Social Media Is Only Part Of The Story

Let’s not get confused about what the new marketing ecosystem is all about. Social media is a big part of the story but not the only part. If fact, I fear a huge backlash coming from overuse and over simplification of this “new marketing normal” that some are defining as just social media.

What really is happening on the web is an atomization process. We call it the “distributed web”. Social media plays a big role in that but so does the hundreds of niche ad networks, article directories, web 2.0 sites and communities, video portals…you get the point.

If your business marketing strategy is just focused on social media you will be missing a large part of the opporutnity for your business. Moreover, you marketing plan will be so much more powerful if it is put together in a cohesive strategy.

Don’t settle! Tell the company trying to sell you the Facebook Page for $300 no! That’s not the way you are going to succeed in this new marketing world. It’s not easy, but take the time to learn what is happening and build a comprehensive marketing plan for your company to dominate your market using all the tools that make sense for your objectives.

What to do next?

Start with researching your market. Find out where your target customers are going and hanging out. How and where is your competition meeting them in the distributed web? Don’t skip this step! You will need to prioritize where you focus because the opportunities are limitless. Once you have focus, you can develop a winning strategy and plan.

Check out our business marketing research book Digital Forensics. The cool thing about this new digital age is your customers and competitors leave a digital footprint that you can reverse engineer to better understand your market. We will show you how…and it’s FREE!

Business Marketing In The Coming Decade: Frustration Or Opportunity

In between skiing the moguls last week I was thinking a lot about what this next decade will look like for business marketers. We wrote the “Disrupted” book to give you a road map of what to expect with the profound changes taking place right now because of technology and new applications. This is all happening faster than we could have ever expected…and you have a choice to make.

That’s right. The ball is in your court, but you need to decide if you’re business is going to look at this change as an opportunity, or become bogged down with anxiety and frustration. Seth Godin had a great post on this a few days ago. He framed this in big, drastic terms because the stakes are so high. “The revolution is in full swing and an entire generation is eager to change everything because of it”.

Let’s get started in this first week of the new decade. No better time than right now to get your business and team on-board for the marketing revolution!

Where to start?

1. Embrace change- Learn, experiment and test new things. This is not a one time thing…you will need to build this into your business process and culture because this change is happening over years and is not stopping.
2. Lead by example- Some of this new stuff is hard. Just mention blogging to your staff and watch them squirm. Participating in the community and becoming a trusted source takes time and a new kind of professionalism that needs to come from the top.
3. Measure everything- Huge economic advantage will go to the businesses that understand this revolution and know how to optimize it for their purposes. You can’t optimize unless you are measuring.

Get help if you need it. Things are moving very quickly and it is hard to keep up unless you are following technology and case studies very closely.

Here’s to the next decade!

What are you thinking?

Social Marketing Campaigns: 3 Secrets To Success With The Social Web

Social marketing campaigns are all the rage these days. Why? Generating cost effective, qualified business leads is tough in this economy and with media changing so rapidly.

Whether your business is service-oriented (such as accounting, legal, architecture, business coaching, executive recruiter) or a retail store (specialty coffee, health food store, wine store), you have a huge new opportunity to compete with any size business in any market. Social media marketing is effective, and for the most part, free.

Business marketing strategies have never been more affordable and cost-effective than with today’s technology and new web 2.0 applications, like social media.

Many small businesses are experimenting with social media marketing, but do not implement a strategic approach to a campaign. Many are flailing from one new tactic to the other based on the “flavor of the day”.

3 SECRETS to success that we know work are:

Secret #1. Become an expert in your niche.

Participate in communities that have your target prospects and add value to the discussion with your unique insights and knowledge. Use content that you create and give it away, free, to people who are looking for solutions your company provides.

Secret #2. Create a solid keyword strategy and USP.

Also, make sure you thread that through the various levels of your distributed content and the social web. You need to be aimed at “owning” the right market. You also need to leverage your strategy across all your social media efforts to nets your linking strategy across pages, articles, PR and your website.

Secret #3. Social media marketing needs to be implemented as a comprehensive strategy.

All the pieces work together to combine into a powerful marketing program that is part SEO on steroids and part huge reach lead generation.

