Comments on: Community Marketing: three things to do differently

By: Karen Connell

Karen Connell — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:23:05 +0000

Agree with all above particularly with Richard Randolph about being relevant. I spend most of my time wth client teaching and persuading them to face up to the fact that most of their brands don’t have a big idea or clear values that customers find relevant (to the category or basic need), meaningful to their values or belief system, ownable in terms of being differentiated or defensible … frightening!
T’OB nails it with ‘passions matter’…the product isn’t king anymore – a great product is ticket for entry but if a brand has and defends its’ passion then that in itself becomes highly attractive.
An old (2001) book but a fab ‘unputdownable’ read is Concepting by Jan Rijkenberg which when combined with web 2.0 shows that great branding hasn’t changed but the vehicle and pace sure has.

By: francois

francois — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:03:41 +0000

@Richard – thanks for taking the time to comment. I agree with everything you said…there is also an interesting article on how to understand your customers here: http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/merholz/2009/02/its-not-who-your-customers-are.html.

By: Richard Randolph

Richard Randolph — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:28:13 +0000

Great post! I’m just learning to “trust the tribe” through social media. From my point of view, as well as that of my Clients, the issue is one of control. In traditional “push/interruption” marketing, we were in total control of the output (or at least, that’s what we thought…). We controlled the message and the media. We controlled the timing, frequency and intensity. Then we measured our results and adjusted the mix to try to improve the outcomes. Then we SOLD, SOLD, SOLD! Features, Advantages, BENEFITS! Again, we controlled the message and delivery.

Now, it seems to me, the “new” social/community architecture reverses the locus of control. The implications are clear: You (your brand, your offer) has to be relevant and meaningful to somebody. You have to matter in some way to someone. If you don’t, you’ll be ignored. If you try to push your message through, you’ll be ignored.

To be relevant and meaningful, it’s critical to understand in detail and depth your intended user, their life, and the “job” they’re trying to do. There’s an excellent (if somewhat dated now) article “Get Inside the Lives of Your Customers” by Patricia Seybold at Harvard Business Review (I found it on Amazon) that helps describe this process.

It’s a new (marketing) world today — one where the community has control and the supplier has to work very hard to tune in and satisfy Customer needs, wants and demands. No more “push” — hello “pull.”

//Richard Randolph
Florida Customer Service Institute

PS: “Common sense” is rarely “common practice.”

By: francois

francois — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:46:29 +0000

@Olivier – thanks for the feedback. I agree that most brands cannot survive without a community. But is that true for commodities too?

@TO’B – thanks for the comments. It is amazing to see how people forget common sense when doing marketing.

@Jamie – thanks for taking the time to comment. I do not think that engaging people through a fan page qualifies as engaging them through the brand. Is there anything that you can do in terms of reusable content, buttons, etc that would make them look really cool to their friends for supporting the society? Or is there perhaps some friendly competition you can create to let the most fanatic supporters bubble to the top?

By: Jamie Favreau

Jamie Favreau — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:35:16 +0000

I agree with all those said comments and I understand them fundamentally I am having trouble engaging people through the brand. I am working with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and I get a greater response under my accounts then through the Society accounts. I would love to generate more of a buzz through the fan pages but most of them are already friends of the organization on FB.

I am wondering how I am NOT engaging them? To become donors from mearly just tuning me out on Twitter or something.

By: Tom O'Brien

Tom O'Brien — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:33:59 +0000

Francois:

Your really nailed it with this one. I can’t tell you how much time I spend convincing our clients that demographic segmentation does not matter. Passions matter. Also, the network where people gather is not a place to push stuff. It is a place to engage and enter into a relationship. Finally, it isn’t about you. Even in “high brand involvement” categories (cars) it is rare for the brand to be mentioned in > 30% of hte conversations.

Nice post.

TO’B
MotiveQuest LLC

By: olivier blanchard

olivier blanchard — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:52:30 +0000

Bravo. I would go a step further and suggest that marketing to communities should be an imperative rather than an “if”. A brand cannot thrive without a community to give it relevance, thrust and lift. (Unless you have an unlimited advertising budget and want to keep buying your customers’ attention.)

Fantastic post, Francois.