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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

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Build a Social Media Foundation

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Like the full-page ads in More magazine for lipstick, hair care, mascara, and bronzer, the ads collectively tell a story. They are encouraging women to add such products to their glamour foundation.

What products might you expect in a ‘zine to encourage the building of a strong social media foundation? Here are my picks; what are yours?

  • Twitter. Getting a bad rap these days, aren’t you, Twitter? The fail whale is getting the best of you, but I still believe. Every company may not wish to engage in Twitter (no, it’s not about what you’re having for dinner), but it’s THE hot spot in microblogging. And, listening is half the conversation.
  • Trending Topics/Searches on Twitter. The mighty hash tag (#) helps you search for what’s popular among Twitter’s ~75 million users (of which 17 percent are active). You can also search for key words adding your company and that of your competitors to the mix.
  • Facebook. There are ~465 million global Facebookers. Like it? Those former fan pages now “like” pages are confusing still, but companies are launching Facebook communities in droves. Many of the Fortune 100 companies are managing consumer crises on this platform and permitting audiences to comment either negatively or positively about the customer experience. Trust me on this, Facebook is NOT going away. Some say it’ll surpass Twitter and throw a major curve ball in that direction. Twitter v. Facebook? Yep.
  • Trackur. Get a tool that helps you manage online reputation. So many conversations I’m having are about “I don’t want anyone speaking negatively about my company or services.” One way to manage negative comments is to feed the pipeline with positive content. If you’re in a grudge industry where people loath hiring your services, perhaps dentists, lawyers, body shops, surgeons, tax accountants, there are bound to be high emotions around the customer experienc. Nip that in the bud with high levels of content marketing.
  • A blog. Think about this carefully. Blogging is critical, reaps benefits and requires devoted time. Ask me about the merits, and I’ll tell you…best way to boost the thought leadership potential and garner positioning for your company.
  • SEM. Search engine marketing is another critical foundational tool to pave the way to success of your blended social media program. Can’t blog without the search engines knowing about you!
  • You Tube. Many folks are jumping in to video; You Tube is a highly popular platform to grab attention. You want that video to go viral? Hold on…first things first! Develop cool content, optimize it, and post to a channel of your own, and then drive traffic accordingly using all the aforementioned methods of communication.

There are so many more to add to this mix, but for starters, you’ll do fine with these when you do them well.

Spanning the Divide: 10 Tips for Public Relations/Sales Synergy

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I’m still absolutely appalled at the lackluster effort by the two sales people at Toyota and Ford dealerships within the last two weeks. If you’ve been following me on occasion, you will know that I’ve been recording the steps by a consumer (me) to purchase a vehicle.

With all the chaos in the automotive industry in the last 18 months, I had assumed/expected better effort by the sales people (one female, one a senior citizen) to earn my business.

The last frontier for public relations must be SALES. I cannot speak for all industries. The TV salesman at H.H. Gregg over the weekend in Indianapolis convinced my aunt to purchase several luxury items; he did a great job. Is it just auto sales we’re talking about, then?

Here are a few tips for public relations practitioners to infiltrate some expertise into the sales mechanism of any company:

1. Messaging. Marketing typically provides product background to sales, but is there a message map developed for the sales team? Message maps are valuable for any spokesperson on the frontlines; sales teams are tier one spokespeople for a company.

2. Training. With a completed message map in hand, train the sales team to use it. Role play and you be the potential customer. Let the sales team get comfortable with the map so everyone uses the same powerful and approved messages.

3. Secret shopping. There’s no better way than to ask a “spy”  to launch the buying process for a product and see how the sales team is performing. Take what’s gleaned from that experience and return to the salespeople with more tips on how to interact with customers.

4. Respect. Everyone in the organization must respect the sales team for its position and role for the company. Ask marketing and sales what tools can be created to assist with this effort.

5. Attend sales meetings. Salespeople have the pulse of the industry and customers at their fingertips. What a treasure of information for public relations. When a PR person attends (you need to get invited), you can identify case study prospects, news hooks, regional news fodder and develop a variety of communications as a result.

