the power of everything
TRANSCRIPT
EverythingTh
e Power of
B R O U G H T T O Y O U B Y
Contributors: Jay Baer, Joe Pulizzi, Amber Naslund, Tom Webster, Scott Stratten, Ann Handley, Jason Falls, Marcus Sheridan, Jeff Rohrs, Mark Schaefer, Tim Hayden, Eric Boggs, Gina Rau
H as there ever been a more visceral, complex time to be a marketer? The rules (such as they are) are changing constantly, and new technology and rapid shifts in consumer behavior are giving best practices the shelf life of a ripe banana. It’s an era of exploration and experimentation that
favors the nimble marketer.
To help document some of today’s important ideas about business culture, research, social media, mobile, content marketing and more, I recruited an all-star team of 12 contributors for this Power of Everything report.
This menagerie of friends and colleagues are working with some of the biggest companies in the world to remake marketing and innovation. Each was given the same assignment, to discuss the power of one important facet of successful business in approximately 250 words.
Their lessons are insightful, useful, poignant and provocative. I hope you enjoy The Power of Everything. I’d love to hear what you think at [email protected].
The
By Jay Baer, Convince & Convert
Power Everythingof
Welcome to
We are social and content accelerators.
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and content marketing prowess from good to great. We provide
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The Power of Content Strategy
The Power of Culture
The Power of a Question
The Power of Awesome
The Power of Storytelling
The Power of Authenticity
The Power of Information
The Power of Brand
The Power of Influence
The Power of Mobile
The Power of Listening
The Power of Data
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JoePulizzi
About the AuthorJoe Pulizzi is founder of the Content Marketing Institute and Junta42. Joe evangelizes content marketing around the world through keynotes, articles, tweets, and his books, Managing Content Marketing and Get Content Get Customers. If you want to get on his good side, send him something orange. For more on Joe, check out his JoePulizzi.com or follow him on Twitter at @juntajoe.
“Create such great content that your customers long for your marketing.”
“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” – Uncle Ben to Peter Parker (Spiderman)
A s marketers, we now have the power to create content of all types and deliver them directly to our customers and prospects. It was not too long ago that this wasn’t the case.
Unfortunately, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Slideshare, Pinterest, enewslet-ters, ebooks, magazines, apps – Often we focus so much on the channel, and that we CAN, we don’t stop to think that maybe we should take a step back and ask why.
If all your content marketing was swept up and removed from your industry, would anyone notice? Think about that. Does your content fill a needed gap in the information marketplace? If not, you most likely have a problem.
Find your hedgehog. Take a step back and develop a strategy where you fill a gap that only you and your unique story can fill. Be an irreplaceable information provider. Create such great content that your customers long for your marketing.
Answer the why first, both for you and your customers. If you do this with the right intentions, the channels will follow.
By Joe Pulizzi, @juntajoe
ConTenT STrATegy
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Amber naslund
About the AuthorAmber Naslund is a social business strategist and the co-founder of Sidera-Works, a social business consultancy. She’s a published author, professional speaker, community and social media strategist, and has worked with businesses of all sizes to solve business problems through better communication.
“The companies struggling with social adoption don’t have infrastructure problems, they have systemic culture problems.”
C ulture is the bedrock of an organization. Make it strong, and it will become the backbone of your business. Culture is reflected in the words and actions of everyone in your company. Official spokesperson or not, each of them is a living, breathing ambassador
for what you value.
It’s no accident that the companies excelling on the social web have strong, positive cultures. They believe in hiring for mindset, attitude, and values and training for requisite skills. They preserve and nurture their culture above all, because it’s the foundation for smart decisions, good judgment, and an environment of learning and collaboration.
The companies struggling with social adoption don’t have infrastructure problems, they have systemic culture problems. The best investment a company can make in their quest to be a social business? Healing, empowering, and fostering a healthy culture.
Otherwise, you’re building social’s critical foundation on awfully soft ground.
By Amber Naslund, @ambercadabra
CuLTure
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Tom Webster
About the AuthorTom Webster is a 20-year veteran of opinion, media and marketing research, and the principal author of Twitter Users in America, The Social Habit, The Podcast Consumer Revealed, and other widely-cited studies of consumer technology usage. He is currently Vice President, Strategy for Edison Research, most widely known as the sole providers of U.S. Election exit polling data to all major media outlets.