The key is having a systematic approach to providing valuable information and ideas to the right communities across the web. So, rather than interrupting customers in their tracks and trying to get attention, your targeted social web content will be considered helpful and put you and your business in an authoritative position with customers.

This is the primary “secret” to successful social media marketing—providing valuable free info to position article writers as authorities. You’re also in total control of creating your own authentic content. On the obverse side, giving people a “freebie” actually enhances cultivating trust, to enable easier and faster sales conversions down the line.

Take the time to develop a social media marketing strategy for your business today. Winners and losers in the “new normal” will be dependant on a company’s ability to adapt to these new marketing opportunities.

Chris Marentis is a serial entrepreneur and recognized Internet Marketing expert having served as SVP at AOL and CEO of Clearspring Technologies. For more information on Online Marketing and Advertising, go to: http://www.gennextmedia.com today.

Wisdom From 70 Top Thinkers For 2010

Seth Godin has done it again! He released a free ebook with great advice and mentoring from 70 top thinkers. It’s about the world economy, politics, business and technology…and it’s inspiring, informative and reassuring for those of us focused on adapting to the “Disruption” that is the “new normal”.

We live in fast changing times, but the paradox is that sometimes we need to slow down to better understand what is going on and learn how to adapt. The end of one year and the begining of another is a great time to reflect and take this time.

Having the thoughts of this diverse group of people in one place is very cool. From a Christian publisher and business leader to environmentalist to tech leaders, you will glean nuggets that will charge you up and focus your energy for 2010.

Here is what got me going:

• People who are not fearful made a decision at some point to be courageous. You can too!
• Being a source of dignity and generosity are two qualities that get noticed quickly in a connected world. But do it because that is who you are.
• Ignore the noise around you and follow your passion. When you are trying to create something or get to the next level, it is easy to get distracted. Don’t.
• Technology makes it easy to have lots of connections. Don’t just build a megaphone with technology to outshout competitors. Create value for people.
• The changing global economy will force business people to adapt or die. Exponential growth will no longer come from the developed nations, and information technology will be the seeds of growth in the digital age. Companies will need to become education and information providers regardless of what your product or service is.
• In a down economy, tactics take over and vision takes a back seat at just the wrong time. This is a huge opportunity for organizations that stick to the vision.

As Seth says, have fun with this book. Download it now and have it close by as you go through the holiday season and hopefully have some quite time to reflect and plan for a great 2010.

Don’t Fake It…Is Your Brand Authentic?

Have you ever tried to find a restaurant that your family can stop in quickly while you are on the road in an unfamiliar place.  You start looking for places along the side of the road, and make split second decisions about where you will eat…what brand you will buy!

Last weekend while on the road with my family we did this, and it struck me how we were making these decisions.  In this case, we were thinking about two different Italian places. One was a chain and the other was a family owned restaurant. The chain seemed to be a well organized, nice looking store but it felt sterile, not very warm or inviting. Even more important, we did not see many cars in the parking lot. We got the impression that the chain was going to have “fake” Italian food. In contrast, the other Italian restaurant was smaller, but something felt “authentic” about the look and feel.  Not very polished like the other restaurant, but it was inviting. Even better, a TON of cars in the parking lot…we had to wait for a seat.

Not all chains are bad and not all family owned restaurants are good.  That is not the point here. Being true to what you are, and making that contagious among your best customers and prospects is the difference between an average business and one that needs “extra parking”. McDonald’s does not sell on the fact it has the best burgers in town or most comfortable environment. But if you have kids, and you are looking for a quick, no hassle place to get a meal everyone will like, who does not absolutely love it when you see those golden arches in the windshield?

This principle of authenticity is going to become even more important in the emerging digital era of social media marketing. The opportunity is to energize the social graph with what your product or service is about. The net effect is brand buying decisions like we see in the analog world (discussed above) are happening real time in the digital word now. How do you make sure your business marketing reflect your brand or service in an authentic way? Here are some ideas:

1. Don’t let others define your brand, be active. If you make adjustments because of competitive issues or customer insights, make sure they become core touchstones in every facet of your business. We have a strategy document that among other things outlines specific touchstones for communication. Anyone in the company (or outside contractors) has access and uses it as a guiding principle for creating any touch-points with customers or prospects.
2. Explore various ways to communicate your brand authenticity and measure reaction. You want to get people talking, sharing and engaging with your brand. The great thing about the social web is it costs virtually nothing to participate. You can try approaches in fairly quick cycles and get feedback. In the analog world, you have to build a store and it is very hard to change it once it’s done.  Not so in the digital world. Use this to your advantage.
3. Participate! I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about how I think blogging makes me a much better business person.  It clarifies my thinking and gets me in the conversation with my customers. Also, participating in forums and other blogs plugs me into the top of mind issues that my customers and partners are taking about, and allows me to make adjustments if I am not talking to those issues.

