No Silver Bullet

Why I dislike “like”

May 26th, 2011 by Bob Reed | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

A while back, I asked my Facebook friends about the business weasel words and phrases they can’t stand. I know other bloggers have written similar posts and held contests on detestable business speak. I’ve had my list sitting here for a while, and I’ll post it next week. What I had to share was a conversation, if you’d want to call it that, my family overheard while dining out earlier this week.

Seated directly behind my wife were two 20-something girls, talking about… whatever. We couldn’t understand the conversation (no, we weren’t eavesdropping) but were fascinated by the utterly gratuitous use of the word “like”. I know what you’re thinking. Use of the word “like” is more common than weeds. This woman’s use, however, was extreme. Here’s an approximation:

“Like, I told Jessica, like, she had, like, a really, like, bad attitude about her boyfriend, and, like, if she, like, didn’t want to see him anymore, she should, like, stop seeing him….”

My wife decided to clock how many times she heard “like”. At the height of the onslaught, she counted 10 in a mere 20 seconds. That’s a lot of “likes”.

We disliked it.

What’s wrong with this overuse of “like”? It turns out, grammatically and historically, nothing, according to language columnist Mark Peters. To me, the word “like” is the preferred binder and filler of the English language. Similar to contracting a pathogen from bad food processing, this woman, and so many like her, have fallen victim to a verbal plague.

Like is perfectly fine when it’s used as a comparative word. Use like. Just don’t use it as effortlessly as many people swear.

What other “binder” words do you “dislike”?

Tags: business, grammar, Like, speak

Digital Spells Opportunity (and Impact) for Attracting Customers

May 17th, 2011 by Susan Duensing, CBC | No Comments | Filed in SMBs

Jack Kraft talks digital marketing.

A conversation with Jack Kraft, business consultant, venture capitalist and former executive at Leo Burnett.

Note: Jack is a long-time advisor to Element-R. Even a short conversation with him is thought-provoking — and always right on target. We got together recently to talk about one of his favorite topics – marketing.

ER: We’re expanding the purpose of No Silver Bullet to provide insight on marketing and on other business issues for SMBs. Obviously, with the recession, all of our clients are looking for ways to build sales – even the larger corporations.

Jack Kraft (JCK): In every business, there is a gateway activity to gaining new customers. For small firms in particular, the fundamental issue is managing resources. That’s the bane of effective management for most companies. And the one area that is most foreign is how to manage marketing resources.

Resources have to be managed. Clients have to be managed. And you need strategies for managing those resources, to ensure you are doing the right things right.

The highest result from managing resources is attracting clients.

ER: What are you seeing in all of your current consulting gigs?

JCK: The biggest marketing breakthrough, digital technology, is not really new any more. But, it continues to evolve and continues to reduce the cost and speed of communicating with the marketplace. It has never been easier.

The impact a company can have with even a modest investment is enormous. Digitally, you can reach more people; address specific market segments and measure the effects quickly, effectively and economically.

Exponential growth can be achieved using only digital tools. I continue to see it happen!

ER: In our B2B space, we see a fear of some of the newer social media tools – mainly out of misunderstanding. Plus, there is usually a lot of room for improving companies’ existing digital presence, so we generally start there, and add a set of basic social media tactics to get their feet wet. It’s a real shift in how you ‘do’ marketing.

JCK: Yes, it takes special skills to use digital technology effectively, and those skill sets are still evolving so rapidly that professional input makes a lot of sense.

ER: What should companies keep in mind as they approach – or delve deeper – into the digital world?

JCK: The same basics of marketing apply to using digital tools, but perhaps to an even greater extent than before because results are instantly measurable:

Understanding your market
Knowing what you’re selling from the customer’s perspective (not the product per se, but the soft stuff)
Translate the sell into a compelling message that the market cares about and constantly measure results

Digital tools reach the market but produce results only if you know how to use them. If you don’t, find someone who does.

ER: Right. You can’t just go in and start Tweeting the same commercial messages you might place in an ad. It takes thought … listening … and planning good content.

JCK: I also see a strong need for PR planning in conjunction with social media. The more “right things” companies have to say, the more exposure they’ll receive on the web. The desired result is higher results in organic rankings.

So, the largest area of opportunity is how to use technology to build bridges to customers – how to create environments that invite conversations that lead to desired actions.

