Como me interesou polas redes sociais?

Cando Shel preguntou por xente que podería estar interesada en dar algunha resposta cunha Enquisa SAP sobre redes sociais, I jumped at the opportunity and immediately wrote him. With Shel's permission, he's allowed me to post my responses on my blog. This is Part I!

Dime cando e como che interesou por primeira vez nas redes sociais. Por que?

Working in Print Media for over a decade, I watched as the Internet quickly began to siphon attention and, with it, advertising from the newspaper industry. The Internet as a medium is accessible, inexpensive, and the technology is fairly simple. Even within print media, I always believed that each medium had it's own strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes the Newspaper non foi o mellor lugar para anunciarse.

Cando chegou Internet, os meus compañeiros vírono como unha ameaza. Vino como unha oportunidade incrible. Saltei e fun a Denver, Colorado para traballar nunha empresa que levaba o cargo de usar Internet. Por desgraza, uninme cando estalou a burbulla. Mudei a Indianápolis para unirme ao xornal local e dirixir os seus esforzos de mercadotecnia directa, utilizando datos para dirixirme mellor aos posibles subscritores e impulsando un programa de correo directo para clientes.

I tried as much as possible to get technologies such as Email Marketing into the newspaper as well, but anything “Internet” was seen as a medium to deliver content and sell advertising… not creating relationships. Anything Internet was also under the authority of the IT department so I was stepping on other peoples' toes. When new management came in and began asking, “What is it that you do?”, I knew they were oblivious and I needed to leave.

A través dun amigo e colega, Darrin Gray, coñecín a Pat Coyle e entrei na súa empresa, Brandirect. Darrin was and is a master at sales and networking. Pat was and is a master at building relationships. I was the data and technology guy – finding the best technologies to increase companies' relationships with their prospects and customers. It was a success, Darrin sold, Pat guided, and I built!

It was during this period that Pat and I started seeing the impact that Social Media was having. Not too ironic, we read (devoured) Shel's book, Conversas espidas. We understood that marketing was no longer simply a ‘push' technology, it was turning into something very, very different.

Pat mudouse a The Indianapolis Colts a tempo completo. Os Colts, dirixidos por Jim Irsay, sabían que estaban ao bordo da grandeza e creo que tiña a visión de saber que necesitaba aproveitar a oportunidade para conectarse cos fanáticos mentres o seu empuxe cara ao Superbowl estaba á vista.

Cambiei a ExactTarget, un provedor de servizos de correo electrónico, fascinado polo evanxelismo de CMO e fundador Chris Baggott. Chris' message was about the incredible value of permission-based email marketing, targeting the right message to the right people at the right time.

Nos últimos dous anos, Pat e eu seguimos sendo amigos íntimos e reunímonos a miúdo cun club de libros local que coordina, The Indianapolis Book Mashup. O noso primeiro libro? Conversas espidas por suposto!

Pat aproveitou a oportunidade para empurrar a The Colts a construír unha rede social para os campións do Superbowl. Salivaba cando vía que MyColts.net se facía realidade. Cun programa moi atarefado, lanzando unha comunidade de desenvolvedores para ExactTarget e ascendendo a Xestor de produtos para ExactTarget mentres pasabamos de centos de clientes integrados a miles, só puiden ver como se lanzaba MyColts.net.

Chris Baggott and I also began meeting and talking about the medium. Chris understood the value of the medium, which (I believe) was largely influential in propelling ExactTarget to the forefront of the industry. Chris' Enviar un blog de prácticas recomendadas por correo electrónico was awarded several times over the years and he was definitely recognized as a thought leader in the Email Marketing industry – thanks in part to his blog. This was when Chris started seeing an opportunity, though. Blogs were fantastic vehicles for information – but it still isn't easy for the consumer to find the nugget of gold that bloggers were posting.

Chris comezou a sementar as sementes para Software de compendio, his new startup. Keep an eye on this company! It's the next evolution of blogging and it's now becoming a reality. Sometimes I feel like a father watching his child grow up as I see this company starting up – but, unfortunately, the timing wasn't there for me to join the team.

Por que me colleron nas redes sociais?

Social media levels the playing field. I believe it's as important for business as it is for democracy. Social media provides anyone with a keyboard and internet access to have a voice. Social media provides a means for good, honest businesses to build relationships with their prospects and customers. No longer is it ‘he who can afford the most advertising' who wins. No longer do businesses have to pay huge percentages of their budgets to print and broadcast media to be found. Now they simply have to do a great job and the word will get out.

What marketer wouldn't want to be involved with that?

Unha nota secundaria: anos despois, The Indianapolis Star tamén comezou a ver a luz. Unha vez burlado pola redacción, agora o contido xerado por usuarios estase a converter nunha das principais áreas de crecemento do xornal. Comprobar IndyMoms como un gran exemplo.