As described last week in Bathroom Blogfest 2011 Takes Place Next Week, Professor Toilet and I were invited to co-host a Twitter chat today. More specifically, #kbtribechat on the topic of "Rethinking the Bathroom". The discussion was lively with 40 participants!
#kbtribechat takes place every Wednesday from 2:00pm to 3:00pm EST, live on Twitter, with people who are passionate about the Kitchen & Bath industry - individuals or company representatives who share a common interest.
Twitter: Affinity Social
By the way, the ability to connect based on shared interests is why I consider Twitter the "affinity-social" social network - unlike other networks where sharing takes place based on the jobs you've had or the people you know socially.
Twitter chats are friendly and effective. They bring together people from a variety of locations and backgrounds for a set period of time - usually an hour - for discussion in an organized fashion around a topic.
Twitter chats - more than any other interaction on Twitter - epitomize social networking. All of a sudden, Twitter makes sense. Despite a limitation of 140 characters, you get to experience first hand the vibrant nature of online interaction with distinct individuals, around a topic you care about for a finite period of time.
As a result, you identify new people to follow and be followed by and interact with after the chat. I recommend the experience to anyone wanting to better understand Twitter.
#KBTribeChat Highlights
You can access the full #kbtribechat transcript by clicking on Rethinking the Bathroom #kbtribechat transcript. I've extracted some of the conversation to give you a feel for this Twitter chat and the questions we addressed:
- When you design bathroom spaces, which are best sources of inspiration?
New products that arrive at the showroom, magazines and the client's house! #kbtribechat dkazan at 10/26/2011 02:04 PM EST - Elle Decor, Dwell, Kitchen Trends and Rue online #kbtribechat dkazan at 10/26/2011 02:06 PM EST
A1 Inspiration is all over! Seems most of my idea come to me while driving. Trade publications and blogs help. #kbtribechat rjmcontractors at 10/26/2011 02:06 PM EST
Q1: Other people's homes! (Though usually is a better showing of what NOT to do!) #kbtribechat FCNewsmag at 10/26/2011 02:07 PM EST
I have shelves of trade and design journals from Interior Design, AD, LUXE, KB+B, K&BDN insp+ #KBTribeChat BerensonCorp at 10/26/2011 02:08 PM EST
@kbtribechat A1: We like using Tumblr and Pinterest to gather inspiration. Design mags are great too, but can get expensive. #kbtribechat - Bathworks at 10/26/2011 02:08 PM EST Searching through tags on either site. Even just following influential designers can spring up inspiration. #kbtribechat -Bathworks at 10/26/2011 02:13 PM EST
#kbtribechat a1: I like to start w/ the latest in flooring trends & work my way up edithokc at 10/26/2011 02:09 PM EST
@professortoilet I like @cupboards @Paul_Anater @modenus @meredithheron and @studiom_ blogs. Many other too! #kbtribechat rjmcontractors at 10/26/2011 02:09 PM EST
a1: I like to start from nature (beach, forest stream,etc) - mags & web sources help with ideas how to achieve/interpret #kbtribechat ClarityK at 10/26/2011 02:11 PM EST
Yes, pics translate! @clarityk: Pics worth 1K words RT @JMByington: @brendaslynn Most dont know how to describe what they like #kbtribechat MarkJohnsonFAIA at 10/26/2011 02:26 PM EST
- Which are biggest challenges for bathrooms?
A2: Lack of space #kbtribechat Kitchen_Sync at 10/26/2011 02:15 PM EST
And aging-in-place. RT @berensoncorp: A2 for some have to think about worse case and plan for wheelchair mobility #KBTribeChat noradepalma at 10/26/2011 02:16 PM EST
A2 biggest challenge for bathrooms can be an appropriate budget master bathrooms can be cost as much as a kitchen. #kbtribechat rjmcontractors at 10/26/2011 02:21 PM EST
Yes odd shaped spaces and what clients want to put in them RT @edithokc: #kbtribechat A2: biggest challenge ... shaped spaces #kbtribechat ClarityK at 10/26/2011 02:22 PM EST
- How would you rethink the bathroom?