Tags: attracting clients, digital marketing, invite conversation, Jack Kraft, SMBs, social media

Dear CEO: Content Is Your Social Media Fuel

April 22nd, 2011 by Bob Reed | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

Earlier this year I was asked by the irrepressible Gini Dietrich to contribute my thoughts to an ebook titled, Dear CEO: Letters to the C-Suite from Experts on Vision, Culture, Community, and Integration. It’s a collection of letters to an unnamed CEO offering honest, unvarshished advice from 30 other business, marketing and pr pros. It was a humbling experience to be asked, because there are some REALLY smart people in this book, including social marketing luminaries Danny Brown and Beth Harte.

Here’s my contribution:

Dear CEO,

You already know that social media is the new (and now permanent) marketing glue. It‘s not going away and its reach and use is permeating practically every corner of your marketing efforts.

What‘s in store for social marketing trends? From a handful of blog posts from leading bloggers and social media luminaries, I‘ve aggregated the following items: QR codes; mobile; group buying; niche location; Facebook advertising; reputation management; listening emphasis; customer service and Q&A sites.

All these will have an affect to varying degrees or another, but in my opinion, content development and marketing will be the most important this year. Developing new, compelling and valuable information is what progressive organizations will use to attract and hold the attention of their prospects and buyers.

Content is the fuel of social media. The value is how you mine it, process it, refine it and present it. You‘ll do this two ways. First, look internally to the wealth of information contained in your internal assets (read: your people and their expertise); and second, engage on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs to tap the pools of marketing crude and deposits of customer insight. These rich sources will help you continually engage, educate, and inform your customers and followers in such a way to keep them transacting with you.

Yes, like the saying goes, content is king, but it should not be content for content sake. It should be systematic, adaptable, relational and relevant. Content needs to cover your customers at different stages of the buying cycle in the right formats. It‘s been said many times by many people: divvy up your content into bite-sized marketing morsels that can be used in many different forms. This repurposing is more time and cost effective and will give you greater flexibility to meet the needs of your customers to influence their buying decisions.

Bottom line: Create content with context.

Best regards,

Bob Reed Partner & Co-founder

Bob Reed

Partner & Co-founder

Element-R Partners, LLC

bob@rurelevant.com

www.rurelevant.com

www.twitter.com/RAReed

www.linkedin.com/in/robertallanreed

www.facebook.com/ElementRPartners

This little book is brimming with wise insight and advice. And you can secure a PDF copy for free.

Be the first of ten people to share it, and you’ll get it. Use the #DearCEO hashtag on Twitter, and share it on Facebook, LinkedIn and wherever else. Then let me know via any of my profiles. I’ll be watching. If you miss out on the freebies, head on over to Arment Dietrich’s Spin Sucks and purchase a copy. It’s worth it.

Tags: content, Dear CEO, development, Gini Dietrich, repurpose

Hyundai’s Confidence is Showing Through Social Media

July 13th, 2010 by Bob Reed | 1 Comment | Filed in Marketing Inspiration

I’m in the market for good, late model used car. While I like the idea of driving a new set of wheels off the lot, I dislike how much of the purchase price I’ll lose when they hit the street.

What make and model is in the lead that will handle two kids and a dog? Not Honda, the Pilot is too pricey. Toyota would have been a lead off contender, but not today, not next year or maybe the next five. Ford is coming back, but it doesn’t have a model that adequately suits my needs.

Like a lot more people, I’m looking at a Hyundai, specifically a 2009 Santa Fe — stylish, reliable and crash worthy. With a family, I like to play it safe. The company, however, is doing anything but, judging by its models, markets and marketing.

No Silver Bullet wrote about Hyundai’s different marketing approach last year. So, when we learned about its new “Uncensored” campaign, we had to comment again. Hyundai’s is exploiting growing confidence as a mature automaker and it is clear these folks are playing for keeps by eschewing the same, tired automobile marketing.

“Uncensored” captures what the car maker says are very organic conversations, unscripted, unedited remarks of drivers as they tested various Hyundai models in major U.S. cities this spring. Now, a company would have lug nuts for brains if it were to air negative comments. What’s notable is how the company takes the campaign two steps further.

First, according to the Hyundai press release,”125 non-Hyundai sedan owners will be given a new 2011 Sonata to drive for 30 days. Their comments will be posted – unscripted and unedited – on Hyundai’s Facebook site. The second is a multi-city ride-and-drive, which includes a video booth where consumers can film their drive impression and post video directly to their own Facebook page.”

Yeah, Hyundai has confidence… and some guts.

How odd. A car company has me anticipating buying one of their cars, watching their commercials and searching out the comments on Facebook. Better yet, amazing.

