The Engaging Brand

Why Social Marketing is About Finding Not Creating

"I love finding something interesting, it's not about  creating , it's about finding ..and if it's not there then move on. Just show the truth...be it ugly or beautiful"

Words from a great interview with Jay Maisel -  the wonderful photographer talking about his work.

Seems to me that leadership, sales, marketing and photography have so much in common....they are about capturing a moment, capturing an image to convey a story. In the interview he talked about

• Maisel captures images to capture our attention....Social marketing creates images to capture our thoughts
• Maisel shows in his work the truth with an air of mystery...social marketing tells snippets of the truth for you to put together in your mind.
• Maisel makes the object the star, not the photographer, even though its the skill of the photographer that makes it come to life...social marketing makes the conversation, the ideas, the experiences the stars
• Maisel explains he doesn't make a composition...he takes a piece of random chaos and framing it in a moment of time...social marketing is taking a piece of consumer chaos and framing it in the mind of the consumer.

You know what I like about this interview was the honesty....when you are as world renowned as he is ...well, it would be easy for him to extol the virtues of his skill...but no, it is all about the experience, the capture and framing of a moment...for the world to see.

Whether it be a leader or a brand..... are you marketing to or leading people or are you capturing and framing a moment ?

A photo from Maisels portfolio

7 Lively Loves of Social Marketing

So of course there is an alternative to yesterday's  The 7 deadly sins of brand marketing 

1. Being selective with how you communicate with your consumer, make it conversational which means either...fun, entertaining, educational, a secret!...think shareability.
2. Love hearing from your customers - positive or negative...You can learn what is great, what is not so great....and remember turning round a negative can be the ultimate in creating customer loyalty. 
3. Underpromising and overdelivering.....I buy from Abel and Cole....every now and then I get a completely random free gift...from as simple as some lemons or a mince pie...to a cookery book or calender...always surprises, always make me feel valued
4. Learn and value the triggers to an emotional purchase. Use imagery, use sensory angles to act as triggers.
5. Ask after each sale...the Gallo question.....Did I do enough to create a customer for life?
6. Use the social media tools which suit your personality...not because you feel you have to...that way you create authenticity...much easier being you!
7. Make marketing social by turning it from a function of a few to a way of life for many....including customers, suppliers, employees. See the brand as the party host not the star attraction.

Take one of these each day and assess

What are you doing well? 

What needs to be improved upon? 

Who will take responsibility?

What actions do you need to take?

How will you measure your 7 living loves of marketing going forward?

7 Deadly Sins of Brand Marketing

1. Bombarding the inbox with information you want to share, rather than the customer wants to receive
2. Making access to your brand so damn difficult! Anyone get frustrated with no assistants...hidden contact details on website, bad navigation, that wretched message about how the brand 'values us' whilst making us hit 27 phone options and waiting for an hour.
3. Overpromising and underdelivering.....so much better the other way round.
4. Inconsistency - make sure service, product, delivery, interfaces, payments and add on's all show the brand values
5. Think product or service attributes NOT experiences. How many firms see customer service as an overhead rather than a value creator? How many see it as an adjunct to sales rather than the creator of loyalty?
6. Think of the prospective sale as the chance of a financial transaction not the creation of a relationship
7. Think what will work in the short term not the long term of the brand

None of these are difficult to put right....but how often do we have a deadly sin audit!

Need some inspiration.....have you listened to creating insanely great customer service

(Tomorrow I will be doing the 7 Lovely Loves of Social Marketing so if you have a benefit you want to share email or tweet me it and I will include)

Podcast 386 - How To Double Your Profit!

This week's The Engaging Brand podcast covering social media, business ideas and brand marketing tips, is ready to download.

