Outsourcing Social Media: "Go forth not blindly ..."

Business is serious about social media. So, we've naturally seen an uptick in mishandled social media situations.  How can you avoid being another poster child for Facebook faux pas or Twitter slips?  

Put the work in on the front end.  No excuses.  Learn about the media, create a strategy that integrates with your other programs (PR, direct, events, etc.), develop an operational plan, and work to help develop strong but reasonable policies and procedures for the organization at large.  Then and only the, you should consider outsourcing to a seasoned marketer who also happens to be knee deep in social media -- all social media.

If you don't know enough about the media to use it yourself, you shouldn't be messing with it for your business or client.  You also shouldn't expect that you'll be able to manage someone else who's messing with it.

Outsourcing in the name of focus on core competencies is Lean Business 101, Social Media in the name of reaching your actual market with relevant content, offers, and messages is both Green Marketing 101 and Marketing Communications 101.  But, when the two are combined and handed off to a third party with more expertise in Facebook than in business, well . . . all you get is this cartoon.  And, of course, a waste of budget and resources.

This gets to the question:  Which came first, the Strategy or the Tweet?  Social media presence with no integrated marketing strategy is just silly.

(BTW --I wish I was as clever as Tom Fishburne ... "Marketoons?" ... Brilliant!)

Enjoy Tom's talent, and have a great weekend!

"Spell check urself b4 u wreck urself" (or "How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot Using Social Media Without Really Trying")

WARNING: Most examples used in link below use language that is not suitable for children.

Ah, social media. A marketer's dream come true, an English teacher's worst nightmare.

As a dyed in the wool content strategist and writer/editor, I am occasionally horrified by what passes for content in some media. And any certified human has to shudder a little at these "bloopers" below. That said, the irreverent Student-of-Human-Behavior side of me also delights in the absurdity.

The lesson here for marketers is simple: 

1.  Diligent proofreading is de rigueur for all media. 

2.  And good ol’ fashioned presence of mind is mandatory especially when the media is of the social persuasion.

Why?  Because more people are likely to see your firm's Facebook and Twitter postings than your data sheets, so making the mistake of dashing off a Tweet on the fly can potentially cost you more than reprinting brochures.

(Will any of us ever forget the legendary Tweet by the Chrysler employee re: Detroit drivers?  I rest my case).

Treat your posts with the same care you do your sales presentations. After all, you don't want to end up featured in a rogues' gallery like the one below, being shared by know-it-all like me, right?  Right.

So, I share these with you to laugh, cry, scream in terror, or just shake your head in wide-eyed amazement.

The Best Obnoxious Responses To Misspellings On Facebook | someecards.com

http://www.someecards.com/2011/04/06/the-best-obnoxious-responses-to-misspellings-on-facebook

Bonding with Sales: A win-win all around

If I read one more story about “How Marketing Should Work with Sales” I may be sick -- but that won’t stop me from writing one!  This one, however, is from the Marketing perspective.


Let’s face it.  Wall Street aside, there are few things in business as wasteful as the disconnect between Sales and Marketing. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that no other organizational dysfunction takes such a toll on Time, Budget and Materials.


So, whatcha gonna do?

When it comes to operational-izing this disconnect, corporate leadership has to take responsibility. When it comes to policies and procedures around this performance issue, there usually are none.  Instead, setting the climate usually comes down to the past life experiences of the C-suite, which usually fall into one of three different categories:

• The Fatalists,
• The Recovering Marketeers, and
• The Sales Driver.

The Fatalists come from backgrounds where “hands off” was a way of life.  Their mantra is "It's the way of the world -- like cats and dogs -- we make the best of it through our meetings and processes."

The Recovering Marketeers come from equally contentious situations, but probably spent time on the marketing team and have an axe to grind.  Their mandate is, "... in my business, everything reports to Marketing -- from lead gen to CRM – it’s all under one roof for continuity."

And the Sales Driver says, "... we structured both functions under my Sales VP -- now he has no excuses and the company actually saves headcount and salaries ..."

Any of these sound familiar?  Which sounds like the best strategy to you?

The truth is they all stink out loud. There is no meeting, process, policy, org structure, or force of nature that will counteract an existing disconnect.  And, if allowed to stay dysfunctional, it will quickly evolve itself from a minor speed bump to full blown productivity killer.

So, what’s the answer?  It all comes down to the heads of Sales and Marketing and their willingness to collaborate.  If no one else is willing to address the problem, it’s an opportunity for both execs to set aside agendas and make each other successful.  And the key is nothing less than COMMUNICATION.

