Out-Smarts Internet Marketing

Last week I blogged about the great Spark CBC Radio Show and its featured segment with Merlin Mann on blogging.

Listen out for this week’s session where Merlin follows up on pinpointing your blog passion with setting expectations. He points out that it is extremely important to set expectations regarding your blog so that you can work to achieve them consistently. These include: how often you blog, whether you will encourage interaction, style of content (audio, video, written). If you don’t set appropriate guidelines and goals for your blog you are less likely to achieve them and your message will become diluted. Check out our previous post on corporate blog writing etiquette.

The best part about this week’s show - I am listed as one of the contributors. Listen out for my comment on blog obsessions on Spark today at 4pm.

Oh and Dan and Nora - I should have pointed out thats Mhairi with a V! Thanks for another great show!

Related Posts

The subject of wikis came up at a recent meeting so I thought I would repost this gem from last year explaining what wikis are and how they are being used today.

In a recent post I talked about new media marketing and the plethora of tools it brings to marketers. In that article I promised more articles looking at new technologies that can be used by marketers to more effectively serve their customers and spread the word. Today I am going to focus on wikis.

A wiki is a website application that allows users to collaborate. They can update and change content very easily. Wikis are simple to use and easy to set up and best of all, costs aren’t excessive.

Until recently, I hadn’t realised the marketing potential that wikis provide. I attended the most recent Case Camp Vancouver where a local Vancouver organisation called Open Road Communications showcased a successful implementation of its Thought Farmer intranet portal - a wiki based platform that allows employees to post/make changes, interact and setup discussion groups that in turn build strong corporate identities and cultures. If you want to be successful marketing your product to the external community, you must first and foremost believe in your offering by succesfully marketing internally to build brand identity and corporate culture within the organisation and wiki based tools help you do do this.

Wiki’s are not just useful as internal portals. They also present a great way to enhance customer service. An online wiki that allows both internal and external users of your product/service to share tips/improvements and to generally help them get the most from your offering can only serve to enhance the user experience.

I was talking about wiki applications to Julie Anderson, Director of Marketing at Peoplemaps a client in Scotland that provides on-line pyschometric analysis for employers and jobseekers and she brought to my attention some of the neat wiki applications they use. They take advantage of software from PBwiki to allow online partner collaboration as well as to provide a media centre that is easily updated by employees and gives all the information potential clients, media and folk like me need to know about the organisation. People maps is also using wikis internally to allow easy and cost effective collaboration on new software projects (their developers are in the Ukraine and its saving them a ton on phone calls) and to provide an internal portal for their staff (similar to the Open Road application). For more information, check out the Peoplemaps blog On the map: Easy as making a sandwich?

In addition to the customer service enhancements and internal marketing applications, wikis can also be used to reduce the load on e-mail servers by collaborating via wiki rather than sending large documents via e-mail; they have great potential to improve CRM applications by allowing remote teams to share client information and they can act as a great central repository for file sharing.

If you want to check out some of the enterprise wiki solutions out there, go to:

www.socialtext.com
www.jotspot.com- now owned by Google
www.pbwiki.com
www.twiki.com

Good collaborating!

For business people used to marketing in the traditional way, the new way of marketing can be confusing. There’s little wonder that this is the case because the fundamentals of marketing have, essentially, be turned on their head.

With traditional marketing, companies created, controlled their brand and crafted it in such a way as to appeal to their target audience. These days control of the brand has been turned over to consumers. Whilst this is great news for Joe Public, it can create major headaches for organisations used to the old way but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Numerous articles both in the press and on TV have drawn attention to corporate new media fiascos, note able among them the Tim Horton employees’ Facebook group (which poked fun and more at their employer), Wallmart (the company created a fake blog and got caught out) and the social network groups against telecommunications changes in Canada (customers banding together to mass complain in networking forums). These are all examples of how companies have failed to recognise the true nature of new media.

Companies should not try to use the forums to control their brand - it will back fire and you will be caught out. You cannot manipulate your audience. A seachange in thinking needs to happen where companies recognise these forums as a constant interactive loop rather than a one way street. Rather than a threat, make social media work to corporate advantage. Its a great way to understand your audience, customers and to better serve their needs.

