12-Step Program for Traditional Marketing Addicts Embracing Interactivity
An anonymous 12-step program for those 'traditional' marketing addicts as they finally embrace Interactive methods, utilizing not only online but onsite accountability:
Step 1 - We admit we were powerless over our addiction - that our strategies had become non-sellable.
Step 2 - Came to believe that an interactive power greater than ourselves could restore us to our once enjoyed glory.
Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our direction over to the care of social media, as we understood social networking to be, even as it constantly evolves.
Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and promised to turn over ROI, if we found any.
Step 5 - Admitted to the industry, to ourselves, and to another consultant, the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have interactive methods remove all these defects of creativity.
Step 7 - Humbly asked our interactive Sponsors to remove our shortcomings.
Step 8 - Made a list of all clients we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all, even promising engagement leading to a healthy marriage.
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such consumers wherever possible, except when to do so would benefit them or others if they ridiculed us.
Step 10 - Continued to take analog inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 11 - Sought through search and social media to improve our conscious contact with 'Interactivity' as we understood it, praying only for knowledge of industry's will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 - Having had a rude awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other traditional marketers, and to practice these principles in all our affairs, legitimate or extramarital.
Open Letter: Attracting Sponsors, Provide Solutions, The Harsh Reality
People often make the mistake I am a sponsor 'finder.' I am actually a sponsor matchmaker. I don't 'sell' sponsorship packages, I match opportunities; besides, sponsors should not be solicited to 'spend' money, they should be asked to 'invest' their money.
I create campaigns to attract sponsors to invest in what you have to offer. The harsh reality is you need help developing your proposal, not in selling it; if your pitch was 'sellable,' you would have done it already. And until you realize the 'true' Sponsorship agent/consultant is not the one who is hired only to sell your proposal but is the one who helps you develop it first, you will continue to wonder why the sponsors are not knocking at your door.
You desperately need an activation strategy and an interactive campaign attracting sponsors to the table willing to invest in your common agendas. Also never forget concept is great, but execution is key, so choose your agent/consultant/partner accordingly.
Keep in mind the 'saturation' point of having to go to sponsors with different proposals all the time, representing different products/pitches/clients. That's not what a 'real' sponsorship consultant/agency should do. It's not about burning bridges, it's about building relationships. I love allowing the sponsor access to an exploitable business potential that we both helped define. The 'selling' is just a matter of fact then.
Involve your potential sponsor prior to approaching them with your finished offer of sale. Involve your sponsorship consultant prior to asking them to sell your sponsorship deck. Instead, have them develop it, because they know how to approach their sponsor contacts and what 'they' want. They speak the same language. Invest in sponsorship consultancy to find the ways for sponsors to invest in you.
Emotional Connection - Courtship and Technique
Shaken or stirred? Olive or twist? As Jon Bonné, wine editor of The San Francisco Chronicle writes, "the gin martini is about the courtship between two complex ingredients. That deceptive minimalism makes it a triumph of technique."
Similarly, the courtship of emotional connection is critical to the makeup of the triangle between the brand/sponsor, the venue/property, and their (hopefully 'shared') audience.
The venue may reach with its audience by default through a pre-established following generated via the event and/or the talent. The venue, event, and talent also can easily work out a mutually beneficial arrangement with their sponsor. That leaves only the sponsor/brand and its emotional connection with the audience as the last piece of the puzzle for a perfect activation.
The sponsoring brand is usually the one picking up the tab, in exchange for using the venue/event as a vehicle to reach its intended audience. But it needs to establish its own emotional connection with the audience in order for the 'reach' to resonate into engagement, and continued courtship culminating in a lasting marriage.
And as with the gin martini, not the 'pretend' cocktails that borrow the martini name, there is no 'perfect' recipe. However, the brand should employ proper techniques for establishing emotional connection with its consumer. The brand should encourage frequent, habit-forming but voluntary interaction, and find various methods to build cumulative value for its customers based on that interaction. Positive shared experiences only add to the mix. Relevant brand association and admirable brand representation are keys to a successful campaign. Of course without a saying, the product has to be good too.
Woo (or court) your sponsors accordingly, and provide them opportunities for positive brand association and emotional connection with the audience, yours and theirs.
Sponsorship is a Threesome
Jeff Blackman's article subtitled creative 'back door' strategies to find new customers is worth a second look.
Sponsorship allows you to capitalize on and leverage OPR: other people's relationships. First, let's define what a 'sponsor' is. A sponsor is an individual, company, organization or association that pursues and benefits from the same or similar target market(s) or target customer(s) as you. While your products and services are non-competitive, they're likely to be complementary.
Often times, sponsor seekers don't keep in mind the prerequisite alignment between themselves and their sponsor prospect(s). Rather than ask a sponsor to spend money, by offering among other things a link to the sponsor's website for example, while not recognizing that sometimes the sponsors are much bigger/larger with a wider audience than those seeking them, a 'partnership' benefiting all parties including the intended audience should be proposed. Just think of it as a threesome of sorts.