The big reason why you want to be authentic…it will differentiate your brand. The worst thing you can do is blend in and be like everyone else. That chain Italian restaurant probably suffered from this more than any other issue. I did not see a reason to go!

Every business and every person has a unique, interesting personality that people will want to engage in if you let it out. Are you?

How To Build A Business From A Depression Era Entrepreneur: 5 Lessons From Dad

This is a tough post to write as my dad, Cosmos Marentis, past away last night in his sleep after a week of hospital and hospice care. He was an incredible man, successful entrepreneur and business mentor. He grew up in Harlem NYC during the depression, raised by Greek immigrant parents.

Dad used to scrape the ice off the streets, after ice delivery trucks left, so he can bring it home to the icebox our family had in the tenement building. They could not afford to buy ice themselves. He had to be an enterprising person from the beginning.

My family benefited greatly from dads wisdom. Most of us are all successful entrepreneurs, millionaires many times over because of his mentoring and example. As we sat in the hospice waiting for the inevitable ending of this outstandingly lived life, I thought a lot about where my dad started in life and how he ended up building one of the largest and most successful mechanical contracting companies in the NYC region.

Here are some key lessons I learned that I want to share with you:

1. Just start doing something! My dad got out of the army after WWII and opened up shop in Manhattan servicing Greek Diners and funeral parlors.  He started working with the “new technology” called refrigeration and air conditioning. He did not always know exactly what he was doing, but knew he could figure it out as he worked with it. No VC’s, no 100 page business plan, 100% make it happen.

2. Be open and available for new opportunities. My dad got a call one day from someone in real estate at the Bank Of New York. They needed a company to service their new air conditioning system 24/7, 365 for a new kind of room…for computers.  My dad did not even know what a computer was or why they needed a room, but he said yes because he knew that if it was that important to them, they would pay good money (and so would others) for that service.

3. Make your employees and clients feel special. It’s amazing how your business will grow and new opportunities get created when you have motivated people working with you and clients that know how much you appreciate them.

4. Persistence and determination will separate your business from your competition. At the end of the day, most markets that have solid opportunities will also have very good competitors. You will also face unforeseen obstacles and events, it’s inevitable. Seth Godin calls this “The Dip”. My dad had to battle rheumatic fever, the unexpected death of a partner and many other events that could have been great excuses to give up. Dad didn’t and his competitors did…he ate their lunch!

5. Technology is your friend! Many entrepreneurs don’t want to take the time to integrate new technology and process into their business. It’s hard.  It takes time and a learning curve. From new computer room technology to operational infrastructure, my dads company used everything they could to stay ahead of the competition. You can too!

I think about my own business today, GenNext Media, and what we preach with new technology and social media marketing. These touchstones or lessons have never rang truer than today.  We are hopefully coming out of the “great recession” and business marketing is changing dramatically…we call it disruption.  Fact is, just like in the past, winners and losers will emerge in this “new normal”.  These lessons from my dad are a beacon to a successful outcome for any business.

Thanks Dad! We love you and will miss you…

Thankful For The New Normal

I am thankful for a ton of things this holiday. Funny thing is in the midst of this great recession I started a business, crazy right?

Think about this.  The media and marketing economy is in the biggest state of disruption since the invention of the radio.  With over 10% unemployment, finding great people is easier than ever.  New technologies like cloud computing and web services make starting a business inexpensive…with powerful tools as good as any large company can afford. Major media does not have a lock on my messaging? I don’t need a sales rep to “buy” advertising! Don’t get me wrong, I like sales reps, I was one in the mid 1980’s.

It has never been a better time to accelerate or build your business. Those of us who stand up and take this opporutnity will be rewarded.

Let’s be thankful for all this change and get ready to take advantage of it!

What do you think?

