Small Business Web Design, Local Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Online Video, Training | LOCAL Na8ion West Palm Beach, FL

You may have already heard more than you can take about social networks like Facebook and Twitter or blog marketing. These conversational communications tools are none the less here to stay. Once in a while it’s a good idea to step away from the How-to make a facebook page type article and look at the bigger picture of how online tools are redefining our customer relationships. That’s the intent of this piece.

The Broadcasting Model

It would be an understatement to say that customer communications models are changing. Old marketing and communications practices followed a we speak/you listen model. This worked out pretty well for business owners and marketers when people used to have more attention to spare or we could rely on the novelty of an advertising medium to break through the clutter. Unfortunately, the expiration date these days on novelty expires in months and not decades.

The issue now is that people don’t have the time or interest in listening. Before they expend their time and attention on your company or product an exchange of value has to take place. For today I’ll call that exchange of value, engagement.

The old model looked something like this.

Ye Old Marketing and Communications Model

The Interaction Model

Interactive online tools like blogs ushered in today’s interaction model and extends today in webinars, livestreams, chat rooms, virtual worlds and social networks. Clearly we have a lot of tools that make it possible to better listen. For those of you with businesses with retail locations this interaction model has always extended to the most powerful of interaction models – face time! The influence of online tools has grown and today small business owners are starting to see the value in listening more with online tools. But listening skills aren’t enough and far too many organizations are still stuck in the broadcast model.

The interaction model looked something like this.

The transitional model - think web 2.0

The Evolving Engagement Model

With today’s tools we have what we need to move towards a new engagement model that focuses more heavily on listening, processing, interacting, and broadcasting. Ideally, the net result is tangible engagement and then a lift in your brand and sales.

It probably resembles a formula like this.

Listening 30% / Processing 20% / Interacting 30% / Broadcasting 20% = Engagement

The evolving engagement model

I’m going to dive into the engagement model in more detail in future posts and we’ll bring it all together with an actionable process.

Julian, ed LOCAL Na8ion
where you are is where it’s at

We just launched a sister practice of LOCAL Na8ion called brand trampoline. I’m writing some posts there to get things started and even though the content is a bit different from the typical fare here I thought you’d be interested. Here’s the first post. There will be more to follow.

- Julian, ed LOCAL Na8ion

One of our sister practices at brand trampoline is called LOCAL Na8ion where we help small businesses harness the web to get more customers from their local city. Our slogan at LOCAL Na8ion is where you are is where it’s at. The slogan hints at how our physical and virtual worlds have become intertwined. At times, where we are is a state of mind, such as when we’re contributing to an online community, while at other times we are grounded in the context of our physical location and needs like when we go out to dinner or look for a plumber on Google.

Where your people are at has changed

The slogan is apt for our new service Brand Trampoline because where you are and where your people are (be they consumers, job seekers, or buyers of your product or service) has radically changed…if you want your company to be where it’s at you have to participate.

Every aspect of life is converging and connecting

Connections are now happening in multiple contexts and dimensions including our physical proximity and shared interests to our social networks of friends and associates on Facebook, Twitter, email and blogs, and yes offline too. Perhaps the ultimate mashup of all these interactions is TCFKAP – The computer in your pocket formerly known as a phone. Wait, did I just make a Prince reference?

Facebook is becoming the web’s top source of traffic

The web today is pretty search centric (that’s spelled G-O-O-G-L-E) but times are changing quickly, Facebook is fast becoming the web’s top source of traffic. Real time search results and social search are replacing the way we interact almost overnight. We have new interaction touch points, tools, and communication vehicles and in almost all cases consumers, job seekers, and local buyers are way out head of the typical enterprise - be they the mom and pop variety or the Fortune 500.

Companies of all sizes are making one of three mistakes

1. They’re failing to engage at all.
2. They not keeping pace with where people are moving due to budgets, expertise or red tape.
3. They’re failing to engage in a meaningful way, often in the form of broadcasting their information rather than following an interaction model (what we refer to as digital engagement)

We all need to let go of the paradigm where our company website is where it’s at. Not that we don’t need one, it’s just that your website has already become a spoke in the wheel as far as people are concerned while your business operations, marketing and PR are still treating it like sun that your customers all orbit around.

The new interaction engagement model

We’re going to take up the case of the new interaction engagement model in the coming week but you might not be surprised to learn that success in our new world is based not in technological expertise or marketing gimmicks but old fashioned common sense applied in a contextually thoughtful way. Not to sound smug but it’s called listening. Have you noticed how little room there is today for listening? It’s hard when everyone is an expert and all of us posses some fantasmic skill or solution for becoming wealthy, skinny or successful overnight. Listening and understanding are more important today than in any time in our history.

Rather than rushing to establish an online reputation it’s useful for us all to recognize that we already have one, just like we already have a company culture even if you HR team or CEO failed to launch a multi-million dollar culture initiative in the 90′s.

I look forward to picking up the conversation about the new engagement model (er, old) in the coming week. In the mean time we’ll be out there looking for threads of knowledge in this and other conversations and looking to engage in more understanding.

-Julian

Issue 3 – March 11, 2010

Featured Article | The Biggest Mistake in Web Design

March 10, 2010 | The biggest mistake in web design is letting your own design taste get in the way of choosing a really great web design. This is especially true for small businesses where one person is the sole decision maker on the design. This post talks about what makes a business web design great and shares some simple steps on how you can avoid this trap while still achieving a design you love. Read full story…

Video | Get on Page One of Google with jQuery | Episode 24 Local Knowledge

March 11, 2010 | There’s a new way to get on page one of Google search results by using a jQuery web design. This video and blog post will get you squared away.  Watch Video…

Watercooler | Authenticity in Marketing

As small business owners we are often naturally authentic in our marketing but on occasion we also try to be bigger than we are in order to impress our potential customer and in so doing we unintentionally sound like corporate BS machines! P Morgan Brown’s article Authenticity in Marketing describes how Trader Joes publishes a newsletter called the Fearless Flyer that manages to inform their customers while coming across as approachable and true to their company spirit. Read More…

Local 141 | Juicy links & status updates

March 10, 2010

• Facebook Will Allow Users to Share Location – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/1gA3t
• Foursquare Introduces New Tools for Businesses – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/1gzZ3
• The biggest mistake in small business web design from LOCAL Na8ion in West Palm Beach, FL http://ow.ly/1gzY1
• I love cheap & easy. In my SMS marketing tools I mean. SMS PENNY SMS http://ow.ly/1guPD

March 9, 2010

• Don’t Let User-Generated Reviews Ruin You – ClickZ http://ow.ly/1g25W

March 8, 2010

• YouTube – Where 09: Danny Sullivan, “Tricky Issues With Local Search” http://ow.ly/1fxYj
• How to Design for Your Worst Client: You. http://ow.ly/1fxNk

March 7, 2010

• Is someone managing your paid search ads for your business? Do you know how much of your money goes to buying ads? http://ow.ly/1extX

March 4, 2010

• Want to convert more lookie-loo’s into buyers? Forbes study suggests SEO, email and PPC ads are most effective: http://ow.ly/1elKU

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Local Bits, Bytes and BS.

- Julian Seery Gude
LOCALNa8ion.com – Where you are is where it’s at

About | Local Bits, Bytes & BS is our weekly online magazine and email newsletter for small business owners that need to connect with local buyers for next-to-nothing using practical online tools and methods. We publish content every week that reveals secrets from the leading edge of local internet marketing, local search engine optimization, social media, online video, web design and WordPress.

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