EricFletcher

At the Heart of Today’s Game-Changing Marketing Strategies

Ask a dozen professionals from a variety of endeavors to define marketing and you will likely receive variations on two or three different themes. Retailers, B-to-B enterprises, service providers, Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurial start-ups – and everything in between — often view, plan and budget for marketing from unique perspectives.

But all of us, unique perspectives notwithstanding, count on our marketing investments to do one thing: contribute to a change – in awareness, in behavior, in loyalty, in habits or routines.

You may not think of or define marketing as an agent of change, but consider it. Regardless of the deliverable, from a single effort to an entire campaign, marketing is designed to instigate some type of change in the status quo. It may be about transforming a target into a client, expanding a customer’s use of your product/service line, creating awareness, or deepening loyalty to a brand. But effective marketing is, at its core, an agent of change.

Enter “Social Media”

I don’t believe any single solution is the holy grail of marketing; but the so-called “social media” options present marketers a new level of access to a critical dynamic of change – the oft overlooked (or ignored) element of dialogue.

Simply put, dialogue is the life-blood of enduring change. One-off decisions and temporary digressions can be precipitated by an event, an incentive or a compelling message. Dynamic campaigns can certainly win customers. But lasting change – the kind that lies at the heart of repeat business and customer loyalty – is the byproduct of feedback, conversations and the dialogue attendant to shared experiences. And “Social” provides a platform for numerous approaches to each of these activities.

We have long recognized the potential impact of “word-of-mouth” marketing. Get satisfied clients/customers talking about their experience with your product or service, and the marketing game changes. No longer is it the voice of the company extolling benefits; customer-originated messages have authenticity. Shared experiences resonate.

Add the element of actual real-time feedback, and you’ve tapped into the real marketing potential of social media; now you’re building relationships. And relationships trump everything. Relationship is the context for trust. Conversations that allow for questions and answers, musings, what-ifs, and even the airing of a problem – this kind of dialogue is the DNA of relationships that grow and thrive.

So when you wonder about the role of social media in a marketing strategy…or how to introduce the idea to leaders in your company…or what the best practices might be with respect to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, remember the seed that eventually gives rise to the most pervasive and enduring change your market will ever know – dialogue. Today’s game-changing marketing plans create shared experiences, encourage on-going dialogue, and build communities with clients and prospects.

Eric Fletcher

Marketing Tool That Transcends Message & Media

Today’s marketing professional has an impressive tool kit at the ready. In addition to the staples of the past half-century or so, technology has created a whole new set that seductively promises to change the arithmetic and shrink things to manageable size. Where the world used to be an accessible oyster only for those with the budget, today’s venture can play in the global arena with even the scarcest of resources.

Okay — truth be told, many of us are still wrestling with pieces of the new tool-set. (Please submit all workable Social Media marketing strategies.)

But while in pursuit of promising new connections in an undeniably dynamic marketplace, it may be timely to revisit the tool that has always shaped, and will again change the discussion.

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The Fuzzy Space Between Vision and Focus

Far too often, somewhere between the visions we conjure and the stuff necessary to realize our game-changing dreams, the magnificent work of the imagination becomes blurry and unrecognizable.

You know the drill. There is buy-in for a vision; goals and objectives are identified; planning completed and resources have been ear-marked.  Then something insidious happens: it comes disguised as a too-good-to-pass-up “opportunity” that demands immediate attention, or (often the case) as an even bigger, better manifestation of the original vision. And once this vicious cycle is set in motion the grandest of visions is almost always relegated to dreams of what might have been.

When it comes to focus, it is an unfortunate and problematic catch-22 that many entrepreneurs, innovators and yes, marketers, by nature see opportunity at every turn. For the glass-half-full leader, the reality is that conceiving a vision plays to a strength; maintaining focus often accentuates weakness.

Add to this the fact that in today’s marketplace good ideas are rarely enough to carry the day, and you’ve spelled Trouble (with a capital “T”) for many endeavors. Better mousetraps and newer/faster/more cost effective solutions are conceived on a regular basis. The few that make it to the market and win are either the byproduct of tenacious focus or pure luck. Ether one is good, but only one is conducive to planning.

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Lennon & McCartney, a Lagniappe, and Social Media Muscle

Some things just deserve a spotlight. A Twitter friend — @9inchmarketing (John, IRL) – reminded me of this when he introduced me to the Purple Goldfish Project. This is an organized effort to draw attention to the existence of Lagniappes (the practice of giving something extra) in the course of everyday business. Herein is one such tale.

