Mike Moran Keynote


Our luncheon speaker is Mike Moran from IBM, author of Do it Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules.

Mike opened with the great point that what we need to have the freedom to dip our toes into Social Media, and sip from a glass instead of drinking from the fire hose like Robert Scoble. We need to experiment and try things, becoming expert in what works for our employers and clients. Realize that most of what you do will fail, but that’s OK. Fail faster.

Now you can target even the smallest group. You can measure the results of everything you do. But the flip side is that you must change your message in response to what your customers Say (comments, blogs, product ratings) and Do (search, purchases, page views.)

It’s just as important to pay attention as it is to get attention.

Audiences are fragmenting, and people are shifting from passive to consumers to interacting with content.

As trained story tellers, we need to become the expert in training others how to tell stories. We know how to get past the new gatekeepers. Among the new gatekeepers are:

  • Bloggers. Netflix, for example, doesn’t have a corporate blog, but treats bloggers like press.
  • Customers. “Social media allows word of mouth to be spread further and faster than ever. Are your messages easy to pass along?” This is exactly what SMUG is all about. Offline WOM is typically 1-1. Online WOM has much more leverage.
  • Search Engines. Google is just another gatekeeper. Helpful content beats hype. It makes your site a link magnet. Make your content interesting and fresh. Blogs. Podcasts. Provide something useful, such as a free tool.

The Three Rs of Marketing 2.0: Be Real, Relevant and Responsive.

PR pros must help all employees do the job. Companies must coordinate these techniques, but they can’t centralize them. There can’t be any blogging department. Empower others. PR should do evangelism, training and set policies.

Adaptive changes are more difficult than technical changes. Example of getting up an hour earlier each day. It feels different when you’re doing it on your own, but when we all do it together for Daylight Savings Time, it’s something we just do.

Mike’s other book is Search Marketing, Inc.

Updated: See Kevin Sawyer’s review of Mike’s keynote.

Author: Lee Aase

Husband of one, father of six, grandfather of 15. Chancellor Emeritus, SMUG. Emeritus staff of Mayo Clinic. Founder of HELPcare and Administrator for HELPcare Clinic.

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