MAD Perspectives Blog

We all live and work in an increasingly connected world.  Our smartphones and tablets connect us to information and people in ways that barely allow us any quiet time.  How do we measure the value of this connectedness?  Is there value to having thousands of Twitter followers, Facebook fans or LinkedIn connections?  Obviously the social media community believes in the power of connectivity, but do businesses? 

Connectivity is an interesting topic.  As humans we like to be connected to family, friends and colleagues.  We have more options than even to stay in contact.  I use Facebook to keep up with friends who scattered around the globe.  I use LinkedIn to manage my network of business colleagues.  Both Twitter and LinkedIn are my conduits for promoting my blog, sharing thoughts on current events and listening to what others are saying as it relates to business.  In addition, I still email (yes, i understand it may be considered a dying technology).  Why do I use all of these tools?  Because I want to be connected.

I want to learn from others.  I want to understand what is interesting to my colleagues.  I want to gain insights into new technologies.  I want to share my knowledge.  Anyone who follows my blog or my business, knows that I am a huge fan of LinkedIn.  I did not become an advocate until I had time to realize the power of the connectivity it provides.  While i was still employed by corporate America, it was simply a tool to augment or replace my rolodex.    Since leaving the corporate world, I'm exposed to a wider set of contacts.  I thought i had a good network working at HP.  It included fellow employees and business partners.  Since leaving HP, i have added contacts from a wider range of industries and roles.

Last year I was seeking information about a topic I had been invited to investigate for a client.  It was a topic where I only had high level knowledge.  I used LinkedIn Groups to post a question with hopes of getting more in depth information.  Not only did I get greater insight, I received invites for phone conversations and a face to face meeting, which resulted in a fantastic white board session.  The power of the connectivity provided by LinkedIn, in this case, was phenomenal and positioned me for greater success in my project.

I've used LinkedIn, again, recently to request introductions from my connections to some of their connections. I was seeking access to decision makers to discuss their needs and priorities around a specific topic.  Again, my colleagues responded favorably, happy to introduce me to the specific contacts I had defined.  As a result I have been able to gather a global view of this topic, again on behalf of a client.

As businesses and as individuals, social technologies are enabling us to connect more quickly and effectively. We've all networked on behalf of business in the past.  I remember scrolling through the rolodex to find the name of the contact who knew the guy who could help me close a deal.  Social technologies reduce the manual effort and time to achieve connectivity.  So, is this connectivity meaningful?  I would argue, YES it is!

Even a casual connection can lead to meaningful business.  It's all about staying in touch and reinforcing the value of the connection.  Businesses using social media should remember this.  Social networking is not just about pushing your content out via another channel.  it is about identifying the value your customers seek from you - and then providing that value.  Customer support is an excellent example.  Your customers seek answers to frequently and infrequently asked questions.  Social conversations via all of the big networks can help you understand the their needs, get ahead of critical issues and recognized trends that may impact product sales.

Connectivity is about more than the actual connection.  it's about the conversation.  It's about providing and receiving value.  This is where the power emerges.  I don't mean power from a control perspective, I mean power to move forward, make a difference, achieve a goal.  Think about the power of your connections.  What value do you see in them?

What's your perspective?

This is the fourth blog in our 6 week series, with our colleagues from Taylor O'Brien, on branding and social media. 

Your brand strategy has a unique vision and identity.  You identified this strategy by aligning your brand with your business goals, accounting for both cultural identity and customer knowledge.  As you define a social media plan to support your brand strategy, don’t forget that social media is a means of communication.  It brings with it a high degree of immediacy and interactivity.  It allows you to communicate more directly with your customers.

Social media reinforces a need to be responsible, understandable, reliable and genuine.  This is why a social media plan is so important.  You are serving your customers with the information and content they need.  Here are 6 key components of social media plan that supports your brand.

