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<title>Jan Kelley Marketing Blog - Kim McWatt</title>
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<description><![CDATA[Jan Kelley Marketing Blog - Description]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sat, 19 May 2012 18:18:51 -0400</pubDate>
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<title>I Need More Cowbellno waitMore Content</title>
<link>http://www.jankelley.comblog.php?blogId=168</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:18:52 -0500</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA["Content, content, content," &ndash; say that with a petulant whine &agrave; la  Jan Brady. Are we making too much out of content? Content is all the  rage today. Content is King! Content is everything, and everything is  content!
Christopher Walken as "The Bruce Dickinson" delivering that iconic phrase.
&nbsp;
While  everything is content, not everything is relevant.&nbsp; I cannot count how  often I&rsquo;ve been told: &ldquo;I need more content!&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;That statement always  brings to mind the hilarious SNL&nbsp;skit with the amazingly talented  Christopher Walken as Bruce Dickinson demanding that he needs more cowbell.&nbsp;  And just like in the skit, the cowbell eventually overpowers the music,  takes on the ridiculous, becoming annoying, so does the demand for more  content. Content for the sake of content is useless without context or  value to the audience.
Content marketing - the next big thing
Successful  content marketing means communicating with customers and prospects  about products and services without the hard sell. The focus is on  freely sharing information, arming the buyer with what they need to know  to make intelligent purchase decisions. Through the delivery of  relevant content, an organization can develop a relationship with the  customer over time, gain permission to communicate with the customer via  other mediums (email, direct mail, online) and eventually lead to a  sale. The customer is seeking information that solves a problem or gives  them insight. They want information that has value &ndash; the business that  provides that information authentically, freely, and without an  immediate sales pitch will gain trust and credibility with their target  consumers.
So how do you break through the clutter and create not  just any content, but content that is interesting, important and  energizing for customers - content that builds trust in the business,  initiates conversation, and eventually leads to conversion? Here's a few  questions to consider:

What is the marketing objective? Focusing on driving quick response or building a relationship over  time? Content marketing is not a one night stand. It&rsquo;s building equity  with the consumer over time. If you&rsquo;re only interested in making the  sale, getting customers to make instant decisions, then content  marketing is not the right fit.
What keeps customers up at night? What problems  do they need answers for? What are their concerns, what are they  talking about online or with sales people, how can you provide the most  value? &nbsp;Get the full picture of what your customer really needs and then  help them get it.
Where are they?&nbsp;Are they  online reading blogs or talking on Twitter? Do they make comments on  Facebook or through customer reviews? Depending on where your content is  being consumed, and the preferences for your target audience on how  they consume content, this will make a big difference in how content is  being written&nbsp;and presented. A print ad is not like a PR announcement,  which is not like website copy, which is not like a Tweet, which is not  like a blog post, which is not like a direct mail letter, which is not  like an email...you get my drift. While the underlying message may  be&nbsp;similar, the way it is presented&nbsp;is vastly different. Depending on  where the customer is on their purchase decision journey, tailor your  message to suit. But always start with compelling, interesting, value  added content to draw the customer in. Creating a whitepaper&nbsp;that is  overwhelmingly &ldquo;advertorial&rdquo; will not instil consumer confidence or  build trust &ndash; especially if you require&nbsp;customers to provide their email  address to download the information. All they will think is that  they&rsquo;ve been hoodwinked into giving away their permission.
How do you write it? These  two statements say it all: &ldquo;Content without copywriting&nbsp;is a waste of  good content. Copywriting&nbsp;without content is a waste of good copy.&rdquo;  Sonia Simone of Copyblogger Media provides an interesting overview&nbsp;&nbsp;of  why copywriting&nbsp;and content go hand in hand. Even though you  provide&nbsp;valuable information to a customer, it doesn&rsquo;t mean you neglect  giving customers a call to action. Don&rsquo;t be blatant and turn an  excellent article into a hard sales pitch, but at least drive them  gently toward your end objective.

