Lessons Learned For Today and the FutureM

Last week, I had a great opportunity to mix and mingle with marketers as we navigated through the world of technology. Digital media will always be about bridging the gap between the real world and the virtual world, while contributing to the overall ROI, and making a true connection with the audience.

The forces came together to kick off the FutureM week of events at the Harvard Faculty Club with the Gravity Summit. It was located at the Harvard campus where the social media platform Facebook was born. The event broke new ground bringing a great group of speakers and attendees from across the country. People showcased their marketing stories using social media showing how big brands have made a few “Friends” and “Followers” along the way. Executives that contributed were from Bing, Mr. Youth, former CNN reporter Rick Sanchez, Audi, CFO of Hootsuite and others. I listened and tweeted away with new tips to share. Here is a link to a list of presentations that might be useful for you.

Respect, Recognition and Reward!

At the Gravity Summit, speaker Doug Clark, GM of Social Media and Customer Engagement for Audi, provided some solid advice to marketers. He shared a story of a woman that was a fan of the Audi TT Quattro sports car. Women are a great demographic for the brand. They made one woman’s wish come true with a car! Doug and his team followed the story of one special lady and listened to her interests and desire to drive the car. The company decided to drive to her door with the Quattro for her to take it for a spin! This is one great example using social media. Audi listened to its influencers and took the right action to create the right opportunity. As Greg Shove, CEO of Halogen Media shared also at the Summit, “Find the most interesting person, or activity that can take on a life of its own on your behalf and watch it grow.”

Stop. Collaborate. Listen to Your Audience.

Matt Britton, CEO of Mr. Youth said, “Friends want to connect with other friends, collaborate and have control of their privacy.” Why is that concept so hard for some companies to understand that same notion online? It’s how we want to connect and relate to each other in the real world so why should communicating online be any different?

As Audi’s Doug Clark presented his approach and I provided my comments:

• Offer a seat at the table - Welcome your audience
• Open doors – Make it easy for one to engage without barriers
• Create a win/win – Make it something rewarding for both parties
• Recognize a need – Determine your customers needs or wants
• Be quick to respond – Learn to take action and be agile
• Learn from audience – Take action based on new insights
• Listen and engage – Keep your ears/eyes alert searching for comments
• See yourself through the eyes of the customer – Put yourself in their shoes
• Be honest and authentic – Say it from the heart, and always be true to yourself and your brand

The Theme at FutureM was MOBILE
“Hi, I’m Human. Remember That?”

"App-tizers" to Choose and Make Real Connections with Customers

It’s not just about calling a friend, but rather a connection to “reaching out and touch someone” with new tools and social media tactics. Yet, so often I keep seeing marketing professionals trying to fit in with the wrong approach. Good examples include QR codes and checking in with Foursquare to check-out. Some disruptive technologies and changes are good, but remember to listen and learn from the natural daily actions, behaviors and what people want.

Chris Mahl, Chief Brand Alchemist of Levelup and SCVNGR, spoke at FutureM’s event and suggested for marketers to recognize, “What are the noticeable behaviors, what does your audience respond to, and make sure to treat your customer as an individual.” People need people, convenience and value – not a quirky gimmick or a link that just drives you to a website with no proper direction. You need to make it personalized to drive impulse and purpose.

John Caron, SVP of Marketing for Modiv Media, noted when marketing mobile, or for marketing anything for that matter, you must remember, “Reach, relevance and recognition.” When creating or defining the attributes of you product and/or service, be sure to consider those three aspects as part of putting together the message. Listen to what your audience seeks and the unique connection to you or your business. Regardless of the new toys we have available to play with today and into tomorrow, we all have strong emotions and there is a difference in how we all want to be treated, recognized and valued as human beings.