6. Sales communications. Treat sales as a tier one target audience. They need to know what’s happening within the company and when public relations learns critical industry information, sales should be informed. Write a newsletter, e-blast, intranet site for sales, or other non-tech method of communication (some salespeople don’t have access to the Internet).

7. Blend with marketing. As the marketing team is oriented to sales quotas, ROI and lead generation, listen to their needs and complement the mix with on-point public relations strategy.

8. Ask the sales team. Communicate. Be a team. Be inclusive. Regard sales as a critical component of the marketing public relations mix.

9. Build trust. For years, sales and public relations has been miles apart with marketing smack in the middle. Until results happen, sales will not regard public relations in the right light. In fact, public relations is likely to be little understood in the sales organization.

10. Try, try again. Try for what works. Synergy does not happen over night, but shame on sales and public relations for not putting forth a consistent effort to make it so.

What other thoughts can you offer?

Best-Kept Secrets: Wikis

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The topics for digestion this week have been mind mapping, message mapping and now information mapping. A post I wrote “Mind Mapping is NOT Message Mapping” attracted Roy Grubb in Hong Kong. He, intrigued, asked to publish my piece on his wiki, called WikIT. Appreciatively, I said, “Uh, let me think… YES!” 

Roy launched a management consultancy, G&A Management Consultants, in Hong Kong in 1981. With a background in information systems, Roy is now entrenched in visually oriented information/knowledge management and project managed the development of software, such as 3D Topicscape.

As I’m always seeking to push the boundaries of my mind and expand my network, I eagerly invited Roy to answer a few questions, and he graciously agreed:

 In Hong Kong, has social media taken off in your line of work?

My activities are global, rather than locally focused, and I don’t read Chinese so it’s hard to state with certainty.  Hong Kong people are generally well up with the use of technology and its influence in society.  There are plenty of HK-based Twitter accounts and blogs, I know, but I only look at those in English.

What is Topicscape?

This has its roots in mind mapping or concept mapping, because I’ve been using these for 30+ years and found them invaluable in business, organizing my reference sources and reading files, planning and thinking.  The Topicscape story is great background.

How did WikIT  come to pass?

The main purpose of WikIT is to spread the word about information mapping (the term I use to cover all visual methods where items are connected in a map according to how they are related, including message mapping).

I have long replied to people’s questions on Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, but those replies are mostly ephemeral–they may stick around forever in reality, but they don’t much get an airing after their first appearance–so I decided to start a site where I could publish the answers, my opinions, and spark others to respond. 

I could have done this with a blog, but felt with people accustomed to Wikipedia, a wiki would carry more of a sense of being a solid and reputable reference source. 

What are the objectives for WikIT?

WikIT tries to be an anti-guru source, as well. There are too many people in the mind-mapping field, especially, who claim their way is the only one. That view is either through limited imagination, familiarity with only one technique or having an interest in some kind of trainer “accreditation,” usually from a commercial source. 

Articles in WikIT point out different benefits and varieties of map styles and formats so that mappers can see the alternatives, not just “This is right and that is wrong.”  It seeks to guide people on their choice of map for a given task, a specific audience, and an expected life-span of a map.

Who is your audience?

Mainly tech-savvy knowledge workers, project managers and students.

 Is this a profitable venture for you?

No, it’s more pro bono and was not established for profit; it’s there because I believe many more people could benefit from information mapping than do so far. I think some of the gurus are getting in the way of this, with their “one method suits all.”

Do you regard Wikis as “special” or the “forgotten” social media application, channel, tool?

No, just as an easy-to-use content-management system.  Although there are talk and discussion pages in MediaWiki wikis, it’s not an ideal social medium, but it’s a really good way to gather knowledge from many people and make it available to all.