Cameron Herold, the founder of Backpocket CEO and former Chief Operating Officer of 1-800-GOT-JUNK  joins Anna Farmery to discuss how to double your profit - tips from his latest business book  Double Double

• How doubling profits in three years is not hocus pocus magic.....but hocus focus!
• How to paint a picture of your business idea and growth strategy
• Tips on painting a picture in Chapter 1 which you can download for free.
• How sharing the goal with EVERYONE is a prerequisite to growth
• How sharing your business goals is not about you...but about inspring people
• Set your goals - the What....then work backwards to today...for the How.
• How  growth is not necessarily about huge % profit increases
• How entrepreneurs need to have a healthy life outside of work
• The problem of entrepreneurs building a business around your hobby.....it can drain you.
• How entrepreneurs can often suffer attention deficit disorder, being bipolar or even a manic depressive!
• The importance of your office environment and the 4 factors of business culture
• How to generate PR  and Cameron's tips on PR
• Is it easier to be an entrepreneur in tough times

I love to hear your thoughts so email me, anna@theengagingbrand.com, join me on twitter, leave a message at The Engaging Brand Fan Page or join me on to discuss it on Google+

How you can listen to The Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click hear to listen to the latest marketing podcast

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following RSS Feed

At the end of the week, bring on the strong!

Just a thought....

So for many of you it is the end of the week.....could we change that to end of the weak?

So that on Monday morning it is the strong who return...with strong meaning

Being strong enough to

Accept feedback that takes you forward

Listening to others to widen your view

Share that "I suppose this is a stupid idea but...."

Think long term not short term

To focus your time on the things that matter rather than the things that are easy

Be brave enough to understand that a happy, balanced life makes for a much stronger leader.

So here's to the end of the weak...and the start of the strong!

 

 

Why Tomorrow...is so Yesterday

We live in a world where tomorrow is...well, it's so, well... yesterday in terms of the world of business and  social marketing!

The business world is dynamic....except for businesses themselves...let me explain.

We live in a real time world, our consumers, our employees all live in a world of real time data feeding through their laptops, their smartphones...their tablet PC's. 

They want a complex combination of quality (a given!) , specificity (another given!), no risk (they read the reviews) and instant (or next day delivery).

Wow...phew...impossible right? Yes, of course it is if we go at the pace of a decade ago...

The world is dynamic now......dynamic in terms of days, hours, minutes, seconds....dymamic is the new time zone!! 

Ok so then we turn to business...and what do we see -  is business as dynamic as the marketplace?

1. Organisational charts and organisational structures which add layers of sign off and for each sign off probably adds a further week or month, the meeting calendar will dictate....
2. Meetings to discuss what kind of meeting we should hold and who should be there...and what we should talk about....
3. Meetings to brainstorm....in reality a collection of post it notes to show leadership is listening...but action? Oh must have a meeting to decide...
4. Return on investment calculations demanded before we try a little pilot....so much store (and I am an accountant by trade!) put on a document which is all ifs and buts!! It is a guess...and as long as the guess fits the criteria...well we can have a meeting to sign it off
5. 27,876 reasons why something won't work...rather than 1 little pilot to see if it does....
6. A meeting to discuss the next line extension as we need to deliver growth...therefore choosing a plan which will cannibalise your sales rather than innovate to grow....safe plodding rather than creative dynamism.

We need to build into our business DNA, a culture of dynamism.....look for people who are dynamic...I don't mean super employees who wear their underwear on the outside...but S.U.P.E.R as in

Seekers and ideas catchers that read, see, listen, learn from anywhere...and then

Unite what they learn with people around you, sharing and collaborating across functions

Prepared to accept the risk and take responsility, knowing you will cheer a known failure just not an unknown success.

Enjoy speed...knowing you can revise once it is out there...with the help of the customer's feedback...which of course you are getting because you are a SEEKER who enjoys improving it....as this is learning not criticism

Refuse to hold meetings which are political rather than dynamic...the onus being on angels advocate not devils advocate

What are you not putting off until tomorrow that you can do today?

What are you putting off for a couple of hours that you can do now?

What are you waiting for?

8 Reasons Why Customers Are More Than Just Buyers

Step change innovation seems so much easier when you are outside the industry.

Think Nike with fitness technology, think Apple with music, think Gore and environment.

Outsiders can see through the "Why we can't", the "We've tried that before"...and they ask we need to, so how do we? 

Socialising business has one huge benefit for creativity and innovation. Each business has at their fingertips...true outsiders...they are called Customers or Consumers! The new customer relationship management is not about creating reasons to buy, but seeing the customer as a resource bank of value.

