Before the Social Media Marketing Settlers Arrived…

My first blog on this site, and one that still characterizes my approach to marketing – nurturing and building the community around your company or cause.

The Geek Marketing Blog

I am a marketer that engages in social media and blogging professionally. I figure the occasion of Social Media Week in San Francisco is as good a time as any to launch my own personal blog.

Let me start off with a rant that you might hear from your grandfather who had to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways:

Back in the old days, before blogs were called blogs, before the term Web 2.0 had been coined, and back when social networking seemed useful only for illegally downloading copyrighted music, we called the precursor to social media “community building” or “community marketing”.

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Facebook’s birthday reminders actually remind us that we are the product, not the customer.

Facebook’s birthday reminders are a perfect example of a nice feature being totally ruined by interruptive advertising in social media services.

Look at how much real estate is taken up by gift offers. I have to work hard not to accidentally click one of these links.

“Buy your friends a birthday gift card from iTunes or Starbucks.” “It’s Jonathan’s birthday, give him a message. Oh and buy him a giftcard from iTunes and Starbucks.”

How Community Marketing Creates High Value Relationships

One of the most potent marketing programs a company can run is to foster and engage with the community of customers and partners that surrounds their company. Done right, this can create high value relationships for everyone within the community, and with the company.

Is “Customer Experience” the Only Business Value Measure That Matters?

Cross posted from my blog at SAP Community Network…

Is “Customer Experience” the Only Business Value Measure That Matters?

If you attended the recent SAP Customer Experience Workshop or were following the tweets from #SAPcx, you might get the impression that this is what Lior Arussy of Strativity Group was asserting.

Focusing on customer experience sounds nice, you say, but is it really the most important? Lior points out that one of the biggest problems any company faces is the commoditization of its offerings. It’s a matter of time before some competitor comes along that can provide a similar or substitute product or service at a lower cost, eroding your company’s margins. In the end, a superior customer experience is the only long term way to differentiate your brand from your customers.

Indeed, focusing only on enhancing customer experience is a transformative way of thinking: if an initiative or activity by the company or an employee is not directly contributing to improving the experience of customers, then why are we doing it?