Gnarly Notes - Engagement

Once it meant being betrothed (probably still does). That second stage of things before they got hairy and led to marriage. Almost a sussing out of the players on a one-to-one basis before the actual one-to-one reality took place. Some people still go through it, others just move in.

And now engagement marketing is a thing. It comes with its accruements - SEO, PPC and conversion rates.

And cross-channel tunnelling to see what prize the mole is looking for. And the reports - the customer as an individual, their jobs, hobbies, and actions, where they are online and what they are doing.

Engagement marketing, then, is the unobtrusive intrusion into customer lives to gather data for one end - the ideal outcome. And it is done in a way the customer, while having an inkling that it is happening, is largely unaware it is happening as it is done in bits and pieces over a period of time and with such consideration and ingenuity that you are almost grateful it happens.

Cookies, chips, bots, bats of out hell and a whole lot of other things are used in predicting behaviour, customer lifecycles, to send you personalised emails, to tease you with offers, and even censor you on forums, all by collecting hard data on you and your actions online.

But it is largely a hands-off approach. And while it tells you’re a lot of things about the customer, you are not making any friends.

If this be engagement, it is similar to hiring a private detective to check on the background of your prospective spouse, and then working towards a pre-nup before booking the celebrant. Almost a cold-blooded approach to what should be a situation seething with emotions and fraught with tensions.
And then when you add in the Internet of Things (IoT) into the mix, we know we are going to be very well connected (or contacted). Yet the disconnect will always remain for there really is no one-to-one engagement, just a semblance of it, at a three degrees of separation level.

With social media, the quest too is to engage too. Here it is you can see the seething emotions, the tensions, and the trolling. If you can reach to that level, and if you willing to partake of it.

Local governments, and governments, are the biggest culprits when it comes to not engaging online. The very idea of uncontrolled feedback, chatting with angry and abusive citizens, and the unsayable sallies on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter scare the bejesus out of us.

We are just not ready for it - most of us anyway. So, we lean back on those tried and tested ways of engaging with citizens: the 'public' meetings where everything is so formalised that asking a question requires a little bit of ego, or anger; the submission process which asks you to fill in a form with details, details, details so no-one really wants to unless they have to; and the drop-in session at your local - where appeasement is the name of the game rather than true collecting of feedback.

And increasingly there are the so called eDemocracy platforms that ask you to register and make yourself known (in case we have some beef with you later) and then allow to have a say in the running of your government.

These process mostly asks you stop opining and start debating. It is a project for most of us, this putting together of arguments to put forth to a panel for discussion and further debate. Little wonder then that few actually submit using such processes and that local government voting figures are slinking off to reside in the percentage shadowlands.

While we live in a in a time when I can buy a product from overseas with just three clicks and have it delivered to my doorstep; the more important job of having a say in the running of my city, my country requires a little too much of effort for me to be interested in taking part.

But if I were to comment on a Facebook post, or tweet my opinion, and that comment is actually noted and acted upon, I would think my opinion is held in some regard. And I would be willing to comment some more - after all there are things out there I want to opine about.

And in the age of the Internet of Things, wouldn't I want that when the lightbulb moment happens, it is directly conveyed somehow to those wanting most to know of it, not just the manufacturer of the fridge I am staring into, or to their associates only.

Why, I’d want my council to know what I am thinking when I am wrestling that last bit of garbage into the wheelie bin at midnight just before going to bed.  An input device on the lid of the wheelie bin would feedback my feelings/predicament/opinion/rambling instantly to a database, right?
Intrusive? Yes, but things already are intrusive now. And it will only get worse when IoT spreads further into our lives.        
       
I also am thinking of a time when, like on those singing competition shows where voting takes place within a short timeframe, that when a council needs to decide on something, a quick, hour-long  digital ‘referendum’ would help them make the decision. That would be eDemocracy at its best.

But before that, we need to tap into and use to the fullest those tools that are available to us here and now. That means going out on those platforms where our residents/citizen have a presence and to become a presence on it ourselves.

And yes, it will be a little like those town hall meetings of yore when everyone wanted to say their piece and had to shout to be heard. And they kept shouting until they were heard. That is what is happening on social media now. Engaging at that level, in the madcap, town hall type of engagement, will be fun, and productive, and a true indication of what people are thinking. Really thinking – not robotically ticking set piece questions on a form that only ‘validated’ previously established decisions that are sent out for endorsement by the public.

And governments, local and otherwise, need to be engaging on these platforms at that mayhamic level. They need to put aside their fear of losing control, and loosen control on their communications (which is always supposed to two-way, anyway) so they actually can make truly democratic decisions.

