Marketing Conversation™ » Blogging

It’s a true fact, the carrot and stick don’t work

Phillip Rhoades — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:43:40 +0000

Daniel Pink makes a very compelling argument for a change in the way we should look at motivation. Studies show that offering more money, gifts, and other extrinsic rewards can’t compare to offering the intrinsic rewards of autonomy and a sense of purpose when it comes to cognitive tasks.

This is precisely why people put so much work into their blogs, twitter accounts, podcasts, and other social media. It’s also why reaching out to bloggers with information about products, services, and news they’re interested in works so very well. Bloggers are already motivated by that intrinsic interest, sense of purpose, and autonomy. You’re bringing them something that they are ready to write about.

To quote Daniel Pink, “This is a true fact.”

What do you think?

Blog Celebrity Can Get and Keep a Job

Chris Abraham — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:21:00 +0000

I keep on telling undergrads that they need to start blogging in order to get a job — they need to become a publicity rockstar because becoming a rock star blogger in marketing, PR, and communications before you even leave college is a complete competitive advantage — none of your fellow students are doing it (believe it or not). Well, Mosnar gets it. They see that becoming a publicity rockstar with a rockstar brand while in your company can become the competitve advantage that lets you keep you job, PR Tips to Keeping Your Job: Become a Indispensible Publicity Star:

How to become a publicity rock star for your company?

Start making trade publications – If you have ideas, expertise, concepts etc this is newsworthy information that would be of interest to trade publications.

Join social media sites – Yes, joining sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon etc can bring a lot of recognition as well as exposure. These sites are excellent outlets to promote business services.

Write articles for promotions – Use your expertise and write articles that can be submitted to sites like Ezinearticles.com. Also submit articles for publications to media resources with audiences that your company targets.

Launch a company blog – If you company does not have a company blog you can pitch your boss on the great branding exposure and how you can be the editor for the company blog.

Incorporate a personal blog – A great way to attract business is to start a personal blog and mentioning your business for brand exposure.

27 Tips for Bloggers from Top Bloggers

Chris Abraham — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:18:08 +0000

Darren Rowse always has amazing stuff — consistently and over the long haul. Again, the ProBlogger knocks it out of the park with 27 Must Read Tips and Tutorials for Bloggers:

Here are the posts that the bloggers I asked nominated as their best tips for bloggers:

Seth Godin from Seths Blog

How to Get Traffic to Your Blog

How to Send a Personal Email

First, ten

Rand Fiskin from SEOmoz

21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic

Blogging in an Oversaturated Market is Usually a Poor Decision

21 Tips to earn links and tweets to your Blog Posts

Skellie from Skelliewag

A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images

How to Start or Start Over Building Your Personal Brand

25 Paths to an Insanely Popular Blog

Chris Garrett from ChrisG

Grow your google authority

Diggbait, Linkbait, Flagship Content and Authority

The art of getting things wrong

Yaro Starak from Entrepreneurs Journey

How To Write Great Blog Content – The Pillar Article

Why Don’t Bloggers Understand Email Marketing?

Jeremy Schoemaker from Shoemoney

My Top 10 Worst Ideas to Make Money

Why You Should Embrace Negative Press

Maki from Dosh Dosh

6 Fool-Proof Steps to Make More Money With Your Website

Rethinking Blog Comments: Much More Than Just A Quick Way to Get Web Traffic

You’re Not Just a Writer, You’re the Editor-in-Chief.

Liz Strauss from Successful Blog

10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments

The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic Without Spamming

7 Great Ways to Connect with Other Bloggers While You’re Out Reading Blogs

Daniel Scocco from Daily Blog Tips

43 Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid

How to Find Advertisers for your Website

Chris Brogan from ChrisBrogan.com

50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level

40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content

27 Secrets to Power your Community

Six things social media marketers must do to remain relevant

Jonathan Trenn — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:43:18 +0000

In light of the many analyses and predictions that social media will see many budget reductions during this deep economic recession, I’ve begun to take a look at what practitioners should do to help stave off heavy cuts brought on by axe wielding marketing executives looking to stay on familiar ground with what they perceive works. If we don’t begin to develop solid business cases as to the value of social media, we’ll find ourselves (and what we do) devalued, done in-house by non-practitioners, or by traditional agencies that will being going out of their way to undercut us because they don’t want to lose business.