More color, using more tile choices and patterns, tile on the walls, a chandelier, lighting on the toe kick (motion-act.) #kbtribechat dkazan at 10/26/2011 02:30 PM EST
RT @filmoreclark: A3: baths are so personal even more so than kitchens. Should truly serve the homeowner. #kbtribechat TileEditor at 10/26/2011 02:30 PM EST
Find more are using color & patterned #tile in the bath. Love it. #kbtribechat filmoreclark at 10/26/2011 02:33 PM EST
A3: Rethinking: why can't everything be waterproof w/ central room drain like some countries? #kbtribechat Kitchen_Sync at 10/26/2011 02:36 PM EST
Tub elsewhere, generous curbless shower RT @BurginCo: Q3 - No tub, more closet space #kbtribechat ClarityK at 10/26/2011 02:36 PM EST
love 2 mix it up in bathrooms. In my master bath, mix patterned bold tile w/ a chandelier 2 create a glam, invigorating space. #kbtribechat MyMarrakesh at 10/26/2011 02:38 PM EST
If removing tub in master, remember to keep at least one tub in house for resale value #kbtribechat Remodel_w_Feia at 10/26/2011 02:39 PM EST
Q4 Having conversations w/ all involved in end result makes 4 best experience. Architect, builder, designer, home owner, etc. #kbtribechat
DesignerBath at 10/26/2011 02:47 PM EST
- What do you dislike/like most about bathroom experience in public spaces?
A4: Lack of cleanliness... Too much white & bad glaring lights. #kbtribechat filmoreclark at 10/26/2011 02:52 PM EST
too small, too ugly, too stinky, not enough stalls, no hot water, not clean (which I think is a reflection a rest. kitchen) #kbtribechat dkazan at 10/26/2011 02:52 PM EST
More potty parity! RT @noradepalma: Lines in ladies rooms. Q4: What do U dislike most re bathroom experience in public spaces? #kbtribechat CBWhittemore at 10/26/2011 02:53 PM EST
Yes! RT @filmoreclark: A4: Lack of cleanliness... Too much white & bad glaring lights. #kbtribechat cabinetmakers at 10/26/2011 02:54 PM EST
Q4 Public baths with the latest innovations in bath design are the most memorable for GOOD reasons. Plus they conserve water. #kbtribechat DesignerBath at 10/26/2011 02:54 PM EST
@kbtribechat Hand dryers, lack of air freshners #kbtribechat Bathworks at 10/26/2011 02:56 PM EST
Glaring lights bad. Public spaces could be MUCH better. #kbtribechat ProfessorToilet at 10/26/2011 02:56 PM EST
@kbtribechat What we like MOST about public BRs? Air hand dryers. So environmentally friendly, wish we had one in our home! #kbtribechat AJMadison at 10/26/2011 02:56 PM EST
A4. Cheap door hardware that breaks. RT @kbtribechat Q4: What do you dislike most about bathroom experience in public spaces? #kbtribechat kitchens_com at 10/26/2011 02:57 PM EST
RT @Bathworks Don't forget lack of toilet paper... :-( @kbtribechat Hand dryers, lack of air freshners #kbtribechat AmercanStandard at 10/26/2011 02:57 PM EST
They say if a restaurant has a gross bathroom expect similar in the kitchen. #kbtribechat filmoreclark at 10/26/2011 02:57 PM EST#kbtribechat
A4: I seem to update public toilets a lot. Try to get creative w/ unique sinks & lighting. Always have fun w/ tile edithokc at 10/26/2011 02:59 PM EST
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I walked away from this Twitter Chat impressed with the level of conversation and the wealth of insightful ideas - not to mention enthusiasm for 'rethinking the bathroom'.
What's your reaction to these exchanges? Would you consider participating in a Twitter Chat? How might you apply this to your business? Let me know.
I recently heard Dan Heath of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die fame speak about change. Immediately the 2011 Bathroom Blogfest theme of 'climbing out' came to mind. Not just because it celebrates change, but also because it is provocative as Anna Farmery describes in The Provocative Nature of Social Media.
Change seems the norm lately. Although I welcome it, I yearn for a short hiatus... Absent the hiatus, I'll take advice on how to manage change so it remains a positive force. Enter Dan Heath!
