Crosswinds, cross currents
[Disclosure: this story, in part, recounts a client engagement to bring appropriate new media tools to a B2B software business]
There are at least two interesting currents out there, as I work with clients and speak with colleagues and friends in my network.
One has to do with the disproportionate volume of information about how to use new media, social networks, Twitter, etc.: I believe I’ve received tweets encouraging me to uncover 246 essential tools, 78 ways to get productive, 92 techniques to grow my following — and that’s just today.
The other has to do with a persistent question coming from those responsible for generating real revenue for real businesses with real customers and real employees: what are the relevant and practical ways to use the new media that will realistically have an impact on my business in my lifetime — which is getting shorter with each passing day during the economic crisis.
In essence, enterprise marketing leaders (CMOs, VPs of marketing) want to embrace new techniques, but can’t afford to appear to be investing in trendy activities with limited near-term impact.
Here’s my “Lather, Rinse, Repeat” advice for businesses from really small to really large:
Find something buyer-worthy to communicate.
You may be thrilled beyond belief that version 3.0.6 of your enterprise cloud infrastructure platform has finally made it out of development and QA.
But buyers ask themselves one question: will my life the day after I buy something from a vendor be improved in ways that far exceed what I paid?
Stories that convey that messages tend to be less often about a product and its zippy new feature set, and more often about a real return on investment achieved through the intelligent use of the product. Less like this, and more like this.
Tease the story with a post or two on your company blog.
The blog platform, which is more reactive, opinion and judgment-oriented, and less formal, is a perfect place to begin to set the stage for the announcement itself.
Pick a fact or two from the bigger story and begin to tease your regular readers with the news.
Cross-post a microblog on Twitter.
If you haven’t already, get a corporate Twitter account and start building the search queries that will help you identify potential buyers NOW.
The hype about Twitter will thrill you with tales of how big news broke about Lance’s crash in the Vuelta Castilla y Leon in Spain today. And as interesting as that is, I’m not now nor do I expect soon to be either a Tour de France cyclist nor a journalist or press photographer. I just can’t do much with that information except be a bit sad about the pain he must be in.
However, if I construct an intelligent search string, I can find dozens, if not hundreds, of potential buyers who are thinking about the problem my company solves right at this very instant. Now that I can get excited about, and you should too. Tweet a link to your blog post.
Go for an old-school press release.
The traditional (print) press, PR firms, and the wire services are taking a hit these days, but for my money (namely less than $400), a sure-fire way to get lots of ‘impressions’ is to get a news release out on one of the wire services.
Despite my recent editorializing, PRWeb does a great job of this at a great price, as long as you can bear with their occasionally misleading user interface!
Make sure there’s a highlight of the story in an extremely prominent location on your website.
This one shold be obvious. What’s the expression? “If it goes without saying,…”
Notify your social and professional networks.
Even if you don’t have a Facebook presence for your business, many social networkers ‘blend’ their Facebook presence with professional updates to great effect. LinkedIn, too, now provides many ways for you to engage that community. More on both of these at greater length and in greater detail in future posts!
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