Jeff, the love of my life, was practicing his drums this morning to this killer big band tune from George Benson’s Big Boss Band album – “Without a Song.” It struck a chord because content is the ‘song’ of a blog. Enjoy listening and read on for the relevance.
You may notice that it’s the last day of July and this is my first blog post of the month. My days have been full creating content for others and working on a couple of exciting new ecommerce sites that we’ll promote via a content marketing strategy. I, who am thoroughly convinced of the role consistent online content creation plays in business success, fell off the content wagon.
I only created one other piece of content under my own banner this month. It was ‘Working the Web’, the column I co-author for the Fairfield and Westchester County Business Journals with my web development/graphic design partner Bernadette Nelson of Studio B Visual Communication. Ironically the topic was “6 Tips for Getting Over the Content Hurdle.”
What resulted from the column has provided a huge reminder that for my business, content is job one. I’ll share the story, because it’s critical for your business, too.
The first tip in the column is that to begin creating useful content, it’s first necessary to buy in to the fact that this is an important business objective. To support that statement to the Business Journals’ small business audience, I went searching for some recent study data.
Thanks to Google, I found the stats I wanted in the Small Business Success Index, a study created by Network Solutions and the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. I quoted the study in the column.
Working the Web runs in the two Journals’ print editions and also on www.westfaironline.com. Yesterday, it posted online. Within hours, I received an email from Shashib Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami for Network Solutions.
Remember that the reason this content making for the web works so well is that it’s searchable and findable by people with an interest in certain search terms. Obviously Shashi monitors the web to see where Network Solutions’ content is being disseminated. He found, read – and liked — the column that mentioned the NetSol study.
Shashi emailed to say ‘thanks’ for the mention – and to invite Bernadette and me to write a guest post for Network Solution’s www.growsmartbusiness.com blog. He also tweeted the url to the column to his almost 11,000 followers on Twitter – and is now following my tweets.
The takeaway: Well-made content created for a relatively local audience, once put online, can yield much farther-reaching connections and additional credibility for our businesses.
Given that blog posts are highly searchable and that I’m going to tag this one with his name and the study, Shashi will surely see it. So, thanks Shashi, for helping me get back onto the ‘content wagon’ and for a good idea for this post. Looking forward to writing one for you!!
As I think about breaking successful marketing down to its most basic elements, the playful Antonio Carlos Jobim song One Note Samba comes to mind. Follow the steps below and your marketing will also become much easier and more fun. Enjoy Ella Fitzgerald’s sunny interpretation accompanied by great musicians including Zoot Simms on sax, Clark Terry on trumpet, Toots Thielemans on harmonica and Joe Pass on guitar.
In my last post I brought up the unfortunate fact that businesses are embracing social media, blogs, online activities, without visiting the ABC’s of sound marketing communications. It’s easy to get swept up in the marketing tools of the moment. Facebook. Twitter. Search engine optimization. You’ve gotta be there.
Whoa!! Put on the brakes!! I am very concerned that marketing basics are being ignored as companies embrace the Web – to the detriment of results.
This post addresses the questions in the first outline topic from my last post. Subsequent posts will address the other outline points.
Who are your audiences?
This is a question that many organizations don’t pay enough attention to. Years ago I made it the topic of a column for Internet.com and it’s still fresh today. Many companies identify their key audiences too narrowly — customers and prospects. Those are key audiences and for the Web you also need to give thought to them as Buyer Personae with specific characteristics and qualities that you can speak to/interact with.
In reality, the list can be much longer. This has never been truer than it is in today’s Web 2.0 world where you never know how business may come your way. Widen out your thinking to consider other audiences you might want to access/be accessible to: referrers/trusted advisors, friends and families, competitors (mergers and acquisitions anyone?), offline and online media outlets (especially influential bloggers), industry experts, funding organizations – and please don’t forget search engines!! Which other ones can you come up with?
What are your key messages?
