Today’s customers are smarter than ever before. “Empowered with mobile devices and social media, customers are reshaping the dynamics in both B2C and B2B environments.” As a result, marketers and brand strategists must understand all available data to drive engagement and sales across all touch points.
Does your business need help in navigating the turbulent marketing landscape? How well does your business know its core audiences? How well does your business know your extended audiences in the race to attract new customers? How well does your business understand its marketing analytics?
Don’t get left behind. Understand today’s smart customers by answering these questions:
[1] How many customers use social media to engage with your brand on a regular basis?
[2] Do your have a social media plan to engage with customers in real time?
[3] Does your brand have a mobile-accessible website?
[4] If you offer e-commerce, are e-commerce options easily transferable to the mobile environment?
[5] Do you have a crisis communication plan when and if something negative is written or spoken about your brand on Facebook, Twitter, or another social site?
[6] What are your customer service capabilities? Do you offer online chat? Do you offer 24/7 service? What are your alternatives if your customer service options go down?
In addition to intelligence, today’s customers have high expectations. They demand customized experiences and quality service. They also demand the same level of service across all interactions: website, emails, text messages, in-store and face-to-face interactions, advertisements, social media, call center, direct mail, display and paid search ads, and post-sales service and support. According to IBM’s State of Marketing Survey from 2012, only 29% of marketers believe that they are effective at integrating channels, which means that your business can become an industry leader if you create a compelling message and carry it out across all channels.
If your business designs a complete customer journey and coordinates marketing efforts across all communication channels, you will have the opportunity to lead your industry and set the standard. Your brand can become the one everyone talks about. Don't you want that?
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To read the entire white paper used as the basis for this post, “Marketing: Connecting with the Chief Executive Customer,” here’s the link: http://www.rethinkyourcustomer.com/form/MKT-EBK
Image Credit: suphakit73 via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
All of the social media sites have fans, but when it comes to business opportunities, which is the best fit? While some industries are natural fits for some sites, others are less clear. For example, real estate agents can use YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, and Twitter to capture property features and quickly publicize them. Restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality venues can use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to showcase their locations and also offer real-time discounts and offers. But if you sell something a little less mainstream or provide services, how can you actually show prospects and customers? Your solution may be Instagram.
A study by Simply Measured in October revealed that “Instagram’s growth has been so substantial that it now rivals Google+ and Pinterest in terms of brand adoption.” According to the study, 71% of the most recognized international brands are now active on Instagram, up from 40% last year. Photos receive more comments than videos, and hashtags are the norm. 83% of posts include at least one hashtag, but many include several. And most users add a filter of some sort to customize their photos.
According to Instagram’s website: “Capture and Share the World's Moments. Instagram is a fast, beautiful, and fun way to share your life with friends and family. Take a picture or video, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram – it's that easy. You can even share to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more. It's a new way to see the world. Oh yeah, did we mention it’s free?” Initially available for the iPhone and Android smartphone audiences, Instagram.com can also be accessed on desktops and tablets for a viewing experience.
But Instagram is much more than an app to share photos with friends and family. It offers a way for brands to communicate with their fans and customers through visual communication, whether photographs, word art, or anything else imaginable. Some brands showcase company employees in action at tradeshows and other events. Some brands showcase brand appearances in ads and historical events. Some brands create contests to engage their followers and request photos with specific hashtags. Some brands introduce and feature new products.
Here are 10 examples of successful Instagram pages and why they attract followers:
[1] Sherwin Williams (sherwinwilliams) – 150 posts showcase color in very clever ways
[2] Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii (turtlebayresort) – 490 posts of hotel and local area
[3] San Diego Zoo (sandiegozoo) – 425 posts of residents
[4] Guide Dogs for the Blind (dgb_official) – 40 posts tell the story of this unique non-profit
[5] American Heart Association (american_heart) – 199 posts promote this non-profit’s events
[6] Crumbs Bake Shop (crumbsbakeshop) – 167 posts of edible delights
[7] Snowboarder Magazine (snowboardermag) – 1799 posts of snow and athletes in the snow
[8] Tiffany and Company (tiffanyandco) – 525 posts of sparkling products
[9] Jet Blue (jetblue) – 108 posts of how the company supports the community (for example, NY Fire Department logo on an airplane), invites contributions from users, and creates contests for its fans and flyers
[10] Oreo (oreo) – 294 posts of fun and yummy ways to eat this timeless treat
In order to build a brand presence on Instagram, consider these questions first:
[1] How will images improve the dialogue between my customers and my brand?