A special note - I was delighted about this presentation because Cynthia Dean from Nufloors Coquitlam recommended Switch to me during a discussion this summer about customer experience best practices and effecting organizational change.
In opening the presentation, Heath observed that although change is hard, we genuinely welcome many changes [e.g., baby, marriage]; others we rebel against. So what is the difference? It has to do with the two systems in our brain:
- Rational conscious deliberative brain [the human rider]
- Emotional unconscious automatic brain [an elephant]
Successful and positive change calls for a 3-part framework as follows:
- Direct the rider [the rational tends to spin its wheels without direction] by figuring out what's working, finding the bright spots using data and obsessing over success so you can replicate it!
- Motivate the elephant through feeling and emotion.
- Shape the path, remove obstacles and create a culture that supports change. In other words, make 'yes' the path of least resistance. Examples: Amazon Buy Now 1-click; standing up for meetings so they don't drone on...
Observations:
- Did you know that analyzing problems comes more naturally to us than understanding successes?
- Analyze/think/change tends to fail whereas see/feel/change succeeds.
- Change is not easy. Failure is part of the process. We struggle and adapt before changing successfully. Simply look at how a baby learns to walk.
To relate this advice back to social media, inbound marketing and getting found online, as difficult as business may be, customers are online searching for solutions. It's a matter, then, of finding the bright spots - which search terms connect them to your content? what wisdom helps them best as they progress through the buying cycle? Use your analytics to mine data. Test different approaches. Make it easy for them to find your information on your website.
As you pay closer attention to how visitors interact with your website content, give them the opportunity to share their stories. As you listen to them and learn from them, you'll be overwhelmed with the emotion that comes from putting all of the pieces in place correctly and successfully delighting your visitor. Try small steps to experiment. Think in terms of 'always in beta' rather than having to get it perfect.
As you experience your customers' delight, continue to find new ways to improve the experience and remove hurdles. Celebrate successes. Report back to customers and your organization on your improvements. Draw them into continuing to shape the path.
Before you know it, you will have climbed out, switched and effected change!
Happy Bathroom Blogfest 2011!
Might you be ready to 'climb out' of your routine next week? If yes, I invite you to take part in Bathroom Blogfest 2011 which takes place from Monday, October 24 through Friday, October 28, 2011.
I last referred to Bathroom Blogfest in Customer Experience and Bathroom Blogfest 2011. It's a yearly event that focuses on the customer or user experience from a multitude of perspectives. You can learn more by visiting the Bathroom Blogfest Blog page on this website.
I've been involved in it since the very beginning in 2006. Yes, it's fun and very social - the list of participants has grown significantly [check out the grid below] and most return year after year.
It's intensely creative - not just anyone can figure out how to relate bathrooms, the yearly theme and an individual blog's perspective coherently via content!
It's also an opportunity to experiment with and experience different aspects of social media marketing.
Case in point: for Bathroom Blogfest 2011, we will be involved in a Twitter Chat - an online exchange of 140 character comments done via Twitter between people interested in a common topic. [See How Do I Do a Twitter Chat?] More specifically, Professor Toilet and I will be co-hosting #kbtribechat and discussing "Rethinking the Bathroom" on October 26, 2011.
#kbtribechat takes place every Wednesday from 2:00pm to 3:00pm EST, live on Twitter, with Kitchen & Bath industry companies and professionals who explore a different topic each week. Topics range from Kitchen & Bath industry trends, advice on how to run a small to medium sized business, design trends, the relevance of green, etc...
#kbtribechat works as a guided discussion. The @KBTribeChat moderator asks questions prefaced with “Q1:”. Participants respond with “A1:” and the hashtag #kbtribechat. Anyone interested can follow along and provide insights, experiences, and answers.
To participate in #kbtribechat, search on #kbtribechat in Twitter or your favorite Twitter client [e.g., TweetDeck, Hootsuite, Seesmic, Twitterific (MAC)]. Another resource is TweetChat.
Most wonderful is that a transcript of each #kbtribechat will be posted so you can review the overall session and revisit insights.
Special thanks to #kbtribechat founders @hafeleamerica and @cabinetmakers.
