Archive for September, 2010

Do CMOs Really Understand the Value of Twitter?

September 29th, 2010

By Kent Huffman, Chief Marketing Officer at BearCom Wireless and Co-Publisher of Social Media Marketing Magazine

In a recent blog post on Forbes.com, CMO Club CEO Pete Krainik noted, “Most Chief Marketing Officers see the value of engaging with customers—and the value of engaging them where they hang out, talk, and spend their time.” Pete is surely right about that. But then why are only a very small percentage of CMOs active in the social media world themselves, particularly on Twitter?

I attended the CMO Club’s semiannual CMO Summit in San Francisco last week. Again this year, it was an excellent event and was well attended by a nice cross-section of B2C and B2B Chief Marketing Officers from around the country, representing all different types and sizes of companies and organizations. On the last day of the Summit, I was part of a panel who discussed the business impact of social media and community building, including the most effective social media marketing tools. But surprisingly, I discovered that out of the 80-plus heads of marketing in attendance at the Summit, only 16 who carry the official title of CMO for their organizations are currently active on Twitter:

B2C Chief Marketing Officers:

B2B Chief Marketing Officers:

B2C/B2B Chief Marketing Officers:

This is obviously not a scientific study, but two things struck me when reviewing this list: 1) even though there were more B2C CMOs at the Summit than B2B, more B2B CMOs are active on Twitter than their B2C counterparts, and 2) very few “big brands” in either the B2C or B2B world are represented by their CMOs on Twitter. It’s also interesting to note that you can make the same basic observations when reviewing the list of the top CMOs on Twitter that I curate as Co-Publisher for Social Media Marketing Magazine.

So why is that the case? Do most CMOs not understand the value of Twitter and other social media tools? Or do they just not consider them a priority for their careers or their companies?

“Most CMOs barely understand the value of building relationships with customers and giving them a voice, let alone how to navigate and make use of the world of Twitter. Social media marketing to most in the C-suite is still something campaign based, but social media marketing needs to be woven into fabric of all marketing channels, strategically managed from a 360-degree perspective,” said Ted Rubin, Chief Social Marketing Officer at OpenSky and the most-followed CMO on Twitter. “The key here is to convince CMOs to get personally involved in social media by having someone with hands-on knowledge mentor them, so they get first-hand knowledge, build their own personal following, and learn from the ground up. That way, they can properly guide and manage the integration process,” Ted added.

John Dragoon, the Chief Marketing Officer at Novell, noted, “All markets are conversations, and good marketers are embracing new tools to have these conversations. The beauty of social media tools is they allow you to experiment quickly and learn even faster. Active participation is the key to success. And make no mistake—your customers are listening.”

Posted in B2B, B2C, CMOs, Conversations, Engagement, Kent Huffman, Listening, Marketing, Twitter | 8 Comments »

Creating Luxury Tribes with Communication and Social Networks

September 22nd, 2010

By Berenice Ring, Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas

Aston Martin has a dealership at São Paulo’s trendy Avenida Europa. Lamborghini has one as well. Office space in that avenue does not come cheap, and the rent per square foot is almost nonsensical. Yet these stores are neither small nor modest.

Since October 2009, 17 Lamborghinis have been sold in Brazil for an average price of R$1.6 million (± US$950,000). Surely, to sell 17 units of a vehicle aimed at such a select audience, none of these brands would need to invest in a showroom. They could easily locate their prospective clients and contact them directly.

Why then does Lamborghini keep this amazing store and engage in social media to interact with its fans? And why is it always present at exhibitions like the São Paulo Auto Show, where visitors come in all sizes and shapes except that of buyers of their cars? Why does it invest in communication?

To win a special place in the minds and hearts of their audiences, luxury brands must be admired by their customers and potential buyers. But they also must be desired and have their value acknowledged by those who cannot buy their products—the brand fans who visit the store at night and covet the car through the store window, who create communities on Facebook and post comments on Twitter, and who form long queues at the Auto Show to see the brand’s latest model. These fans help to establish the throne from where brands such as Lamborghini will reign for the few. This is the principle of exclusivity.

Through communication and social networks, luxury brands like Lamborghini disseminate their dream and their magic—and create aspirations. They enable the “sense of belonging,” brokering relationships between people who would never meet otherwise and making it possible for them to feel connected.

This dynamic engenders very clear perceptions. Buying a Lamborghini gives the owner much more than the thrill of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. The machine comes bundled with a whole set of meanings. Prestige is the first item in the package. The buyer becomes part of an extremely select tribe, recognized not only by their peers but also by those will never be part of it.