1. Objectives – What do you want to achieve and how will social media help you fulfill those goals?  How are these objectives related to your business strategy? Are they focused on sales, market awareness, customer service or other core business topics? Defining objectives will help you determine what content is needed and which social platforms to use. 
2. Customers – Who are they?  Where are they?  What content do they need or want?  Depending on your customers role (i.e., buyer, influencer, executive, technologist) they will crave different types of content.  Any plan must consider the customer’s need and supply the content needed to the relevant platform and device. 
3. Integrate – How will social media support or expand your overall marketing strategy?  Social media is not a stand alone marketing effort.  It must be aligned with other online and offline activities.  An integrated plan will identify resources (people, content and time) needed to achieve your objectives.   Social media can draw attention to events, reinforce messaging, personalize your brand, capture customer insight or input, create stronger customer bonds, manage your reputation and drive sales.  Social media, perhaps more than other forms of marketing, becomes your online voice.  It must reflect your brand and your culture. 
4. Metrics – How will you measure success of your social media strategy?  All other aspects of your marketing plan have goals and metrics – social media is no different.  Your metrics must support your objectives and can also be tied to your overall marketing plan.  Early stage metrics are usually related to followers and web traffic.  Later stage metrics can include measures of influence, leads, sales, product development or support.
5. Policy – Who will engage in your brand’s social media efforts?  How will they engage?  A policy can be considered the “rules of engagement”.  It is your opportunity to remind employees on how you want to represent your brand.  It is also the means of communicating your goals for social media.  A critical element of any plan or policy is to determine how your brand will address negative comments.  They are bound to occur and it is important to establish guidelines to help your social media constituents understand how to address them.
6. Engage! – Most importantly interact, share, communicate and respond!  Social media is a customer engagement medium.  Be informative and be informed!

Social Media has the ability to expand and personalize your brand in ways not previously available.  It is an opportunity for all brands, be they consumer or business centric, to communicate frequently and openly.  It is also an opportunity for customers to express their likes or dislikes.  Be prepared for both the positive and the negative.  Understand your brand voice, align your social media efforts with your brand strategy, educate your employees on your goals and engage with your customers like never before!

What’s your perspective?

This week we continue our Brand and Social Media series with a disucssuion about aligning your social efforts with your brand.

With all the hype about social media, we may have forgotten that any social media marketing efforts must be aligned with your brand! When leveraging the myriad of social media outlets, it is important to keep the core tenants of your brand in mind. Social media provides you with additional channels through which you can communicate and interact with your target audience. Social media allows your message to be broadcast and shared widely, globally and freely.

With this openness in mind, what do you need to consider when establishing your social media strategy – particularly as it relates to your brand? First, don’t forget what your brand is.  We reviewed this  last week.  Remember, your brand is a promise. Your use of social media should reinforce that promise and provide a level of transparency and authenticity that invites engagement from your target markets. How can social media help?

Social media platforms should visually and contextually reflect your brand.  Consistency of logo, color and voice are important. Of these three, voice is the most critical.  What is the voice of your brand?  Are you fun, knowledgeable, edgy, caring, geeky, innovative. Understanding your voice should drive how you communicate via your social channels. For example, if you are innovative, your social communications should provide insight to market trends that your company is addressing, share your opinions on the impact of these trends and how your company will act to influence a shift in the market.

Now that you’ve aligned your social efforts with your brand and discovered your voice, it’s time to ENGAGE! Do I need to ask why you want to interact with your customers? Engagement with your customers WILL lead to business. It will lead to greater knowledge about what your customers and prospects are thinking and saying about your brand. It will help you become proactive instead of reactive. As you engage, remember what your brand stands for and provide consistency in terms of voice and topic. While it may be fun to share your thoughts on random topics, you are socializing on behalf of your brand. Your tweets, Facebook posts, Slideshare presentations or YouTube videos should be relevant to your brand, your company, your products or your industry.

Just in case you are still wondering why you should consider social media as a key aspect of your brand strategy, check out these data points from Forrester Research and Business Week:

Your brand is your calling card.  Social Media must reinforce your brand. Think about your brand and your voice before you engage – but definitely ENGAGE!

I've been thinking about how companies get started using social media. External usage tends to be led by the marketing team. Their focus is on sharing company and product information with customers to increase brand awareness, thought leadership and ultimately lead generation. This does not mean that that companies are not focused on other uses (think Dell, Comcast or Jet Blue have not focused on customer service. We've read and heard about leaders in social media. But, I'm now thinking about how company leadership influence adoption or use of social media.

There are great case studies about Marriott, Cisco and Best Buy (to name a few) and how CEOs at these companies "got it" when thinking about the benefits of social media. However, many c-level execs think in a traditional hierarchical organization mindset. They raise concerns about risk, security and confidentiality. For me, this begs the question about leadership style. Do certain types of business leaders just "get it" easier than others, or are they just throwing caution to the wind?

