She sees three trends:

• Increased Q&A time: Rather than lecture for 45 minutes and devoting only 10 minutes to questions, speakers are talking for 20-25 minutes and leaving the rest of the time open for Q&A.

• Speaker as a moderator:  In this session type, the speaker might talk about a point for five minutes then moderate 10 minutes of idea exchange between audience members. Sessions might be set up as a “town meeting” or “in the round” rather than in theater style.

• On-the-spot consultations: Some experts (marketing, design, web, etc.)  invite people to submit their materials to be publicly critiqued. Some speakers go as far as asking participants to submit materials ahead of time so they can make slides to show what does and does not work.

Note: The success of all three formats hinges on the speaker’s ability to not only present effectively, but also to facilitate conversation while making the information seem relevant to the audience … on the fly.

For tips on what you need to do if you want to get in on the action, check out Get a Speaking Gig: How Event Producers Decide Who Gets Onstage. Also check out this super secret speaking tip.

Helena Bouchez is principal and owner of Helena B Communications (www.helenabcommunications.com). Reach her via helena@helenabcommunications.com or follow her on Twitter (@HelenaBouchez).

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1. When the Presentation Doesn’t Go Well
2. Seven Advanced Habits of Highly Effective Speakers
3. ‘Life & Style’ Partners with 1010 Wins for Style Content

Written by William Paul Young, The Shack was intended as simply a story for Young’s children and a few family friends. After reading the book, friends encouraged Young to send his novel to publishing companies. However, after rejection by more than 15 publishing companies, Young decided his book probably wasn’t ready for a wider audience. That is, until his friends banded together to form their own publishing company for The Shack.

In an attempt to not spoil the plot, The New York Times writes that The Shack is a “slim paperback novel … about a grieving father who meets God in the form of a jolly African-American woman.” And while the content of the book have made for lively debate on talk shows, religious forums and book clubs, Mr. Young states that The Shack was simply meant as a metaphor for “the house you build out of your own pain.”

With a mere $15,000 for an initial publishing run and a “starter” $300 marketing budget, The Shack became an instant phenomenon as buyers passed the book to friends, and others purchased cases through Young’s website.

And while controversy may have helped create awareness of The Shack, one would be remiss not to appreciate marketing efforts for the best seller.

In addition to use of traditional media to spur sales such as book signings, speaking engagements and website development, publisher Windblown Media also made extensive use of social media.

For example, a specific and bold call to action asked readers to visit The Shack website and share their own personal experiences after reading the book. In addition to an author blog, website visitors could join a Flickr group to share pictures of “beauty,” sign up for email updates, become a fan on Facebook and follow author tweets.

Also of significance, the marketing campaign accessed terrific word of mouth techniques, as the author encouraged readers to share the book with friends, blog about The Shack, buy books for women’s shelters and prisons, and even write reviews for local papers, magazines and websites.

The results? While some authors clamor for even 10 reviews of their book on Amazon.com, The Shack racked up over 4,000! A cursory review of Amazon’s listing shows that the book definitely struck nerves, sparked controversy, and deeply touched readers.

While Paul Young and Windblown Media certainly employed traditional and effective marketing techniques to maximum effect, selling seven million books is no small potatoes. Indeed, The Shack reached a tipping point then quickly accelerated to become an international sensation.

The question remains, why? Is success of The Shack due to marketing, or is there something more?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Related posts:

1. HD Radio Receivers Have Arrived, Radio Shack Prepares
2. Don’t Abandon Traditional Marketing Methods: Integrate and Interact
3. New in Book Marketing: Online Videos

The bad news from a customer perspective is that companies aren’t doing the basics properly, let alone getting to remarkable. Customers hopes are high, but expectations low. This bad news is good news for your company. With expectations so low, simply doing what you’re supposed to do (the basics)  may set you apart from the competition.Breaking it down to basics, you’ll realize customers are looking for:

• The product/service they want,
• with the right performance/quality,
• in an environment they expect,
• in a convenient location,
• supported with the right level of service, and
• with good value for the money.

And this all needs to be Goldilocks-style. “Too little” and the customer will feel cheated and unhappy. “Too much” and they’ll feel they’re paying more than they need.