[2] Do my customers need to be tech-savvy and photo-savvy to participate on Instagram?
[3] Are there specific types of images that would fit for a brand presence on Instagram?
[4] Are there staff resources to respond in real time to Instagram posts that reference my brand?
[5] Would an Instagram presence align with my brand’s presence on other social media sites?
There is also a sub-culture of apps that enrich the Instagram experience, and here are just a few. Instaquote allows users to add text to a selection of backgrounds to create memorable word art images. Photorepost allows users to share other users’ posts by adding the original poster’s name in the image. GuessWhere allows users to guess the location of featured posts.
I invite you to check out my page on Instagram at http://instagram.com/debbielaskeymba.
So try adding Instagram to your marketing mix – you may receive attention from people who aren’t active on many of the other social sites. And you may get new customers in the process!
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If you’d like to learn how Flipboard, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn can help build your brands, check out the posts I wrote on my Blog and elsewhere for useful tips.
Flipboard as a Branding Tool
http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/10/flipboard-as-branding-tool.html
How to Build Your Brand on Twitter
http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-build-your-brand-on-twitter.html
Twitter Can Be a Marketer’s Best Friend
http://www.duetsblog.com/2013/04/articles/branding/twitter-can-be-a-brand-marketers-best-friend/
Five Things You Can Learn From Facebook
http://www.duetsblog.com/2012/05/articles/branding/5-things-you-can-learn-from-facebook-about-brand-building/
A Facebook Brand Presence Is Important
http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-facebook-brand-presence-is-important.html
How to Build a Brand with Pinterest
http://debbielaskey.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-build-brand-with-pinterest.html
Lead by Example with LinkedIn
http://newparadigmsllc.com/wordpress/2013/11/lead-by-example-with-linkedin.html
Image Credit: Instagram.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
While marketing may be a single bullet in your regular leadership team meeting agenda, how much time does your team actually apply to marketing your products or services? With all the buzz surrounding social media, traditional marketing has taken a back seat, and that’s a shame.
All types of business – whether B2B, B2C, or non-profit – need to understand all elements that fall within the marketing pie, and one important piece of the marketing pie is the lingo or terms that create their own buzz each year.
Here are my top 10 marketing terms and definitions to assist your business as 2014 dawns.
BEHAVIORAL TARGETING (also Audience Targeting):
With more social networking sites in the news as a result of their privacy policies and questions as to how they access and use customer data, behavioral targeting is a hot topic. Websites capture data generated by website and landing page visitors and determine the effectiveness of their campaigns. Ads can also be created based on this data.
BRAND PERSONALITY:
With so many brands in the marketplace and so much noise as a result of social media, now marketers treat brands as if they had personality traits. When brands are given human personality traits, such as, creative, friendly, happy, etc., brands quickly stand apart from the crowd.
CONTENT MARKETING:
Content marketing is any content (blogs, white papers, eBooks, Infographics, case studies, guides, etc.) that has been created to provide value to customers and prospects on a regular basis. The goal of content marketing is communicating as opposed to selling.
DIGITAL MARKETING:
Digital marketing makes use of electronic devices such as computers, tablets, smartphones, cellphones, digital billboards, and game consoles to engage with consumers.
ENGAGEMENT:
Engagement marketing is also called "participation marketing." This is because it strives to connect a consumer with a brand with the objective of creating a long-term connection. Once consumers are engaged with a brand, the hope is that they are no longer passive receivers of messages, but instead, they are brand advocates or ambassadors who share a brand’s strengths with others with positive word-of-mouth marketing.
LOYALTY MARKETING:
Loyalty marketing is when a business focuses on growing and retaining existing customers as a result of incentives. These incentives can be discounts, coupons, free products that correspond to purchased products, etc. Imagine that you purchased a specific brand of car or truck. An example of loyalty marketing would be a postcard via the US mail or an email offering a special price due to your previous purchase and an invitation to return to the same dealer for a unique test-drive experience.
PULL DIGITAL MARKETING:
Consumers do not actively seek marketing content. Websites, blogs, and streaming media (audio and video) are examples. In each of these, users have to navigate to specific websites to view content.
PUSH DIGITAL MARKETING:
The marketer sends a message without the consent of a recipient – for example, display advertising on websites and blogs. Email, text messaging, and web feeds can also be classified as push digital marketing when the recipient has not given permission to receive the message.
SHARE OF MIND:
As a result of social media, share of mind has limitless opportunities. This is because share of mind measures how often consumers think about a specific brand as a percentage of all the times they think about all the brands in the same category.