After setting up WikIT, I switched the Topicscape user manual and FAQ pages to a wiki format, and it cut the time to update it to about a quarter. Now, each time we get a question by email, we consider if it is generic enough to go in the wiki, and if so, add the answer as soon as we have replied to the user, often with a cut-and-paste from the email and some tidying to provide context the emailer already has.  I don’t need to re-index the site manually — Mediawiki search finds changes instantly.

Maybe I’m re-thinking that as you’ve asked a question that I haven’t considered before. 

Today, someone asked a really interesting question on Twitter that couldn’t be answered properly inside the 140 limit (or even with twitlonger, which I did use), so I put a new article up on WikIT: So wikis can fit into the social media sphere, not as a conversational tool particularly, but as a way of capturing interesting and longer-lasting ideas and knowledge that pop up so often in social media timelines.

What are your goals with WikIT and “information mapping?”

To make the benefits of all the types of information mapping known and accessible to as many people as possible, without charge.  I believe this bag of techniques is not sufficiently known and can be useful to many. Some people don’t like it, some have razor-trap minds and don’t need it, but many will definitely find it useful.

What success metrics do you have in place? How are you defining success? Have you succeeded?

Metrics: Google Analytics. Definition of success: As long as people go on saying they find it useful, recommending it and visiting it, I shall regard it as meeting my intentions. Naturally, the more people do so, the better pleased I shall be. Have I succeeded? However popular it grows I shan’t be satisfied and will want to push on for more.

What tips or counsel can you offer our peers in social media?

I would just pass on one from Guy Kawasaki: Be a mensch. That’s why I spend a lot of time answering questions on Twitter.  I’m using ‘mensch’ in the Yiddish sense, by the way, as brilliantly defined here by Guy Kawasaki: Cutting it down a lot: Help people who cannot help you. Help without the expectation of return. Help many people. Do the right thing the right way. Pay back society. The baseline is that we owe something to society.

How is one to find you? Are you doing search marketing to drive traffic?

WikIT is 100% content (apart from a few ads down the side) which is what the search engines like, that and the fact it gets linked to a lot. I drive traffic through Twitter and occasional announcements on my blogs.  And on Topicscape.com we have a widely quoted mindmaps directory — where the maps gathered from all over the web are shown with links back to the originals.  They are tagged by subject and classified by map type (no one else does that) which means that many people find this useful and link to it.  As WikIT is mentioned at the top of each page of that library, visitors we know are interested in information maps get to know about WikIT, as well.

Roy, thank you so much for taking this time to answer my questions in-depth. I’m excited and eager to hit your sites and glean new knowledge. I hope others do, too!

Message Mapping for Realty Firms

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The I wrote this week “Message Mapping is NOT Mind Mapping” spawned a slew of discussion, tweets, linked posts and new thought. It was cool to see a variety of contributions, mostly from the mind mapping side of the equation. Some use a combo of mind- and-message mapping; others have no idea what message mapping is. What do you use to capture messages? Please share!

When I prepare to facilitate a messaging session, I develop a list of open-ended questions to the executive team. Let’s say you’re a realty company and you’d like all your realtors to use the same language with clients and prospects.

Here is the approach I take when message mapping:

  • Place questions in themed buckets, i.e. about the company, customers, pricing, credentials, staffing, differentiators, etc.
  • Pull leaders together for a few hours and run through the questions with an external facilitator (me).
  • Capture all the answers and comments; you’d be surprised when no answer is the same from the leadership team.
  • Draft sassy, succinct, simple, soundbite messages.
  • Secure approval from executive leadership.
  • Map the messages into a schematic that tells a story about the company from start to finish and in between.

Here are the sample questions I’d deliver to a realty company wanting me to faciliate a messaging session:

  • Describe your company to Gramma (if Grams can’t understand, then no one can).
  • What services are provided?
  • What products are sold?
  • What is your geographic boundary?
  • Who are your clients/audiences?
  • Do you specialize in commercial or residential?
  • What price point of home are you most comfortable selling?
  • What is your differentiator as a company?
  • What expertise/credentials do your realtors have?
  • Are there any guarantees you offer new clients?
  • Do you work with mortgage brokers and can you offer a one-stop shop of services?
  • Can you tout a success rate of XX days on market for homes for sale?
  • What realtor fees are average; are there hidden fees clients should be aware of?
  • Why should a home buyer use your agency?
  • Why should a home seller use your agency?

