Hmmm…. your customers are creating the market place now not you. Give us choice and we will take it! Look at us has been replaced with look at what we are doing. The big question; is your marketing designed for a static world or an ever changing one?

Markets will always outperform individual businesses, they also learn a lot faster and are better connected than  business too. If you’re marketing ain’t broken, its about time you asked yourself why? As Jeff Jarvis said “The mass market is dead. It committed suicide. Google just handed it the gun.”

Most companies, for the last 10 years, have taken the easy way out to market their brands, they have essentially bought customers. Sadly, its cost more and more and had less and less impact. In the past it was about driving traffic to your business, now its about loyalty.

Remember this equation; Feeling valued = loyalty + commitment

Most of us are still acting as if what we do is scarce. Shouting isn’t going to get you heard above the crowd, not when everyone else if shouting too. Now really is the time to tear up the marketing you have been doing in the past. Measure its return on investment and, then when you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, go and find some other way of connecting with your customers.

In October I had to queue to get into the Likeminds Conference in Exeter. This time I was one of the many getting kicked out by Scott Gould at the end of the night!

Well they went and did again didn’t they? The organisers, speakers and delegates raised the bar without creating one! “People to people” was the focus of this full day conference which threw up just as many questions as answers, but that’s the point.

There were particular vibrant and engaging presentations from Jonathan Akwue, Joanne Jacobs, Olivier Blanchard and the irrepressible Chris Brogan. Even the thought of Chris stood on stage in his Superman underpants did nothing to dissuade the audience (sorry you needed to be in the room to get that one!)

There was nothing irksome about the day. Superbly organised with a truly community feel, we all felt a little bit human again. The key lightbulb moments;

1. “When you give people a voice, you have to be prepared for what they are going to say.” Jonathan Akwue. That one  is for all you leaders out there!

2. “Understand, participate and then lead.” John Bell. Yep you got to eat an elephant in bite sized chunks.

3. “Having a prescence in social media is worthless unless you do something with it.” Olivier Blanchard. You know sometimes a blinding flash of the obvious is so bloomin’ powerful.

4. “You have to make people feel special.” Chris Brogan. Many of us commented we did feel special!

The buzz in the room was inspiring and so positive, there were obviously no Daily Mail readers in sight! People talk a lot about the social media hype. I’m curious to what they mean by that. Social media for many businesses is the Titanic’s iceberg and its no good re arranging the deckchairs on the old ship anymore. Its a difficult time for many companies. But, perhaps by humanising the relationships we have with people, we can actually thrive.

This conference showed that even in six months not just the technology has moved on, but so has our thinking. It can’t be taken as a token gesture, its serious stuff and it has serious implications. Miss the next one? Er no!

As the new tactics of marketing really start to have their say, as the case studies begin to roll in and as the mass market gets used to using these new tools to communicate, connect, share and collaborate with customers, it will demand a significant shift in your business too.

Gone are the days when you bought a bit of advertising and then waited for the customers to roll in. We’ll laugh loudly with slight embarrassment in a few years time when nostalgically we remember the days when we used to send brochures and leaflets out in an attempt to attract people to our business.

This change is unprecedented and like a ball rolling down a hill its gaining momentum. As Clay Shirky says “Communications tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. The invention of the tool doesn’t create change; it has to have been around long enough that most of society is using it.” Well they are getting boring and whilst we may be a little way off mass adoption, it will hit us like a barge pole from behind if we are not prepared.

It won’t necessarily mean marketing budgets will soar, in fact they are likely to plateau if not reduce. Individual customer experiences and solid relationships will become more important than you being in the local rag (mainly because it may not exist anymore.) What social media may do is reduce your marketing budget but be aware it may also increase your own personal time investment in communicating.

I’m cheating today, but hey if someone posts something concise and great, why not share it, it’s what blogging is about! Fabulous post by Seth Godin, got me thinking anyway.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/in-between-frames.html

You can’t avoid it. You can’t sweep it under the rug and you certainly can’t run like hell. We know the online world is starting to overpower the offline world. We can now start to show case studies of how big corporates are radically overhauling their marketing budgets towards social media activity.

People are talking about it, having conversations about it, delivering seminars about it, meeting about it, discussing it and, of course, doing it! You can’t stop what’s happening but you must understand this social media explosive wave of communicating with customers and spreading ideas. The implications are both fascinating and daunting.

It’s evolving rapidly and is causing huge problems for companies large and small. Marketing campaigns you’ve used over the last 3 years have become irrelevant. Before you think I’m thrusting Facebook down your neck and recommending you immediately create fans stop! It’s too late now just to test it out, you’ll fail. You can’t do what I did 18 months ago and plunge into it with no armbands just to see what it was like and whether it was for me. I did! I love it and hate it at the same time. But, life has moved on, its too serious for you to see it as a side issue.

I know how people are feeling, particularly those who haven’t done anything on the social media front yet and those who are wanting to rack things up this year. It presents a paradox; exciting and overwhelming! The key thing to think about is that actually the technology doesn’t really matter….it can almost do anything! What we all need to focus on, no matter what stage we are at, is how social media can help you  to develop relationships with people.