Now, next time someone  says to you "I need more content,&rdquo; aside from thinking of cowbells,  hopefully you can get the context you need to make the content work for  your customer.
And now, back to Christopher Walken. Yes, this is somewhat irrelevant content, but you have to admit, he is amazing...
Weapon of Choice]]></description>
<author>kmcwatt@jankelley.com (KimMcWatt)</author>
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<title>The New B2B Customer</title>
<link>http://www.jankelley.comblog.php?blogId=149</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 May 2011 10:42:17 -0400</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[
According to census predictions, Generation Y (or Millenials) born between 1976 and 2000 outnumbered Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers in 2010.
Why is this important?
This is an important consideration for B2B companies for a number of reasons.&nbsp; The Gen Y cohort has grown up in the age of technology. They are the most plugged-in generation yet with over 96% having joined a social network at some point in their lives. Gen Ys are:

Impatient
Speak their mind
Demand flexibility
Tech savvy
Have high expectations of themselves, the companies they work for, and the people they deal with.

And, most importantly: &nbsp;These are your customers.
The Changing B2B Customer
Gen Ys have and will continue to have a dramatic social and economic impact on business.&nbsp; These customers have changed the way business operates. Of today&rsquo;s B2B buyers

59% engage with peers online who addressed their challenges
48% follow online industry conversations on topics
41% follow online discussions to learn more about topics

(Source: Inside the Mind of the B2B Buyer)
The world has changed

Information is free
The traditional sales channel is no longer the only information conduit for customers to gain insight into products or services
Prospects are accessing information online
&ldquo;Sales&rdquo; is not able to read the&nbsp;digital body language&nbsp;of customers.

That means marketing now needs to take on a greater role in understanding and interpreting the needs of the buyer.
A New Reality
This shift towards more intensive use of the internet has also changed the way B2B buyers interact with companies when making a purchase decision.&nbsp; Instead of a &ldquo;sales funnel&rdquo; there&rsquo;s now a &ldquo;consumer decision journey&rdquo; (CDJ).&nbsp; David Edleman discusses this concept in his article &ldquo;Branding in the Digital Age.&rdquo;
For years, marketers assumed that consumers started with a large number of potential brands in mind and methodically winnowed their choices until they&rsquo;d decided which one to buy. After purchase, their relationship with the brand typically focused on the use of the product or service itself. New research shows that rather than systematically narrowing their choices, consumers add and subtract brands from a group under consideration during an extended evaluation phase. After purchase, they often enter into an open-ended relationship with the brand, sharing their experience with it online.
THEN: Sales Funnel Decision Process

