Thanks, @scoobymooGreat little meme courtesy of Olivier Blanchard. Our turn to play along.
The idea was to get marketers, brand communicators, startup people, businessy types to answer a James Lipton-style Q&A. You can see Olivier’s take here: The Brand Builder Q&A.
What is your favorite marketing/business word?
Launch.
What is your least favorite marketing/business word?
TIE: Ninja, Rockstar, Guru.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally about marketing/business?
Passion. I’d rather watch Dick Vitale scream at a basketball game than see another person in business lumber through another day above ground. I love it when business people have the same passion about their work.
What turns you off about marketing/business?
Lack of authenticity. Lack of tact. Arrogance.
What’s your favorite curse word when you see really bad marketing?
For the love of Mike.
What sound or noise do marketers/business people make that you love?
A-ha!
What sound or noise do marketers/business people make that you hate?
Does inactivity make a sound?
What profession other than marketing should marketers attempt – to become better at marketing?
Writing.
What profession should marketers never try?
Metallurgy.
If marketing heaven exists, what would God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Spending the balance of the year posting items that didn’t make it out of our “Drafts” folder. You’ll thank us later.
You are not alone in hating busy work. Busy work is not cool, a real downer, very unhip.
We had great dialogue recently with a guy named Mike Cassidy, also known as Membership Jedi. Mike tells us that he likes to ask WTFF – or, to be more Rated G, “Why Are We Doing This Again?”
Actually, Mike’s thoughts are really good ones – and, when applied to Social Media Marketing, really timely. Here’s an example, “ripped from the headlines,” using a hypothetical company that is ready to “dabble” in Social Media.
Executive Team: “Let’s Get On Tweeter.”
You: “Why?” (NOTE: Don’t correct the executive team at this juncture.)
ET: “It’s what every other [insert industry] company is doing.”
You: “Why?”
ET: “It will allow us to connect with our customers.”
You: “Why?”
ET: “So they can tell us what they like about us.”
You: NOW it’s time to stop asking “Why?” And here’s why.
Depending on your industry, you’re going to have a varying degree of “like” of your products. If you are a mobile phone company and you have a spotty network, the “likes” will be focused on issues centered around things that don’t matter to the user experience, like how pretty your logo is.
And in just about any industry, your likes are going to be ratcheted up higher and higher depending upon what level of bounty you are putting on the like. “Like us and get a $5 coupon.” “Like us and be entered for a chance to win a spanking new vehicle.” The execs need to know that the like has to be attached to something – and they may not like what they’re hearing.
Be prepared, young Jedi, with a solution, too.
If you’re in a high-volume customer interaction universe, it could be possible that the “dislikes” are already being registered when the customer is on the phone with a rep, or in the store at the cash register. Solution: get hold of that feedback. Measure what that would mean to your department if you had to act on it on behalf of the organization. Provide an alternative – even if that alternative means “doing nothing.”
In most cases, the knee-jerk reaction from the Executive Team is “get us on the Flavor of the Week.” That Flavor right now is Social Media, but in a few months it could be something entirely different. If you ask why, and you do so in an insightful way, and you provide solutions to the potential problems, you’ll be well on your way to selling this social thing. IF it makes sense for your company.
Trying to figure out why Dave from Area 224 is obsessed with Canadian Indie Rock? So was Dave…until…
At some point, you’ll start to figure out what exactly defines you. Then you become the target customer, and you want to discover more stuff like what defines you. Like this, from Constantines.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30yEWwQEYIk
So this video got us thinking: why them? How did we “discover” them?
Well, it actually goes back to these guys: Arkells.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFrTZe-wQPI
Who we discovered when we saw them, in Chicago, opening for these guys: Tokyo Police Club.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1yS7Jnq7qw
Which leads us back to our Holistic Social Media concept.
Here’s that photo again – my, this is a rather visual post, no?
(c) 2010, Area 224
See how “your business” is in the middle? Well, in the case of these three bands, replace the word “music” in the middle circle.
Then make it bigger, and tilt the other circles around…
Inbound Marketing FTW.
These guys have a presence on the social networks, there are blogs from their record labels, and there is a tiny bit of concert-oriented geo-sharing going on.
And, since we link above to the Twitter accounts of all three, you can see that there’s SOME Twitter activity.