I’m mostly looking at this from a bird’s eye view for the industry as a whole as opposed to an on the ground viewpoint in which we can’t see the forest for the trees.

1) We need to recognize reality.

That’s right. We need to recognize that this is going to be a deep, deep recession. One’s that’s going to last for a long time. Recessions have major ramifications on how consumers spend their income, how companies formulate their budgets, and, perhaps most importantly, how marketing is viewed. In a recession, marketing is often viewed as an expense…not an investment. Companies often get “selfish” when it comes to marketing, where the most important thing is immediate cash flow from sales. A company may forget that people, especially in hard times want VALUE when they spend their money.

Decision makers often want to work with “proven” models that they’re familiar with. And these models will often be pushed by their traditional agencies because those agencies provide these services. Of course, proven may not – or may no longer mean effective – but at least it has been done before and for the decision makers, it’s best to stick with what is familiar.

We also need to understand that, business is business and business can be ruthless. Traditional agencies – ones that we may be working alongside or subcontracted through may think nothing of undercutting us by devaluing the concept of social media to their clients or by trying to learn some basics through observing our work, and then summarily dismiss us as they bring these capabilities in house on some level.

2) We need to embrace outward integration and recongize that traditional marketing still very much has a primary role.

No, traditional is not dead. Traditional agencies (both advertising and PR) and their services are still very much needed. Needed to introduce and position products, to work with the media, to explain features and benefits. People still watch TV, listen to the radio, and yes, read magazines.

Companies that provide these services are often the ones that have the ear of potential clients. They may often be the gatekeepers.

So there are two major points here. One is that we can’t afford to dismiss traditional type stuff as being “so 20th Century“. The end user – the consumer – will be getting the information they seek on products from various sources. That’s reality.

The second point is the most important. We need to understand and preach integration. Social media may not be for every business. Or, more realistically, the emphasis placed upon social media will vary depending on the client’s needs and the industry they are in. In practically every case social media will be only PART of the equation. That’s reality.

Therefore, we MUST learn how to best integrate what we do with what the traditional types do. Both online and offline. In an economy such as today’s, we can’t afford to offer a haphazard slew of services that isn’t tied into their overall marketing picture. Meaning everyone…the ad agency, their PR firm, their SEO firm, their website company.

This means we’ll have to ask clients if we could have access to and then get to know these other companies. What they’re about. How to best integrate everything. It blows me away when I hear of an ad agency that is running a marketing campaign that doesn’t know who the PR firm is. That has to stop. We have to insist on it. Otherwise, we me be looked upon as the least important part of the puzzle, the “kids” of the group.

Sure there are risks doing this, but the rewards will be greater. We’ll be putting ourselves at the same table as our cohorts, establishing our presence. And the client will be infinitely better served by having a mostly seemless marketing team.

In the long run, this is how we need to look at things as well. We are, to use a cliche, solution providers. Not just blogging consultants or Facebook adherents or Twitter experts.

3) We need to embrace inward integration and become strategic driven as opposed to offing a slew of tactics.

Having a slew of tactics is one thing. It’s another thing to be able to understand a client’s needs enough to meld them together to offer strategic solutions for clients. It may sound like a cliche, but what clients really want are solutions. Many of them may not know where to start. It should be up to us to show them the way.

Now in defense of social media strategists, many clients and potential clients are so lost on this stuff that it may be best to offer tactical capabilites at first. But we have to soon get beyond this. John Bell of Ogilvy writes in Digital Influence Mapping Project:

Many social media purists resist the discipline of strategy and marketing as if the fundmentals of strategy were the problem. They may resist or they may just not know how to create it. Tactics like blogger outreach, viral video online and the dreaded facebook application come tumbling out. Strategy and how you get there is as fundamental and necessary as architectural plans to building.

