We recently blogged about the many non-profit organizations who are harnessing the power of social media to increase awareness, advocacy and ultimately donations for their cause.

They use these tools to build their community, whose members become ambassadors for the cause, spreading the message and responding to the community’s calls to action.  (See Social media powering nonprofit marketing ,  Cause marketing and  Social media for good).  Here are a few recent examples:

Activating your community:  RUOK?

 RUOK  has built and activated a growing community.  The campaign which promotes a national day of action to prevent suicide by encouraging people to connect with others, has more than 171,000 followers on Facebook,  almost 6,000 on Twitter and a YouTube channel which has attracted thousands of views.

The RUOK community has helped share and promote the cause’s important message. Although results for the most recent campaign are not yet published, last year RUOK  attracted the support of more than 700 organisations, and generated more than 2 million conversations.

Amit Gupta

Seth Godin for Amit Gupta

Recently, best selling author and marketer Seth Godin, whose blog is one of the most popular in the world with several hundred thousand readers, called upon his community to find a bone marrow match for his friend Amit Gupta who has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.   He asked for people to sign up to swab to help find a life saving match for Amit and invited people to share the message on Twitter with the hashtag  #iswabbedforamit.  See Seth’s post hereand Twitter activity here.

That request has been taken up since by others such as Gary Vaynerchuk whose community includes a Twitter following approaching one million.

Activating the Community  - The Horn of Africa

The drought and food crisis in the Horn of Africa has affected more than 13 million people.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd MP who visited the region recently, is one of Australia’s most socially engaged politicians with a significant community of more than one million twitter followers and 56,700 on Facebook.

A couple of weeks ago, Mr Rudd  announced on Twitter that until the end of November, the Australian government will match all donations for the African crisis to any of eighteen NGO’s.

Whilst not all donations would have emanated from the single tweet or the video placed on his Facebook page, in less than a week since the announcement,  Australians have given $200,000 .

For Business

Supporting a cause  which is close to the heart of your business, that is meaningful and relevant to your staff and customers, has always been good business.  It builds stronger and more engaged relationships between your business, staff and the customers you serve within your community.

As these examples show, harnessing social media to build a community which then advocates on behalf of your brand or cause, is powerful.

For a cause – it’s activating a community, for good.

Do you support a cause as part of the marketing of your business? Have you activated your community?

Related Links

Tweeting and gaming to save a tech entrepreneur’s life – CNN

Can social media save Amit Gupta? by Porter Gale in Ad Age Digital

Dollar For Dollar Initiative Boosts Donations for African Crisis – World Vision

Amit Gupta Needs You – Amit Gupta Needs You website

List of NGO’s supported by the Australian Government initiative

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• 

Today is the Global Centenary of International Women’s Day, celebrating the economic,  political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

The economic power of women was discussed in a recent presentation by Tom Peters (see last week’s blog post), and included the following:

• Women represent a growth market twice as big than China and India combined
• Globally women control about $20 trillion in consumer spending, estimated to grow to $28 trillion by 2014
• Women are decision makers in 83% of all consumer purchases including 94% home furnishings, 91% houses and influence 90% car purchases.

In a 2011 prediction paper, futurist Faith Popcorn continues this theme citing the following:

• Women hold 51% of managerial and professional jobs (Tom Peters says therefore women also make the majority of commercial purchasing decisions)
• Four in ten mothers are primary breadwinners; working wives are coming close to bringing in half of household income
• Single, childless women under 30 earn 8% more than their male peers
• The number of women earning six figure salaries has increased 14% in the last two years

Popcorn proposes that in 2011 we have entered an “unprecedented” period which will mark the end of our traditional gender divide, and  has named this The Year of EN-GEN or (End of Gender). This era is neither female or male. It will be ‘Just Human’.

She predicts that male dominated fields like construction and manufacturing will shrink and predominantly female sectors – education, healthcare and social services will expand.

Popcorn also describes “six gender turning points to watch”. Read more about them by downloading the paper here.

Every business will be touched in some way by the influence of women. How have you adapted your marketing strategy accordingly?

Related Links:

UNIFEM website

Tom Peters from The Little Big Things:

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Wishing you prosperity and happiness in the year ahead.

