Add Muscle to Your Marketing

The next time you find yourself contemplating ways to strengthen and tone your marketing strategy, you might want to consider learning from a personal fitness trainer.

Yes, you read that correctly.

I decided last year to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Although I am still a workaholic and have yet to reclaim my late nights and weekends, I am steadily inching my way to success-story status when it comes to weight loss and fitness. And I owe much of that achievement to my personal trainer.

Throughout this process, I have gained significant learnings from my trainer and from my peers (other clients) about best practices in fitness training that we can apply to our daily lives as IT marketers. Many marketing experts and modern career theorists, including my former employer, The Intelligent Career Card Sort, contend that the line separating personal from professional interests continues to blur. Social networks have burgeoned on the marketplace, creating new ways to engage communities and to share word-of-mouth experiences. One-to-one marketing is more achievable than ever.

Therein lies opportunity for marketers in all industries to engage a more informed and widely-networked customer base. NBC's edgy trainer on The Biggest Loser, Jillian Michaels, has taken the mainstream media by storm, marketing her own franchise and having been touted as the next Oprah and as a life coach in Women's Health Magazine.

But even before social media and The Biggest Loser, the most tuned-in personal trainers, herein referred to as the greats, served at the forefront of this highly individualized arena. We marketers can hone in on many of their practices for our own go-to-market strategies.

While any trainer will customize a fitness routine for you, the greats will also:

Know their products- Great personal trainers understand that the personal part of the title is the real value-add. They apply the mind/body connection and make adjustments to a client’s routine that support overall fitness goals and also day-to-day fluctuations to the client's whole being (which could entail periods of added stress, personal distractions and other issues that impact motivation, sleep, diet, and health). Many also hold college degrees in related fields, such as psychology, nutritional science, sports medicine, etc. In the case of greats, customer loyalty resides with the trainer rather than with the organization. Therefore, fitness centers and gyms that employ great personal trainers must pay particular attention to their needs and job satisfaction in order to ensure client retention.

Similarly, a great marketer also understands the need to focus on customer challenges instead of on the product itself. Customers and prospects should be segmented not just by demographics or firmographics, but also by personas. Marketing strategies must align to their dynamic, often-changing requirements. As my trainer says, “One size does NOT fit all.” How universally true.

Involve the client - The greats understand that goals and motivators vary between clients, and they solicit client input and feedback frequently. For example, my goal is backed by my unrelenting drive to meet objectives - which I channel into the gym as well as the office. While my trainer has plenty of clients who prefer to work out alone, she creates a unique program for me with the understanding that I respond best to a regimen that includes group fitness classes for peer motivation in addition to a weight lifting routine that changes often. She cheerfully accommodates my Type A personality and relentlessly high standards (lucky her), adjusting my program so that I have a different workout, tuned just for me each time we meet. This level of customization can only be achieved by checking in with the client on a frequent basis - during and between workouts.

Great marketers look at the goals and motivators of each customer persona and align offers and messaging accordingly. They solicit feedback from customers and prospects on their products, messaging, and marketing vehicles. In addition to taking pulse of prospects, we must also commit to partnering with our existing customers, recalling the Marketing 101 lesson about the cost of retention being significantly lower than that for acquisition. These interactions extend to a higher touch model with more extensive word-of-mouth impressions that engages individuals and communities through feedback and idea forums, online social networks, and customer interviews, among others.

Great marketing strategies extend beyond end users toward all influencers, who may not be in the market for a particular product or service - yet. The personal training industry does this too. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) identifies its audience as fitness instructors and trainers, and also “...broadening our reach to fitness enthusiasts everywhere.”


Cut through the noise - Personal training clients are exposed to a myriad of articles, advertisements, dietary supplements, products, and friendly advice, all promising results. This slew of information has great potential for confusing and possibly demotivating the client. As the a trusted partner, a great personal trainer puts all of these things into perspective and advises the client accordingly. This requires a level of trust that cannot be achieved if the relationship is approached as a simple business transaction. Consider the people you trust today. Most likely, in their interactions with you, they do not merely go through the motions, but rather display genuine concern for your best interests and team with you to overcome your challenges and pain points. Despite my tendency to be very analytical, intrinsic trust is my driver for deferring to my trainer's advice at face value, a clear catalyst to success.

There is a similar need for trust in a marketer, and no shortage of noise. This is particularly applicable with high-impact purchase decisions such as B2B IT, medical equipment, and high risk financial services offers. Consider your main personas. What keeps them up at night? What would be the cost to them of making the wrong decision? Where are they most vulnerable?

