This past weekend, I went to Charleston, SC for a mini-getaway. (Side note: What a beautiful city. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, I highly recommend it!!)

Since this was my first visit to Charleston, I wasn’t sure where to eat or what tourist attractions to visit. I could have asked the hotel concierge or checked out the visitors’ guide. Neither of those won out. Instead, one “old school” tactic and one “new school” tactic helped me experience the best of this impressive place.

First, we needed to eat. We searched the Yelp iPhone app, which produced a list of suggested restaurants – some with excellent reviews and some with warnings to stay away. Blossom came very highly recommended on Yelp. And, once again, Yelpers came through. The meal was a-maz-ing.

Then, we went old school. We wanted to take one of those horse-drawn historical tours of Charleston. On one street corner, we found a vendor handing out flyers to passersby. Well, the guy seemed nice and the flyer made them sound like the best option in town … so, that’s how we chose this vendor over the others. Pretty, simple right?

Here’s the point: It doesn’t matter how you reach your potential customers … as long as you reach them. Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, flyers, direct mail – those are all just tools that make it easier for customers to find you. As marketers, we need to make sure we’re incorporating the right tools so people can easily find our companies. (Hint: A static, corporate web site is not enough.)

How about your company? Hard to find or easily accessible? What are some innovative ways companies are using tools – old or new – to be more “findable?”

Photo Credit: Bill Ward

We live in a time-shifted world. RSS feeds deliver news to us. DVRs allow us to watch our favorite television shows when whenever we choose. We can listen to audio programs on the go thanks to podcasts. Today’s consumers expect to have access to content when they want it … where they want it.

Businesses need to understand and adjust to this new way of living. (Don’t believe us? Failure to adapt to a time-shifted world contributed to the newspaper industry’s recent struggles.) This isn’t just an operations or management issue. PR/marketing folks need to put their “time-shifting” hats on as well.

• Customer service can’t be a 9-5 task if it really is the new PR. In a time-shifted world, people expect access to good customer service all the time – at their convenience … not yours. That means having an employee monitor and respond to the company’s Twitter account after hours, making “live chat” available even after the close of business, offering extended call center hours. These may not sound ultra-innovative — but your customers will notice, and appreciate, the extra effort.
• Press conferences don’t happen nearly as frequently as they used to; however they’re not extinct. Even so, reporters have less time to attend events — press conferences or otherwise. If you’re a PR professional, are you giving reporters the tools to get the information on their terms — or are you making their job more difficult? (And, for the record, just e-mailing a press release with a post-event photo doesn’t cut it.) Provide reporters with audio or video to incorporate into their reports. Create a Flickr page with high-res photos. Livestream events and post relevant clips online.
• How often are desk-side meetings taking place nowadays? Hardly at all – unless you have a very high-profile client or a major news story. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t get your CEO in front of the reporter. More and more interviews are happening via e-mail — even with major, national newspapers. Know why? Because the reporter can review the answers when they have time. With that in mind, why not conduct “mock interviews” and distribute the responses to targeted media? You know what questions a reporter will ask, so ask them. (But, don’t just serve up “softballs” and provide a reporter with fluffy answers. They’ll ignore you.) Go the extra step and provide the files in a format that can be viewed or listened to on an mp3 player. The idea is simple: Give them the information without requiring them to conduct a time-intensive interview.
• Much has been written about the diminishing ROI of traditional advertising. But, it’s not dead … not by a longshot. That said, advertisers need to adjust. A recent study found that 85% of respondents (~1,000 people) used their DVR to skip at least three-quarters of all commercials. If you’re producing commercials that only communicate verbally – your message isn’t being heard. Smarter commercials get the message across even while being fast forwarded. (One example: Apple’s Macbook commercials.) 

How is “time shifting” impacting your business? And, what innovative ideas can you offer to thrive in this new paradigm?

By now, you know about Facebook and MySpace. But did you know that there are a whole host of social networking platforms that may be better tools to help companies reach key audiences? Sound like targeting? That tried and true marketing principle is even more important in today’s online world.

Mashable compiled a list of 350 social networks — ranging from connecting families … to shopaholics.  Here’s just a sample of some targeted networks that you shouldn’t overlook:

• Ning — create your own social network
• CarGurus — connecting car lovers
• Shelfari — where booklovers gather
• CafeMom — uniting moms and mothers-to-be
• Flickr — sharing photos
• LinkedIn — professional networking

Bottom line: Don’t just create a page on Facebook because you think it’s “the place to be.” Instead, do a little research. You might be surprised to learn that you can engage a network that provides direct access to your target market.

What’s the return on investment? In years past, ROI served as the yardstick for measuring traditional marketing campaigns. Did the campaign generate the desired results and how did they stack up against the costs?

Well, that’s just another concept that has evolved, thanks to flourishing online communities. As David Armano wrote in Business Week, marketers can listen, learn and adapt … thanks to new focus groups.

By listening and engaging the “collective” through all phases of our initiatives, we now have opportunities not only to be more in tune with customer needs, but also to adapt as quickly as they do. In our digital world, that could be the most important ROI possible.

The game has changed. We don’t have to wait — in fact, you shouldn’t wait — until the end of a campaign to see how it worked. Instead, gain valuable insight during the implementation phase and adjust as needed to maximize effectiveness.