Happy New Year!

Buy the Books!

Tom Peters’ The Little Big Things available here; David Meerman Scott‘s Real Time Marketing & PR available here. (The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott is also available here) Seth Godin‘s Linchpin available here.

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• 

I’ve been a fan of David Meerman Scott since reading The New Rules of Marketing & PR a couple of years ago, just after establishing my business.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR is packed with practical tips and advice about how to harness our 21^st century technology and implement effective and lasting marketing campaigns according to the new rules.   It’s been  an invaluable resource.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR remained on the Business Week bestseller list for six months and has since been published in 25 languages – from Bulgarian to Vietnamese.

Since New Rules, David has written World Wide Rave and this Summer, with Brian Halligan, co authored Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History. (Our blog post here)

I was fortunate enough to participate in a workshop run by David in September last year when he last visited Australia.  (Thanks Jen Frahm).

As a self described  “recovering VP of marketing”, David  has led the charge into marketing’s new realms.

So yes – I’m a fan.

Today David launches his new book Real Time Marketing & PR How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now.

My copy has just arrived so I’ll blog more about it once I’ve read it in full. However David has published a terrific e-book as a taste tester. Just click on the image to download.

Some key points contained in it include:

• “The Internet has fundamentally changed the pace of business, compressing time and rewarding speed”
• The need to create a business culture that encourages “speed over sloth.” We live today in a “quick response” world where consumers can receive immediate information or responses from their friends. There’s an expectation to receive the same quick response from companies.

• Real time companies are more successful

David conducted research with the top 100 US companies as listed in the Fortune 500, the annual list from Fortune magazine that ranks by gross revenue of America’s top 500 public corporations.  He sent an email to each of the media relations departments with the question:

“In the last year or two, has the structure of your corporate communications team and/or communications processes changed to embrace the real-time digital era? If so, how?”

David included an email signature with a link to his blog and his Twitter ID for those people who wanted to find out more about him.

David heard back from just 28 of the Fortune 100 companies he approached. Three quarters of these companies couldn’t be contacted  or they failed to reply.

David then conducted a comparison of 2010 stock prices of the companies approached. He found that on average, the publicly traded Fortune 100 companies that responded to his inquiry (those who engaged in real-time communications) beat the S&P 500 stock index while the others on average underperformed the index.

“This is the ROI of real-time engagement.” David says.

Times have changed. Technology has altered both our customers’ behaviour and the tools and processes we, as marketers, need to use to reach them.. The old ways – typically with a mass media ad buy at its heart – no longer apply.  Consumers are wanting (demanding) information when they want it – in real time.  If we’re truly customer centric marketers – we need to respond accordingly.

Real Time Marketing & PR How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now. promises to show how we can do this.

Quick – I’m off to read the book!

Do you have a real-time story to share? How have you embraced this media?

Related Posts

If you’d like to download David’s ebook: Real-Time How Marketing & PR Speed Drives Measurable Success click here

Here’s a link to David’s launch post: How real time communications drives measurable ROI at Fortune 100 companies

Here’s a link to purchase on Amazon.

David’s other ebooks are available here or here

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• 

Support of a cause that fits well with your brand, that aligns to the interests of your target customers,  and is close to your heart, has several benefits.

It helps you better engage with your customers, is motivational for your employees and differentiates your brand from competitors.

It’s not only  good for your brand but adds to your community too. However, like all marketing strategies, commitment is required to realise objectives.    So, if you’re seeking to integrate  a cause in your marketing activities – here are some which you might find inspirational:

• LOVE 146

PR Warrior, Trevor Young highlighted LOVE 146 – a cause focused on ending child sex slavery and exploitation. It’s a powerful example of communicating the story behind your brand – and how,  as Trevor says – linking to a cause adds humanity.  Here is Trevor’s post:  How LOVE 146 Uses Stories to Rally A Movement behind its cause

• 12for12K

In December 2008, Danny Brown and several friends started the 12for12K project. They’ve since raised more than $100K for thirteen different projects and used social media as the key communications tool.  A new phase of activity for 12for12K is about to commence. Read more here:  Caring Across Continents – 12for12K, and our previous posts about Danny and the project: Social Media for Good – Businesses Making a Difference and More on Non Profits Use of Social Media

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• 

They're not gone. We're still learning (and enjoying) them. 

