LinkedIn vs. Facebook

This is an interesting infographic from Unbounce and Bop Design that points to the strengths and weaknesses of LinkedIn and Facebook for Business to Business (B2B) marketing. My two cents on this is that the platform doesn’t matter nearly as much as your strategy and talent to engage. The message this infographic brings is that you shouldn’t rule out Facebook for your B2B efforts… but I would leave the real results to what you find out with your brand!

For B2B marketers, conventional wisdom says that LinkedIn is the best social media platform to reach business decision makers. It’s built for business networking so you would think LinkedIn would be better for marketing to B2B customers. Let’s look at some stats…

Social Marketing Enables More Meaningful Customer Relationships

By Michael Brito

Much of the social business conversation revolves around the internal dynamics that make up an organization – culture, change management, technology adoption, process creation, etc.  This should certainly be the focus because social business is not social media. I just wrote a post last week about employee engagement and how social business can extract innovation from employees behind the firewall.
But many of these internal initiatives (as boring as it may seem) enable an organization to better communicate with their constituencies externally. In other words, a social business enables a brand to be more social (i.e. a social brand.) A few weeks ago, Mitch Lieberman released his version of the Digital Interaction Process, which I like a lot:

Here is how I interpret this diagram.

• The social customer is influential and they have no problem whatsoever telling the world about their experiences, whether positive or negative
• Brands are listening to the conversation using online monitoring tools
• They are collecting new social data about the customer AND/OR integrating that new data with the data that they already have from traditional CRM systems
• They are applying a set of business rules which will determine what to do with the conversation; and then building workflows that direct the conversation down the right channel
• Brands are attempting to become human as they attempt to engage with the social customer

Whatever we call this process – digital interaction, customer engagement or social CRM doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that we acknowledge that this process is happening today and has been for quite some time now.  And what’s more important to recognize is the collaboration and internal alignment that it takes in order to do this right. Marketing can’t do it alone. Support doesn’t have the resources, budget or “know how” and IT  probably wants to stay as far away from social as possible.  For this process to work, these teams need to work together and communicate.  Not an easy task, trust me.
One company that does this well is Comcast. 
Comcast Cable Company is a perfect example of a brand that has adopted this process.  In fact, they were one of the first to do this and often get all the glory for innovating the way they communicate with customers on the social web thanks to Frank Eliason. I am a huge Comcast fan and I have been a customer for over 10 years. I am happy with their products and the way they have handled my support issues over the years.
But not all Comcast customers feel this way.
Doing a search on Twitter will reveal a commonality of complaints about Comcast. One issue, which comes up daily, is that technicians are either late for their appointment window or just don’t show up at all. And for what it’s worth EVERY telecommunications and Cable Company has this problem, which is why many of them have established a guarantee of service.
Of course, if I am customer going through this, I can always pick up the phone, dial 1-800 Comcast and reach a support agent OR I can tweet at @ComcastCares and they will expedite my issue to the right office/support agent/technician. After all, this is what a good social brand should be doing, right?

• Comcast is monitoring
• Comcast comes across my Tweet
• They take my social data and couple it with my actual customer record so they know just about everything about me
• How long I have been a customer
• My support history (i.e. previous support interactions)
• Which products I subscribe to
• Demographic data
• They assign “my conversation” to the right region or office (I believe @ComcastCares is managed out of Philadelphia and there is a call center about 10 miles from my house in California)
• They handle my issue with empathy, solve my problem and maybe give me a $20 credit or 3 months of a premium channel for free

That is a common scenario for many brands today; and many of them are doing a really good job including Comcast.
But if social business enables better customer relationships what about solving the root cause of the problem?
The issue with technicians being late to appointments or not showing up at all is not a customer relationship management problem at all.  The problem exists somewhere in the internal process – from the time I call in to order to service – to when the support agent takes my info, assigns me my appointment time, inputs into a system – to when my service order gets picked up from that technician on the day of appointment. Something is broken in that process.  Or, maybe they just need to hire more staff.  Either way, it’s not scalable to handle the same (day in and day out) customer support issues over Twitter, especially since Twitter as a support channel is becoming widely adopted; and consumers in general are gaining influence, daily. Someday, small things like this just might come back to bite them in the butt.
A social business does more than they enable more meaningful customer relationships. It optimizes processes and changes the way it does business.