Springpad — a free online list-making and notebook service — engaged the Twitter community to conduct an online focus group. The Springpad moderator asked four questions, mainly focusing on service use and user interface. Springpad users offered their feedback and input, and the moderator asked follow up questions — much like a typical focus group. While the results aren’t scientific, Springpad received valuable feedback, such as:

The moderator also engaged participants in conversation — and showed that the company is open to ideas, as illustrated by this exchange:

This new “I” — insight gained from listening to online communities — will help marketers make better decisions and ultimately deliver a stronger product. They’ll get more bang for their buck — which is critically important during this challenging economy. In this ultra-competitive marketing landscape, the winners will be those companies that understand how to incorporate insight to strengthen the return on investment.

As our company ventures into more work involving social media and online brands, we have been making an effort to read everything on the subject that we can get our hands on. And, yes, that includes books. Admittedly, it seemed ironic for me to be toting around a hardback to learn about the future of what is going on online.

“Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation Is Changing Your World” by Don Tapscott challenges many of the stereotypes about millennials (those currently between 11 and 31 years of age). What I was most interested in was confirming what our staff has come to believe is an inevitable shift in our industry: that the interest in social media as the latest tool in communications was not a passing trend, but rather the way it is and will be in the future.

The most compelling case for this position came from Tapscott’s analysis of population and the Baby Boom Generation. There are now 77 million Baby Boomers, born 1946 to 1964, making up 23 percent of the U.S. population. Net Geners, or millenials, consist of approximately 81 million people born from 1977 to 1997, and currently make up 27 percent of the US population. This echoing effect, as it has come to be described, represents the largest swell in population in our nation’s history, and it stands to reason that what interests them is going to impact the way we do everything.

Tapscott points out that where Boomers passively watched television in their free time, Net Geners have grown up with the Internet – interacting and changing content and incorporating online tools into their lives. His look into Net Geners’ interests and tendencies, further reinforces a very different set of expectations – not only of themselves, but also of the brands they chose to align with. Some companies have taken notice and incorporated this change into their online brands and tools that speak to their customers. Many have not and are hoping it’s just a fad. If they’re wrong – it is going to take them a long time to catch up.

Twitter-aholics — and even Twitter newbies — are probably familiar with Guy Kawasaki. After all, he has more than 32,000 followers. Today Guy found himself in the middle of a controversy about how to appropriately use Twitter.

In case you’re not familiar with Guy and his projects, he is an original Apple guru turned venture capitalist. One of his many projects is Alltop, billed as an online magazine rack complete with “all the top stories.” (Get it? Alltop?)

Guy uses Twitter as a marketing tool — not an outlet to vent about traffic jams or the long line at Starbucks. I personally experienced his Twitter marketing twice yesterday. I tweeted about the fact that Alltop might be my new favorite online tool, and within minutes, Alltop’s chief evangelist responded back to me. Then, just a few hours later, I received a direct message from Guy himself showing me how to tweet directly from Alltop when I find something that might interest others.

Today, a blogger complained about the fact that Guy and Alltop use Twitter as marketing tools — sparking quite the online controversy … and raising an interesting question. How should companies use social media tools to engage customers? Businesses are forced to walk a fine line between spamming customers and actually engaging them. Some tips:

• Identify Twitter goals. Do you want to raise awareness about an issue? Network with people in your field? Push a product or service? Figure out what you want to do before trying to do too much.
• Remember that Twitter is a communication tool. The Twitter universe seems to be accepting of corporate interaction — especially when the company engages in real dialogue with followers. (See Zappos and Whole Foods for examples.) If you’re not communicating — and just advertising – you’ll quickly become known as a spammer. People will ignore you.
• Listen, listen, listen. Listen to what other people are saying about you, your company and related issues. Understand their perspective before trying to insert yourself into the dialogue.

Each user needs to set their own “rules” to effectively use Twitter.  Just remember, it’s a relatively new tool. There isn’t a “one size fits all” way to use it. The good thing is that it’s a community — and a rapidly growing one, at that. So, if people don’t like how you’re using it, odds are they’ll let you know. If you’re listening, you can adjust. Check Alltop’s Twitter page.

How do you use Twitter?

I recently read a post decrying the notion of turnkey social media and search engine optimization (SEO). So-called social media experts are pushing this as a real service — even though it’s an impossible oxymoron. As the blogger correctly noted:

When referring to SEO or social media I don’t believe in anything that is turnkey.  There is no such thing as a one size fits all approach or an automated SEO or social media campaign.  We’re talking about strategies here, not clothing.

A social media strategy for Adobe won’t look anything like a social media strategy for Coca-Cola and an SEO strategy for Chevron won’t look anything like an SEO strategy for Ford.  You can use the same basic ideas and general guidelines but if you actually want to see results you have to have your own way of getting things done.

That makes perfect sense. Isn’t the whole point of social media to engage in dialogue and develop relationships with customers?

Take that same concept a step further. Will “turnkey” newsletters, direct mail or media relations deliver results for companies? As the general population becomes acclimated to this consumer-driven approach to online marketing, won’t they come to expect that approach across the board? Even offline?

The companies that thrive in this new environment will be the ones that do two things:

1. Apply the strategies that work online — such as super-targeting or interactivity — to traditional marketing and public relations tactics. ”Tried and true” can still work. Those concepts just need a little freshening up.
2. Strike the appropriate balance between old and new tactics. Don’t abandon your print newsletter and direct mail just because it seems like everything is shifting online. Contrary to what you may hear, print pieces aren’t dead yet. Evaluate target markets and how they prefer to receive information. Some audiences — probably more than you think — still respond favorably to printed materials.

Every company is different — with its own brand … its own story to share. How are you balancing offline and online marketing to communicate your key messages to your target audiences?