Marketers Ruin Everything.

Let me start with what annoys me about online video: commercials.

I went to Youtube recently to watch a commercial that someone in the office was talking about. Before the commercial came on, I had to watch another 30 second commercial. Watching a commercial in order to watch a commercial = one annoyed viewer.

But, I must get over it. With the rise in popularity of online video, companies everywhere are trying to “go viral” with their best sales pitches. Which means, other marketing companies will be placing their ads to catch your attention.

I tend to agree with Gary Vaynerchuck in that “Marketers ruin everything!” He said that, among many other outstanding things about social media and marketing, in his recent keynote address at the Digital Summit in Atlanta this week. #dsum11

It’s true though right? Great marketing gets your attention. From there, other marketers mimic the efforts. Which leads to more and more efforts that are similar (call it trends if you will). Eventually, the “market” is saturated with similar tactics and then the consumer chooses to ignore it. Let’s take a moment of silence for Banner Ads, Sponsored Search Results, and Direct Mail.

MATRIX is not immune to this thinking. We know that online video is popular, and we want a piece of it. However, rather than sitting around brainstorming the best way we can “go viral”, we’re evaluating the content that we currently have, and brainstorming ways we can simplify and put it on video.

Now, we’ve created video “case studies” for our Business Intelligence group, fun videos showcasing things about our corporate culture, and highlighting our true heart-felt importance of community service.

Have they gone viral? Hardly.  Do we want them to? Sure why not! Let’s make Kwesi Oseitutu the next Old Spice man!

The point is, MATRIX isn’t trying to spam, nor is our goal to win a Webby. We are trying to provide our customers another insight into our business and corporate culture.

Our most recent “video venture” is taking our technical jobs and putting them on video.  It’s not polished. It’s not over-produced. But it’s real. Real information about the opportunity, the work environment, and the skills needed to land the job.

In the end, we’ll keep testing out different forms of video that work for our business. Scratch the ones that fail, then saturate the streaming web with those that work.

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“How Do You Know She’s a Witch?” . . . “She Looks Like One!”

Social Media. Social Media. Social Media!

There. Let’s get it out of our system.

Nowadays companies love to throw a social media “phrase” into the mix, sometimes completely unrelated and out of the blue. Much like the peasants in Monty Python (watch the scene here). trying to dress up a witch, companies throw up a Facebook page and declare they are now on social media.

Yes, SM is great. But I say it all the time, it’s not the “Holy Grail” of marketing.

More importantly than creating a Facebook Page or jumping onto twitter, is looking at how SM can fit into your overall marketing strategy. More specifically let’s talk about the “customer experience.”

In some companies the “customer experience” is managed by a completely different department. But at MATRIX we talk a lot about it in our marketing meetings. After all, the marketing department should be helping with your branding, and the customer’s experience is going to brand you. Good or bad.

Because Social Media was the “buzz” of 2009, companies every where were throwing up SM positions and targeting recent college grads to start tweeting.

I understand that SM its new territory and companies were unsure about it’s “value,” but one thing that was failed to realize was SM, if done right, plays a HUGE part in your customer experience.

So, let’s back up. What do you do? How can you ensure that SM fits into your overall strategy, and guarantee that it provides a great experience for your customers?

1. Make sure your SM team knows your brand! It’s easy to tweet or create a Facebook page, but does the person behind it know your brand to the core? Better yet, do they know your target audience.
2. Train your team on “best practices.” How should they respond to a complaint? Or to a question they don’t know? – For Heaven’s sake, don’t just say “I don’t know. . .”
   
3. Engage them in the discussions about your marketing strategy. The SM team should know what the overall goals are. Brainstorm ways that SM can fit into and help achieve those goals. Basically, make sure they know where the company is going.
4. Incorporate SM efforts into your CRM strategy. If your SM team deals directly, even as much as a RT from a client or customer, it needs to be documented. You want to ensure that the rest of the company knows there was an interaction. Especially if there was a complaint. If you customer complains on social media, they shouldn’t have to then talk on the phone with someone that has no idea about the complaint.
5. Encourage them to “look deeper.” This is probably the most vague point, but don’t just settle for the status quo. Encourage them to  look deeper at the stats. What are the trends, what does your audience seem most interested in?

As you quest for your own Holy Grail using Social Media, keep in mind it all comes down to forming genuine, not illusory relationships. Providing a way to connect with your customer and ensuring that they have a good experience with your brand.