AIMS Canada

Building Brand Communities: Using online tools to nurture your community Part 2

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing got the inside scoop from Lee Dale, founder of Smack Inc. on his ideas for the upcoming AIMS event on April 25th “Building Community” This is part 2 of 2...(Part 1 is here)

SS: What are some of the emerging trends in online tools? How are they being applied to community building?

LD: Chevy was experimenting with consumer created content and suffered the consequences of not having a toolset that would allow their community members to come to their own defense. Basic tools like commenting and ratings could have given community members a voice, supported a healthy debate on the issues, and allowed competing perspectives to be voiced and understood. But this still doesn't help us build a community. These are a variety of tools that support interaction, but don't collectively engage a community. In order to take the next step, marketers need better access to their community members, to understand a member’s role, and potential benefit to a community.

Using sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, last.fm, Amazon, and more, users have the ability to make lists of friends. Some of these sites allow the user to tag friends with keywords, write descriptions, or see degrees of separation between the user's friends and other people. But what we don't see on any of these sites is the ability for users to categorize their friends in a way that is easily trackable by marketers. Who are these "friends"? How close are they to one another? Is a friend someone you've just said hi to three times at the water cooler? Or someone you would trust to make business decisions on your behalf? If marketers can define the relationships between users on their site, then they can determine what level of influence a user has on others. With this level of understanding, marketers can see who the key contributors toward community building are, and better enable those contributors to fulfill their role within the community.

I'm B2B; can community work for me?

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing interviewed Jen Evans, President of Sequentia Communications regarding the opportunities and intricacies of building community within the B2B segment. Join us at the AIMS event on April 25th “Building Community” to hear Jen’s full presentation.

SS: Do you see community building as easier or more challenging in a B2B environment?   What are some of the big differentiators in your experience?

JE:B2B community building is easier in some senses and harder in others. We find that if companies are really able to nail down their area of expertise and define what they know best, then articulating that expertise and providing that value to customers can be a very powerful community building tool. In other words, companies need to understand what motivates their customer base and then create value-added information that will make their audiences' careers or businesses better. Developing communities around that kind of expertise and knowledge can not only create a big differentiation in the eyes of customers and prospects, but shorten the sales cycle, build credibility and feed the lead and sales management process. 

SS: What are some of the emerging trends in online marketing, community building and social networking for the B2B industry?   

JE:Definitely value-based communication built around engagement.  Instead of discounts, deals or reduced-price offers, companies are moving more towards providing expertise in their marcom materials as a community building tool. This encourages subscriptions and loyalty - when you offer something of value, you begin to build trust, and it's always easier to do business through a relationship build on trust than a cold call or a discounted trial offer.

SS: Do you have any advice for the B2B marketer who'd like to start an online community for their product or service? 

Make sure you understand your audience's pains extremely well, and are creating materials that speak to those pains and enable your organization to be positioned as the thought leader. Then the community will come to you. The critical factors, however, are that you do need to be a thought leader and provide that value. Every organization has those key areas of strength and differentiation but so often we are so busy getting our message out the way that we want that we forget to engage our customers first.

SS: Considering that social networking and community tends to thrive in non-commercial environments, what can a B2B driven community do to maintain their credibility? 

JE: Understand their customer's pains. I never cease to be amazed by how few organizations actually talk with their customers on a regular basis. And understand where and how your company provides value. Provide insights, expertise, ways of doing business better, ways of interacting with tools and technology better, and your audience will stay with you. 

Building Brand Communities: Using online tools to nurture your community

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing presented Lee Dale, founder of Smack Inc. with 2 questions for contemplation regarding his topic of discussion at the upcoming AIMS event on April 25th “Building Community”

The responses will be posted in two parts. This is part 1 of 2.

SS: What are the pitfalls of building online communities?

LD: Today's consumer is passionate about authenticity. Avid consumers are engaged with a brand because they feel the brand reflects a part of them. By remaining true to the brand, consumers can build a powerful and real connection with the brand and amongst themselves. In this regard, it is a primary tenet of community building that those most influential in the community be legitimate community members (evangelists) and not actors reading from a script. A well functioning Brand Community will recognize intruders and boot them out. As such, power should remain in the hands of the consumer and evangelists, with the corporation acting as a mediator.