If you take the time to identify the most important things audiences need to know to encourage them to interact with your company, it makes all of your communications much easier. These key messages may not be the ones you think of in-house. What you believe is important may have nothing to do with what will turn your audiences on. And the messages will certainly be different for various audiences. Here’s where surveys and good old fashioned one-to-one interviews or focus groups can play a critical role. Keep in mind that messaging can and should change with the changing times. For example if you market for a healthy, community bank that didn’t need to take TARP funds, you’d have done well to develop and communicate messages to this effect to keep existing clients and attract new ones in the banking emergency. So make key messaging an ongoing part of your marketing efforts.
How are you positioned relative to the competition and the marketplace as a whole?
If we stick with the example of the healthy community bank, above, it’s easy to see that, post-economic-meltdown, it had a terrific opportunity to increase its marketshare by recognizing and communicating its market positioning. “Our bank behaved independently and responsibly in support of our stated commitment to traditional fiscal values and our community. As a result, we continue to grow in our ability to provide the services you need.” That would likely attract some new depositors!
Understanding who we are, what we provide, how it compares with competitive offerings and how we meet the needs of our market is at the core of taking advantage of the evolving business scene.
Do you have a recognizable brand identity/personality and do you employ it consistently throughout your communications?
This one’s simple. If you haven’t already, invest in a strong visual symbol of your company. Or take a hard look at your existing logo and assess whether it’s time for an update. Use a professional designer who specializes in corporate identity. Be sure to view the designer’s portfolio to see if he or she has created logos for any companies you’re familiar with or in your industry.
In general it’s less costly to create a typeface treatment of your company name than a separate symbol. Just the process involved in logo development can help you in your thinking about the points discussed earlier. It’s a good idea to establish some standards for how the identity will be used in various applications – print, the Web, etc. – notwithstanding the playful way that Google alters its logo on a consistent basis. They’re a unique case.
Do you have clear marketing objectives?
If not, answering these basic questions will help you see the possibilities for growing the business much more clearly. If you’ve already sat down to decide where you’re going, revisiting the basics will help you get there more quickly and more surely.
Revisit the above periodically.
I’m not just dishing out advice here. This act of thinking again about the marketing ABC’s has been as helpful to me as I hope it is to you. What do you include in your marketing basics?
Today’s musical post has nothing to do with the marketing post. It has to do with the most beautiful week of the year – and an admitted bout of Spring fever. Everything’s bursting out in bloom. This April is particularly enjoyable as signs of economic recovery are in the air. Enjoy Sarah Vaughan’s upbeat take on I’ll Remember April. You might have to listen and read separately. I’m having trouble multi-tasking on this one!
Lately I’ve been speaking with a number of companies who have jumped into the online marketing world. They have a website, a blog, a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account. Only one problem. They don’t have a plan.
Here’s a typical scenario. The website hasn’t been updated for a Web 2.0 world. It hasn’t been optimized for search engines, there’s no clear call to action or data capture point, there’s no shareable information and the site doesn’t necessarily reflect the personality of the business or the interests of its audiences.
The blog is a bunch of commercials or just offers links to other people’s industry information – and it isn’t connected to the website. The last post was six months ago. The Facebook page has exactly the same information as the homepage of the website. The Twitter account tweets occasionally about god knows what to who knows whom.
Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” So these businesses are definitely on the right track. They just need to figure out the other 20% – the basics. Here’s an outline to start you thinking.
Marketing communications basics still count. First, ask and answer these questions:
Who are your audiences?
What are your key messages?
How are you positioned relative to the competition and the marketplace as a whole?
Do you have a recognizable brand identity/personality and do you employ it consistently throughout your communications?
Do you have clear marketing objectives?
Start with your website and make it a functional hub for all of your online marketing communications.
Redesign to reflect your company’s character and meet defined objectives.
Identify the keywords/search terms for which you can realistically hope to rank with search engines.
Optimize your site and the content.
Make sure your content is updated regularly and includes your key messages, keywords and search terms.
Use a variety of content platforms – text, video, audio, PowerPoint, etc.
Add analytics.
Make your site interactive.
Add a blog or connect the one you already have.
Add info-sharing capabilities.