“Success lies in your willing-ness to ask—and answer—just one more question than your competitor.”
W hen I was 30, I lived in a largely rent-controlled building in New York City with my (then) girlfriend, who was also my age. There were nine other residents on our floor: a young couple in their 20’s, and seven single elderly widows/widowers in
their 70’s and 80’s.
The average age of our floor was 58. No one was 58.
While direct mailers were carpet bombing us with brochures to switch our 401K funds to bonds, the residents of our building were either living off of pensions or just beginning to invest. Trees were being slaughtered because someone asked “What’s the average age of that building?”
Every time we boil our marketing data down to a “what” and leave it at that, we make the same mistake.
Success lies in your willingness to ask—and answer—just one more question than your com-petitor.
For most of us, it’s the same one: “Why?”
By Tom Webster, @webby2001
A QueSTIon
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ScottStratten
About the AuthorScott Stratten is the President of UnMarketing. He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing. His book UnMar-keting: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging became a national best-seller before it was released, and is recently a Globe and Mail #1 Business best-seller, National Post, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon UK best-seller.
“One of the most powerful opportunities we have for awesome happens when we make mistakes.”
N o matter our job, we have opportunities every day to do awesome things in business.
One of the most powerful opportunities we have for awesome happens when we make mistakes. Being awesome isn’t about being perfect. I want us to see our trip-ups as
windows of awesome opportunity. When it hits the fan in business, it’s not time to hide behind the fan. It’s time to be awesome. Instead of putting out fires, I want us to fan the flames.
Everything from rogue employees, to bad reviews will spread like wildfire across the social media tubes today. This is one of the reasons companies shy away from social media. But what they don’t understand is that this is exactly why they need to be there.
We create the difference between being known for our fail-ures and being praised for our recoveries by how we react to mistakes... with awesome.
By Scott Stratten, @unmarketing
AWeSoMe
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Ann Handley
About the AuthorAnn Handley is a veteran of creating and managing digital content to build relationships for organizations and individuals. Ann is the co-author of the best-selling Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (Wiley, 2011). Currently she works as the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and also contributes to Entrepreneur Magazine, the Huffington Post, American Express OPEN Forum, and Mashable.
“Good content is not about storytelling; it’s about telling a truly connective story well.”
S ometimes this notion of “storytelling” in business seems folly, conjuring up thoughts of bedtime, folklore, embellished narrative, and performance art. It reminds me of entertaining my young children on long car rides by listening to Kipling’s take on how the camel got
his hump. (Spoiler: The camel was a jerk, and that hump was a magic curse.)
In Content Rules (newly in paperback!), C.C. Chapman and I talk about story in another way entirely: How does your product or service exist in the real world – outside of your factory, or headquarters, or home office?
So how do you pull stories out of your own organization? Some advice:
Tell a visual story. Play with how visual tools – Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook Timeline photos – can help convey your story by showing how what you sell lives in the world: “If a picture alone is worth a thousand words, a picture with a little code is worth millions.”
use Twitter in an inspired way. Are you using Twitter in a fresh, compelling way and a sense of personality, like our friends at FMW Fasteners?
Make your customer the hero. Video is particularly effective here. If you’ve been to the cinema lately, you might have noticed how elegantly LL Bean is doing this.
The key is this: Good content is not about storytelling; it’s about telling a truly connective story well.
By Ann Handley, @marketingprofs
SToryTeLLIng
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JasonFalls
About the AuthorJason Falls is the founder and CEO of Social Media Explorer. He oversees its information products division that includes market research, events, and a learning community. He is a leading thinker, educator, speaker, and strategist in the world of social media marketing, public relations, digital marketing, and communications.
“Being authentic means you know who you are.”
W hen you’re authentic, you’re true to yourself. When your brand is authentic, it is true to its mission and purpose.
The power in authenticity, whether in your brand or person, is that it leaves no questions unanswered. People know where you stand, what you’re made of and what is important to you. Authenticity helps you define how they see you, without risking they’ll be confused.
When you’re wishy-washy, there’s a lack of definition. Thus, there’s a lack of authenticity. When you contradict yourself, there’s lack of definition. Thus, there’s a lack of authenticity. When you always agree, follow the crowd and never stand for something on your own, there’s a lack of definition. Thus, there’s a lack of authenticity.
