Social Media in Business: You can’t be a little bit pregnant!

I doubt there could be any more hype or anxiety around the use of Social Media in business today than we are currently experiencing.

Many businesses look at social media with trepidation and fear as they contemplate lifting the corporate veil of secrecy and to expose themselves (usually not literally) to their customers.  Others agonise over the big commercial question, “How much will it cost and how much profit will it make?” with little consideration to the strategic or functional benefits to the business.    

Some businesses create a Twitter account and set up a Facebook page and shout out “Tada!” and proudly boast that they are active in social media.  Then of course, there are the businesses that invest the time, energy and resources to do it properly and successfully lift the value and profile of their brand with their customers and prospects.

Now I’m not saying that every business needs to participate in social media.  But every business must have a social media strategy and understand its role in the marketing mix or its customer engagement strategy.  Even choosing not to participate is a strategy, if it is informed and the rational conclusion is that it will not significantly assist your business.

Whether we like it or not, social media is not going away.  It has been with us always in the form of word of mouth marketing, only now its amplification is so much greater through the use of social networks.  Ignoring it would be a folly.

And for every social media evangelist there is a naysayer.  For every social media success story there is a very public failure.  With these extremes in views and results, it is no wonder that businesses are confused or wary about how they should approach there participation in social media.

Social Strategies That Work

I was reading the November 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review and came across an article titled “Social Strategies That Work”, by Mikołaj Jan Piskorski (@mpiskorski) an associate professor in the strategy unit at Harvard Business School.  Piskorski raises some key points that businesses should consider when developing a social media strategy.

Piskorski claims that the primary advantage of a social strategy over a purely digital strategy is how it leverages the true reason that people want to connect, and that is with other people, not companies.   It is a key point that Piskorski raises – social media creates the opportunity for a conversation between people - it is not a vehicle for businesses to broadcast their marketing communications.  However, this seems to be the approach adopted by most businesses when embarking into this realm.

Another observation of Piskorski is that businesses that have failed to build successful social strategies tend to focus more on their business goals and less on the customer’s unmet social needs.  He suggests “First think through how to address customers’ unmet social needs; then connect the proposed solutions to business goals.”

In brief, a social media strategy requires the business to think about the needs of the customer first. 

Piskorski’s closing statement is compelling and one I will use often when talking to business developing a social media strategy.  He states:

“As most businesses are accustomed to helping people meet their economic rather than their social needs, creating social strategies will require fundamental changes in the way companies approach strategy development.  As social platforms become even more central to consumers’ lives, companies that don’t figure out how to appropriate their value and create true social strategies will find it harder and harder to compete with those that do.  Starting this process soon, even in small steps, is both a critical defensive and offensive move.”

“Socialnomics” versus “Social Media Truth”

Anyone familiar with social media has most probably heard of Erik Qualman (@equalman) founder of Socialnomics, and author of the number one Best Selling International Book “Socialnomics”.  Qualman is an MBA Professor at the Hult International Business School and has played a key role in education and growing the digital capabilities of many companies.

The video created to explain “Socialnomics” became one of the biggest viral videos of 2010.  Now up to version three, the collective versions have had well over 5 million views on YouTube. 

The video, as does the book, provides both interesting and startling statistics on the growth and impact of the digital revolution and in particular the emergence and power of social media.  Qualman’s book and video raises provocative statements such as:

·         “The ROI of Social Media is Your Business Will Still Exist in 5 Years.” And

·         “We don’t have a choice whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it.”

Needless to say, such confronting statements supported by reams of statistics on social media take-up and digital channel preference over traditional forms of media awoke many from complacency and start to question what their business was doing.  Qualman’s book remains one of the best you will find on the digital revolution and what it means to society and business.

More recently a colleague showed me a video response to the Qualman “Socialnomics” video prepared by the Masters of Marketing Seminars ( http://www.mastersofmarketing.com.au ) titled “Social Media Truth”.  The video was well constructed and set to the same format and music as the original Socialnomics video.