Select social media that make sense for your business by making sure that your key audiences are there.
Integrate and leverage everything.
In future posts we’ll flesh these topics out. In the meantime — Smell the flowers!!!
After a weekend of horrific rain and high winds here in the NY metro, I decided to blog to Antonio Carlos Jobim’s lilting Waters of March – sung by Jobim himself and the legendary Elis Regina. Hit play and enjoy — or subscribe by RSS and listen at your leisure.
Last week I had the opportunity to hang out with and hear a presentation by video producer and video blogger Doug Simon of D S Simon Productions Inc and vlogviews.com. He was launching his 2010 Web Influencers Survey, a second annual poll of the use of outside video content by influential media online.
Doug surveyed nearly 300 media sites – TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, online only and blogs. The results should get everyone who wants to earn media coverage scrambling for their Flip or other digital video cam – or calling on a trusted professional video production studio.
With his permission, here are a few highlights and a couple of tips.
Newspapers and TV showed the highest rate of increase in use of online video content 76% and 96% respectively – up from 53% and 79% the previous year.
Though no TV stations said that they use scripted video pieces, 33% said they use embed codes. An embed code is an HTML code that allows you to post a video on a website or blog as easily as posting a photo. Ironically, if a TV outlet uses your video embed code, they are, indeed, posting a scripted piece in its entirety!
If you get your video content on a media site, the reach doesn’t stop there. All of the media surveyed share their online video content in varying percentages – from 13% to 47%.
Doug’s top tip for producing and sharing video content with media?
Be informative and produce your video in an authentic style. Think news item – not infomercial. No hard sell!! You must be fully transparent to meet FTC guidelines.
Another important tip…As with all web content, make sure that your video is social media ready so that it can be easily shared and tracked.
A few months ago, I wrote here about the Exaflood – a huge increase in online video. Doug’s study most definitely supports the information in that post. To get more results from the 2010 Web Influencers Survey and to learn much more about how to use online video visit Doug Simon at www.vlogviews.com. Thanks to Doug for sharing this great information and his expertise.
BTW…Although Waters of March sounds like it keeps repeating the same musical phrase, except for the refrain, each phrase is slightly different – like water cascading over rocks in a streambed. The sheet music goes on for pages!
First, take this Musical Accompaniment Pop Quiz. Why did I select Carnaval in Rio by the incredible Brazilian composer/guitarist/vocalist Djavan? It’s a two-part answer that you can find at the end of the post. Hit the play button to listen. eMail subscribers, visit the blog to hear the tune.
Awhile back, via a tweet by Derek Peplau (@peplau), a member of my Twitter community who is passionate about indie music, I learned about blip.fm. In short, this is the music version of Twitter.
All members become ‘dj’s’ and can upload, search for and share – i.e. blip, or re-blip — tunes and DVD’s in just about every music category – along with a few words about each selection. You can follow your favorite dj’s and hopefully build your own group of listeners. If you’re reading this blog, then you can imagine that I made a beeline over to blip.fm and searched for the jazz devotees and some favorite tunes to blip.
First, I watched the action of some of the more experienced dj’s. I saw that when they were on blip, they shared an almost constant stream of terrific music. Really impressive, the musical knowledge and taste of this group! Prolific!!
Now, when I opened my blip.fm account, I had the option to link my blips to my Twitter and Facebook accounts. I held off until I got the lay of the land. Once I did, my decision was NOT to link up these accounts.
The reason was simple: My Twitter and Facebook communities are about other things — Inbound Marketing/Social Media and Family/Friends respectively. Even though the people who know me in all of my communities are aware that I am a huge music lover and that I ride on the back of a Harley with Jeff, the love of my life, they have their own passions and time is precious. I’m not about to fill up their Twitter streams or Facebook walls with 10 or 20 blips in an evening of music they may not necessarily want to hear.
In fact, as I thought about it, it occurred to me that although I enjoy his occasional tweet about something he’s listening to over at blip.fm and have discovered some cool new musicians and bands as a result, Derek isn’t tweeting his whole playlist either.
