Tim Andren - At the corner of Innovation and Marketing Ideas

Social Media is not about you.

It's not about you.

It's not about you.

It's not about you.

Life is changing. 

Business is changing.

The world is changing.

iThis. iThat. iHave. iWant. iNeed. 

This is what a lot of social media communication sounds like.

This is short-term, selfish, nobody-is-going-to-care-because-they-can-see-right-through-your-motivation thinking. They see the dollar signs in your eyes. 

When your social media presence becomes 'iFocused' your business becomes 'just another one of those businesses'. Just another enemy attacking their senses, after their money.

But you and I know this isn't your motivation. We know that. But do they?

Take great care with your social behavior or that's how you will be perceived.

Consider that, as people - we want and need others in our lives. We are happier, more peaceful, and more productive when we have good people around us. Our bodies and minds respond positively to community, friendship and family. It's as essential to us as any food or water we consume. Isolation and depression go hand-in-hand. The individual is better off as a part of something bigger.

Family. Church. City. Group. Tribe. Organization. Community. Country. World.

Purpose. Legacy. Brand. Unity. Love.

Stop firing off dozens of links out on Twitter. Start talking.

Stop collecting friends. Start listening.

Stop thinking you. Start thinking we.

How do you define social?

It's not about you.

Be like Facebook

Play a meaningful role.

What do those words mean to you?

Facebook took a hit last week when they released their new Terms of Service. The 'We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever.' headlines shot around the internet like my cat following a laserpointer beam.

Facebook revised their stance and recently posted an update to the Terms of Use. In doing so they took a problem and turned it into an opportunity. They obviously know that the 120,000,000+ customer base was unhappy and they listened to them.

This situation is different than an apology. It's different than a free meal because there was a cigarette butt in your chicken sandwich. It's different because the new terms include their customer in the solution. 

Here's the update they posted:

Terms of Use Update

Today we announced new opportunities for users to play a meaningful role in determining the policies governing our site. We released the first proposals subject to these procedures – The Facebook Principles, a set of values that will guide the development of the service, and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that governs Facebook’s operations. Users will have the opportunity to review, comment and vote on these documents over the coming weeks and, if they are approved, other future policy changes. We’ve posted the documents in separate groups and invite you to offer comments and suggestions. For more information and links to the two groups, check out the Facebook Blog.

You'll notice the most important term in there. It stands out of the legalese and marketing-speak like Donald Trump at a laundromat. 

"...play a meaningful role..." 

Wow. Play a meaningful role. This is the phrase that gives purpose and community to Facebook now. This phrase will echo off of mountains. Can you see it broadcast by with those cloud advertising planes? This could be it's own advertising campaign, as if Facebook ever needed one.

Be like Facebook.

Don't be that business

We've all been to a wedding where the Best Man, stands up to make his speech and in a split second we all realize he's had a few too many cocktails. We collectively feel nervous for the wedding party and their family. 

'Will he say something stupid?','Will he say something inappropriate?'

Never been to that wedding? Well surely you can picture somebody's behavior in your life that you know is inappropriate, or just makes you cringe. 

Why? Why do we feel this way, why do we chuckle or give our buddy that knowing look about the behavior of others? 

It's because we care right? It's because we know what's appropriate, we know the definition of bad manners, what's cool, what's in style, what's 'sooo 80s'. 

We can get into the depths of why, the nerd in me loves to share that kind of thing, but a story would be a lot more fun.

One of my best friends Josh and I have a saying for this type of thing. One time we were at a Bloc Party concert and they had t-shirts for sale prior to the show. I bought one and turned to show Josh and he gave me a half-serious/half-joking expression and said "Don't be that guy!". In an instant I knew what he was expressing even though the statement was vague. 

I had never considered wearing the shirt and I'm well aware of the unwritten code of not wearing the same shirt of the band to the show they are playing. Where do these unwritten rules come from? The crowd of course. They're a part of many unspoken commandments that we have decided upon as we go through life. 

A few weeks later I flipped on the TV and bounced around the movie channels and landed on the movie 'PCU'. I'd never seen it before and Jeremy Piven is a great comedic actor so I ate my sandwich and watched.

A scene develops where an excited guy is wearing a band's t-shirt and talking about going to their concert.

Piven's character Droz chides him: "What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy." 

I didn't just LOL, or start ROFL...I got into ROFLMAO mode. I knew then where Josh's comment came from. It's now become one of those awesome movie quote statements in our daily lexicon, our communication of code.

Many movies do that. I find myself quoting some favorites such as Swingers, Dazed n Confused or Rounders on an almost daily basis. It helps if who I'm talking to has seen the movie of course, but often like in the case of the concert we just know intrinsically what they mean. I enjoy these movies so much because they examine the truths of life.

The loud people behind you in a movie theater is a pretty blatant example. We know that they're behavior is inappropriate because we can't hear the movie. The concert shirt is a bit more subtle, it's not so much about right or wrong but more about what's appropriate or what message is being sent. Wearing any kind of printed t-shirt or clothing is sending a message. We are communicating to our fellow man who we are and what we care about.

