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Smart Marketers Are Increasing Their Value Internally

Avenue A | Razorfish hosted is eighth annual client summit in New York in May. Their clients are made up of fortune 100 companies. The intent of the summit was to gather the worlds top experts on digital marketing and explore the trends. Avenue A | Razorfish has graciously posted excerpts of summit.

The opening speech by Clark Kokich, CEO of Avenue A | Razorfish, offers an excellent overview. If you’re struggling to convince your senior executives that digital marketing is not the future, but require strategies today, I recommending sharing this 18 minute video during a meeting. I think it could create that light-bulb moment that could buy you support to move forward on a digital marketing.

There are 16 other videos capturing snippets of what have must been a fascinating and valuable summit for their clients. I am impressed that they invited not only experts to speak but also competitors to speak. What a bold and powerful decision and made me love Avenue A | Razorfish even more for it. Also, they walk-the-walk of digital marketing (and so they should but most companies struggle with truly doing what they advise their clients). By providing content from the summit, in the way of video snips, they are sharing the summit experience with other marketers and organizations creating opportunity for others to experience Avenue A | Razorfish - creating a branding moment. So beautiful and inspirational.

So back to the purpose of this post “Smart Marketers Are Increasing Their Value Internally”. While watching Kokich’s speech he speaks about how smart marketers are getting their organizations to think strategically about social media and are able to produce results.  In return, these smart marketers are also increasing their value internally and are likely to get more attention from senior executives. They will have more say on how to integrate marketing, communications, public relations, customer service and various other touch points to make their company and organization more genuine, more likeable, more transparent - in order to build word of mouth, loyalty, and ultimately revenue.

What do you know about social media? Are you on top of the social networks? Are you listening to your customers? If you simply start by listening, then you can provide massive amounts of value to your organization and enhance your career.

- Jenifer Schaefer

Posted under Branding, Business Resources, Case Studies, Conference, Digital Marketing, Education, Marketing, Social media, Strategy

This post was written by jschaefer on September 16, 2008

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Explicit Social Media Overview

I’m a social network junkie. I admit it. I love meeting prople. Learning from others. Sharing ideas. Simply listening to what’s happening online.

Many organizations have heard about Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc. but many still don’t understand it’s power. It’s the way to support, encourage and enable personal recommendations from your existing customers to potential customers, and repeat customers.  Let me put it to you this way…. it’s the difference between 17% and 78%.  17% of people trust advertising but 78% trust other consumers recommendations (Nielsen “Trust in Advertising”, October 2007)

Yet, smart marketers and organizations are realizing social media it is revolutionizing the way an organization markets. While many think that social media and social networking is the future, they’re wrong. It’s here today. Do you have a social media strategy? Who is responsible for it? Many large organizations already have V.P.s of Social Media or Network Marketing. It’s that important! Check this out… even Wells Fargo has a VP of Social Network Marketing: Ed Terpening. A BANK gets it. Typically considered a participant in a stodgy industry, Wells Fargo is getting it, doing it, and making things happen in social networks. Which bank do you think will WIN?

Below is an in-your-face slideshow about social media from Marta Kagan. While I feel uncomfortable with unnecessary swearing (thanks to my parents who were both educators and believed that there are better words to express your feelings), I understand they used this technique to get attention. Guess it worked on me and I thought it was well assembled.

What The F**K is Social Media?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: socialmediamarketing marketing)

Thoughts on how to get started online:

Listening: What are people saying about your company? How do they use your products and services? Are they engaged? Immerse your self in a multitude of places. Learn how to find out how to listen online from an expert (by the way, seaching Google for your brand is not listening)

Immerse yourself in the dialogue: Just chat and respond. Never, and I mean never, push out scripted messages. You need to live your brand… and a brand would never actually go and tell people how awesome they are. They’d be more interested in the people around them. The image SOCIAL>media helps to demonstrate the importance of being simply social. Companies often find this part difficult but it can make or break you.

Give Up Control: You can not control what is being said online. Give it up. Release your baby into the world to grow and flourish on its own. It’s ok. If you’re being transparent and genuine,  answer plainly and in a timely fashion and don’t get your back up when you’re  criticized… then your brand has the potential to flourish. As it says in the slide show ”

- Jenifer Schaefer

Posted under Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social media, Strategy, Uncategorized

This post was written by admin on September 9, 2008

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