The 2009 TechColumbus Innovation Awards Event was a huge success. If “Innovation” was the Theme for the award candidates I have to say that “Interaction” was the Theme for the Event. Check out the video for some of the unique interactive things at the event this year!
TechColumbus Innovation Awards Recap from THOMAS H WILLIAMS on Vimeo.
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As a marketer, you dream of data. With data you can deliver more relevant information. You can deliver more timely information! You can Micro-Market directly to those who are most likely to buy!
Which brings us to the issue of privacy. You see, privacy and social media are inherently at odds with one another. Marking matters more complicated, consumers are completely schizophrenic. We want relevant information immediately but we don’t want marketers to have the information they need to deliver it to us.
With this complex dance in mind…the social media rule for Marketers is TAKE IT SLOW. You are building a relationship with social media. If you move too fast, you can creep people out. Imagine the following situation:
You go into a store to buy a new suit. You’re going to make a large purchase and you want to get it right. The store manager who has data-mined you on social networks greets you and already has several suits and shirts laid out. You are amazed at how he has matched your style. He then tells you that he recommends the blue shirt since you just ruined your old blue shirt at Mama Mia’s restaurant when you dumped spaghetti down the front of you. “And besides”, he says, “it’s your girlfriend’s favorite color!” He then mentions that the suit will look very nice at the conference you are attending in San Fran next week and that you’ll enjoy your stay at the Marriott.
Would you be creeped out? Indeed! However, if you combined your Facebook + Twitter + Foursquare + Tripit…and a few other sources, that information is likely in the public sphere.
The point for marketers is: you have access to a whole new range of data - use it wisely.
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Here is my take on the Swag from the Kellogg Marketing Conference this year. Hint: It sucked.
Kellogg Marketing Conference Swag Review from THOMAS H WILLIAMS on Vimeo.
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One of my favorite companies in the world, Hubspot, has conducted another study on Business Blogging. Once again, their results are staggering. Hubspot conducted a study of 2,300 companies and put them in two groups. Those who blog and those who don’t. Before I go one, let me point out that the criteria was just “blogging”. It was not Good blogging or Excellent blogging. This group included those companies who blog…and suck at it. Yet the numbers are still amazing!
Businesses that blog see an increase in LEAD GENERATION that is 126% HIGHER than businesses that don’t blog…all else being equal. If you’ve been on the fence because you can’t justify the ROI of blogging or don’t see the value then it’s time to get off the fence - the results are indisputable. I seriously doubt that your direct mail campaigns can make claims like this.
Let’s take this one step further. Remember that I said this study included “businesses that blog”. That includes those that do it poorly, which is most companies to be painfully honest. Imagine what your numbers could look like if you had a blogging platform that would guarantee your success and supercharge your SEO!
We are going to be releasing InnoBlogs 1.2 in February which will contain an SEO engine as well as something we call Blogging360. Our SEO engine will supercharge your web traffic and conversions delivering an even higher measurable ROI. Our Blogging360 module will connect you with similar content all over the Internet for higher engagement, inbound links and idea generation. More on that to come! If you’re interested in learning about our platform, please give me a shout.
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Over the weekend, I attended a great conference at my alma mater, Kellogg. The conference was packed with great key note speakers and some of the best panels I have seen. This quick blog post will give you the highlights from my point of view.
Competition: Study your competitors and find out what they are doing RIGHT! We spend too much useless time finding fault with our competition. They’re not idiots (usually). Learn from them.
Data Overload: The amount of data we have now is both a help and a hindrance. There is a definite trend towards micro-marketing. Now I’m not talking about the postcard you get that reads: “Hello Thomas H. Williams! We would like to share something with you Thomas. Thomas, have you ever…” I’m talking about using data about my behaviors to serve up products and information that more closely matches what I actually want to know or buy.
The downside of too much data is you have a lot of opportunity to screw things up. You also can miss the really valuable stuff which is buried by the sheer volume of data you have. Be sure you have a really good analyst. Someone who knows how to cut through the junk and make useful information out of the huge pile.
Marketing & Privacy: Be careful how you balance your data and consumer’s desire for privacy. With access to all the data, from Point of Sale to social networks, you can easily cross the line and deliver creepy marketing or customer service. You must balance the creepy factor with the helpful factor.
Content is Critical: With the saturation of content on the internet (which is growing faster than Moore’s law!) Good Content will be more important than ever. You could say Content is still King.
Involve your people: Lastly, don’t be afraid to embrace social media and give your people a voice. There was one panelist who really stuck out to me as someone who really “got it”. Her name was Jen Houston from Waggener Edstrom Worldwide. Jen said something which, to date, I have only hear myself say. In response to the notion that you should hire one community manager to handle all your social media, Jen retorted: Empower your people with Social Media. Your People ARE your Brand. If you are afraid to do this, you don’t have a social media problem. You have a Hiring Problem. (paraphrased).
Nicely put Jen. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
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