I’m alarmed at the trend this past year, which saw business leaders focusing their marketing plans around tactical executions instead of good marketing ideas.
Frankly, I’m just as guilty as most in my fixation to blog, chat and discuss all things social media. From the best way to leverage Twitter conversations to the benefits of integrating Facebooks Like feature to how to increase comments on your blog its all tactics, all the time.
Experienced marketers may think this is too obvious to dedicate a blog post to; however, the multitude of failed social media and interactive campaigns in 2011 would suggest its not so obvious. Especially for small and medium sized businesses.
What happened to the Great Idea?
It used to be a requirement in marketing circles that you first develop a great idea and then brainstorm the tactical execution. Yet, I dont see many online chats and blogs discussing this anymore?
A recent blog post by the firm: The Internet Vision is a perfect example. The post, titled: The Anatomy of a Landing Page, creatively and colourfully outlines best practices for building the perfect landing page.
To their credit, they highlight some excellent principles such as keep it above the fold and use a strong call to action. When I discussed this outline with a creative director, his first comment was: I LOVE how there is NO mention of a good idea in this idea of perfection!
And thats when it hit me. With all the Web 2.0, mobile and social technologies available to us, too many marketers have focused on proceeduralizing marketing and forgot about the one item that will drive results: the idea.
Ive witnessed this most often in Social Media marketing where many businesses still believe that by simply creating a YouTube video, youll drive millions in sales or that by creating a Facebook page youll earn thousands of loyal followers who will throw money at you. If you take a good look, youll notice how many corporate Facebook pages have little-to-no user or corporate activity. The same can be said for their LinkedIn and Twitter profiles. That speaks louder about the value of the business than not having a Facebook page at all.
Social Networks are not yellow page listings. They are living, breathing communities that must be planned and frequently engaged with, in order to keep them viable and driving any kind of return for its host.
Social Media will not make your business.
Social Media has proven to be an excellent medium to leverage the power of the wisdom of crowds. It can drive positive goodwill and recommendations about for your product. In addition, it has been very successful at increasing customer satisfaction and even lowering customer service costs through Wikis, Twitter and other networking technologies. However, in each case, successes were not driven because of the medium. Success was driven by the skill of the communicator, the marketing plan. The idea or the person drives the interaction, not the medium.
Social Media will not fix a bad product.
Similarly, Social Media will not fix a bad product. You can tweet your perceptions of what your product is and the value it delivers all you want; but if the market doesnt think its a good product, your Social Media efforts will back fire with a torrent of negative reviews.
Instead, use Social Media to listen to your audience and customers. Or use Wikis and discussion forums to ask them directly: What do you think about my product? What do you think about my competitors product? Then use that data, if needed, to improve your product, your service and your branding to better align them with your customers feedback and needs.
For a case study, see the next blog post: A Great Idea Trumps Great Social Technology.
The Anatomy of a Great Idea
Consider the anatomy of a great idea before you consider the anatomy of a great landing page or social campaign for that matter.
Not every social media network is right for every business. Its not marketing sacrilege to consider not having a Facebook page or a Twitter account.
Understand your customers needs and opinions first. By listening to them, you may realize that what you planned as your products unique differentiator does not resonate with the audience at all. With this information, your marketing team can consider how and where to best promote the product.
Product innovation and good marketing ideas develop from listening to, and engaging with customers, not from creating a great landing page or social networking page. Without a great product and an equally great marketing idea, no landing page will drive business, regardless of how well its crafted.
Love to hear from you. What are your thoughts?
Sam Fiorella
Feed Your Community, Not Your Ego
Twitter: @samfiorella
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