spokane marketing, spokane websites, spokane social media, spokane branding

Begin with a referral in mind

posted by: John Jantsch

A referral is the result a job well done, exceeded expectations and delivering an experience worth talking about. Most assume it happens after the fact, but I’m here to tell you it can happen consistently and predictably before the fact if you begin every decision you make with a referral in mind.

Sarah Korf via Flickr

My Grandmother was an old school, every stitch by hand, quilter. She made every one of her grandchildren and every one of her thirty plus great grandchildren a quilt. I remember asking her how she did it and she told me that she always just began with the end in mind. She would make hundreds and hundreds of decisions about where she was going because she had a single minded goal in her head.

Let me ask you this – What would need to change if you were to wake up tomorrow and proclaim that every single one of your clients would be so well cared for they would naturally refer their friends and colleagues? If a 100% referral rate was now your new standard of success, would that make you pause and reflect on just about every element of your business?

Would that make you think about how to over deliver as a design element of your products and services?

Would that make you think about ways to ensure your clients got the results promised?

Would that change the way you followed up 45 and 90 days after the sale?

Would it make you start introducing the idea of a referral during the sales process?

Could you confidently assure a prospect that they would be so happy with the result of the purchase that they would want to refer – before they ever became a customer?

Would it make you reassess ways you build trust? Would it make you freely give away information and training that is better than what your competitors charged for?

Would it change how you more fully integrated social media, content and SEO?

Yes, referrals happen because of what a referred prospect finds when they search.

Would it change your idea of what an ideal client looked like? Remember, one of the surest ways to generate referrals is to attract clients that fully appreciate your unique way of doing business.

So you see, referrals don’t just happen because of what you do after you have a satisfied client, they happen because of every thing you do before you even attempt to ask for the referral.

A referral happens most when you begin with the referral in mind.

spokane marketing, spokane websites, spokane branding, 

The Tyranny of Low Price

 By Seth Godin

If you build your business around being the lowest-cost provider, that's all you've got. Everything you do has to be a race in that direction, because if you veer toward anything else (service, workforce, impact, design, etc.) then a competitor with a more single-minded focus will sell your commodity cheaper than you.

Cheapest price is the refuge for the marketer with no ideas left or no guts to implement the ideas she has.

Everyone needs to sell at a fair price. But unless you've found a commodity that must remain a commodity, a fair price is not always the lowest price. Not when you understand that price is just one of the many tools available.

A short version of this riff: The low-price leader really doesn't need someone with your skills.


spokane marketing, spokane websites, branding, design, seo, outsource marketing

Facebook Marketing

  By Michael Fleischner

 

The recent announcement about Facebook going public mean a lot for marketers.  You might be asking yourself whether or not the $38 stock price is a good buy.  Personally, I think the stock price itself is meaningless.  What's significant is the fact that Facebook, much like Google, is here to stay.

It's quite conceivable that Facebook will morph and change significantly over the next few years.  But the reality is that they can.  Companies like FB and Google have something that most small companies do not - resources.  And when you combine social and marketing companies with resources, something amazing happens.  That something is innovation.

If you remember a time before Google Adwords and pay-per-click advertising, marketing was drastically different.  We were more focused on print ads, print advertising, and direct response.  At the time we didn't know how limited we were with regard to user information, behavioral data, and community.  One of the reasons marketing has changed so significantly is because large companies were in a position to bring innovations to the marketing world.

Facebook is in the same boat.  Now they have even greater resources to invest in innovation and taking the marketing community to the next level.  I don't know what they have in store but once thing is certain - they wont stand still.  Begin a public company all eyes will be on Facebook, quarter after quarter and year after year.  This pressure combined with billions in assets gives them not only the incentive to innovate but the resources as well.

