MN AMA Conference – Marketing with a purpose

The conference was as insightful as expected. Though I religiously attended Social Media track because it is closer to my marketing focus, I hope to review other presentations as podcusts when they are posted on the conference web site.

Interesting points from the conference (all keynotes and Social Media track):

• Spotting trends: it is important to make yourself – force yourself -  to be well-rounded. Modern technology allows filtering only information that we particularly like (my Yahoo, etc.); however, to find new trends a person needs to have access to wider resources…
• Continual Partial Attention – trend of our time. People may watch 8 hours of TV, but “compress” it into about 6.
• Marketing positioning: don’t confuse people. “Compact SUV” – is it small or is it SUV (what is considered large)?
• Capitalize of the spotted trend: act on it!
• What is important: not mental ability, but mental agility
• Interesting: talk to the experts, but not in the same area – in the boundary areas…

Social media

• One f the emerging trends: idea platforms. http://www.ideablob.com/
• Deciding if social media is right for your organization: is it right for the brand? Is the organization willing to communicate? Can the organization deal with the criticism? Will the organization put resources behind it? Participation in social media is not a campaign… it is a way of life…
• Social media: what is right?  Both b-to-b and b-to-c are still in the process of figuring it out… In either case “b” has to figure out how to participate is “p-to-p.”
• How can a company find its “voice” in social media?  Should it be one person, or should it be a persona?  Maybe, the company can start with a person… and move to a persona… Best Buy SMO is twittering under “Best Buy SMO” not under personal name…
• Interesting app http://spy.appspot.com/
• Business approach should start from the people and only then move to the selection of the technology. POST – 1. People. 2. Objective. 3. Strategy. 4. Technology.
• How to buy analytics (or other “insight”) software: get 30 days trial, if after 30 days trial you can find actionable data – buy. You have to be able to USE the data, not only have it.
• ROP – Return On Participation. ROP is multiplier of conversation as much as ROI is a multiplier of $. ROP is calculated by division of the conversation points done to the conversation points received.
• Evaluation of spent resources could be done in a table: horizontal (channels, such as Twitter, blog, etc.), and vertical (ROP, ROI, % of resources, Weighted ROP and ROI on % of resources)
• From the perspective of social media endeavors:
  • Keep it small and simple
  • Create tests that can be built upon
  • Create platforms, not campaigns
  • Get everyone involved
  • Create many different outlets
• Marketers need to “un-learn” a desire to do a campaign. It is not about the campaign… it is about the community…  it is different way of life…

8 business rules for growth:

1. Follow being strategies (don’t follow branding strategies). Build a business, product, sustainability.. . not a brand.
2. Always be unique
3. Focus entails sacrifice (to gain a customer you must be willing to loose a customer)
4. Obsess about your customers, not your competitors
5. Treat employees as family
6. Hire “somebodies” not just “anybodies”
7. Make meaning before money  (improve people’s quality of life, fix something that is wrong, build upon something that is right)
8. Stay connected. Growth happens.

I am happy to be a part of MN AMA – its culture, ever-changing traditions, and 65 years of history… :-)