Easier said than done

For two organizations whose goals are so similar and interconnected, one would assume communication is second nature.  Not so much.  But here are some tips:

1.  Identify and deploy technology that consolidates, communicates across sales and marketing.  One system for sales and another for marketing leaves too many gaps, so much so that hand-offs are fumbled and the two teams are further disconnected.  Sales force automation, marketing automation and CRM should be integrated one seamless story-telling solution.  The result will be more and better touch points, resulting in more and better sales -- both new money and up sell/cross sell.

2.  Know the customers.  Not just the data – know their names, stories, experiences, things they’ve said, and how they think.  This information has closing power for your Sales team and will make your marketing that much more relevant.

3. Look for high-visibility ways to work together.  For example, give joint presentations at conferences.  Working side by side to prep and deliver a presentation not only provides solid in-the-trenches bonding time, but also makes a very public statement about your united front.  When your teams see this happening, it serves to set the tone and provide a good example.

4.  Revenue talk is a great ice breaker.  Revenue is Sales’ raison d’être. When Marketing is able to talk revenue, they gain credibility and are seen to be working toward the same goal.  By the same token, the more Marketing can connect its metrics with revenue objectives, the easier it will be to tweak programs and justify budgets with confidence.

5.  Celebrate each other’s success.  A Sales win really is a Marketing win too.  In fact, in most organizations, there are several departments involved in closing sales – from Legal to Finance to R&D to Sales and Marketing.  Whether it’s an e-mail blast, a web video broadcast, or an old fashioned bell ringing, some form of celebration is in order whenever a sale is made – it’s the lifeblood of the company, after all.

[Personal anecdote from the Marketing side: Once upon a time, I was presented with an award from our Sales team for being the company’s “Marketer of the Year.”  An honest-to-goodness, heavy-as-an-elephant, crystal trophy.  I’ve accumulated smaller, less “conspicuous” recognition over the years, but this one is the only award that I display prominently in my office and look at every day.  For good reason, we grew revenue from $40 million to $120 million in six months that year and it was a bona fide Team Effort.]

I hope you all have an experience like that -- and when you do, I hope you’ll let me know about it.

Annuitizing Returns on Marketing Investment

ALTERNATE TITLE:   "Let's Wipe Out Marketing ADD in Our Lifetime!"

A recent cartoon by Tom Fishburne, "Still on Facebook," bemoans the all-too-frequent assumption by some execs that social media programs have short-term durations. The gray-haired senior exec in this cartoon is shown asking,"Why are we still on Facebook? I thought that Social Media was last month's campaign." 

Great capture of another iconic moment in marketing.

But, then Tom contrasts social media with advertising in the accompanying blog posting. Hold on there cowboy! Here's where we diverge experientially.

The fact is, the same thing is true of any marketing program — even advertising. PR, direct, event marketing, and advertising all require ubiquitous and consistent implementation over time. 

Think of it simply as "Out of sight -- out of mind." Markets have short memories, so hit and run campaigns will yield equally fleeting results. 

On the other hand -- and this is important -- a sustained strategy that keeps your name and value prop in front of your market via well-targeted tactics/programs will begin to earn annuitizing returns before long. When this happens, each ensuing touch point carries greater and greater impact. Because your market has been sensitized to recognize your brand and register its characteristics by all the previous touch points.

We're not talking immediate gratification. We are talking about durable, powerful brand development for the long haul. The kind that significantly increase your valuation multipliers.

Tom suggests we stop thinking in terms of "campaigns" and start thinking of "commitments." This is good, but I like to take it one step further. Instead of talking about of Marketing budgets as "Expense," it is more accurate to refer to it as Investment. 

Then, don't be surprised when you see your Investment earning Returns. That's the key indicator that you and your team have your heads around effective marketing, and are executing well.

Check out Tom's blog and cartoons here, and have a great day:  still on facebook | Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist

Junk Mail/Spam -- The Song Remains the Same

Was just reading some updates on direct e-mail response data.  For example:

1. An estimated 85% of e-mail is spam (explains a lot about my e-mailbox ...)
2. Response rates are similar to your odds playing the lottery (between 94% and 99% of recipients will either not open, not answer or eventually delete direct pitches).
3. Direct marketers tend to address these trends by simply upping their mail numbers.  Playing the laws of probability alone (vs. targeting and segmenting), the more they mail, the more leads they'll uncovered simply by chance.

My questions are these:  Who the hell has budget for that nonsense? And where the hell did they learn how to design marketing strategy?

Seriously?  No wonder Marketing takes such a bad rap -- some folks are out there working hard to earn it.

