The Mountaintop Insights, Inspiration and Perspective for Enlightened Marketers

March 15, 2010

Focus on the Social Approach, Not the Social Medium

Filed under: General,Human Behavior,Social Experience Design,Social Media — Jeff @ 3:45 pm

One of the things I have been preaching about for the past while is not to focus on the medium, but on the approach in Social Media Environments. I have taken to calling this the Social Experience.

What is Social Experience Design?

Much the same as Customer Experience Design, it is the design of an experience that is specific to being social with your customers in online environments. While it is similar to customer experience which covers much of the enterprise (from marketing to sale to customer service) it is also very unique.

Why? Because Online Social Environments are so unique and very unlike what the majority of companies have experienced before.

How is Social Experience Unique?

Here’s a short list I’ve been working on:

  • It is a 2way conversation – Since when did we want our customers to do anything but listen to us???
  • It is personal ranging from 1-1 conversations to 1-many/many-1
  • It is shared control with your customer or prospect and this makes every Enterprise with control issues very, very uncomfortable.
  • It is about them, not about you. This is the killer, especially in B2B, where we are so used to talking about ourselves and nothing else.

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The Value of Social Experience Design in the Enterprise.

So if you are able to craft an approach that delivers a positive social experience, you should be able to apply this to ANY social media environment from the big public wastelands like Twitter and Facebook to private customer environments and everything in between.

If your approach is wrong and the experience is indifferent or negative, it won’t matter where you go, you will fail.

The Medium is Going to Evolve

Betting on the medium right now carries a lot of risk for many reasons. Think back to other media that have died, but seemed great at the time such as VHS, CD/DVD, and desktop computers just to name a few.

To put it in the perspective of online media declines, I’ve captured some specifics below:

  • Some Social Media channels are already showing signs of decline such as My Space. When the celebrities and self proclaimed gurus leave Twitter for the next big thing, Twitter will decline rapidly too.
  • Mobile culture is going to be one of the biggest driving forces for change in the next few years, especially in B2B. According to IDC, the shift to mobile is immense and in the immediate with nearly 1 billion mobile workers accessing enterprise systems this year.
  • For B2B and B2C alike, innovations like augmented reality are going to begin to draw more people to the mobile realm. So how long do laptops and traditional websites really have?

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One thing is clear, the media we use to communicate with our customers (and they to us!) is going to continue to evolve rapidly with our without us. By focusing on the social experience, we create a much more adaptable approach to evolutionary changes in the social medium.

The Tail End of the Horse

I have always believed that marketers latch onto new media channels like Social Media way too late. By the time most companies get caught up to speed on Social Media it will have changed yet again, and guess what, email or something else we GenXers hold dear may have gone the way of the Dodo too.

What we need to do is get in front of the horse and try to see where its going instead of walking behind it and getting shit on our shoes.

Disagree? Agree? Just want to argue the points? Let me know!

Cheers!

Jeff – Sensei

March 12, 2010

Social Territory – Natural Human Patterns in Social Media

Filed under: Customer Experience,Human Behavior,Social Experience Design,Social Media — Jeff @ 3:23 pm

So I have been thinking…

What if we could look at where people go online and how they interact in those places like we understand ranges or territories for mammals? For example, my online range includes:

  • My cave (my blog) where I am safe and feel the most comfortable
  • Places where I hunt for “food” to nourish both personal and business needs. This includes Twitter and Linked In
  • Places where I can be with others of my species; their blogs, focused communities, etc.
  • New areas where I can expand my ability to increase any of the above and does not have too many competitors

This range tends to define who I am online as part of my overall brand.

But it is more than that I think.

For others, their ranges could include places to find mates (various dating sites), better food sources (leads and prospecting) and places to improve their natural capabilities (be that cooking, parenting,  education, shopping, etc).

So How Does This Apply to Business?