Next – Disengagement
Gnarly Notes

Gnarly Notes – Social Advocacy

Why would anyone want to advocate your business? Great products? Good service?

However one-eyed you are about your business, there are still better products out there – better in other ways; better in their particular appeal to a particular section of the community.

Ford? Or Holden? People owning/supporting one or the other will tell of their devotion to the brand, the pleasure they get out their vehicles; their die-hard, probably generations-long advocacy. They can talk up a fest on their understanding of the marques, their benefits and successes; even their antagonism towards the other.

How do they get to such a stage? And how can you get such-like advocates for your business?

First the definition of an advocate - a person who speaks or writes in support or defence of a person, cause, etc. (usually followed by of): an advocate of peace. 3. a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor.

And let’s keep one thing clear – we are talking advocates here, not just satisfied customers. Maybe delighted customers, but not satisfied customers. Let’s face it, every business aims for customer satisfaction (you can’t survive without it), and satisfied customers are many. In fact, customers are so satisfied so much of the time, why would they bother even to recommend your business knowing they will get that level of service time and again.

Advocacy, then, for social media at least, is active support of your brand and/or business. And you can’t get them without first telling them about yourself.

The question to ask – are you? Have you told people how you got here? What it took to get here? What drives you? The philosophy behind your brand? Most importantly, are you taking your customers along with you in your journey?

It is great to come up with a vision statement and a mission statement and park it on your website. Those who come there (few do nowadays given they choose to go directly to relevant webpages through search engines) will probably take a quick glance at those statements (if they come across it). There is no real engagement between a visitor on your site and your business philosophy. They were probably there for something else anyway, maybe even to buy something.

Maybe you use the vision and mission statements to guide and motivate your staff. Maybe they ascribe to it. Maybe not.

Your vision, your mission (if you choose to accept it), could probably be the best bet when it comes to promoting you, promoting your business and promoting your wares.

Your philosophy in action
What do you do in the community? How involved are you? How do you tell the story of your involvement?

Most larger businesses get involved in their communities, and plug the hell out of their involvement. Some accept this plugging of an organisation’s community service as part of doing business. The giving back to the community works for most businesses but things are getting a bit jaded of late. Seems everyone is on the ball for this and the marketing sections have several tried and true concepts that they rehash time and again. Just to get that publicity. It all comes with that iota of cynicism – even the best social conscience campaigns will have its jaundiced views because it is aligned with a brand.
Advocacy, on the other hand, is like the Ford or Holden owner. They have a particular view too, jaundiced as well, that what they own is better for them than what is out there. The mystique of the Ford and Holden brands was developed over a long time, backed by consistent success stories and a very open rivalry between the two to offer the ‘best’ for their customers.

Remember Gillette? Everyone does, and continues to do so. That is a brand mystique that the company have exploited to the max. Most of us don’t have that kind of history to fall back to when it comes to building advocacy.

But you can start making history now.

Start by telling your story, telling of your trials, your tribulations, your overcoming them and, most importantly, your success. These success stories are not about your bottom line, your profits but about your organisation as an organism – a living, breathing thing. So, make it personal. “Nothing personal” is out of the window. Make everything personal – on social media.

And tell your story the right way. Each story is built on something before, something defining, something tenuous, something tremendous. Just don't let Marketing get too creative with it.

Your advocates need to buy into your story. So don’t make it a sob story, not even the slightest hint. It is not pity you want from your advocates but their firm determination that what you are doing is right – for them, the community, for anyone you touch.

Now now – those with vested interest in what you do will be your first advocates. Discount the first believers. They put forward a different and somewhat skewered picture, of how well you are liked, how good you are, and everything you are doing is great. Emperor's new clothes and all. Your job is to make advocates out of people made of sterner stuff.

So, go after those who appear to have a bone to pick with you. Target them – not with pleasantries but with hard information that they can’t dispute and offers they can’t refuse. You are now turning that segment that had little interest in you into actually become customers, delighted customers willing to jump to your defence,  to speak or write in your favour, your champions.

And I am not talking about journalists, although they can be intermittent advocates of your brand before they jump to something else. I am talking about citizens out there who now have access to platforms in which they can easily, and very quickly, pass judgement on anything they CHOOSE to. These are the citizen journalists – with the power of either hurting or helping with the posts they put out.

But before all this, you have to set up the channels to tell your story. And then invite people on to it to engage with you. Without this engagement, you cannot even think of advocacy.

Next topic – Engagement

Gnarly Notes

Gnarly Notes - Social Relations

PR? Phrrup!

It is SR now. Social Relations.