A taste for speed, sporty style, and bold design is ingrained in the imagination of the brand’s ambassadors, whether they are owners who take their machines for a ride on weekends or fans who collect photos on the walls of their homes. Lamborghini’s brand manager understands that well. Aston Martin’s does, too. And so do most well-managed luxury brands.

Posted in Berenice Ring, Brand Ambassadors, Branding, Exclusivity, Facebook, Luxury, Marketing, Tribes, Twitter | No Comments »

Could Big Brands Learn a Thing or Two from Singer Leann Rimes? Hell, Yeah!

September 15th, 2010

By Aaron Strout, Chief Marketing Officer at Powered

I have always been a music enthusiast, but I’ve never been that interested in country music. And while I’m not ready to race out and fill my iTunes account with the likes of Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks, I recently purchased a few songs by the lovely and talented Leann Rimes. Why the sudden change of heart? If you must know, it was because of a single tweet. Well, it was actually two tweets… and the fact that during a show I saw at the ANA’s Masters of Marketing event, she was authentic and genuinely made an attempt to connect with the crowd of 1,500 senior marketers.

As someone that embraced Twitter back in 2007, I regularly use it to learn, engage, and build relationships. To that end, I often make a point of acknowledging people, companies, and organizations when I feel like they are doing a good job. This may or may not mean anything to them, but it’s my style, and so far, it’s borne a lot of goodwill and business value for me.

Getting back to Leann Rimes and her performance at the ANA conference last week: as she was wrapping up her set, I took the time to look her up on Twitter and send her a thank you tweet. Imagine my surprise when she actually tweeted me back!

The reason I’m sharing this experience is not to show off—although who doesn’t love having a successful female country singer tweet them back—but rather to point out a lesson that big brands could learn from this experience. For starters, it doesn’t hurt to follow Ms. Rimes’ lead and ensure that your brand is perceived as credible and authentic. That was the thing about Leann that got me to tweet her in the first place. But more importantly, the fact that someone as busy as she must be took the time to tweet back to a potential fan was huge.

Did she do it because she knew that I was on the fence about liking her? I don’t think so. Looking back in her tweet stream, it appears she does that with a lot of people. It’s just who she is. What I can guarantee is that while she is a very talented singer, one of the main reasons she has become so successful is because she engages her “customers.”

Now would I have been as excited if a brand like Lexus or Starbucks tweeted me back? Probably not. But I do appreciate it when a brand takes the time to acknowledge me, and it has made me more likely to stick with that brand. For example, in the case of WiFi provider Boingo, I’ve actually become one of its biggest fans, primarily because Boingo regularly engages me in conversation on Twitter. Now Boingo only earns $120 per year from me, but I tell everyone I know about Boingo, have mentioned it in blog posts, and have even gone so far as to be interviewed in an article about Boingo and the “network effect of super fans” on the FASTforward blog.

So is your company engaging its customers? It doesn’t take a lot to get started—just a good listening tool and an internal and/or external resource that can help reach out to customers (or prospective customers) who are mentioning you. You’ll be surprised how far a tweet, a blog comment, or even a Facebook “like” will go in turning people’s heads.

Posted in Aaron Strout, Blogs, Branding, Engagement, Facebook, Listening, Marketing, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Sexy Social Media and Irresistible Attraction

September 8th, 2010

By David LaBonte, Author of Shiny Objects Marketing: Using Simple Human Instincts to Make Your Brand Irresistible

Social media marketing is a sexy new addition to traditional marketing formats. It bridges the gap from broadcast or print to broadband, introducing fresh access to market share. But the secret of success in this brave new world still rests on your target fingerprint. You must know what makes your product, brand, or service irresistible before social media marketing can work.

Irresistible attraction is the physiological, instinctual, or psychological appeal generated between your product and the consumer. It makes your product into a shiny object that sparkles, eliciting a spark like an arc of electricity. Subconsciously, your prospect feels that they must grab it and hold onto it; it’s just too shiny to pass by.

So how do you make your product, brand, or service irresistible? The key notion is that you are looking for your customer’s shiny object, not yours. In all my years of advertising and marketing, this is the single hardest concept to grasp. Executives have trouble putting themselves in their customer’s shoes. That’s why advertising agencies exist outside of the corporate culture. They ask the dumb questions that lead to revelations.

Three simple steps will lead you to a clear definition of your customer’s shiny objects, the source of irresistible attraction.