NOW: Consumer Decision Journey

&nbsp;
A core part of this revised sales model is the use of social media. B2B buyers are utilizing the internet to research their choices during the consideration and evaluation phases: reading blog posts, examining product reviews, checking the latest buzz on Twitter, and engaging with others in virtual communities.&nbsp; Being a part of the social sphere ensures customers include your products and services in their evaluation process. Plus, engaging with customers after the purchase decision utilizing various social media channels (i.e. Twitter, Facebook. LinkedIn, blogs, communities, etc) makes sure they become loyal advocates of your brand.
Case in Point: Social Customer Service
Research conducted by&nbsp;CustomerThink Corp.&nbsp;shows that &ldquo;today&rsquo;s social customer, along with our fast-moving competitive world, demand more of a real-time approach.&rdquo; Utilizing social media to monitor customer feedback, satisfaction, and loyalty is becoming more and more critical especially with the increasingly connected and tech savvy individuals entering the business world. This requires taking advantage of the social technologies and integrating them into your business processes.
Take for example Twitter, which is increasingly being used to enhance customer service and outreach capabilities. Set up an account, start a dialogue with current and potential customers, link back to your website for more information, and monitor conversations utilizing tools such as HootSuite or TweetDeck.&nbsp; Develop a feedback loop internally to respond quickly to requests or concerns found by listening to the voice of the customer.
The result of taking the time to explore the use of social media tools could mean an increase in customer engagement, stronger relationships and ultimately increased sales with this new breed of customer.
How are you engaging with the new B2B customer?
]]></description>
<author>kmcwatt@jankelley.com (KimMcWatt)</author>
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<title>HiTech HiTouch Not what you think</title>
<link>http://www.jankelley.comblog.php?blogId=147</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 11 May 2011 14:31:11 -0400</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[My colleague Krista Benz and I had the opportunity to present at the&nbsp;Canadian Franchise Association&rsquo;s annual Marketing Day held at The Old Mill in Toronto. Our topic was on&nbsp;strategies to engage and excite your dealer, franchise and sales networks.
If You Build It...They Will Come
If you build it...they will come
As shown in our experience and in the discussion at the session, corporate offices continue to develop marketing tools and promotional programs for their dealer or franchise channel, only to experience a low adoption rate in the channel. It&rsquo;s the whole &ldquo;If you build it...they will come&rdquo; concept.
Create an amazing promotion, develop a point-of-purchase kit with detailed instructions, send it out and you get...meh.&nbsp; Either the network doesn&rsquo;t even notice or they look and say &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have time for marketing.&rdquo; Having great tools does not mean the channel will use them.
This is where our approach comes in.
Hi-Tech, Hi-Touch
To get your network engaged, it takes a combination of two things:
Hi-Tech / Hi-Touch
Hi-Tech&nbsp;&ndash; fast, efficient, and effective web enabled marketing solutions. These can be marketing resource centres that offer the templates and tools to create local store marketing programs quickly and effectively. Or centralized dealer portals that provide instant access to not only the marketing resources, but training on how to effectively use the tools plus communications conduits to reach out to corporate to get the support they need. Or even social media communities that connect corporate to employees within the franchisee network (think Best Buy Blue Shirt Nation or even a simple closed Facebook group)
AND
Hi-Touch&nbsp;&ndash; specially trained marketing specialists who can help the channel understand and adopt the tools in their local markets. These individuals give the training and support to help a dealer or franchisee get the most from the marketing programs corporate offers. They become the conduit for feedback and continuous improvement of programs and promotions.
This combination of technology and support leads to that ultimate business relationship nirvana known as TRUST. When corporate and their network learn to trust each other and understand each other&rsquo;s needs, this leads to wider adoption of marketing programs.
Have a look at our presentation from the session which highlights a couple of case studies on building engagement. For more information on channel engagement, check out Krista's blog post. To learn more about conflict resolution and building trust, Michael Halbmeier provides some great insights.
Bottom Line
Dealers and franchisees are focused on their business &ndash; marketing is not always a first priority. Because of this, don&rsquo;t expect full adoption of programs or promotions without ongoing support to the channel. Collaboration and communication between corporate and the channel will build trust &ndash; which in the long run will lead to sales success out in the market.
What has been your&nbsp;experience&nbsp;launching a promotion to your network? Meh or WOW?]]></description>
<author>kmcwatt@jankelley.com (KimMcWatt)</author>
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<title>Social Media Outside of the Mainstream</title>
<link>http://www.jankelley.comblog.php?blogId=113</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:04:39 -0500</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[When you think of the types of organizations using social media technologies, most people would automatically think of fashion retailers, restaurants, or big corporate brands / manufacturers.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s actually quite exciting to see other industries starting to embrace social media in their marketing tactics. Clearly, any company who needs to connect with their customers should consider social media as part of their communications mix.
An interesting example came to my attention in the April 2010 edition of Bodyshop magazine. The article titled &ldquo;Social Settings&rdquo; by J.D. Ney talks about the &ldquo;newfangled&rdquo; world of social media and provides a case study for bodyshops and collision repair facilities to model themselves after.
To differentiate themselves in a competitive market, many collision repair turn to traditional media choices like flyers, radio and direct mail to message their customers. For others, the time is ripe to put some effort into non-traditional media. With a changing consumer demographic, focusing only on baby boomers (their current customer base) will not promote future sales growth.
According to Chris Sheehy, president of Autobody Consulting Group in Rhode Island, &ldquo;That younger age bracket relies heavily on word of mouth, and more importantly, the kind of referrals and testimonials you get with social media. They simply won't believe something that comes from a company website. They believe and interpret what others are saying about it. So, they're very dependent on the Internet to get this information. If they can't find you there, or find out what people are saying about you there, then they're not going to get to know you.&rdquo;
A social media usage poll done on bodyshopbiz.com indicated that less than half of respondents had any kind of social media strategy at all. &nbsp;Early adopters, like South Barrie Collision, the case study presented in the article, highlights the opportunities social media can open up for early adopters of this communications strategy.
The South Barrie Collision story underscores three key points:

