|
Seth Godin's post about mass marketing does a great job of lining out what's crazy about the way marketing is done today. Want to go in the opposite direction? Social media tools like blogging don't have to be used like your old marketing tools. You don't have to do the same things that came before. Here are some ideas.
If you're blogging for your company, mention specific customers and talk about them and what they do. Don't even bring up your company and how it applies. People know that you're doing business with that customer. Can you share in their news? Imagine your customer waking up to a blog post about how you see their business helping its customers.
Start thinking like the media when it comes to your events. Encourage photos. Give people a relevant tag for the event so that if they post pictures or videos online, you might be able to find them via tags. Want to go a little further? Start a Flickr photo group for the overall space where your company plays (which encourages more interaction than if you just start a group about your company).
Write posts about people in your company and what they're doing outside the company. Talk about Surya's bike race. Cover Monica's graduation ceremony for her MBA. Don't write like you're a proud company. Write like a person covering interesting moments in a person's life.
What does this bring back to your company? It brings a sense that you're human, that your organization contains humans, and that every message from you isn't a pitch or a sale. Instead, you're someone who not only markets, but cares about the people inside and outside the organization.
Need some more ideas to start? Here's a post I wrote about blog topics for marketers that should get you going.
What do you think? Is your company ready for this level of engagement?
|
Comments
Welcome Chris. As always, your SM insights and recommendations are right on target. Thank you.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 08.28.08
A good company blog will often bring valuable info and resources to light in a way that not only keeps people coming back but benefits those visitors and inspires them to tell others about the blog.
Posted by: Imagine Wellness | 08.28.08
"Write posts about people in your company and what they're doing outside the company."
If you are a company that is either blogging, or consider blogging, Chris just gave you some of the best advice you can get.
Is it easier to connect with Company A, or is it easier to connect with Connie Jackson, who is a mother of 2 little girls, and who works for Company A? And when you connect with Connie, does that make it easier to feel better about the company she works for, as a result?
Of course it does.
Companys if you blog, you need to make sure we know who is blogging for your company. We need to see pics. We need to have bios we can read. We need to learn about the employees so that we can connect with them as PEOPLE instead of JOB TITLES.
And notice what Chris says here: "What does this bring back to your company? It brings a sense that you're human, that your organization contains humans, and that every message from you isn't a pitch or a sale."
Thank you. Companies, please forward this post to your fellow employees, especially if you are blogging. It's pure gold. And Chris, congrats for joining the Fix, this is exactly why Ann wanted you here. Great stuff!
Posted by: mack collier | 08.29.08
Great advice, Chris. It's marketing through story telling. As Mack said, people want to know who is writing on behalf of the company. And people love to read stories about people like themselves.
Posted by: Connie Reece | 08.29.08
Fantastic - after all, it's all about the connection - about enhancing the lives of the people you want to trust you with their business.
Posted by: Frank Martin | 08.29.08
Hi, Chris. I read this post and the list on your blog. It's excellent.
One question. I realize that storytelling is engaging and I use it all the time in marketing, but in your experience, are customers really interested in a staff person's personal life? I'm curious what the response has been.
Posted by: Elaine Fogel | 09.03.08
Hi, Chris. I read this post and the list on your blog. It's excellent.
One question. I realize that storytelling is engaging and I use it all the time in marketing, but in your experience, are customers really interested in a staff person's personal life? I'm curious what the response has been.
Posted by: Elaine Fogel | 09.03.08