The community, the blogosphere, and other media is ready to latch on to any community breakdown, either from a manipulated community or a hijacked community. We can cite two examples from Microsoft and Chevy, respectively. Microsoft was in the news having hired a freelance writer to write and publish testimonials, a real lack of authenticity that they were called on almost right away. This was a no win situation for Microsoft as they lost credibility within and outside their community. In the case of Chevy, the Tahoe brand was hijacked by environmentalists during a contest to build a Tahoe commercial. Using the stock footage made available, along with custom titles, environmentalists were able to paint a less than rosy picture about Chevy's commitment to the environment, and more. For Chevy, establishing a Brand Community would see their members come together to support the brand, as it was their belief system, as much as the corporation that was being attacked.

RBC’s Next Great Innovator Challenge – lessons from their online program to connect with the banking customer of the future

AIMS blog correspondent Brian Moran recently sat down with Steve Mast, Vice President and Managing Director of Delvinia Interactive, a strategic digital agency that focuses on humanizing the digital customer experience for its clients.

RBC asked Delvinia to create and implement the online strategy for the RBC’s Next Great Innovator Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to gain client insights from university and college students by inviting them to share their views on how today’s teens will influence the financial services industry of tomorrow.

"The RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge was a way of gaining deeper insight into our younger clients.  In order to encourage participation and maintain a connection with this group, we employed some new and innovative tools.  The blog in particular, was very effective at keeping participants informed and engaged throughout the competition."
                        -- Nelson Torrao,  Program Manager, Applied Innovation, RBC Royal Bank

BM: Tell us about the Next Great Innovator Challenge.

SM: In addition to the client insight, RBC wanted to learn more about how to develop new products and services for youth and the best ways to connect with this audience. They brought us the Innovator Challenge concept and we developed the online strategy and components to implement the program.
Those components included:
·       Website and digital video
·       Blog (the very first blog from a Canadian financial institution)
·       Virtual agent to guide people through the website
·       Innovator quiz
·       Links to external resources
Participants were invited to form teams and submit unique and innovative ideas by January 26, 2007. The top five teams will present their idea to the judging panel. The top team will win $20,000, second place will take home $10,000, third place will receive $5,000, fourth place will receive $3,000 and fifth place will receive $1,500 during an awards ceremony held in Toronto at the end of March.
Most importantly, the top teams have the opportunity to share their ideas and meet top business leaders. For students who are about to enter the workforce, this exposure and networking opportunity could prove invaluable.

BM: How did the Innovator Challenge start?

SM: RBC understands that companies must be innovative and think ahead to be successful. They wanted to do something out of the ordinary to learn about the best ways to connect with youth.

The purpose of the program was to listen to youth, find new ways to connect with youth and gain insight with this group by asking for their ideas.

Tell me about some of the strategies for the program.

We had three main strategies for the campaign.

1. We wanted to generate pre-campaign buzz. RBC spoke to the universities and told them about the challenge. They embraced the challenge and encouraged their students to participate.

2. We wanted people to register for the program.  Registration began September 18, 2006 and closed October 31. That only gave us about six weeks for teams to register. RBC created pre-registration excitement so we could maximize the number of people registered within the six- week period.

3. We wanted to keep participants engaged. We accomplished this by developing a blog and encouraging readers and participants to post their comments. We also set-up email support for people involved in the challenge.

BM: Why did you use an online initiative for this campaign?

SM: Most university and college students live and communicate online.  RBC wanted to reach them where they live so, we decided to use a website, a blog and social marketing tools to reach the audience, create dialogue and keep them engaged.

BM: So how did it turn out?

SM: We expected about 50 teams to enter the challenge. By the time registration had closed, 269 teams had signed up for the challenge. Here are our final numbers:
·       Registered teams: 269
·       Registered students: 927
·       Participating schools: 45

BM: What are some of the challenges you faced during the campaign?

SM: The technology used to power the blog and the postings had to tie into RBC’s technology platforms. It had to undergo extensive testing to ensure that it didn’t jeopardize the security of RBC’s existing systems. This required a large amount of time and resources that we did not anticipate. 

BM: Any lessons you’d like to share with AIMs readers?

SM: 1. Build your social marketing tactics into your strategy.