Understanding that we must offer strategic thinking to our clients means that we understand the so-called big picture…and not just our client’s needs, but the industry that they happen to be in. And it also means that we’ll need to understand what their current and potential clients and customers are about. This will enable us to better apply our services to our clients needs. That’s an essential business concept. Each client will receive a customized, crafted plan. Thinking primarily tactically means we often will be applying things haphazardly, simply because we have a particular offering that they may (or may not) need.

Customized plans mean that we really need to make the effort to understand our clients, their business needs and goals and their culture.

In other words, we can’t be thrilled to offer them the capability of offering them a Facebook app if they don’t need one.

4) We need to think how we position our services to provide immeidate, tangible ROI to budget cutting executives.

This is especially important now. Companies are cutting back marketing budgets and social media may be a juicy target becuase of the ignorance and fear factor.

Companies are going to suffer during this recession. They’ll have needs. Generating sales leads. Maintaining customer loyalty. Social media can play a roll.

You know what? This is a whole other post I should work on.

5) We have to stop the hype and anti-traditionalist banter. And the cockiness that sometimes comes with it. It harms us. And it ain’t true. (Mostly)

Engage or die. Traditional advertising is dead. Marketing messages are a thing of the past. The people formerly called the audience.

Please. All hype. All wrong. Ladies and gentleman, this is a transformation. An evolution. One that is bringing about substantial change. But the change isn’t absolute nor is it complete. People may not want every brand to try to “engage” them. They want to buy something and be left alone. It may at times in fact be good to use traditional channels to get the word out to the masses. It may serve as a perfect introductory method for a product. And it may take marketing messages to inform them…the audience that they are.

We need to stop the shrill “change or die/nothing will ever be the same” mantras. Yes, change is happening, but we need to remember that we are pioneers and early adopters. Not eveyone has a Facebook profile or a Twitter presence. Most people don’t religiously read blogs.

Will some companies suffer because they choose not to use social media? Ignore it? Miss opportunities? Definitely. But we have to continually prove ourselves in several industry categories before we can be taken as seriously as other forms of marketing disciplines. As we see, social media is often one of the first things being cut. That doens’t surprise me. It may not be the wisest decision, but it’s what to be expected during a recession.

This sometimes blind belief in what we do isn’t shared by a key constituency of ours – the marketing decsion makers that we’re trying to get business from. They may hear us and groan and roll their eyes. They may be sick and tired of hearing about Web 2.0.

6) We have to stop the cockiness. It’s amateurish and unprofessional.

Here’s an (ahem) brilliant commentby a determined fellow on Adam Ostrow’s article in Mashable, Data: What are the Benefits of Social Media Marketing? The 15% he is referring to our those who don’t quite see social media as an effecitve means of customer engagement.

The unwashed 15% are the same that still believe that traditional big-budget SEM and static websites are worthwhile investments. Sometimes all it takes is for a proof-of-concept social media portal to hit a Google PR6 ranking in under a month using core social media tactics before they take notice. Then you hit them across the head with customer engagement numbers vs. their SEM budget returns and then you see the weeping.

Love the subtlety. The sense of modesty. That will go over well in a meeting with a marketing exec. Or the web team that build that static site. Or the SEM people. I mean the guy’s attitude even shows disdain for other forms of digital marketing. It shows me he has no idea that the marketing decision maker may (unwisely) be choosing to cut that proof-of-concept social media portal form the budget. It shows me that he has no idea of the concept of integration of marketing…as if all consumers are the same and the only way needed to market to them is through his brilliant solutions.

I usually don’t call out people like this, but I had too.

We’re in for some tough times. As a whole, and as marketers, and as social media strategists. We have to prepare ourselves to work through this as we establish ourselves, our companies, our industry.

Blogs Have Either Died or Consolidated

Chris Abraham — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:32:59 +0000

While I have only met James Joyner of Outside the Beltway fame once, we keep in touch a little bit. I have always admired his business and blogging acumen. Well, it is James’ 6-year blogiversary, and he writes, via Ryerson Review of Journalism Blog:

The blogging landscape has changed markedly in the intervening period, with many of the top blogs of early 2003 long gone and quite a few relative newcomers having taken over the top rungs. Relatively few of those who started when Steven and I did are still at it.

