Has everyone
checked in?
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3. Also, here’s the hashtag for this lunch and learn:
#momolearn
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4. So with a Foursquare check-in
and a Twitter hashtag all set to go,
does it feel like we’re ready to talk about the digital future?
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5. Because, if you go by hype & coverage,
in places like AdAge and Mashable,
those tools are the digital present.
(And maybe the digital 5-minutes-ago.)
So let’s start in the present,
with what digital means to you, right now.
Let’s use You as a brand.
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6. Digital Branding in the Present
In which we discuss the question:
“How do I find a job a month from now,
and for the rest of my life?”
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7. What is “digital branding”?
It’s resume building and networking.
But it’s also being aware of everything that affects how you
are perceived by two kinds of people:
1. People looking to fill a job who don’t know you exist
2. People who know you exist and are wondering if you are
right for the job.
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8. (It’s also a phrase I made up for this presentation.)
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9. First, to be fair, let’s talk about our careers:
how we started and how we got here.
(Insert a minute of lecture here.)
Based on that, there are some choices you can make for
yourself:
- Stick Around vs. Jump Around
- Geography
- Agency vs. Client side
- Why do you need a resume?
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10. Now, let’s talk about your careers.
Starting with how you got here.
What’s the one thing you all did to get this gig?
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11. You made us aware you existed.
(Through friends, or the college
career service, or some other way
your resume got in to our inboxes.)
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12. And that meant we could check
you out.
If a resume is the first thing we
see about you, then let’s talk
about resumes for a second.
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13. The origin of the concept
is from feudal England,
where they were used to
introduce tradesmen and
vassals into new towns
with a document that
vouched for their identity
and skills.
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14. Fine. Then let’s pretend
that this feudal artifact
tells me the following
about our “John Doe”:
- Studied Strategic
Communications (writing
and research)
- Studied visual design
- Went to Mizzou
- Knows computer stuff
- Played Rugby
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15. But you know, I am a strategist and still don’t know
what “strategic communication” means outside of my
own context.
I know my wife went to Mizzou, as did a good portion
of this office, but my own college career doesn’t
translate to the Mizzou experience well at all.
And computer skills are table stakes.
What else?
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16. Well, I know if John played rugby, he can probably
drink a LOT without passing out.
So, in marketing and advertising, THAT’S a plus.
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17. But come on:
Tools from feudal England?
Not when we have Google.
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18. Google = Lots of John Does
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19. Google + Location (St Louis) = Still a lot of Johns
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20. LinkedIn? Are these the Johns we’re looking for?
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21. (BTW, Facebook has search, too.)
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22. That’s a lot of work to find out things about John
that I already knew from his (feudal) resume.
Some of those results are out of your control.
Many are not.
Let me show you other examples, for comparison.
Starting with me. Fair is fair.
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23. The top of my resume
prompts you with search
terms to pair with my name.
I have a work history, but
even so at the bottom, there
is a link to my website, with
more client samples.
Controlling the flow.
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24. MORGAN NOEL
Every work email I send? Creative Strategist, Digital
M: 314.341.8504 /// STL
AIM/Live: moxmas /// twitter: @moxmas
Controlling the flow. http://www.linkedin.com/in/moxmas
momentumww.com
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25. Google = Me
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26. Google = Me & lots of teenage girls
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27. LinkedIn
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28. Twitter
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29. Google Plus!
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30. Continuity of content helps control context.
- @moxmas
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/moxmas
- moxmas@gmail.com
- moxmas.com
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31. Some tools for digital branding:
• Free profiles on LinkedIn, Google +, Twitter, etc.
• Consistent profile name
• Recognizable image or photo
• Regularly google-stalking yourself
All these tools in combination
help people find you, and
help control what shows up when they do.
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32. To repeat: “help control what shows up.”
When someone finds you,
what do you want to show up?
What do you want people to think about you?
That is, what’s your “superpower”?
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33. Superpower
In which we discuss the question:
“SUPERPOWER? WTF?”
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34. Brent Wilson, Momentum Group Creative Director on Army
and PG&E and O’Reilly (he is very busy), likes to ask people:
“What is your superpower?”
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35. That is…
What is the core skill you bring to your work?
What makes people want to have you on their team?
What strength can you go back to, again and again,
when deadlines are looming?
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36. Let’s discuss some examples:
- Writer: Storyteller? Crafts person?
- Designer: Beauty? Coherence?
- Architect: Explainer? Builder?
- Idea Person: Brainstormer? Explainer?
- Builder: Editor? Get’Er Done?
- Technologist: Programmer? Hacker?
- Business Leader: Client manager? Sales person?
- Leader: Cheerleader? Organizer? Visionary?
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37. However, there’s one thing that we all mistake for a
“superpower” all the time:
Expertise.
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38. Do NOT mistake superpowers for
being an expert in one specific marketing tool.
Because if you’re an expert in writing:
a :30 spot for TV, or
a print headline, or
a blog post…
…will that specific skill still be useful in 2 years or 10 years,
when totally different ways of delivering marketing messages
dominate the field?
