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It’s better than candy! November 1, 2008

Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.
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I hope everyone had a great Halloween.  I was the awesome, Ms. Cruella De Vil.  

I’m a tad late to this party, but there were two exciting things announced this week that I want to talk about.

First, LinkedIn has launched social applications!  There has been a debate among several of my work associates as to whether Facebook can be used as a true business application.  Many people rely on LinkedIn for their professional networking, and the launch of these applications has enhanced the ability for people to connect and communicate.

LinkedIn’s 30 million members can now share reading lists with Amazon, and collaborate with others via Huddle.  Users can share presentations via Slideshare and blog posts via Blog Link and WordPress applications.  Plus, the TripIt application allows users to meet up at events by publishing their travel schedules.

The second great announcement this week was this year’s winners of the Groundswell awards.  Josh Bernoff, Forrester analyst and co-author of the book Groundswell, awards companies each year who have demonstrated an innovative use of social media.  Here are some of the winners:

  • Mattel’s The Playground Community – a private community of 500 moms.  The community paid off tremendously when Mattel had several recalls in 2007.
  • Hershey’s Bliss House Party – a campaign which allowed people to sign up for a party and receive a bag of chocolate to share.  Hershey said that 10,000 parties were hosted, 129,000 people touched and the campaign was seen by 7 million.
  • Nerd Network – a community of 110,000 people who use National Instruments’ LabView software.  The community members answer 46% of all support questions.
  • MyStarbucksIdea.com – members share ideas (over 75,000 so far), many of which have influenced Starbucks’ products and services.
  • Borderless Workplace, by Accenture – a Facebook-like application that allows the company’s thousands of consultants use a knowledge-sharing wiki and update projects and status
  • Brooklyn Museum – the museum won on all three entries they submitted, including a Facebook application that allowed people to share art they liked best; a community-curated exhibit, Click Exhibition; and their website which hosts the entire museum’s collection online

Congratulations to all the companies which won!

How to Get Raving Fans August 3, 2008

Posted by skmak in Uncategorized.
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Somewhere between the Yugo, Exxon Valdez, cigarettes being addictive and JetBlue stranding hundreds of travels, people became (*gasp*) skeptical of the corporate message.  ”Best in class”, “experienced”, “satisfaction guaranteed”, “Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!”…ok, maybe not that last one.  Consumers would rather make their own judgement about your products and services. The sterile corporate message isn’t working with today’s consumer.  

Today, you need to bond with your client.  You need to build trust.

People tend to believe their friends and trusted advisors more than corporate advertising.  Our friends aren’t airbrushed.  Our friends aren’t stick-figured models.  Our friends don’t have thousands of beautiful women chasing them down the street just because they used Axe bodywash.  

Marketing originally began as word of mouth.  In the real world, your world of mouth sphere of influence was typically limited to those who you came in contact with, let’s say 30 people a day.  With social media, your sphere of influence has grown exponentially, to thousands, possibly millions.  You can tell your friends what you think about a movie, where you found the best price on a new TV, how a cleaning service performed, anything!  And, the companies that don’t think that people are talking about them, are just ignoring the revolution.

Today, your customers are blogging about the service they received.  They are posting your company’s commercials on YouTube.  They are twittering about your new product.  They are comparing prices and features online.

In the book, Groundswell, Forrester analysts, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, defined this phenomenon as “a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.”  But that doesn’t mean you can’t participate.  Social media can be used to bring you closer to your consumers – hear what they are saying, get their feedback, participate in the communication.  Just because you don’t completely control your corporate message, doesn’t mean you can’t influence it.

In the end, it all comes down to trust.  If you choose to use social media – and you should – you have to be open.  Open to honest communication.  Open to criticism. Open to new ideas.  In order to be successful in this new game, you can’t bring the same tools or play by the old rules of traditional marketing.  The only way to get followers is to give them what they want – they want information they can believe in.

If you are able to earn the trust of your followers, the message amplifies. You will have raving fans.  You will have product evangelists. One example I heard from our newly formed social marketing team at work – they had a call with Michael Pranikoff, Director of Emerging Media at PR Newswire, to find out about how we could leverage some of the new social media tools.  Michael, an active twitterer, told a story about receiving a notification that someone had posted a tweet about his troubles signing up for PR Newswire online.  Michael immediately sent an email to the user explaining the registration process.  The user was so shocked to receive a direct message from PR Newswire – in the middle of the night, no less – that he immediately posted it online.  He blogged about his great experience.  Michael earned his trust, and in turn got a PR Newswire evangelist.

Whether you manage an university alumni group, are an aspiring photographer, work-from-home for a direct marketing company, the uses are endless.  Let’s get some raving fans!