Cut to the Core

Changing Trends in Marketing

GUEST BLOGGER & PODCASTER

Suzanne Bowen, a telecommunications industry podcaster and TMCnet blogger, and VP of Business Development for AstroQom Corporation, a Canadian IP communications provider, interviewed, Maria Pinochet, Kore Access President, and author of the Cut to the Core Blog.

Listen to the podcast to gain insights into counterintuitive marketing strategies and to review ever-changing best practices in the marketing field. READ a transcript by visiting Susan's Blog: AstraQom.

About the Guest Blogger & Podcaster: Ms. Susan Bowen is known in telecommunications circles as the co-founder of DIDX.net and Super Technologies who serve 20,000 of the world's most innovative telecom and voIP companies. She currently works with AstraQom, a Canadian IP communications provider, as VP and is an industry podcaster and TMCnet blogger.

 

 

Missed Opportunities on Social Media Have Increased

Are you making this big-company mistake?  Big brands are totally missing an obvious opportunity to engage prospects, customers and fans when the customers visit the brand’s online sites. Case in point:  94% of the top 50 brands directed users of their Facebook Fan pages to a one-way communication page, one which allowed the users no real interaction with the brand. Another case in point: 56% of those brands did not respond to a single customer comment on their Facebook pages. Such findings were the stark reality of a December 2011 study by consulting firm A.T. Kearney. 

If these statistics also apply to your online activities, realize now that you cannot afford to make such mistakes. According to emarketer.com, the U.S. will have, in 2012, the greatest share of social network users as a percentage of the total population (49.9%). So, even if you feel more effective over the phone or in person, you can – and NEED to – master the art of online conversation. Search out ways to enhance your brand, participate in as many online activities as you can, and then reap the benefits. After all, the number of people who spend time online is on the increase, and you want to be right there in the mix to communicate your value to those prospects and buyers. 

Read on for suggestions on how to communicate with high impact.

 

Track Your Three Key Action Items:  Reveal, Convey, Impart

 

1. Reveal your authentic self. Online written communications lack facial expressions and voice inflections, but you can still use them to form meaningful connections. Choose your words carefully so that they provide not only the facts but also reveal your integrity and sincerity, as well as your expertise.

 

2. Convey the core values of your brand. Enhance your brand value by responding to direct requests with the language of your company values and culture. When you frame your comments with the words that express your core values, you will engender loyalty and build your brand’s community.

 

3. Impart valuable information. Bring value to your online interactions by offering possible solutions to the challenges being discussed by other participants. You can easily spark creative ideas when you refer to another’s ideas via links, share online resources and invite colleagues to participate. 

 

Whatever the online platform (an e-mail, a blog post, a retweet, a direct message, a chat…), recipients rarely forget a meaningful interaction. The next time you meet those recipients, either online or offline, they will imbue your brand with the “personality” you have imparted to it with your positive communication efforts.

 

ENGAGE more powerfully; contact maria@koreaccess.com to find out how. Your Kore colleagues are a team of curious, dynamic professional women who thrive on collaboration as a means to produce creative and successful marketing projects. Contact us today to find out how we can assist you and your team.

 

Using Social Media to Monitor Your Brand

If you are not using social media to find out what is being said about you, your brand and your industry, here are three compelling reasons to start:

1) Many stories break on social media first!! Monitoring allows you to REACT quickly.

2) Some complaints are only made indirectly via social media channels rather than directly to you by e-mail or phone. Monitoring allows you to REVIEW such complaints.

3) Monitoring allows you to RESPOND quickly to any customer service issue.

Can you afford to be the last one to know what everyone else knows about you and your brand?

Several statistics (reported from various industry sources in 2011) present a case for establishing a monitoring system for you and your brand. These statistics, which are tracked in a variety of ways, illustrate the importance of finding and reacting to the information that is stored on social media:

• Consumers reported that, before making their buying decisions, they visited social media sites (63%), search engines (72%) and blogs (58%).
• Over 90% of those consumers reported that “natural” search results vs. paid results are trustworthy.
• B2B decision-makers reported that they researched products and services online (69%), specifically looked at comments on social media sites (60%), and posted questions on forums (57%) and blogs (41%).
• Of companies that spend six or more hours on social media, 52% reported an increase in lead generation .

According to the 2011 Social Media Industry Report by Social Media Examiner, and confirmed by other reports such as the Nielson Social Media Report, the top five Web sites that businesses need to monitor are: 1) Facebook – used by 92%, 2) Twitter – used by 84%, 3) LinkedIn – used by 71%, 4) Blogs – used by 68%, and 5) YouTube – used by 56%.