When deploying any new marketing tactics get all stakeholders – from legal counsel to policy makers to the information technology department – involved early. Tell them what you’re planning to do, seek their input and get buy-in right from the get-go. That way, when you face challenges, you’ll have the resources available to deal with those challenges. 

2. Try to anticipate some of the challenges you’ll encounter and deal with those challenges proactively.

For example, if your site includes a blog, make sure you have a clear policy on what –
and what not – can appear in the postings. That way, you’ll be better able to deal with issues as they arise.

3. Build extra time into your plan because implementation will take longer than expected.

When you’re breaking new ground and implementing new disruptive technologies you’ll face issues that you don’t anticipate. Issues will take longer than expected to resolve. You won’t be able to move as fast as you’d like. The best way to deal with these unexpected challenges is to add extra time into your timelines.   

4. Get an internal champion.

You’ll face many roadblocks. An internal champion will pave the way and help you connect with people such as policy makers and legal that can move things forward. When you’re breaking new ground, you’ll need all the help you can get!   

BM: Any other insights you’d like to share?

SM: Using the technology behind social marketing such as blogging tools is relatively easy. However, it’s not about using the latest technology for its own sake. It’s about using that technology in a humanizing way to create connections – it’s about using technology with a purpose.
I think we sometimes get caught up in the excitement of the technology – how easy it is to use, what it can do for us and how good it looks. We need to:
·        Not lose sight of the purpose of the technology 
·        Always go back to the business problem and objective
·        And above all, keep focused on the customer
In the end, I think we accomplished what we set out to do which was to bring the real world and the practical world together through networking, collaboration and innovation. 

C.C. Chapman – a Roadmap Overview of Second Life

This is the second speaker Q&A posting in a 2-part series for the upcoming March 21st AIMS event: The Marketers Roadmap to Second Life.

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer, got a few little hints from C.C. Chapman, event speaker and Vice President, Marketing for Crayon regarding his upcoming presentation.

SS: What types of companies can benefit from using Second Life?
CC: Any sort of company can benefit from Second Life. That's like asking what sort of company can benefit from using new marketing to reach new customers. It is really all encompassing as long as it is approached correctly.

SS: Can you give us an example of a company you have seen effectively leverage the Second Life environment?
CC: I think what Pontiac has been doing and continues to do is very interesting and a good example of a different and appropriate way to approach Second Life. http://promomagazine.com/interactivemarketing/news/pontiac_virtual_community_103006/

SS: What is the number one piece of advice you would give a marketer before they embarked on a Second Life project?
CC: You'll have to come to the presentation to get the answer to that one *grin*

Building Brand Recognition in Second Life: Jay Moonah

This is the first speaker Q&A posting in a 2-part series for the upcoming March 21st AIMS event: the Marketers Roadmap to Second Life. Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing spent some time with Jay Moonah, event speaker and Internet/Media technology consultant, musician, and podcaster.

SS: Can you tell us a quality/benefit of Second Life that the average marketer would not know?
JM: One mistake that I feel many make when thinking about entering Second Life is the idea that you have to build something right away.  A lot of companies jump directly to building a store or an island before they think about what they're going to do with it.  In my view, the best order of operations is:

1. Engage with residents at meet-ups and event appropriate to your interests/business goals.  For example, if you're with a car company, you might find SL car races are a good place to start.
2. See if appropriate events are open to sponsorships or other kinds of partnerships.  Many have islands and other properties CRYING for interesting event to draw resident traffic.  See if you can put on a seminar, an event, a conference in-world.
3. Once you've engaged the community in these ways, THEN you can think about building.  Chances are you'll build something much more appropriate and useful!

SS: What is one tip that you would give a marketer that is looking to start a project in Second Life?
JM: Be creative -- try to find a unique niche and create valuable experiences for your audience.  Look around first to see what is already happening, and identify how you can both fit in AND stand out.  And remember, that you are interacting directly with your audience in SL, listen to what they have to say and adjust what you are doing accordingly.

SS: What are some of the challenges of taking entertainment to Second Life?
JM: There are some technical considerations, such as making sure everyone in the band is logged in, they are at the venue, and they have instruments.  I would highly recommend to performers and presenters that you go to some shows in-world and see how they operate.  Residents are generally really helpful so ask questions!