The Masters of Marketing Seminars presents some of the most recognisable and distinguished marketers who all have a track record of success that gives them the right to question and challenge the way we market.  In producing this video, I feel the desire to lambast the digital revolution and social media, including Qualman’s “Socialnomics”, has overridden the true message of the video – which I think is traditional marketing still works and if done well has a reach as good as social media and can be even more effective.

Now the “Social Media Truth” video has only had around five thousand views, but it’s still reasonably new and it also makes some rather startling and provocative claims, in much the same way Qualman did in “Socialnomics”.  Here are a few to whet your appetite (with the occasional comment by me).

·         “6.2 billion people on earth do not use Facebook.”  This is more users than Facebook has.

The total amount of the population participating on social networking sites is irrelevant.  The percentage of your customers and your prospects participating on social networks sites is.  You fish where the fish are; you engage your customers where your customers are.

·         Points out the low participation on Twitter and that 30% of Twitter users churn within 30 days.

A good point and I’m sure a challenge for Twitter.  The same applies to syndicated TV shows, magazine subscriptions and one I’m sure we can all relate to, gym memberships.  Sustaining customers’ interest is not just a challenge for on-line businesses.

·         Questions the value or perception of the “Like” button and states research indicated consumers do not think business should infer “Like” means they are loyal to a brand.

·         Reminds us of the demise or deterioration of social media platforms such as Second Life and MySpace.

Couldn’t agree more with this.  Some social media sites have been over invested in and over valued.  Also, they have failed to remain relevant – and subsequently paid the price.  But haven’t we seen non on-line businesses fail equally as spectacularly?  Remember Ansett? Atari? HIH Insurance? Lehman’s Brothers?  

·         Suggest falling literacy levels are a consequence of the growth in digital channels and points to the quality of content on blogs and social media sites as proof (I’m assuming I’m the exception.)

Whilst the digital channels have changed the syntax and method of communication between us, I’m not sure it is fair to imply the blame is with the medium.  The education system still carries the responsibility of lifting the literacy levels of our children, but I accept the medium could be a contributing factor.

·         Refers to Twitterers as “Twits”.

Ouch.  Being active on Twitter and having been fortunate enough to meet some amazing, intelligent, insightful and inspirational people I think this statement is ill informed.  True, you can waste a lot of time on Twitter and there will be information of little or no relevance that comes to you, but that is why there are filtering systems and methods you can apply to ensure you what you get is what you get.  Surely not every article in the newspaper or magazine you read is with the same intensity, if at all – tweets are no different.

·         Implies a correlation between the growing amount of wasting time on-line and the decline in global economic performance.

Hmmm… I think this one would be interesting to test.  I don’t doubt there could be a relationship between the two!

·         “The internet is making us intellectually lazy.”

If this was worded that “The internet has the potential of making us intellectually lazy” I could probably accept it.  Having access to a world of resources at your fingertips can be empowering and informative…. But you have to want to use it and like any source it can be exploited.

One of the claim’s in the “Social Media Truth” video I found very interesting was that “the fastest growing segments of ‘experts’ in the world is the self proclaimed social media expert.  Their growth rate is unprecedented in marketing history… even more than the SEO black hats and their mission is to make $$$ for themselves not for you.”

Isn’t the growth in “experts” simply just a direct correlation with the growth in the medium?  After all, with each new business methodology or new practice there has been an explosion of “experts” eager to help.  Remember Lean Manufacturing?  Total Quality Management?  Six Sigma?  Balanced Scorecard? Just to name a few that have either been and gone, or are still in place today.   And I don’t know of any consultant that has gone into business without the aim of making an income.

The good “experts” are the ones that have the customer first and foremost in their minds and know that a job done well will not only result in financial reward for them, but repeat business and referrals.  Yes there maybe some dodgy operators out there, but there are some true “experts” out there who are worth their weight in gold.  Believe me, I’ve seen my fair share of uneducated, ill informed and overly self opinionated consultants passing themselves off as “experts” in areas outside social media!