(Had to choose this one - from a concert in Denmark)

The Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead is the new book, co-authored by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan.

David is the best selling author of several titles including The New Rules of Marketing & PR.

Brian is founder of online service and software provider, HubSpot, and author of the super informative Inbound Marketing.

Both are self confessed Deadheads!

Why The Grateful Dead?

The Grateful Dead did things differently. Their approach included a business model based on live concerts not album sales. (They played over 2,300 live concerts from 1965 – 1995, becoming the most popular touring act in rock history). They built genuine relationships with their fans who formed a dedicated community with whom they collaborated to co-create the ‘Deadhead’ lifestyle. They gave away content – encouraging their fans to record their shows and trade tapes.

In so doing, The Grateful Dead applied many marketing techniques championed in business today.

Here are just three “take aways” :

Create your own landscape: create a unique business model

“Products that are highly differentiated can still succeed today, but it’s much harder to win if your business model is the same as your competitors’. .. research your industry in order to build a killer business model. ..break free from the competitive landscape and create a cascade of unique benefits for your customers.”

Which model can you create that is different to your competitors’ and based on the unique ways that you solve your customers’ problems?

Free up your content

The Grateful Dead were pioneers of the ‘freemium’ model. They encouraged concert goers to record their live shows and even established ‘taper sections’ at the concert venues, where fans could set up their equipment for the best sound quality. A huge network traded tapes and built exposure leading to millions of new fans who purchased tickets to shows.

“The Grateful Dead teach us when we free our content, more people hear about our company and eventually do business with us”

What content would be useful to your customers? Think about blogs, videos, ebooks or white papers. Each piece of content is like a “mini magnet that attracts potential customers to your business”.

One of David’s e-books The New Rules of Viral Marketing has been downloaded more than one million times.

Give back

“When a company carefully chooses a particular charity or cause to support and makes it a part of their corporate culture, continuing the commitment over many years, the accrued benefits to both the brand and the recipient charity can be enormous”.

Read more about the band’s generosity and commitment to causes, and the Ronald McDonald House case study here: <Give back to your community.

How  can you  give back to your community  that are consistent with your brand?

These are just three of the marketing lessons. There are many others – but hopefully we’ve whet your appetite to read more! How will you apply these marketing lessons? We’d love to hear.

Related Posts:

Feel like another The Grateful Dead hit?   See and listen to them here:
Deloitte Social Media Rock Stars

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• 

History Never Repeats? Not True.

My favourite interview this week was with actor,  writer, documentary maker (and from his twitter list – a cricket fan), Stephen Fry who is currently visiting Australia.  The question about Oscar Wilde  arose  in a discussion of the modern digital world .  I’d previously wondered about Shakespeare and blogging - so was keen to hear more.

Stephen believes that it’s impossible to understand digital technology without a grasp of history. He uses the development of print media as an example of how old ways are replaced and eventually accepted as the new.  In the 18^th century Stephen says there was a new kind of technology as hand presses and printing became increasingly cheaper. The hand presses led to magazines, journalism and political pamphlets with names like “The Rambler”, “The Idler” and “The Tattler” – considered by many people  as trivial and  not “earnest debate”  – similar to the way Twitter is regarded by some today.

So what are the implications of remembering history for those of us currently exploring digital in business and marketing?

Whilst history reflects patterns in  acceptance of innovation: the old eventually replaced by the new which in turn  is superceded; for businesses it is simple.  We just need to focus on our customers, identify what they are doing and respond accordingly.

The statistics show that increasingly people are moving online – using the web to search, purchase or communicate socially. Facebook has just hit 500 million users world wide, Twitter has more than 100 million users.

Businesses should identify where their customers are, and  ensure they have a presence there.   They need to be easily found when their customers search online and if  customers are using social media platforms, engage them by building relationships – not selling.

If you are a business unsure about these platforms – look to your customer first and foremost.

And in respect to  innovation –  as Stephen says –  history shows that frequently the new ways spread, are eventually accepted as the norm and later replaced as “old”.