Well, maybe looking at customers and understanding their range gives us new insight or better understanding of them – a broad, shallow view rather than narrow and deep. Certainly as Large Enterprises look to understand a customer or prospect they tend to take a very narrow and deep view of that person; focusing only on what is directly relevant to what we want them to buy.

Consider for a minute looking at designing a customer experience – it really is about how that person experiences your brand in the broadest sense of the word – every touch point both direct and indirect. Maybe a territorial perspective gives the possibility of new insight into how they experience your brand? Especially in nebulous environments like Social Media.

I will be exploring this theory more as part of my research and writing for my Book – On Social Media: How Big Business Can Leverage Natural Selection in Social Media to Become a Dominant Species.

March 8, 2010

Appealing to Human Values in B2B Marketing – Part 1 of 3 on Online Demand Generation

Filed under: Customer Experience,Customer Loyalty,Demand Generation,Human Behavior — Jeff @ 5:15 pm

I have been working with large enterprise for the past 12 years primarily focused on Demand Generation, online Demand Generation to be precise. It took until until last year for one of what I consider to be, the last stones to fall into place on my holistic approach to this art form. Just 11 years to learn that lesson… not bad!

The lesson has to do with people and the conflict of personal and corporate values.

Who are We Marketing to?

I think many of us always tend to think about industries, positions, company types when we think of B2B targeting for our demand generation efforts. In my mind, this misses a crucial element in not only the messaging but the demand generation process which is the person we want to engage. So the first part of my realization is that no matter what, we are always selling or marketing to people, not businesses. A lot of you are saying, “yes, and???” because that’s not really something that’s rare knowledge. But here is where I followed the rabbit down the hole.

How Does this Make a Difference in Marketing?

Human beings are complex creatures, constantly processing tons of information every hour of every day to make decisions and stay within the boundaries of our own rules, society’s rules and the rules of the companies we work for. But what happens when a person has two conflicting set of values, say their personal values and the values of the corporation they are working for? Who wins the values conflict?

The answer depends on who you are targeting and how willing they are to compromise themselves and/or the companies they represent. So how do we market to someone who already has two sets of values in conflict? Are we going to push our own values on them to introduce a third factor in the conflict?

Understanding and Overcoming Values Conflict

A values conflict can be tricky depending on the type of person you are dealing with; some will be absolutely unwilling to compromise others will be very willing to compromise. Compromise could be personal compromise (based on the strength of the relationship you create) or corporate compromise where they are willing to bend rules to do business with you. Either way, there are several proven ways to improve your effectiveness.

  1. Play the horse, not the course. Focus on improving your attractiveness to certain types of people, not companies. A example of this is to be able to easily engage CFOs and COOs, instead of just appealing to an industry or sector.
  2. Align your values with the person. You can’t lose in this situation if you align to them instead of the brand they work for. Most times you will hit key values they both share anyway, but aligning to personal enables better engagement of the individual.
  3. Focus on them, not you. Make sure your approach is customer-centric, not about you. Do your research and make sure you know what they want for their business and themselves.
  4. Identify and Provide Solutions for Value-based Objections. This is probably the toughest one as it requires deep understanding of the customer’s values struggle. The best advice is to create scenarios that call values into question and create messaging, content and processes to overcome these with minimal to moderate compromise of personal values.

Much of this can be woven into your corporate websites, online content and digital presentations. Even corporate videos can be aligned to use this approach by using specific types of individuals and talk tracks to get the point across.

Closing with a Story

One of my fist clients and now a dear friend had a values struggle when I first met her. I was introduced to her by a colleague for a website RFP she was managing. While I came well regarded, my little company did not come near to meeting the requirements of this particular RFP. Her company absolutely forbid doing business with small companies as they were deemd unreliable from a delivery and service standpoint; a value her company held dear – reliable service and quality deliverbales.

As we talked and I got to know her and she began to understand me, a values struggle became clearly evident for her (although I didn’t recognize it at the time).  For her, my approach was very different. I asked good questions, I listened intently, I was available at all hours of the night, I clarified things for her that needed to be clarified, and I quickly developed top of mind presence with her when it came to thinking about this project.