In her book "Open Leadership" Charlene Li, shares her thoughts on how social technology can change the way you lead. She presents great examples of companies who have experienced success. She shares case studies on how social media has influenced leadership and culture. She also talks about the best mind set for open leadership:  passion for the vision, focus on relationships and a hacker mentality (by this she means dissatisfaction with the status quo). But still, I wonder, is that enough. I've experienced many leaders who had passion for "their" vision, focused on relationships (with customers, industry leaders or peers and executive peers within their company), yet, their support for social media was tepid at best.

Social media requires openness. Are leaders open? Social media is collaborative. Are leaders collaborative?  Social media requires trust. Are leaders trusting?  Social media is authentic. Are leaders authentic? In fact, this last question is the big issue that faced many of the top executives at financial services and automotive firms during the economic crisis. There is a significant cultural shift underway, enabled by social technology, that is bringing openness back to big business. Do customers and employees trust executives? Once upon a time, yes. Once upon a time companies were transparent. 

My career alma mater, HP, is a classic example. The HP of Bill and Dave was one of collaboration, innovation and openness. Trust was paramount. However, the HP of the past few years is hierarchical and siloed with employees living in fear of making a mistake that might cost them their job. Communication flows downstream and is edited and reshaped until it loses meaning. Power is craved and held tightly. The culture of open communication is long dead and the bottom line has become the driving force (and perhaps that is partly Wall Street's fault) of all activity. 

Executive support is critical for social media success. What leadership characteristics are needed to drive social media success from the top? I recently read "Leadership and Self Deception" by The Arbinger Institute. Their advice (adapted a bit for my own purposes) is relevant:

     - Don't try to be perfect - try to be better!
     - Don't use vocabulary people don't understand. Be clear and true to your own principles.
     - Don't impose your fears, confusion or uncertainty on others. Assume the best!
     - Don't give up when you make a mistake. Apologize and move forward.
     - Don't focus on what others are doing wrong. Focus on what you can do right to help!
     - Don't worry if others aren't helping you. Focus on helping others.

If your executives and senior leadership exhibit these characteristics (they sound awfully social don't they?!), your company can successfully implement social media tactics to engage customers. That is the goal, right? A meaningful social media strategy requires support and involvement from executives and employees across the company.  Employees won't feel empowered to be authentic and transparent unless their leadership also exhibits those traits.  Customers are demanding honesty and openness.  Social media is the desired method for this style of communication.  Are you ready?  Are your executives ready?

What's your perspective?

The BIG social networking platforms that are mentioned in almost every social media conversation are: Facebook, Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn.  However, for B2B companies, Facebook is unproven.  In fact, the most effective social networking platform for B2B companies is LinkedIn.  Hubspot recently shared the following results from a survey of 600 professionals knowledgeable of their company's marketing strategy.



LinkedIn is the favored channel for customer acquisition. You may wonder why this is, as many professionals think they should only be using LinkedIn when they are seeking a new job. LinkedIn is working diligently to change this perception and if we consider the results of Hubspot's study - LinkedIn is succeeding. LinkedIn wants to be the destination for helping you, AND your company, maximize your economic opportunity. How do they do they do this? Let me share some insights.

Your profile on LinkedIn is your online professional identity. Your network is a reflection of who you are.  As an individual you have the opportunity to use LinkedIn to learn from your co-workers, your network and other industry professionals (via LinkedIn Groups or LinkedIn Answers). Now extend this thought process to your company. LinkedIn gives companies an opportunity to showcase their identity and that identity is influenced by its employees, its customers, its competitors and its products or services.

LinkedIn enables companies to promote themselves in a way that is completely complimentary to their website.  Companies can:

     1. Find & Hire THE smartest people. LinkedIn allows companies (and recruiters) to identify potential candidates (who may not be actively seeking a new opportunity). They can gain insight into these candidates by reviewing their profile, their recommendations, their experiences and their links. Conversely, candidates can get a better understanding of your company by studying employee and executive profiles.
 
Using Company Pages, companies can reflect new hires (don't you want to see what kind of people were recently hired and into what kind of jobs) and more importantly, job postings. Because the company can better understand who you are, they are eager to post their jobs here. Here is an example of the number of job postings by various high tech companies:  Dell = 1,113, HP = 207, Microsoft = 4,290, Google = 1,947, LinkedIn = 155. Not only can you apply for jobs via LinkedIn, you can see who in your network works at the target company. And, the company can see which employees you might know and seek recommendations.