The strategy your business should use to monitor Internet sites will depend on two things: how wide an outreach your company has and the amount you can allocate from your budget. The types of strategies to stay informed about the content shared on social media, and the fees to use those strategies vary greatly:

• Free search engine searches for specific sites such as Google and Yahoo
• RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds, sent to Google or Yahoo readers
• Google alerts, which allows for the scheduling of real-time or daily/weekly reports
• Software aggregation tools, such as Hootsuite or Tweet Deck, with either free or paid functions
• Social media monitoring software, which although pricey, is robust and can be customized for your business needs

Whatever you do, take SOME sort of action. You definitely want to see the same information your customers and prospects see about you and your brand.

If you need assistance with a strategy, let's talk.  For more information, send an e-mail message to maria@koreaccess, or visit www.koreaccess.com

 

Communications that Connect

When many of us entered the business world (myself included), we had only three methods to generate significant personal communications: onsite visits, personal letters and person-to-person phone calls. We were taught that, in order to cement a relationship, we had to meet with our clients in person several times, as well as conduct conversations over the phone and via letters. However, that seems to be less of an expectation with each passing, and more technologically advanced, generation.

As business leaders and marketing communicators in today’s market, how do you choose to communicate with your audience? How do you employ technology to generate meaningful connections? No doubt, the rapid rate at which new technologies are introduced has made these choices more varied and the execution of communication strategies more involved. For example, new applications have generated new ways to communicate: e.g., from the one to the targeted few with posts via Facebook and from the one to the unknown masses with posts on Tweeter. To complicate one-on-one communications further, the ownership of multiple devices (cell phones, iPads, laptops and desktops, to name a few) allows for simultaneous communications from one device to another.

Soon there will be yet another choice in phone communications - Jawbone Thoughts. Click here to view the video. The Thoughts application allows you to record a short voice message and send it to an individual or group of your choice. Individual recipients can then return the communication right away by sharing their own recorded voice messages.

Compare this to the experience many of us share. We attempt to reach someone by phone but find that few people pick up or even place a return call. Instead, we eventually receive a text message – many times identified with trailers such as “sent via Blackberry” – from a device that could have also been used to place a personal call. Developments such as Jawbone Thoughts, with its new way to deliver immediate phone messages, may cause us to ask if we are finally on the way to converting most of our communications to virtual real-time conversations?

 

Key Point – When we generate communications that only allow for responses that are composed in the absence of an in-person exchange, we automatically factor out the potential for creating synergy. Synergistic solutions, those that are more than their component parts, are rarely formulated unless we have the ability to engage immediately with each other’s ideas, thoughts and emotions.

 

Share Your Opinion - When it is possible for individuals to hold a phone conversation while texting someone else while following a tweet and/or Facebook stream of conversation, how does that change the dynamics of communications and the nature of connections?

Greenwashing - Summary of a Lively Online Debate

  A lively online debate, conducted by Ethical Corporation and sponsored by InterfaceFLOR on October 8^th, 2010 explored the practice of “greenwashing,” a means by which a company, especially through its advertising or public relations department, will proclaim a green image without truly dedicating its efforts to green practices. The debate was led by Ramon Arratia, director of sustainability for Europe at InterfaceFLOR, and Kristian Steele, a senior engineer at Arup.

The global participants discussed how setting standards that consumers could easily understand and that companies could correctly apply might be the best way to alleviate the problem of greenwashing. Such standards would help consumers to distinguish labeling that reflects true and appropriately earned claims about environmentally safe products from the claims that come from greenwashing efforts. 

The discussion continued on to consider the type of standards needed:  e.g., the GHC protocol and WRI/WBCSD PAS 2050 and 2060, along with 100% organic and other well-known labeling practices. Some voiced a concern that, even with good labeling, consumers would not understand what to choose. Do you buy a 100% organic shirt or a 100% carbon neutral shirt? 

The participants also discussed how a requirement of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for every component part of each product would impact businesses, especially if those businesses had to carry the full financial burden of the LCA. In addition, they addressed the question of which agencies would bear the burden of verification.

Read a summary of the debate - click here.

As I listened to the many partisans from the various countries and from different industries, I realized just how complex the labeling issue can become, even with the best of intentions by the noblest of business people.

As a marketing professional, with many decades of practice, my deepest concern is that green communications are being spearheaded by the public relations (PR) departments of companies. “Green” should not be simply a point of view that the PR department can use to communicate the ongoing organizational activities; rather, green must be a corporate value that is in alignment with the corporate mission.

