Social Media gaming…it’s not just for consumers anymore

Here’s a good post at Mashable about the dos-and-don’ts of using social media platforms to run games.  The value of this strategy holds true for the business-to-business agency or marketer just as much as it does for a packaged goods company; check out the examples the writer, Clay McDaniel of Spring Creek Group, includes, particularly one contest aimed right at members of the marketing and digital services community.  Some B2B marketers don’t seem to trust this approach, or find it unsuitable for their category, but they may be judging it based on the tactics they’re seen — not on the greater potential of the platform for their business.

A game is entertainment and engagement first, but that’s what makes it powerful: making it work for your customers, your prospecting and your business is simply a matter of coming up with the right idea, executed well.

Want to motivate or inform your sales force or employees in an interesting, morale-building way?  Create a social media game.  Want to provide a further depth of engagement for prospects?  Create a social media game.  Those spiffs and incentives marketers deploy work just as well as rewards in a social media-based contest.  And if that contest is properly designed, it’ll draw your target in, and wrap them up in your message and branding before they know it.

Remember that the real potency of any game is that it exists a bit outside of ‘marketing,’ even when it’s purpose is to be out-and-out marketing.  People don’t participate in games if those games lose sight of the fun, the immersion, the opportunity to escape or discover — if they focus more on the dry and pedantic and self-serving.

Simplicity of execution is (in my mind, at least) key to effective engagement.  You and your marketing or digital agency may have to struggle a bit to reach that Big Idea, but it should be executable in small ways — as simple as joining a Twitter thread or a Facebook community, and following a clear and concise path to reward.  Layering too many tactics or flourishes on top of a good, basic game concept is a great way to kill it dead by putting roadblocks in the user’s way.

Edutainment is permissible — in fact, I’d aver it’s the primary reason to execute a program in this area.  When they’re gaming, they’re receptive to a depth of messaging and participation about your products and services you won’t be able to readily achieve in any other milieu.   Beyond the mere fun factor, learning something of real value is often reward enough, in the user’s mind, for the investment of time and attention.

There are experts in gaming psychology who point out that we learn and retain more from game-driven experience than we do from more conventional presentation or education.  The military certainly understands this — they’ve adapted game theory and gaming hardware to training and simulation across the services, right down to virtual combat training for foot soldiers.  The simpler, more casual forms we’re talking about for Social Media, whether puzzles or scavenger hunts or drive-to-site tactics, tie in with that irrepressible streak in people who are seeking fun and fresh, connective experience.  Take advantage of it!

Is your company Schitzocultural?

Sometimes, there’s a disconnect between two different ‘cultures’ at work in any given organization.  There’s the espoused culture, and the actual culture.  The gulf between the two can be minimal, or it can be enormous…and it often will evidence itself outwardly, in the comportment of the troops or the behavior of the brand.

We each need to be honest with ourselves about the culture that lives and breathes within our business.  Our definition of ‘culture’ should embrace the authentic, the nitty-gritty of how things actually work within those walls.  Many companies confuse the real, living and thriving (we hope) culture of their organizations with a sort of ‘employee handbook utopia’ — here’s how it ought to be.  Attainable?  Maybe.  Are you doing it at the cost of how your business really operates — or how, at least, how your internal stakeholders perceive it?  That’s a real and sometimes dire possibility.

That’s why we’re big fans of conducting Cultural Audits with our B2B marketing clients…and with ourselves.   By deep-diving into the attitudes, morays, traditions and expectations that make up an organization, we’re able to discover any dissonances between the espoused culture and the real culture that need to be addressed.  It’s part of our job as B2B communications consultants to help our clients understand and capitalize on this facet of their business.

There’s enduring value to conducting a Cultural Audit, because it helps solidify the identity of your company, not only in the eyes of others but in the hearts and minds of employees and other stakeholders.  The company that can provide a compelling identity and set of values, and makes sure to act out those values every day, is forging an essential link to greater success.  Who’ll survive longer — and better?  The firm that’s lackadaisical about its own culture, or the firm that committedly fosters an environment that engages and nurtures the kind of people it wants in ways that go beyond just the requisites of the job at hand?

As a side note: I once worked at an outstanding marketing agency that, thanks to a familial and innovative culture, grew by leaps and bounds.  It got so big, so fast (and was going public, to boot) that it felt the need to substitute protocols and designates and ‘efficiencies’ for the responsible but less-defined pathways it had previously relied upon.  And instead of promoting its own culture, instead of sponsoring the little traditions and niceties that had made it a fun place to work, it tried to codify culture in a handout.  The gap between the ‘espoused’ and ‘actual’ culture grew and grew.  Were the effects what was hoped?  Morale slacked, process throttled innovation — and we lost business by the bushelful, because the distinguishing energy and intelligence we’d prided ourselves on were thoroughly squelched, because we hadn’t the foresight to realize the dynamic culture we enjoyed was, in many regards, vulnerable to change.

Can situations like this be avoided?  Easily – by honestly assessing the culture of the organization, and understanding ‘culture’ is an organic thing that happens between people, you get clues on how to promote and manage it, not just allow it to ‘happen’ for good — or ill.

