In watching HGTV the other day, I can’t help but think of the people who put in time to contribute to the value of their home, through renovations, maintenance, etc., often to increase the value of their property. This is known as sweat equity.
Likewise, marketers and their brands need to invest in sweat equity, meaning they have to take the time to work with online communities and participate in their spaces and culture to establish genuine rapport and contribute to the overall value of the community. The days of pulling a one-time stunt to build loyalty and brand followership are over, and it's going to take some real sweat equity to build brands.
Likewise, marketers and their brands need to invest in sweat equity, meaning they have to take the time to work with online communities and participate in their spaces and culture to establish genuine rapport and contribute to the overall value of the community. The days of pulling a one-time stunt to build loyalty and brand followership are over, and it's going to take some real sweat equity to build brands.
I would agree David
ReplyDeleteEvery success has its price. And we need to go from "even stuff online" to "especially stuff online". :o)
In the history of any new marketing channel first movers have had an advantage as there is a lot of space in the pipe. But now the whole online thing has clogged up and we need to invest, time, money and resources in creating successes.
Hopefully this will become increasingly evident real soon.
Excellent!
Helge
Thanks for the comment Helge :) I agree, most of what many marketers are doing in the digital channel, they do for things such as technology's sake, or for the sake of doing the next new thing for them, although that may not necessarily be the right thing for their audiences.
ReplyDeleteI also feel strongly against brands continuing to throw messaging out there into the digital space and treating it as a silo, not trying it back to other channels that people are now using.
Also take into consideration the fact that most of how we are speaking to audiences takes place within the same cookie-cutter campaigns, and how that is telling customers that we only care about getting a message across, and not necessarily concerned with the long-term communication plan which should be translated into smarter media and connections planning.
I guess if we are going to invest more time, money and resources in creating success, I think many of us today need to realize that the metrics that will define that success in the future have change and must be revisted.
I recommend giving the following article a read, which I feel proves a great point about what it is i'm trying to convey with all this:
Why Most Online Communities Fail
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/16/why-most-online-communities-fail/
Thanks again :o
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. It`s not ALL about profit, for god sake. What if there`s something like "corp. karma""?
Hehe
Thanks, David!!
Matías
http://amocain.blogspot.com
Hi Matias,
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Much of what marketers should be doing as well is to build a philanthropic relationship with its audiences, establishing relationships to provide content to publishsers, and look for new ways to really build value within the community.
Just because they help to improve a community, shouldn't mean they expect for users to buy in return. Hopefully after carefully nurturing those relationships, will people want to embrace the brand and become customers on their own.
Working at a relationship takes hard work from both sides. It's up to brands to go 90%, with users going the remaining 10% if they feel they are in it for the long haul.
Thanks Matias :o