It seems like everyday, small companies like Instagram and others come out of the woodwork but the reality is that they are far and few between.  Those you read about are often started in a college dorm room (where I would argue there is little or no risk) or are backed by large investors.  I think innovation would happen without these scenarios but it would take much long and the results would likely be far less interesting. 

Just as Google has brought major changes to the online world, so will Facebook.  As is true with most advertising platforms, the systems start off by copying what's already out there.  In time, they develop innovations of their own.  And finally, because the platform has so much of the addressable market, the technology is distributed and soon everyone has adopted a new advertising model.

I believe this is the trend we will see with Facebook.  Look for the blue giant to innovate and raise the bar when it comes to reaching or influencing potential customers.  They have the platform, they have the audience, and now, they have the incentive to innovate.  This is a perfect storm for once again changing how marketing is done!

 

 

Spokane Marketing, Marketing Companies in Spokane, Spokane SEO, Spokane Websites, Spokane Outsource Marketing.

 

www.e35creative.com

Seeds

There will inevitably come a time, usually early on in a young companies history that the leader or leaders will begin to doubt they did the right thing by starting a company. The questions will come flooding into their collective psyches... "Did we do the right thing by venturing out on our own?", "Wouldn't be easier to work for someone else?" "It's so much less intrusive on my life when I can simply punch the clock, and be able to turn it off at night." I know that last one isn't a question but it bangs around in my head constantly. You have to come to the answers to these questions and observations on your own.

I can promise you a few things...

1: It is absolutely, with out a doubt easier to work for somebody else. They carry the burden. You cash the paycheck. Even as a top notch engaged employee you will never feel the burden the owner does. He is responsible for providing work, company growth, making sure there's money in the bank for payroll. It rests on his shoulders.

2: Whether or not this company is the "right thing" to do can never be decided on when you are battling doubts. The doubts are temporary. They will go away eventually but they cloud our judgment so significantly we should never make a decision while experiencing them. However we should use them to redirect ourselves, or possibly even motivate ourselves. Those seeds are only valuable if we use them to move forward.

3: You will sleep better not being an owner. You will sleep better not being a leader of any kind. We don't get the luxury of turning off and on whenever it is convenient. Some people are built for it and some aren't, and that's ok. We have to decide whether or not it's worth it. The reality is most of the time the "worth" far exceeds our expectations. The late nights, the deadlines, the lean times, and the juggling act are sooooo worth it.

My advice, get a coach or mentor who's been through it. Lean on them to walk you through those times of doubt. They've certainly experienced them. It will help immensely to know that these experiences are not new and somebody has come out on the other side.

The other side is so much more radiant when we walked through the darkness.


www.e35creative.com

Ranking for signal to noise ratio

By Seth Godin

A whisper in a quiet room is all you need. There's so little noise, so few distractions, that the energy of the whisper is enough to make a dent.

On the other hand, it's basically impossible to have a conversation (at any volume) in a nightclub.
Signal to noise ratio is a measurement of the relationship between the stuff you want to hear and the stuff you don't. And here's the thing: Twitter and email and Facebook all have a bad ratio, and it's getting worse.

The clickthrough rates on tweets is getting closer and closer to zero. Not because there aren't links worth clicking on, but because there's so much junk you don't have the attention or time to sort it all out.
Spam (and worse, spamlike messages from organizations and people that ought to treasure your attention and permission) are turning a medium (email) that used to be incredibly rich into one that's becoming very noisy as well.

And you really can't do much to fix these media and still use them the way you're used to using them.
The alternative, which is well worth it, is to find new channels you can trust. An RSS feed with only bloggers who respect your time. Relentless editing of who you follow and who you listen to and what gets on the top of the pile.

Until you remove the noise, you're going to miss a lot of signal.

Stay Focused Or Do Some Tweaking

Most young companies will come to a crossroads pretty early on. There will usually be a potential change that will present itself and the leaders will need to decide how to  tackle it. It can come in the form of a change in leadership, it can come as a new product or service offering, and it can come in the way of scrapping your start up's marketing campaign and going in a totally different direction. Whatever it is, they will have to decide whether to embrace it or reject it and stay the course.