History it seems, does repeat itself.

Related Links:

Stephen Fry: In Defence of the Modern Digital World (Interview with Mark Colvin from ABC Radio)

Stephen Fry’s Website

Stephen Fry on Twitter

David Hockney’s iPhone passion: In the interview Stephen mentions David Hockney’s iPhone passion.  See more  here – by Lawrence Weschler of The New York Review of Books

David Hockney’s Website

Facebook hits 500m social media by numbers

Related Posts:

Marketing 2.0 impacts and opportunities in a tech savvy world

The Beautiful Benefits of Business Blogging

What is Your Online Marketing Strategy?

The 1-2-3 of Managing Your Social Media – A Beginner’s Guide

In Memory of Netscape – The Transformation of Business Marketing

Some Linkedin Lovin’

Social Media For Good – Businesses Making A Difference Using Social Media 12for12K

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• 

Download it here: Remember-the-Customer

What do you think?

Updated:
Further response: Mark Cameron: Twitter ain’t Twaddle in BRW 15 July 2010

Related Posts:
Deloitte. Social Media Rock Stars
Social Media at Deloitte Australia (Webinknow Blog)

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• 

Image: Salvatore Vuono, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For businesses, blogs engage  customers, share information, feedback and most importantly, build relationships.  The following provide more information:

The Beautiful Business Benefits of Blogging and The Best Damn Marketing Tool

Blogs are  also a great source of information  to your business.

I recently asked several esteemed colleagues to name their favourite blogs. Their responses with my own favourites are listed below.

Valeria Maltoni, Brand Strategist – Conversation Agent

Valeria Maltoni built one of the first online communities associated with Fast Company magazine.  A brand strategist with 20 years of real world corporate experience, 10 of which online, she’s worked with Fortune 500 and small start up companies in 5 industries. She specializes in taking companies to what’s next in their business cycle through marketing communciations, customer dialogue and brand advocacy.

Valeria’s blog Conversation Agent is ranked among the top 25 marketing blogs in the world on AdAgePower 150 (and is one of our favourites!).  Read more about Valeria Maltoni here.

Valeria Maltoni’s favourite blogs (for SME’s):

Jennifer Frahm, Jennifer Frahm Collaborations

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• 

Deloitte Australia. More Grateful Dead than Barry Manilow.

In a connected world, power shifts to those best able to connect.”

Dov Seidman, Ethicist

If likened to musical styles,  some may think of accounting firms more as Barry Manilow than the Grateful Dead!

However I recently heard about the social media activity of Deloitte Australia, a member of the global Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu network and one of the big four accounting firms.  Their activity includes Facebook, Yammer (a type of in-house Twitter), Twitter and YouTube. They’ve achieved  significant results. It’s a remarkable story – and if you’re a larger organisation, it may just get you rockin’ toward social media!

Recognising Opportunity

After a decade of particular turbulence with fairly rapid, consecutive changes in leadership (CEO’s), Deloitte Australia was seeking new strategies.

The firm had identified the consumer shift towards accessing information when, where and how they want, and consumers’  increased use of social media.

Deloitte regard social media as :

… about socialising in communities online – sometimes leading, sometimes connecting and sometimes following … to be where people are and to participate in a way that speaks to them directly.”

Cognisant that many of their stakeholders use social media, they recognised the opportunity:

Companies are ignoring a valuable media communication outlet that targets a generation that has time and money to spend on technology”.

As innovation, relevance and connection are hallmarks of the Deloitte brand, it was a good fit to embrace social media.

Objectives

Increasing brand awareness and engaging their staff to present “an authentic, user generated impression of Deloitte for prospective candidates and clients” are key for the firm.

The Strategy: An Inside Out Approach

To achieve this, Deloitte’s social media strategy implementation was aligned to their ‘inside out ‘ approach to new ideas and innovation.

At the end of 2008, they launched Yammer ( ‘the best inhouse sandpit available’) to shape value and develop a way of being relevant to the firm as a whole.

Initially an in-house social chat room, it soon became the platform upon which problems are posed and solved.  Deloitte has found Yammer a great way to seek input, test ideas and gather feedback quickly. They also state it has been powerful in disseminating information, collaborating on a large scale globally and connecting with undiscovered communities.