All in all, I enjoyed the video and saw both merits in challenging the “Socialnomics” video by Qualman.  Both were thought provoking and both raised good points.  In essence they presented to extremes of views that businesses are trying to grapple with when designing their own social media strategy.

One point for the team at The Masters of Marketing to consider: if the video was an anti-social media piece, it seems odd that you would be promoting it on YouTube, your website and that you are active on Twitter and Facebook in promoting your services.  It seems somewhat incongruent with the message of the video – IMHO ;-)    

Are you trying to be a little bit pregnant?

Social media on its own is not an adequate marketing vehicle to promote your business.  Traditional forms of marketing work and will continue to work – if done well.  However, they will work better when your marketing strategy incorporates all channels, off-line and on-line including social media. 

The mix you choose and the method of application will be dependent on who your customers are, the markets you play in and the importance of engagement with your customers – particularly consumers.

Of growing concern to me is the number of businesses I see who insist on separating off-line marketing from digital marketing and then again separate social media.  Marketing represents the face of the business to the market and therefore, there seems no benefit in fragmenting the approach by channel. 

Separating the channels creates high risk of producing inconsistent or conflicting messages to market and increases the potential of confusing the brand in the mind of the customer.  Leveraging marketing and communications to engage with your customer is the goal – the channel is incidental and will most probably be different for each customer segment. 

There are a myriad of case studies now available describing progressive businesses out there who are actively embracing social media as a means for connecting and engaging with their customers in a way they have never been able to before.  Despite this, there are many businesses doing absolutely nothing with the view that; when you don’t know what you should do, do nothing.

Despite the second approach being a potentially retrograde approach, it is better to do nothing than make some half-arsed attempt that could potentially damage the brand and derail the business.

Feeble attempts to create a social media presence that is not engaging, maintained, updated, promoted, listened to or adding value to customers and the business is pointless.  When it comes to your business participating in social media, it’s a black and white question – either you’re in, or your out.  There is no middle ground.

This philosophy reminds me of a favourite saying of a senior manager I worked with many years ago when discussing business strategies.  At the end of the debate or robust discussion he would stamp his authority by saying “You can’t be a little bit pregnant”, in other words do it and do it properly, other wise not at all.   The same goes for social media in business. 

So when you review your social media strategy and its role in the marketing program ask yourself if you are really committed to it, or are you just trying to be a “little bit pregnant”.

Marketing Strategy: Are you thinking like a Chinese Warlord?

During a recent clean up of business books I’ve accumulated over the years I stumbled across my old and somewhat weathered copy of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”.

Being easily distracted, I started thumbing through the pages and reading Sun Tzu’s vignettes on the strategy of war.  As when I first read “The Art of War”, I was fascinated by the corollary between warfare strategy and that of business or marketing strategy.

With around 100 or so business books in my library I reflected on how many books come out each year with new ways of describing how best to devise the strategy for success for your business.  Be they books, whitepapers, consulting firm pitches or the odd article in either trade or business magazines – there is a certainly lot.

Now I accept that many of these provide new and innovative solutions, particularly in relation to the integration of new “go-to-market” channels.  However, I think that the basic principles of strategic planning, particularly for marketers, have not changed for hundreds if not thousands of years.

There have been numerous business books on business and marketing strategy drawn from the strategy of warfare, with many referencing “The Art of War”.  Some suggest that this IS the bible of strategy.

“The Art of War” was reportedly written in the sixth century BC by the ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu.  The language and style is certainly not what you would expect in modern day teachings, but the philosophy remains sound.  And, let’s be honest, any book that is still referenced a couple of thousand years after being penned must offer some value.

