Post from the Comments- Rebekkah Hilgraves

October 16, 2008 · Comments

From yesterday’s request to have others post instead of me, here’s one from Rebekkah Hilgraves:

One of the things I tell my clients when I’m discussing new media marketing with them is how much blogging, newsletters, podcasts and so on will add to the human value of what they’re doing (it seems an oxymoron, when you think about it!). Using these tools, we get to put a name and a face and a personality to a business that would otherwise fade into anonymity and thus obscurity. And in these days of the big box store (sacrificing human contact on the altar of convenience and/or low price), that can make the difference between a company’s success or failure.

They still want to know about conversions. One of the things that still presents a challenge is tracking blog readers, for example, from first contact to RFI to conversion. Once they fill out an RFI it’s much easier, but getting good statistics on what got them there in the first place is still something of an obstacle.

*I* want to know what works, so that we can spend their marketing dollars effectively.

We have found that tricks such as online-printable coupons help bring people in the door (literally or figuratively), but that doesn’t apply to every business, of course. And not every company can afford the big-ticket leadGen providers such as Eloqua (as fabulous as it is!). And of course we try to track movement using analytics. It mostly works, but is not as accurate as we might like.

The little guys (or at least the littlER guys) need to know how effective their campaigns are just as much as, if not more than, the big guys. There’s not much room for trial and error in smaller businesses!

Further, when one has a client who is a self-proclaimed troglodyte, we want to present tools that will be friendly, usable and with a short learning curve. We want to make this easier on them, not harder!

Rebekkah Hilgraves blogs at www.shetech.com.

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  • Ed
    Hark! What's this then? I hear integrity!

    "*I* want to know what works, so that we can spend their marketing dollars effectively."

    {Nice, aware, engaged post Rebekkah} :)
  • Sine Rennehan
    I am just starting to blog myself and am reading and commenting on others'. This blog was quite helpful to me because it made me think about what has been the barriers for me personally. I assume those are true for others as well.

    I hate it when I have to login to comment on a blog. I have so many passwords going right now and have to rotate them for security reasons, that being forced to login to one more thing just drives me away!

    Glad I did not have to login to this one. :)
  • "We want to present tools that will be friendly, usable and with a short learning curve" - love it!

    Often the most effective solution is also one of easiest!

    From my experience I have to say that one of the greatest steps a business can make is to have conversations with its customers - whether it be through a blog, via tweets etc . . .
  • Rebekkah (or Chris, or whoever's managing the comments of this blog, now that the posting is "outsourced," ha ha),

    I really like your flagging of "human value." Excellent way to express it. The deeper my husband and I get into the potential, value, and importance of social marketing -- especially for small business owners! -- the more challenging it's been for us to adequately explain how vital it is for them to invest the time, resources, and of course, MONEY into this aspect of their businesses, branding, and marketing efforts.

    Of course it's only natural for people with limited budgets to be concerned with putting their eggs in the right basket, so to speak. Which is why, more and more, my hubby/biz partner and I are realizing it's up to US to better break down and explain the long-term effects of investing in new media tools and tactics. It's up to US to figure out how to simply and honestly DEMONSTRATE the effectiveness of the efforts, share SUCCESS STORIES and real-world EXAMPLES and as often as possible, and create compelling, no b.s. matrices that measure results in this more "magical" world of social marketing.

    Thanks for your great post.
    -Lani Voivod
    co-owner and Content Lover of Epiphanies, Inc.
    www.EpiphaniesInc.com
    "A-Ha Yourself!"
  • Rebekkah: I can't agree more with regards to putting a human element, a face and interaction into the mix. In my particular field of visual arts, I feel that this is of particular relevance. Putting a human face on things, gathering a following, getting a solid base of support from potential consumers and fans alike is essential in the maintenance of a sustainable arts practice. Interaction with people, with consumers, builds investment in your work. If people are being interacted with, talked with, not just to, they feel a part of the process and care more about outcomes. Someone who just had input into something is far more likely, I find, to turn around and go 'hey, look at what she's done' because they were also, in part, responsible for its creation. Hell, even if hardly any of the interacting that is done online is 'promoting the artwork', if there is an interest generated around you as a person, then that can have a knock-on effect and generate interest in the work.

    I'll take this a step further though. So much of an artist's work can be informed by their lives, their thoughts, their way of thinking... to give an insight into the person, is to give an insight into the arts itself. It takes on a new level, a new meaning, gives that little bit extra that perhaps wouldn't otherwise be available to the casual observer who might otherwise just turn around and go 'oh.. pretty picture'. Contextual knowledge is key, and its a lot nicer for people to sometimes be able to pick that up from who you are, what you do, the way you think, rather than having to spell it out bite by bite. The Campbells soup can: without the knowledge of what Campbells soup means to Andy Warhol, perhaps it seems meaningless... but it isn't.

    For me, blogging, and use of other social media, performs this function. It also allows for a greater sense of inter-connectivity between not only the artist and consumer, but artist and other artists, other industry professionals, so on and so forth. It lowers the threshold put forth by region, time, etc.

    I find it hard to go out and start networking offline. Online, I can start making those steps towards networking to support my offline activities, forge connections with those I would otherwise not have contact with or would find it hard to get into contact with in such a 'casual' manner as an online interaction would: they are generally more accessible (no need to be in the right place at the right time and have to go attracting attention) and approachable, especially since it isn't like offline: you get to think out perfectly what to write and type out so that there are no embarressing slip-ups, mis-wording or otherwise - much better for the confidence.

    Ok, this was more what I was going to type up yesterday... but House came on and I just can't resist it. Sorry to preach about the vis-arts side of things, but it is my area of knowledge and an area, I think, has perhaps not been delved into so deeply as others. In a field which is built on the offline networks we form as practitioners, it is no wonder that online networks can also be so valuable.
  • Just yesterday we posted a video parody of the B-52's song Rock Lobster. Barry Hurd assembled the site in a day. I wrote the content with a friend.

    It started out as a goof. Then we realized this could be a very powerful way to show future clients the power of social media.

    In the first 15 hours we're averaging a view every 90 seconds.

    It will be interesting to see how many poke around the site to learn more about us (the marketing strategist, the actor, the animation team, vocalist, and Web site developer) who pulled this together.

    I don't know where this will lead -- and that's half the fun. But in my *real job* I reinforced how urgently we need to adopt social media. It had a terrific impact with upper management.

    Contact me for the results or visit my Web site.

    -- Joe Hage
    http://joehageonline.com
  • Speaking of marketing. I am currently live twittering from the NC Center for Nonprofits Statewide Conference in Raleigh, while sitting in the keynote address being given by Katya Andresen.
    She just said that Marketing is a three-ring circus, not a stage and nonprofits tend to focus on what they're really good at. Another point of hers: "Marketing is supposed to be a conversation, not a monologue." So, IMO, value needs to be placed on those conversations. She says fabulous marketing doesn't mean a thing if they don't remember the organization behind it. I'm @communitygirl on Twitter if you want to follow.
  • For your readers who want to track their social media (and other campaigns) for lead gen, they may want to check out www.ActiveConversion.com as an alternative to Eloqua (per Rebekkah's comment). At one tenth the price and just as good. Social media can do wonders, but it's nice to get ROI in addition to branding.
  • Thanks for all the great comments on my comment! It's nice to know there are so many folks working so hard to get it right in this brave, new, constantly changing world of social media.
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