KPMs or KEY PERFORMANCE METRICS (also Key Performance Indicators or KPIs):
While also a member of last year’s list, this term is so important that it should be on the mind of every business person every day. All marketing campaigns must be evaluated to determine the return on investment. How many click-thru’s to your main website or campaign-specific landing pages resulted from emails? How many leads came as a result of tradeshow attendance or telemarketing? How many likes appeared on your Facebook page? How many mentions and retweets appeared on Twitter? How many of your videos were uploaded on YouTube? How many sales resulted from your social media activities?
What’s your favorite term to start the New Year?
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Image Credit: Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
First, there was a phenomenon known as Black Friday, a day when retailers saw an increase in sales following Thanksgiving. Then, thanks to the Internet, Cyber Monday became the online equivalent. And now, there's a third day to kick off the holiday season. #GivingTuesday is a nationwide event to raise awareness for philanthropy, and this year, it takes place on December 3rd.
"New York’s 92nd Street Y was the catalyst and incubator for #GivingTuesday, bringing the expertise of 139 years of community-management to the project and providing #GivingTuesday a home. The United Nations Foundation joined as partners, bringing their strategic and communications clout to the project. Over 2,500 charities, volunteer organizations, corporations, and foundations came together in all 50 US states with one common purpose: to help others and incentivize ways to give more, give smarter, and celebrate the American spirit of contribution. Individuals were encouraged to be generous in whatever ways mattered to them, whether that meant volunteering at a local charity or by donating to a favorite cause."
Blackbaud processed over $10 million in online donations on November 27, 2012 – a 53% increase when compared to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving the previous year. DonorPerfect recorded a 46% increase in online donations and the average gift increased 25%. More than 50 million people worldwide spread the word about #GivingTuesday – resulting in milestone trending on Twitter.
"GivingTuesday is a counter narrative to Black Friday and Cyber Monday because it reminds us that the spirit of the holiday season should be about community and not just consumerism," said Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation. "The most meaningful gift we can give our children, loved ones, friends, and neighbors is the commitment to work together to help build a better world."
In the words of Bill and Melinda Gates, "Whoever you support, and however much you give, thank you for participating in #GivingTuesday. It’s a great way to help create the better world we all want. We wish you a happy holiday season."
For more details about the #GivingTuesday movement, visit the #GivingTuesday website, Facebook page, or Twitter page. Also, don't forget to use the #GivingTuesday hashtag on all your social networks.
Image Credit: #GivingTuesday
As a result of social media, technology, marketing, and customer service functions within many businesses are getting hard to differentiate. So how can a brand stand out from the competition when threatened by social interference, multiple devices, and internal business strife?
One solution might be for your business to take the “Workforce and Customer Experience Assessment” created by IBM, an online tool designed to benchmark your workforce and customer experience practices.
“A social business excels at creating highly engaging and personalized connections between people, information, and process. The result is smarter workforces and exceptional customer experiences…Do you know how to leverage your people, information and social insights for competitive advantage?”
A variety of questions address candidate experience, employee experience, manager experience, customer experience, and the workforce – but these were my favorites:
[1] Does your organization use social media sites to recruit talent?
[2] Do you effectively evaluate candidates that closely align with your culture and job requirements?
[3] What elements are included in your onboarding process?
[4] What types of training and skills development programs are used in your organization?
[5] Do you have an effective way for employees to collaborate and share knowledge across teams regardless of location and via any device?
[6] What types of performance management practices are used in your organization?
[7] Do managers know how to motivate and engage their teams and workforce?
[8] How does your organization measure leadership performance?
[9] Can your organization align and measure talent strategies against key business metrics?
[10] What are the top three business priorities driving your organization’s customer engagement strategy?
[11] What tactics is your organization using to improve online customer engagement?
[12] Is your organization measuring the success of your online customer engagement tactics?
[13] Does your organization connect customer insights with product and service development?
[14] How does your organization provide support for customers using mobile devices?
[15] Does your organization understand the value of technology and how to weave it into your daily business operations?
After you answer all of the questions, a score will be provided. Your score will provide a breakdown as to which areas need improvement.
“When companies reduce time-to-hire, increase productivity, lower turnover and increase retention rates, business wins by getting its products to market faster, sharing collective knowledge, and being more creative and innovative. These companies truly understand how employees impact the bottom line. It’s not just good business. It’s smart business. Because what is good for people is good for business, and together, they can change the world.”
So, don’t you want your business to be a smart business?