Whilst there are a number of terrific sage quotes and analogies about strategy you can draw on in designing your own marketing strategy, there are a couple of statements that I think are critically important to a winning marketing strategy.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know, yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”

If we interpret this in marketing parlance it simply suggests that as a marketer you need to clearly understand your business, your products and services and your value proposition.  Additionally, you must know the same of your competitors in the market.

But even with this knowledge, it is not sufficient to guarantee success and for each success you achieve you will lose equally to a competitor.  Sun Tzu then states:

“If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

This point itself is quite insightful and one that I feel many businesses fail to devote sufficient attention.  Competitive analysis is key to understanding the positioning of your business or products and services, as is the in depth understanding of your business.

Think of your recent strategic planning sessions and the major debates around the development of new products and services in the business.  How much time is spent on internal matters?  Competing with other divisions for investment?  Politicking around the internal structure or hierarchy?  Focusing on setting internal KPIs that have little or no relevance to the market?  Dominated by individual’s self promoting either themselves of their division?  Sound familiar?

Many businesses are so caught up in what they do and how they do it, that they fail to understand their purpose, their competitive position and importantly the strategic intent of their competitors – not to mention the needs of their customers.

Too many times I have seen a myopic internal focus on administrative processes and financial metrics derail the true reason for a business’ existence.  Hours, days and weeks are often spent developing then reworking financial plans and metrics, which do little to position the business for success.

Nor does such navel gazing provide adequate insight into the business.  Sure financial reporting is important, as is adherence to administrative processes, but not to the detriment to meeting the needs of the customers and positioning the business for success in the market.

I feel that many businesses are good at explaining what they do, but not why.  For example, “We manufacture widgets.”

Their internal reporting processes do not explain the business nor provide any direction on how to market the business.  Put simply, you can’t manage or market a business from a P&L.

Extending the statements from before, Sun Tzu states:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and Earth, you may make your victory complete.”

Li Ch’ian, a well known writer on military tactics in the eighth century, summarised this best when he said, “Given a knowledge of three things – the affairs of men, the seasons of Heaven and the natural advantages of Earth, victory will invariably crown your battles.”

Once again if we interpret this as a marketer and then rephrase it appropriately, it might be something such as:

If a marketer knows intimately the business of both the competition and their own business, combined with a detailed understanding of the environmental market conditions and the current and emerging needs of its customers and applies this to designing their strategy; business success is assured.

So next time you sit down to workshop the marketing strategy for your business, think of yourself as an ancient Chinese warlord and ask yourself these questions:

• What is the purpose of our business? 
• How do we add value to our customers? 
• What is the strategic intent of our competitors and how will this impact us?
•  In which market(s) do we participate and what are the conditions? 
• What is our ultimate goal?

Obvious questions I know – but you may find you get quite different responses from key people in the business when you raise them.  And if you do get different perspectives from the people within business, it suggests an absence of a cohesive strategy.

If you haven’t yet read one of the many books available on Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” with interpretations and commentary from specialists, I suggest you do.  It’s a short read and you never know what you might get from it!

The future of direct marketing, as seen from 1994

First a confession... I am a hoarder!  I hate to throw anything out and in my archives are articles, magazines, journals and products that I have kept on the basis that they would be useful references.  I have football records from the 1970’s, Harvard Business Review publications from the ‘80s and industry publications that span across three decades.  And no, they have never been referenced again. Until now!

As I was attempting a massive cleanup the other day, I found myself flicking through the pages of old magazines (instead of turfing them) and chuckling to myself both at the articles and fashion sense of the contributors and notables of the times. It was great to see some old familiar faces as well, including a rather young looking Rob Edwards, then CEO of ADMA.

One Australian magazine I used to read was Database Marketing, the first edition of which came out in June 1994.  Having worked in database marketing since the earlier ‘90s it remains an area I am passionate about and although it has been called many things over the years – the insights available through database marketing can make or break a campaign. 