Organisations should put in place policies and processes to: manage and monitor employee participation (put it in your company handbook); to use these forums as research tools to help keep a pulse on the industry; to improve brand awareness through better customer service, and in getting creative by using these new media to build positive consumer loyalty.

New media needn’t be scarey for marketers. Simply take time to understand how the changes are playing out in your industry and alter your marketing approach to include your consumer/audience rather than exclude them. Look on this as an opportunity and not a threat.

This post originally appeared here in the spring of 2007 but the lessons still apply to those about to embark along the corporate blog path. We’re posting it again in case you missed it because the post consistently attracts visitors to our site suggesting its still of interest to you, our audience. Here are 10 tips to bear in mind when blogging for business.

1. Keep entries to one page or less - a blog entry should be short and to the point.

2. Blogs are intended as on-line logs or journals and are more informal than other marketing mediums so write accordingly.

3. Use simple terms - don’t include jargon or abbreviations unless you are sure your audience will understand otherwise it will simply put them off.

4. Don’t use your blog as a forum to attempt to promote or sell - its not appropriate.

5. It is generally accepted in the blogosphere that you can quote from another blog as long as you state your source and link back to it.

6. Remember to add value. Think about who your intended audience is and write posts that are informative - share useful links to cool sites and on-line services.

7. Emoticons may be okay for a personal blog but in a corporate one they look unprofessional. Unless your target audience is the under 20 consumer crowd then its best to avoid using emoticons at all.

8. Its good to include video clips, images and podcasts.

9. Don’t use fonts that are too large or hard to read and be sparing with capitals (no need to yell!).

10. When you include links to other web pages, always remember to check that your links work before publishing your blog article (there’s nothing worse than clicking on a link in anticipation only to find that it doesn’t link take you where its supposed to).

Recent articles in the Vancouver Sun highlight the growth in popularity of social networks as a means for disgruntled consumers to get back at corporate giants and even smaller businesses like the one in the coffee debacle.

Wednesday’s article about Telco customers using Facebook to bite back at Bell and Telus and June’s article on Gas Tax protest numbers soar on Facebook both showcase how these mediums are quickly catching on as a means by which the ordinary person on the street can have their say. They depict dire results for companies.

Rather than a threat, I look on these forums as an opportunity for companies to do vital research. Gripe groups provide a vital pulse on customer sentiment. Every company should be constantly monitoring the Internet and social media forums like blogs, microblogs and social networks to hear whats being said about their company or industry in these forums.

The more consumers gripe the better - its the perfect way for companies to find out what people like and don’t like about aspects of their product or service and to make it better.

Traditionally organisations have expended substantial sums to research their target audience using focus groups, surveys and questionnaires. Now there’s data available for free online. Granted the flow of gripes may not be controlled in the same way a focus group or survey would be but you cannot ignore the value of this information.

Use Google alerts, regular searches (on different search engines) and tools like Tweet Scan to monitor these forums and keep an ear to the web for what is being said. By doing so you will have the opportunity to act quickly to respond to adverse criticism and you will gain great insights into your customer opinions so that you can improve your offering.

I often get asked my advice on the blog versus newsletter question. That is - should a company have a corporate blog or should they send out a newsletter instead? My answer is always the same: do both!

A blog and a newsletter are two distinct tools with different attributes, each suited to a different audience and useful for building awareness in distinct forums.

A newsletter is best used to keep in touch with those you’re already have an established relationship with such as clients, prospects, partners and so on. Its a great way to keep your company fresh in their mindset and remind them of what you do.

A blog on the other hand is better for getting the word out to an untapped audience. Blogging allows you to introduce your core services or products to a wider audience whilst reaching your customer and contacts if they so choose. A blog has the added bonus of building links and increasing traffic.

