Diverse Impact

Impact of technology on mass communication
Football and mass communication

In his recent blog post “Why do we care about football”, Seth Godin noted “how the sport turned into a cultural touchstone”. He illustrated his point with  the equation; ” Tribes -> TV -> Money  -> Mass -> TV -> Tribes”. The article is a great reminder of how the golden age of television and the NFL evolved together from the mid – late 60’s to today.

What was compelling for me, was his assertion that other than the Super Bowl game itself, the “mass TV”  component of the equation is all but basically over.

I’d have to say I agree and we’ve seen it with the splintering of cable vs traditional broadcast networks. Even the ads for the Super Bowl that everyone used to have to wait for, were available on-line days, if not weeks in advance of the game, building their own culture.  As someone involved in marketing and the whole customer experience, it’s apparent to me daily that there is definitely a shift in consumption. Instead of one to many, the relationship is much more intimate.  Godin noted:

The new media giants of our age (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) don’t point everyone to one bit of content, don’t trade in mass. Instead, they splinter, connecting many to many, not many to one.  The cultural touchstones we’re building today are mostly not mass, mostly not for everyone. Instead, the process is Tribes -> Connections/communities -> Diverse impact… So instead we build our lives around cultural pockets, not cultural mass.

It was the last line that really struck home and what I try to focus on with each client I work  with. Each is a unique business, with their own set of values, needs and yes, issues. Working with them to identify their abilities, to create value for their clients, to separate them from the pack and help build meaningful relationships with their customers, vendors, staff and the community at large is my focus. The fun for me has been in exploring the various tools available; be it social media and traditional marketing platforms, customer relationship management systems, workflow management systems, measurement systems or crafting the strategies/tactics to help them meet and even better – exceed their organizational goals.

In the Diverse Message blog, we’ll be seeking to cover all of these various themes and will be turning to qualified professionals in many areas to bring the best possible information to you. I imagine that on occasion we will come across some divergent positions, as the new tools for business continue to evolve but that just expands our discussion and understanding.

The MarketingProf’s link is an affiliate program that I’m pleased to be associated with.

LinkedIn, What’s so great about it?

LinkedIn, Social Media
A powerful social channel for business

Is LinkedIn,  still the overlooked social channel for business? I was speaking to a colleague on a Skype call last week and as we’re both in the infancy stages of developing our businesses, we had the inevitable discussions about which social channels we should be utilizing in our businesses. Both of us are interested and work within the social media/business training and consultancy arena and felt it was important to have a solid grounding in each channel, but what was right for our audiences?

The usual suspects were discussed and evaluated. Our attention turned to LinkedIn. I’ve been on the network since 2006, but up until last year had really only used it to stay in touch with work colleagues from the past, participate in groups to gather more information and research on industries and events.  To a  limited extent, I had used the search functions to identify prospects and potential networking connections within a specific geographic area and industries.

When I began to get serious about it and read materials like Neal Schaffer’s  (of Windmill Networking) excellent book Maximizing LinkedIn, I learned to optimize my profile properly, how to engage in groups and discussions to share and learn with peers, mentors and prospective clients.  I saw my connections increase and they were for the most part  meaningful and rewarding. My experience with LinkedIn over the last year, has demonstrated to me it’s absolute power.  I shared my experience with my colleague, specifically sharing information on the search function. The next day I received the following email;

” OMG, I just ran a search for XXX industries and there are 9,000 prospective organizations within a 60 mile radius” 

My LinkedIn network, visualized
My LinkedIn network, visualized (Photo credit: For Inspiration Only)

As a reminder, my colleagues company is focusing on the absolute power of marrying Content Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media, and most organizations are in need of services like what they offer. The effect almost overwhelming. By applying filters, segmented the prospects and so forth, I’m sure they’ll get them down to a manageable number to approach. The first filter was looking only at 2nd level contacts to determine who they had that could become a warm contact through a LinkedIn introduction.

The network is constantly tweaking it’s platform to deliver increased user satisfaction. One of the latest additions, was the increased power delivered to the company page segment. What I particularly like is the products and services tabs, where you can have specific client recommendations appear right below each of your services. I’ll use HubSpot’s company page, as a great example of what you can do.

Are you using LinkedIn as effectively as possible?

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