QViews: How to Socialize

August 28, 2007

How to Socialize

070804v_2 Now that marketing is a conversation, many companies are surprised to realize they don't know how to hold up their end. Over at ChasNote, Chas Edwards describes a program where WebEx offered free services and effectively "sponsored conversations" among their target audience. (Talk among yourselves...)

In an August 2007 article in BusinessWeek about fashion marketers participating in a new community on MySpace, Reena Jana notes that most of them want to post runway video or buy ads, but somebody there knows how to socialize...

Designers such as Isaac Mizrahi ... regularly update their personal MySpace pages with details about their own creative processes and tastes. Mizrahi includes unknown MySpace designers alongside his celebrity "friends" to nurture a creative community around his brand. "When a designer offers access and intimacy, he allows a sense of belonging with his audience," says Shawn Gold, MySpace's senior vice-president of marketing. "They can create a network of mutual appreciation."

Posted by TheresaQ in Community Building | Permalink

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Marketing as the Lungs of your Business

This on-line newsletter is about all the chances you have to establish a communication system with your customers, prospects, vendors, investors or other audiences. Good marketing communications is like breathing. With every message you send out, you have an opportunity to collect some information back in. If you build the right respiratory system, over time you will become closer to your audience and better able to keep them happy.

Recommended Books

The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual
by David Weinberger, Doc Searls, Christopher Locke, and Rick Levine. The bible of marketing in the 21st century. Defines a new foundation between organizations and their audiences. (*****)
Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers
by Seth Godin. The other foundational book for marketing in the 21st century. Ought to called The Law of Permission Marketing because ignoring it is as dangerous as ignoring gravity. (*****)
Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force
by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. The best book on how to build and maintain a brand community. (****)
The Rebel Rules: Daring to be Yourself in Business
by Chip Conley. Guidebook for designing a company that will be clearly focused on creating an excellent customer experiences. (****)
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Only rated three stars because so much here is now 'common knowledge' in marketing. Still, one of the best marketing books of the last century and essential reading if you're new to the field. Plus, a fun, quick read. (****)