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I am currently in a class taught by the lengendary Paul Allen- not the one from Microsoft,the entrepreneur who started MyFamily.com, Geneology.com, InfobaseVentures.com,etc..
One of the single most successful ideas that Paul emphasized is the concept of user-generated content. And once again my personal "reverse marketing" trend comes into play.
How many websites provide a model to allow user generated content? Go ahead, start naming them in your head...
Now, how many of those are top performing websites? Almost every single one. EBay, Wikipedia, blogs(in their own realm), photosharing, etc.. These are the websites that thrive. Why? Because it is the users who create the content.
It is a marketing technique that puts the reviews and content in the hand of those who know the best-your own customer. And why not? While marketers brainstorm in their offices of how to "better connect with customers" they pass up the idea to allow the customer to answer the question themselves.
Once again, a marketing trend in the marketplace that is explosive, yet it is still ignored and reverse of normal marketing techniques employed by 90% of companies in the world.
User Generated Business
Blogs on the Move
A recent news post from MarketingVOX shows the up-and-coming potential that blogging holds. AOL bought Weblogs.,Inc. for 25 million. That is quite the price tag.
So what is it specifically about blogging that is so attractive?
From a marketing perspective, I believe that it is the reliability of personal opinion vs. mainstream and business messages fueled by money and intent to sell.
Its the same reason that eBay rules the online auction world. People will naturally trust the goodwill of others. Blogging creates almost an immediate relationship on the simple basis that you are reading the opinions of an individual, and they have no real intention or motivation to mislead(even though some may).
This market, therefore, can create very loyal customers, and marketing gurus need to interpret it as such.
Ultimate Return Policy
What if you ran a company that returned your product, to anyone, at anytime, no questions asked?
I would be willing to bet that any business would be better off in the long run by treating their customers this way.(don't make me cite examples and numbers, because I can)
What do you think?
Customer Service
I just got done talking with a gentleman about his cable company that he works for. He was kind of complaining about the fact that 30% of his annual management salary bonus hinged on customer service ratings...
I prodded a little further and asked why it bothered him so much. He explained that customers get irate when their cable goes out for a few days (as anyone would be), and he thought that there was nothing he could do about their anger. No matter how nice they are to them, they still are angry about the cable being out and end up giving poor customer service reports.
I asked him if they ever off something to the customer for their troubles...such as a free month on their bills, or some other discounts, or any kind of offer. His reply was, "Once you get into management, you will understand that you cant just give stuff away to customers..."
That is the problem. I wanted to explain reverse marketing concepts to him, but I did not want to push the issue (seeing as though he was out to teach me a lesson about business).
Would it cost money? Of course. But to keep customers coming back for 20 years...what is it worth to you? Obviously not one month worth of cable costs for one customer and your bonus at the end of the year...
Pay to be on Oprah?
Attention is the Key
Would people pay to be on Oprah?
Yes. Its the same reason that retailers and consumer product manufacterers sent hundreds of thousands of free merchandise to popular Diva Queens (Paris Hilton, etc..)in hopes that they will merely wear or use thier products, and be seen doing it.
Once again, the reverse marketing comes into play here. Those companies that "lock out" their potential customers as mentioned by Seth Godin operate with a mentality that they dont want anyone to get anything for free..they want to make sure nobody screws them over.
But in fact, if most of them would begin to offer free stuff, eyeballs would translate to money, and eventually keep them afloat.
Marketing job definition
Those of us in the marketing industry I am sure are well aware of the travails of defining a true marketing position within a company. Currently I am on the job hunt for a marketing position, and a majority of companies lump marketing along with sales positions, seeing the two as one in the same as far as functionality goes.
Why is it that businesses still fail to understand the true role of marketing, and the benefit of a marketing department separate from any other internal entity?
Not only does this frustrate true marketers and add to the "sales and marketing" title confusion, but I believe it also adds to the problem of marketing with the consumer in mind- reverse marketing.
Sales do in fact play an integral part in marketing functions; but the key to that statement is "part". Sales are but a part of the marketing equation that forms a successful strategy- centered around the customer of course.
Another piece to the puzzle that forms the phrase "reverse marketing" as I try to define true marketing from what it is known as today.
As a new blogger, I am admittingly slow to enter this wonderful market of shared ideas and the consolidation of conventional(and unconventional) wisdom through blogging websites. This first posting of mine is a question and topic that has been on my mind for quite some time.
I live, eat and breath marketing. My mind is constantly turning and reviewing marketing techniques and critiqueing every bit of advertising and marketing presented before me as I go through my day. I am the employee who never "sleeps" in the sense that even after hours, I find myself contemplating the world of effective marketing.
My most recent and perhaps most poinant obessions is asking myself the question of, "Where does a corporation's marketing and core business strategy derives and formulates from?" Undoubtedly the immediate response would be, "It depends." But does it? Sure day to day operations differ depending on the industry that the participant is in; textile/manufactering, service, retail etc.. And if pressed further, every company would claim that the "customer reigns supreme" and that the focus of the organization is to meet the needs and reach out thier targeted customers. After all, meeting a customers' needs is where revenue originates.
But in my experience, few companies actually form strategy based on the customer.
Strategy formulation for most companies orginates in the boardroom...the daily or weekly meetings reviewing performance and reviews. But I purpose that the most effective marketing starts at the other end: with the customer. Hence the phrase "reverse marketing".
The phrase is almost an oxymoron in itself. The tru idea of marketing is to mesh company strategy in a manner that effectively meets and attains customer demand. Yet, with the way the business world operates today, I belive that formulating strategy starting with the customer- then moving up and through the comany till you get to management-is opposite the prevailing practice. Therefore, I call true marketing "reverse marketing" in the modern sense and understanding.
The most effective marketing strategy would start with the customer- understanding thier needs and wants and most of all, reasoning for having any particular corporation in mind for any given service. As complicated as this process may be, it is a topic for a later discussion. Suffice it to say that once those questions can be generally answered, then the next step would be to move to the first line of contact that the customer has with the company. Whether it is a website, a salesperson or a telephone, each contact point needs to be specifically considered.
But wait, this step is not so easy. This is where most businesses fail- this very first step into the company. For evaluation of the "phase one" contact needs to be assesed from the customer perspective, not managment or business perspective.....