Database marketing was popularised in the ‘80s and ‘90s.  The main distinction between direct and database marketing is the analysis of customer data and use of statistical techniques to develop models of customer behaviour, and preferences to improve the targeting of marketing communications to market to create a one to one relationship with the customer.  Not just personalisation of communications, but the ability to predict the needs of customers and present offers at the optimum time to secure a positive response to an offer.

Technological advances made the mining and modelling of data and tracking customer buying patterns much easier which in turn lifted the effectiveness of direct marketing.  It also drove the development of metrics such as lifetime value, Recency Frequency Monetary (RFM) and the emergence of econometrics.

Research suggests that the earliest recorded definition of database marketing was in 1988 in the book of the same name (Shaw and Stone 1988 Database Marketing):

“…an interactive approach to marketing, which uses individually addressable marketing media and channels (such as mail, telephone, and the salesforce) to extend help to a company’s target audience, to stimulate their demand, to stay close to them by recording and keeping an electronic database of customer, prospect and all communication and commercial contacts, to help improve all future contacts and to ensure more realistic planning of all marketing”.

In the mid ‘90s Arthur Middleton Hughes book The Complete Database Marketer, stated the goal of database marketing was to enable marketers to replicate the relationship that existed between the local corner store owner and his regular customers, only on a larger scale across thousands, if not millions of customers.  Knowing the customer intimately, understanding their needs and knowing what products they bought and what they would need in the future.  In simple terms, creating a relationship that was mutually beneficial and would create loyalty.

These principles still stand firm today and using insights from customer data continues to enable the marketer’s ability to build a direct relationship with the customer. 

Now let’s set the scene for 1994 – what else was happening in the world?  One thing I know is that I was running queries for campaigns using Model 204 code on a database housed on an IBM mainframe.  And believe it or not, I am not shuffling around the office in my Zimmer Frame chuntering away to all who will listen what it was like back in my day!  Back then it was considered pretty awesome technology.

Every campaign I was involved with was targeted and the queries I ran were across databases of over 7 million accounts or customers, with access to over 400 fields of data for every account.  Demographic profile, monthly spend, ethnicity, credit risk, life stage, disposable income, transactional history, length of relationship, propensity to churn, gender, preferred channel of communication, responses to previous campaigns and products purchased were all referenced to maximise campaign effectiveness. 

Anyway, enough about what fun I was having, join me in the Tardis to see what else was happening in 1994. 

This new “internet thingy” was really starting to grow with Hotwired.com running the first internet banner ad we’d ever seen.  We also saw the birth of Yahoo and Amazon, and Java programming language was released from Sun Microsystems.  Concurrently, Commodore filed for bankruptcy and Netscape Navigator was released, quickly becoming the market leader for web browsing.  But where are they now?  It’s worthwhile noting that Larry Page and Sergey Brin the founders of Google didn’t meet each other until one year later in 1995.

We were operating on DOS 6.22 and Microsoft was beta testing Microsoft 95 having just released Windows 3.11.  Most people were using an IBM compatible with a 486 processor and IBM had just introduced the first Think-Pad with a built in CD-ROM – woohoo!

Lorena Bobbitt was acquitted of attempted malicious wounding after cutting off her then husband’s “manhood” due to temporary insanity (I should hope so! Not really the action of rational person you would think).  I’m sure every male reading this just squirmed in their seat just a little!

A ticket to the movies was less than $5 and petrol in Australia was less than 70 cents a litre, while milk was just over a $1 a litre.

Tonya Harding won the national Figure Skating championship title but was stripped of her title following her infamous attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan.  Imagine her and Lorena Bobbitt at a party together.  Now we’re all squirming.

Ninety-five million viewers watched O. J. Simpson lead the LA Police Department on a merry chase in his white Ford bronco in what is surely history's most exciting low-speed chase.

Lisa Marie Presley married Michael Jackson – I think we all guessed that wasn’t going to last.

The legendary Kurt Cobain committed suicide, such a waste.

