Archive for November, 2009
Kiss and Tull
Nov 20th
I had just listened to a Jethro Tull album on my iPod and then saw on my news alerts that the rock band is launching a new, massive tour of the U.S. To me, this is the universe telling me I need to write a blog about Jethro Tull. This is how my mind works by Friday.
If you give me a minute, I PROMISE there will be an illuminating point at the end that will make you gasp in wonder.
When I was a boy, Jethro Tull was the most amazing band around, combining blues, rock, folk and classical music in incredibly complex tunes. They made an entire album that was one song. Twice. Their great rock anthem “Aqualung” was about a homeless pervert. Their live concerts were theatrical spectacles. JT was the coolest of the cool.
Since about 1980, most of their music has been crap. They have not had a hit song since the 1970s. That hit was “Bungle in the Jungle” which is arguably the worst song ever written. The two core musicians, Ian Anderson and Martin Barre are bald and in their 60′s and Ian just can’t hit the high notes any more. They continue to limp around the world, playing to elderly, devoted fans.
Like me.
Why would I stick with a band long after they have been relevant … or even very good? Because there is a deep emotional attachment there. Their music and image evokes some of the best, most exciting times of my youth, some of the best years of rock music. Jethro Tull MEANS SOMETHING to me!
OK, here is the point you’ve been waiting for. The world’s greatest marketing associates emotional meaning with a product. Coca-Cola. Apple. BMW. Each evokes an emotion and meaning. The brands mean something to the customers. Just like Jethro Tull. Ready … set … gasp!
This is my goal: to build an emotional connection with my readers so they will still love me even when I’m old and writing crap. (This is when you say: “Like today?”)
Have a great weekend!
The best business opportunity in social media marketing
Nov 18th
Awhile back I put forth a “success formula” to create business benefits through social media:
Connections + Meaningful Content + Authentic Helpfulness = Benefits
The more I see and hear and learn about the social web, the more I’m convinced this is spot-on. You can see the whole article here, by the way.
I’m learning that within this formula, content is a SEVERE bottleneck for most companies. Here’s why:
- Companies are piling on to the social web and are desperate to provide content that will cut through the clutter. It takes a special talent to do that. Typically, they don’t have that special talent … but are willing to pay for it.
- I’m sure you’ve heard stats like, “more content has been created in the last five years than in the history of mankind.” I either made that up or I heard it someplace (or both) but I’m sure you’ve heard similarly ridiculous statements. There is a kernel of truth in there, however. There’s already too much freaking content for any normal person to keep up with. And the problem is going to get worse. In fact, it will never get better. The need for content seems insatiable. This exacts more pressure on companies to not only develop “meaningful” content, but content that will knock your socks off. Every day.
- The need for “authenticity” is an artificial barrier set by the social media country club that is keeping some people from ghost blogging. (Article on how to do it RIGHT is here.) That barrier will go down as the price companies are willing to pay for content goes up. There will be plenty of content-whores around for everybody. And I mean that in the most respectful way.
So here’s the business plan: Come up with a posse of technical writers/content whores who can churn out blogs on a variety of subjects (maybe organize by verticals) and fill this out-sourcing market niche. I would do it myself but I’m far too lazy.
So there it is. Business Idea of the Year! Go be the Wal-Mart of content. The Blog Super Store. Content Whore Warehouse. Whatever, just go do it and I’ll be the first to hire you for my customers. See, you can’t tell me I never did anything for you. : )
Surprising research shows high social media involvement from B2B
Nov 17th
Yesterday Business.com released additional results of its milestone study of social media usage across American business, this time with a focus on B2B. This research should put an end to the argument over the relevance of social media in the industrial sector. In fact, it appears that by percentage, B2B is ahead of B2C in some key categories.
Like the general study I reported last week, this report is chock-full of details by industry, job type, and social media platform. It’s significant because of the scope of the study and the statistical rigor applied to the results. I recommend spending time with this survey, but here are some highlights that caught my attention:
- B2B (defined as companies with >2/3 sales to other companies) actually show as much, or more, involvement in social media as counterparts in B2C.
- Professionals working on social media devoted 21% of their time to this activity versus 18% for the study average (this would imply a much lower rate for B2C but the number is not broken out).
- B2B company respondents have somewhat more experience with business social media initiatives than their peers in B2C and mixed companies – 30% of B2B respondents have less than one year of business social media experience versus 35% across the study
- The study showed a statistically significant difference in social media activity with B2B’s dominating in 11 out of 14 social media categories. The three exceptions are – there’s no B2B versus B2C difference in the percentage of companies managing online communities, and B2B companies are significantly less likely than B2C companies to monitor online ratings/reviews of their products or services and to advertise on social media sites.
- B2B’s are more likely to pay for social media monitoring platforms.
- B2B’s are having better fortune seeing an impact of social web projects on their web traffic (70% versus 62%); Revenue (60%/52%) and sales leads (57%/53%).
- Marketing owns the social media initiative in 76% of the B2B’s versus 63% B2C.
- B2B companies maintain a high presence on social media sites, with 81% maintaining one or more accounts on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. B2B companies are much more likely to engage in micro-blogging on Twitter than B2C companies.
It should be noted that of the total survey participants, just 25% were B2B, indicating that overall adoption of social media probably lags B2C. And while the most highly-publicized success stories are eminating from B2C, this study shows conclusively that among those participating in the social web, B2B’s may be engaged more deeply and more broadly than their B2C counterparts … some of the most surprising, and compelling, conclusions I’ve seen in this field.
What are your thoughts on this research?
Will an economic recovery pummel social media?
Nov 15th
I’ve had the great privilege of teaching a college-sponsored class on social media marketing and as usual, I’m learning more from the class than what they’ve learned from me … but that will be our little secret, OK?
As I was providing examples of how you can leverage content across various channels to increase awareness, I had to admit that I didn’t practice this very well myself. Why? I just don’t have the time.
My marketing consulting practice has been very strong, and as I strive for an ideal work-life balance, something has to give. Time spent on incremental efforts like Facebook and Twitter has to take a back seat to family and customer needs.
This may seem like heresy from somebody who lives and breathes marketing, but I think this will be reality for more and more people. As the economy heats up, unemployed, or under-employed, individuals spending vast amounts of time on the social web and networking will have to make new choices as they return to work.
Here’s my hypothesis: The growth of social media will slow as the economy improves. And in areas where the economy is doing extremely well, social media usage may actually decline slightly.
Other possible implications:
- As people return to work, the prime activity level on social media will be more heavily-weighted to the evening hours, since many companies restrict social media usage in the workplace.
- The number of channels in which people participate will narrow. This may hasten the decline of some platforms like MySpace.
- There may even be a slight shift in advertising budgets BACK to traditional media (drive-time radio?) since access to Internet-based impressions will be limited in a workplace. How do you see a Facebook ad when you’re working a construction job?
I believe that use of the social web will still grow overall as people and companies find clever new ways to make the underlying technologies more useful and fun. But I think it is unavoidable that an improving economy will temper this growth. The best environment for social media growth is when people have a lot of time on their hands and a shift is in our future. Do you agree?
Note: In addition to some wonderful comments below, you can find a nice counterpoint perspective on Gregg Morris’s related blog post: http://bit.ly/3tQtiW
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-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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