Five incredibly talented and deeply entrenched social media THOUGHT LEADERS fielded questions about “How to get the word out” and win more business now that there’s so much FREE stuff out there.
THE VENUE: Grand Hyatt in San Francisco
THE SPONSOR: San Francisco chapter of the American Marketing Association
THE “WHY”: To discuss whether or not today’s marketing and PR “sucks,” and, if so, What To Do About It.
What would you do if you had a great product in a niche and zero dollars in marketing?
What would you now do if you now had $10,000 in marketing? How would you put it to use?
What is the role of agencies in today’s environment? Should companies simply do their own marketing?
Headlines from the discussion:
PR NEEDS A NEW NAME
NO TRUST IS OBSTACLE FOR PR & ADVERTISING
CROWDSOURCING IS THE NEW INFLUENCER
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
BECOME AN EXPERT IN A UNIQUE NICHE
“TRUTH IN MARKETING”: [Who’d a thunk?]
EVERYONE IN YOUR COMPANY WILL BE FINDABLE
BE YOUR OWN MOUTHPIECE
PR AGENCIES ARE PASSÈ
Selected clips from the discussion
Silicon Valley blogger Louis Gray
“For marketing on a shoestring: Tap into personal network for word of mouth. Leverage the people who are your biggest fans.”
Seesmic founder: Loic Le Meur
“The problem with old styles of marketing is No Trust. What I trust are my friends telling me about products they like.”
“Twenty years ago there were 20 influencers. Today there are 6,000.”
“When you engage with customers on Twitter, you can learn what problems need to be resolved.”
“Social Media Marketing: Find the fight people in the right places and offer the right message.”
Steve Patrizi and Renee Blodgett round out the panel of experts
“Online Social Media: No difference between personal and professional.”
“Professionally distributed news releases may only be necessary with major launches.”
“Break out of old marketing by teaching your people to LISTEN and then to RESPOND.”
“The speed of innovation is directly related to the speed at which we are sharing information.”
“Rules are different for social media platforms: MySpace is like your neighborhood bar. Facebook is the backyard BBQ. LinkedIn is your office. You’ll need to act accordingly.”
WHAT DID THE ATTENDEES HAVE TO SAY?
Mark Evans, SFAMA President
Marketing is going through a revolution. The SFAMA is here to embrace this change and help bring together all the moving parts. — Mark
Julia Francis - Ubiquity PR, Wendy Fisher - Moxie Mtkg, Sharon Lee - Shamiko Design, Kelly Connelly - Kelly Connelly Design
MARKETING AND PR “SUCK”? — People will always need them, suck or not. It depends on the approach for them “not to suck”: Change the name of PR to a more friendly and real term like SOCIAL CONNECT, for instance. — Sharon
Bill Bralye
After listening to the panel, I want to devote more time identifying best practices used by companies that are effectively widening their marketing tactics by adding social media to the mix. — Bill
Deb Kockos
I can tell you that most people do not spend their day online exposed to ads or blogs about certain products. Most of the world doesn’t even know what Web 2.0 means. When referencing a conversation on LinkedIn during a recent presentation, the audience looked at me like I was nuts. No one even knew about LinkedIn. We’re definitely in the early adopter stage here. — Deb
John Meyer - UC Berkeley, Laura Dantes - Engagement Strategies
We do need to filter the Hype and remember basic marketing principles. As Renee put it, “What is the problem we are trying to solve?” Focus on strategy, messaging, and reaching the right stakeholder groups using multiple channels. I don’t believe the zero budget Twitter solution is sustainable. — Laura
Cory O'Brien
Marketing and PR don’t suck. They’re just changing rapidly, and the companies that can’t keep up with the changing environment are using marketing and PR methods that “suck.” Social media has closed the gap between the company and the consumer, and there’s a level of speed, honesty, and transparency that is required to play in this field that many companies are not yet comfortable with. — Cory
FOR THOSE WHO’D LIKE TO VIEW GUY’S QUESTIONS AND THE PANEL RESPONSES AND DISCUSSION:
Can’t get enough of thought leaders in panel discussions? Here’s my report on Steve Rubel, Michael Brito, Richard Brewer-Hay, and Angela LoSasso discussing “Beyond the Hype: Roadmap for Social Media”
