Posts Tagged ‘online’

March21

Sometimes, the Best Content is Given Away

By: Spike Jones

Content is king. Or maybe it’s queen. It might even be the court jester. Nevertheless, “content” is on the lips and minds of a lot of marketers these days. Especially when the topic turns to engaging people on social media channels and hoping that they’ll stick around. There are A LOT of opinions and theories about what good content is and what it isn’t. How much is too much and how much is not enough. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Look, content is important. And while I could argue my own opinion (which has mostly to do with context, not content), there’s something that I’ve learned and has proven to be effective about content: It works best when you give it away.

Late last year I led a team that launched a program for an automotive client (disclosure: I’m not with that firm any more and that company is not a client of WCG). It was the beginnings of an ambassador program and extremely grassroots in nature. There was the usual blocking and tackling that went into building the program, but we also tried some new things. One of which was giving content away.

It went down like this: we found an individual that had many passions than just the automotive brand we represented, like graphic design. He wasn’t an influencer. He didn’t have a huge social media footprint. But his passions ran deep. So we connected with him and asked if we could come out with a camera and talk to him about his passions on a Saturday.

So we went. And filmed him talking about and showing us his passions – not just the car. And then we did something that might be counter-intuitive to a lot of marketers. We produced a beautiful three minute video, packaged it back up, gave it to him…and then walked away. We didn’t post it on the brands highly-visible social sites, we didn’t ask him to post it anywhere and we sure as Hell didn’t tell him what he could and couldn’t do with it. We just said “thanks” and gave it to him.

Now he had all the power. And that’s all he needed.

He posted it on his favorite forum. All his buddies asked how the whole thing came to be and our first ambassador told them the message and purpose of the program in his own words. Industry blogs picked it up and interviewed him. He changed his social profiles to reflect his membership in the program. And it grew and grew and grew. He even became the most influential person on Twitter about that car model (according to Klout, so take it with a grain of salt).

(There were several other components to the program, but for the sake of this post, we’re concentrating on this one piece of content.)

With all of social media’s great abilities to connect with people, we are still inundated with brands pushing their messages down our throats. And that goes triple for automotive brands. So when it comes to content, doing something thoughtfully and deliberately that’s not all about you goes a long way. As we’ve talked about before, as a brand you have a huge spotlight that you can shine on anything you want. So why not turn it around sometimes and instead of shining it on yourself, you let your customer bask in the glow for a while? And then watch word of mouth in action.

Posted in: brands, lessons learned, marketing, word of mouth3 comments

January26

Protect Your Ambassadors

By: Spike Jones

Ambassadors. They go by many different names these days. Some call them advocates, some just call them community members. But no matter what they’re called, they are a huge, HUGE asset to your company.

And what do you do with assets? Everything within your power to protect them.

It is so fascinating to see how those inside and outside of a company view the role of ambassadors. Remember, at the very core, an ambassador is someone who spreads goodwill. And in the context of brand ambassadors, they are spreading goodwill on behalf of your company. That’s it. That’s all. Case closed.

But we see, time and time again, folks with tunnel-vision that want to use ambassadors for other things. First of all, we don’t “use” ambassadors. That word – use – carries with it many definitions. The worst of them pointing towards exploitation. So much time and effort goes into building word of mouth ambassador programs from the ground up. Elevating advocates. Tapping into a passion conversation. Creating a brand identity and sense of ownership. These are things that we do to GIVE to the ambassadors. To raise them up. To empower them. And when it’s done right, our ambassadors feel like we’re ambassadors for them. (See how that works?)

As ambassador programs grow, other departments in the company start to take notice. And when this happens, then those responsible for the program take on a new responsibility – to serve as a shield for the ambassadors. Yes, I hate to say it, but we have to pay attention to the times where we need to protect our ambassadors so they can be what they were meant to be. Ambassadors are not there to get you more views to your YouTube video or more reviews for your product on Amazon. Ambassadors are not there to bump up sales of that old product or retweet your promotion. That’s not their purpose. That’s what the marketing and advertising departments are for. Sure, sometimes as a halo effect those things will naturally happen. But if you go to the ambassador well asking them to do something for you that they don’t really care about, how much are they going to feel appreciated? Did they raise their hand and pick up the banner of your brand so they could pimp out their friends and followers? Or because they believe in something bigger than themselves?

So don’t forget that one of your most important jobs is protecting your ambassadors. After all, they’re out there protecting you – both online and off. And they want you to have their back just like they have yours. That’s how successful relationships work.