I hope you'll consider joining in on #kbtribechat as well as Bathroom Blogfest. Do check out the bloggers listed below who are participating in Bathroom Blogfest 2011: Climbing Out! or visit BathroomBlogfest.com.
What's your take on why blogs for business?
I consider blogs critical for business. In fact, I can't imagine any business serious about connecting with customers being without one. Without a blog, how do you create meaningful content for customers?
How do you start building trust with them?
How do you add depth and relevance to content shared via social networks?
How do you even get found online?
A blog is the centerpiece or hub for your content strategy as well as any marketing you do using social media. A blog makes social meaningful. It's via a blog that you are able to develop thoughts and create meaning for readers. Only through a blog can you build on the thoughts and conversations that others have developed through their blogs.
Furthermore, a blog is how you produce new content on a consistent basis. It's how you develop content around specific keywords, terms and queries your readers have. It's how you get indexed by search engines so potential customers find you when they start searching...
Blog content goes deeper than 140 characters. If done with customers in mind, it allows you to become a trusted resource. Not only can you address customer concerns, issues and questions based on where they are in their buying cycle, but you also get to show your human side.
Blogs protect you from the likes of Facebook which changes at the drop of a hat and can't be trusted to respect your content. They keep evergreen thoughts that vanish in the Twitter stream. They create meaning for your business and your customers.
Blogs invite those interested to subscribe and get to know you. They encourage interaction and conversation via comments.
Blog articles provide you with content that can be reimagined into ebooks and whitepapers, or even perhaps a book as David Meerman Scott did with The New Rules of Marketing & PR. These in turn enable you to connect more intensely with customers who wish to connect with you.
I consider a blog to be the most powerful marketing and communication tool that any business can aspire to. It makes possible content that connects with customers.
Of course, if you don't really care about connecting with customers, you don't really need to worry about a blog.
What do you think about blogs for business?
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Image credit: MediaBistro - Google's Blogger Network Gets A Makeover
How do you ensure that your social media activities benefit your business, that they are meaningful for business? What guidelines do you follow?
This recent comment from my blog article titled Making Social Meaningful in Flooring had me thinking about how to do so.
"I completely agree with you about being "social" online. However, it is very hard with something like "flooring" to engage your followers, let alone GET those followers. I am a flooring store owner and have a website, facebook, twitter and linkedIn profile...but I can honestly say that it does nothing besides branding. I haven't gotten a single sales lead from social media. Any suggestions?"
Yes, I have suggestions - and I bet readers of this blog do, too!
If you remember from 10 Examples of How to do Bad Social Media, I've been reviewing a multitude of websites and social profiles - primarily in flooring - and noticed patterns that do little to make social media meaningful for businesses, let alone for potential customers.
As a business, your social media profiles and presence are an extension of you and your website. Regardless of where customers come across you online, they expect consistency, and they're looking for signs of trustworthiness.
- If they find you on Twitter and all of your Twitter updates are auto-posted from Facebook, what does that say to your customers?
- If they come across you on Facebook and all of your messages are about you and your sales events, what does that communicate to customers?
- If they come across your website during a search - or come from a Twitter or Facebook update - and encounter no human signs such as pictures and information about the people in your organization, or find little content that explains how your expertise helps customers, what impression will they have about you? You may be wonderful and have 500 years of expertise under your belt, but what does that mean for customers? Will they trust you enough to do business with you?
To make social media meaningful for business, what you communicate on one online platform needs to be integrated into your overall business objectives. The content you share should be meaningful to customers and it should be customized for each digital and social location. Although each social platform has its own quirks and algorithms, each rewards interaction and engagement. One size rarely fits all. [See Facebook Marketing Tips for Businesses.]
If you want to generate leads for your business, ensure that your website is as customer focused, findable and welcoming as your brick-and-mortar store or showroom should be. Listen intensely to customers so you understand the world they live in, the concerns they have and how your product fits into their lives. From what you hear, develop content that informs, educates, advises and engages and which you can then share via social media hand-in-hand with a willingness to listen and engage there, too. [See Generating Leads With Social Media.]
Finally, don't underestimate the power of being human online. To make social media meaningful for business, be willing to show yourself, be yourself and engage as yourself with others. This goes for flooring and every other category I've come across.