Creative sponsorship is a wide open space. Build your own solution, but do it with the sponsor in mind. And approach the sponsor before the campaign is developed. This way, in the end, you'll be able to ask the sponsor to 'contribute' their share of what they helped create. While all along keeping the audience updated on what to expect, as well as encourage their participation in the process, via social media.
Problem with Stealth Sponsored Tweets
John Chow is not shy about making around $3,000 a month on Twitter for getting "paid for pushing a button." According to the NYT article, "a friend's tweet could be an ad."
I see no problem with Twitter 'faux celebs' pushing vendor products and getting paid for them. I am troubled, however, with the 'covert' pretense of most among them. Just as some full-page articles in prominent newspapers/magazines have a disclaimer 'this is an advertisement,' 'sponsored' tweets should be regulated to post such disclosure.
Otherwise, the fine line between a true recommendation of a brand/product and a sponsored one becomes too blurred. As Pete Cashmore writes, "I posted on Facebook about my new MacBook Pro. I'm very pleased with it. Today a friend posted that he's ordered a new MacBook Pro based on my purchase. Do I expect Apple to pay me? Heck no: my payment is knowing that people trust my recommendations. That builds more trust." But how would we know Pete's or anyone's honest intentions if such a disclaimer was not forced onto the Twitterers who actually get paid to tweet something similar, regardless whether they actually do in fact love the product they are 'endorsing.'
Every time I post a tweet about a brand or a product, I get nervous too. I sometimes wonder if my followers would assume I was getting paid. Knowing that even if I was I would only promote items that I really do enjoy/endorse, is not enough to build credibility and trust. But if I was to mention that particular tweet was 'sponsored' and if I only do so on some occasions (as some do), and not on very single tweet (as some others do), I wouldn't be ostracized as much I would think.
In the end, I do wholeheartedly agree with Pete (@Mashable) when he writes, "that's the exact same outdated model of interruption-based advertising that we've been trying to block out with a TiVo or an internet ad blocker." I also think it is quite important to read/find out the recommendations of the 'people I look up to' as some of you (those whom I follow) are. I just want to know if you're sincere or getting paid for it even if you are.
Outsourcing Sponsorship Deals
The Age, Australian edition, reports that Qantas Airlines has axed its internal sponsorship division in favor of outsourcing sponsorship deals.
The article paints a negative picture from the standpoint of Qantas sponsorship recipients as "throwing into doubt the future of tens of millions of dollars of sponsorships."
I see it as quite the opposite. Qantas will now be able to divert its resources to other areas and instead concentrate on the main focus of the airline's core business. Besides, all sponsorship deals will (and should) still be reviewed internally.
The sponsorship agencies, especially the interactive ones specializing in engagement, are better equipped to lower cash outlays via embedded advertising/marketing creativity and campaigns, while maximizing ROI for their clients.
Obviously, simply turning the business over to any ad agency, no matter how a big a name it has made for itself, may not be the right answer. Digital strategy decisions should not be at the hands of traditional marketing outfits.
Now, the challenge is for the sponsorship agencies to hold up their end of the bargain, and deliver promising results, if they would like this trend to continue. I believe it can be done. It's a win-win for all parties. And I welcome it!
Measuring ROI
All I hear about nowadays is how difficult measuring ROI in Social Media can be. As Ken Kaufman in CFOwise Blog writes, "Social Media is about branding, not advertising," and so it seems, at first look, very difficult to quantify the everlasting results of brand development, at least immediately.
But how easy is it to measure the return on traditional advertising anyway? While it is true that Social Media adds value to the brand, and therefore is a significant influencer, its ROI can also be measured in terms of its alignment with the greater strategy and the results the overall campaign achieves.
Here's Mashable's look into HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI.
It is quite possible to add quantitative elements to an Interactive Campaign utilizing Social Media. We've been able to do it for Sponsors via Live Events. The pre-event buzz generated on social networks (including offering discounts off admission prices to people who followed on Twitter or signed on as Facebook fans), together with follow-up post-event activities featuring highlights of the event, promotions on related and future events, continued audience interaction and feedback, and product offerings, are all measurable/trackable avenues. And at the event itself, onsite interaction and the instant action options all culminate the entire process into a very measurable model.
All attendees at a recent event were able to type in the unique code found on their e-tickets, register through a URL the sponsor created and used specifically for the promotion to win one of the prizes -products of the sponsor. But all attendees, even if they were not among the winners, were given a free download. Based on those registrations, and the tracking of the downloads, the sponsor was able to determine how many actual paid downloads were achieved throughout the rest of the season as a result. Not only were they able to see who the new engagements are, they also knew from what event, venue, and when.