If yes, click below to take the IBM Workforce and Customer Experience Assessment:
http://ibmtvdemo.edgesuite.net/software/collaboration/workforce-and-custexp-assessment
Image Credit: KROMKRATHOG via FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
These days, every brand needs to stand out in order to attract customers and also keep customers. So how does your brand do it? Do you bake amazing chocolate cakes? Do you manufacturer ergonomic chairs? Do you provide insurance for classic automobiles? Whatever your business does, one way to differentiate yourself from the competition is with a unique tagline. But since not every business has one, how do you know if your brand needs one?
Everyone can recognize the brands behind these famous taglines: Just Do It, A Diamond Is Forever, and Think Different. But Nike, DeBeers, and Apple would have been just as successful without those taglines – or would they?
According to Wikipedia, “A tagline is a small amount of text which serves to clarify a thought for, or designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, social group, or product. As a variant of a branding slogan, taglines can be used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable dramatic phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of an audio/visual product or to reinforce and strengthen the audience’s memory of a literary product. Some taglines are successful enough to warrant inclusion in popular culture.” (1)
However, taglines are also referred to as slogans. According to Wikipedia, “Advertising slogans are short, memorable group of words used in advertising campaigns. Some slogans are created just for specific limited-time campaigns; others are intended as a corporate slogan, to be used for extended periods. Various slogans start out as the former, and are, over time, converted into the latter as ideas take hold with the public. Some advertising slogans are memorable after general use is discontinued.” (2)
Can you identify these taglines or slogans?
- We’re Number Two. We Try Harder = Avis
- The Ultimate Driving Machine = BMW
- Expect More. Pay Less. = Target
- Breakfast of Champions = Wheaties
- Bags Fly Free. = Southwest Airlines
- What’s in your wallet? = Capital One
So what should your company consider when the “do we need a tagline” discussion arises? And make no mistake, one of these days, a member of your senior leadership team – and 99% of the time, it won’t be the head of marketing – will enter a conference room for a team meeting and say, “I think we need a tagline.”
If your team can answer these five questions, then you may be ready for a tagline:
[1] Would a tagline clarify the brand’s competitive strength or strengths?
[2] Would a tagline speak to the target audience?
[3] Would a tagline get lost in the visual representation of your brand (the logo)?
[4] Would a tagline reflect the personality of your brand?
[5] Would a tagline be easily associated with your brand (memorable)?
Remember, the key for a successful tagline is to integrate it into all aspects of your marketing strategy from online marketing to in-store displays, from email marketing to advertising, from public relations to social media, etc. The tagline has to become an appendage to your brand story.
And lastly, to quote Benjamin Franklin, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.” If you have an amazing tagline, it will accomplish both.
What’s your favorite tagline? To see some of my favorites, check out my Pinterest Board:
http://www.pinterest.com/debbielaskeymba/taglines-that-live-forever
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Sources for this post:
(1) Wikipedia: Tagline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagline
(2) Wikipedia: Advertising Slogan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_slogan
Image Credit: Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.
No matter the size, every business is experiencing it. The lines between marketing functions and information technology (IT) functions are blurring more and more every day. Who owns the database? Who owns the website? Who owns the social media accounts? Who owns the documents housed in the cloud? The debate ranges on, and in the process, the tension continues to grow.
Some businesses have created new roles and titles. Some have added a “Marketing Technologist,” while others have added a “Chief Digital Officer.” Some have gone so far as to merge the marketing and IT departments into one. But that’s like adding dentists to a football team – it doesn’t really make sense.
Let’s break it down. On the tech side of the aisle, there are five key specialty areas: system administration/network infrastructure, database designers, website coders, information security, and legal compliance and data/business recovery. On the marketing side of the aisle, the list is even longer: advertising, branding/brand advocacy/brand promise, corporate identity (logo/tagline/brand personality/brand voice/templates/logo guidelines), co-branding, re-branding, strategic planning, corporate communications (brochures/newsletters/branded collateral), public relations, internal employee communications, social media, mobile marketing, copywriting/blogging, tradeshows/seminars/webinars/special events, corporate sponsorship/non-profit community support, metrics/ROI/KPIs/NPS/survey analysis, market/customer behavior research, customer experience/VOC marketing, website marketing, graphic design for print/web/ads, and annual marketing plans/budgets.
At the core, the tension between the IT and marketing departments has grown because the two own important data. Often, that data surrounds a business database. Whether that database was designed internally (and this is where the IT folks come in because they probably coded it) or externally (translation, often with SalesForce or a similar CRM product), the IT team wants to provide maintenance and updates. The marketing team wants to use the data to reach out to customers and prospects to provide service, launch marketing campaigns, and upsell.