There's a few questions that will help guide a company when the fork in the road show's itself:

1: Can you honestly say that what you are doing is working?
If you take all the pride, and all the hurt feelings, and set them aside, is it working. Is the service valuable, is it selling? Is the product producing honest to goodness revenue? Is the marketing bringing a measurable return on investment.

2: Can you change without a complete overhaul?
Is this change going to affect the entire fabric of an organization, or is it a small tweak that can be easily integrated into the current culture. Does it feel bigger than it actually is?

3: Will making this change be too much for the current leadership to handle?
Is the leadership adaptable with several skill sets or are they very specialized in each of their roles?

4: How far off is the company from turning actual profits?
This is the kicker. If a company can really say it is knocking on profit's door, then a change can be the worst thing they can do. But if real profit is months or years off, then a change might be exactly what it needs.

These are just some things to think about for any start up. At E:35 Creative we are experiencing this exact thing and if we ask ourselves these questions we can honestly say that our change is very achievable with out a complete overhaul and will fit in nicely with our current service offerings. If that ends up being the case with your young company, I say... change away. Otherwise stick to what you know, what your passionate about, and remember all the reasons you started your business and stay the course.

www.e35creative.com

It Takes All Kinds

Yesterday was a real eye opener. I helped build a website, or re-build a website, or... well, there was lots of key strokes and mouse button clicking going on. You see we are, at this point, a two man operation. Maybe 2.5 on a good day. I am the operations and sales side of the business and my partner is the programming and nuts and bolts side. Together we make a good team. But I figured I needed to learn how to do some of the stuff he does because, like any start up, we anticipate massive growth and I might be needed. I actually enjoyed it, to a certain extent. However his little red chair that fits his boney butt, does not fit my slightly larger rear end and I could barely walk by the end of the day. I came to realize I really enjoy the "creating" side of things but he is better at it. Not just because he has spent countless hours learning how to do it but because that is what he is built to do.

We are a good match. Revenue generation and company direction falls into my skill set and not in his. While he just gets the keystroking, mouse clicking side of things. It makes sense to him. I have to suffer through it like he would suffer through walking into a strangers place of business and asking them to buy something. I think we are naturally attracted to people that balance us out, and in business it is no exception.

However, often times when start ups launch, I see that there are two people with similar skill sets that partner up. Usually it's two idea guys getting each other all worked up over a beer and swearing that "this business model can't fail." The problem they have nobody to do the actual work. Or you have couple of skilled workers who are tired of their boss, venture out on their own, and have no idea how to run a business and are really surprised when there aren't customers beating down their door.

The most successful companies learn to work in their strengths and manage their weaknesses. Your strengths will never mean as much to your bottom line as your weaknesses. My suggestion, if there's a guy with a little red office chair on the side of the road looking for work, partner up with him.


www.e35creative.com

The Increasingly Illusive Referral

My family and I were sitting around the dinner table for Mother's Day a few days ago and as it usually goes, it's loud and everyone is talking over the top of everyone else. Dinner with the Brown family is fun. Just don't expect to get a word in edge wise. It came to my attention that my sister was rear ended earlier in the week, in a hit and run accident. She's got a couple of bruises, nothing serious, but her Nissan needs some body work. She asks if I know a good body shop. I began to say a name but suddenly realized I was drawing a blank. I thought back, attempting to delve deep into the recesses of my vault like noggin, and... I... drew... a... blank. Not because I haven't had body work done before but because I was not loyal to anyone in particular. I didn't have a relationship stored in my long term memory to allow me to give a good referral. This is when I realized, I can't remember the last time I gave or asked for a referral for anything.

This was a little disturbing, because I am a highly relational guy. I like people, I respect good service, and superior products, I am happy to share the knowledge if asked, but nobody asks anymore. Now there is the rare occasion that your buddy may have some back pain and you are in the middle of a round of Chiropractor visits and happen to be carrying the Doc's card but unless that encounter happens naturally you're not giving a referral to your friend. Because before he calls or texts you for the name of your Chiro he's pulling out his smart phone and looking at the top four or five Google rankings. I came to the conclusion that it takes less time and effort for us to find the information we need ourselves then it does to ask for it from a friend or family member.

