Marketing in 2009 (free eBook)

I have long believed that dialogue is the art of thinking together - talk changes our lives, it allows us to learn by listening. Customers and communities are changing the nature of marketing and communications through talk, but also through actions. If you're like me, you think that social media = tools and marketing = business.

Since we are in our own right working on changing not just the tactics for the channels but the nature itself of marketing (as currently done), I asked twelve great marketers from my network to share their thoughts on what we'll be working on in 2009.

More than predictions, which is hard to do, we focused on direction. This eBook is the result of our collective energy and execution experience. For a bite-size preview, here's what they say:

• "Basic metrics you can initially use to match up before, during and after sales deltas are frequency, reach, and yield" - Olivier Blanchard, The Brand Builder, @thebrandbuilder

• "There are three imperatives for execution programs in 2009 - start with measurement, create content for the open Web and for mobility" - Matt Dickman, Techno||Marketer, @MattDickman

• "The foundation and core of what social media is, consists of the five C's. Conversation, community, commenting, collaboration and contribution" - Mike Fruchter, My Thoughts on Social Media, @Fruchter
  

• "With social media as a platform for participation, people can behave the way they were hardwired to behave in the first place - humanly, tribally" - Francois Gossieaux, Emergence Marketing, @fgossieaux

• "Social media enhances marketing efforts as an additional indirect communication channel" - Beth Harte, The Harte of Marketing, @BethHarte

• "Companies with greater social intelligence have stronger bonds with employees and customers, and that translates into revenue" - Lois Kelly, Beeline Labs, @LoisKelly

• "Change ensures our own livelihoods - new opportunities and trends to capitalize upon, unique products and profit centers that merit development, robust innovation to leverage"- Christina Kerley, CK Epiphany, @ckepiphany

• "Social media interaction allows us to have… well, interaction with our customers. It lets us see them as people instead of statistics and it lets us hear their voices" - Jennifer Laycock, Search Engine Guide, @JenniferLaycock

• "Goals absolutely must be built on business objectives" - Amber Naslund, Altitude Branding, @AmberCadabra

• "A proper social media education is more than just learning new tools. The most important lesson we can impart is the necessity to think 'humans'"- Connie Reece, Every Dot Connects, @ConnieReece

• "Social media isn't causing problems, but it is revealing them. And the problems aren't new; they've been around for a while" - Mike Wagner, Own Your Brand!, @bigwags

• "The secret of success in social media is a product or a service that people actually like and use" - Alan Wolk, The Toad Stool, @awolk

I pulled together their ideas in this PDF - Marketing in 2009. We'd love to hear your reactions and examples. 

[Layout by yours truly. Background design courtesy of Matt Clark at Image Designs]

Comments

[Hendry Lee]

Thanks. I'll set this aside for enjoyment this weekend.

[Tiffany Monhollon]

Very cool! Bookmarking so I can come dig through it when I have a nice chunk of time.

[Francois Gossieaux]

Thank you Valeria for including me in this effort. It forced me to sharpen my point of view, which is always a good thing!
Francois

[hdbbstephen on Twitter]

Thanks for sharing this, I am looking forward to reading it - and putting the advice to work!

[Connie Reece]

Valeria, thanks for the honor of being included in this project. Can't wait to read what the others wrote. Great project!

[Beth Harte]

Valeria, thanks for including me with so many folks that I respect and for your time in putting together the ebbok, it looks great! Looking forward to reading it.

[Mike Wagner]

Hi Valeria,

Thanks for including me in this wonderful tribe of thinkers and marketers. It is an honor!

Your lively mind, creative energy and determined work ethic made this happen. Thanks!!!

Keep creating...ideas worth doing,
Mike

[Alan Wolk]

That Alan Wolk is a such a genius. So dashing too. What a smart move to include him in your book. I'm sure reading what he says will make me a wiser, happier and more employable individual while adding years to my life.

(Oh, and by the way, thanks for including me. It was a blast to write and so interesting to read what everyone else was thinking. Nice packaging too.)

[CK]

Valeria, I want to thank you again for including me in this collaborative project. I can't get over the style and substance it delivers...and I'm particularly pleased that it focuses on direction/imperatives and not just predictions.

Because direction (and focus) is what we need most at this time.

Along with sharing it with my colleagues, I'm also sending this to my clients and prospects--and will be doing so throughout the year (so they, too, will be thanking you for the knowledge share).

Please also pass on my kudos to Matt Clark/designer as it's such a sophisticated and creative look and he delivered in spades.

Sending you wishes for a fantastic 2009--and my gratitude (and a BIG hug) for letting me be a part of this. It means the world to me, truly.

[Thomas Tupa]

So this is an interesting compilation of social media thought leadership, but I saw very few references outside of a social media viewpoint/framework/lens.

Is the e-book mis-titled?

[Valeria Maltoni]

Thank you all for the kind comments and for the participation. I'd like to address the comment Thomas left here. Please note that his email address was not a valid one. Is Thomas mislabeled?

***

Thank you for the feedback. Is there any aspect of marketing in 2009 that will not in some way touch upon the way communities and customers have changed the way companies and businesses go to market these days?

Marketing is the management process responsible for matching resources with opportunities, at a profit - by identifying, influencing and satisfying customer demand. Relevance is the success metric. The one increasingly vital part of such discipline is the ability to connect the dots between data points captured from various sources.

I'm thinking that when Twitter gets high jacked and when a successful presidential campaign integrates social media for many purposes, including some quite important ones like fund raising and communicating with citizens - we are at tipping point.

I worked in many of the most conservative B2B environments, still do in many respects and I get requests around integrating social media daily from sales.

Thoughts?

[Mark Sage]

Great piece of work - always good to get the opinion from people who actually deliver this kind of stuff day in and day out.

[Susan]

Valeria, I cannot wait to read this and I thank you for putting it together. Many of your contributors are people I read everyday and value the learnings I take away.

[Marian Burk Wood]

I just found your eBook through a link on Lois Kelly's Bloghound . . . lots of excellent advice and good ideas in one compact place! Your blog is now on my "favorites" list.

[Alexandra Seigel]

Excellent commentary and very useful. I appreciate the depth of it,Thank you. I see social media as an opportunity to meet many people from all the world and the country that were inaccessible prior to the internet, and the chances to connect are wonderful.

[Greg Gaskill]

Great compilation of categories and well chosen experts. Will be happy to reference this material on our blog.

[Peter Kim]

Great job! Just noticed this via a link from Kris Hoet. Looking forward to downloading and digesting.