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff in their book ‘Groundswell’ quote “people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.” I  would add that this is not a trend that is about to go away, in fact, its likely to blow your business model apart over the next few years. As I mentioned earlier, its not something you can dabble in anymore, you need understanding, structure and strategy.

With hindsight, I’d consider following these four steps before embarking on a marketing approach that is not a spectator sport:

1. Read, read and read. Follow people who know what it’s all about and understand why its happening.

2. Understand what it is! It’s not just Facebook and Twitter. Consider some case studies.

3. Think about how you can use it to develop relationships with your customers, suppliers, people and community. It’s about allowing participation and having a conversation.

4. Then, with help, build a strategy that can be implemented. A focused approach that doesn’t expect miracles overnight but that gradually and solidly sustains your marketing over the long term.

Hope that helps!

It must be in our genetics, we seem to complicate even the simple stuff. Often, in an attempt to control, feed our ego, or basically seem more intelligent than others we create complications. We are then seen as the expert, whereas others, merely ignorant or confused.

Factors that are simple to follow we over complicate like systems and procedures. Government is a specialist at this. Systems are meant to simplify life but often they result in bureaucratic, unwielding, overwhelming, overburdened clap trap! It’s as far away from innovation as you can get.

Yet, the complicated things like relationships, we try to simplify and, in the worst case scenario, we try to systemise. Systemise something and you suck the life out of it. No wonder as employees, customers and business partners, we get frustrated, angry, hurt and overwhelmed.

Relationships are meant to be challenging, exciting, varied, rich, diverse. Systems and procedures are not.

We all have a tendency to spend enormous amounts of time on the wrong things we think make us competitive. Our product, the way the store looks, how we market, what marketing messages we communicate, how we look. And, when we are really scraping the barrel, our price. Okay some of these things are important, but not to the exclusion of what will really make us competitive in the future. Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place?

In fact, the most predominant, fundamental, important, radical, distinguishing factor that makes you competitive is your people. They control costs, implement procedures, deliver customer service, develop new products, conduct research, find new ways of doing stuff and get things done.

We, on many occasions, fail to look at competitiveness correctly, realising that sometimes, we have it the wrong way round. Stop adding things to your product/service and start creating value for your people. Comprehend that 2010 will be about relationships (see last blog). They will be your worthy asset. Products come and go, relationships must not, they cost too much to replace.

In all the loudness, the shouting, the telling, the one sidedness of it all, we’ve forgotten what really matters the relationship. The relationship you have with your people, with your customers, competitors and collaborators. Communication is out (far too one sided) and, as we know, conversation is in (its far more two way.)

As Christopher Locke said in The Cluetrain Manifesto, “genuine conversation flourishes only in an atmosphere of free and open exchange.” That means respecting people’s opinions, feeling what its like to be in there shoes, understanding their values and concerns. Attempting to help solve solutions, not absolve ourselves from responsibility by building robust, meaningful relationships.

2010 will mean us becoming more ‘real’ and the web and social media will aid us in this mission next year. Many still think of the web as not real, yet it’s never been more real, more alive, more exciting. It generates millions of conversations everyday. It transports important information every hour and it enables people to stay connected every second. It’s time for you and I to get a grip and think about how the web will help you develop and sustain great relationships next year.

Over the Xmas period I’m writing an eBook considering how business is changing including the fundamental shifts we are experiencing and, also the key things we possibly need to get back to. It will cover between 50 and 100 words all supplied by my colleagues, clients, followers, connections and fans. Although, I may throw a few into the mix.

I’m hoping to provide an overview of some critical factors that will influence the future of work and business. Some of you have been kind enough already to provide some interesting topics such as; value, adaption, substance, competition, talent, time and feel.

It would be great if you could join in! I’ll reference you in the book and provide a hyperlink to your website or blog. Hopefully, I can provide some thought provoking ideas and thoughts with a bit of humility too. Can’t wait for the conversation to start once it’s published in February/March 2010.

If you want to contribute a word or two, please just make a comment on this blog, direct message me on www.twitter.com/annholman or, email me at ann@annholman.co.uk

Thanks!

If you run a business, department or division, your role is about to change, big time! Your ego better go and bury itself comfortable cos’ it’s going to be spending a long time there. As a manager you have huge responsibilities. Those self absorbed, selfish, controlling vain days are over. They may have been suitable for a functional state of management but they no longer endear you to a world that has suddenly realised that it’s about relationships. Behaviour will have to change.

Perhaps, business is moving from the ego status to the self actualisation role as in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? Your new accountabilities will not be based soley on financial performance or achievements based on numbers. It will centre on:

1. Developing relationships that are mutually beneficial.

2. Developing differentiation, even if it is unfortunately based on price.

3. Creating a common purpose that is authentic, makes a difference and has meaning to people.

4. Building trust and credibility.

However, enabling people to feel valued is going to be your most significant contribution. Financial performance? That’s just the result of getting the stuff above right, we’ve just always managed it the wrong way round!