Tags: Facebook, Hyundai, social media, Uncensored

Measuring Against “No”

May 21st, 2010 by Susan Duensing, CBC | 2 Comments | Filed in Marketing Inspiration

Talking about a new campaign, a client’s sales director recently said to me, “I’m the guy you call when the customer says “no.”

It got me thinking … this guy’s on fire!

We proceeded to have a productive conversation about all of the ways the company’s product solved problems, and provided ROI, for the customer. Manna from heaven for a marketer!

And, an instant and provocative perspective to apply for evaluating content and promotional ideas – even brainstorming new ideas.

The first question to ask yourself: How TRULY hard-hitting are the reasons you have for how your product or service fits your market?

If you were to use “no” as the answer to your company’s main pitch, where do you go from there? (A great question for sales training!)

To probe further:

How well are you appealing to your customers’ pain?
What about the ROI they can expect from buying your product or service?
How are you DIRECTLY addressing the real-world issues they’re facing?

Taken one by one and measuring against “no,” do all of your marketing and communications with your target stack up?

My guess … there is always room for improvement.

The Passion, or Human, Element

The purpose of what we marketers do each and every day is to find the most effective ways to educate, inform and persuade.

What I got from this sales director was passion, pure and simple. Passion and enthusiasm are almost as important as the facts we can present to support our sales pitch. Passion comes from knowing our subject – not just the skinny about our own products or services, but our knowledge about the customer’s reality.

Passion also comes from personality. We’ve all interacted with some really tremendous sales folks, and some not-so-tremendous. How our pitch is presented, whether in person or some communications vehicle – can also convey that passion and personality.

So, what’s your company’s marketing personality? Is it coming across? Can you better leverage it … capture a single rep’s passion … make it more interesting or fun … make it better than it currently is?

Tags: customer issues, customer pain, Customer perspective, inspiration from sales reps, marketing ideas, passion, personality, persuasion

Twitter Interview with Jason Baer

April 28th, 2010 by Bob Reed | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

As a lead-up to the PRSA Counselors Academy Conference, an annual meeting of independent PR agency owners (and an event I try to never miss), I interviewed social media superstar Jay Baer (@jaybaer) of Convince and Convert, who is presenting at this year’s confab. He is among a small group of forward-thinking social media strategists and luminaries who are helping the rest of us harness the power of the social Web.

This is a recap of our conversation, matching the style of Jason’s well known Twitter interviews, on how PR agencies need to think about the practice of social and digital media. Even if you aren’t with a PR agency, this has noteworthy information nonetheless. It originally appeared on the PRSA blog, “Comprehension.”

@RAReed: We’re transitioning from thinking and talking about social media to doing and measuring its effect. What are agencies getting right?

@jaybaer: Social media is so all encompassing that it’s lost meaning to say that you’re good at social media. There are so many facets to it now.
The best break social media into pieces and focus on possibilities and outcomes, influence or outreach, brand community or social CRM.

@RAReed: On the flip-side, what are the biggest missteps agencies are making with social media?

@jaybaer: Agencies tend to silo their social expertise where they only have a couple people who are the social media experts.
There is too much focus on social outposts like Twitter accounts, a Facebook page or YouTube channel versus opportunities to be social.

@RAReed Larger agencies seemingly have the horse power to get a leg up on social media practices. Where can smaller agencies catch up?

@jaybaer: I think smaller- and medium-sized agencies make the transition from traditional to social-enabled PR much easier than larger agencies.
Smaller agencies are closer to customers. They adopt new services more easily and can change what they do for the client with less internal friction.
Large agencies can dedicate staff to social media but that’s not necessarily good. But they have clients that can experiment more.

@RAReed: What skill sets related to social media do the majority of agencies still need to develop? SEO immediately comes to mind.

Content optimization and analytics in all forms and fashion. It’s being better at Excel instead of Word.
Marketing is not a campaign any more. Think of it more as a river and that changes everything. Monitor and respond in real time.

@RAReed: What are you out to convey in the pre-con session that won’t be covered in the regular CA sessions?

@jaybaer: We’ll talk through the social media planning process to build a sustainable strategic framework around all social activities.
I want people to learn how to be social and not just how to do social. Forget thinking Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. Be tool agnostic.

@RAReed: What are the three or four most important things agencies can do to differentiate and market their social media offerings?

@Jaybaer: Understand the science and math of social media. There is a lot there that people don’t gravitate toward as much as they should.
Know the data and numbers. There’s a right time to tweet, a best way to update Facebook and the right way to search optimize a blog.
Help clients with social media CRM and customer retention more than campaigns or the customer acquisition component.
In the end we’ll wonder why we thought social media was good for customer acquisition when it’s clearly a loyalty and retention tool.