The most popular movies were Forrest Gump, The Lion King, the cult classic Pulp Fiction and True Lies featuring an Austrian ex-pat and the future Governor of California in the starring role.

In politics Bill Clinton was President of the US (there was no sign of Monica Lewinsky yet) and Paul Keating was the Prime Minister of Australia.

It was a time of new fashion as we moved away from grunge and upped the ante on how we looked and dressed.  Although from the photos in the magazines in my time capsule, bad ties and brown suits seemed to be the order of the day.

Now I could wax lyrically about the old days, but of more interest to me were some of the subjects in these magazines and the proposed challenges facing marketers of the time. 

In the first edition of Database Marketing, there was an article on how Telecom Australia (you would know them as Telstra now) was getting tough on protecting the copyright of the telephone directories.  A little ironic as there were a multitude of advertisements selling versions of the telephone directory in the same issue.

For those of you who have been following this long drawn out saga, you would have heard that in September 2011 the High Court made a determination that officially ended Telstra's ability to assert copyright in its directories.  This move will change the shape of data licensing in Australia.  But what a fight – some 17 years on from this article first being published a decision has finally been made. 

There were also articles predicting how retailers were going to move away from mass marketing into direct one to one communications.  Hmmm... it’s taken a while but this prediction appears close to becoming reality.  Although, mass marketing works and will continue to work, just talk to the big retailers in town.  Catalogues are still filling the letterboxes of consumers and delivering good ROI.

Database marketing was going to be critically important to creative directors looking to capture insights into customer drivers to be able to better tailor campaigns.  Totally logical, but not as prevalent as it should be given the volumes of data available to us today.

Loyalty programs were seen as the future.... and to a large extent still are.  Remember 1994 was about the same time FlyBuys was launched.

One other article was titled “Database marketing – the ethical salesman.”  Oh I hear the snorts of derision and the question “Isn’t ethical salesman an oxymoron?”  Whilst the title does make you wonder, effective use of information gained from customer data can play a critical role in maximising the effectiveness of the sales process.  And yes, there are ethical sales ”people” out there – but unfortunately the bad ones tarnish that particular profession.

The article that piqued my interest the most was “The future of Direct Marketing: Ten predictions from Drayton Bird”.  I’m sure you all know who Drayton Bird is, but just in case let me refresh your memory.  Drayton Bird is one of the undisputed experts in direct marketing and a doyen of the industry.  Coincidentally, in 1994 Bird was named one of the first six Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing.  In 2003 the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton Bird one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing, other names included Kotler, Peters and Levitt.

Bird has worked with many of the world’s leading brands, including American Express, British Airways, Deutsche Post, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Philips, The Royal Mail, Unilever and Visa, and  has also worked with major advertising agency groups, including Y & R, JWT, FCB and Leo Burnett.  In short, Drayton Bird knows direct marketing!

So here are the 10 predictions and my brief assessment of how accurate they were.

1.       Direct marketing will become pervasive.

No doubt about this one.  In reality, it has become more the case with the digital evolution and improved access to customers.  To be successful in the digital channels the principles of direct marketing apply.

2.       Companies will start to exploit the full range of possibilities direct marketing offers.

I think this one has partially come true.  Certainly direct marketing and its principles are being exploited more, and improvements in technology enable marketers to mine their data have supported this.

3.       Companies will not only build databases: they will use them properly.

Oh Mr. Bird – I so wish this was the case!  Whilst this prediction is based on sound logic that all companies should be building databases and then using them properly, there are many, many who do not.  So much insight is not uncovered due to poorly constructed and administered marketing databases and a failure to understand the value it can deliver

4.       Marketers will take direct control over their own databases.

Interesting prediction and one that continues to gain traction.  There are companies creating specific marketing databases or datamarts to support their campaigns and tools available make it much easier for some of the tech challenged marketers to access data and manage it themselves.  The next few years will see this become a reality.

