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!

There isn’t enough scarcity! There are hundreds of design agencies in each city, thousands of law firms, trainers, consultants, cafes, bed & breakfasts, widget makers and art galleries. Not to mention the thousands of photographers graduating from UK universities this year.

They are all ‘me too’ products and everything looks the same. A walk down any high street can be soul destroying. One store after another selling the same stuff, for the same price, offering the same deals with the same mediocre service. There is nothing scare in the high street anymore, just an abundance of sameness. And, again, it’s the same in most industries.

Things that were scare in the past are not anymore; products, food, technology, advice and much more. They have become easy to find and easy to purchase. Scarcity has shifted from the physical. When you sell something in abundance, you know it doesn’t take much for someone else to move in on your territory, sell what you sell for half the price, leaving you scratching your head, wondering where your business model went wrong. Wetherspoons is a great case study here.

Scarcity seems to be directly linked to value and desire. You ban a book, people flock to buy it. Wii have used scarcity tactics for their product but that’s not what I mean, that’s just simple old marketing tactics. True scarcity is trust, sincerity, authenticity, true innovation, long term relationships and collaboration, not Apple marketing ‘limited supply’ of the latest generation of iPhones!

Perhaps marketing is to blame. It was the ‘get out clause.’ Crap, ‘me too’ products were okay because huge investment in mass marketing managed to shift them. At the same time it possibly stifled innovation. The biggest US pharmaceutical company has $200 billion in sales, yet they only spend 14% on R&D and 31% on marketing and administration. At the same time new drug registrations have reduced from fifty a year in the 1990’s to about 20 today!

So whilst we have been concentrating on marketing that led to abundance, we forgot about innovation that created scarcity. Frankly speaking, unless you find something scarce in your business, the next couple of years are going to be very difficult. Business cannot sustain itself on an abundant business model where everyone is fighting for their part of the pond. Unless, of course, you have an abundance of cash to see you through until you find something scarce.

As employees (I can almost remember being one) we were focused on the elements of our job that involved the least risk taking. Not many of us are prepared to stick our heads above the parapet. As managers, we emphasise compliance, create procedures to try and control people. Invent organisational charts that not only mean sod all, but tell people who they are supposed to talk to. We pinch our peoples ideas, we reinforce the silos we have evolved even in small businesses and try and measure performance based on a system that focuses on extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic motivation.

Then we complain like mad because our staff are not showing initiative, we have to make all the decisions for fear of mistakes. Teams don’t integrate, people only perform what is required and we’ve systemised, de sensitized employees so they don’t feel anymore. We couldn’t have frustrated them more if we had tried by honing in on the wrong things.

Concentrate on letting your people express themselves fully, allow them the freedom to take risk and make mistakes. Build cross functional teams to solve problems and remove silos. Facilitate rather than control. Measure the things that really matter to that person like being valued, working on meaningful projects and making a big bloomin’ difference to their work, their customers or colleagues. You can’t control the best people only influence their ability to develop some of your most important initiatives.

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!

The walls built up over so many years between customers, employees, management and shareholders are collapsing. This dictates a new type of relationship and commands a new approach. Openness, honesty, transparency, sharing and collaboration that result in mutual benefits and value will drive business performance and, more importantly, business sustainability.

It’s time to throw away the job descriptions, brush aside ego’s, change the emphasis to people, realise your product is as good, or, crap as your competitors and be aware that not one person has the power/decision making role anymore. Leadership too is fundamentally changing.

The impacts of these changes are creating new vulnerabilities and ’sore thumb’ opportunities for businesses. It will mean friction and tension. Fabulous, however, usually great ideas and innovations come out of that!

Frankly, a lot of the business world, in the last 18 months, has looked like a custard pie fight, a lot of mess but nowhere near as much fun. Those people that think we are out of the woods yet, really are only seeing the trees! I’m concerned about the people that have lost their jobs and/or homes, but what scares me more is that we may not have learnt a damn sensible thing, especially in the finance industry. But hey ho what did we expect?

The little, tiny light at the end of the tunnel (or is that the train coming the other way?) is that the customer will demand a new way of doing things, at least some will. Most of us will go back to ‘customer as normal’ and ‘business as normal’ and ignore the inevitability. Disguised as our mythical view of an inability to change things.

Others, though, will create merry hell! They will demand integrity and transparency and that will change how brands are judged and how they are led by their managers/owners. Whilst business attempts to gain true customer loyalty, something it has bought in the past, they will have to, first, be loyal to their customers. A complete, fundamental shift in thinking. I think of how BT, Nat West and the utilities are going to do this? I also think of small business too!