Let’s take a deeper look into this …

1.) The Product/Service They Want

As a customer, I want the product when I want it. I need it to what I want it to do. The way I want to do it. I’m willing to learn a little to use the product. But, too much of a learning curve… I lose interest. Isn’t there a company that makes a simpler one? It needs to be “just right.”

2.) With the Right Performance/Quality

I want the product to match my perceived level of quality. I want it to do the type of things I expect it to do. If the ‘ice crusher blade’ doesn’t crush ice — that’s a problem.

3.) In a Convenient Location

Your business should be easy to find. Your website should be easy to navigate. Your menu should be easy to read. If I have to use my car to get to you — you should provide parking. Your hours should revolve around my hours (after all, you are targeting me).

4.) In an Environment They Expect

When I get to your office or website, I’ll lose confidence if it is junky, cheesy, broken, or unprofessional. In brick or click store, I want to be able to find things easily. I don’t want to poke around to find pricing, product details, and the information that helps me make my decision. If you make me do this, I will go to someone who doesn’t make me jump through hoops.

5.) Supported With the Right Level of Service

Service can be human-to-human: a knowledgeable salesperson to explain the difference between two televisions. Alternately, a salesperson leaving me alone. It can be as simple as a smile and a genuine “thank you for coming” from the hostess as you leave the restaurant. Service may also refer to the post-purchase service of a built-in warranty, guarantee, or easy to buy replacement parts. It also means not abusing trust. Don’t try to trick me into buying your warranty – if I don’t really need it. And, yes, I signed up for your newsletter. But that doesn’t give you permission to send me spam.

6.) With Good Value for the Money

I want to feel I paid enough — or even better — NOT enough for your product or service. Ultimately, you want customers to feel they’re getting a steal. The secret to “value for the money” is, people are willing to pay more if you’re doing all the other things properly and consistently.

How often do you get the:
[×] right quality of
[×] what you want,
[×] where you need it, with the
[×] right support, at a
[×] fair price?

You’ll notice there’s nothing remarkable about anything on that list. However, if you do them all, at the same time, and consistently, you can be remarkable.

What Now?

To get started, consider running through this list with each of your business categories, products, and services.

Here’s an example Starbucks Coffee could use it to explore their core coffee products. (brewed/espresso drinks)

That’s pretty clear, huh? It spans the whole experience. It also involves many departments from the company. For this Starbucks example it involves: the beverage team, real estate, store development, training, operations, and marketing. And, most of it is accomplished locally, by the local teams — not the folks sitting at headquarters in Seattle.

Here’s a random, relevant example. In proofreading this article, I used the build-in dictionary function in my Mac to look up a synonym for “daunting task” (up there in my opening sentence).

The word daunting didn’t sound natural. I thought formidable may work better.

But look at the Word Toolkit (pictured below) presented by the Apple thesaurus. It indicated that formidable refers more to something physical: opponent, competitor, barrier. Daunting is the right word to describe a task or challenge. When I click on daunting, Word Toolkit links me synonyms, such as: intimidating, unnerving, and dismaying.

Wow. That was more service than I expected. When I didn’t even know I needed it!

Related posts:

1. The Great BIG Branding Lie
2. How to Get Great WOM: Get the ‘Little Simple Things’ Right Before They Turn Into ‘Big Ugly Things’
3. Discounting Prices Discounts Your Brand

The Boring Web Content Challenge, as I wrote about a few weeks ago, encouraged companies to submit their most lifeless, incomprehensible bit of web writing (a web page, or press release, or email, or whatever) to win a chance to have a free makeover from our friends at Captains of Industry.

Submit they did (in spades!) and yesterday we plowed through all of them, searching for the worst of the lot. I mean “plowed” almost literally, by the way: Because reading through all the submissions, one at a time, required the same kind of effort necessary to move the thickest and heaviest objects. Like mud. Or wet cement.

Clearly: At a time when companies are increasingly charged with creating remarkable content as a cornerstone of their marketing efforts, many of us still struggle. But oh boy … was I struggling yesterday. To find meaning in the jargon. To keep my mind on task. To stay awake.

To give you a sense of the morning, our friends at Captains of Industry shot this video:

Reviewing Submissions for the Incredibly Boring Web Content Challenge from Captains of Industry on Vimeo

Look for an update on the finalists tomorrow.