Be Innovative - Great personal trainers stay at the forefront of advances in routines, equipment, and fitness studies, and serve as the client's first point of contact for related questions. The greatest of the great will consult with the client’s orthopedist, physical/occupational therapist, nutritionist, etc, resulting in an integrated wellness program, stemming from new as well as traditional treatments with fitness tactics modified accordingly. The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), an organization that certifies personal trainers, includes in its mission statement, “...using traditional and innovative modalities.” At this point, it should be no surprise that my trainer takes this innovative approach, and iterates constantly.

A truly great marketer remains an expert and thought leader, consulting often with other experts, such as product managers, industry analysts, and sales leaders to generate new ideas. Innovation around products is part of this, but so is new functional innovation, such as sophisticated segmentation models, new metrics, targeted field marketing campaigns, fresh guerilla marketing tactics, new ideas for leveraging multimedia, precision sales strategies, etc.

Like great personal trainers, great marketers are rare. To prevail in either field, you must generate and inspire new ideas, partner with your customers, and prove to be supportive and trustworthy.

Oh, and the next time you find yourself struggling with creativity-block, sign up for a training session. It just may induce the flow of new ideas.


Acknowledgments:

Research Credits - Pragmatic Marketing, Inc; Teri Halio, Balanced Motion Physical Therapy; David Meerman Scott; Megan Reynolds, Bodies by Megan; Jean Barowski; Casey Walsh; Michael Arthur; Ben Perry


Photo credit: fitness360

Going Social...For Hope

On Sunday, March 7, I will participate in the American Cancer Society Spin for Hope. Through the fundraising process, I've had the opportunity to see how far nonprofits have come in utilizing social networks to enhance development around events.

The ACS appears to have a firm grasp on the concept of working through others for fundraising, more so than many commercial businesses. Here are just a couple of the ways the ACS has helped me become an effective fundraiser:

Email Outreach - The ACS provides form letters (which I chose to customize to my voice), and a vehicle through which to email, remind, and thank friends and relatives. They also make email management easy by sending notices of any letters which bounced back.

Social Networks - Through my participant center on the event website, I was able to install a widget onto Facebook and enable the ACS to post progress updates to my wall. I could also follow the conversations on Twitter and LinkedIn.

While it is clear that the ACS has embraced new media for fundraising efforts, I would make the following suggestions as they (and other charities) continue to expand their social footprints:

Email Outreach - Offer guidance to event participants on how to structure, write, and customize effective appeal, reminder, and thank-you letters. Apply different versions of the form letter to donor profiles - or personas- to enhance their effectiveness. Allow participants to provide this information about their target audiences following the registration process.

Social Networks - Allow participants to place links within letters on personal fundraising pages, such as an honoree website, participant's blog (just sayin'),etc. Provide guidance to those who are not accustomed to using social networks for fundraising, such as how to leverage social communities vs straight request for funds.

And to put this all into practice, I will close this post with a plug for donations via my own fundraising page. Please consider donating to help make a difference in the battle against cancer.

And...kudos to the ACS on their event marketing.

IMS 2009 Day 2: New Lingo and General Awesomeness

Day #2 of the Inbound Marketing Summit 2009 (IMS 09), Boston, brought another fully-loaded agenda of presentations, panels, and networking.

Some notables follow.

By the Numbers

Since a significant portion of today's sessions focused on metrics, I'll start this post with some data points from IMS 09:

- If Facebook was a country, it would be the world's 5th largest (thanks to Paul Gillin for this stat)
- Ranking algorithm for search according to Hubspot: F(n) = context + authority
- Number of Presentations with Susan Boyle References: 2
- Number of Presentations with Seinfeld References: 2
- Number of Presentations with World of Warcraft References: 2
- Number of Books Recommended: I lost count

Talk the Talk

Favorite New Social Media Buzzword: Twestimonial - a positive comment about your brand on Twitter.

Most overused, albeit accurate catch phrase: Content is King

Walk the Walk

With so many excellent speakers--representing companies such as Southwest Airlines, Weber Shandwick, CodeBaby, dna 13, Paul Gillen Communications, IDC, Awareness, Razorfish, and Edvisors, to name a few--learnings cannot be summarized in a single blog post alone. I encourage you to join the #IMS09 discussion on http://twitter.com/ to engage with presenters and participants.

- The two elements of successful search: recency and inbound links
- Listen first. Follow the discussion about your brand and about your competitors
- Loyalty is an emotional response. It is not made from satisfaction alone, but rather stems from willingness to recommend
- Advice from Greg Matthews, Humana, for getting started on Social Media: Be a vacuum, be a padawan, try stuff, and be 2.0
- Employees who love your brand can make excellent public representatives. An example of this is Jim Long, NBC News cameraman who became the unlikely brand ambassador
- Vary your content objects (such as video, documents, podcasts, etc). Mix it up
- Customer service is marketing
- Own the process

The most resonating theme of the day was passion for community. And the vendor sponsors and exhibitors didn't disappoint. Most memorable was the PerkettPR booth at which visitors took a quick quiz that identified the Social Media Gurus they most resemble (social media behavior, not necessarily appearance). As it turns out, I'm a CC.