Posted in: brands, lessons learned, marketing, word of mouth1 comments

January3

Taking Social Back

By: Spike Jones

And just like that, it’s 2012.

Yeah, he’s being social.

I don’t do resolutions. Or lists. Not that there’s anything wrong with those that do. (There is.) But here’s one thing that I will say about 2012: I’m taking the word “social” back.

Somewhere along the way, after it got slapped in front of anything old that marketers wanted to make new again (I’m looking at you media, business, community, etc.), “social” lost its way. If you were to go to a marketing conference or walked into a PR company and asked 20 people what social meant, yeah, you’d get 20 different answers.

But I digress.

Enough is enough. Now, I’m not implying that we should stop using the word, let’s just start using it like it was intended to be used. Being social online is different from being social offline. In most cases, you’re isolated when you’re using online social media. You’re in your own little world. Maybe in an airport or in your guest room/office at home. No matter what the case, everything you do is being filtered through that glass screen.

Social offline is really SOCIAL in the truest sense of the word. I find it so ironic that one of the definitions of social is “living or disposed to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation.” I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from that one.

So, in 2012, I’m taking social back – and not trying to pry it from the hands of the internet kids – to make social, SOCIAL. In other words, we will truly connect online to offline and offline to online. One drives the other. Always. If we are truly social beings, then it’s fair to say that we crave physical interaction from others. (That’s skin and bones, kids, not avatars.) After all, the best times of your life don’t happen on your smartphone or your iPad. And the sooner we all realize that, the sooner we can make social mean something more than the fairy dust we sprinkle on our new biz pitches.

Onward.

Posted in: lessons learned, marketing, rants2 comments

April27

Life Beyond the “Like”

By: Spike Jones

Holy moly, how much time to we devote to strategies that focus on getting people to click on that little blue “Like” button on Facebook? (I’d love to see an infographic on that.) Huge marketing and communications budgets are thrown at it. Agencies (and individuals) performances are judged on it. And case studies are built on it (really.)

But THEN what?

What is life like beyond the “Like” for your customers? Likes don’t equal loyalty. Likes don’t equal sales. Hell, you have to “Like” a brand on Facebook just so you can complain on their wall. Yet clicking the Like button is very often times the end of the experience for most brands. It’s the finish line. Interaction complete.

So I plead with you, dear marketers, think beyond the Like. Think about how online should drive offline action and offline engagement should drive online action. Think about how 93% of word of mouth recommendations still happen offline. Think about WHY you want people to Like you beyond pushing that little blue button. No, I’m not going to talk about the value of a Like, but rather how it’s on you to create an experience that even pushes beyond giving people a reason to come back to your Facebook page.

There is life beyond the Like. And it’s lived out by your customers after they step away from that plastic box and live in the real world. Crack that nut and you’ll be well on your way.

Posted in: brands, lessons learned, marketing, word of mouth4 comments

April13

The Fallacy of Community

By: Spike Jones

Won't you be my, well, you know...

Let’s talk about community for a moment, shall we?

Remember when that word actually meant something? Remember when we lived in places that weren’t only called communities, but actually FELT like a community? We talked and interacted to people around us purely because we occupied space near one another. Remember?

Then people started building places online where others came together to commune and talk about shared passions. And they called them “online communities.” It made sense, because people sought these online worlds out and were there to actively participate.

But then something changed. And that word – community – started to become construed. Anybody who threw up a blog and a messageboard starting claiming to have a “community” because they got more than two people visiting their site on a daily basis – even if those people didn’t ever interact with one another.

Listen very carefully: there is a big difference between being a neighbor and being neighborly. I can live next to someone for years in the same community and never talk to them, learn their name or even give a rip about their life or interests. They are my neighbor. We are in the same community. Yet the way I just used those words don’t convey what these social media kids want you to think when you hear them. Just because a bunch of people are in the same place (online or off) doesn’t mean you have a community. Community has context. Community has meaning. Community has deep, meaningful interactions. Now concerning the depth of those interactions and where that line is to when it becomes a community can be debated.

But you get my point.

You can’t create a community – because you can’t build people. You can only construct the buildings. Community isn’t apps and tweets and status updates. Community is shared passion. Community comes from the heart and soul and sweat and blood and love inside people. And they decide and where and when and how it happens. Not you or your website or your program.

Posted in: lessons learned, marketing, rants13 comments

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