You also need a streaming media server and client set-up.  This isn't that hard to set-up, but again ask for help when you see a musician or DJ who is doing it in-world, chances are very good they can explain it to you.

Like any event, publicizing it is important.  There are "groups" in-world (essentially mailing lists) appropriate for live music, club music, etc.  Join these and check with the group owner if you can publicize your event with that group.  Also post information on your blog and other sites, and send info to those who do blogs, podcasts, etc. that are appropriate.  The flow between different social media spaces is often overlooked.  Note that you can create a "SLURL" (Second Life URL) at slur.com that will allow residents to jump directly from a web link to a location in-world.

Gender Neutral or Gender Specialized? Mirabel Palmer-Elliott weighs-in.

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing caught up with Mirabel Palmer-Elliott of Rogers Consumer Publishing Websites to discuss some of the upcoming features of her February 27th presentation for the AIMS event “Marketing to YOUR Customer.”

SS: How does Rogers Consumer Publishing treat genders differently online?

MPE: Gender is not always the biggest differentiator online.  It is definitely a characteristic of what we monitor, but we find the most important differentiator is what the user is doing online.

Having said that, women tend to be more functional and men tend to be more informational online. We can use this information to delve deeper and overlay new targeted features and a different tone and manner for our different sites.

SS: What advice would you give to people that are trying to be more conscious and targeted with their messages as they translate from print mediums to web?

Online goes deeper into what we deliver in print.  For Rogers’ publications, online content is either a) solution oriented (recipes, workouts, checklists) or b) Fun (quizzes forums, etc).

Not only is this content easiest to deliver online, it is available 24/7 and engages readers at a deeper level.  Quizzes and communities are huge online.  People become very passionate about certain topics and we are able to learn a lot from these readers about what they want to see and hear in all our channels.

Marketing to Your 50+ Customers Online - A Sneak Peak With David Cravit

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing had the chance to interview David Cravit, Senior Vice President, Marketing, The 50Plus Group, and a speaker in the upcoming AIMS event “Marketing to YOUR Customer”. To hear more of David’s insights, come out to the Diesel Playhouse on February 27th to hear him speak on the challenges and opportunities of marketing to 50+ Canadians.

SS: What is the biggest challenge in marketing to the 50+ generation online?

DC: The biggest challenge is finding people in your organization who really believe in the phenomenon. Too many companies still believe that “old people” don’t go online, or don’t know what to do when they get online. Consequently, their online marketing strategies are either half-hearted or non-existent. A subtext of condescension pervades their efforts. Here are three typical signs:

• The “There, there dear” syndrome.

This treats the audience as borderline senile, requiring very simplistic messages with minimal content.

• The “Look – see – we do care about you” syndrome

This presupposes that the audience needs to be and wants to be identified as 50+ and that the company can score some immediate cheap points by demonstrating how much they are interested in that market. Messages are pervaded by age-identifying headlines.

• The “This’ll wow you” syndrome

This presupposes that it’s just a media play – extend the campaign to 50+-oriented web sites and you’re covered. But having done so, you can run the same stuff as you’re running against other age groups, particularly stuff that your tech wizards have decreed to be cool.

All three approaches betray a lack of understanding of what the 50+ are looking for and how they respond. In particular, they are marked by a lack of meaningful content. Content – and particularly, helpful content – is absolutely key to reaching this market. Attempts to substitute form for content are almost always doomed to failure.

SS: What motivates this specific niche to go online? How can marketers use this information to improve their business?

The 50+ audience goes online for information – information they can use. They know how to search for it, and they are prepared to have their credit cards ready.

The key to using online communication to improve your business is to understand the offline life of the 50+ -- who they are, how they behave, and above all the profound changes they are now exerting upon the very process of aging itself. Once you understand that, you realize that their online experience is very utilitarian – they are not in love with the technology for its own sake, they see it as a means to an end. It saves them time, it saves them money, it helps them meet their needs more effectively.

This need for information – particularly, for useful information – is what drives most of their online behavior. The 50+ audience is looking to live longer and live better. Their primary concerns are health (which encompasses wellness, anti-aging and beauty), money and travel. They are looking for information they can apply in their daily lives, and products and services that will meet their needs particularly in these key areas. They can be a very interested and attention audience – higher click rates, longer time spent with the information, more responsiveness – if the message is concrete and perceived to be useful.