More than 50% of Deloitte Australia’s 5000 people have now  signed up and recent statistics show a correlation between retention of staff and the Yammer leader board.

Deloitte says that the tipping point though for Yammer was when their Digital CEO, Peter Williams, called for videos and tag lines for a new advertising campaign, known as the “Green Dot Campaign”.  His call triggered 1000+ new members of Deloitte Australia to join Yammer, the formation of 38 groups and  creation of  1184 original concepts.

Other Initiatives

• Recruitment : “JoinMe@Deloitte”

Deloitte has established a JoinMe@Deloitte Facebook application, which links  the firm’s employee referral program to their employees’ Facebook network.

The idea came through their innovation (ideas) program.

To date more than 25% of Deloitte’s 4,000 employees have added the application to their Facebook profile and almost 3,000 (2,793) potential referees have viewed the application, generating 150 requests to be referred for hire.

Leveraging employees’ existing networks and mobilising them to act as recruiters makes financial sense for the firm and necessitates a committed, trusting and respectful environment.

• You Tube

At the end of 2008, Deloitte established a dedicated  YouTube channel ,  which to date has generated more than 40,000 video views. (Click on the link to go directly to the channel).

The Results – Harnessing Collective Wisdom

The results have been impressive.  As a firm focussed on innovation, David Redhill, Chief Marketing Officer of Deloitte cites several positive outcomes of their social media activity including:

• Revenue driving new products developed from using the media
• Tangible business improvements resulting from harnessing the collective of wisdom of their people
• Engaging 4500 people in the process of building a marketing strategy;
• They’re now the largest Yammer network in the world
• The blitzing of the competition and grabbing share of media and government mind with their innovative use of Twitter during the last Federal Budget.

Managing Risk

Many businesses contemplating social media activity are nervous about potential risks to their business.  Deloitte has addressed this.

Like  marketing strategist and best selling author David Meerman Scott, who  talks of the need for organisations to ‘lose control’ when spreading ideas and creating world raves,   Deloitte believes in   ‘unleashing energy and not trying to control it’.

The firm has  developed a framework around how it manages social media risk. They’ve defined acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, monitor use and deal with any inappropriate use. Their focus is upon education:

‘The central idea is for people to understand how social media works. Their national social media council has developed guidelines that put focus on education.”

Deloitte’s social media activity internally is supported by two of the firm’s key values – empower and trust.  Employees are counselled about personal and professional responsiblity for both their own and the company’s reputation.

Social Media Rock Stars

Social media as a communications channel is relevant for business if their  stakeholders are online and participating. With 400 million active users on Facebook,  24 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute and an estimated 5-10 thousand Twitter accounts opened per day, it is likely that for  businesses,  many stakeholders are active in this realm.

In addition to being described as ‘rock stars’, Deloitte has established themselves as Web 2.0 thought leaders and as a top employment brand in technology and business.  As they say “not bad for a firm of accountants!”

Rock on Deloitte!

This content is drawn from a presentation by David Redhill, Chief Marketing Officer of Deloitte Australia, provided in May 2010  and their publication: Social Media at Deloitte. Participation, communication, transformation

Update:

Just posted: Read David Meerman Scott‘s post from the WebInkNow blog here.

(Thanks David!)

Follow Deloitte on Twitter: @green_dot

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• 

1. How can we market our products with limited resources?

Resources are always limited for businesses regardless of size, necessitating careful allocation of expenditure for the best possible return. How to market with limited resources?

Read: Clever Cost Effective Marketing Strategy

Why is implementation so important? Picasso said:  Action is the key to foundational success‘. Plans must be implemented or they remain just plans.

Read more in: Marketing Strategy – Just Try It

2. Why blog?

Web 2.0 has facilitated interactivity never before possible. Blogs (or weblogs) have several benefits for business. Read more here:

The Beautiful Business Benefits of Blogging

To Blog or Not to Blog

3.  Why social media?

90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011. How do you change whatyou’re doing today to be ready for that? - Seth Godin, April 20, 2009

Social media has become a powerful additional communications channel for building relationships with customers. Managing Social Media is as easy as 1-2-3!