It is not about intercom communications anymore. This is a walkie talkie situation. And doing it on social media is the way to go.

Yes, there are people who will be reached with your great banner ads on websites, or those clickable ads on Google, or those You Tube ads that take away minutes from your life. All  of Facebook's 1.4 billion is there for you to tap into, not. And Twitter. Aye, Twitter. Such a great platform for those short, sharp messages. And tweets lost in the pipeline within minutes.

Oh, you will get traction (love the word) when you spend, spend, spend to get your message out there. The point is that 'spend' is great for those who can. It always takes something away from your bottom line.

Now let's not pull any punches - it is a mess out there on social media. Short attention spans no matter how intrusive your ad is; a plethora of channels; and your itsy bitsy ad competing with the millions of others.

When you see the jump in the number of Likes, Shares and Retweets after you sunk in some money to promote your post or tweet, it is almost a vindication. And you look at the views on your video and say "Wow!

And then you look at your click through ration and cost per click and say "Sh*t!" These costs are not sustainable in the long term for small to medium businesses, and some will only use promoted posts for particular projects which need to 'out there'.

Facebook continues to tighten its pipeline for organic reach; squelching down to make you pay for what is essentially your content that they don't want getting out too much. Not until you pay for it. The organic reach on most platforms, Instagram included, will be tightened as these platforms seeks more income. It is lucrative market for them out there - and an increasingly higher paying one for businesses.

Yet, there is hope. If you shift from PR to SR.

PR worked (and still does, maybe) on the principle that there were reporters out there who would interested in your message, and were willing to publish it for free so your company could get some 'advertising'. While we may have become savvier in putting together media releases and advisories, the general trend is still to shoot them out and keep your fingers crossed. Or pick up the phone and plead for some space. This is a decades-long processes that has seen little or no change.

Social Relations works on the principle that you are developing your own network of stakeholders - from the mom who wants to know where to take the tots on a lazy Sunday, to the weekend fisherman who wants to pass on some fishing tip, to the millennial with a thousand devices who just wants to know of things that matter to them. You become the hub of information that your customer can use.
It is a pity that every company has a website and can access ALL the social media channels and yet fail miserably in aligning them for the good of the company.

What's missing?

Content to kill for
Killer content does not happen by chance. It needs working on.

There is content that is decided by a committee. Sign offs, double sign offs and a 'last look' is great for a 30-page documents but does not work well in the 'instantly now' platform of social media. And anything produced by a committee is bound to be bland to ensure that the greatest number of people are appeased, right?

Then there is content that comes out of a situation. Something happens (or you make something happen), and you jump aboard with your say and then everyone else jumps aboard with their say. Great content. No control. Great feedback. Many trolls. Such a mess.

Finally there is content that a creative comes up with. It could be content she has repurposed from existing content, putting her spin on it after knowing what exactly is needed to done. Or it could be a line out of a thousand other lines that she picks on and develops some rhetoric around. And then she follows up on it - putting in further hooks for continued conversation, setting up space for feedback and then reporting back - both to the online engaged audience and to the company.

It is the conversation that matters. That is the great content to strive for. Not just the expertly put together post but what follows after the post.

And that folks is the content for social relations.

Communities to die for
Narrowing your interests in social relations is about the same as saying "I want to deal with these guys but not you." You do want to sell something, or provide a service. But you can't do that all the time. If you think ROI only, you are effectively killing some potential market segment even before it becomes potential.

The idea is to approach social relations as a hub. You will do whatever it takes to get whoever is out there to follow you somehow. Your channels - your website, your Facebook, Your Twitter - become a hub for the communities that populate those spaces. Your job is not to sell your product here but to become a go-to place for INFORMATION on things you know of intimately. You are there to help on these channels. So, only posting to sell your wares, or trying to be cool to attract more followers is not going to cut it. Not in these times.

Media
So, the media.

We now have all the equipment we want to communicate directly and in a direct manner to those who we wish to communicate with. Yet, somehow, we feel we need to send that media release out to the media and hope it gets published. It does not matter what kind of spin the media puts on your release - it could take your message and spin it out negatively and we would have no control over it. And with comments enabled, all that good feedback (and I mean good feedback, whether negative or positive) goes down the drain.

Oh, you do post that media release on your social channels. And put it up on your website? And then?
Where's the follow up?

Do you want take apart your media release and post them in chunks on social media for easier consumption? Do you ensure you have rich media to go along with the posts?

Do you actively engage with your followers in answering questions, no matter how curly?
It is the conversation that will enable you to build the community that will both be your purchaser and your advocate. Just make sure you have the right product or service on offer.

Next post - Advocacy.
Gnarly Notes