There’s another key difference between the two and that is that one is push the other pull. A newsletter pushes out your announcements and news to the audience whether they like it or not (which is why its best for existing relationships otherwise it risks being spammy). A blog on the other hand is a source of information that people choose to go to to read or subscribe. Its less intrusive and has more buy in (and therefore is more likely to be read).

If you are asking this question because of limited funds and have to make a choice, first consider where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. Existing customers are far easier to build business with (assuming you did a good job first time round) than folks you don’t know so if you have a lot of those go the newsletter way. But if you are starting from scratch trying to grow a new business and establish your website a blog is the way to go.

A blog is a place on the web where individuals or companies can regularly post information, ideas and commentary. Many people associate blogging with personal web pages or on line journals where people spout about their lives and experiences. It’s true, there’s a personal blog out there on any subject you care to mention but blogging is by no means limited to the narcissists among us. With over 50% of Canadians using blogs regularly, its not surprising that companies are taking note and using this technology to benefit their business.

The way that companies use blogs will vary according to the corporate culture, the market they are in, their intended audience and what they want to achieve. Here are some of the ways companies are taking advantage of blogging:

Getting up and running with a blog is relatively simple: it doesn’t need to cost that much and anyone can do it (given a little time and effort). With blogging software and a server you can be off to the races in no time at all but before you start, consider what your goals are and what you are trying to achieve in order to be effective.

A recent article by a local Vancouver writer Sheena Daniels, in Blitz Magazine debated the benefits of newsletters versus blogs. A blog and newsletter are two totally distinct tools marketers can use to grow their business. Each should be aimed at an entirely different audience and used for different purposes.

The article points out 3 important considerations should you have to choose between the two:

1. Audience you are trying to reach;

2. Internal resources available;

3. Message you are trying to communicate.

Unless limited by the 3 above, why choose between the a blog or a newsletter at all? Each can and should be used for distinct purposes to enhance marketing communications and by using both you can hone in on 2 distinct audiences with distinct marketing messages and increase effectiveness of each.

A newsletter, unless you’re a spammer, is aimed at adding value to existing contacts, partners and customers (people that have already “touched” you) and should be used to keep your company at the forefront in the minds of those important in your network and to reinforce your presence with them.

An blog is aimed at a wider audience many of whom are unknown entities. It should be used to bring attention to what you do, spreading awareness and establish expertise with new prospects or new markets. They key difference is that a blog is a collaborative medium aimed at supporting on-line interaction between interested parties via comments. Its a two way street whereas newsletters are a one way push.

Both are complementary technologies and as the article points out, you can blog a newsletter via RSS allowing your efforts to reach people the way they want to be reached. But consider this, if you intend to focus on newsletters and use RSS you cannot call this a blog as the article suggests, not unless your newsletters go out at least once a week. A corporate blog, to be considered effective and established should be updated once a week at the very least.

Last month saw our first 2 podcasts and there’s more to come.  Wouldn’t you like to share the Podcasting learning process I am going through it so that when its your turn you can learn from my mishaps?  This week I recorded the first podcast interview on the hop in a coffee shop near the beach, lots of background noise and all.  I was trying out a Belkin plugin for my iPod which worked like a dream.  Sound was great, the process to record and upload was all automated and very simple - perfect.  Podcasting couldn’t be easier.

I was lulled into a false sense of security however.  The problems began when I tried to do some editing with Garageband.  Not an easy task as I found out and this isn’t my first time using it either by a long shot.  Garageband isn’t as intuitive as I’d like it to be, its slow and cumbersome.  And wizard would help - if you’re listening Apple.  Now I am trying out Audacity but off course how to import a file from an iPod to Audacity: the fun goes on.

There is another Podcast planned soon this time over Skype which brings more technology to the mix guaranteeing another interesting experience.  With any luck the interview recorded this week will finally be published by then.  Watch out for the uncut version - coming soon!

My experiences have led me to believe that Podcasting is far from being a medium for the masses.  Not yet anyway.  Before it can become mainstream, it has to go through a simplification process making it easier for the non tech majority to adopt and enjoy its benefits.  In the meantime, if Podcasting is something on your corporate agenda, hire a professional and save yourself some pain.