In conclusion, we must be aware of what is right or wrong behavior in the company of the crowd if we want to succeed in business. It's not, nor has it ever been about what we think individually of our business behavior.

Brands, people, you and me

 

It happened. 

I don't know when, where or exactly how, but after years of working in the field reading and being an observer I finally felt like I got a grasp on what works in marketing, and a lot of what doesn't work.

Along the way I found that there are too many opinions, too many books, and too many agencies that were not focused on what really works. I was confused at first, I had naturally assumed that focusing on effectiveness was a given in the industry.

This lazy contingent are only too happy to take their money and do the 'busy work' of marketing. They like being paid from your regular account or to sell you their product, but they're not focused on effective marketing. These guys are wolves in sheep's clothing. 

I'm not trying to play the blame game here. I'm not mad at the wolves. In fact, they make my life easier by not caring. Getting to the truth and sifting through tons of data and opinions takes a lot of hard work and dedication and in reality only played a small part toward giving me the understanding that I now have about what effective marketing really is.

It wasn't until I began to study people that I really understood how to market to them. It wasn't until I talked to business owners like you, listened to married people like you, focused on single mothers or groups of people united with common interests like you until I really understood who you were or what 'tribe/s' (as Seth Godin describes it) you belong to.

It wasn't until I read books about people, their behavior, or how the mind works that I really came to an understanding of how marketing works. I began to dedicate my focus on what it is we as people truly care about, why we communicate and why we buy. The answers are simple, the methods of acquiring my understanding require a daily discipline and passion for the subject. I love my job.

Once I began to understand the thought process and the emotions behind the buying decision, then it all became clear to me. 

For your business to be successful I want you to focus on one thing - people. If you study people, they will tell you everything you need to know. They will tell you what's important, cool, fun and consequently what's worth spending their hard-earned money on.

Opinions come and go, but people don't change. They still care about the same basic needs. We look different through the years as clothing styles and just about anything else ebbs and flows with the whims of fashion, but deep down it's all about survival. 

We came out of our mother's womb with some basic needs, including a need for food, shelter, community, etc. We weren't born with a need for brands, yet brands were developed along the way as vehicles for communicating a bridge from people's needs to a product or service to address them.

Many marketers look at a brand and see a style guide, a set of standards that supposedly epitomizes the brand. They establish rules and do so with good intentions. They are way off base on this. If you want to really know what a company's brand is... you have to listen to your audience. They're the customer who will be making the decision whether or not to buy so they should be making the decisions of what logo is appropriate, what colors resonate with them and what significant aspects of the brand speak to them. 

Brands are like emotional keywords. They are the triggers in the mind that associate a service or product with reliablity, quality, fun, great customer service and on and on. Social media and crowdsourcing is ripping the cover off the old branded methodology of business. We are moving into an age where quality, trust or security [to name a few] are commodities that will be determined not by emotive television commercials or print materials but by collective opinions on the matter.

What does that mean for your brand?

The art of conversation and why listening rules all - Part 3/3

Do you have good conversation skills?

You don't need to read a book, take a seminar or speech lessons to thrive in conversation for your business.

Here are the basics to help you succeed in your conversation with clients or customers. If you don't have the luxury of a one-on-one conversation with your target audience, then offer them a survey or forum and tailor your questions to them.

1. LISTEN. LEARN.

Nobody is expecting you to be an super-absorbing sponge. That's boring. 

Great conversation is about exchange. Great conversation is about interplay. However, conversation is much more valuable to you if the majority of it is done as a receiver. This is true in all areas of life. 

2. WHATCHA SAY?

When you listen, process what is being said from the speakers viewpoint. What is important to them? What do they need or want? Do they care about your product? Why or why not? 

Here is where you find out what isn't working and you've already begun your journey to fixing it. Your client or customer is actually charting a map to your business success. How exciting is that?

3. RALLY TIME

After all the listening and understanding it's time to take it all and put it to use. This is the part of the conversation that requires you to offer something applicable to the subject at hand. 

For instance, I had a customer who owned a chain of hotels on the California coast. Her customers were satisfied but didn't return as often as they referred. In fact, when they returned to the same area they booked at any place they could find. This is odd because these same customers enjoyed their experience enough to tell someone else about it yet didn't rebook. We found out the reason they didn't rebook was because their decision was made online through a hotel search site. 

Their response was that the hotel didn't communicate enough with them! They wanted to be marketed to because they didn't have the time to do a lot of research. Imagine that! In this day and age! This is like striking gold. We asked them their preferred method of communication, what they'd like to see and the results have been astonishing.

What are your customers saying? What should you offer? It had better include a value to your customer or else they won't care. Solve their problem. Offer an easy path to their freedom and your business will thrive. People's needs and concerns are usually pretty basic. If you listen enough to the common threads of conversation you will be able to position your business offering in such a way they will have no choice but to buy.

Finally, it's your turn! You get to shed your knowledge, your insight to the world. Only now your audience is hanging on to your every word. Make them count.