Being authentic means you know who you are. You define your place and parcel in life. You stand for something. And by being true to that something, no one ever questions the truth about you.
By Jason Falls, @jasonfalls
AuTHenTICITy
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MarcusSheridan
About the AuthorMarcus Sheriden passionately speaks and writes about business and marketing on his blog, The Sales Lion, which is full of business, sales, marketing, and personal development consideration. Before The Sales Lion, he built the most trafficked swimming pool website in the world through the principles of inbound and content marketing: River Pools and Spas. Although he still owns his swimming pool company, he now spends most of his time delivering inspirational and educational presentations on the power of social media and inbound/content marketing.
“...businesses can no longer be the ostrich with their head in the sand when it comes to information, consumer questions, and transparent marketing.”
T hey say we’re in the Information Age, and from the looks of it, they’re right.
We live in a time of immediate answers. If you have a question, you get it, right then and there. And if you don’t get it, you keep looking, because that’s what you (and the rest of
us) have now been trained to do.
It’s for this reason that businesses can no longer be the ostrich with their head in the sand when it comes to information, consumer questions, and transparent marketing. We’ve got to be real. We’ve got to be open. And we’ve got to give the consumer what he or she is looking for.
The choice is rather simple really – We can have the conversation on our digital platforms (webpage, fan page, etc.) or we can invite them to go to one of our competitors and have the conversation instead.
So the question is, which do you choose?
By Marcus Sheridan, @thesaleslion
InForMATIon
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Jeffrohrs
About the AuthorA recovering attorney turned digital marketer, Jeff Rohrs heads up the Marketing Research and Education Group at ExactTarget. He is a co-author of the award-winning Subscribers, Fans & Followers research series and is a driving force behind the company’s user conference. Jeff acts as a steward for ExactTarget’s thought leadership, speaking at industry events about how the digital marketing world is evolving.
“The best brand stewards understand that they aren’t responsible for protecting mere words, symbols, and sounds.”
A s a recovering attorney who dabbled in trademark law back in the day, I have long respected the power of brand. Brand cuts through clutter. It transforms the mundane into the emotional. It raises expectations.
The best brand stewards understand that they aren’t responsible for protecting mere words, symbols, and sounds. They’re responsible for delivering on the fundamental promise of any brand—that each customer’s experience will meet or exceed the last.
Brands are not, therefore, static creatures. They rise and fall on the collective experience of their consumers. And while nostalgia may insulate some brands from their missteps, change is a constant that all brands must weather through innovation and evolution.
So what is the power of brand? It is the power to be uniquely understood, appreciated, and valued by consumers in a world of ever-expanding choice. And that is a power far beyond mere words.
By Jeff Rohrs, @jkrohrs
BrAnD
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MarkSchaefer
About the AuthorMark W. Schaefer is a globally-recognized blogger, educator, business consultant, and author who blogs at {grow} – one of the top marketing blogs of the world. Mark has worked in global sales, PR and marketing positions for nearly 30 years and now provides consulting services as Executive Director of U.S.-based Schaefer Marketing Solutions. His clients include start-ups and global brands such as Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, and the UK government. Mark is a faculty member of the graduate studies program at Rutgers University and is also the founder of Social Slam, a national social media event that takes place each April. He is the author of Return On Influence and The Tao of Twitter.
“It no longer matters what you look like, where you were born, or the color of your skin. Everyone can publish content, make it soar, and have a voice.”
L ast year, a young lady named Molly Katchpole graduated from college and, like so many young Americans, could not find a job. Desperate to make her student loan payments, she took a job as a part-time nanny.
While struggling to make ends meet, she received a letter from Bank of America stating that if she didn’t keep a minimum balance of $20,000 in her account, she would be assessed a $5 monthly fee.
Molly had enough.
She connected to people through tweets, blogs and an online petition and within two weeks she had 300,000 names backing her plea for the bank to stop. A week later, they did.
Welcome to the Era of the Citizen Influencer. It no longer matters what you look like, where you were born, or the color of your skin. Everyone can publish content, make it soar, and have a voice.
Will you join us?