Without trying to sound like a doomsdayer, I want to be clear, this new reality can be catastrophic for many companies if it's not embraced. Especially if your company's product or service is not needed on a regular basis. Such as attorneys, doctors, plumbers, car dealers, etc.. One of the the other problems that exists now is the consumer is exposed to so much advertising, marketing, and information between needing your product or service again that our loyalty is shifts. Not to somebody else necessarily but back to neutral, as if they don't have any kind of relationship with a particular company. This is the case with me and my sister's body shop question.

There's nothing like a blogger to point out a problem and not offer up a solution, right? Well I believe I do have the solution. It's not like the consumer won't be loyal under the right circumstances. We are human and we like to have relationships, and usually we resist change. The answer is really two fold. The first part is obvious. You have to have world class customer and client service. I mean world class, not as good as the next guy but world class, and it needs to be offered at a competitive price. Not cheap, because it's hard to offer world class customer service if you're only competing on price. The second part of the solution is, and this might be new so some of you, but you have to be we're your customer is looking for your product or service. They have already used you, they just need a reminder as to why to go back. If you're one of the first options when they hop on the Google, or you've stayed in front of them with your social media campaign then you have a real shot of getting their business again. If you're not, there's a great chance that they find what they are looking for in one of your competitors.

E:35 Creative specializes in marketing to this new consumer. Call or email us for a free consultation.

Why Outsource Your Marketing?

Not only is there a huge financial incentive but there's also some strategic advantages. One particular example is this.... it's often an advantage to hire a marketing firm outside of your company because they may have a broader perspective of new opportunities and new markets. Often a company will continue trying to harvest their existing demographic when there are other markets to reach out to. For instance for a long time service based companies have ignored Gen X and really focused on the Baby Boomers. The Baby Boomer generation was looked at as being a financially viable marketing risk. However over the last five years Gen X has come into solid employment and began to make real money but they continue to be ignored by many service based companies. The problem is marketing to Gen X and marketing to Baby Boomers is a seriously different thing, with different strategies, and different triggers. Companies often get so consumed by their own culture that an outside perspective is beneficial.



Marketing, Outsourced Marketing, SEO, Website Management, Print Design


www.e35creative.com

The World Has Gone Mobile. Have You?

Most of these statistics have been drawn from a study done by a think tank called mobiThinking. The numbers themselves seem staggering but if we really look around and are able to look past the mind blowing hugeness of it all, it's really not that surprising. Here's a link to the study . If you have as much nerd in you as I do, you might care to read it.

Some specifics that will come as a surprise are:
-There are 5.9 billion mobile users, 87% of the world population
-There are 1.2 billion mobile web users world wide. That number will triple in the next 2 years.
-Over 8 trillion text messages were sent in 2011. Yes that's trillion, with a "t".
-In the U.S. $240 billion was spent by consumers using their phones and mobile devices
-By 2015 consumers are expected to spend over a trillion dollars using their phones and devices.
-Today 25% of smart phone users don't use a laptop or desktop, that number will double in 2 years


Those are just a few of the staggering statistics. If your business is not set up to make money in the mobile market E:35 Creative can help. The reality is, if you're website optimized for mobile applications then you are behind. I really wanted to say that we can set you up for the future, but it is on top of us already. You might be playing catch up.... and that's ok. Not only can we help your website look better on smart phones, we can help you with how to optimize the sight so it actually makes you money in the mobile world.

Leadership Journal Archive: Comment Policy

Leadership Journal Archive: Comment Policy
Thanks, this is great information.

Marketing In Today's Reality, Maybe.

