- Social Media and New Marketing With a GenY Perspective from Matt J McDonald
Subscribe to the RSS feed?Oh heck yes. Well played sir/ma'am, well played.
On my lunch break just now, I saw the cashier from Panera Bread sprint out of the store after a customer, run over to her car and give her the iced coffee she left on the counter. All this in the middle of the restaurants busiest time of day. That’s customer service.
A simple act like that sent a big message everyone around, Panera cares about it’s customers.
Why do I feel like this is the exception most of the time?
Are you having a Ninja Parade?
Sometimes we’re so focused on what we want to believe, that we don’t see/understand things as they really are. Keeping clear goals and objectives that don’t contradict each other is crucial.
So the next time you go to optimize your plan, make sure you get the real story. Skip the Ninja Parade.
Does anyone else feel like the same things are said over and over again in the blogosphere?
I understand that a key part of blogging is self-expression and that everyone is entitled to their opinion and view on a topic, but sometimes it just feels like the same old, same old.
I think if you look at some of the most popular and highest quality (notice the separation - the most popular aren’t always the best) blogs out there, the one thing they do exceptionally well is create new content that adds value to peoples lives. Why does someone love icanhascheezeburger.com? Because people love animals, and people love laughing, and on top of that, ICHC delivers new content, albeit in the same form, constantly.
It seems, to me at least, that too many people have interpreted the sage advice of “have a consistent message” to mean “have the exact same message consistently” and that’s not a good sign. I know it’s incredibly difficult to come up with great new stuff, especially if you’ve got a lot else going on. I used to post at least 3 times a week and it’s become 1-2 now if I’m lucky. So I feel your pain on that one. But please, don’t just rehash old ideas and content.
I think the blogosphere needs a new motto, how about, “If you can’t say something new, don’t say anything at all.”
Hold on there, I’m not suggesting that you ignore the old lesson of “think before you act”. It’s just that Greg Verdino’s post got me thinking about strategy and tactics. Now let me explain.
Many of you who read this blog, are also bloggers yourselves. You have Facebook profiles. You Digg, Twitter, Stumble, and Tag. As marketers, especially internet or other new media marketers, being ahead of the curve is not just something to be proud of, it’s almost essential. Marketing is responsible for managing a lot of perception and interaction, making it vital to know what the next big thing will be.
The problem comes when we start focusing so much on what’s next, we forget what’s now. It may seem obvious, but the part of your market you really want to reach is the big part in the middle of the bell curve. Not the laggards, and not the early adopters. So while you might think it’s a great idea to start using Twitter to connect with your customers, most of them won’t get it…unless your customers are social media mavens.
And that’s the second problem. You have to focus on what’s Now, but you have to figure out where Now is for your customers on the great continuum. Now might be one place for industrial buyers of steel girders. Now might be somewhere ahead for a business consulting firm. And Now is probably way ahead for emerging web technologies.
The second problem can be figured out relatively easily, at least in relation to the first one. To find out what’s Now for your market, you just have to make sure you really know your market. Don’t just study and guess, but really become part of it. Figure out how they use media, how they think, how they make decisions, and how they decide what matters to them.
The first one is a little trickier. You have to make sure that you’re catering to the majority, but you also have to know where the majority is heading. Think of it as an inch-worm. The most important part is figuring out where the middle is bunched up, but sure enough that middle is going to move, and to succeed you have to be able to move with it.
In the late 17th to early 18th century, also known as The Golden Age of Piracy, it was common practice for pirates to intentionally beach their ships and flip them from side to side, repairing the hull and scraping off anything that had become attached. This process, called careening, was done so that the ship would sail fast and straight, and also so it would hold up over time.
We might not be burying treasure anymore, but we should all still be practicing the art of careening. Not with pirate ships, but with messages.
There’s a lot of noise out there (rough seas) and in order to get our message across (the Carribean, the state, the room) we have to make sure that there’s nothing diverting it or slowing it down.
So beach your message, take a look at it, and get rid of anything extra you don’t need. Trust me, it’ll sail better if you do.
I was at a nice local family restaurant the other night. I’m sure you know the kind of place. Good atmosphere, pretty good food and pretty good service. As we got seated and I took a look at the menu, I was struck by a short phrase placed next to the upscale pick-two (think surf and turf) combo meals.
“No Sharing, Please”
I was (and still am) baffled by this. Now I’m not a scientist, but I was pretty sure that when you purchased a meal, you were entitled to eat it how (and with whom) you pleased. Apparently not. I understand that sharing at a buffet is frowned upon due to the nature of the business model, but I don’t understand how a regular restaurant can justify not allowing you to split a meal with someone.
It doesn’t take much to figure out the reason for all this: money.
The point is that you really have to be careful what messages you are sending your customers, intentionally and unintentionally.
The line might as well have said “No sharing please due to the fact that we won’t be able to squeeze out as much money per person if you do.” It had the same effect.
At least they said “please”.
In the sci-fi movie The Matrix (one of my favorites), there is a scene where a main character, Trinity, needs to quickly learn to pilot a helicopter. She relays the request to her operator, named Tank, who proceeds to “download” the necessary knowledge and expertise right into her brain.
Obviously we’re not there in terms of instant learning, but if you look at the fundamentals, we’re not that far off.
We probably won’t need to pilot a helicopter, but we might be looking for a good grilled salmon recipe or tips on SEO title tags. Our operator isn’t named Tank, it’s named Google, Yahoo! or MSN. And while we download the information too, it has to go through our computer screens before it gets to our brains.
We live in a world where it’s relatively easy to learn about almost anything. For example, on a whim, last night I learned how to brew beer start to finish. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, a sentiment I’m sure I share with many others who learn things online, but I do have a working knowledge.
The point is that it’s incredibly easy to become a Jack Of All Trades (J.O.A.T) in today’s culture. And this has a huge impact on marketers. People no longer take things at face value. Fewer and fewer “just know that something works, not why it works”. And no longer, can you assume that you know more about your product or category than the people you’re selling to.
This leads to the follow assumption: Most (if not all) of your market is informed, knowledgeable, and skeptic. Act accordingly.
Marketers have the good fortune of being in a discipline where it is completely acceptable to create new phrases or terms. Not only is it acceptable, sometimes it’s encouraged. If you want to be an expert on something, just make something up.
Try doing this in most other industries. I doubt you’ll get away with it. You can’t start calling a car cup holder a “vehicle dependent hot/cold beverage safety policy” or decide that you’re going to call a cheetah a “leopard 2.0 - now with speed boost!” - it just won’t work.
One of the biggest jobs of a marketing department is to create excitement and whip people into a frenzy about one thing or another. A lot of phrases that get invented are made just for that purpose. They’re like fireworks, fun to look at, impossible not to acknowledge, and easy to talk about (ooh..ahh), but once the show is over, there’s nothing left but smoke and empty sky.
However, there are a lot of great terms out there (Purple Cow, Long tail, Viral Marketing) that have taken hold in the marketing lexicon, and why is that?
Because these terms actually have meaning.
They’re connected to a concept or ideal that has substance, and that makes all the difference.
So next time before you coin a new phrase, think about how many times you’ve heard (or said) “I think that’s something that came out of the marketing department” or “That’s probably just a new marketing term for _____” and really decide if it’s necessary. Marketing is already cluttered and convoluted as it is. I guess if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.
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