Insights and Ingenuity

Is there a different set of rules for an individual involved with new media, and a company involved in the same? Do followers’ expectations vary (think frequency, tone of voice, responsiveness, subjectivity, etc.) whether they’re following/fanning/reading an individual whose career may be in the marketing function, versus a company firmly in the marketing communications space? There is, and they do.

Farming, in particular in scale, is a 24/7/365 job when you consider all the tasks and responsibilities. I think the same can be said for companies trying out new media platforms.

Customers offer the greatest wealth of insight for a brand. Does your company cultivate feedback and data to feed into product roadmaps, service initiatives, or image campaigns?

Before targeting a vertical, it only makes sense to research, listen, ask questions, and be in the room with a bunch of your prospects. Call this due diligence or a no-brainer; these are a few things I learned from some Iowa bank marketers.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going and innovating. The time for disbelief, wide eyes, and contracted muscles is over. Sure, business has to stay mindful of economic realities and there’s usually a group of number wizards and data crunchers who can help keep things on the level. But to survive and cede as little ground as possible, smart companies are facing the issues head on.

Your ad is ugly. Or it would be if anyone had actually seen it. Your ad message doesn’t resonate and seems inconsistent with what I know of your brand. Or that’d be the case if I’d been in the mind frame to receive info from you when reading that magazine. As it was, your ad was just more clutter and noise I skipped over while in search of what I wanted to find.

I really don’t know your brand. We don’t have a relationship. I haven’t yet bought your product. I’m not thinking about your service/product area right now, I’m dealing with a crisis. What could you possibly say/email/mail to me right now that would cause me to give pause? Because I don’t have time to waste, and I’m tired of fluff talk.

Building a strong brand is not only a task taken on with consumer objectives in mind. Brand building starts from within. It entails rallying all stakeholders to become actively involved in identifying core issues, determining strengths and assets, and planning a strategy to maximize what works while mitigating or changing what doesn’t.

The market opportunity, in these turbulent times, is to find credible, non-threatening ways to educate companies and brands about the benefits and rewards that social media and search marketing programs deliver. If we’re careful to avoid the snake oil or used car salesperson heavy-handed image, then savvy Web strategists can successfully educate their potential partners and initiate new relationships.

Identifying your authentic value proposition and consistently delivering on the implied promise can require discipline, focus, and cultural acceptance. Ensuring stakeholder inclusiveness is key to successfully living and perpetuating that proposition, as its everyone’s job to remain accountable.

How might subscription-based service companies (like newspapers) with deep traditional roots in print format develop a growth strategy that would leverage the Web as a channel for reaching targets, rather than deny the swell and interest? When resources are limited, how might a newspaper with two distinctly separate audience bases rise to the opportunity to better serve each of them in a relevant and authentic manner?