Related posts:

1. The Boring Web Content Challenge
2. DC Solicits User Comics Submissions
3. Radio Gets Outstanding User Submissions for Remix Contest

But wait, there’s more!

While social media is an important element to business marketing and PR, it’s not a replacement for additional, proven forms of promotion. With its low cost, easy barrier-to-entry and seemingly widespread reach, it’s tempting to think social media can replace other forms of marketing. But it’s important to remember that social media in and of itself isn’t a marketing or PR strategy: It’s but one promotional tool in the smart business marketing toolbox.

Two important things to remember in business marketing today are integration and interaction. Don’t abandon something that’s been working for you and your business just because social media is the hot new thing on the block. Integrate your online and offline campaigns, and integrate cohesive online campaigns across social networks  to get the most bang for your buck, enhancing all current efforts and maximizing reach in a way never before possible. Interaction is also important (talk with, not at) to engage audiences and make them feel an emotional connection to your company, brand or product. Prospects are much more likely to listen to you and follow what you’re doing if they feel that you care about them and that they’re important to your business.

For example, say you’ve always had an email newsletter in which you send out special offers to subscribers. Help to increase your subscriber base through “sneak peeks” into your newsletter content by sharing snippets or teasers across other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Or post a survey or poll on your Facebook and share the results in your newsletter, again  reaching and encouraging new subscribers (and rewarding existing subscribers) with content reserved especially for them.

Another example : Most companies have always had speaking opportunities or event networking (even attendance of trade shows) on their marketing/PR “to do” list. Take these opportunities a step further by again involving not only the physical, offline audience that’s at the show, but also the online audience pre- and post-event. For example, say you’re speaking on the topic of franchise ownership. Post a pre-event survey across Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and/or your blog that asks your fans and followers if they’ve ever owned a franchise and if so, what their biggest challenges were. Incorporate these answers into your presentation at the show, giving credit where you can.  (If someone knows you’re going to mention them, they’re more likely to watch/listen and tell others to do the same). Or if you’re just attending or exhibiting at a conference, ask show attendees to stop and share their experiences or tips for others. Record their insights with a hand held camera (such as a Flip), edit into a compelling and helpful video when you return and post it on your blog with additional resources post-event. Tie these resources back to your website, or Facebook fan page, and promote on Twitter … again, back to integration.

One of the best marketing efforts has always been to have third-party, positive testimonies about your business or products. Whether it’s a customer, a reporter, an industry guru, a partner or an analyst, accolades from others hold more credibility than you standing on your own soapbox (or starring in your own ad). This traditional element to marketing is still incredibly important and can become a much  more powerful program with a social media element. For example, in the past, you might have interviewed a customer and asked them to sign off on a case study, which you’d then post to your website or in a sales kit. With social media tools, the case study can become so much more than words on a page; you can make them come to life as a much more intriguing story by including video, interactive comments from viewers, and more. “Case studies” can come in the form of an ongoing story, perhaps different chapters in an weekly video series, or the opportunity to interact with followers/prospects by asking them to join a Facebook event or Twitter chat where they can ask questions directly of the customer in the story. This gives them the opportunity to not just read your slick, well-written case study, but to engage with your case study subject and ask questions, a testament in and of itself that you truly do have happy customers that you trust to answer live questions about their experiences in working with you, or using your products.

The point is  social media in marketing can enhance your efforts and make them more interesting, interactive and memorable. But social media in and of itself doesn’t replace traditional efforts. Both are important for success today. Learn how to integrate them both for your best success yet.

Related posts:

1. Marketing ‘The Shack’
2. The Social Media Handyman
3. Integrating Social Into Traditional: 10 Tips For A Remarkable Blogger Event

I love this idea. Here’s how it works: Make at least one referral to whomever you think could use new business, and add your recommendation #marm)
• Blog about it on your own blog
• Add this badge to your site

There’s more happening this week to help small businesses learn how to leverage the power of referrals, including daily guest-posts on John’s blog and an online seminar.