Have you SWOTed your brand lately?

Your brand, like your business, can find itself under continual assault — not even directly but by the clutter by the clutter and chaos in the market that you created your brand to overcome in the first place.  That static, that welter of competing voices and emerging trends…it never stops.

So you’re well-advised to re-visit your branding at regular intervals to make sure it’s doing its job, and looking contemporary and sharp.  Just as you’d hold a SWOT session regularly (and include external partners like your B2B marketing agency, among others) to assess the state of the firm and the threats it might be facing, so too should you take time to see if your branding elements — whether it’s the company logo, your brand persona platform, or how it works on products, packaging or communications — are standing up to the test of time, competition and clutter.

Coca-Cola is supposedly one of those hallmark examples of brands with a logo so classic it defies revision, but that’s not the case if you take a look at the real history of the brand mark.  They’ve continually made evolutionary modifications to help the famous script ’signature’ stay relevant.  They’re a past client of mine, so I can confidently wager they subscribe to the idea of regular branding audits to determine consumer/customer attitudes toward the brand from top to bottom — not just how it looks on a bottle or can, but how it figures in people’s awareness and general perceptions.

So slate a full Brand Audit at regular intervals to decide if you can stand pat, or if there’s a “freshening” necessary.   Any good branding consultant or brand design agency (like ours, of course!) can steer you through the process.  Don’t make changes unless they’re absolutely necessary…but if you do, be sure to leverage those changes for every bit of PR and marketing traction possible.

Crowdsourcing = Compromise

The notion of crowdsourcing marketing ideas or actual creative concepts intrudes very rarely, thank heaven, on the world of B2B.  But this critique of democratizing innovation — throwing responsibility for cutting-edge leadership to the Eloi, so to speak — is worthwhile no matter what category you compete in.

If you’re looking for innovation, entrust it to innovators.   Put mechanisms and protocols in place that encourage risk and adventurism and groundbreaking thinking.  Because what a crowd — or a committee, for that matter — approves are those things that, well, tend to be palatable to the crowd.  Which is a guarantee they won’t be breakthrough, creating the kind of buzz and design gravity that draws customers.  The only standards a committee-driven or ‘non-professional’ solution satisfies are the standards of that committee.

There’s an eternal dialogue – and balancing act – between clients and agencies about trust.  Can I trust an idea that makes me uncomfortable to be really successful in the marketplace?  You can either act from the standpoint of being a member of the prospective audience, or act as an innovator who’s hoping to veer that audience down a fresh path.  Which you choose is obviously dependent on your specific situation.  But remember that if you come down on the side of innovation…be prepared to go outside your comfort zone to locate it.

Trust innovation leaders, and you’ll get work that explores new ground and breaks through the clutter.  You can always go out on a limb and then retreat — but it’s always best to find out just how far you could go.

How to tank a Tiger

Recently I wrote about the nuances of sponsorships; Accenture’s kicking Tiger Woods to the curb illustrates how quickly a relationship with a “personality” can go sour.  But what’s also instructive about Accenture’s actions is the fact they took such pronounced action — and did so very, very publicly.

It’s solid damage control that says a lot about their brand.  Rather than quietly sever their ties with Tiger, or equivocate (sorry, Gatorade, we’re not buying it!), they made certain the announcement was a front page item in every business section in America.  Rather than have their affiliation with Woods become an albatross, they took quick action that demonstrated their own probity and sense of responsibility.  It’s the last, best thing Tiger could do for Accenture…and by doing it before other marketers made similar moves, they’ve reaped the greatest possible awareness.

“Depth on demand” in B2B

Here’s a thoughtful new blog from a marketer I know well, Miguel Gonzalez, a digital strategist and creative bigwig at agencies like Momentum, Draft FCB and others.  He’ll have a lot to say about how digital content can address the new, digitally-enabled consumer’s desire to get “what we want, when we want it.”  And the same observation holds absolutely true for B2B.

Think about your marketing efforts in this dynamic space.  There’s a desire for texture, depth, content that’s become endemic among all consumers — because it’s an easy reflex to follow through on, thanks to digital media.  It’s no different for B2B customers and prospects, either.  They’ve always made decisions based on unearthing information and objectively comparing content, features, costs, benefits…so when they’e scanning your Web site, they’re looking for meat on the bone, not just superficial Flash.

It’s already contributing to the demise of collaterals, magazines, any media format with a built-in time delay that makes that information seem just slightly less current than digital, and which doesn’t offer the depth of content of digital formats.  Among your competitors in digital B2B marketing, the winner will be the one who provides the most valuable current content.  Why?  Because transparency and depth of information now form a critical cornerstone of good customer relationships.  The fresher, better, most useful information and insight you can farm and distribute to your prospects and existing clientele, the further you’ll go in earning their trust, collaboration, loyalty…and business.

Translating experience: the new role of Design Thinking

What’s the definition of ‘design thinking’?  The ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success. Solving practically any marketing communications or branding problems utilizes this ‘three-legged stool’ – without any leg, or without the three in considered balance, there’s effectively no solution.