But that means, in turns, that you have to have something to say. That may seem like an overly simplistic observation, but it is amazing how many companies still believe they can overcome lack of content with fancy execution.

Podcasting at the CBC

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing International brings you chapter 2 in her interviews with speakers for the 'Should Your Company Be Podcasting?' event happening this week. Here are a few pre-event questions answered by Judy McAlpine of the CBC in anticipation of her presentation that we hope you're able to attend on Thursday...

SS: Why is podcasting important to the CBC?

JM:  It's important because we want to make sure that people are able to listen to CBC Radio wherever, whenever and however they want.  The "on-demand" world is a growing reality and we want to make sure that when people are looking for compelling podcasts, CBC Radio programming is an option. We're also hoping to gain new listeners this way. Our feedback shows that some podcast listeners have no intention of listening to radio, but they love CBC programs as podcasts.

SS: What is the most popular show in your podcast lineup?

JM: Our Radio 3 podcast, made up of 100% independent Canadian music, is our most popular podcast.  It has a very dedicated and growing fan base, not only in Canada, but around the world...people who love indie Canadian music and have found a place to discover it. But it's not just about music. Ideas and Quirks and Quarks are also incredibly popular. 

SS: How does podcast consumer behavior differ from your radio programming and radio consumers?

JM: This is a new platform, and we are in a discovery stage about the audience. At this point I have many questions about this. We are learning as we go. For example, at first we thought it must be a given that the podcast audience was more mobile and this would mean shorter content. In fact, our research is showing that they are listening to podcasts on home computers more than on mobile devices and that length is not the deciding factor. People are listening to our longer podcasts because they like the content.

Agoracom – Building Community with Social Media

AIMS blog correspondent Brian Moran recently sat down with George Tsiolis, President of Agoracom, an investor relations firm that is using podcasting, blogs and social marketing tools to help deliver information about small cap companies (relatively small companies that are listed on stock exchanges) to potential investors who may want to invest in these companies. A timely interview considering our Should Your Company Be Podcasting event is later this week!

BM: What exactly is Agoracom?

GT: Agoracom (www.agoracom.com) is an online community that focuses on helping investors learn more about small cap companies they may want to invest in.

Through the use of dedicated communities, Webcasting, podcasting and other Web 2.0 tools, we fill the information void created by the lack of small cap coverage in the financial media.

BM: When did you start Agoracom?

GT: In 1995, I stated posting messages to stock discussion boards. I researched companies and put a lot of effort into my postings. People started emailing me and asking me for advice. I started receiving about 100 emails every day.

I received so many emails that I though it was a perfect opportunity to start an investment newsletter. And in February 1996, that’s what I did.

Soon public companies were calling me and asking if I could mention them in my newsletter. I thought why not start an Investor relations firm? I launched Agoracom soon after that.

BM: Why did you decide to use social marketing for investor relations?

GT: Web 2.0 applied to investor relations is extremely powerful. For example, a standard news release has the material facts and contact information. However, a news release in Web 2.0 enables readers to communicate, to comment and hear from others who want to discuss the news release.

It’s a perfect way to build community and for people to mesh online. Building community – that is what social marketing is all about.

BM: Tell me how you’re using podcasting to build community.

GT: Podcasting gives companies the opportunity to add insight and depth to a news release. It expands the relevance of the news release and enables people to comment on what they read and what they hear.

I know its working because investors who have more information about a company are more likely to stay as shareholders. I see that all the time.

BM: Given the power of social marketing, why do you think other companies have not incorporated it into their communications strategy?

GT: There’s a bit of a bottleneck right now. People don’t fully understand social marketing, its power and how to apply it in their communication plans.

I think right now there is real opportunity for companies and individuals who can help demystify social marketing and add it to their marketing and communication efforts.

Agoracom and other innovative companies are doing just that right now. And I think the rest of the world is eager to join the party.

BM: Any advice for people who want to persuade their managers to adopt social marketing into their marketing mix?

GT: Start with a one-page proposal. Focus on one thing – be it blogging, podcasting or Google ads – and how it can contribute to the bottom line.

Demonstrate how your company can make money by incorporating social marketing into their communication strategy and explain how they can do it. Feel free to use Agoracom as a real-world example.