ZMOT for B2B Marketing is Totally Relevant!

Have you heard yet about ZMOT - aka the 'zero' moment of truth? It affects us from all perspectives... Think how often you go online to find information... Here's perspective on why it affects us and how it affects B2B business.

Why ZMOT is Relevant for B2B Marketing: 4 Data-Based Reasons

Let me know what you think...

Best,

C.B.

Unhappy Customers, Lead Generation, Guy Winch, MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2011

Imagine my delight when I discovered that Guy Winch, author of The Squeaky Wheel: Complaining the Right Way to Get Results, Improve Your Relationships, and Enhance Self-Esteem, would be a keynote speaker at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2011 in Boston, June 14-15.

You see, I did a blog interview with Guy on Flooring The Consumer in a post titled Guy Winch: How To Complain & Get Results - The Squeaky Wheel.

That post forms the basis for my recent MarketingProfs article titled How an Unhappy Customer Can (Paradoxically) Help Your Business.

Intriguing, don't you think? And very relevant, too. I'm looking forward to hearing Guy and meeting him in person.

As you may know, I'll be presenting with Kipp Bodnar from Hubspot about How to Generate More Leads With Social Media. It's been intense preparing [especially given a hard drive crash that wiped out one brilliant version of my presentation], but I'm looking forward to generating discussion about a topic that perplexes many savvy marketers and business people.

I am eternally grateful to several wonderful friends - Bill Buyok, Pam Kozelka, Valerie Fritz, Mike Klassen and Michael Cohn - who shared with me their lead generation experiences.

If you haven't yet registered, you can do so by clicking on this link which will take you to the MProfs B2B Forum 2011 site with details on speakers and topics.  When you register, be sure to enter discount code SPEAK100 to save $100 on the registration fee.

While you are at MProfs B2B Forum, plan on attending a live #Blogchat with Mack Collier. Here are details: Live #Blogchat is Coming to the Marketing Profs B2B Forum!

And, if you can't make it in person, don't fear! There's a virtual option!

Click on this link for more information from Ann Handley, MarketingProfs Chief Content Officer. [Try the SPEAK100 discount code; it should work.]

I'll definitely share with you what I learn about Unhappy Customers, Lead Generation, Guy Winch all at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2011 and would love to include your perspectives.

Any chance you'll come?

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10 Reasons You Shouldn't Ignore Social Media

In case you didn't catch my MarketingProfs article about 10 (Business) Reasons To Participate in Social Media, I've got just the summary for you! Also from MarketingProfs, it's a Get to the Point Small Business recap titled 10 Reasons You Shouldn't Ignore Social Media.

Go on. It's a quick read and should whet your appetite for the full article.

Luckily, even if you don't read the full article, you'll get enough substance to get you thinking about the benefits of participating in social media for your business.

I was tickled pink to see this Get To The Point. In fact, when I saw it, I tweeted the following:

Well hot diggity! @marketingprofs small biz get to the point based on my post: http://ow.ly/4lZ2O #practicalmktr

Now, I'm sure you have reasons. For having ignored social media or perhaps for starting to consider it. Would you share them?

Why might you be ignoring social media?

Why aren't you?

The original article includes some other wonderful ideas in the comments. Perhaps those ideas trigger others? So, tell me. Why shouldn't you ignore social media?

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Managing Your Social Reputation: Highlights

I can't thank you enough for making my inaugural MarketingProfs online seminar titled "Managing Your Reputation in a Social World" so successful! I was blown away by the enthusiasm that seminar participants expressed in the online chat as well as the #MProfsPRO Twitter chat and thoroughly enjoyed the questions - not to mention the awesome feedback!

Several similar questions have come up this week during my Coverings seminars and I plan to address them in a separate post.

[Click on this link for the #MProfsPRO Twitter chat transcript for the event.]

Special thanks to my friends at MarketingProfs - Kathy Bushman, Anne Schweitzer and Valerie Witt - for their expert guidance.

If you missed the presentation you can still experience it via the seminar recording of Managing Your Reputation in a Social World. Be sure to listen through to the end since the Q&A session conversation was lively.

I consider the topic of reputation management fascinating - not to mention hugely relevant - and thought I would recap here the links that I shared in my presentation.

Managing Your Reputation in a Social World - References

I referred several times to the Socialnomics Social Media Revolution Refresh video. It's packed with good data and perspective, not least of which is a reference to Dale Carnegie who, as far back as 1936 with his bestseller How To Win Friends and Influence People, urged us to "listen first, sell second."