Key Takeaways from Inbound Marketing Summit 2009 - Day 1

Today was the first of the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston. Delivered by New Marketing Labs, the two day event focuses mainly on Web 2.0 and social media strategies, tools, and technologies.

I like this event because it is jam-packed with sessions throughout both days, delivered consecutively as the main event, with the expo occurring in the same general area during designated networking time slots during breaks between sessions. Of course, looking down on an empty Gillette Stadium wasn't bad either.

Day 1 brought a number of key takeaways. I’ll share these in summary. To follow the more detailed discussion, enter #IMS09 in the search field on Twitter.


- “Content is king but marketing is queen, and she rules the household.” - Gary Vaynerchuk, "The Wine Guy"

- When embarking upon a social media strategy, consider your customers' goals and objectives, not just those of your own company.

- Social media is not about a set of tools. It is about your objectives for engaging the community. The tools follow these objectives.

- Follow the discussion about your brand, every day.

- Content analysis and web analytics are important, however they are part of your ROI measurement. You also need to involve people who understand your business.

- When measuring ROI of blogs and other social media, consider more than #posts or # mentions alone. Include in your analysis your share of negative and positive comments. - Katie Paine, CEO KDPaine & Partners

- Media relations is a subset of PR 2.0. On the whole, PR 2.0 is about helping companies build and communicate a brand, and engaging that brand with the community it serves

- PR today is about "earning attention, not begging for it." Go where the audience is and bring them value. -David Meerman Scott


- Avoid the temptation to put people into buckets. Go beyond the bucket to see real people and real problems. -CC Chapman

- Twitter is calling for companies to engage in real-time across organizational functions, including R&D. Eastman Kodak has done this successfully, according to its Chief Blogger.

- What is the formula for success in making your video go viral? Tim Street, CEO, APE Digital, Inc. advises that it is Spectacle + Story + Emotion, with a dash of conflict.

The Great Email Challenge

During discussions with friends and colleagues about time management, many talk about email as the main culprit to running one’s day efficiently. And it’s not the volume of emails that is the main challenge. Actually, the issue is more around the incessant interruption caused by our need to be real-time responsive. This results in frequent switching of gears across many items at once. Our brain’s ramp time between tasks adds up the more we redirect our trains of thought.

Since it is unrealistic for us to expect ourselves to work on one task at a time in a serial fashion, we seek to reduce the number and frequency of these interruptions in order to multi-task effectively.

As a result, what would happen if we weren’t always “on” for minute-by-minute response times? Do the companies that implement no-email-Fridays and mailbox size limitations have a productivity advantage over those that don’t?

Therein lies the great email challenge. Has anyone out there—only those whose jobs do not require ongoing monitoring, such as customer service, for example-- tried checking email just once a day, or at designated times? What was the result? Were you able to manage expectations accordingly? Were you more efficient during the day?

Apply the Golden Rule to Meeting Management

You open your inbox and there it is, staring you smugly in the face. Yes, it’s the invitation to the meeting which will occupy the last free hour in your day.

You had plans for that hour, carefully carved into 10-minute segments, including activities like noting the action items from your last 4 meetings, lunch at your desk, catching up on email, and taking big breaths in and out before your series of afternoon meetings.

Those plans are halted by the last-minute invitation to a meeting that you know you must attend though you’re not exactly sure why. The topic, “planning recap” gives you no indication of the actual meeting objective, nor do the names of the meeting organizer and attendees. Sound familiar? We’ve all received the ambiguous meeting invitation, and most of us have even sent one or two during the course of our careers.

Anyone in the consulting industry can attest to the time-is-money concept and can quickly quantify the billing cost of 10 people attending a meeting.

While we cannot control other people’s meeting etiquette, we can lead by example. To follow are some tips for effective meeting management – both for the organizer and for the participant.

Purpose

Organizer - Think carefully about the purpose of the meeting and what you intend to achieve. Is a meeting really needed? Status updates, for example, can more easily be achieved via a shared wiki or spreadsheet, with meetings called only when urgent issues arise.

Participant - Consider the purpose and expected outcome of the meeting. Decide whether or not you really need to attend. If your organizational culture is meeting-happy, be judicious with your acceptances.

Scheduling

Organizer - Always include pertinent information about the meeting, including date/time/location, agenda, and intended outcome. The objective and agenda serve as a contract of sorts among the attendees, who are committing their time and energy to the meeting based on this information. With few exceptions, meetings should be scheduled at least a few days in advance.