Your turn. What suggestions do you have for making social media meaningful for business? What have you tried and been successful with?
Thanks for reading.
Best,
Christine
What does a Bathroom Blogfest have to do with customer experience? Both are inextricably linked!
I got started in social media and blogging because of my fascination with the customer experience, particularly as it expressed itself at retail. It led me to launch Flooring The Consumer in June of 2006.
Just a few months later, Susan Abbott and Stephanie Weaver, two customer experience experts, approached me about taking part in the first ever Bathroom Blogfest. The purpose: to draw attention to and celebrate truly remarkable instances of customer experience. Since bathrooms often get short shrift, glorious ones tend to indicate true commitment to extraordinary customer experience.
Here we are in 2011 and the sixth annual Bathroom Blogfest is about to start. From October 24 through 28, 2011, you will hear and read about extraordinary bathrooms from a range of talented bloggers.
The theme this year is... "Climbing Out".
Many ideas come to mind when I consider "Climbing Out". Is it the same for you?
What's most fun about Bathroom Blogfest is that each participant gets to interpret the theme and address it from the perspective of each's area of interest. The range of interpretations will certainly surprise you.
If you'd like perspective, I invite you to read my recent article for UX Magazine titled "It's Time to Climb Out and Rethink the User Experience!"
You might also want to check out the Bathroom Blogfest site to read what has been published in past Bathroom Blogfests.
Will you let me know what comes to mind when you think about 'climbing out'? How do you to deliver outstanding customer experiences? How have bathrooms fit in?
Stay tuned for more about Bathroom Blogfest 2011!
Lately, I've been oh-so-deeply immersed in websites and social media profiles. Guess what I'm finding? Yes, examples of bad social media!
In this post, I want to share with you these examples. Call it reverse psychology. Understand how to do bad social media to better appreciate good social media both as producer and consumer and do more of it.
Here are 10 examples that come immediately to mind.
Bad Social Media: Duplicate Content
The worst social media duplicates content. What do I mean? Try repeating a blog article over and over again. Yes, I've seen it done. Compound that by publishing duplicate content across multiple platforms - say a dozen blogs and a few other social tools. Don't duplicate content!
Bad Social Media: Incomplete Profiles
I bet you've come across a few in your day. Profiles with no photo and not one bit of information. Do you know that many businesses boast incomplete social profiles? I bet they didn't get the memo that incomplete profiles send a bad message. They also do nothing to help them get found online. Complete your profiles!
Bad Social Media: Linking to Inactive Social Profiles From a Website
It may be cool to have social profiles on a website, but if they are present they had better link to active social profiles. By active I mean Twitter accounts, Facebook Fan pages and blogs that have seen an update in at least the past week. Show social signs of life!
Bad Social Media: Quantity Over Quality
What do you think of those accounts with a gazillion followers? Especially when the account is an unkown and every follower represents a get-rich-quick-schemer? Bad social media focuses on quantity and fixates on adding more regardless of relevance or value. Always focus on quality over quantity!
Bad Social Media: Blog Articles With No Text
Would that be an oxymoron? A blog is about publishing content as in words, right? Which means you need text [and ideally 300 words of text]. And, yet, there are plenty of blogs that publish articles with just a handful of words, or perhaps just a photo or video with no text, no story, no explanation. Use your words to tell a story with meaning for your readers.
Bad Social Media: Copying Content
Quoting and giving attribution is one thing. In fact, that's something that makes my day. Coming across content that has been copied or scraped does nothing in terms of deepening knowledge or encouraging social interaction. [I did, though, enjoy this article about Content Scraping: Prevention, Repercussions, and... Benefits?] Don't event think of copying content. Refer to it, add to it, make it part of a bigger picture.
Bad Social Media: Blog Articles With No Links
Links add meaning and depth to an article. They contribute context and build on previous interpretations of a topic. Perhaps that's why a blog article with no links raises red flags. If the content is lousy to begin with, how could it possibly link to related content that would automatically position it as amateurish? Research your topic and add links to what you find that is meaningful. You'll learn and your readers will appreciate it.