An interesting side bar to this discussion is that the pendulum began swinging back to USPS direct mail a few years ago.  In 1999, e-mail was a "novel" delivery system.  More opens, more views, more response, etc. than paper-based "junk mail."

As a result of that and the lower costs, so many marketers went digital, that about 2 years back, snail-mail began regaining ground against e-mail's numbers. That said, there are still common denominators:

1- "Garbage in/garbage out," if your list is untargeted and poorly maintained -- regardless of delivery system -- you're return is going to suffer.

2- If you don't support your direct marketing tactics with additional channels you are decreasing your open rates (call it the "Montessori Marketing Method," if you will ... okay, it's just integrated marketing tactics, but I like the analogy).

3- No one opens mail from a source that lacks credibility.  So, if you're not leveraging some form of strategic, high-quality Content Marketing (i.e., intelligent development and dissemination of articles, blogging, whitepapers, e-books, etc.) in conjunction with channels that are widely regarded as pure, unfounded, self-promotion, you are costing yourself opportunities and $$.

I guess the moral of the story is that it still all comes down to the fundamentals.  Again.

To read more on this topic, check out these excellent resources:
http://www.btobonline.com/section/b2b_direct_marketing
http://www.delivermagazine.com
http://www.the-dma.org/whitepapers/
http://tomfishburne.com/2011/07/direct-marketing.html
http://directmarketingmag.com/

Are you a One Hit Wonder?

Another way to think of it is simply "Out of sight -- out of mind."

Markets have short memories, so whether you call them "hit and run campaigns" or "one hit wonders" this approach may cause a ripple in your website visits, but it will yield fleeting results.  (Super Bowl ads have been known to fall into this category, but don't get me started!)

Wouldn't You Rather Create Annuitizing Return on Your Marketing?
On the other hand, a sustained strategy that keeps your name and value prop in front of your market will earn annuitizing returns. In other words, the more you are seen, the more easily you will be recognized.  The more easily you are recognized, the more you will become preferred.  And, of course, if you are preferred, you will gain sales.  The more you sell, the more you are seen . . .  and so on, until you build quite a cache of brand equity along with enviable sales.

Whether you are marketing via social media, public relations, direct marketing, advertising or event marketing, the key is to maintain your visibility consistently and reliably.  (And the smart money will use multiple strategies -- two at least, three if possible). No where is this more important than in social media and web marketing in general.

Create a Rustle in the Bushes
The more activity you have on your blog, Facebook or Twitter account(s), the more likely it is that search engines will find you.  It's sort of like a hunting dog.  If the bushes are rustling with activity it will register in the dog's senses, and the dogs attention becomes attracted to the "e-rustling."  (Dog = Search Engine, Bushes = Blog, Rustling = Posts & Comments).

One of Tom Fishburne's recent cartoons takes a humorous and all-too-familiar poke at the One Hit Wonder mentality -- hope you enjoy it!

still on facebook | Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist

Funding in Context

I just attended an event at one of the most well-conceived (and successful) incubators in the Cambridge/Boston area. And that's saying something, considering the wealth of genius that has historically launched, taken up residence, and flourished here over many decades.

As many of you may have guessed, I'm writing about the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) and its Venture Cafe. Venture Cafe is one of many "value adds" this facility offers to provide its tenants with as many varied opportunities to become successful as it can. The facility itself is the brainchild of Tim Rowe. "He gets it," is an understatement.

A selling point for many entrepreneurs is the onsite presence of a small number of venture capital firms. The drive for funding among many in the Thursday evening crowd is palpable.  It's like The Grail.

And here's where I see a lot of confusion begin.  Let's face it, the road to viability is strewn with the remains of utterly brilliant ideas whose developers simply ran out of money.  It's scary and it makes founders do scary things to avoid it.  Like compromise their vision.

What should an entrepreneur be willing to give up for investors?  A title? Some equity?  Your vision?

When entrepreneurs start confusing their funding with the mission of their enterprise, they become overly vulnerable.  Vulnerable to the influence of spreadsheets over creativity. Vulnerable to the dilution of brand, culture and commitment that comes with having "too many chiefs and not enough indians" (another of my grandmother's aphorisms).

But here's the thing, in the end nobody will care how much you raised in what round, or who you raised it from.  What will make you or break you are your customers/clients and your reputation.  The True Grail.

So, here's a mantra for everyone out there seeking investment:  Funding is a means to an end -- not the end zone.

Seth Godin also posted brief blog entry on this topic a while back -- more glibly than I.  For more read Seth's Blog: Getting funded is not the same as succeeding