My consulting philosophy is rooted in the “teach them to fish” school of thought, and I tell prospective clients when making a proposal that my goal is to work myself out of a job. In other words, my value is not just in conceiving and executing a marketing strategy but in sharing with a client’s employees what I’ve learned over several years of experimenting with social media. The key areas of which I focus on are as follows:
- Empathy: Do you understand what motivates other people? Tune into not just what’s being said but how it’s being said. Context and feelings often matter more than the words. What makes people crazy about your industry and what do they love? Those insights into motivations are invaluable in understanding customer preference, the most important measure and leading indicator for marketing success.
- Organizational awareness: Do you appreciate the culture and values of the group? While customer visits are irreplaceable they don’t always let you get inside the heads and hearts of customers. Done right, hosting online communities for customers around a topic or issue that they’re interested in can help you more deeply understand their values. The community, of course, must be for the customers, providing a place where they can connect with others with similar interests, find helpful resources, tap into fresh content, get and give help. The value of communities to marketers is not necessarily a new “channel” where the highest number of registered users marks success. Rather, it’s more of what you can learn about customers from their interactions with other people like them. (Same goes for employee social networks.)
- Influence: Do you persuade others by engaging them in discussion and appealing to their self-interests? So many companies ask me,” Should our company have a blog?” Before tackling that, I’d suggest that you first get to know the bloggers in your field and industry. Read them, offer thoughtful comments on their posts, write a Twitter tweet about a post you think is especially interesting. Getting involved in discussions in this way is the way to earn influence.
- Developing others: Do you provide feedback that people find helpful for their professional development? Sometimes we forget that people buy products or services not just to help their companies, but also to help themselves get ahead professionally. A question to ask ourselves: do our marketing programs provide helpful insights and advice to customers? Are we giving away knowledge that will help customers advance their careers by doing business with us? Are we making it easy for customers to fi nd the person in our company to go to in order to fi nd advice – or just have an informal conversation? Helpfulness builds relationships, and all business is about relationships.
- Inspiration: Do you articulate a compelling vision, build group pride, and foster a positive emotional tone? When employees and customers believe in a company’s purpose or cause they emotionally connect with the company, becoming your best marketing word of mouth reps. In a tough economic climate it’s especially important to ask “Why is our company especially relevant today? Why do we matter?” If you know the answer, use that purpose as the centerpiece of your 2009 marketing. If you’re not sure, find it.
- Teamwork: Do you solicit input from everyone on the team? Collaborate! Social media/Web 2.0 has removed the technical obstacles to collaboration and participation. In 2009 look at wikis as a way to work on projects. Hold idea storms and online raves internally and with customers to solve problems and fi nd innovative ideas in all the unusual places. Invite customers into the product development process early on through private communities. Most importantly, recognize and thank people for their help. That’s just good social manners, and being social has always been good for business.
So this is what I have found amongst my archives.
Let me know what you thought of this post and what grade you would give my paper. I appreciate your comments, so start commenting so I can appreciate them. Also, if you liked it enough, let your friends know. The more people the better. Also, be sure to subscribe by clicking here. =)