@RAReed: What are the first, most important steps an agency should engage in to build its social media presence?

@Jaybaer: Understand what you’re good at, be specific about it and then create and atomize content that supports that supposition.
Whether it be blogs, podcasts, webinars, speeches, know where you have to participate in the inbound marketing domain.
Embrace giving away info snacks in order to eat a meal down the road.
Drive content awareness via search optimization. People will eventually find and recognize you as actually good at that particular thing.

@RAReed: I need a one word answer to this last question: In 2010, when it comes to social media, PR agencies must _________.

I’ll have to give it to you in two words: embrace math.

Tags: Counselors Academy, Jason Baer, PRSA, social media, Twitter

Apple Vs. the Evening News: Lesson in Re-Defining a Category

April 16th, 2010 by Susan Duensing, CBC | 1 Comment | Filed in Innovation Series

There’s a ‘shock & awe’ quote for you. I use it frequently in client meetings and presentations because it puts the importance of both into a light that many just don’t consider.

Every company markets to one extent or another; but not every company is innovating.

Innovation, especially for legacy organizations, isn’t easy. Competition on a worldwide scale brings the perpetual better mousetrap. Those that don’t keep up lose market share and eventually go by the wayside.

Not News Directors; “Funeral Directors”

Take the network news shows. I was amused by a former newsman’s remarks about the decline of network news, and the rise of cable. “News Directors should instead be called, Funeral Directors,” he said, explaining that the viewership decline was due to the fact that the shows continue to broadcast the same thing: the same format, the same programming, that they did three decades ago.

“They’re no longer relevant. They’re not managing ideas — they’re not even coming up with any.”

Contrast the networks’ dilemma with the top tech firms – all continually re-defining their categories in one way or another. With Google’s sudden rise and massive success being first to market with internet search ads (one of many possible examples), Microsoft, Apple and others race to re-define their own services.

Apple – always positioned with that edgy difference – perhaps best exemplifies successful re-definition with the Mac^®, the iPod^®, the iPhone^®, and now, the iPad^®.

Apple is admired on many levels. But what makes it a true bellwether is how masterfully it embodies, and proves, Drucker’s sage words.

More on Re-Defining Your Product or Service to come in Part 3 of this Series

Tags: Apple, decline of evening news, Innovation, Marketing, Re-defining a category

The Tiger Woods/Nike Ad: Gross Manipulation with Forethought

April 9th, 2010 by Bob Reed | 1 Comment | Filed in Shooting Blanks

The new Nike/Tiger Woods commercial is a compelling piece of art. Nike’s ad agency created a spot you can’t turn away while eliciting a range of opinions about intent and effectiveness. It’s brilliant.

Tiger’s “called-out-on-the-carpet” expression touches that part of anyone who has struggled with perpetrating a huge wrong. It got to me. I recall a subpar semester at college and dreading my mother’s reaction when she saw my grades. Instead of yelling, she calmly stated “what you’ll get out of college is what you put into it.” In those few words I was cut down yet made to never forget.

But in my opinion the ad did nothing to help Woods or Nike. There is no ethical stance from the subject or the sponsor. With the help of some very creative people, Nike and Woods worked together to create pure manipulation.

Let’s look at this as a process. People developed the concept, consulted on it and then sold it into Woods. Then more people researched archived audio; shot the footage; edited it, and aired it. All planned. We’ll never know what went on behind the scenes with Nike and Woods on how they arrived at the agreement to maintain their relationship. Maybe in an attempt to justify behavior, Nike knows that it and Tiger are tightly linked. Over the years, think of all that video footage of Tiger where the Nike logo is present.

I recall a line from the early 80‘s movie, “The Big Chill”. When Jeff Goldblum’s character, Michael, explains why he squanders his brilliant writing ability by penning stories for People magazine, he says “Don’t knock rationalization. Where would we be without it? I don’t know anyone who’d get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations.”

I did see a brilliant ad, as well as faux contrition supported by crass commercialism. A pained-looking Tiger reacting to his dad’s words never would have seen the light of day if that conversation actually took place.

Tags: ad, commercial, golf, manipulation, Nike, Tiger Woods

Why I dislike “like”

Dear CEO: Content Is Your Social Media Fuel

Measuring Against “No”

Apple Vs. the Evening News: Lesson in Re-Defining a Category

The Tiger Woods/Nike Ad: Gross Manipulation with Forethought

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