Check schedules in advance and plan the meeting at a time when your critical attendees are available. Also, be aware of your invitees' time zones and do your best to schedule the meeting during office hours. The probability of acceptance will be much higher for meetings that do not occur in the middle of the night.
If you have to ask a few people to shuffle their scheudles in order to accommodate your meeitng, be prepared for them to decline. With the exception of only the most urgent meetings, "no" is an acceptable answer when someone has made a previous commitment to another meeting.

Select only participants who truly need to be in the meeting. Others can read the recap in the minutes. Proceed with caution when inviting “optional” attendees. This can be confusing to people.

Participant - If this information is missing from the meeting invitation, request it before deciding whether or not to attend the meeting. Once you commit to attending the meeting, do everything possible to ensure your attendance.

If you must back out of the meeting, notify the organizer as soon as possible and be prepared to make concessions in your calendar should the meeting need to be rescheduled to accommodate you. Do not reneg or ask for the meeting to be rescheduled simply because you’re busy. It is challenging for the organizer to schedule time that works for several parties at once, and impolite to ask others to reschedule due to one person's time management challenges.

Check with the meeting organizer before haphazardly forwarding the invitation to others. S/he may have been very deliberate in selecting participants.

Roles

Organizer - Communicate expected roles and responsibilities to attendees in advance of the meeting. These will vary with the scope of each meeting, but in general, aim to have a facilitator, time-keeper, scribe, and devil’s advocate. If you expect someone to present and/or to have completed certain actions before the meeting, engage them in advance with enough lead time to prepare properly.

Participant - Be sure of your role before the meeting. When uncertain, discuss this with the meeting organizer

Before the Meeting

Organizer - Test all logistics, including projectors and online meeting applications. Select a meeting room large enough to accommodate all participants. If your meeting is cancelled or postponed and you use a reservation system, be sure to cancel the meeting room and other resources.

Participant - Review the details of the meeting and prepare for your arrival. Will you participate live or remotely? Schedule enough time for travel. Locate the conference room in advance if needed.

During the Meeting

Organizer – Give everyone an opportunity to speak their minds, but stick to the agenda. Don’t put anyone on the spot in large meetings by asking them to commit to substantial projects.

Participant - Share your thoughts and ideas, but do not monopolize the meeting. Avoid sidetracking the conversation. Use the parking lot method to capture these ideas for follow-up discussion. Also, be sure to listen to others. When in brainstorming mode, do not rush to dispel another’s suggestion.


After the Meeting

Organizer - Send all participants (and cc others as needed) minutes from the meeting, which should include a recap of the discussion, major decisions reached, next steps and action items with dates and owners, and any unfinished business.

Participant - Read the minutes carefully and notify the organizer of any edits/updates. Be sure to follow through on any actions to which you committed in the meeting. Communicate relevant input to all attendees that you did not have an opportunity to share in the meeting.


You may be thinking that this is all well and good in theory but that it takes a great deal of time and effort to apply all of these tips, especially when your day is filled with meetings. You're right! And that confirms the need to be selective in the number of meetings you host. Refer to the first tip above, Is a meeting really needed?

In summary, think of the many things that you dislike about meetings. Your peers likely have the same pet peeves. When it comes to meeting etiquette and running effective meetings, the golden rule applies – do unto colleagues as you would have them do unto you.

Set Yourself Up For Market Success

All companies are facing increased budget scrutiny, with belt-tightening taking place across operational, capital, and personnel expenses. Marketing is consistently among the first line items to see significant cuts. The need to accomplish more with less is prevalent with regards to marketing even in the best of economic times. To follow are a few tips I’ve found to be valuable when it comes to maximizing marketing dollars and talent for the greatest possible impact.

1)Start with a good idea and identify a market for your idea- often, markets do not reveal themselves because they are unable to fully articulate their challenges. Through community-building and networking, you can remain close to those who will someday become your target customers.
2)Hire energetic, passionate people with extensive networks- To excel, you will need more than smart, highly-degreed people. Standout markers understand how to build and foster lasting connections, and they truly enjoy networking.
3)Be willing to listen, really listen, and to iterate- searching for a particular answer or seeking to have others validate your thinking isn’t really listening. By truly listening, you can build off existing ideas and understand what the market really needs. You should also be flexible and willing to amend your offerings, packaging, and messaging to best apply to market needs
4)Be present- Market success requires full-time active participation. Markets are not stagnant, and simply going through the motions will make you stale. Embrace fast-changing market dynamics.

At the heart of good marketing strategy is not where you allocate your funds, but rather how you set yourself up for success.