Political blogging has gone from an almost entirely amateur niche enterprise into something much more similar to the mainstream press, a process that has been both good and bad….

Because there are so many voices now, though, and many of the best have been acquired by major media outlets and think tanks, there’s a certain Establishment feel to the blogosphere that didn’t exist years ago. The rise of RSS readers and aggregators like Memeorandum mean that fewer of us are using our blogrolls or just keeping a log of interesting things we’re finding on the Web; instead, we’re much more apt to write about what everyone else is writing about.

Via Chris Abraham

Online Blogger Relations Presentation

Chris Abraham — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:30:21 +0000

My Top 91 Social Media Blog Posts

Chris Abraham — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:45:05 +0000

I am not willing or able to say that the following 91 blog posts about social media, blogging, new media, social networking, etc, are the definite top-91 posts because I didn’t have the time or attention to go through all of my 5,437 blog posts over on chrisabraham.com:

Sure blogging has changed, but it hasn’t

Jonathan Trenn — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:52:51 +0000

Nick Carr is continuing the meme that Paul Boutin discussed last month. It’s the idea that blogs or blogging or the blogosphere is dead. They’re wrong, but it’s understandable that they think that way.

It only makes sense that blogging has now become what it is. It’s no just longer several thousand thinkers, theorists, and thought leaders exchanging ideas within niche groups. It’s now populated by what should actually be looked at as online magazines where the writing is often of professional caliber. It’s now millions of people, many starting up and then abandoning their efforts. It’s a conglomeration of ad networks and cohesive groups.

That’s the way it goes.

What happened is that people – publishers, that is – realized that there’s money to be made in bringing together decent writers with some sort of knowledge ona subject and give them a forum where they can regularly weigh in on whatever subject the blog – or publication – is about. Many of these bloggers are either not paid at all or share in ad revenue…revenue that amounts to beer money.

But these bloggers, I would think, are doing it for two reasons…just like the original pioneers way back in, let’s say, 2004. They’re doing it for the love of writing, of sharing ideas, of being part of a conversation. They’re also doing it to be recognized, to “put their name out there”. Just like those early pioneers.

One thing I’ve noticed though. There’s a definite hierarchy when it comes to blogging. And there always has been. It’s informal and for those on the upper echelon, it’s often a result of hard work. But I would notice a lot of pandering and elitism mixed in this scenario. How do I explain this…

Well, I first started blogging late 2005. From time to time I’d research an issue or a trend or a current news story and write a long, comprehensive post about it. I’m not trying to brag here, but sometimes the post would show solid insight. Perhaps I was closer to the issue than most. Or perhaps I did an extensive amount of research. I’d go to Technorati and see what others had been saying about the subject matter in past posts.

For instance, I once wrote a series of posts about a social media company here in the Washington area that was floundering because of their own incompetence. Beforehand, I did extensive research to see what others had been saying about the company all along. I also had some direct experience with the company that was somewhat negative. So I put out series of blog posts. In some cases I would directly contact those that had been blogging about the company and the space that they were in beforehand. It may have been what would have been considered a “mid-level” blogger in the topical area of interest. They’d write back and tell me that what I wrote was “telling” and that I seemed to have “a keen insight as to what is happening” with the company. But of course, they wouldn’t leave a comment. No problem – that’s life. But then would notice something else.

In the meantime, a rockstar blogger would write perhaps a post on the company that I profiled. It would be less insightful because the person may have been a casual observer of the company while having a deep interest in the space that the company was in. Their observations may have been somewhat generic or even what could be called the early part of the echo chamber. Not bad writing, but they would often be writing without any real deep knowledge of the company.

The mid-level blogger that I had contacted would read the rockstar’s post and then leave a glowing comment as to how great it was. Then the mid-level blogger would write their own post and refer back to the rockstar blogger’s post, calling the rockstar by his or her first name. No mention of my post in their post, none at all. Then the mid-level blogger would write yet another comment on the rockstar’s post, pointing back to their own post.

I’m not writing that to whine, I’m writing that to show that the blogosphere has always had a taint of a hierarchical self-awareness in relation to others. It’s always been seen as a self-promotional tool. Just now, it has taken on a professional flair and it involves people making money.