MarketingProfs is a sponsor of this event, along with GoTo Webinar, PR Web, Constant Contact, Perkett PR, Palo Alto Software, Duct Tape Marketing Coach, Sage, BNI, Vertical Response, Verizon, alphagraphics, InfusionSoft, The Referral Engine, Gold Star Referral and Intuit. If you are a small business, BTW, you may already know that MarketingProfs has tons of content geared toward small business. But did you know you can browse our archives by that category here and here? (The latter, by the way, is our Small Business-centric newsletter: Get to the Po!nt Small Business. Do you subscribe?)

So how do you encourage more referrals for your business, or inspire customer love?

My take is that there are two fundamental approaches to generating more business: The first is to focus on making your existing customers insanely happy, so that they want to tell others about how much they love you; the second is to simply be a resource — or be helpful — to those who aren’t customers yet. That’s a sneak peek of what I write in my post running on John’s blog this week, and I offer 17 tactics on how to accomplish that. Watch for it over there .

So how about you? What’s your referral secret? Add it below?

UPDATE: My post is now active; check it out: 17 Terrific Tactics to Inspire Customer Love (And Get New Business)

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2. RADAR 94: Network Radio Reaches 233 Million Listeners per Week
3. Radio Reaches 232MM per Week – and 96 Percent of the Educated/Affluent Age 25-54

Stepping off on a hike last fall in New Hampshire, I was overwhelmed by the sense that I was back home in New England. No matter that I’d spent seven years in Tennessee, and a quarter-century in New Jersey. I’m a Connecticut boy, and the New England woods are home. Driving in and around Mystic CT last week, the trees and stone walls and topography and houses all felt like … home.

How powerful can it be, then, for a brand to become a “home” brand. So much a part of your life, that you are not comfortable without it.

From day one, the iPhone became a home brand for me. I can’t imagine not using it daily. Google is a home brand, indispensable, every day. A particularly helpful blogger can be a home brand for you. As can a certain make of car. Or a brewer, such as Samuel Adams.

One of the signs that something is a home brand is that price becomes almost irrelevant. I barely even look at my AT&T mobility bill for the iPhone. I don’t even think about writing a check to Amica Insurance. Price is secondary because it’s … home. Part of the family. And, just as we talk about our family members naturally and eagerly, so we word-of-mouth our home brands without any effort.

We all have our home brands, and if we’re marketers, we all strive to BE one of those home brands. Undoubtedly, you have a home brand or two that come to mind — share them in the comments!

(Image credit)

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Ongoing scientific research suggests consumption of chocolate rich in flavonols may act as antioxidants to help defend the body from free radical damage. Researchers at Harvard and elsewhere have been studying the effects of cocoa flavonols on healthy blood flow and circulation.

Even the American Heart Association in its Scientific Sessions of November 2004 demonstrated in its study that Cocoa Via™ Snack Bars (based on Mars technology) consumed by adults twice per day saw a significant reduction in total—and especially LDL cholesterol.

And let’s not forget chocolate consumption provides a serotonin uptick in the brain; there’s nothing like releasing endorphins to make people feel happy!

So what’s the point from a marketing perspective?

Mars, the behemoth manufacturer of some of the world’s most beloved chocolate brands: Snickers®, Milky Way® and M&M’S®, has been proactive by supporting ongoing research for years to uncover the health benefits of chocolate. Fifteen years of research led to a patented, proprietary process dubbed Cocoapro® which retains the compounds in the cocoa bean.

Wise idea, right? Why not capitalize on consumer interest in healthier snack options? But this is no mere marketing ploy without substance.

Earlier this year, Mars and Swiss B2B chocolate supplier Barry Callebaut released a statement announcing they will work jointly to create a standardized measure to “increase the availability and uniformity of cocoa flavonol-rich chocolate products worldwide.”

This was announced in a Just Food article among other sources, including press releases from both companies.

“This agreement with Barry Callebaut will now guarantee reliable flavonol levels in more chocolate products around the globe,” stated Mary Wagner, general manager at Mars Botanical, a scientific unit of Mars.

In a nutshell: Careful handling of cocoa and measuring throughout the manufacturing process are necessary to ensure the important compounds in chocolate are delivered to consumers consistently, on a global basis. Otherwise much of flavonol benefits are lost in the manufacturing process.