The benefits of participating in social media:

• Charlene Li and the Altimeter group study: Deep brand engagement correlates to financial performance
• Check out the Real-time marketing and PR webinar by the wonderful David Meerman Scott.
• From eMarketer 121016: Social Media Increases Small Business Exposure
• I love these charts from Hubspot: Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors.

About conflict in the marketplace:

• Retail Experience Issues and Paco Underhill
• Financial Marketers: Get In Touch With Your Feminine Side - Wells Fargo research
• Don't miss The Break Up. I'm amazed that this was released in 2007 and yet remains so relevant.
• Digital Visibility: The Reason Behind Content Marketing
• The Network in Your Customer by David Rogers
• [Definitely check out Sheena Iyengar & the Power of Choice.]

Extremes in the marketplace:

• Zappos Uses Social to Share Culture
• Citibank are you listening?

Age of Conversation Opportunities

• Fiskateers: Fiskars: 360 Years Young & Innovating with Customers and CMO 2.0 Conversation About The Fiskateers.
• CME group / notes from MProfs Digital Mixer 2009 - Twitter Success Stories
• Sandy Carter Integrates Social Media Into The Marketing Mix

What About Negative Feedback?

• "Sorry Pumpkin" - The Labcorp Saga Continues
• Reference: AdAge “The Right Way to Make Your Social Media Mea Culpa” 5/10/10
• Boeing's Social-Media Lesson
• [Story related to Nestle: 7 social media lessons from Nestle's Facebook missteps and When Social Goes Wrong: Customer Relations Fiascos]
• United Breaks Guitars - also check out Dave Carrol's website
• HBS Cases: United Breaks Guitars
• How Do I? Deal With Negative Comments

Guidelines:

• IBM Social Computing guidelines
• [Related story: Why You Need a Social Media Policy]
• How Do I? Start With Social Media Guidelines

Managing Your Social Reputation

• Interview with Kodak's Chief Listening Officer
• [I love this story about how Staples Keeps Customers 'Following' on Twitter because it is paying attention to customers and thinking about the service implications.]
• From AdAge: Listen Up! Six Things You Need to Know About Social Listening. Note references to listening for intelligence, customer service and action.
• Develop a plan to deal with complaining tweets, posts
• Five Tools for Tracking, Measuring, and Evaluating Your Personal Brand Online
• Defeating the Dark Side of Social Networking
• 'I Hate My Room," The Traveler Tweeted. Ka-Boom! An Upgrade!

Anticipating the Worst:

• Scenario Planning: Kami Huyse's 3 Rs of Crisis Management
• Beware snark attacks - Connie Reece from Every Dot Connects
• Social Media Response Chart, Ohio State Medical Center
• Dealing with Haters, Potty Mouths on your Newsroom Facebook Page

Negative Reviews Aren't All Bad!

• 6 Reasons To Not Fear Negative Reviews
• [Related story: Setting the record straight on online reviews: An interview with Bazaarvoice's Ian Greenleigh from Mack Collier.]
• Social Media Explorer: 101 Social Media Stats to make your spirits bright and your head spin

Managing Your Reputation in a Social World Means:

• Forrester's Augie Ray: 7 Things Your Organization Must Do Because of Social Media
• 11 Unwritten Laws of Reputation Management
• Blogger Outreach: 8 Tips for Managing Brand Promoters & Detractors

Just Spotted on the subject of Managing Your Social Reputation:

• From Danny Brown, Of Comment Trolls and Flash Mobs
• Troll, Reveal Thyself on why anonymous comments should be banished

Thanks again!

Best,

C.B.

10 (Business) Reasons to Participate in Social Media: MarketingProfs

My latest post on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog is live.  It's titled 10 (Business) Reasons to Participate in Social Media.

Here's the summary from the Feb. 21, 2011 MarketingProfs Today eNewsletter:

Are there still social media stragglers in your company? Though not using social media (like Facebook) says something about your company, the most critical part of using it is connecting with people. Customers are expecting to be connected with. Here are 10 good reasons to get social for your business.

I bet you have an opinion on the matter. I'd love to hear it.

Please join in on the conversation about 10 (Business) Reasons to Participate in Social Media over at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog or here.

Thank you!

Best,

C.B.

Managing Your Reputation in a Social World: MarketingProfs Online Seminar

I've been working feverishly these past few weeks preparing my inaugural MarketingProfs online seminar. It's titled "Managing Your Reputation in a Social World" and is now listed on the MarketingProfs website. Pretty exciting stuff!

