Being Snarky and Not Having An Original Idea

Over the past few months, I have had many moments of contemplation on certain marketing tactics that some organizations have elected to use to entice/entertain/gain audience views and demand generation. Some have been through social media outlets, some through website design/language/tactics, and some have been in classic email blasts. Often, I've been left with a nasty taste in mouth upon viewing.....

At the same time, I've been working with my colleagues to continue on the momentum that we've started - and I've decided to "pledge" that my efforts will not fall into these camps of demand gen that I've seen way too often recently:

• Being snarky, petty, underhanded in tactics (buying competitors terms in AdWords come to mind).
• Having not one bloomin' original idea.
• Not willing to try and fail - and stopping there.

I will pledge to be:

• Cheeky
• Provocative
• Fun and Funny (hopefully)
• Smart
• A listener, not just a talker

For the KISS Question, what do you pledge to do as a marketer?

Showing Your True Colors - Demand Gen Style

In sales and marketing, we often struggle with trying to communicate a unified voice to our audience - namely, we call the same things the same names, we try to use the corporate fonts, and in the case of events, you'll see the waves of blue-shirted soldiers lined up in corporate booths waiting to all sound alike to you (as a consumer). There is power in having a brand identity that is easily recognizable - think of the Apple artwork of the reverse silhouettes from their iPod campaigns, or Pepsi's use of the classic royal blue in its logo and packaging.

However, there should be a limit to this in person-to-person interactions.

How many times have you received an email from person X and the same email from person Y at some later date? If you are speaking with different people from the same company at an event, can they explain the concepts and technology differently - or does it all sound scripted?

As a former manager of a business development team, I matched personalities and behaviors with territories that they covered....because at days end, people like to buy from people like themselves. My fast talking, to-the-point (but very nice) rep covered the northeast corridor - because if you try to send anyone else in to sell to a New Yorker, you let me know how that goes. I paired my best listener and somewhat reserved personality with the South territory since she could get any harried IT Director to speak to her for an hour just because she listened and did not come across as brassy to a Texan.

Organizations should be concerned about their brand (case in point the Nestle Twitter debacle of this week) but never lose sight of the individuality that exists and what collectively makes the company's humanity factor greater and often more powerful to their buying audience. If you have "standard" emails, encourage a level of personalization that your reps can add their own stamp to - a phrase that they will most likely echo on a phone conversation will make that email "click" with that prospect. If you run webinars, inject personality and difference amongst your speakers, emcees, and panelists.

In tradeshows, go with the corporate shirts if you must - but allow funky jewelry, different options in some part of the attire, or heck, let them show a tattoo on their forearm! I had a memorable experience at a show a few years ago when a prospect that I had been trying to speak with the entire conference saw me start to break down my booth (it was the end of the show and he was wandering around) and he came over. Since the show floor had supposedly closed, I had run to the ladies room and changed out of my "tradeshow uniform" and as a result, some of my tats were showing.

He recognized me - and was interested in learning about what one of my tats translated to (they are in Gaelic). Slightly flustered, dusty and holding a banner stand case, we started talking. And kept talking. Out of all the leads from that show, he was the knockout. Now - maybe he was busy the whole show and didn't have time to speak to the other 10 people during three days.

But just maybe, he chose to speak with me because I was no longer a faceless, voiceless member of that company...instead, I was a real person who could still discuss the "company brand" but do so while not encased in a corporate shell.

So to quote my girl Cyndi Lauper:

I see your true colors

and that's why I love you

so don't be afraid to let them show

your true colors

true colors are beautiful

like a rainbow

The KISS Question is "how have you let your true colors show in demand generation?"

Using Fear (Badly)

Tonight, I saw a familiar company use blatant fear to instill more fear in the mind of their clients - for the sole purpose of selling more software. I remember the days of early Sox compliance that had "everyone going to jail and paying astronomical fines" - did some go to jail? Sure. But so did Little Wayne (recently). Does that make a compelling reason to spend a lot of money - without seeing the upfront ROI? Umm, no.

You may sell some seats because of fear. You may not. Those are the two options.

But you will sell long-standing relationship if you can be a partner to your client and help them achieve their business goals.

Business is Personal. Ask American Express business card users - they've been sold on the fact that AMEX will be there for them, no matter what. AMEX does not care if they are purchasing plane tickets, office supplies, or customer dinners. The mandate is that they will be there for that business user.

