Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The podcast
This is the first podcast for customer maniac. Please be kind this is just a beta for the format. This was really a test for me to see if I could get this done. Next step refine then itunes.
Friday, March 5, 2010
"My company is on Facebook!", "Well you don't seem to have many fans."
This is a topic that has become very near and dear to my heart. Companies all across the world are joining social media in an attempt to connect with their customers, employees, and markets. Now every marketing company wants to tell their clients that they should jump on it, and put themselves on all the social network sites, make them nice add video, photos, and audio, flashy so people will look at them and push your advertisements through the new medium. I happen to agree, that you should get your company started on social media, however almost no articles and discussions I have heard address a few key issues:
1. As the Cluetrain Manifesto (The Cluetrain Manifesto: 10th Anniversary Edition
) says, and I'm paraphrasing, your customers are more than likely already having a conversation and meeting somewhere to discuss and research their interests. Why will they want to go to you, online, to meet about their interests? How will they find you? What new can you offer them online?
2. Are you using your social media site as a firehouse or a bullhorn for advertisements and media that people can see on TV, the radio, or newspaper? What value added piece are you giving to people on your page? Remember people go to the internet to escape from hassle. Use Hulu as an example. Why do I watch things on Hulu? Because I can watch shows in my own time, not when the network wants me to, and I only have to watch one commercial for 2-2.5 minutes as opposed to 7-8 minutes for a 30 minute show or 17 minutes for a 1-hour show.
3. Make it interesting? Quit giving me dates for things that are going on, or lame corporate pictures. What can you give me that will peak my interest? Why would I recommend you to my friends by adding you to my page? My page and its connections are about who I am, tell me why you should be apart of it.
4. Back to the Cluetrain Manifesto, and possibly one of the most important parts. Are you conversing on your page with a human voice? Not corporate speak, not talking at people. Are you allowing people to connect with you and converse with you? If I have a question will someone answer it, and in a way that doesn't sound patronizing or false? Do you care what I think, do you have an area where I can tell you? Show me who you really are as a company, be social, after all thats what the sites are for. Talk with me about what you have going on, and I'll tell you what I think about it and maybe how to improve; talk at me and I will probably tune you out.
So before you take a big leap into social media just ask yourself the above questions, and take some time to get some honest answers. As marketers we must work hard to be honest with ourselves about where things are going, and how we interact with people. In todays world if you are dishonest people will call bullshit on you, and faster than you may think. People aren't stupid they can figure out when they are being lied to, especially in the internet age, when you are speaking down to them, or when a deal really isn't a deal. Remember people can index dozens of sites for almost any product to find out what it might cost, or how its made, etc..
The internet really applies itself to a spray and pray philosophy of marketing, but if you choose to go this route it remains to be seen how much you really understand about its capabilities as a medium and the people who use it.
1. As the Cluetrain Manifesto (The Cluetrain Manifesto: 10th Anniversary Edition
) says, and I'm paraphrasing, your customers are more than likely already having a conversation and meeting somewhere to discuss and research their interests. Why will they want to go to you, online, to meet about their interests? How will they find you? What new can you offer them online?2. Are you using your social media site as a firehouse or a bullhorn for advertisements and media that people can see on TV, the radio, or newspaper? What value added piece are you giving to people on your page? Remember people go to the internet to escape from hassle. Use Hulu as an example. Why do I watch things on Hulu? Because I can watch shows in my own time, not when the network wants me to, and I only have to watch one commercial for 2-2.5 minutes as opposed to 7-8 minutes for a 30 minute show or 17 minutes for a 1-hour show.
3. Make it interesting? Quit giving me dates for things that are going on, or lame corporate pictures. What can you give me that will peak my interest? Why would I recommend you to my friends by adding you to my page? My page and its connections are about who I am, tell me why you should be apart of it.
4. Back to the Cluetrain Manifesto, and possibly one of the most important parts. Are you conversing on your page with a human voice? Not corporate speak, not talking at people. Are you allowing people to connect with you and converse with you? If I have a question will someone answer it, and in a way that doesn't sound patronizing or false? Do you care what I think, do you have an area where I can tell you? Show me who you really are as a company, be social, after all thats what the sites are for. Talk with me about what you have going on, and I'll tell you what I think about it and maybe how to improve; talk at me and I will probably tune you out.
So before you take a big leap into social media just ask yourself the above questions, and take some time to get some honest answers. As marketers we must work hard to be honest with ourselves about where things are going, and how we interact with people. In todays world if you are dishonest people will call bullshit on you, and faster than you may think. People aren't stupid they can figure out when they are being lied to, especially in the internet age, when you are speaking down to them, or when a deal really isn't a deal. Remember people can index dozens of sites for almost any product to find out what it might cost, or how its made, etc..
The internet really applies itself to a spray and pray philosophy of marketing, but if you choose to go this route it remains to be seen how much you really understand about its capabilities as a medium and the people who use it.
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