By Mark Schaefer, @markwschaefer
InFLuenCe
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Tim Hayden
About the AuthorTim Hayden is a popular speaker and marketing advisor to brands in the B2C and B2B marketplaces, continuously studying communications behavior and the technologies that reshape it every day. With more than 15 years experience in interactive marketing, entertainment and media consulting, Tim brings innovative strategies to life through the integration of mainstream media, events, mobile and social media. He currently works as the Senior Vice President of Mobile Strategy at Edelman Digital.
“With mobile, businesses can now better attribute sales to measure the efficacy of TV, billboards, direct mail and street team efforts.”
W ith the Internet in your pocket, at almost anytime in darn near any location (subways, wine caves and most airplanes be damned) you can summon information to settle a debate or sports bar argument in a moment’s notice. In those same moments, you can
chase down friends’ whereabouts and monitor your finances during an office meeting. Heck, maybe you’re reading this while your spouse is telling you how much formula to give the baby...uh-oh.
All of the above you could have made happen with a com-puter. But now, with that “smart” device you call a “phone”, you can send a message to your wife, your boss and your friends that only they and no one else may ever have the ability to see. Your photos can solve crimes and break a national news story. Perhaps you’re among the many who pay a credit card bill without ever making a call, opening an app or using the browser. Only your mobile phone can do that.
With mobile, businesses can now better attribute sales to measure the efficacy of TV, billboards, direct mail and street team efforts. Guess what, all of those mediums still “engage” consumers. Further, a brand marketer can now “track” your interactions from an email to the store and back to your mailbox. Creepy, huh?
And, very soon, you won’t have to type or even look at the screen of your phone to do anything outlined here.
That’s the power of mobile, and we are just getting started.
By Tim Hayden, @thetimhayden
MoBILe
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ericBoggs
About the AuthorEric Boggs is the Founder & CEO of Argyle Social, a venture-backed social media marketing software provider based in Durham, NC. He leads Argyle in its mission to help marketers drive meaningful business outcomes through social media marketing. Prior to launching Argyle, Eric was employee #1 and part of the senior leadership team at Bronto Software. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned an MBA from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he was a Dean’s Fellow.
“Too often we only hear what we want to hear. Or we listen to the wrong conversation. Or we listen to too many conversations. Or we don’t understand why we’re listening in the first place.”
H e’d kill us if he had the chance.
This ominous phrase lies at the center of the plot in Francis Ford Coppola’s brilliant 1974 thriller The Conversation.
The film tells a story about listening. Gene Hackman plays Harry Caul – a surveillance expert with a unique ability to record private conversations. He’s a clever investigator and he’s skilled at manipulating (the hilariously analog) 70s-era surveillance technology.
After bugging a particularly important conversation, Hackman’s character spends hours and hours listening to the tape in search of answers.
But he doesn’t really listen. And people die as a result.
Too often we only hear what we want to hear. Or we listen to the wrong conversation. Or we listen to too many conversations. Or we don’t understand why we’re listening in the first place.
Listening will kill you if you give it the chance.
By Eric Boggs, @ericboggs
LISTenIng
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gina rau
About the AuthorGina Rau is a senior level marketer at Janrain, a social sign-in technology company based in Portland, Oregon. Gina has a successful track record in identifying the right strategies to reach business objectives, leading consumer branding and engagement initiatives, and developing marketing campaigns to launch new products, generate leads and drive sales. Her experience includes high-profile work with leading national, regional and local brands like McDonald›s, Whole Foods, JCPenney, Radio Shack, Tillamook, Haggen Food and Pharmacy, etc. across multiple retail industries. Marketing is in her blood and she thrives in the role of motivating people to take action.
“...data sitting in silos doesn’t help anyone, least of all the customer. Turning the data into useful experiences is how marketers unlock the power of data.”
A s our use of social media increases, so does the amount of information we share about our activities, our relationships and ourselves. Just ten years ago, marketers had to bribe customers to share a fraction of the rich data we have access to today.
But data sitting in silos doesn’t help anyone, least of all the customer. Turning the data into useful experiences is how marketers unlock the power of data.
Since most people have at least one social profile, people are willing to give marketers access to social data in exchange for a personalized experience across the sites they frequent.
This high-value data allows marketers to develop more meaningful, and profitable, relationships with their audience in ways like (continued on following page):
By Gina Rau, @ginarau
DATA
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enable people to find places and friends Make discovery relevant Build an active community of brand promoters
Solve problems that earn fan loyalty Become the go-to personal assistant
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