Inspiration through a great message – Online Branding at work

I’m posting this video not because of its use of an iconic musician or because that it was placed in one of the high profile super bowl slots. I’m posting this because I like it. It’s certainly isn’t a destination advertisement for Detroit but it does make me look at Chrysler with a new level of respect.

I like the way that they have used the message that a back to the wall working class city like Detroit can produce a brand that represents quality and the finer things in life. No fancy backdrops, no beautiful models but a message we can all be inspired about and learn from.

Why should Sales People use Social Media?

Sales and Marketing perform very different functions within a business. Marketing is about awareness, brand and long term commitment; marketers are about “feeling the love”. Sales people on the other hand are hunters; they are there for a specific purpose and that it to make a sale, to close the deal and bring in the bucks.

This is an over simplification of the variations and complexity of the sales funnel so making the statement that Social Media is a toolset for the marketers while more traditional media, including the website, is more of a sales tool risks the same inconsideration. Having made this comparison we have to ask ourselves why sales people should bother to use Social Media?

Sales people have been using tried and tested techniques for years to engage and close deals with customers. They perform what is arguably one of the most important functions in the business cycle; in ensuring businesses maintain cash flow. Research indicates that sales teams that use Social Media proactively have a 17% greater win rate, is this enough to convince “traditional” sales people to adopt Social Media. I would hope this should be enough to spark some interest at very least.

I am definitely a convert of the power and potential of Social Media. It does live up to the hype at some level but it is not the answer to all our business needs by any means. If used in conjunction with other tried and tested marketing and communications strategies given its ubiquitous and global reach, it becomes a serious contender for our future client engagement strategies.

Let’s compare some of the more popular platforms with more traditional communications mechanisms:

1. Twitter: This can be compared to the “Coffee Break” chat with colleagues. Small sound bites of information in an on-going and seemingly random stream of conversations. Much of the chatter is immaterial, sometimes interesting, and occasionally highly relevant. Filter the conversations and engage with those who are either able to assist your needs or be helped by you and it’s a money maker. If you keep at this, and it does take time, Twitter will be less noise and increasingly relevant to you, your interests, and your industry.
   
2. Facebook: Compared to the conversation that is Twitter, Facebook shows itself to be the full coloured expression of people’s lives, dreams and hopes. Videos, photos and discussions with friends are there to be shared and displayed for all invited into their worlds. To the older generation (Baby Boomers back) this can be the step too far – after all we know how few real friends we really have and our lives are our business. These fears are valid; many careless Facebookers have become victims of their inability to keep their lives personal and private losing the respect of real friends and the confidence and trust of loved ones.  Lessons have and are being learnt about the rights and wrongs of self-publishing but the enormous network potential of over 600 million active users can’t be ignored. One thing to keep in mind is that the Facebook Profile (You) and the Facebook Business Page are quite separate things. The old saying, “do not mix business with pleasure,” applies here. They should and can be two very separate things.
   
3. LinkedIn: This is best compared to the Tradeshow. You go along the meet likeminded folk who have a shared knowledge and interest. I often refer to LinkedIn as the “Grown-ups Facebook”. It is designed for professional networking and ideas exchange. The many groups and forms, some open, many closed, are typically focussed on a specific subject. As a rule of thumb “connect” with anyone you would normally give your business card to.

So what’s the answer, do you use it or not? If I were asked outright for a yes or no answer the answer is yes.

What no-one can do though is make you. You need to “get it” and have a clear strategy or purpose for what you are trying to achieve. This may be simply that you want to have one form of authentic exchange with every one of your major clients each week. It might be to allow your customers an opportunity to learn from your experience by writing regular blog posts that will assist them in their own endeavours. It may be that you can use your highly developed networking skills to introduce customers to others in the industry they should know.

Whatever the approach you take, if it’s genuine, it’s focussed and consistent, it will pay.

