Things I’ve Learned from Lately #23

“Things I’ve Learned from Lately” is a regular compilation of articles that have made me a smarter social media marketer. Hopefully, they’ll help you, too.

People Do Want Brand Relationships (At Least Sometimes) Harvard Business Review Blog shares findings from a recent crowdfunding survey, including crowdfunders understand the risk of investing and crowdfunders tend to feel close to and want to be a part of brands they like. People need to feel emotionally connected with target companies, which means businesses, especially start-ups, need to engage funders in an emotional way.

Key Takeaway: Marketers have spent years honing their ability to communicate messages to as many people as possible. Today, we have the ability to interact with customers on a more regular basis and show another dimension of our brands from the people and culture to the personality and interests. Brands can use social media to take existing relationships and make them stronger with more dynamic content and inviting customers behind the curtain.

Be True to Your Brand – Mitch Joel shares an unpleasant exchange with a border crossing guard at the airport, which he concludes would have been easier if he had just lied even though he didn’t. He shares his perspective that too often brands are being less than honest, but at the end of the day it comes down to building products and services that are “unique, valuable and include additional utility to the customer.”

Key Takeaway: Brands are held under a microscope more than ever as people now have the tools to hold them accountable. It might be easy to blur the truth today, but in the long run it will come back. The short-term payoff is never worth the long-term suffering.

Content’s Tough – Everyone says “content is king,” but that’s easy to say and tough to execute on. DigiDay shares the frustrations of several brands when it comes to content creation.

Key Takeaway: Quality and speed are two things that often don’t go together. Businesses are set-up for quality but most aren’t for speed. Committees need to be involved. Reviews need to take place. Content has become paramount, and most organizations aren’t set-up for success. So before executing a content marketing strategy, make sure your business is prepared internally.

This Internet Thing’s Going to Stick Around – Mary Meeker of KPCB shared a presentation showing the incredible growth and proliferation of the Internet and the connected consumer.

Key Takeaway: Things are changing, and they’re changing quickly. What is being asked of businesses today will be very different in the near future. Brands living in the present will without a doubt find themselves in the past.