Her struggle came to a head when I submitted my proposal versus all of the other large vendors. Mine was 3 pages plus an exec summary of one page; all the others gave 20-30 page proposals full of rhetoric. She told me later that it was at that point she knew I had won her business, that I understood her so well that I could articulate a solution for her in 3 pages.

But the struggle she went through was intense and the final decision called on her to question the values of her company or rather the rules formulated from the values of her company and make a decision based on her own set of values. The project was a great success for her and 10 years later we are still solid friends.

Has it always turned out this way? No. But it has given my little firm the advantage many times and won us some great client relationships – relationships that last into today and hopefully many, many years into the future.

Disagree with me? Let me know; I love good debates and would like to hear other stories that support or debunk my theories.

Cheers!

Jeff – Sensei

March 4, 2010

Why I Will Buy a Toyota and Cheer for Tiger Woods

Filed under: Customer Experience,General,Human Behavior — Jeff @ 8:16 pm

Several years ago I was discussing the GM brand with a great and talented colleague out of the public advocacy space. He said something absolutely fascinating to me which I have never forgotten, “How long does it take to ruin a great brand? Not long if you try hard enough.” Now, I don’t know if he created this wisdom himself or was passing it on to me, but it stuck.

Fast forward to today and it is so true for Toyota and Tiger Woods. In a matter of months, they have destroyed much of the pristine, almost untouchable quality that was their brand. But this article in the NY Times got my Irish up. Why?

Bring out Your Dead

I'm not dead yet!

Well, it reminded me of that scene from the Holy Grail, you know the one, a guy is pushing a cart with corpses down the street screaming “Bring out your dead!” Then a guy comes out with an old man across his shoulders and flops him on the cart. The old man begins to babble, but no one is listening to him “I’m not dead yet, I feel happy!”.  Is the Tiger brand beyond repair or have we called it too early?

Tiger Woods – the Man and the Empire

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that he screwed up big time and is paying for it big time. But at the same time I recall the words of my colleague, maybe there is an opposite rule that could apply – How long does it take to repair a great brand? Not long if you try hard enough. So here’s a different perspective.

If he is sincere (and he seems to be) about flying straight and doing the right thing, then the sporting world will welcome him back with open arms, as will sponsors. He is just too good at what he does. His brand will certainly evolve, but he will be fine as will his empire. As for his personal life… none of my business.

Toyota for Life

If any other CEO had come out and said he was sorry and that his auto company would bear full responsibility I would not believe him.  For me, I think there will be no better time to buy a Toyota in fact. Toyota is still a quality brand and it is showing in their service during this recall, including at home pickups and all sorts of extra measures. Yes, they screwed up, but what large company hasn’t? The difference between a company like Toyota screwing up and a company like GM screwing up is that you can be sure Toyota will fix itself. GM… not so sure, but we will get a chance to see that in action as they begin a recall of their own and point the finger at everyone else.

So How Does a Great Brand Bounce Back?

Maybe it starts with accepting responsibility as both Tiger Woods and Akio Toyoda have done. A good start to be sure. The next step everyone will be watching for is that commitment to making sure it doesn’t happen again. In both cases, I believe they can do it and people forget and move on anyway after all the huckle buckle dies down.

Until that time, I’ll cheer for Tiger in every tournament and look forward to getting my FJCruiser in the summer.

February 20, 2010

Paying it Forward – Human Behavior Online – Part 3 of 3

Filed under: Customer Experience,Human Behavior,Social Experience Design,Social Media — Jeff @ 2:47 pm

As a business, it is hard for us to selflessly think about others. Over the past ten years I have watched in fascination what to me looks like the slowest train wreck in history; at times i have watched from a safe distance, other times I have been a passenger, and sometimes the conductor. What I am talking about is that we as business seem to have lost touch with what it is to be human. What we see now, are numbers.