Read more:   The 1-2-3 of Managing Your Social Media

4. What’s branding?

A brand is often thought of as a mark or distinguishing element – the company identifier, almost like a personal signature. However this is just one aspect.

A brand represents everything your organization offers.

Read more about branding here:

Your Brand So Much More than Your Logo

Branding Values Vibe & Synchronicity

Romancing The Brand (A discussion of Lovemarks – much loved and respected brands)

5. Can you recommend a great marketing book?

Of course!

Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

I highly recommend this book written by the two founders of 37 Signals – a trailblazing software company. Rework so nicely complements Seth Godin’s Linchpin and contains the same no nonsense ‘just do it!’ attitude of Tom Peter’s. You can read it in one afternoon and will be inspired afterwards to tackle your best work!

More about Rework here. Rework is available for purchase  here

What is your most important marketing question?

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• 

Established as a site where anyone can upload and share their videos with the world,YouTube today is a thriving community, attracting more than two billion views daily – nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined.

YouTube has become an increasingly important marketing tool to build customer relationships. It’s also a great resource for businesses.

Here are five of our favourite YouTube videos which we hope you find both interesting and useful.

Tom Peters: On Reading For Success

Tom reminds us that a key to success is reading. Staying informed and developing analytical skills are essential in business today.

“Read wide, read long, read deep” Tom says.

David Meerman Scott: Five Questions

Best selling author, David Meerman Scott, asks five questions at workshops across the world and finds the responses to be remarkably similar, highlighting The New Rules of Marketing & PR

Seth Godin & Tom Peters: On Blogging

Seth and Tom provide their thoughts about the value of blogging. Blogging since 2004, Tom concludes: “It’s the best damn marketing tool I’ve ever had … and it’s free.”

Elizabeth Gilbert: Creativity

Best selling author of ‘Eat Pray Love’, Elizabeth Gilbert, provides inspirational insights into creativity.

The Real Meaning of Success: Deepak Chopra

Providing a service that is needed .. having fun along the way ..these are just a couple of Deepak Chopra’s thoughts about the real meaning of success.  The Real Meaning of Success

Harnessing You Tube

This article provides some great tips to get the most from YouTube.

Top 10 You Tube Tips for Small Businesses

What’s your favourite YouTube?

Update:

Just posted – read (and see) David Meerman Scott in his post: Online Video Rocks As A Global Marketing Channel.

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• 

WOW!

How fantastic it was to attend the inaugural TEDx Brisbane event on Saturday.  I knew something of TED, but had no expectations except that the day was sure to be interesting.

Interesting it was.  Also:  Inspirational. Thought provoking.  Exciting.  Emotional

With the theme ‘All you need is’ ..’  ..to see’ ..’,    to listen’..,  ‘to dream’ and ‘to act’, twelve speakers each presented for 18 minutes – except for Nigel Brennan, the final speaker, for whom the clock was switched off.

Nigel received a standing ovation at one of his first public engagements since being released from Somalia only 100 days ago.

In addition to the twelve we heard  a number of ‘brain bursts’, three minute concise and thought provoking snippets, on a range of topics.

Inspiration

Several recorded TED talks were featured . My favourites were by best selling author (‘Eat, Pray, Love)  Elizabeth Gilbert who spoke on creative genius and UK Prime Minister,  Gordon Brown who spoke passionately about marrying morality to the world’s new interconnectedness. Foreign policy, he says, is  now consumer driven, with new media making it so easy for consumers to comment.   The New Rules of Marketing & PR apply to modern day foreign policy too it seems.

Dr Joel Gilmore, Physicist provided a balanced account of climate change policy and nuclear energy, calling for more discussion, not political debate.

Creativity

As a marketer I was excited by the creativity and innovation of Designer Kevin Finn, publisher of the Open Manifesto, who left the high powered corporate advertising world of Saatchi’s to live in Kununurra, a remote area of the Kimberleys in Western Australia. Kevin spoke of using the land’s red dirt as the visual language for some of his design work there. The dirt represented the Indigineous relationship with the land and a motif of the rich resources of the mining companies.  Kevin had the unenviable job of kicking off the day’s presentations .. but his talk, creative work and Irish sense of humour were a perfect start to the day.