Bad Social Media: Content Makes No Sense
I bet you've come across some of these articles! The ones where the words look like one large word blog signifying less than nothing. I'm not talking about Lorem Ipsum which focuses attention on graphic elements [BTW, here is a link to a site that will generate Lorem Ipsum for you!]. Rather, these are articles specializing in keyword stuffing and which add no value to a human reader. If that's what you are about, stop it. Make sense!
Bad Social Media: Where Is the Person?
Please, show me that there's a person behind the blog and the words! I'd rather see a person on a Twitter profile and desperately want to see people in Facebook photos. On a blog, I want to know who's writing and something about them. Otherwise, I'm left wondering who owns the profile, whether s/he actually exists and feels any kind of responsibility for creating value and interacting with me legitimately and truthfully. Be social and human!
Bad Social Media: 100% Autoposting
For the record, autoposting can be useful and a valuable addition to a content strategy. However, a profile that consists 100% of autoposts tells me that it isn't interested in interacting and engaging with people on that social network. Furthermore, a profile with autoposts generated entirely from updates on another platform [e.g,. Facebook updates to Twitter, and then to LinkedIn], and with all of those autoposts being impersonal, communicates a lack of interest and commitment to social interaction. Mix it up a bit and include the human touch.
Will you join in and add your bad social media examples? Which are your worst social pet peeves? Let's identify them and vow to eradicate them!
What's the best way to go about writing a blog article or post? I do best when I methodically plan out my article before sitting at my keyboard contemplating a blank screen.
In case it's the same for you, I share with you my...
13 Tips on How To Write a Blog Article or Post
1. Determine what your article is about. This blog post you are reading is about how to write a blog post or article. You'll notice that I've included my topic [or keyword search term] in my title, and in a section header. It will also show up in the URL of this post once the article is published. Be specific and focused with your topic.
2. I find it just about impossible to write without including in my blog article a relevant image or photo. Flickr is a tremendous resource especially when you search for photos shared with Creative Commons licenses. For this blog post, I'm using the logo I created for my How Do I social media marketing series.
3. A blog article should be approximately 300 words in length [or between 200 to 400 words]. You can go shorter or longer on occasion; just realize that 300 is particularly effective for readers. Make sure your content is both interesting and relevant to your readers [think about creating delicious, memorable, remarkable content...].
4. Make sure you include links in your blog article: links to outside resources for more in-depth or corroborating resources as well as to your own website content.
5. Include a conversation generator [aka call to action] to invite comments and engagement from your readers.
6. Consider including a stronger call to action related to a specific offer you would like readers to take [e.g., subscribe to my monthly newsletter or download a relevant piece of content].
7. Aerate your content. Organize it logically, in a way that makes sense to your readers. Break it into pieces so it can be easily digested.
8. Include tags or categories so readers can easily find related blog articles.
9. Be prepared to publish your blog articles regularly and consistently, and at least once per week. I recommend two to three times per week. This means that you need to determine ahead of time what your content strategy will be and how it cascades into a monthly, weekly and daily plan.
10. When you think about how to write a blog article, be sure to have your customer in mind. This is not about you! Rather it's about your customers and their issues and how you provide solutions. You're trying to capture readers' attention so they spend time reading your content and getting to know you better [think trust building].
11. Don't ever duplicate your content!
12. Don't stuff your blog articles with keywords. Write for people!
13. Although it will take you a while to figure out your true blogging 'voice', be conversational when you write. Envision sitting across a table from someone and talking to him or her: you probably wouldn't speak about yourself in the 3rd person or in passive voice, right? Same goes for writing blog articles.
What would you add to this list?
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For marvelous blog article templates, you might enjoy visiting my friend Jay Baer's Convince and Convert site where he offers free social media tools.
What's your definition of inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing?
I recently had to explain inbound marketing to my parents, who are in their 80s/90s. They are not on Facebook; my mother has not yet sufficiently been motivated by her granddaughter do embrace email, but she does do Skype and loves Amazon. My dad is who turned me onto TurboTax and Quicken; he appreciates the ease and relevance of the searches he does via Google and has read a few of my [~ 1000] blog articles.
Even though they aren't the savviest Internet users, neither appreciates interruptions, irrelevance or having his or her time wasted - i.e., outbound marketing - which applies to most of us. They do respond well to relevant, targeted messages [i.e., inbound marketing].