Monitor your audience: Periodically review who is actually following and responding to your Tweets or Facebook updates. It&rsquo;s not about how many people you reach, but WHO you reach which is more important. Identifying a small group of highly engaged and energized potential customers is more rewarding than hundreds of somewhat interested followers. South Barrie Collision first focused on the end customer, but then recognized their followers were more in the insurance business and changed their communications accordingly to maintain visibility with insurance brokers too.
Test &ndash; learn &ndash; adjust: As with any marketing campaign, you need to start with a solid strategy. But you also need to be flexible and adjust your strategy as needed. South Barrie Collision constantly adjusts their message to not only focus on their shop &ndash; they provide advice, tips, news, fun &ldquo;stuff&rdquo; in order to maintain engagement with their audience
Social media requires commitment: Do you want to create a short term interaction or are you committed to work towards a long term relationship with your customers? As the Sheehy points out "I search around and see a lot of bodyshops who have a presence in this space, but I see an awful lot of one-liners&hellip;&rdquo; Social media requires constant attention; otherwise, long-term benefits will never be realized.

Social media is not only for the retailers, restaurants, and big corporate brands in the world. It can work for any company who wants to seriously engage with their customers and build strong relationships. From commercial truck dealers, independent automotive or truck repair facilities, to tow truck operators or vehicle rental shops &ndash; develop a social media strategy that works for your business and follow through. It&rsquo;s time to get the conversation started.]]></description>
<author>kmcwatt@jankelley.com (KimMcWatt)</author>
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<item>
<title>Practicing Safe Social Media</title>
<link>http://www.jankelley.comblog.php?blogId=73</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 05 Jul 2010 08:56:17 -0400</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[To have a social media policy or to not have a social media policy?&nbsp;  That is the question. For some, the answer is no. Policies are useless,  uninspiring, inhibit creativity, and essentially are stupid. For others,  policies are important to protect both employees and the employer. What  do I think...well I fall into the group of those who think it's  important.
Why would it be important to have a policy or guideline set up for  social media usage at work? People have common sense and should know how  to behave online! Yes, they certainly should. However, we've all heard  stories of people on Facebook saying something harsh about their boss  only to forget their boss is one of their Facebook friends. Ooops!
It certainly is interesting to note just how many instances of people  doing very foolish things online and paying the price for it - either  getting themselves severely reprimanded or even fired.&nbsp; I for one, would  rather have a&nbsp; policy put into place which eliminates any doubt about  what my employer would consider "bad behavior" online.&nbsp; As Shel Holtz  notes in his blog post "Social media policies are stupid. Your company still  needs one.":
Hiring smart people...doesn&rsquo;t automatically mean employees know  every compliance issue that could come back to bite the company. Many of  those compliance issues are unique or have special applications to the  online world.
No one wants to get bitten. So, based on a review of a number of  social media policies published online, here are a few basic  guidelines:

Be transparent. You represent your company on any online  company properties. You also represent your company on personal social  media accounts. If anywhere in your profile you've mentioned you work  for "X Company" then you should always remember that what you say can  and may reflect on your company.
Ask for permission. Do not disclose confidential information.  Confidentiality is especially critical for clients.&nbsp; Ask before  disclosing any information about a client - a client relationship always  comes first.
Cite any references. As in a university term paper, citations  and references are critical to make sure proper credit is given to the  originator of the thought.&nbsp; Plagiarism is never a good thing. Copyright  laws offline work the same online.
Be accurate. Facts and statistics must be correct - but if  you do make an error, correct it as soon as possible and clearly  indicate an error was made.
Disclose relationships. Clearly indicate your relationship to  the client when posting approved content - as with transparency about  your own company, it works the same with clients.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. This is what it means to me - no obscenity,  insults, offensive remarks. Demonstrate respect for other's opinions and  comments. Take the high road and don't pick fights online. Constructive  criticism is always appreciated.
Remember - the Internet never forgets. Everything on the web  can be tracked - so be aware of what you are saying and doing online.

In many instances, these are no different from phone, fax or email  policies that came into existence when these technologies were new.&nbsp; Mr.  Holtz sums it up nicely when he writes:
One day, when the newness has worn off social media, the policies  that govern its use will be inherent in an overall communication or  behavior policy. 
How would you practice safe social media at your organization? Any guidelines you would add?]]></description>
<author>kmcwatt@jankelley.com (KimMcWatt)</author>
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