On the design – creativity and innovation side – further inspiration  was furnished by Hamish Cairns, photographer, who provided a 3 minute insight into some of his photo journalism adventures in Northern Pakistan. Hamish spoke of his current pursuit of growing a  long beard which will compliment the flowing robe which he must wear when he returns to the area.  His photos are beautiful.

Sheldon Lieberman of Bigfish.tv, was wonderful – so funny, unique and creative, whilst Anthea Edam provided haunting poetry and Michael Doneman told us about developing the ‘seeing muscle’.

Overwhelming Need

It was also a day which reminded of the tremendous problems which exist in our society. Dr Chris Sarra, Executive Director of the Stronger Smarter Institute spoke of the importance of providing positive messages to all young children whilst Bronwyn Sheehan, mother of three, recounted statistics and stories of the liberating power of literacy and how the Pyjama Foundation she established five years ago, has helped change so many lives through reading to foster children.

Friends & Food

Old friendships were discovered and new ones commenced. Yummy food provided by Food Connect, a social business which works with farmers surrounding Brisbane.

What does all this have to do with marketing strategy?

Design, creativity and innovation are probably most closely associated with the main theme of this blog.  However TEDx provided so much food for thought, information on topics previously not studied, a vehicle to open our minds, to  challenge, think and appreciate other situations and lives.

Personally,  I can’t wait until the next one. If you get the chance to attend TED or a TEDx event near where you live, don’t miss it!

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• 

Businesses not yet online are missing opportunities to grow. Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Many businesses are yet to embrace today’s technology and shape their marketing strategies to suit their customers’ behaviour. In Australia, despite increasing internet usage, approximately 50% of small businesses still do not have a website and it would seem no online marketing strategy.

Technology has given every business access to a global market. The number of internet users globally is huge as a recent post on Mashable detailed.

As of September 2009, there were:

1.73 billion Internet users worldwide

1.4 billion e-mail users worldwide who collectively send on average 247 billion emails per day, 200 billion of which were spam.   In December 2009, there were 234 million websites

Social Media

The same report advised that Facebook receives 260 billion pageviews per month, which is equivalent to 6 million page views per minute; and that the  number of  Facebook users now exceed 400 million. Twitter users are tweeting more than  50 million tweets per day whilst You Tube viewers are watching 1 billion videos per day.

Online Downunder

In Australia, more households than ever before (nearly 6 million) are now connected to the internet. We’re also conducting more online searches. In December last year, 8 million Australians visited a retail site.  We’re spending more online: IBIS World estimates that Australian online shopping revenue will increase by 5% to nearly $20 billion in 2010.

For businesses,  web absence means missed sales and opportunities to build relationships, as both existing and potential customers are online.

How can businesses tap into this opportunity?

1) Identify how your customers are using the technology and then customise your marketing strategy accordingly.

2) Create a website.  It really is the centre piece of cost effective marketing these days and  need not be expensive.

3) Optimise.  Research keywords that your customers are searching on and include these in your web copy.

4) Go where your customers are. Join the conversation in social media. Build your community – your own ‘tribe’. Interact, engage and listen.  If your customers are women 35 years+, who happen to be the fastest growing demographic user of Facebook,  a Facebook Business page is a natural next step. And it’s free.

Leveraging the technology is a cost effective marketing strategy; which offers significant benefits.   Customers will do your marketing for you. As brand advocates, they will spread the word via word of mouth,  decreasing  marketing expenditure  required. Your strengthened brand will attract new customers as well as reinforce relationships with existing ones.

As marketing author Seth Godin says:

‘.. the future belongs to marketers who establish a foundation and process where interested people can market to each other. Ignite consumer networks and then get out of the way and let them talk

So don’t delay any longer.

If you need any help with getting online or you’d like to discuss current marketing strategies – please contact us.  We’d love to assist.