Is this mind mapping?

Why I said in the earlier post this week that message mapping is not mind mapping is because the latter feels tactical to me. Tactical execution is being planned and mapped; each step is further delineated until an entire planning strategy is in a diagram.  On the other hand, a message map is about descriptions, explanations, quotes that executives deliver about aspects of a company. While messaging is certainly a pre-launch tactic and can be included in a mind map, this subset exercise stands on its own two feet.

What do you think?

Car Buying, Word of Mouth & Sales

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Buying a car is a lot like eating a poison apple. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last eight weeks, and anyone who’s been following the blog has read of my research and self-study.  It all began when Toyota ticked off its loyal followers with a massive recall. So, I began to look around.

What’s below is the pathway to a near-final decision, and I offer this to you marketers and public relations peers to consider the immense number of touches possible in advance of a customer’s major purchase decision. At the end of the day, it all boils down to sales. Read what’s below, add yours, and then think about how you influence sales.

Car-Buying Touches, Word of Mouth & Sales Pathway

  • Toyota screws up with a massive recall that has America and drivers reeling.
  • Begin to search outside the brand reluctantly; use Twitter to query the Twitterverse, and the Ford Flex is recommended.
  • Poke around at manufacturer Web sites for articles and other options because I’m NOT a Ford girl.
  • Read Fast Company article about Ford’s in-vehicle technology that is heads and shoulders above other auto manufacturers; intrigued. The PR for Ford kicks! (Point for Ford.)
  • Toyota ticks me off by not sending my bill on time two months in a row; purposeful?  Could be, lease ending soon. (Point for Ford.)
  • Test drive Ford Flex; what a hummer of a vehicle. I like it; it comes in candy apple red; has more gizmos and gadgets than needed: refrigerator, 120 amp three-prong plug, five moon/sun roofs. The grampa car salesman (~ 74-years-old) snoozed through the two-hour touch. He didn’t sell me, didn’t review other models, didn’t push hard, but he did bring over the manager who did his best to get me to buy that day. (Not too impressed.)
  • Emailed preferred Toyota dealer and got a woman who was not interested in selling. She said the car I wanted only came with an auxiliary jack for iPod. As I wanted too many things she wasn’t sure she could find that car within a 200 mile radius. She sent me a general email response. I waited a day and emailed her back asking for more information; I never heard from her. (Point for Ford.)
  • Read story in Wall Street Journal with Ford CEO Alan Mullaly again about the hot technology that is selling many cars for Ford right now. (Point for Ford.)
  • Saw a Ford Flex being driven on the street, pulled alongside in adjacent lane and asked him how he liked the Flex. He said it was “the best road vehicle” he’s ever driven. After that word-of-mouth marketing touch, I had decided to buy a Ford.
  • A call from another Toyota dealer where I wrote my Highlander lease. I told him flat out I’m looking at Ford Flex. I did not want to give him my business due to the mechanic shop; it sucks! He agreed and begged for a chance to show me the features of the Highlander.  I could not deny him.
  • I saw the 2010 Highlander; was impressed with all the features (nearly the same as Ford Flex), and gave him the specs I wanted.
  • He began to work on the deal; emailed me within two days to say he was working with his manager and would have numbers shortly. (Point for Toyota)
  • It’s been 10 days since I saw the Ford salesman. Guess what? He NEVER followed up! (Major point for Toyota.)

As of today, Toyota is leading in spite of all the points for Ford. The salesman there is earning my business; he’s eager to make a sale, and he’s communicating with me frequently about where he’s at with pricing. Speaking of which, the Ford Flex is ~$8,000 more than the Toyota Highlander all tricked out.  Point for Toyota? You bet.