5.       Increasingly , direct marketing will be integrated with other disciplines.

Once again, Mr Bird is on the money.  Larry Kilmer, CEO of the DMA further reinforced this prediction with his presentation at the 2010 DMA conference in San Francisco.  Kilmer claimed that it was clear that there was a merging of the disciplines of direct marketing across all marketing.  An ever increasing demand for ROI on marketing spend has meant that all marketers need to be able to think like direct marketers.

6.       Just as marketers have had to rethink their world around the customer, so agencies will have to reconfigure or perish.

There’s no doubt we have seen the odd agency or two perish since this article was published and there is a stronger focus on being customer led.  The good agencies, or should I say the progressive agencies, are rethinking their world and ensuring they remain relevant and add value across all disciplines.

7.       Direct marketers will teach ordinary marketers the importance of the value of a customer.

Ouch!  Ordinary marketers... what the?  While I have met a few “ordinary” marketers I’m not sure that is what Mr. Bird was implying.  Let’s reframe the statement to be “traditional” marketers.  As outlined in some of the earlier commentary, there is no doubt that there is a strong alignment between what was once purely the domain of direct marketers and that of the traditional or above the line marketer.

8.       Marketers will begin to realise all customers are not created equal – and act accordingly.

Good call again Mr Bird.  Segmentation of customers by geodemographics, lifestyle, lifestage, socioeconomic profiles and purchasing behaviours is a lot more prevalent today than it was before.  Ease of access to data and improved two way communication between the customer and the supplier are key to this prediction being reality.  Increasingly companies will have the opportunity to truly understand each and every customer and treat them differently.  Sad thing is that many companies aren’t prepared to make the effort.

9.       Marketers will discover that direct marketing adds value to the relationship with customers.

This is a prediction that cuts both ways.  Whilst direct marketing certainly creates the opportunity to build a stronger relationship, if you stuff it up, it can destroy the relationship forever.  This is further exacerbated as a consequence of social networking and the significant power that the customer has taken in the relationship with the companies they buy from.  If you don’t understand your customer intimately – don’t get into the conversation.

10.   Direct marketers will think more about quality and less about quantity.

I agree this is the case and will continue to be.  Direct marketers are more about ROI and diving deeper into the relationship than lifting brand.  A strong desire to be able to measure and report on the success of a campaign will drive smaller or more diversified campaigns leveraging channels that will deliver the best outcome, by customer segment.

In summary, Drayton Bird’s predictions were pretty solid – and why wouldn’t they be as one of our industries experts.  But not even Drayton Bird could have predicted the explosion in communications about to occur. 

In 1994 there were no iPads, no Smartphones (in fact there were only about 1 million analogue mobile phone subscribers and the digital network was just being launched), the world wide web was only just starting to be commercialised and disk space and tools for processing data were expensive.  My, my how things have changed.

I mentioned in a blog for Marketing Magazine last month that in marketing the only certainty is uncertainty.  The space we operate is moving so quickly that it is difficult to predict exactly what challenges we will be facing next year let alone in three years. 

In general terms I believe many marketers have not fully leveraged the power of customer data and subsequently not capitalised on the opportunities to improve the relevance and impact of marketing communications with customers.  Much of what you need is contained within the customer data you have or can acquire.  The tools are cheap and the channels to connect with customers greatly enhanced.

So database marketing is alive and well and will continue to grow, although it is now just part of effective marketing.  I hope prediction number 8 from Drayton Bird that Marketers will begin to realise all customers are not created equal – and act accordingly becomes more and more a reality.

Now, back in the archives I’ve just seen the August 1995 issue of Database Marketing, the headline article is “What the Internet means for Marketers”, now that sounds like an interesting read!

A post of mine first published at Marketingmag.com on November 4, 2011.

