Listening

I just read an awesome blog post and I just had to mention it here. The guy on this blog was writing about social media and ROI and explaining the (close to) impossible task of measuring social media marketing in financial ROI. It is of course incredibly hard to measure the amount of tweets, links, blog mentions, comments and then put a financial value against them.

I think the problem with many businesses is that they prefer to have a monologue with customers as that is much easier to measure and control. The problem is that there are millions of dialogues taking place every day on the web and they are impossible to control. However it is possible to get involved and if you are afraid of talking to your customers at least make sure you are listening to them.

Too many companies view social media as a way to touch more customers but very few see it as a way to listen more. Think about the millions of dollars marketers have been spending to find out what their customers want and need. Social media is changing the game and businesses need to make sure they don't miss to many conversations.

So my advise is that you start listening more to your customers. There are many ways to monitor the conversations online. Here are a few suggestions:

Whostalkin - WhosTalkin.com is a social media search tool that allows users to search for conversations surrounding the topics that they care about most.

Twitter search - search Twitter to see what people are saying about your brand.

Radian6 - is a great "listening platform" that enables you to keep up with online conversations.

Techrigy - SM2 is a software solution designed specifically for PR and Marketing Agencies to monitor and measure social media.

Trackur - Trackur is an online reputation monitoring tool designed to assist you in tracking what is said about you on the internet.

REVIEW: The Unwritten Laws of Business

On the last day of my internship, I received a gift from a colleague, that gift was 'The Unwritten laws of Business'. Originally titled 'The Unwritten Laws of Engineers' by W J King in 1944, the 'pamphlet' was a hidden gem and was recognised by others outside of the engineering profession. Due to the extensive fondness by so many varied types of businessman, James G Skakoon took up the challenge of rewriting the original with additions and creating a book that teaches fundamental lessons for personal development in business to everyone that gives it a shot.

In 99 pages, James G Sakoon/ W J King underline the fundamentals to individual professional success from freshly graduated to running a business as a CEO. After reading this book I felt motivated and freshly educated, I mean that because although some of the content is fairly obvious, the definitions by both Sakoon and King are consistently refreshing, insightful and witty – making for a comfortable and enjoyable read.

The millennial in me may consider some of the content to be conservative (i.e. Personal Appearance), but as a millennial I respect and understand the concepts behind the 65 years of history of this book. The first law of the book is ‘However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best efforts’ – now this seems fairly obvious and maybe a little patronising, but Sakoon and King define the concept very well, “...it is fundamentally true that if you take care of your present job well, the future will take care of itself”, simple wording that can provoke many argumentative theories, but I guess that’s why I like it so much. There is so much thought leadership behind the content of this book, it resonates with me as someone who enjoys provoking discussion and collectively finding individual answers – this book provides no right or wrong answer, it puts you on the track, which route you take is entirely up to you...

This book is necessary and fundamental to anyone working in an organisation, or for those that are doing business related degrees. It teaches the reader essential 'Laws', that you just don't learn at School, College or University. Some may think it is a book on professional etiquette, but really 'etiquette' is just a funny word for 'Fitting In' – This defines how to achieve personal success, and the learning’s are pertinent to anyone in any profession.

Do you know the Millennial consumer?

Many businesses are finding it hard to attract and retain Millennial workers as they enter the workforce, sadly this will become a bigger problem as there are about 9 million Millennials still in education. But attracting and retaining these guys as employees won’t be the only problem we face. What about attracting and retaining the Millennial consumer?

Knowing how to get the most out of these guys as employees is giving most managers a headache, what about getting them to buy your products and liking your brand? In a decade or so we will have about 16-17 million Millennials in the workforce. We haven’t seen a generation of that size for about 100 years. Their disposable income will of course grow and their purchasing power will increase. Therefore, understanding how to communicate and connect with this generation will be paramount for brands that wish to have a place in their hearts and minds.

The Economist surveyed executives worldwide to see if they had a specific strategy in place for approaching Millennial consumers. 50 % did, 50 % didn’t. These statistics pose risks and opportunities for companies, depending on what they decide to do. Most consumers make their brand choices in their 20s and they don’t change much beyond their 30s. This presents a great opportunity for companies that want to target this generation and they have to make sure that they understand how to connect with Millennials or risk losing out.

As I am a Millennial myself, I thought it might be good to tell you a bit about what my generation value.

Walk the talk – Millennials love brands that are socially responsible. Find ways to involve this generation in your contributions, in that way you will truly connect with them. And remember if you’re not planning on walking the talk, it will do more damage than good. Check this blog post out to get more insight.

Connect to their phones – Mobile marketing has not been mastered yet and as phones get more powerful this provides a great opportunity. Think of new ways of engaging Millennials on their mobiles. TripAdvisor did a great job with this by asking consumers (via SMS and online) how it should allocate a $1 million in donations between five nonprofits. They got more than 1 million votes.

Listen to social media – Social media isn’t just another way for marketers to force their message on more people. Instead, listening becomes more important, by monitoring the “social media conversation” you can learn what the Millennial consumer actually wants and then join the conversation.

Contribution is key – Don’t just start a blog, set up a Facebook page or Tweet instead think about how it supports your objectives and adds value to users. Whatever you are doing online, make sure that you’re brand is contributing, otherwise you’re brand will be neglected by this generation and everyone else.

There a probably another 10 things to write about but the above 4 are crucial and I think they will be imperative to any brand that want to connect with this generation. However, I think the first question you need to answer is do you really understand today’s online environment? if you don’t, you need to get started.