     2. Market their products & services. Companies can create marketing campaigns using keywords, demographics, earnings, roles/title and more to target the right companies and individuals. Imagine a software company with a product that addresses supply chain issues in the jewelry manufacturing sector. LinkedIn has the data to help them place ads on the right pages for the right people at the right companies.

Again, using Company Pages, companies can promote their products, offer special deals and even better - get customer recommendations. In fact, it is possible to create a rotation of product images/ads that will rotate and enable links to the relevant company web page. Additionally, LinkedIn allows companies to customize their product presentation by audience demographics. We all know we like to buy products that are recommended by others. This idea is not new - heck, it helped Zappos become the online shoe buying destination. But, now this idea is expanded to B2B businesses.  Your products and services may be reviewed and recommended by your customers, publicly. This is powerful.

     3. Amplify Reputation.  LinkedIn enables companies to enter into a different kind of relationship with their customers or prospects. Through the use of LinkedIn Groups or LinkedIn Answers companies can bring like minded people together. LinkedIn Groups allows companies to participate in groups or to create their own groups.  The groups may be focused around topics, products, trends, industry standards - whatever makes the most sense for the company. An example of a well moderated group is Small Biz Nation (yes, I am a member of this group).  This group is hosted by HP and Intel. The primary focus of the group is to raise and discuss challenges faced by small business, be they about accounting, tax or legal issues to technology, offices supplies or hiring. HP and Intel benefit by showing their interest in the concerns of small business owners.

LinkedIn Answers provides the opportunity for any individual to post a question - about anything. Companies can search for questions of interest to them and provide answers - thus extending their reach and understanding of customer concerns. Alternatively, companies can post questions to guide improvements in customer service, product innovation or sales methodology.  Imagine you are seeking information regarding the best video streaming hosting technologies. You can certainly Google it.  However, you can also post the question on LInkedIn and see who within your network can assist. Now imagine, you are a video hosting provider....get it?

LinkedIn continues to broaden its suite of services that can help both professionals and their companies optimize their economic value.  In addition to the attributes of Company Pages previously noted, your company profile can also incorporate Blog feeds, Twitter feed and YouTube videos - expanding the reach of these social media tools.  The customization of the product & services page also applies to the main page, meaning a CEO might see a high level overview of your company emphasizng differentiated value while engineers see a more technology centric perspective. For more insight, check out Mashable's article on Optimizing your Company's LInkedIn Profile.
I'm a fan and a believer in the value of LinkedIn (and hopefully a shareholder after the IPO).  If LinkedIn isn't part of your B2B marketing strategy, it should be.

What's your perspective?

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'Tis the season to be jolly.... People are walking the streets and the shopping malls with a little extra bounce in their step this holiday season.  That may be due to stress or it may simply have to do with the joy of the season.  Do your communications to your customers and partners also enjoy a bit more "bounce" this time of year?  If there is anything that social media has tried to teach us over the past few years, it is to let your personality shine!

People relate to people regardless of the medium.  Yes, we want to share valuable insights about our company, our business, our industry.  However, people buy from people.  Think about walking into an party where you don't know anyone.  Who are you drawn to?  It's usually the individual with a compelling personality.  I've been told that I have a very identifiable laugh.  I do enjoy a good chuckle, but probably lean towards a guffaw if the topic really amuses me.  My point is that when you are passionate about your topic people are drawn to you.  So, simply re-iterating your product feature and functionality won't create a community or a loyal following.  However, the company that can inject a business conversation with relevant commentary and personal anecdotes creates a memorable interaction.  They show a passion for their subject that is infectious.

Your company's social persona should reflect your passion for your products and customers.  Who do you want to be?  I worked for HP for a loooong time.  For many years, the joke in Silicon Valley about HP and its marketing efforts was that HP would market sushi as raw dead fish.  They meant that HP was candid to a fault.  HP was not know for its marketing capabilities, they were a company of well engineered IT products (as well as test & measurement, analytical & medical product, at that time).  I think we can agree - they've come a long way! 

What is your company's personality.  Is it open?  Is it technical?  Is it fun?  Is it intellectual?  A company with a serious intent (say, pharmaceutical) can still be social in an interesting way.  Understanding what drives the R&D teams who are so committed to developing life altering drugs, can help put a face on the company.  Your company has its culture and it has a personality.  Let it shine through - especially in your social interactions!

What's your perspective?