Although this follows a post that talks about how to link up and use an array of options to leverage your website hub in other online places frequented by your diverse constituents, this advice represents the other side of the coin. Here’s the take-away: we need to resist the temptation to link up all of our social networks. Just because it may be easy to accomplish with a click or two, there’s a thought process to go through to determine that whatever we share with a particular group will be welcome and add value.
If you’d like to, you can follow me or Derek on blip.fm! @elliebecker @peplau
Answers to Musical Accompaniment Pop Quiz:
Carnaval in Rio is in full swing as I write this. So I’m in the mood. It ends tomorrow, Feb. 16, 2010.
Djavan starts with DJ – a tribute to all of my fellow blip.fm dj’s! ;-}
To celebrate the end of the week and get us groovin’ into the weekend hit the play button for pianist Gene Harris’ version of ‘Put it Where You Want It’. More about why this selection at the end of the post. If you’re getting this by email – visit the blog to listen.
In inbound marketing we encourage clients to imagine their important audiences as Buyer Personae – individual types with particular qualities, characteristics and personality traits. Subsequent marketing to buyer personae becomes more focused and resonates more authentically with customers and prospects.
Lately, in consulting with a number of small and mid-sized businesses, I’ve started formulating some thoughts about Brand Personalities. Beyond the visual identities/logos, and overarching brand promises/values that marketers work hard to put forth with consistency, brands have personalities.
Like humans, brand personalities are comprised of a variety of traits and behaviors that can and should be displayed appropriately depending upon the audience, the interaction and the venue.
A brand may be dead serious about R&D and product safety. It may be playful in marketing promotions and intellectually curious in establishing thought leadership. It might be daring – or risk averse. It could be an advocate for its employees and a kind neighbor that gives back through voluntarism or philanthropy. It could be a no-nonsense negotiator in protecting investor value.
Companies need to consider their own personality traits when establishing their online presence. The array of social media and Web 2.0 tools offer ample opportunity to share various brand personality attributes in different ways.
For example, a firm’s website might present its most formal face to the general array of possible visitors: prospects, customers, referral sources, prospective funders, industry analysts, media, etc. There might be a calendar page listing upcoming events, speaking engagements and so forth. There might also be a page where the company’s philosophy of community involvement is described. Other pages would present products and services.
Offsite tools can make the personality traits associated with each aspect of your company and its activities come alive. Put the photos from a recent speaking engagement or community service event on Facebook, tagging noted guests, officials and employees. You can also share fan-only promotions, offers and contests there.
Post PowerPoint decks from analyst briefings on Linked In and solicit comments and questions. Share comments that highlight your understanding of your business on blogs and sites that cover your industry.
Use Twitter to tap into issues of importance to your key audiences, then comment, showing concern as well as expertise and sharing information that adds value to the conversation. Leverage your brand’s knowledge base on your blog, sharing insights from employees in various roles and commenting on industry developments, company issues, and customer concerns.
Regardless of the venue, link every part of your online presence to every other part so that over time those who engage with your company will get a fully rounded picture of your rich and diverse brand personality.
I chose the Gene Harris tune ‘Put It Where You Want It’ from his album Alley Cats for two reasons. First, the album notes say, “Soulful, bluesy, swingin’, hard-bopping, funky – which of these best describes the two-fisted jazz piano stylings of Gene Harris? Answer: All of them!!” So it is with multi-faceted brand personalities. And, second, you can take the online content that best represents each aspect of your brand and – you guessed it – put it where you want it! Enjoy and see you soon!!
Please click the audio player right below for today’s tune — Duke Ellington playing Lotus Blossom — and see end of post to learn why I chose it. For email subscribers, please visit the blog to listen.
The largest company in the country that gave birth to the notion of ‘falling on one’s sword’ just gave itself a belated slap on the wrist for the results of abandoning its brand commitment to quality. Toyota president Akio Toyoda finally spoke formally about the company’s woes at a press conference today.