This online seminar takes place March 10th, 2011 from 12 noon EST to 1:30pm.

The description for Managing Your Reputation in a Social World reads as follows:

"Businesses must take social interactions seriously because:

+ 70 to 90% of people start the purchase process at a search engine window
+ If a business can't be found online, it doesn't exist
+ Whether or not a company participates in digital conversations about its brand, business, or category, the conversations will take place

Many companies fear interacting with their customers digitally because of the social media horror stories they've heard. And, yet, when companies don't engage, they miss out on unheard of opportunities to connect with customers online, obtain feedback from them, and develop long-term relationships. There's more to be gained from participating—and actively managing one's social reputation—than not. By participating in digital conversations, businesses have a chance to guide the interaction, share perspective, and more importantly, learn and obtain unique insights that can only improve a company's competitiveness!

This seminar will examine the good and the bad, contrast customer and business perspectives, highlight best practices and strategies for managing your reputation in a social world, and offer guidelines on how to make the most out of conversations with customers."

Managing Your Reputation in a Social World continues the conversation started last year during Social Media Club North Jersey: Customer Feedback in a Social World.

I invite you to attend the seminar. It's free for MarketingProfs PRO members or $129 for non members. [Personally, I recommend that you become a PRO member if you aren't already. I have been a member since 2004 and can't imagine life without MarketingProfs.]

If you know of anyone who might benefit from this online seminar, I'd appreciate your help in getting the word out.  The content is relevant to anyone new to social media, in need of a back-to-basics refresher, or looking to transition digital social efforts from product promotion to customer connection.

For more information, click on Managing Your Reputation in a Social World.

I hope to 'see' you on March 10th.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts about managing your reputation in a social world?

Best,

C.B.

Reinventing Bus Travel on MarketingProfs Daily Fix

Have you read my latest post on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog?  It's titled Reinventing Bus Travel: Clean, Convenient & Connected.

Before you go and poo-poo the notion of bus travel, I strongly encourage you to consider the reinvented express travel experience that the likes of Vamoose, BoltBus and MegaBus offer.

They have successfully transformed the downscale bus vibe into a vibrant, clean, convenient and connected experience sought after by connected professionals.

Whether you yourself choose to experience this reinvented bus travel or not, it offers lessons for reinventing other businesses.

I'd love to hear your take on the subject.

By the way, there's a certain irony to my sharing this post with you today as I'm headed down to DC via -you guessed it!- bus.  More specifically, BoltBus.

Thanks for reading!

Best,
C.B.

P.S.: For even more extremely reinvented bus travel, read “Straddling” bus–a cheaper, greener and faster alternative to commute from China.

Making Customer Service More Social On MarketingProfs Daily Fix

If you haven't yet had a chance, you might check out 'How About Making Customer Service More Social?', my latest post on MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

The discussion in the comments section has been robust.  Perhaps you'd like to add to it?

Here's how the post ends:

"Humility, respect for customers, a willingness to appreciate individuals within corporate walls as well as outside, a desire to improve and truly delight, proper training, openness to a variety of perspectives, a willingness to empower and be human and a strong desire to listen.  All characteristics of a social customer-service company.

What would you add?"

Thank you for reading!

Best,
C.B.

10 Tips For Being Found & Connecting With Customers

Check out my latest MarketingProfs Daily Fix article! It's titled 10 Tips For Being Found & Connecting With Customers.

Be sure to read through the comments, too, where the discussion continues with comments from Jeanne Bliss, Mike Klassen, Shelley Ryan, Kevin Horne and Harry Hallman...

Do you have tips to add to the list? Ones that you have found particularly effective for being found online and connecting with customers?

What have you found most beneficial when you integrate your online and offline activities?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

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Added 4/19/10 pm: Thank you, David S. Finch, for including this article in Weekend Reader: April 18 Edition!

The State of Social Media Marketing 2010

Have you had a chance to dive into MarketingProfs' research report on The State of Social Media Marketing?

As with most MarketingProfs content, I consider it a must read. 242 pages of charts and insights relating to social media marketing. I particularly appreciate that Tim McAtee, MarketingProfs director of research, specifically chose to examine company, individual marketer and consumer perspectives.