I met Bob Magruder more moons ago than either of us care to admit. Chances are, you know him, too; or you know his voice, at least. For more than three decades he’s been the “voice” of local, regional and national advertising campaigns, as well as the authoritative persuader on promotional, instructional and training videos. You can sample some of his work here.

I was an inexperienced ad guy. He was a pro. From the outset it was clear that Bob employed an approach to his business that set him apart. His “customer is the boss” perspective was surprisingly rare among commercial talent the agency worked with. And he always showed up prepared, wanting to give more than was expected to make every project better; but that is not the story.

Bob’s lagniappe is found in the significant something extra he did – and continues to do for colleagues, apprentices and out-right competitors.

Yes…even competitors. For years I watched as one of the busiest and most talented guys in the highly competitive and often cut throat “voice acting” business would invest in teaching aspiring talent how to take work away from him!

To be fair, he did sell his instruction from time to time; but, for years I’ve watched him give time and often even foot the bill to help scores of folks trying to make it in the business.

Now, this isn’t a conventional lagniappe. I don’t remember ever hearing him talk about why he did this. For that matter, he never talked about doing it at all. When he reads this he’ll wonder what the fuss is about, because this was not a strategy or tactical approach. It is born of who he really is, and what he believes in: give clients more than is expected; and give back to an industry that supports you.

In recent months, while reading, thinking, and writing about the growing impact of social media, I’ve been reminded of Bob’s style. He would talk with anyone, share ideas, wonder about trends, and always welcome a conversation. But it never felt like strategizing. It was, in my view at least, the natural response of a guy that enjoyed conversation and collaboration, was always willing to listen, and from whom you would always get more than you paid for.

A Lennon-McCartney tune on the “Let It Be” collection captures what Bob taught me (and hundreds of others). It is social media’s hidden muscle. “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

Magruder reminds me that nothing is more powerful than sharing with someone. This is the heart and soul of social media.

Eric Fletcher

The Role of Proactive Listening in Social Media Communication

Here’s the problem: we believe that once we’ve delivered a message — written it, recorded it, spoken it aloud, hit “SEND” or (truth be told) even outlined it in bullet-form — that we have Communicated. Put another way (and maybe a bit more to the point), when we think about communicating, we inevitably think about message delivery.

Conventional wisdom views “Great Communicators” as those gifted in the art of articulation. When it comes to marketing communication, we seek a wordsmith, an award-winning designer, and those able to grab an audience by the eye and ear, create and produce at the highest level…and deliver the message.

Enter the “Social Media.”

View social media marketing tools through conventional eyes — that is, see them primarily as message delivery vehicles — and you sacrifice the opportunity to organically add a new dimension to your marketing efforts. Am I the only one who, upon first hearing about Twitter, scoffed — wondering what value could be contained in 140 character limit for each message? How profound or poetic might one be when brevity is enforced? (My appreciation for Emily Dickinson notwithstanding.)

Clueless. Because I was thinking only in terms of delivering my message.

And while I may be slow, I did eventually come to realize that the real power of social media is that listening is at its core.
In fact, unlock the art of proactive listening in the social media, and you’ll discover a way to connect with your audience that will change your marketing — both in terms of strategy, and execution.

To that end, here are three ideas on how to use social media to proactively listen.

1. Master two or three questions. That’s all it takes. Pose the right query to followers, fans and even foes, and you tap into the best marketing research available — insight into what matters most to your clients/customers and targets, directly from them. And never underestimate the potential of a 140 character survey.

2. Build a Feedback mechanism. What this ends up looking like will depend on the tool, but you can bet your unhappy customers will utilize every tool at their disposal (remember the United Breaks Guitars video?). Be proactive and facilitate (encourage) conversations about your product or service — the good and not so good — and you’ll hear about problems and opportunities in real time. This “conversation-context” is significantly more productive than a complaint box or traditional reactive approach to customer service. (By the way — defensiveness has no place in a proactive feedback mechanism. Avoid it at all costs.)

3. Spend more time taking content in than you do dispensing your message. There is, no doubt, a more poetic way to articulate that idea; but we’ll forgo poetry in favor of connecting. You get the idea. Listen (much) more than you speak. Read more than you write. I’ve seen varying suggestions as to effective ratios, and don’t profess to have a proven formula. I think in terms of no more than 1 in 5 communication efforts revolving around a marketing message. I know a few folks who hit more like 1 in 10 when it comes to Twitter.