If we look at the incredible advances in data driven marketing and how it has helped us understand customer patterns and behavior has it also helped to dehumanize our approach to customers? We tend not to look at people, we look at “people” or we call them click, followers, fans, traffic, impressions, etc…

Has this been our biggest failing as marketers?

Oh to be Human Again

And then suddenly, in rides Social Media. A consumer nirvana; one place to reach hundreds of millions of customers. It is so close to us and yet remains out of reach for some many businesses. Why?

Maybe it’s that 800lb gorilla on our backs that’s saying, “How can we make money from this; what’s the ROI?” and because greed tends to create abhorrent behavior in the best of us we look at these consumers as dollar signs instead of people.

Perhaps as businesses we just don’t know how to act properly in an online social situation, like the drunk, obnoxious frat boy staggering around spilling his beer on everyone at the party. To him, he was the life of the party. To the rest of the party goers he was a jackass. His behavior screams look at me, but everyone that looks is turned off. Not that I would know of course…

I can’t help feeling that many times this is the way consumers perceive business which may explain why many business forays into Social Media become lightning rods for hostility and negativity. Of course, this is amplified many times by our deep seeded drive to control everything we touch.

Paying it Forward Works

I am not the first one to say this and certainly won’t be the last. The web is full of conventional wisdom on how to approach people, so maybe I can offer a different perspective to help advance the understanding of online human behavior in juxtaposition to Social Media and online relationships in general.

First, paying it forward is a simple, but powerful concept for a selfless act to benefit another human being or group of human beings. The belief is that paying forward will eventually reach back to us in some positive form. The key to paying it forward is to be selfless; in other words sincerely not expect anything back. Tough call for any business to make, let alone a single person.

Second, what does “Paying it forward” do? Well, let’s start with a little list:

  • It creates a good feeling in the recipient and if you believe like i do that emotions are contagious, this is a good thing. (I point back to Connected by Nicholas Christakis for an even more defensible argument on emotional contagion). A single person can help dozens of people feel good, but a company can help thousands.
  • It builds a subtle kind of obligation. Obligation, even subtle obligation, is a powerful emotion; its the glue that binds a marriage together through all adversity. When you do something nice for someone, there is a natural tendency or feeling in the recipient to return that favor. Now, this doesn’t apply to everyone because a lot of people will just keep taking without giving, but it is worth it.
  • It creates a positive, memorable experience. Try it our for yourself – Remember back to some interactions with others that were truly memorable – you will find some incredible acts of selfless service behind those memories.
  • It can potentially create brand evangelists. Brand champions or evangelists spread the word for us. This is the ultimate payback of paying it forward. Does it happen every time? No. But, the more powerful the act you pay forward, the greater the chance you will create evangelists.

How do you Pay it Forward as a Business?

Well, Social Media has given us that chance. Channels like Twitter and FaceBook allow us to engage with customers at a human level and interact in a way we never could before. These channels also allow for new ways to service customers or anyone for that matter. To me, I believe the best way of Paying it Forward for companies is finding ways to improve 3 things:

  1. Your business’ ability to listen. Everything begins with listening. It is the basis for appreciation and focused response. Clear understanding of customer need, issues or just being there for them is a price of entry for Social Media Experience Design.
  2. Your business’ ability to react. All talk and no action will kill you in Social Media environments; public or private. people need value and reasonable response. Use Social Media to enable your customers to use your products/services easier, faster and better in little ways.
  3. Your business’ ability to appreciate. Appreciation and recognition of customer loyalty is critical. When was the last time a company said “thank you, I really appreciate what you have done for us”. Appreciation creates positive stimulus in anyone who receives it. A relationship is hollow without appreciation and is the basis of long term loyalty.

Avoiding Trying to do Too Much

Many times, I have seen instances were companies had it right, but tried to do too much. Its a habit that needs to be controlled. Often, all customers or consumers want are little things. By planning to do little things, we also limit risk of failure and minimize potential damage to our brand.

In the end, Napoleon Hill said it best, “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”

I enjoy comments and invite debate. Please feel free to do either.

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