“Crush It” without Being Crushed By Social Media Marketing

Last night I listened in on a discussion with Gary Vaynerchuck, the author of the social media best seller “Crush It” and Eban Pagan. Eban did a masterful job as usual with the interview and Gary did not disappoint with his energy and enthusiasm for what he does, social media marketing 24/7, 365 days a year.

Gary lives the lifestyle. I have to confess I get tiered just thinking about how much Gary is engaged in his social community. The way I understand it, he personally answers all email, Tweets, Facebook comments, blog posts, creates a daily video show…and then he comments and contributes to other blogs and forums. Phew!

It was interesting when I check out Chris Brogans post this morning about social media needing to be a team sport. Our experience working on several products within the GenNext Social Media Labs, as well as our clients businesses large and small, is consistent with the observations Chris makes in his posts.

CEO and other senior level executives at any size organization will have a very tough time doing their job, and personally implementing the social media marketing processes and tactics Gary outlines in his book and in the interview. That does not mean the are wrong or misguided in any way, so please don’t send hate mail.  In fact, as Gary points out in his book, this creates a terrific opportunity for business owners who are passionate about a market to grow and be very successful by putting both large and small organizations on an equal playing field.

We think the key to social media marketing success over the long term is to implement work flow and tools that makes social marketing a group effort, both within your company and in some cases incorporating outside contractors for things like writing, video production, event planning an other specialties.

I am not saying executives can abdicate this responsibility. Senior management directly involved in social media marketing, like blogging, posting comments and even more importantly, listening, will make the business strong and the team better. But to make social media marketing a strategic cornerstone of your marketing plan (and we think you need to), it should be built into the business work flow in a way that it is sustainable and natural for the organization. Many tools and techniques exist to do this effectively.

What’s your opinion?

Is Social Media Marketing Trading Time For Money?

Lot’s of discussions going on around the Internet and in business meetings about how much time should be spent on social media marketing and how should that time be allocated.  A very active discussion is taking place at Chris Brogans blog where he postulates the framework of two hours a day broken down like this:

• 1/4 Listening in forums, blogs, tweets, competitors sites…
• 1/2 Commenting and communicating on and off your sites
• 1/4 Creating content…everything from blogging to video creation

Regardless of your personal view on how much time and how to allocate it, the point is social media marketing requires time, commitment and engagement. The question is…is this effort worth it?  Will I get more customers, more effectively and make more money? Simple question.

Our experience with our own products, and the clients we have worked with, point to these conclusions:

1. Versus a media mix of just PPC and/or traditional media, we are able to lower our average cost per lead significantly when social media marketing is added to the mix.
2. We become better at what we do because we are more in tune with the marketplace.
3. Our average lifetime value of a customer is always going up because we have a system, and multiple touch points, for activating our customer base when we have new products and services to sell.

Media and marketing is in a state of disruption.  If you have not already downloaded our free book on the subject I really encourage you do do it. The key point, if the results we get are real, the economic advantage a business can derive from implementing a social media marketing program is significant.

We believe that is leverage. Not trading time for money. Getting significantly more value for the time put in is what successful business know how to do.

What do you think about the time for value trade off?

Business Marketing: Optimizing For Humans And Machines

Marketing in the “new normal” means optimizing your messaging for both humans and machines.  That’s right, you heard me right.  Before you call out the Terminators let me explain.

Marketing in the distributed web provides a much larger footprint to find and engage  potential customers.  The other big benefit is that every piece of content has the opportunity to be indexed by the search engines. So you need to keep both of these objectives in mind as you write and distribute content.

Here are four tips to keep your distributed web social media campaign looking good to humans and search engine machines so you achieve your business objectives:

1. Your number one objective is to convert your customers, so when in doubt, go with the customer focused copy or headline.

2. Do your research upfront and identify (and answer) the most burning questions your target customers have.  This will keep  communication on target for both search engines and target customers.

3. Focus on a few keywords or phrases that your target customers are searching for, and thread those through your distributed campaign. Everything should line up including headlines, descriptions, Web 2.0 page headings and copy in the body of your articles or other text.

4. Use keywords as anchor text for links out, and also use the same anchor text to cross link your various distributed content.

So, we don’t need John Conner to save us from the machines.  We just need a good keyword strategy and consistency in how we use them.

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