While we have just opened the doors at E:35 Creative, this is not our first rodeo. In my previous job I met with the owners, managers, an decision makers of SMB's every day. We are talking about the people that make up the back bone of our national economy. These are the people that hold local dollars and local jobs in the palm of their hands. Especially in Spokane and many cities like it, where there is no big conglomerate feeding us with jobs. Local business owners mean more in these types of areas than anywhere else. For the first time in my career I'm finding that they are scared to part with their hard earned advertising dollars.

There seems to be a misguided idea that the consumer no longer exists. Whether the product or service is for individuals or to be sold to other companies, many local owners are stuffing their marketing dollars under their mattress. Hoping to ride out the storm and get back into the marketing game when the economic climate looks a little more "70 degrees and sunny" and less "48 degrees, with a 94% chance of rain, for the next 67 weeks." I constantly hear the people say things like "lets wait and see what the election is going to do" or "I've cut my marketing dollars, this year, I just can't afford it." They say these things after driving to our meeting in $45,000 Audi, or in the same breath they talk about the Cost Rican vacation they are planning for next month. Don't get me wrong, business owners work incredibly hard, they have every right to enjoy the fruits of they're labor. But what they need to realize that every study I've ever read has stated, in a nut shell, "those that have the guts to continue marketing in a down economy, wins." Check out this article . It's one of many.

If we use a little deductive reasoning we realize that this is in fact the case. Does your target audience disappear? No, there may be fewer of them, but they do not go away.  What happens when there is greater competition for a particular audience? Who wins? The answer is easy... the company that has the intestinal fortitude to stay in front of their audience. This is not to say that marketing strategies don't change in times like these. They do. Business owners need to make sure they are spending on something that works, they need to make sure every marketing decision they make has a measurable return on investment. There has to be less throwing money against the wall and hoping it sticks and more making your marketing company show you real numbers, not just fancy billboards.

The internet is the great equalizer when it comes to marketing. Virtually everything a business owner will do there, marketing wise, can be measured. You no longer have to take that wink and smile from your advertising rep who says "trust me it's working." When your bottom line isn't reflecting it the same way his pearly whites reflect your confused face as you ink your signature to another year of hoping for the best.

I agree with the notion that business owners need to have some level of nervousness when parting with hard earned marketing dollars, especially now. But to make themselves less visible to a consumer audience that has certainly decreased in numbers could be the last bad decision they get to make.

The Art of Starting

So, we are open for business. As luck would have it we are looking for exactly that... business. I wish I could tell you that we had an amazing plan. I wish I could tell you we know exactly what we are doing. I wish I could tell you we have an array of clients singing our praises. But the reality is we have none of those things, we are a start up and we are flying by the seat of our pants. I don't want to scare any of you business owners that might be considering using our services. Make no mistake we can do the work, we will not stop until your project exceeds your expectations. But I don't want any reader to think that we have pinpointed our perfect strategic plan. Because right now, as I write this, we are freaking out.

So we have a business license and a UBI number, what's next? You see, like most start ups we formed out of necessity. I was let go from a Fortune 500 company and my partner was working a job that he could no longer physically perform. So we said "Hey, I know what we should do, we should start a marketing company, you know one that builds websites, and does branding, stuff like that." And E:35 Creative www.e35creative.com was born. There was no great choir of angels and no red ribbon cut with cartoonishly large scissors. It was the just the two of us, with a nervous blessing from our wives, saying "Yeah, we can do this."

The actual "work" part of business isn't the problem. We can execute the work, get it done on time, and within budget. The problem is that nagging doubt that we can be successful in this economy given our lack of a plan. While ingenuity, passion, and nose-to-the-grindstone work is certainly needed, none of those traits replace strategy, right? Because right now our strategy is, "let's go sell some stuff." That's a little over the top, but not a complete exaggeration. My father, a brilliant consultant and strategist is shaking his proverbial head. Or maybe his literal head. Regardless, there's shaking going on.

While my stomach has been in knots since we made the decision, it is drowned out by the stories I've read about companies becoming incredibly successful by any measure simply because the owner had the guts to take a risk. The plan fell into place later, the strategy made itself known and the clients started calling. None of which would have happened if they didn't say "Hey, I have and idea..."