He apologized to consumers and shareholders and vowed that Toyota would refocus on quality, which has suffered — apparently since Toyota’s strategic decision to become the world’s largest motor company. The #1 spot didn’t do General Motors very much good from the standpoint of innovation and quality. It did indeed lose top billing to Toyota, which, ironically, has now dropped to #2 behind Volkswagen-Porsche – the result of global recession production pullbacks.
According to reporting in the New York Times, Mr. Toyoda said, “I deeply regret that I caused concern among so many people. We will do our utmost to regain the trust of our customers.”
He said that he hoped to restore Toyota to profitability and help revitalize the economy of Japan, but he would put restoring trust above profits. That makes sense. If trust is restored, profits will follow.
After reading the Times account, I decided to mosey around the Social Web a bit to see what people are saying and to check what Toyota is doing online to help turn around the situation.
On the Toyota Facebook page, there was a scary war of words going on among some of its more than 70,000 fans. Brand loyalists were chastising those who were concerned or angry about quality issues – even folks who had actually experienced serious accidents as a result of sudden acceleration.
Particularly heated were comments from a few fans with a political agenda who were putting forth the notion that the US government is pursuing the Toyota situation in an attempt to help GM return to the dubious status of ‘world’s largest.’ They must not have read Japan’s transport minister’s remarks, that he suspects Toyota delayed too long, putting profits before safety.
On Twitter, there were far fewer positive comments about Toyota and far more criticism of its delays and its departure from its quality ethic. However it was on Twitter that I found a link to Digg’s announcement that this coming Monday Jim Lentz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales, USA will take part in a Digg Dialogg.
Members of the Digg community are posting questions for Mr. Lentz and he will be asked to answer the ones most-voted-on between now and then. I took the opportunity to ask a question about whether the drop in quality standards would cause Toyota to retreat from the “Let’s be the largest” strategy.
Personally, I’ve never believed that bigger is better. I’ve seen too many tiny client companies make incredibly valuable contributions to the world, their customers and their employees. It’s great to grow and achieve efficiencies and economies of scale, but it’s also critical to have open eyes about what might be lost along the way. If I thought I might lose the very values that define my brand, I’d definitely choose to keep it small. Thanks for the reminder, Toyota.
Today you’re listening to Duke Ellington playing Billy Strayhorn’s haunting tune Lotus Blossom. A song inspired by this iconic image of Eastern culture seems a fitting homage to Toyota and Japan. Out of curiosity, I just googled Lotus Blossom Symbolism. A result from WikiAnswers® informs me that the Lotus Blossom is a symbol of having come through a hard time, on the way to better times. The lotus begins its life in the muck and mud of swamps and works its way through the water to become a thing of beauty floating on the surface in rarified air. Wow! How perfect is that? Toyota, may you be a lotus blossom.
I’m about to write a check to the Special Olympics. The organization sent me a sweet little card with sports icons all over the envelope and a simple request to support their efforts.
I will not be sending checks to a number of other well-known charitable organizations because I question their judgment in sending me elaborate packets of ‘free gifts’ to maybe make me feel obligated to contribute to their cause.
In addition to ubiquitous address labels – I’ll never send enough snail mails in my lifetime to use them all – I receive note cards, four-color full-size calendars, key chains and combinations of the above in solicitations from nonprofits that I have or have not contributed to.
As a donor in a tough economy – and as a PR professional and marketer – I say, what are these people thinking? If they can afford to send these expensive mailings, do they really need my donation? As a Baby Boomer I’ve learned that I’ve never had a unique thought in life. If I’m thinking it, I’m part of peer group-think. In other words, I can’t possibly be the only one turned off by this trend in nonprofit marketing.
As bad as it gets in recessionary times, I give. But I give to organizations of my choice based on my own societal concerns or to organizations that make their case while demonstrating their sense of responsibility in both their missions and their marketing.
My PR Marketing practice has always included nonprofits. The kinds of mailings I receive almost daily are diametrically opposed to the advice I would give any not for profit client of mine on how to build support.
How has nonprofit marketing affected your giving inclinations?