  • First, list your customer’s shiny objects. What attracts them? What are the “must haves” that are irresistible? Be thorough during this step. It is critical to get every shiny object onto the whiteboard. There is often a hidden gem that, if overlooked, can leave a black hole in your marketing efforts.
  • Second, divide these shiny objects into features, benefits, and needs. This makes it easier to determine what motivates your prospects to reach into their pockets and exchange money for product.
  • Third, determine factors that fuel desire. Usually, they fall into one of five categories: critical to sustaining life, vital to my protection, important to my being accepted, crucial for my self esteem, and important to make life rewarding.

Finally, compare the shiny objects of your customers to your product, brand, or service. What fits? Where does your brand, product, or service dovetail with their wants and needs? How can you generate an irresistible attraction? Apply what you have learned and voila, your product is now their shiny object.

And remember, simply finding your customers’ shiny object isn’t enough to make them a committed client. You need to apply what I call the “Five Facets of a Shiny Object:”

  1. Grab attention
  2. Create a driving curiosity
  3. Stimulate an irrepressible urge to touch
  4. Activate an emotion
  5. Demand ownership

Basing your marketing on irresistible attraction doesn’t mean that people are mindless sheep. On the contrary, it means that although they can’t control what shiny object inspires irresistible attraction, they do control which shiny objects they grab and hold onto. Be ethical. Be honest. Be creative. Make your product into your customer’s shiny object, and irresistible attraction will sell truckloads!

Posted in Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Attraction Marketing, Branding, David LaBonte, Features and Benefits, Marketing | 1 Comment »

Social 3.0: Social Media Drives Demand Generation

September 1st, 2010

By Brian Kardon, Chief Marketing Officer at Eloqua

Best-in-class companies have evolved beyond mere participation in social media. They have put a robust marketing technology platform in place that allows them to see how social media activities drive revenue. Social media is earning a seat at the revenue table. It’s called “revenue performance management.”

Social 1.0: Observe

Social 1.0 was all about curiosity. How interesting? What does it mean? What are the risks? Could social media (or “social computing” as my friends at Forrester called it in 2006) really take off?

Social 2.0: Act

Social 2.0 was about companies jumping in: tweeting, blogging, monitoring, and participating across social media platforms. “We should be doing this,” said an anxious CMO. “We will look cool.” “Look how ‘United Breaks Guitars’ or the ‘Comcast Sleeping Tech’ is killing them.” “We need an Old Spice viral idea.” “Hire a bunch of young people, stat!”

Social 3.0: Convert

Well, Social 3.0 is here, and it is about how social media is driving demand generation, adding engaged people to the database, nurturing their interest, and winning business. Yep, social media is driving revenue growth. It has evolved, matured. And it has earned a seat at the revenue table.

As CMO of Eloqua, I get to work with some of the most sophisticated marketing organizations in the world—companies like Adobe, American Express, and Sony. You may think “slow moving” or “bureaucratic.” Well, I can’t speak for everything these companies do, but in the world of social media, they have come to a remarkable place—faster than most would have expected. They have evolved to Social Media 3.0 in record time and are proving how social media drives revenue by:

  • Identifying “complaining” customers and resolving those complaints quickly, leading to higher retention rates
  • Identifying prospects who are shopping for a solution by their status updates or tweets (e.g., “Looking to switch brokerage account out of [competitor]. Any ideas?”) and responding through direct, helpful communications

Of course, most companies by now have set up processes to monitor the social environment. Best-in-class organizations have taken it to a whole new level by measuring and continuously tracking these people. For example, if someone is shopping in the category, they put them into a highly relevant nurturing program, score their progress, and pass the lead to the sales team at the right time. Then they track whether the prospects close or not, attributing the lead source to social media. In the case of complaining customers, they often put them into “remediation” nurturing programs to win them back. And, of course, they rigorously measure renewal rates of those in the remediation program.

From our experience, the companies that are proving social media’s contribution to revenue have five foundations in place:

  • Actively participate in all forms of social media
  • Have deployed a robust marketing and sales technology backbone, consisting of a CRM system, marketing automation, and social media monitoring
  • Have developed specific processes to deal with “complainers” and “active prospects”
  • Continuously measure and optimize the programs
  • Routinely report on social media’s contribution to closed business

Welcome to Social Media 3.0! If you are still in 2.0, it’s time to step up!

Posted in Brian Kardon, CRM, Customer Retention, Demand Generation, Marketing, Marketing Automation, Measurement, Metrics, Nurturing, Revenue | 3 Comments »