When green is a core value that transforms the corporate culture, green becomes a heuristic for decision making and a valid reporting benchmark. When this is the case, communications about green initiatives will be viewed by stakeholders, not as a public relations effort to brand a company green, but rather as an honest communication about a truly green-functioning enterprise.

Today’s Trend - Marketing Messages Are Anchored to Values

In the past products and services were promoted in terms of specific benefits. Then advertisers and marketing experts made a move to communicate product value by showing how your life would be enhanced through the use of the service or by the ownership of the product. Recently, the trend has been to position brands so that they serve as meaningful ties to values we hold dear either as individuals or as a society.

Some of the first examples I noticed were the print advertisements for the “Members Project®” of the American Express Credit Card. The advertisements connected a well-known individual’s personal philanthropic endeavor to the ability of American Express to support that objective. After several successful years, the campaign is still running and is now highlighted online as a series of short video stories narrated by each individual. The basic tagline suggests American Express can empower you to do similar acts of goodwill, such as saving lives, protecting wildlife and teaching underprivileged children. To view the Members Project® videos, click here.

 

The short movie productions of the Responsibility Project of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company highlight common everyday scenes. Each production poses an ethical dilemma (e.g., someone witnesses a theft or takes part in some unjust act) and then showcases the various stages the person must go through in order to resolve the ethical conflict. The script ends when the person takes responsibility.  To view videos from the Responsibility Project site, “a place to discuss doing the right thing,” click here.

In one of their commercials, the phone company Verizon tackles how opinions are valued and evaluated.  Young adolescent girls state that, “Air has no prejudice. It does not carry the opinions of a man faster than those of a woman. It does not filter out an idea because I'm 16 and not 30. Air is unaware if I'm black or white and wouldn't care if it knew. So it stands to reason my ideas will be powerful, if they are wise, infectious... if they are worthy.” The commercial ends with, "If my thoughts have flawless delivery, I can lead the army that will follow. Rule the air. Verizon." To view the Rule the Air commercial, click here.

 

Key Point - The values explored in each of the above messages relates to the product or service as well as to the targeted consumer. American Express supports the “elite successful” in their unique humanitarian or environmental quests; Liberty Mutual helps the normal person take command of his or her responsibilities and Verizon, regardless of their age or race, empowers teenagers, the most avid users of mobile technology, to share their ideas and opinions. 

 

Online Interactions Add Value to Your Brand

Do you successfully reveal your authentic self  when you communicate online?   Even if you feel more effective over the phone or in person, you can master the art of online conversation. Search out ways to enhance your brand, participate in as many online activities as you can, and then reap the benefits. After all, the number of professionals who spend time online is on the increase, and you want to be right there to communicate your value to these prospects and buyers. How do you enhance the value of your brand by consciously creating memorable online experiences for your prospects and buyers?

 

You Must Position Your Brand as a “Top-of-Mind” Brand

Today’s workers are multitasking at almost all levels of almost every organization. That means your clients are tasked with achieving more with less and feel the pressure of that expectation on a daily basis. No wonder you do not always get prompt callbacks or feedback! Your solutions need to be more than just best-in-class solutions; they need to be timely. In order to offer a relevant presentation and to time your approach appropriately, you must work to create and maintain client engagement. If you do, your brand will be “top of mind” at just the time your client needs your products or services.

Achieving “Top-of-Mind” Status

avew you  Have you noticed lately that you are not getting timely callbacks or feedback from clients? You know you provide excellent products and services. As a dedicated professional, you know you have the ability to solve your clients’ challenges. So why are your clients not calling back to discuss benefits and solutions? In today’s business climate, the answer may be that they are spreading themselves thin at work and can only find time to handle items of the highest priority. Therefore, even if you are a credible brand, your information will be filed away unless your clients have an urgent need for your solution. Read on for tips to achieve “top-of-mind” status with clients as you enhance their degree of engagement with your products and services.

Part III: The Core ABC’s of the Who, What and Why of your Online Brand

To assess the authenticity of your brand, evaluate the ABC’s of your online marketing messages and activities.  By examining the who, what and why of your online brand you will ensure your brand is credible and true to your organizational mission and vision.

 

Part III: The Why of Your Brand Online? Review the core Why ABC’s to evaluate and asses if the reason, the Why of your online activities, is executed in alignment with your mission and vision:

Anchors: What is your online personality?  Does it stay true to your organizational values and culture?

Brand: Does your brand talk about brand benefits as they relate to consumer needs?

Communications: Do your online efforts such as e-mail, blogging, and tweets clearly address challenges in a language clients understand? 

Once you have identified the ABC’s of the who, what and why of your online brand you will have the knowledge to target your audience with messages that speak to the core of your shared values. And remember: The who and the what will always follow your why!