Related Posts:
The Beautiful Business Benefits of Blogging
The 1-2-3 of Managing Your Social Media – A Beginner’s Guide
In Memory of Netscape – The Transformation of Business Marketing
Some Linkedin Lovin’
Social Media For Good – Businesses Making A Difference Using Social Media 12for12K

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It is difficult to nominate but amongst my favourites are:

‘Make compassion a core value’ Mitch Joel, p33

‘The future belongs to people who can spread ideas’ Guy Kawasaki, p32

‘Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free’  David Meerman Scott p48

‘Stop waiting around for bosses and companies to get better and and complaining about how you are treated. Build the skills – and use them – that will permit you to create the environment in which you want to live’ Jeffrey Pfeffer, p29

‘Business is a game.  (In) Strategy. Learn to adapt. Adjust your style of play  as the dynamics of the game change.’ Tony Hsieh, p26

‘Sing in your own voice’ Hugh Macleod, p10

‘If not Excellence, what?’  Tom Peters, p20

‘…its usually a small percentage of the tribe within the larger tribe who spread the word. …They are the One Percenters. The One Percenters are often hidden in the crevices of niches but they are the roots of word of mouth. …find them and attract them.’ Jackie Huba & Ben McConnell,  p17

‘Forget about working on your weaknesses -> Focus on supporting your strengths. ‘ Marti Baletta, p22

As Seth says: ‘Things to think about’ .. ‘small things do make a difference’.  You can view the E-Book and download here. (Just click on the link).  Enjoy!  And thanks Seth!

What Matters Now

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Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011. How do you change what you’re doing today to be ready for that? Seth Godin, April 20, 2009

Social media has become a powerful additional communications channel in your marketing strategy to build relationships with customers.  Managing it can be as easy as 1-2-3!

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Here are some stat’s:

Facebook alone has more than 400 million users worldwide, half of whom log on daily.The fastest growing demographic is 35 years + female.

LinkedIn, described as the ‘buttoned down, suited up’ version of social media has  more than 47 million members with a new member joining  every second. Half of all members are from outside the U.S.

Twitter – (microblogs), is one the fastest growing social networking sites in history with millions of users within its first year.

Blogs – (web log) 184 million users globally have started a blog and 346 million people read them[1]. The majority (77%) of active internet users read blogs. Chances are your customers are too.

YouTube – It has been said if YouTube was a country it would be the third most populated place in the world!  20 hours of video are uploaded every minute [2]. 100 million unique monthly visits.[3]. #1 entertainment site on the Internet, #6 largest internet destination.[4]

So, if you are just starting out or have your accounts already established, the following provides some quick  tips for making the most of these media:

1. Purpose

Think about what you are seeking to achieve from your social media activity. Are you hoping to: increase customers, sales, awareness of your business or all of the above?  Clarity about your purpose will help refine the type of content you provide and how often you use these media.

2. Plan

Planning is key to optimizing your time and outcomes. Planning for content, frequency and time management will provide efficiencies.

Content Social media is not about selling – but like offline networking – its more about building relationships and engaging your followers.    Follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of your posts provide information of value, relevant and of interest to your followers, such as  articles, links and tips relevant to your business and industry. 20%  of your posts can be  about your business including special offers.

How often? To build and maintain a following you need to participate and engage regularly.  Suggested: Twitter – several times per day;  Facebook – 2-3 times per week.

Time Management Managing social media is now akin to email management. Set aside some time, perhaps 15 minutes twice daily, to answer messages, accept friend requests and make your posts.

Use programs such as PingFM (www.pingfm.com) which links your social media – enabling your posts to be automatically distributed to your other sites.   Twitter can be linked to Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn – so any new posts on your Twitter feed will be automatically updated on your other platforms.

3. Promote

• Choose a name for each of your profiles relevant to your business and consistent with  your branding. Once you have 25 fans on your Facebook business page, you can claim your url.
• To reinforce your branding – keep your profile images consistent on each platform.
• Promote your social media addresses on all your written and electronic communication.
• Follow up networking events by connecting with new colleagues via these media. LinkedIn particularly is great for this.

Take advantage of the fantastic technological phenomenon that is social media to build your network and grow your business.     Good luck!

[2] YouTube 2009

[3] Comscore 2009

[4] YouTube 2009

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An early Christmas present for us (Seth Godin’s new book) and an opportunity to assist a worthy cause. Please click on the link :   Acumen

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