The best part of this whole experience for the sponsor was our PPP (pay-per-purchase) approach. Rather than asking the sponsor to 'spend' money on gold, silver, or bronze 'sponsorships,' we were able to convince them to try our 'Interactive' methods, once they realized they'd only pay if the program was successful. It wouldn't cost them anything to try. It was definitely a win-win for all; including the audience who benefited from a hands-on approach, as well as voluntary but willing engagement rather than resigned submission.
The emergence of digital technology utilized both onsite and online, increases brand awareness and consumer loyalty by generating a high involvement with your target group. The new digital feedback mechanisms offer advertisers a wide variety of possibilities, limited only by imagination. And measurable ROI.
Social Media Strategy: The Real One
'Get on Twitter' is not a social media strategy, declares Brand Channel (pdf), and I agree wholeheartedly.
"... you probably have some people from within or outside consultants saying, 'We need social media!' or 'We need to be on Twitter!' or 'We need to be on Facebook!' or several other methods. But they aren't explaining why you need to be on those things. Why, because everyone else is doing it? That's kind of a lousy strategy. And what will you do once you are on some of these sites? Just talk about yourself? That's not a particularly good way to establish a relationship."
How do you plan on connecting with your audience? Better yet, why should your audience connect with your brand? Do you understand 'Interactivity'?
Your strategy should be specific to your brand and to your audience. One-to-many and one-to-one. Once you've customized your plan, only then you should use Twitter and Facebook to establish your relationship. Then get ready for the interaction. Just as important, if not more, what happens next should have already been prepared, not reacted to. Obviously, there will be instances where the plan is tweaked, but social media is not a learn-as-you-go process. At least not anymore!
You should concentrate on developing your business, marketing your product, handling the aftermarket. But when it comes to social media and interactivity, you should bring in the professionals who do just that for a living. However, insist on seeing their road map! Test how ready they are for what happens next! And make sure they provide you with a measurable ROI so you can gauge how successful the 'real' strategy is!
Interactive Sponsorship Explained
Wikipedia refers to Interactive Marketing as the evolving trend whereby marketing has moved from a transaction-based effort to a conversation.
The definition of interactive marketing comes from John Deighton at Harvard, who says interactive marketing is the ability to address the customer, remember what the customer says and address the customer again in a way that illustrates that we remember what the customer has told us. Interactive marketing is not synonymous with online marketing, although interactive marketing processes are facilitated by internet technology.
Interactive Sponsorship takes Interactive Marketing one step further. Interactive Sponsorship embraces the dominant marketing discipline and rebuilds relationships with all the parties involved, especially the 'until-now silenced' customers of the sponsor.
Through creative activation campaigns, Interactive Sponsorship is an effective mechanism for sponsors to engage the 'instant-action starving' target demographic via mutually beneficial offerings, while experiencing success and measurable ROI.
Interactive Sponsorship should not be confused with consisting purely of advertising methods. After all, advertising is a monologue, but sponsorship is a conversation!
Just as Interactive Marketing is not based on online efforts solely, Interactive Sponsorship also takes advantage of both the online involvement of social media and generating the buzz leading up to the event, as well as the follow-up post event, coupled with the onsite engagement based on live events at public venues via demographic targeting and the use of digital technologies.
However, some Sponsorship 'agents' still have it wrong. But it's up to the sponsors to be informed as much as it is the agents' responsibility to inform them.
We welcome sponsors who wish to take advantage of what we have to offer. If you are the one seeking a sponsor, then you should read this before contacting us.
By the way, Social Media is bigger than you think! (YouTube)
Social Media at Events
Lately, I've been noticing live Twitter feeds at events, especially on the red carpet. This new trend is a great way to engage the onsite presence with those who can follow the event online. Even at corporate meetings, presenters are taking real-time questions (both at the conference and around the world), thereby connecting effectively with their 'entire' audience.
The most important thing to remember first is to develop a consensus on the proper hashtag prior to the event, and to ensure everyone adopts and promotes it. In most cases, do not simply use the event name as the hashtag; but try to elaborate on your event name and link it to a powerful message, as Julius Solaris recommends in '10 Ways to Measure Your Event ROI with Social Media.'
Next, you can use a free download like TwitterCamp and instantly setup an auto-updating screen of Tweets that use your specific hashtag.
Often overlooked: Make sure your tweets are short enough to be easily retweeted. Allowing for "RT @yourname" and "#hashtag" means your actual tweet is much less than 140 characters, especially if you don't want others editing your message.
As for content and context, this insight by Rohit Bhargava is very telling:
"There are two types of content creators at any event. The ones who are creating content because they want to, and those who are creating content because they have to (often because they have been sent to "cover" the event for a team or organization). For both, the toughest question to answer is how to do this in a way that results in quality content, but also doesn't detract from your experience of actually being at an event and participating in it."
Bottom Line: Live Twitter feed involves the crowd through interaction, and it also expands your reach beyond the show (or event). Imagine live crowd-sourced ratings and ROI measurement! What else can you ask for?
0 Comments