So instead of creating slick videos that cause more fear, how about picking up the phone and talking to your clients - and figuring out what they actually need?

Today's KISS question is: which company have you received the best customer/sales interactions from?

One Way Personal Post - and Social Media's Impact

This is going to be somewhat short - plus a whole lot more personal than even I imagined when I started this blog. This past weekend, a wonderful lady lost her battle to ovarian cancer. She fought valiantly for 18 months - and while she was battling this horrific disease, she still kept teaching and providing a wonderful example for a group of young women that are part of my HS Alma mater.

Vicki impacted a plethora of school peers and chums - and in the hours leading up to her death, our tight community of grads and current students rallied on Facebook to share support, prayers, and memories.

It was a way that as a community, unbounded by geography, gathered together, felt comfort, and ultimately, grieved in her passing. Then the most amazing use of social media (outside of business) occurred: a young woman started a Facebook page for us to post our memories of her.

Keep in mind, that - on average - a typical graduating class from our high school is less than 30 people. In a matter of hours of its page creation and the following days, there were 360 "fans" for that page plus even more contributors. There were pictures, videos, and postings so numerous that I lost count. In essence, this page became a way for us to connect and share our loss.

The next step (that just started) is that we are trying to remember Vicki by sponsoring the lacrosse field to be officially named on behalf of her. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there for the wake or funeral - but because of the idea of a "social marketplace" due to social marketing, I get to contribute to making the lacrosse field the "Oakley Pitch" while miles away. The Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter chatter has been prolific about making this a reality - and I hope that we achieve our goal in making this field named in her honor.

If you'd like to know more, please visit the following links:

The Facebook page that we've been contributing content to: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=299860902150&ref=ts

The Social Network that we've joined to support Ovarian Cancer: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2229317294&ref=mf

To make the "Oakley Pitch" a reality by donating, please donate here: please use PayPal here: PayPal on www.ashmi.org.

Knowing and Explaining Your Value

Today, I'm going to take a moment to write a bit more personal post than most of the professional demand gen topics I cover - but the two areas cross together.

In early December'09, I was laid off from my last company.

This week (Feb '10), I joined my new company.

I was officially unemployed for 69 days.

Most HR and Employment analysts believe that it takes 3-6 months for a professional/manager level person to gain new employment - however, with the soft economy, some predict that it could easily be 6-12 months now. This post is not meant as a "pat on the back" to myself for doing it faster than the industry standards.

In successful demand generation techniques, one must truly understand their solution/service/item's value - and explain it to prospects in a manner that makes sense and addresses their needs. In this case, I was selling myself.

Professionally, I have been successful at selling/marketing whatever my company sold; personally, I was raised as a good Irish Catholic girl that does not boast (heck, even plays down) her strengths. But to fight a sea of other demand gen folks also in the job market, I had to shout my value from the rooftops.

In the course of those 69 days, I learned to refine the ways that I described my previous experience, started to use certain terms that appealed to those I was speaking with, solidified gold references who could vouch for me, and made sure that I was as visible and relevant to employers. I never sent out a generic cover letter or resume - every time, I tried to show my value to an employer in their terms. I got to know their business, their lingo, their culture.

In professional demand generation, the same principles apply. Like the HR manager who sifts through hundreds of "qualified" applicants, companies routinely evaluate numerous vendors for a single purchase. As a vendor, if you cannot articulate your value proposition in the client's perspective, you won't make it past the audition with Simon (just a little American Idol reference). Go home and try again.

A good litmus test for checking your value proposition is to reach out to a friend in a different industry and ask them to read your email/call script/webinar slides - and see if they can explain back to you how your company can help them. I'll bet you'll be surprised at the result.

Personally, I was very lucky to have a strong network of friends and colleagues - and even one "Brigid-evangelist" - in my corner during my job hunt. Without that support, I think that more days would have come off the calendar in my job search. Professionally, I am very lucky to join the fantastic team at Nuxeo - it is exciting to be a part of the industry leader in Open Source ECM software!

Demand Generation via Lady Gaga

In a recent WSJ.com article, staff reporter John Jurgensen wrote an interesting article on "The Lessons of Lady Gaga" in which he discussed the marketing or demand generation tactics that this young chanteuse has employed to sky-rocket herself (and her brand) into everyone's lexicon is less than 18 months from virtual obscurity. In fact, he thinks that her business model is a new way for success.