As Beth Harte explains in Introducing ‘The State Of Social Media Marketing’ Report, MarketingProfs "tapped into 5,140 MarketingProfs members that represent more than 40 industry verticals–from Fortune 100 companies to individual consultants–to determine, in an unbiased manner, how companies, marketers and consumers are truly and specifically engaging in and implementing social media programs."

I've poured through the data several times; each time I emerge with another Aha!

If you aren't sure about the report, then definitely listen in on Tim's recent online seminar during which he took us through research highlights in The Naked Truth: Insights from our Social Media Marketing Research. No charge.

In recommending this report to you, I confess that I am biased: I participated in the research.

Tim explains in the report introduction that "prior to writing the survey for our large quantitative study, we hand-picked 30 social media experts and asked them a battery of qualitative questions about social media. Many answers are quoted verbatim within the report. Most questions that made it into our larger quantitative survey came directly from the answers of these experts. We truly tried to make this an unbiased study of social media marketing, guided by social media marketers."

And, yes, I am quoted several times within the report!

On 1/9/10, Fast Company FC Expert Blogger Craig Pelkey-Landes described highlights and surprises from the research in State of Social Media Marketing 2010. According to Tim, he discovered that uptight overly litigious and open honest tech forward companies have seen equal success with social media marketing - contrary to his early assumptions - doing so with different tactics.

To me, that is why social media marketing is so powerful. It allows for a multitude of expressions as I am observing from monitoring the Social Flooring Index.

Craig included one of my quotes in his article to describe perspectives on how social media marketing will evolve in the next few years. My response:

“It will grow. However, as more big orgs get on board, I sense conflict between the engagement aspects and the high-profile acquisition aspects. Challenge will be to preserve authenticity and transparency.” Christine B. Whittemore, Chief Simplifier, Simple Marketing Now

Thank you, Tim, for including my perspectives on social media marketing in your research on the State of Social Media Marketing.

Thank you, Craig, for your writeup on The State of Social Media Marketing.

Thank you, MarketingProfs, for sharing so many valuable insights about the state of marketing and social media marketing.

I'd love to hear your take on The State of Social Media Marketing.

Integrating Social Into Traditional: 10 Daily Fix Tips For Remarkable Blogger Events

My latest post on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix appeared on 10/6/09. It's titled "Integrating Social Into Traditional: 10 Tips For A Remarkable Blogger Event."

The genesis for this post was a blogger event I attended earlier this year. Having taken part in several blogger events, I had high expectations for quality interaction, for well-thought out details, for traditional basics, in what looked to be classier surroundings than normal.

Although I met a charming person whose conversation about his products inspired me, I was disappointed. The event could have been so much more than it was -- regardless of whether it was blogger focused or not, and even moreso given the blogger angle.

I'm a practical marketer. I'm also intensely optimistic and like to learn from situations. My solution to this type disappointment is to think through events I've organized and attended, compare and contrast them [something I learned to do well studying Art History at Smith College], and compile a list of Tips that integrate social into traditional and pave the way for an Outstanding Event with Bloggers.

Hence the article.

A special thanks for two additional tips that my commentors contributed:
+ Don't overlook the value of picking up the phone [from Sonny Gill]
+ Consider having greeters at the entrance [from Elaine Fogel]

Do others come to mind?

Thanks for reading.

Note: Thank you to PerkettPRsuasion for including my article in their Persuasive Picks for the week of 10/5/09!

Added 8/31/2010: Influencer Marketing is Hard/Influencers Suck from Rocket Watcher



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Ignite Consumer-Dealer Sales On MarketingProfs Daily Fix

Maximizing cooperative advertising resources so they actually lead to measurable consumer-dealer sales is, to me, the Holy Grail in business. Imagine, then, discovering Dealer Ignition, an organization delivering the next best thing! What I learned is the subject of my latest MarketingProfs Daily Fix article. It's titled Ignite Your Consumer-Dealer Sales with Dealer Ignition's Dealer Promotion Network.

In my previous life at Solutia, both with Wear-Dated upholstery fabrics and Wear-Dated carpet fiber, cooperative advertising support played an important role in motivating retailers to support our brand.

As effective as coop was, it wasn't perfect: we could suggest when to run a promotion, but the dealer ultimately made the decision. Measurement, analysis and improvement were near impossible [I remember sifting through mounds of spreadsheets trying to glean actionable purchase patterns and insights]. And, corrections couldn't be implemented until the next promotion -- and even then success was limited. Do you remember how those bad logo files managed to stay in the system for what seemed like forever?

