This past Friday, I attended BeyoundBlogging here in Washington, DC. The event’s keynote speaker was Ed Keller, of Innfluentials book fame. I stayed for the keynote and first panel, led by Shel Holtz. Panelists included Todd Tweedy, Debbie Weil, and Pete Blackshaw.
It was good to circulate and hear where DC communicators are with respect to consumer generated media and new media in general. Shel quoted Cluetrain’s famous by now markets are conversations line and it took me back to another ballroom of a similar size for a Netpreneur evening many moons ago.
Ed Keller offered a nice Top 5 List of solid communication practices that included listening!, making content sassy, and using solid research. Todd Tweedy reinforced this last point with the importance of metrics. Todd’s firm has recently released: Perceptions, Practices and Ethics in Word of Mouth Marketing (fwiw disclaimer: I am listed in the report’s acknowledgements). Todd also talked about how important it is to have customers involved in the creation process. These comments reminded me of early developer communities like the ones mentioned in this post.
In response to a question I asked about leveraging passionate customers into a marketing or PR force, Pete mentioned giving them early access to information. In other words, growing the relationship and offering value that best customers can’t find elsewhere. Pete also touched on the important area of negative word-of-mouth. He also mentioned how much he, and other brand managers have learned about consumer generated media from his babies blog.
Shel finished up the Q & A with a good point about Risk Benefit Analysis. When trying to convince management about the importance of blogging and other new media tools, ask what you are risking vs the benefits you will derive.
It’s interesting to get outside of the Web 2.0 bubble and consumer generated media explosion to find that many communicators are learning for the first time about engagement vs broadcast mentalities and some of the other ways the communications medium is changing.
I put together a quick Top 5 list of my own for a Podcast that I did during the events intermission. I anticipated being asked about Washington’s word-of-mouth scene:
Integrating your campaign is as important as ever (Shel repeated the often quoted stat that 80% of decisions are made offline. Ed Keller upped this number to 90%)
It’s easier for non-profits with a mission, than say companies, to get a message out
Organizations and companies are increasingly interested in what’s being said about them and validating who is saying it
It’s still about building relationships, offering value, and doing things the right way (on the Internet, it’s tough to beg forgiveness)
As I learned from Mario Morino a long time ago, it’s always about the people and not the technology!