Marketing Clique

Our customers and prospects are everywhere. The trouble is they're not all in the same place at the same time. That's why we need to meet them where they're at.

Forrester Research senior VP of Idea Development Josh Bernoff recently wrote an article for AdAge. In it he discusses research that makes a case for encouraging workers to use technology to connect with customers. Josh goes on to recommend:

If your company shuts off access to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, that has to stop, because you're shutting off your staff from the very places that will give them ideas of how to innovate in connecting to customers. —Josh Bernoff, Marketers Are More Likely to Innovate -- and Here's Proof

Good salespeople have traditionally been adept at meeting their prospects and customers face to face. Today, with increased adoption of technology to increase the efficiency of marketing it's become common that neither salespeople nor marketers will see their prospects during the entire nurturing process. How about once the prospect signs on as a paying customer? Sure, probably. But during the six-month sales process? Maybe not.

While lead nurturing software, like Marketo and Eloqua, allows marketers to manage a much higher volume of prospects, there's still a strong reliance on email as the central vein of outbound communication. Logic paths are carefully planned so certain emails are sent to certain people at certain times, all based on certain prospect/client activities or inactivity.

My question is, will email continue to prevail as the preferred method of communication? Moreover has email already fallen by the wayside as the best way to nurture all prospects and clients?

Don't get me wrong. Email marketing is generally effective, especially when customers and prospects have opted in and indicated it's their preferred method of contact. But relying solely on email to nurture prospects and customers may be inadequate, especially with the growing acceptance of other communication forms: SMS/text, Facebook, Twitter. And don't forget about the old school methods that many people still hold onto: face-to-face meetings, phone calls, and even snail mail! By the way, if you must send snail mail, use FedEx. It's still better at getting someone's attention. People will almost always open a FedEx overnight envelope.

The take away

Try not to accept technology for technology's sake. If you can use technology to become more efficient in some areas of marketing and sales that's great. But one software solution isn't going to take care of everything.

Some of the fundamental elements fueling a successful religious cult can be used to build a stronger pathway to customer loyalty, and ultimately a stronger sales and marketing organization. I don't want to carry this metaphor too far, but I think there are some obvious comparisons worth mentioning, especially in light of today's energized social media movement.

Finding Oneself — The search for one's self is a lifelong journey that changes as life progresses. A strong marketing message will appeal to customers on a psychological level, not simply as a pure business decision. Likewise, your most loyal employees will find something intrinsically satisfying about joining your organization. It's co-dependency at its finest.

If both your employees and customers can find a personal, psychological reason for being part of your organization, you're on the road to forging something bigger and better than simply a product or a service. Your sales and marketing organization will promote your company in a way that transcends whatever you sell. 

The Power of Community — This is where social media fits in. It can be connected directly or indirectly to your brand. Community fulfills a human need for belonging. At its highest intensity, community helps us discover meaning via a commitment to a lifestyle promoted by your brand. Think Harley-Davidson. Or, Think Different: Apple Computer.

• Explore some of the unconscious, or not-so-obvious motivators in the minds of your best customers and employees. How can these be used to foster stronger community bonds?
• Support and nurture communities where real, personal friendships can bloom.
• The most successful communities are more inclusive than exclusive. Again, think about Harley-Davidson. Harley-Davidson brand enthusiasts are diverse.

A recent McKinsey report makes another good point about community. It's especially relevant if you're marketing a consumer brand:

Companies also should note the impact of rising digital connectivity—many French consumers, even as they age, will retain their attachments to communities and social networks.

Guy Kawasaki offers some cogent advice in this  succint 2004 presentation to a Stanford University MBA class. He's talking about why it's important to ensure that  your company values meaning over money and how that will drive stronger results:

According to research by Albert Muniz and Thomas O'Guinn the 3 attributes of brand communities include:

1. Shared Consciousness
2. Rituals & Traditions
3. Sense of Moral Responsibility

Why This Matters to Sales & Marketing

While it may be a stretch to turn your company and brand into a cult (I mean that in a good way!) there are definitely ways to take some of cults' most effective strategies and tactics and apply them to your business, especially social media and community-building efforts. We may like to think that modern-day business decisions are rooted solely in cold, unemotional ROI. But they're not. And after all, we're still human.

Social media has given otherwise shy people a forum for experimenting with what it means to be outgoing.

Many otherwise introverted people are now Tweeting, sharing cool stuff on Facebook, and writing blogs.

WIFM?

But most people still use social media to broadcast what they're doing, how cool their product is, or somehow make it about them (WIFM = what's in it for me?). That's not the power of social. Being social is about sharing, helping other people, and introducing their cool stuff to your tribe of followers.

Eventually, people will refer to you if you've got something interesting, unique, or valuable.

Don't be pushy

Have you ever been to a cocktail party, started talking with someone, and gritted your teeth while they drone on about their own thing? Sometimes their thing is interesting. Sometimes, unfortunately, it's not.

The more interesting topic of conversation is always something that involves the other person. Sharing ideas, asking for their opinion, having an open, two-way conversation. That's what social media helps us to accomplish in the online world.

Do share

Have you got something from which other can benefit? Is it something you can share? Try not to bring something to the "social media classroom" if you don't have enough to share with everyone.

It has always been prudent to look after one's image, only now everything is happening as fast as you can say, "Click submit." While the Web has turned a lot of behaviors upside down, it's reinforced others. One relatively new dilemma is how to manage one's personal communications and brand. Like it, or not, social media has become pervasive and weaves its way into much of today's online conversation. Everyone has been forced into making decisions about how, where and when they want to be seen outside of their professional roles.

The social media explosion has made it a cinch to conspicuously discuss personal affairs. Back in the day, it was hand-written letters, holiday cards, and in-person conversations that we used to share life's happenings. Now there's Facebook. It's a personal PR machine. Need a press release to let everyone know about your the family's vacation in Cancun? Want to whine about being groggy and needing a cup of coffee? You see it all on FB and Twitter. Everyone's steering their own public relations effort. It's personal PR.

Personal PR means the Average Joe has to continually evaluate, monitor and take action on personal communications. Once the decision to participate in social media has been made there's a need to decide on voice, what types of things will be communicated, and the repercussions thereof.

Each communication platform needs a goal and voice/style:

• Email
• IM
• Website copy
• Specialized websites/portals: Facebook, LinkedIn
• Mobile phone etiquette
• Texting
• Blogging
• Microblogging: Twitter
• Digital photo sharing: Flickr, Picasa

Just as world-leading brands must be valiant with their PR efforts, so too must individuals. Social media users need to consider their communication content and style, using social media as PR.