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39. But if you’re an expert storyteller,
you can usually tell a story in any medium,
with any message.
No matter if it’s a :15 pre-roll online,
or a twitter feed, or anything else.
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40. Of course, the digital field is
FILLED to the brim with experts.
(Who get paid a lot.)
So let’s talk about trends in digital.
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41. Digital Trends
In which we discuss the question:
“Out of all this stuff, what should I pay
attention to?”
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42. Right now, some of the favorite weapons in our digital
marketing arsenal are:
- Online video
- Gamification
- User generated content
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43. But for over a decade, the “next big things” have been
mobile and social media.
They are still the next big things.
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44. What most interests us about mobile?
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45. The opportunity to connect closely
HOME WORK HOME
sleep transit play/shop sleep
1 6 9 11 lunch 14 16 19 23
time
• newspaper • radio • trade press • radio • tv
• radio • billboards • radio • billboards • movies
• tv • free newspapers • internet • tabloids • dm
• exhibitions • internet
• billboards • books
• tabloids
• popular press
Use Phone for: Alarm Clock Traffic Alerts Newspaper Take Pictures
Weather Social Networking Shopping Dining Tix
Dinner Plans
MOBILE
IS
PRESENT
DURING
EVERY
PART
OF
THE
DAY
Original Chart Source: Ansible Mobile
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46. Tools include:
- 2D codes, like QR codes
- SMS programs
- Apps
- Mobile friendly websites
- Check-in offers (Foursquare, Google Latitude)
- Geo-targeting
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47. Mobile Best Practices
1) Earn an invitation
2) Reward their trust
3) Relevance – Now! / Relevance – Always!
4) Optimize for Quick Hits
5) Flow to deeper engagements
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48. What most interests us about social media?
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49. The opportunity to connect closely
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50. Tools include:
- Branded communities
- Mommy blogger programs
- Dedicated content for kids under 13 (CAN-SPAN needs)
- Twitter monitoring and response
And of course: Facebook
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51. But 5 years ago, social media meant MySpace.
If you were a MySpace marketing expert then,
what good does that do you now?
Before MySpace, Friendster.
Before that, six degrees.
All the way back to AOL.
And there were hundreds of places before that.
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52. 5 years ago…
My Carnival Cruise Lines client had a dedicated community
they hosted for thousands and thousands of cruisers.
Last week…
Carnival added their millionth follower on Facebook.
Same people in charge, btw.
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53. What’ll it be 5 years from now?
Google + ?
Pinterest?
Instagram Community?
Telepathy and Tupperware?
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54. Let’s go to a quote…
(A long quote.)
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55. “[M]arkets are conversations. Their members
communicate in language that is natural, open, honest,
direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or
complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is
unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.”
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56. “Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk
in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission
statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-
to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder
networked markets have no respect for companies unable or
unwilling to speak as they do.”
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57. Now, guess the year that was written.
(No fair peeking on your smartphone.)
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58. The Cluetrain Manifesto
Cluetrain.com
Book published and site
launched in April 1999.
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59. So if you’re an expert in social media,
are you an expert in Facebook?
Or are you an expert in communicating to people the way
they want to communicate? No matter how social media
channels change?
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60. Keep in mind, right now, lots of people are making lots of
money as “Facebook experts”.
Because lots of clients are looking for them.
However, those experts in one tool
will never be in charge of the account,
or in charge of the brand.
(Though they might have more fun!)
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61. Who gets to be in charge?
Marketers who show they understand
how to produce results.
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62. The final trend:
Measurement and ROI
Every client, at the end of the day, wants to know if the
marketing you did for them was successful; did it produce a
good ROI (return on investment)?
How will you define success for every idea – and what tools
will you use to measure it?
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63. The Big Reveal
In which we show off the trick:
“If you can do it for yourself, you can do it
for a client.”
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64. Everything you saw about “digital branding” for yourself are
tools and approaches you can bring to bear on the needs of
clients.
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65. - Who are your potential consumers?
- How can they find you?
- What do they see when they do find you?
- Did they do what you wanted them to do? (Like have a
conversation or give you money?)
- How will you measure that success?
- How can you keep on top of trends that will change or
improve the answers to the previous questions?
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66. The main difference is that, on behalf of a client,
you’ll usually have more tools at your disposal
– and actual budgets –
for things like research, development, staff, media placement,
and so on.
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67. So get cracking.
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68. Your next steps, immediately on leaving this room:
- Start making a plan for how you want to brand yourself
(including your superpower)
- Connect on LinkedIn to EVERYONE you meet professionally
- Start reading about trends (in social, mobile or whatever)
that interest you.
- Do a little reading about measurement tools.
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69. Thanks!
MORGAN NOEL
Creative Strategist, Digital
M: 314.341.8504 /// STL
AIM/Live: moxmas /// twitter: @moxmas
http://www.linkedin.com/in/moxmas
momentumww.com
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