Here at Biersma Creative, we try to apply design thinking to every challenge that presents itself.  And increasingly, those challenges are experiential challenges, as the new digital brandscape evolves.  Consumers – and don’t kid yourself, B2B customers too – respond to the experience of your brand, product, customer service environment, store design or trade show presence.  A recent assessment by Razorfish makes the case that experience will become increasingly important, and creating an effective brand is a matter of – you guessed it – good design.

The totality of an encompassing design experience is best represented by – who else? – Apple.  Their hardware is beautifully designed; the user interface and software experience is seductively simply and clean, but also provides — dare I say it — a degree of joy, as you experience the nuance, fluidity and sheer design intelligence baked into their products.  But you could make the case that design thinking extends to their culture, to their business vision and partner/vendor relationships.  No decision is made without consideration of its innovative, creative and emotional dimensions.  Good design makes the Apple brand affective wherever you encounter it, whether you’re an app developer or a teenager immersed in your iPod.

But there have been other pathfinders — Fedex, IBM, Intel — who’ve understood the power of design thinking, of communicating a comprehensive vision to their customers, at every point on the contact continuum.

Every marketer should think of the totality of experience they’re offering the marketplace, whether you’re selling industrial chemicals, microprocessors or staffing recuitment services.  Just thinking about the challenge often helps to point the way to resolutions.  Applying design thinking to the opportunity ensures you’re surrounding the customer or prospect with a 360-degree solution, from Web to sales call, that delivers a coherence and clarity that can make all the difference against your competition.

Supersonic sponsorship!

It’s big, it’s fast, it’s sexy as hell and it’s got twenty zillion horsepower behind it: it’s the Bloodhound, a 1000 MPH+ rocket car that’ll break (they hope) the land speed record.  And it’s sponsored by Intel and Lockheed Martin.

No, not every B2B marketer has this kind of money to spend, but there are some rules that apply to any kind of sponsorship, whether it’s a global stunt like this or getting your firm’s name on a trade show.   If I’m managing this initiative, here are some of the best practices I want to follow:

Make sure it speaks to brand — and it surely does; Bloodhound is bleeding-edge tech, it was built using their hardware, and it’s fast, which are selling points for both these companies, last I looked.

Have it give us a story we can tell – if I’m either sponsor, I’m leveraging this in not just PR but in sales presentations, trade shows, Web, everywhere possible using every viable means.  Cockpitcam streamed to Web during the run?  Check.  Well…maybe with a time delay, just in case.

Provides hospitality opportunities – this is a given if you’re among the world’s biggest technology firms dealing with purchasers who sign off on orders equivalent tothe GNP of third world countries.  The very VIP access and accomodations around the event would be considerable, if I’m running it.  And I hear there’s good golf in South Africa, too.

Extracts the max for my money — I’m using unsparing analytics, same as I’d apply to advertising and sales, to see if I’m getting solid returns for my investment.  I’m assessing how I’ve leveraged it in paid and unpaid media, in CRM, in long-term impact on my brand perception.  If I’ve done my homework, though, there should be few surprises here, because I accurately projected my ROI well before Bloodhound jetted across the flats: it’s why I made the buy.

Will Bloodhound succeed?  Probably; speed runs like these are calculated down to the last possible variable.  If it’s a fail, sponsors undoubtedly have some damage control measures ready, just in case.

Couponing for B2B?

It works, done right.  Here’s a very good article from B2B that shows one example.  If you’re looking to drive leads and sales through incentive value, you can ‘coupon’ in a variety of other ways that won’t devalue your brand, if that’s your concern – but will create an urgency among prospects that drives results.  Incorporate that kind of limited-time, high-perceived-value offer into your next direct marketing initiative and you’ll almost guarantee a response lift.

Plan first, tweet later!

Soooo…you’ve decided to make the big leap into using social media as a part of your marketing efforts.  Which, as we’ve said before, doesn’t have to be such a big leap at all for any size business that’s accustomed to close contact with customers and everyday support/CRM practices.

But what any business needs, before it initiates a social media strategy, is a plan with clearly-defined objectives for exactly what they hope to accomplish utilizing any SM channel.

Why?  There are several reasons.  First off, if you’re using it properly, social media is an appreciable investment — of time, resources, intellectual capital.   So that investment, like any, needs to target a defined return.  That can be visibility, goodwill, more mentions in the digisphere, or actual leads or orders, but make sure you spell out what you want to accomplish.

Don’t tweet for tweeting’s sake.  We’ve found, time and again, that message discipline and planning is critical.  Social media are best leveraged through constant contact, not an intermittent presence.  So treat your social media just like you would a staged advertising plan or product rollout…create a calendar, set a strategy, and plan weeks or even months in advance just what you’re going to promote using these channels.

Say something.  But not just anything.  But in the B2B world especially, if you haven’t got anything interesting to say, there’s a real possibility of doing yourself more harm than good through vacuous or arbitrary postings.  So you need to make sure you’re constantly delivering value to your followers or customers. In the end, that’s what will bring you a larger audience.