Change, though, is in the air. Dealer Ignition, based in Greenville, SC, has developed a robust framework - a Dealer Promotion Network - for digitally connecting a brand with its dealers.

The connection means that brand promotions can be seamlessly distributed and uploaded to individual dealer websites. It includes analytics for intelligent tweaking, testing and improvement, and it connects consumers searching online with the right information so they can purchase that branded product in a local store.

Really cool!

Read my article. Visit the Dealer Ignition website - definitely check out the resources page, including the video on the future of Internet marketing; view Connie Berry's testimonial about how Dealer Ignition delivered results for Karastan; you might even register for webinars that demonstrate what Dealer Ignition does...

For the record, I have no relationship with Dealer Ignition other than having had a fascinating discussion with Steven Wagner, CEO and Chief Ignitor, being delighted that my friend Connie was featured in the testimonial video, and generally admiring a practical and elegant solution to a marketing tool that we always considered a necessary evil because we were never able to measure it, improve it or deploy it in an integrated and coordinated fashion.

The only enhancement I would suggest is adding a social element...

Would you let me know what you think?

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Creating Community... on MarketingProfs Daily Fix

Over at the MarketinProfs Daily Fix, my recent article [the featured post on 6/17/09!], has generated interesting comments. The article Creating Community Through Relevant Local Information addresses the role that local information plays in creating a sense of community. I'm curious about your physical localities - how do you find out what's going on? what tools do they use to communicate information and create that tight, connected community feeling?

My solution and experiment as been a personal blog, The Smoke Rise Blog, created just about a year ago.

It's a work in progress, but one that holds promise as it generates more awareness and connects with more readers in my town.

I'm intrigued with the notion of local relevance. Relevance is something we strive to offer in website content, blog posts, tweets... Relevance creates connection and the possibility of engaging in conversation.

Add 'local' to 'relevant' and the challenge becomes far greater. Think about it. A #hashtag [see I attened NeoCon... Virtually!] in Twitter works best for relevant events or subjects. Facebook and LinkedIn connect us across relationships, some of which may include a common geographic element but not most. [Interestingly, all of those include an email component which works to catch attention.]

Most websites, including those of most municipalities, post information. It's up to you, though, to remember to check the pages for new announcements. What if they offered RSS or email subscriptions? After all email is extremely effective, but how many organizations pro-actively gather the email addresses of local constituents for the sole purpose of offering relevant local information [which means that recipients respect the communication]?

David Reich sums it up in his comment. Note that his town has added the email component:

We have similar communications problems in the small city where I live, in suburban Westchester, NY. The local Gannett daily does a mediocre job of covering community news, and there's really no local radio station. Cable News12 covers the entire county, so local coverage is spotty -- only the big news of crime and scandal seems to get coverage.

The city has set up a site, and they also do frequent email updates with community news. A few local individuals are doing what you've done -- started blogs and Facebook pages.

Self-publishing with all the new tools we have at hand is becoming the new town bulletin board, reaching us directly at home, at work or on the road.

Matt Churchill shares fascinating local data from Hitwise about Liverpool. Many search for relevant local information - and consistently don't find it online! I'm sure it's happened to you, too. Imagine the opportunities for local businesses, not to mention local governing entities, to create stronger connections with residents.

I'm eager to see how my experiment-in-progress evolves. I'm encouraged and intrigued when I hear about other concepts.

For example, the New York Times has created The Local [see HyperLocal News from The New York Times] with a blog all about Maplewood, Millburn and South Orange, NJ.

Elaine says in her comment that "The organization I work for has spent the last several years addressing exactly this issue. Please visit NewspaperNext: The Transformation Project for all kinds of free (and one small paid) resources." She mentions a newspaper - The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, IA - that is becoming its community's Complete Community Connection (i.e., C3). The C3's change agent, Steve Buttry, has posted Blueprint for the Complete Community Connection, a fascinating read and thought-provoking document. C3 looks to have achieved what Sonny Gill recommends "...get the town's buy-in on this new means of communication and information."

Sharon Elin suggests "a wiki .. for adding information about a local region... especially for permanent information such as local attractions. Current news could have a page that is in flux daily or weekly" or a "regional website, maintained by a Chamber of Commerce or any interested party. Here's an example from Lake Sunapee, NH."

What other examples have you come across in your towns? Which ones are most effective at creating the sense of strong community where residents are better connected as a result of relevant information.

And, by the way, if you think of your business' customers in a similar way, you, too, have the opportunity to create a strong community through relevant local information.

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