But the winner, here, is video. AND the keywords associated with the videos – specifically on YouTube.
And the recommendations attached TO the videos – of other songs to check out.
AND THE COMMENTS.
In-between the obligatory “Justin Bieber” comments (positive and negative), you can find other recommendations. “I heard these guys live, but you should also check out Constantines.”
So, is there a “Right Way” to do Holistic Social Media?
The Canadian Indie Rock acts we’ve mentioned today are there on all the platforms – but the product seals the deal. There’s no right way – but having something that people like as the core of your business – That. Is. Vital.
Building a brand these days means you need to stop on a dime, pivot, and dart another direction. Quickly.
Clarity of vision has given way to “must thrive in ambiguity.”
You’re living in a world where zeros are being thrown around like crazy. There’s Groupon, which spurned a reported $5 Billion buyout offer from Google to stay independent.
And there are those marketers who will tell you that they’re “making six figures” and “on the road to seven figures.”
We bumped into an unknown today who said “join our $200 Million company.” Say what? 100,000 Twitter followers and a random website and you’re a $200 Million company?
Be Nimble.
And it’s more than numbers, it’s messages. You’re being told that the economy blows chow. You’ll call customer service to be given a number to a different department, then call that department and have them give you the first number you called. (Happened yesterday.)
You’ll talk to one company representative who says “we’re in THIS business,” then you’ll see their Facebook page and it’ll be obvious that they’re in “THAT business.”
Be Nimble.
Easier said than done, right? Well, here are a few things that have worked for others, and can help you be nimble – in your business, in your marketing, in your life.
Ask “Why?” There’s a reason for the behavior from the company, from the brand – from the gatekeeper you’re talking to. An open-ended question like “Can I ask why?” can go a long way toward getting at the decision-making process.
Don’t Take “No” For An Answer IF… If you’re not talking to someone who is empowered to make the final decision about whatever it is – don’t take “No.” Be prepared to circumvent the person on the phone. They may not be the gatekeeper anyway.
Pick Up The Phone. Voice mail isn’t our favorite – but it’s a reality. If you can get someone live, even better. Use your phone.
Do we have all the answers here? Heck no. But we’ve kept things moving at this little brand marketing, holistic social media, PR and marcom shop. And we’ve learned a few things about Being Nimble.
We are not sure this is the best use of brand dollars by Knob Creek.
With all due respect…this is just not focused. It’s the opposite of Nichification. Don’t despair, whiskey drinker…We’ll give some advice below.
First, the background:
Visiting LinkedIn, and someone in our network, who is in the SEO space and appears to be a rather smart cookie, had the ad you see over there right below all of the “Send a Message,” “See Profile” options.
And this jumped out at us.
What’s wrong with it?
Well, first of all, truth be told, we’re not against the marketing of alcoholic beverages. And we’ll assume that LinkedIn has a filter of some sort that only shows this particular ad to people who are above 21 years of age.
Once you get past that…Is LinkedIn really the place to ask questions about whiskey?
You’re on LinkedIn for professional connections. Professional networking. So, when I’m seeing what one of the smarter SEO people in the planet is up to lately – am I even in the mood to talk whiskey?
Beyond that…this is a poorly worded Poll.
They’re asking two questions. The first one asks if I’m a fan. What if I’m not? What if I’ve never tried the stuff? What if I don’t know the difference between Knob Creek and Boon’s Farm?
What if I don’t know the difference between “complex flavor” and “full-flavored?”
Since Area 224 is looking out for you, brand marketers, we’re not just going to raise a problem – we’re going to propose a SOLUTION.
In three steps.
Step 1 – Scrap the poll.
I’m not inclined to vote for or against alcohol when I’m on LinkedIn. I’m treating LinkedIn like a combination of Twitter and Google – I want to see what my network is up to professionally, but I’m also searching for something or someone.
Step 2 – Buy a bunch of laser-focused keyword ads.
You can spend just as much if you know what you are doing. If you don’t know what you are doing, find someone who does and get them to buy the ads for you.
Step 3 – Reach out to a bunch of bloggers and see if they want to try your stuff.
Turn them loose – let them comment on the full-flavor, or the fine craftsmanship, or the fact that they can really taste the aging. Or not.
You can invest probably a couple grand, watch what gets said, and get so many more insights than you’d get from the LinkedIn poll.
