Last year at SxSW, I told Richard at Dell that I thought the time of Brand You was over and the time of Product You had begun. What I meant was that brand is an interpretation of the “specs,” whereas product was the actuality. My point was that to build a career on concrete we have to build on the values and traits that are truly and always our own.
Now I’m thinking of traditional marking — the Four Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion — and in social media I’d add People.
In social media marketing, the view has shifted campaigns are about people not products. So lets start with the people.
People
It used to be these beings were outside a company. They were studied, feared, occasionally consulted, targeted, but considered “other” than the enterprise. Called buyers, customers, clients, eyeballs, users, and some terms less dignified, their value was often best understood by how they showed up on the bottom line. Many companies actually spoke of “customer proofing” their products, because they thought of their buying public as not too nimble or clever.
Now it’s people that we want to attract, connected and engage. It’s people who provide our best ideas and our most interesting content.
Product
It used to be that the product was what drove campaigns and the brand. Just putting a cool product in front of people hardly attract any more. Creatively featuring it, hardly makes enough single to get a mention if more interesting, informative, or intriguing conversations are nearby.
Now the product sits alongside to the ideas and actions the product enables or represents. Those ideas and actions are what connect people in conversations to form communities of fiercely loyal fans. The connection to has to be meaningful … the conversation has to be both intelligent and worth our time.
Price
The price was once derived solely from the cost of delivering a quality product into the people’s hands. Now the price is value. Value is based on the experience of being able to participate in the community, being able to meet with folks who can answer questions and who share the stardards and values the product represents.
Place
Place used to be where the product was offered — the footprint and location in relation to of ther products of the same ilk and kind. Now place is more about where people find the product helping other people and how we help customers find a place for the product in their lives.
Few of us need much more than we already have. What we’re looking for are things that give us more time and make our lives more efficient and meaningful.
Promotion
Promotion has turned inside out. It’s about showing and attracting, not telling and pushing.
Make a product that connects people with meaning and value that fits easily in their lives and they’ll it irresistble — so irresistible that they’ll tell their friends about it.
That’s social marketing.
How do you make your social marketing irresistible? What’s irresistible to you?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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The value — priceless.
Attract, connect and engage says it all.
Great post, Miss Liz!
The Ultimate Equation to me is:
Added Value + Pure Intent = Divine Prosperity
Thanks for sharing.
Keep the faith and keep being YOU!
~Ronald
TrueBeliever & HopeDealer
I love the people section because I have been saying this for years that companies need to go back to people and stop seeing them as statistics. the companies that shake off the rubble of economy meltdown, and move forward will be the companies that out the people first, both customers and employees!
@ Liz- Can a business do well with only a few of the P’s or does the full package need to be represented, and is there any order of importance? Thanks Liz.
Irresitible to me is a product that speaks for itself, not a pushing salesman that has to cram the product down your throat! I think this is basically what you were trying to say. I understand the salesman does have to bring the product to your attention sometimes, but it should be good enough to sell itself. If the salesman has confidence in his product, he’ll know as such, and it will show in what he believes about the product, and the sales will be all that much easier. So the products should be good enough to sell themselves, and the salesman should not be pushy. Perhaps he should spend as much time branding himself as he should branding his product…
krissy knox 🙂
my main blog: Sometimes I Think
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Love it, Liz. I love how content and conversation and experience come up to a level with product. You have re-inspired me to keep telling stories about products and getting everyone involved in creating the products. thank you.
Right on, Liz! My favorite quote is that promotion is “showing and attracting, not telling and pushing.” Absolutely! I spent 10 years in the trade show business, and this was true even then. Sure, we wanted to grab folks from the aisles into my presentations–but we also want to engage them and get them thinking and visualizing how they’ll use the product. That’s less about telling and more about attracting.
Great post, and it helps me focus on my own “Product You” development. For a long time I worked on establishing a reputation that served me well when working as a multimedia consultant – but as time went on, I realized that it wasn’t the technical skills that were bringing clients back to me – it was the way I treated them, the way I dealt with high-stress time-based situations, and my ability to make the tech do what they wanted. In short, it wasn’t knowing which button to push, or even when to push it – it was the way that I pushed it that made the difference.
I’m beginning to realize that is my Product – not video editing, but the brain and demeanor behind it. Figuring out how to market that…that’s a project.
You missed one!
Passion!
It can be applied to all of the above. 🙂
Data points, Barbara
Hi Ronald!
Yeah, attracting and offering then is so much better than an email blast that folks didn’t ask for. 🙂
jay,
I’m so with you. People aren’t numbers and the numbers flatten people out. Every person makes a decision for slightly different reasons. Listening to all of them is different than plotting the results.
I think that the part most often missed it giving people a reason and meaningful place to put what we make into their lives might be the most important of all.
Krissy,
Along those same lines, it’s been said that only boring products need advertising. Great products get talked about. Really important and good things find their way to me.
Todd,
The story of my products is what makes them worth picking up to consider. The content and quality is what brings you back again.
Hi Heidi,
I’m more and more reminded of the old sales adage “Don’t buy it back.” People get me excited about their story, about what they can do, then they keep talking after I want to say “yes!!” Not good. 🙂
Hi Gray,
Yeah, that’s the project of a lifetime, but it’s worth it. People don’t care what you know until they know that you care and will keep caring. Lead with that thought and the rest is easy.
Barbara!
I count on you to find the missing Piece in what I lay. Passion. yep that’s gotta be there — offered and accepted — for the deal to go through.
I absolutely ADORE this post!!!
I am so SICK of businesses looking to the web to act as a “shield” to PROTECT them from interacting with their customers!
People WANT to be heard! They want a voice in YOUR business!!!
Thank you Liz!!! Magnificent!
Hi Kathy,
Imagine a store without a person inside it. We’ve all been to a self-service gas station without a person working there … creepy. Websites that work that way are getting to feel the same … Dead.
I ADORE you for understanding what I’m saying here. 🙂
People, product, price, place, promotion.
i agree with you bout the Irresistible Social Marketing.
Keep ACTION!