Social Media - what does it stand for during a crisis

The recent Christchurch earthquake has impacted us all in some way.  Once we have moved past the inevitable shock and grief we want to do something that can help those in need.

Social Media is taking a front line in communications, being regarded by many as the primary source of up to the minute and accurate information from victims with mobiles to the media searching for stories.

Watching the Twitter and Facebook feeds over the past few days I have been surprised at how respectful and careful the majority of users have been. There is always the risk of misinformation through by far the few occasions seem to be as a result of mistake rather than mischief.

I have used the cloud bookmarking site Delicious to create this referenced site to pages and resources relevant to the Christchurch Earthquake. This includes Accommodation, Transport, Fundraising etc. If you know of any other resources let me know and I will add them.

New Features for Facebook Business Pages

Facebook Pages are evolving and their latest profile update introduced today gives users the ability to physically switch between their personal and business page profiles.

While previously you could be seen only as the business while updating your page (Business Persona) you could only like and comment on other pages as yourself (Personal Persona), this is all about to change.   This change to the way Facebook profiles work means you can now fan other pages as your page giving your own business presence an increased profile.

From a business and promotional perspective this is great news. Many marketers have been hesitant to use Facebook pages for fear that it is linked with their personal profile. While technically this has never been the case, from an external user’s perspective at least, it has been a bit of a barrier for the less experienced user who is rightly protective of their personal privacy and the desire to keep home life and work life separate.

Introduced today and currently in preview mode it goes live officially on March 10th. To get a preview and jump the early upgrade queue just log into your page and take the quick demo tour.

You will receive the following added functionality to help enhance your fan base engagement:

• Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts
• A place to showcase photos along the top of your page
• A news feed for your page
• The ability to Like and post on other pages as your page

We think this is way overdue but a good move on Facebook’s part. Finally they are taking the role of business pages more seriously reinforcing the idea that there is as much a place for business in social as there is for play.

Go to our Facebook page and let us know what you like and dislike about Facebook pages. http://www.facebook.com/MagpieMedia

An Invitation from Magpie Media

Online Marketing-Strategies that Work – Free Online Presentation Tuesday 25th January 2011

On the Tuesday 25th January I am leading a 1-hour online presentation in conjunction with the Corporate Toolbox on the topic of Online Marketing and Creating Strategies That Work, and I want to encourage you to attend.

The presentation is free and, whether you are an evangelist or a doubter of the value of online marketing, I guarantee you will find the content highly relevant to your business.

In today's competitive business environment keeping your customers engaged and you front of mind requires a strong online presence. Online marketing incorporates social media but it is so much more than a couple of posts on Facebook and a few Tweets on Twitter.

You need to consider a wide range of products and platforms to maintain an effective communications and marketing strategy that will result in more engaged customers and referrals that will positively grow your income potential.

In this online presentation we will share with you:

• How Social Media has impacted on business. 
• Where online marketing and communications is heading as a result of technology advancements and changing public perception. 
• What platforms are working and why.
• Better understand how webinars work and how they are useful for your business.

Everyone that attends this Webinar will receive a copy of the Magpie Media E-book “Online Strategy for Business” which is a no-nonsense easy to apply framework that you can use for your own business.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me, hope you can make it.

When: 9.00am Tuesday 25th January 2011
Where: Online
Register Now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/284507097


Kind regards

Craig Garner
Magpie Media
www.magpiemedia.biz
phone 021 777791 (NZ Mobile Phone)

The Answer is “What do you want from life”. Do you have the Question?

No matter which way you look at it New Year is a time to reflect on the past. It’s been a year of ups and downs for all of us accentuated by a massive economic recession. Yet despite the challenges I’m sure there have been numerous successes, opportunities and wins for all of us.

You’re probably getting bombarded with messages about goal-setting right now; I make no apology for making my first post for 2011 stereotypical if that the way you see it. Unfortunately unless you understand the principle of achieving goals it becomes a pointless topic. Most of us made the obligatory token resolution … lose weight, spend more time with the family, give up smoking, to be less stressed, the list goes on. There are plenty of statistics that tell us a large majority of people fail to achieve these goals. Why, for a few simple and avoidable reasons.