As I watched the Grammys last night, Lady Gaga opened the show with Sir Elton John - showcasing a melodic, slow-tempo'd, haunting song - that was brand new to the general public. She won two Grammys - neither of which was televised (they were for the Dance/Electronica categories) and she wore some crazy outfits. So was the night a success for her business model?

Well, in the past 24 hours, there have been over 27,000 news stories that include Lady Gaga and the Grammy performance. According to Amazon.com, she is number #2 for both MP3 album and song downloads (just behind Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas).

This from a performer that just a year ago was brand new to the general music scene.

As a fellow graduate of the Sacred Heart life, I do have an affinity for Lady Gaga - I admit it. :)

She had crossed the crazy boundary of trying to know your digital audience...she spent months cultivating relationships with celebrity bloggers like Perez Hilton (who gave her mad press) who spread her name/fame/bio to his fans for over a year, and she always wants to be accessible to her fans (she calls them her "little monsters"). At days end, she is accessible. Heck, she's even re-tweeted me on Twitter. Is it actually her? Don't know - but it gives the audience a good feeling.

She keeps praising and reminding where her inspiration comes from (Madonna) - and that is what most vendors don't do.....they like to claim that they are the first ones doing something....but don't you think that you'd be more credible (as a vendor) if you THANK your predecessor (client/vendor/etc) and how you got to today?

She's not afraid of using backing (from her record company) to get her word out - and she is willing to pay for it. As a vendor, we're always trying to get something for nothing - but sometimes you just have to pay! If you have a partner that can get you new market for your product, are you being a bad partner by not acknowledging your partner?

Basically, Lady Gaga believed that a vendor (whether songstress, software vendor, etc), has to believe in its audience - they are not better than their audience - and they wouldn't be part of the "party" if it were not for their audience.

A very interesting concept that most vendors do not - nor have any idea how to - adapt to.....

An interesting link to a similar topic of achieving value: http://blogs.nuxeo.com/cmckinnon/

No KISS Question for today - just a request: are you trying to portray yourself better than your audience?

Assessment before Action - Otherwise Failure Ahead

With short deadlines, tight budgets, and a limited number of leads out there, there is often a desire to "get'r done" mentality in demand generation - basically, hit the ground running, do corrective actions real-time, and 80% done is better than 100% planned.

I'm not disputing that as a reality - especially when sales managers and upper management want to see high volume lead flow NOW. However, for the smart demand generation folks, there should be a component of assessment taken before you start spending dollars, time, and resources.

A thorough assessment can include a variety of areas: amount and quality of content, delivery channels, barriers to market or successful delivery, competitive landscape, buyer personas, and previous ROI/tactics taken and results netted.

There have been some monumental demand generation failures in history - the arrival of New Coke, Chevy Tahoe "viral video" debacle, Windows98 failing at its debut - but there are other ways to fail: rogue email campaigns, bad URLs (or poor choice in URLs), 1-800# choices that lead you to "adult" telephone numbers, etc. In other words, once you've alienated your customers once, they see you in a not so flattering light - and it is that much harder to overcome their skepticism.

It is imperative to understand what the benchmarks are for success with sales management and the timeframe in which you are to achieve these goals....and every demand generation person should speak up if the goal is not realistic. Sure, a company can increase their lead funnel overnight from 100-10,000 - but the quality of the funnel will mathematically be reduced.

Once you've got the agreed up goal, you can then assess how to get there - and that does require one to be constructively critical about one's own organizational shortcomings. Mixing a couple of metaphors - you may point out that the baby is ugly, but you are not proposing to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

• For instance, is there limited product marketing resources? If so, then hiring outside consultants to assist in preparing enough content for a rich demand generation campaign may be needed.
• Are your business development folks not asking the right questions? You may have to invest in some new enablement to have them be up to-task.
• Are your target email lists on the wimpy side? Invest in sponsorship packages with vendor-agnostic content sites that your buyers frequent.
• Do you even know why someone chose your solution (and therefore a good buyer persona)? How about asking them after their purchase - and quantifying that data set?

Without that assessment step in your demand generation plan, you can pour your money, time, and resources down the drain - just like consumers did to New Coke.

The KISS Question is "what have you done to assess your company's threats to successful demand generation?"