Their curiosity inspired me to create a list of what inbound marketing is and isn't. I'm not limiting the examples to online, by the way, and I invite you to add your examples, too!
Inbound Marketing is:
1. Blogging - in a focused, persona-based approach while publishing consistently over time.
2. Lead nurturing
3. Lead generation on your website or blog via targeted content offers
4. Permission-based emails
5. Samples in-store
6. Social media engagement on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other networks
7. Creating delicious and search engine optimized content for your website
8. Inbound Marketing is "any marketing tactic that relies on earning people's interest instead of buying it." [see presentation below]
9. Not interruption based.
10. Not cold-calling
11. Not broadcast TV ads
12. Not print-based ads
13. Can include PPC advertising
14. All about referrals and earned media
15. Includes smart and honest search engine optimization
16. Less about trade shows and more about 1:1 focused interactions
17. Doesn't force unwanted video experiences on you [see Hall of Shame Inductee - LabCorp]
18. If it does interrupt, it entertains deliciously [see Augmented Reality Ad Puts YouWith Angels in London Train Station - hat tip @RetailProphet]
19. It's about targeted content offers that only those interested respond to - think food tastings in a super-market
20. It has nothing to do with buying mailing lists
21. And even less to do with buying links!
Your turn. What would you add to this list of inbound marketing definitions?
For inspiration, here is From Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing via Hubspot, and a terrific slide presentation:
A Few More Inbound Marketing Examples:
Having read all this, tell me which are your favorite examples and definitions of inbound marketing? What do you see working best with your customers? Let me know in the comments.
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Image credit: Inbound/Outbound Call Center Helper Wiki
Hot off the press: the October 2011 issue of the Simple Marketing Now Newsletter. It focuses on getting found online.
You can receive it directly by subscribing to our monthly mailing list.
I'll share with you here a few highlights as they may inspire ideas...
It shouldn't be a surprise to any of you reading this blog that I consider the topic of how to get found online critical. If you have doubts, send me an email. We need to talk.
What I find most fascinating when I speak with business owners is finding out what they have been doing to connect with customers, and what they are considering doing. Many of their tried and true ideas aren't as effective. Digital ones hold potential, but the learning curve is steep!
What have you noticed in your markets? What works and what doesn't? How have your customers changed? What digital tools are they using that they didn't before?
What are you doing differently in response?
Here follow a few ideas to inspire you.
From the Content Talks Business Blog:
Were you aware that 100+ Case Studies: Social Media Marketing Examples has attracted considerable traffic? What were your reactions to the article? Did you find examples relevant to your areas of interest?
[From a purely practical perspective, I've found the post valuable for locating social media ideas quickly.]
By the way, I anticipate updating the list on a quarterly basis based on the gems I'm finding and share every Friday in the Simple Marketing Blog roundup of the week's #practicalmktr tweets. Please let me know if there's a specific industry you are trying - without luck - to find examples from. Similarly, if you come across good examples of brands or companies using social media, please forward me the links and I'll include them.
The next blog article to draw traffic is Inbound Marketing and ZMOT: Perfect Together? Personally, I love this article and find inumerable excuses to refer to it. Beware the participants in upcoming seminars! You will be subjected to Zmot!
Seriously, though, what are you noticing in your markets? How do you get found? How do customers in your world get educated? Are they going online? Do they prefer mobile? How are you reacting?
The third most popular blog article is 11 Reasons for Using Hashtags on Twitter. What's your reaction to hashtags? Do you find them helpful? How are you using them?
Upcoming Events
The annual Bathroom Blogfest takes place October 24 through 28th, 2011. Now in its sixth year, it brings together bloggers from around the country, even the world to address the customer experience from a wide variety of perspectives. The 2011 theme is 'climbing out'.... If you are intrigued about past events, visit the Bathroom Blogfest site.
Proud About...
The Simple Marketing Blog has two recent claims to fame!
Your Turn...
What are your most pressing business challenges or questions relating to Social Media, Content Marketing and Getting Found Online? Share your thoughts and ideas and I'll address them in an upcoming blog article on the Content Talks Business Blog.
Thank you!
Best,
C.B.
