Monday, April 8, 2013

The Value of Social Media in Business -- Interview with StartUpClub.TV



Happy and honoured to be invited as Expert Guest Speaker on Startup Club.tv's Online TV Show. It was a pleasure talking to the vivacious Madison Stern beaming in live from San Diego, California. I had fun doing the Q&A style interview on "The Value of Social Media in Business".





Here's a timeline of the Q&A to help you better navigate through the video:

04:00 - Tell us a little about Holistic Social Media? How do Integrated Marketing principles apply in Social Business?

07:03 - Social Media empowers people... marketers, customers, employees. Can you tell us a little more...

09:50 - Social media creates markets of one. What are the benefits of having connected customers? How does a company benefit from two-way communication channels and receiving real-time customer feedback?

11:24 - Call it customization, personalization or mass individualization, what does it cost the company? Is it worth the investment for a company to achieve social scale? Go from social media to social business?

13:22 - Red Bull Live Jump: an example of break-through marketing, going beyond social media, a brand creating larger-than-life marketing experiences, keeping pace with the evolving art + science of marketing.

18:07 - Big brands with deep pockets/ huge resources enjoy phenomenal success/ generate customer loyalty via social media. How does the small guy compete? What's in it for newbies/ SMEs/ SMBs/ entrepreneurs?

20:43 - How big a role does one's personality play in social? Why being yourself is paramount? How does it influence meaningful relationships or relate to creating positive customer experience?

24:12 - What do you think about the power of Word-of-Mouth on social? (My slightly poetic views :-) How does it lead to creating brand advocates/ evangelists?

27:43 - Old Spice "Smell Like a Man" - put the fun to marketing, got the brand tone right, the campaign engineered a brand revival, Old Spice is a case study for using YouTube effectively.

30:00 - How do start-ups/ companies go about choosing the right social platform for their brand/ business?

32:32 - KiwiYo Frozen Yoghurt Case Study - how they leveraged social media to create a NZ success story, how their Facebook Photobooth app hit it off with customers.

37:55 - What can companies do to get people engaged/ ensure buy-in using social media? Two stellar examples: At a micro-level: Social Media Club Auckland, At a macro-level: President Obama campaigns.

42:47 - What challenges do marketers trying to get people in the door usually face? How can they best utilize social media for that first crucial step?

45:50 - What's the best way to pitch Social Business to the C-suite, OR pitch Social Media to skeptics? Do you recommend the use of "Fear Factor/ Peer Pressure" scare tactics? If you don't join in, then...

48:54 - Why do companies/ brands need to be on social media and get social savvy? The real reason is... 

50:00 - Why invest in social media? Why is social listening so important to marketers?

51:10 - How does it lead to insights within all the clutter and noise out there on social?

52:47 - Big Data: Making sense of incoming information. For eg. What does a Facebook "Like" really mean? 

54:19 - Using 'humour' as a campaign driver.

55:40 - What books on social media would you recommend?

58:20 - The psychology of customer relationships... Why should businesses build relationships/ engage with their customers online via social?

1:04:00 - Why are you social? How do you "be" social? Is there a mindset that works best in social media?

Social is the way forward, and Social Business is the way to go. I'll sign-off on my top one-liner: "Social is not something you do. It's something you are."


If social business interests you, you may like this slide deck:

Social Business - A Competitive Advantage [DECK] #SocBiz


Thursday, April 4, 2013

In Social Business, Relationships Matter Most. Think RonR


"In the connection economy, trust and relationships are the new currency. 
It's not a soft thing you do in your spare time, it's the heart and soul of your business."
- Seth Godin


Relationships are the new currency: Honor them. Invest in them. Start measuring your Return on Relationship.
#RonR

Peeped into my mailbox and much to my surprise and delight... what do I see? A US postage parcel addressed to my Twitter name @Mr_Madness. (Imagine the postman's smile Emoji)

Opened it to find Kathryn Rose and Ted Rubin's new book - Return on Relationship. (yay !!!)


2007: Revolution

In the early days of social media, the question on everyone's lips was "What's the ROI?" Slowly, marketers (and C-suites) saw the power of social networks and opened their minds (and budgets).


2013: Evolution

The spread of social technology has led to an evolution where all the dots connect to form an integrated Social Business model.

In today's digitally connected economy, relationships are of essence. As business drivers, they create employee and customer engagement. Relationships are what social business is built on.

Truly, in a business environment where it's not enough to just:
  • grow a community - but grow a community of brand advocates
  • woo customers - but win customers who will win more customers
  • build and promote your brand - but create a collaborative movement
...the million dollar question is: "What's the RonR?" (Can't wait to read the book.)

 

About Ted Rubin

Ted Rubin is the most followed CMO on Twitter, dispenses the most useful marketing advice, and wait for it... owns the happiest collection of coloured socks (socks for jocks) in the world :-)


Knowing him online, I can say, Ted is the real deal. I recommend you own a copy. For more details on the book, check it out on Amazon.com, follow real-time updates via hashtag #RonR


Wait a sec... How did this book reach my mailbox?

In March, I attended a #pmlabs webinar hosted by Pure Matter and was among 5 lucky winners (yay again !!!)

                                                                                                         brand marketing + interactive 



Love the hand-written note. Very authentic. Very personal. Very memorable. Spot on #RonR.


Many Thanks to:

  • The awesome Tami Cannizzaro via whom I came across all these amazing people.


Video Preview: Return on Relationship

The CMO Club Interview: How CMOs approach Social Media (Great insights at #IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit)


Concluding Remarks

In Return on Relationship, Rose and Rubin focus on the basic unit that defines a business: Relationships, and show us how social media drives --> engagement drives --> loyalty, which directly correlates to --> sales. When it comes to social business, relationships matter most. Think #RonR. So, that's that then. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have a book to catch Emoji