Goal setting is not the secret of success, achieving them is.

Like most goals we are never committed enough to make them habitual, they are doomed to failure from the outset. If you really want to learn the secret of goal setting pull out the classic by Napolean Hill, “Think and Grow Rich” or the more modern take from Stephen Covey, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and start applying the rules, they work.

I often refer to these two books because everything else I read seems to be a facsimile of the same message. In no way am I criticising the efforts and messages of others, we need to be constantly reminded and prodded along the way. This in itself is one of the core messages that are presented in the Hill/Covey “Secrets of Success”.

The Secret of Happiness is doing what you want to do.

Our working life consumes the greatest quantity of our quality time, are you happy with what you do? If I was to put you on the spot now and ask “What is it you want most from your life” could you answer? We know that strategic planning for our business is critical; this allows us to have a focussed direction for our business. This being said, how often do we do this for ourselves?

Don’t let others influence your direction; it’s all up to you.

Everyone has a reason why things can’t be done. If they were all correct then nothing would be so get on with it, just be sure it’s what you want to do first. I realise this is all a little cliché, but it has to be said, if nothing else I am doing this to remind me of the same thing as I start a new and more productive business year.

It is fitting I end this with the words of someone who has proven his worth and made something from nothing, Hill says “ Your only limitations are those that you setup in your own mind or those that you permit others to set up for you”.

If you want to read a nice Blog post on why goals don’t work look at this excellent post by my good friend and associate Jits Doolabh from Revonet “Goals and Momentum”.

And here is the man himself Napoleon Hill talks about his meeting with Andrew Carnegie, the meeting that changed his and countless other lives for the better.

The rise of the networked enterprise: Web 2.0 finds its payday

Serendipity as a word is in revival thanks to Social Media. How many times have I looked at my TweetDeck feed and noticed a comment or article that is exactly what I was looking for at that moment.

Reality is this is less of a chance and more that such a wide range of information is being funnelled into our customised information channels. We follow and fan folk who talk and think about things that interest us so it’s little surprise much of it is going to be relevant.

I “found” an article today that lead me to the latest McKinsey Quarterly survey on how businesses are using Social Media now (as opposed to a few months ago – times are a-changin’).  As I read this fascinating review I noticed that it had been released only the day before and the next day they were having a live Twitter discussion (#mckweb2). As it turned out that was now so I managed to have an interactive discussion with the author (@mchui) and a bunch of other valuable conversation contributors in real time. I love Social Media, it’s just so Social.

The rise of the networked enterprise.

McKinsey’s new survey research finds that companies using the Web intensively gain greater market share and higher margins. This is unsurprising as we strive to become a “fully networked enterprise” we can achieve a measurable ROI and long term benefits to the organisations brand and culture by using rather than resisting this inevitable product.
Here is one small exert from the review that looks at who inside the organisation are managing the platforms (A question that I am often asked).

Managing the Web-based organization

Respondents report that a variety of organizational structures and units manage Web 2.0. This year’s results show that the IT department is most likely to oversee internal Web initiatives (61 percent of respondents). For customer-facing initiatives, 74 percent of respondents say that oversight falls to the marketing department. For Web 2.0 initiatives involving external suppliers and partners, roughly equal numbers of respondents cite the IT, marketing, and business-development functions. Financing comes from a variety of places, including the IT function, central corporate sources, and discretionary funds at the business unit level.

The social nature of most Web technologies, of course, opens companies to greater interaction with the outside world. To manage this change, a slim majority of respondents (51 percent) say their companies have adopted formal social-media policies; companies with higher levels of Web 2.0 adoption are likelier to have them. In most cases, only a few employees are authorized to speak on behalf of the company.

For the complete review visit the McKinsey Quarterly website here mckinseyquarterly.com