In the case with me, my guess was that my blog, at the time, wasn’t worth the effort to comment on. Odd thing though. What I had predicted in my posts (something that most rockstar bloggers missed) came true. The company tanked about six or seven months later.

Whatever.

So while I agree with the idea that the culture of blogging has been somewhat damaged in the way Paul and Nick feel it has died, I think that romantic past of your was a little less romantic than what is remembered.

Blogging’s still got game

Jonathan Trenn — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:29:09 +0000

Paul Boutin, writing in Wired, has just pissed off a bunch of people. With good reason. He makes a reasonably cogent argument against blogging, but blows it by starting out as a dismayed populist then slides on over and becoming a disgruntled elitist. He waxes sentimental as to how blogging once was, yet fails to see that for many, perhaps for the many who are just now entering the blogosphere, that their current experiences are just as meaningful as those that he experienced just a few short years ago. And, to highlight his issues, he uses examples of leading bloggers so prominent (and perhaps unknowingly and unintentionally puts himself in their category) that I would hazard to guess that most of us readers can not relate to. Sort of a “the cool people don’t do that anymore…it’s only the masses that do”.

All of that masked an intriguing and insightful article. Today’s blogging atmosphere IS quite different from that of only a couple of years ago. It has is some ways become more cluttered, reducing the level of discourse. It has become more “professionalized”, with corporate leaders (or ghostbloggers) writing positive stories in blogspeak. And it most definitely become a domain for marketers, advertisers, and PR people to promote and push ideas, products, and services. And, sure, that’s had a negative effect.

But each individual’s blog is a their own thought platform. That hasn’t changed. And while he suggest bloggers move over to Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube – they ain’t the same. Twitter, which I love, allows us 140 character spurts of info. Not enough for real intellectual thought. Flickr is important, but it’s a photo album. And YouTube may not be for everyone as they may not want to speak to a camera and have the world see their thoughts.

Paul starts out by saying “Thinking about launching your own blog? Here’s some friendly advice: Don’t. And if you’ve already got one, pull the plug.”

That’s not necessary. That’s because many entering it right now – those that may be considered to be cut-rate journalists – aren’t looking to be respected amateur thought leaders. Those days have passed and those of us that have been part of it have grown to accept it while those entering it now for the first time won’t really know the difference.

The point I take the most issue with is his use of Jason Calacanis and Robert Scoble as examples as trendsetters for us all. They aren’t. They are of the blogosphere elite who have earned their reputations but I won’t be comparing myself to them anytime soon. I’d say most of the readers of this article wouldn’t – or shouldn’t either. And we shouldn’t do what they do because, simply put, we aren’t in their league. It would have been better off if Paul Boutin interviewed a couple of mid-level former bloggers who stopped or have considered stopping. By highlighting the elite as examples, he brings forth the very hierarchy that blogging was supposed to neuter.

Overall, he’s absolutely right. Blogging has changed and not always for the better. And that’s not necessarily what I would want as well. But maybe it’s time we altered our view of blogging and what makes it worthwhile.

Jonathan Trenn interviewed on Media Bullseye

Jonathan Trenn — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:18:15 +0000

On October 10th, I was interviewed by Sarah Wurrey and Jen Zingsheim of Media Bullseye. It was an honor to be asked. Many thanks to Sarah and Jen. The session was called “Social Media and the Meltdown”.

We talked on three topics.

First we talked about how rogue and anonymous employee bloggers can post a threat to their employers – but can provide a service to their fellow employees. This may be especially important in slowing economic times where companies tend to cut back and often do so in a insensitive manner.

We then discussed how online reviews and/or complaints, while still relatively new and not as prevalent, pose a disproportional threat to companies because of their reach and longevity.

And finally, we took a look at how social media might be affected by the recession. I don’t really paint a rosy picture as many of us in social media have yet to develop solid case studies with tangible ROI or haven’t been able to develop many direct relationships with clients (as opposed to been outsourced to via ad agencies and PR firms).

Thanks again to Sarah and Jen!