I think this is a terrific strategy. As more science emerges, Mars will be positioned to capitalize: its brands will no doubt be marketed as containing “standardized flavonols” or “the ultimate flavonols.” Even better:  Mars will no doubt be embraced as the chocolate company that took the initiative to make cocoa products healthier the world over. From a marketing perspective, it’s a brilliant strategy.

Questions:
• Would you be more likely to purchase Mars chocolate or another brand of chocolate if it marketed a “standardized flavonol” pledge to you? Do you think messaging about this will be understood by consumers if handled properly by marketers?
• Do you prefer to eat your favorite chocolate and just enjoy it without health-related information?
• Do you think confectionery and snacks, in general, will have to be “healthier” than they were in the past? Or is this a category where marketing decadence will always be acceptable to consumers?

I’d love to hear from you.

Related posts:

1. Jumping on the Healthy Food Bandwagon
2. Chocolate Phone: Sweet Spot or Sour Taste?
3. ‘Let Your Food be Your Medicine’: 7 Trends Worth Watching

Over the last six months, I’ve been working closely with Ray Wang who is well known as an expert in the Customer Relationship Management space. Coupled with my focus on social technologies, we did a deep dive on how our worlds are colliding into the trend to Social CRM. In our opening webinar when we announced our joining of the firm, we made it clear we’re looking at the holistic business, across multiple business departments — not silos or roles.

A real problem is this: Companies are unable to scale to keep up with the social phenomenon.

We know that customers are using these social technologies to share their voices, and companies are having a very difficult time to keep up.

• For companies, real time is not fast enough. Companies need to be able to anticipate what customers are doing to say and do, in order to keep up. Although Motrin responded to angry mom’s within 24 hours –it was too slow.
• Companies are unable to scale to meet the needs of social. No matter how many community managers Dell and ComcastCares hires to support, they’ll never be able to match the number of customers happening. They need tools, and they need them now.
• Customers don’t care what department you’re in they just want their problem fixed. Dooce’s support problem with Maytag quickly became a PR nightmare –had the support group known she was an influencer (and what it means), they could have serviced her better.

As a result, companies will need to tie their existing customer management tools like CRM to the social web. Read this report to find out about the 18 different use cases. Then, prioritize a roadmap based on your needs, and always start with listening.

Related posts:

1. Surprise! Making Customers Happy Is a Key Benefit Of Web 2.0
2. Do You Know the Value of Your Customers?
3. Business Without Trust is Bad Business

So, why should you want Gen Y on your marketing or public relations teams? Besides the obvious need for molding, educating, engaging and reverse mentoring, Gen Yers bring unique perspective to the table; those willing to research and learn know how to network and revitalize campaigns.

Target Demographic
Oh, the 18-35. This general consumer demographic is one that is very general, but with social media in the mix, brands are trying to reach everyone and constantly come back to this specific one. Instead of focus groups and crowd-sourcing, it’s easy to have a Gen Y give insight and ask questions of their friends (who they trust more than a brand) and help cultivate more strategic tactics and objectives.

It’s Sometimes Difficult to Blog with Authority
Successful Gen Y bloggers are willing to admit when they don’t know everything … and will craft open-ended blog posts to drive conversation and discussion in the comments. Utilize the comments section as an open brainstorm, where many ideas can delve from. We don’t have the 20+ years experience that seasoned professionals have. We have a thirst for knowledge, keen research skills and the ability to process a lot of information at once.

Integrated Marketing Communications
Those that stand out in the Gen Y crowd are amazing networkers. They know how to talk with people of all levels and bring together teams. With Marketing/PR/Creative/Ad/social coming together for a kind of Marprosocial hybrid, its imperative to have those on the team that aren’t entrenched in the silos mentality. They just haven’t been exposed to it as much.

Pride in Agency/Organization Work
The Gen Yers you want on your team? They want to learn from you. They want to engage. If they don’t ask you first, take them out for coffee. They want a dynamic where everyone can work together. It’s not so much individualism as it is pride in an agency or organization. PR professionals can sometimes be their own worst promoters when it comes to promoting their firm. It’s in our framework to always put the client first. Utilize them in a community manager type role in conjunction with traditional duties.

So, what do you think? What would you add?

Related posts:

1. Hybrid Tactics of Social Media
2. GM Unveils Nation’s First Hybrid Pickup
3. Mullen Creates Integrated-Production Position