UnMarketing – Are you engaged? (A Book review)

It was some time back when I was once again stranded at the airport waiting for a delayed flight that I picked up Scott Stratten’s book, ‘UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.’ (UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. Stratten, John Wiley & Sons, 2010).  I picked it up because of its brown paper style dust cover and the testimonials on the back.

"[INSERT NAME HERE] has written a game changer for [INSERT INDUSTRY HERE]. Drop everything and read this book!"

—Famous author who hasn't read this book

"This author has paid $8,000 to be part of my 'bestselling author program' and he gets a testimonial as part of his fee. This is it."

—Bestselling author who has written a testimonial for every biz book out there

"This book has a great amount of words."

—Fortune 500 CEO who was at an open-bar event with the author and agreed to give testimonial

"This book is the greatest business book in the world, besides mine."

—Author who only gives testimonials to people who give him one in return

Don't Believe Every Book Testimonial You Read

Stratten’s quirky sense of humour was obvious through these bogus testimonials and after a quick scan of the table of contents I was at the counter handing over my hard-earned, hoping for a good read.  I was not disappointed.

Stratten takes the reader on a journey that explains how he became the UnMarketing guru.  This includes his first video that went viral (http://thetimemovie.com/), how a guy named Wes helped a multi-billion dollar Vegas hotel secure his business while cleaning carpets, and how a girl named Jessica that worked at Lush turned Stratten into a lavender scented fan.

But Stratten doesn’t just limit his analysis to his own personal experiences.  He provides excellent commentary and case studies on businesses who are engaging with their customers, and which businesses have some way to go.  Company names such as Walmart, McDonalds, Zappo’s, Dominos and Rockport also get a mention with examples certain to get you thinking about your own business.

UnMarketing asserts that traditional marketing methods have lost their impact as digital channels, including social networking, provide companies with better ways to engage directly with customers.  Stratten’s message is simple

“Marketing is not a task.  Marketing is not a department. Marketing is not a job.  Marketing happens every time you engage (or not) with your past, present and potential customers.  UnMarketing also takes it one step further – it is any time anyone talks about your company.”

UnMarketing challenges the status quo of marketing and suggests that as marketers we are prone to being hypocritical because we market to others in ways we hate being marketed to ourselves.  For example cold-calling, flyers, ads, etc.  UnMarketing asks the reader to question current marketing channels and embrace social networking channels as a means for improving your relationship with customers.

If your business is still not sure whether or not social media can help your business, you’ll enjoy this book.

UnMarketing provides useful tips and guides on how to fully leverage social networking to enhance your brand and engage with your customers.  Stratten uses a simple and straightforward style to get his message across, which is enhanced by a sharp wit and insights gained through personal experience.

The reader gets useful tips on Google AdWords, being transparent on Twitter and comparisons between the major social networking sites.

Stratten is regarded as somewhat of a digital media authority and a celebrity in his own right on Twitter where he describes himself as “Author, Speaker and kind of a big deal on a fairly irrelevant social media site which inflates my self-importance.”  You can (and should) follow him on Twitter: @unmarketing.

One key point Stratten makes about social media is “If you want to build a presence in the social media platform, then you need to be present.”  A point worth highlighting given the multitude of Australian corporates that still think having a Facebook page is a social media strategy.

It was only a month or so ago a colleague of mine (Melena) and I were on the phone with Scott discussing his involvement in the 2012 Schmart Marketing Conference programmed for February (http://www.getschmart.com.au/ ).  Stratten is an engaging (pardon the pun) and charismatic individual.  His passion for life and business comes through in every conversation and the multitude of positive reviews of his presentations and blogs are justified.

In UnMarketing, Stratten claims “Authenticity is everything. It’s not about how many followers you have, but your engagement with them.”  In speaking with him, it is obvious he practices what he preaches.  His transparency and authenticity comes through and this is why he is such a highly sought after speaker.

UnMarketing is more than a book about marketing and social media tips.  If you are looking to take your business and your brand to the next level and build relationships with your customers, then I recommend you buy this book.