If you listen to outsiders they can help you

1. Develop innovation at the boundaries of your industry...not just line extensions to your core.
2. Source what competitors offer and what differentiates them from you
3. Source ideas and future projects
4. Help simplify your product or service...removing the lovely add-ons but that no one ever uses!
5. Help you sell your product through social media and review feedback
6. Help you fund growth through crowdfunding.
7. Help you with find the right talent or skills which you require to grow into the future - crowdsourcing.
8. Challenge you when inside the organisation you are coasting.

Customers are an outside resource....why not see them as supplying ideas, connections and resources ...not just money!

Outsiders in the shape of customers and non customers, bring a different view....how many of you spoken to, today?

 

What is Social Business Trying to Do?

Social business is a theme I keep exploring because I think it is going to be so critical in the future, so much so I am doing my PhD on it!

People work for businesses? Wrong, in my humble opinion....

business is the vehicle by which people deliver experience to other people

Over the last few decades the problem has been that the business has been less of a vehicle and more of the driver of the vision.

Social business is about moving people from being the passengers in the vehicle and letting them drive again....

1. Profit should become the outcome of delivering great products and great experiences rather than the goal itself.
2. The customer needs to move inside the process of design and delivery, rather than someone who you sell to...
3. The focus needs to move on creating a long term social contract with customers rather than a one off transaction - great ideas on how on this weeks podcast 
4. The customer should be seen as a resource rather than the recipient.
5. Connections and a nexus style of leadership which brings people together - both inside and outside the 'official organisation chart' - and a nexus within the marketplace rather than a supplier to the marketplace.

Podcast 385 - How to Deliver Insanely Great Customer Service

This week's The Engaging Brand podcast covering social media, business ideas and brand marketing tips, is ready to download.

Carmine Gallo, a former reporter and anchor for CNN and CBS who has sat down with many of the most dynamic and respected business leaders of our time, including Steve Jobs, joins Anna Farmery to discuss how to deliver insanely great customer service, based on his insights into the Apple Experience at retail. Carmine has previously helped us understand how to use Foursquare....a must listen podcast!

• Creating The Customer Experience 
• How we all need to declutter.....from our minds, shelves, product listings, packaging!
• How to sell by designing a store not to make a sale...but to enrich a life and create a shopping experience.
• How the genius bar and one to one programs are about creating customer loyalty.....but its not upselling, it is about creating an ongoing retail experience.
• How to create customer loyalty
• The Wiggly Wigglers Floristry example of making my day...by fulfilling unexpressed wishes
• The science of listening to customers.
• How to get people to interact with the product.....to get people to feel what it is like to own it.
• The concept of Fearless Feedback - ask did i create a customer for life....not a sale.
• The importance of being able to multitask with various customers
• Don't forget to reset the customer clock......
• How it takes 450 hrs to produce a Steve Jobs 20 mins presentation
• The concept of making a script to reinforce the branding message

I love to hear your thoughts so email me, anna@theengagingbrand.com, join me on twitter, leave a message at The Engaging Brand Fan Page or join me on to discuss it on Google+

How you can listen to The Engaging Brand

1) You can listen on your PC now without downloading any software just click hear to listen to the latest marketing podcast

2) You can subscribe to the show via iTunes or

3) If you use a different podcatcher then you can subscribe using the following RSS Feed

Social Marketing is Not Science or Art

The world is getting smaller.

Science can now take us to the nano level.

Facebook knows more about us than most of our friends.

The human life can be taken down to its DNA.......and so can our conversations on the web, our shopping on the web etc etc

The irony is that the deeper the internet goes, the blurry the picture becomes.....I may argue that we are in danger of knowing so much, we know nothing at all.

When I was looking for a book on Amazon Kindle - by the way did you know you can subscribe to The Engaging Brand via the Kindle! - the recommendations included those based on me buying things for other people in the family.

It struck me that at some point the need for more analysis of me as a web customer, starts to be self defeating. Maybe this is why social marketing is not a science and not an art...it is at the juncture of the two...maybe an artience!

You wouldn't look at David Hockney's new painting exhibition at The Royal Academy in London under a microscope.....and yet if scientists had not looked at a nano level we wouldn't now be seeing the wonder of Graphene.

Why is this relevent to social media?

Well I think it is important to know enough about the market, know enough about your target consumer...without getting so detailed that the picture gets blurry. It is important that you look at the juncture of art and science......take the detail of science and match it with the vision of art.