There’s only one tune that can accompany this post – Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child. I’m offering you the bluesy and soulful rendition of the late British phenom Eva Cassidy.
I’m writing this on Sunday morning and so what better musical accompaniment than the gospel underpinnings of pianist Les McCann playing his tune The Shampoo in a live recording. I first heard this rousing number back in the 60’s when Cousin Sydney was introducing me to the joys of jazz and blues.
Having listened to jazz now for more than 40 years, I’ve learned something about improvisation and the creativity it requires and inspires that I try to apply elsewhere in my life. Great jazz improvisers draw from a huge body of common knowledge, structure and rules and then add their own ideas, drawing from personal experience and technical skill. The musicians in a jazz combo listen to each other carefully and build on each others’ ideas.
The same group can play the same tune 50 times and it will be a new song each and every time. Listen to another group play the song and it will be something else again.
As the marketing and PR world changes I find myself seeking to build new and different kinds of professional connections. More and more, I think about how jazz music is made as I build business relationships and partnerships for my E.R. Becker Company consultancy. Bringing a complex array of inbound marketing tools and techniques to clients, requires a variety of knowledge and skills and the ability to compose well-structured original material for a new and evolving area of marketing; arranging ‘charts’ – as jazzmen call orchestrations — for unchartered waters.
So here’s what I ask myself as I think about which other professionals to bring to the table to meet client objectives:
Who has the fundamentals down?
Who is really talented?
Who is curious enough to explore new ideas?
Who really and truly listens?
Who has the chops to play triple time to the end of the song?
Who can jump into a group and shine while creating space for – and even amplifying the light — of others’ contributions?
Who gets it that combined creativity is more powerful than ego-driven efforts?
How are you looking at your business partnerships these days?
As we get back to work in these first few days of the New Year, I’m still feeling celebratory!
In the mood for some festive music, I just pulled out a CD by one of my favorite jazz trios – the magnificent pianist Tommy Flanagan, who accompanied Ella Fitzgerald for years, here teamed with bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Lewis Nash. You’re listening to the album’s title track, Sea Changes – which inspired the title of this post. You can either be anxious about change — or embrace it and be happy! Guess what I’ve chosen?
The upbeat composition by Flanagan made me think of how the Sea Changes in PR are changing things for the better. Having transitioned my practice to an inbound marketing approach, here are four reasons why I’m looking forward to 2010.
Companies are waking up from the marketing deep sleep of 2008-09 and coming to the realization that they’ve somehow returned to consciousness in a new and promising world. While they slept, some PR and marketing people were busy figuring out that new online tools open opportunities that didn’t exist before to engage with customers and other stakeholders.
As these companies bring budgets into play, they’re happy to learn that online efforts can not only generate leads, but also convert the leads to sales. It’s really nice to sit with company executives and watch their heads nod enthusiastically as the light dawns that their websites – maybe with a few tweaks and additions – can become drivers of marketing success.
As a PR/marketing strategist, I have a fresh tactical toolkit to dig into. New inbound marketing tools & techniques are capable of turning the idea of marketing integration from nice concept to powerful reality. By pulling a variety of disciplines together – sales, marketing, PR, corporate affairs, community relations, customer service, search, video, web development, R&D and more, inbound marketing allows organizations to leverage knowledge across corporate silos and benefit from broader buy-in and contribution to business objectives.
Wow! It feels so good to offer services where we can actually measure how they contribute to the bottom line. No mistaking when relatively soon after optimizing a site for search engines, adding a blog with great content and building links with important online communities your Website Grader score goes from 20 to 85 and you move from Google obscurity to ranking on page one or two for important keywords.
What’s making you feel optimistic about the year ahead?
Having listened to jazz now for more than 40 years, I’ve learned something about improvisation and the creativity it requires and inspires that I try to apply elsewhere in my life. Great jazz improvisers draw from a huge body of common knowledge, structure and rules and then add their own ideas, drawing from personal experience and technical skill. The musicians in a jazz combo listen to each other carefully and build on each others’ ideas.
New PR Words - and Music! 