Three ideas. I’d appreciate hearing yours.

Imagine a marketing strategy built around on-going proactive listening. No telling how the marketplace might change!

Beyond Connections, to Building Relationships

It is news to no one that when it comes to marketing, relationships trump everything.

A challenge in the pursuit of this asset is to recognize the difference between connections and relationships. (Or, for that matter, the difference between followers or fans and relationships.)

At the risk of oversimplifying, establishing connections is relatively easy. Building and nurturing relationships is not.

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The Thrill of the Chase vs. the Drudgery of Dialogue

For many, the chase is simply easier than the work associated with building and nurturing lasting relationships. The chase offers variety, an adrenaline rush, and – win or lose – it’s off to the next pursuit. No working through misunderstandings and unrealized expectations.

No – this isn’t a post about personal relationships — parallels notwithstanding. This is about business development. And for some reason, many professional service organizations and B-to-B endeavors invest disproportionate amounts of time and energy chasing irresistible “opportunities.”

In almost every instance, the shortest path to revenue growth lies in meaningful dialogue (the stuff of lasting relationships) with existing clients.

This would seem to be of particular interest in today’s marketplace — where the slightest growth is challenging, and leveraging every investment is a must.

The math is simple. Deepening an existing client relationship is almost always a better investment than the costs — hard and soft — associated with the pursuit of a new target. Deepen an existing relationship, and not only are you on the road to increased revenue; you’ve changed your profitability arithmetic.

Just in case I have to say it — here goes: this is not a suggestion that we should not engage in the pursuit of new clients. It is a reminder to all of us leading business development efforts: when we invest more in the pursuit of new opportunities than in the care and nurture of existing relationships, we may have fallen victim to the thrill of the chase.

Relationships that endure and grow are the result of a calculated investment in the proactive art (and, yes – often drudgery) of dialogue.

Eric Fletcher

Conversations, Relationships & Renaming Social Media

There are, no doubt, a few good reasons for some business endeavors — in particular, professional service enterprises — to have concerns over the use of social media. For example, lawyers, doctors and accountants cannot be perceived to be offering legal, medical or tax advice in any media marketing context — social or otherwise.

I believe every concern I’ve heard can be addressed; but I’ll also cop to believing the benefits of conversations with clients and targets far outweigh concerns — provided, of course, ethical and regulatory issues are appropriately addressed.

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Collaborating? Check Your Winning Attitude at the Door

There are few things we value more than winning. From t-ball, to spelling bees, to the professional sports franchise we personally adopt, nothing matches the thrill of finishing on top. It impacts self-image, the way we relate to those around us, and even commerce. (Ask the folks in New Orleans about victory’s impact on the economy and psyche of an entire region.)

While it’s tempting to go off on the relative value (or absence, thereof) of a distorted focus on winning when it comes to pre and elementary school ranks, that’s a debate for another day. For today, as calls for collaboration, compromise and new solutions echo from boardrooms, C-suites and strategy sessions, a compulsion to win may be one of the greatest barriers to progress.

Here’s the question: is collaboration possible when everyone at the table is driven to win?

No matter the venue – political, personal or business — when winning is the measure of success, the interaction resembles more an effort to convert than a commitment to collaborate. When leadership is measured in terms of litmus tests, compromise is difficult. And in the context of unwavering agendas, true compromise is impossible.

Any of us hoping for compromise, not to mention sincerely wanting to collaborate — from political leader to C-Suite management – might do well to take a quick look at the definitions of compromise and collaborate.

And then check that drive to win at the door.

Resisting The Temptation of Meaningless Metrics

With the question of measurable ROI of social media echoing at the financial end of the C-Suite, it is tempting to fall back on the numbers. And while hits, followers, friends and connections are measures to be sure, are they the measure of social media success? (For that matter, are the numbers a smart measure of the potential?)

In a recent roundtable with colleagues, a marketing manager described a campaign designed to do nothing more than exponentially increase hits on a consultant’s blog. The campaign sounded like a radio station-style promotional gimmick with one major exception: the overwhelming majority of those lured to the consultant’s blog were not in any way, shape or form targets for the blog’s content. The goal was simply to achieve thousands of “hits.” The “hook” for the campaign was a blatant example of false advertising, and well over 99% of those hitting the site, left as quickly as they arrived. Any thought that they might one day be an actual target of the consultant overshadowed by the fact that any hope for credibility was forever lost.

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