Instead of crowding out the other, why can’t the two departments align their objectives? I asked 10 tech and marketing experts to address this topic, and their comments follow below with their Twitter handles.
John Ellett (@jellett): Technology has fundamentally changed the way companies engage with their current and potential customers across paid, owned, and earned media channels. The question shouldn’t be whether Marketing or IT will be in charge of planning and implementing the systems needed. It should be, how do the two divisions learn to be collaborative partners and leverage the strengths of each. Unfortunately, egos, budgetary turf wars, and lack of common language are inhibiting the teamwork needed to make progress at the necessary rate.
Shaun Dakin (@PrivacyCamp): With the increased use of technology in marketing programs, both online and offline, it’s clear that marketing talent must understand code and data just as well as they understand marketing strategy and planning. The future of marketing combines a strong sense of who the customers are, where to find them, what to offer them, and the technologies needed to delight them.
Susan Gunelius (@SusanGunelius): With technology as the foundation of most marketing initiatives in 2013, the need for marketing and tech to work together is more important than ever. Also, accountability must be evenly spread between both departments. The tech team needs to provide the tools and infrastructure to ensure that marketing programs work and drive the results that the business needs. This means that the marketing team needs to educate the tech team about why they make specific requests. What is the lost opportunity cost if the tech team cannot deliver? Accountability starts with understanding the risks and rewards. At the same time, the tech team needs to fully communicate what it can and cannot do to support the marketing team, so that the marketing team approaches the tech team with realistic expectations. Communication between marketing and tech is critical, but there is often a wide gap between these two departments. Companies that bridge this gap will thrive in the future, while others scramble to put out fires and run to catch up.
Gina Schreck (@ginaschreck): Technology is no longer a prisoner of the IT department, and social media needs to be freed from Marketing. Technology is now so tightly woven into everything we do, that successful companies will not just try and figure out how to USE social media, but instead they will explore ways to BE more social in every aspect of their business. I think just as every department within a company uses a phone, every department will soon look at ways to engage both face-to-face and virtual community members.
Elliot Ross (@elliotross): In my years in business technology, one of the most destructive organizational silos I have seen is the silo that can exist between an org’s IT function and its marketing staff. I firmly believe that, in this electronic generation, your IT and marketing leadership have to be joined at the hip, in other words, thinking with a shared brain. Just about every activity in your value chain today can involve the creation or consumption of information that is tied to your product or service. [As for Marketing], you know that the touch points you try to connect depend on technology. And with this prevalence of technology in your business, unless marketing and technology communicate at a relevant level of detail, lost opportunities are endless.
Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich): As a communications professional, I would love the changes in technology to belong to us. But I think it’s less about a discipline and more about who understands how all of it works together under one umbrella and how to use each tool at the right time to reach the right audiences. The professionals who get it will win.
Lilach Bullock (@lilachbullock): Businesses and marketers will have to learn new techniques and act fast if they want to keep up with their consumers’ needs. Only the most creative ideas will help businesses stand out, and they will have to find new tools and ways to capture their audience’s imaginations. But most importantly, I think that they have to embrace the new trends and not stick to what they know from the past.
Viveka von Rosen (@LinkedInExpert): While marketing is relying more and more on the technology of social media platforms, we must remember that marketing should remain focused on communications. Yes, in some cases the medium becomes the message, but we in marketing must remember that there are real people on the other side of the channel, and that’s who we need to be engaging with – no matter the method.
Ray Hiltz (@newraycom): Social technology and the explosion of content marketing have forced companies to look outward and present a unified brand. This cannot happen with the old silo model. The new reality is “business is marketing,” and much of the marketing happens in the digital space.
Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar): The most important disruption for CMOs and CIOs is digital transformation: the combination of social, mobile, cloud, data, and apps in the enterprise. So what will a “social business” look like in 2020? According to Forrester Research Director Christopher Mines, “The CIO will play the role of orchestrator and integrator of external services and service providers instead of internally building and owning such applications directly, while at the same time directing more front-end, customer-facing work.” Effective CIOs will take responsibility for turning innovation into business value. (Doesn’t that sound similar to what today’s marketers do?)
What do you think will happen in the future Please share your thoughts – this conversation isn’t going anywhere. On the contrary, as business becomes more social-centric, this topic will become even more important.
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Image Credit: Thanks to Vala Afshar for sharing a presentation featuring quote by Mark P. McDonald (@markpmcdonald).
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