Business is about building relationships.  In the past these relationships were developed in buildings with offices, desks and phones.  They were fostered over lunches, dinners, holiday parties and golf outings.  We only have to watch "MAD MEN" to be reminded of that while these relationships seemed solid on the surface, they often crumbled under the pressures of other business needs.

Bottom line, business relationships are about one party fulfilling the needs and desires of the other.  The challenge is understanding those needs and desires.  In today's social business world, relationships can be initiated via various social networks.  However, the foundation for a relationship still evolves from a face to face meeting.  However, it is often maintained through the use of many digital media solutions.  These solutions include desktop video conferencing, webinars, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, newsletters and more.

I met with a client last week.  They are a small, privately held software company.  Their customers are global, yet their sales force is centralized.  You may be scratching your head wondering why.  I know I did.  However, they have found their salesforce to be more effective if they can leverage the knowledge gained from each other through discussions about their potential customers.  They fulfill their customer's desire for face to face meetings via desktop video conferencing.  They provide software demos using online tools such as GotoMeeting.  They provide product updates via email newsletters and weekly blogs.  They have leveraged the many solutions available to them to maintain their customer relationships in an efficient, cost effective manner that fulfills their customers needs.

How do we understand those needs?  We listen!  Thanks to constantly evolving social media platforms, companies have a unique opportunity to hear more than ever before.  In fact, this has become a daunting proposition for many companies.  Customers are very candid in the social stratosphere - they share the good, the great, the bad and the ugly.  However, it is critical for companies to gain social intelligence about their customers needs, goals and concerns.  They will gain competitive insight and candid feedback that can influence business process, product roadmap, market awareness and help build stronger business relationships.

By incorporating the many digital media tools available today, businesses can communicate in the manner best suited to their many audiences (c-level, marketing, purchasing, engineering, etc.).  In combining traditional business interactions with digital communication channels and social interactivity, companies will build a new kind of relationship with their customers.

What's your perspective?

November's blogs have focused on the use of video solutions in the B2B market.  Some of you may be asking, well, heck why doesn't MAD Perspectives use video?  Bottom line, we're a small business who loves video and leverages it in many ways (webinars, online video tutorials, desktop video conferencing, etc.) but hasn't prioritized it's use - yet! 

What do I like or not like about how i see B2B companies using video?

I like:

- Executive Presentations -  Or, perhaps I like dynamic executives who can overcome the well scripted content to inject personality.  I'm happy when they focus on 3 key points and support these points with market perspective, customer testimonials or facts and figures.  I'm even happier when they inject personal anecdotes (even if they are scripted).  I want to see executives interact with their audience.  I want to see them get excited about their products and solutions.

- Product Demos - It's a great way to see and hear how to use a new product.  The best videos are those that have a passionate spokesperson who REALLY understands the product and its target market.  The demonstrater who can talk clearly, succinctly and knowledgably about their solution can win new customer while retaining existing ones.

- Webinars/Webcast - They are a great educational resource whether it is to gain high level knowledge, engage in Q&A, gather some market statistics.  Webinars are often the first step in the product/company awareness process for a prospective buyer.  The ability to inform, educate and differentiate using this format can arm the potential buyer with great insights before a face to face sales meeting.

- Video Conferencing - there is nothing better than being able to see the person to whom you are speaking!  Even if there is a slight time lapse (i.e., Skype, Windows Live Messenger) there is still the ability to see and read facial expression which add more context to a conversation.  These solutions continue to evolve and I can imagine a future where video conferencing is an every day occurence.

I don't like:

- Executive Presentations - that are sooooo scripted they no longer feel authentic. 

- Product Demos - that use a spokesperson who obviously does not understand the product nor do they understand the target market.  The script is bland and reflects the company's focus on marketing blah blah and ignoring the real needs of the customer.

- Customer Testimonials - that don't explain what the customer problem is or how the company's product helped them solve that problem and what improvement they've seen - in laymans terms!

There are a lot of moving parts when coordinating a video strategy and many of them are quite technical.  If you are looking for insights into streaming media solutions, check out www.streamingmedia.com or www.onlinevideo.net for some insights, best practices and vendor lists.   Understand what you are trying to accomplish before you get buried in the technology.  Who is your target audience?  What do they need to understand?  What information are they seeking?  What action do you want them to take after viewing the video?

We are going through this process here and wee hope to jump into the video world in 2011.  Hopefully, we'll be able to share that experience with you!

What's your perspective?