By: Erika Stevens
A few weeks ago I attended the Western States Acquirers Association Annual Conference where I was lucky enough to be entertained (because presentation sounds so boring compared to what it was) by the keynote speaker Scott Stratten, the president of UnMarketing. Scott Stratten is a speaker, writer and expert on all things viral and social marketing.
Scott’s presentation was full of social media, engagement and unmarketing wisdom. One line he used that stuck out to me the most was - every time you email a QR code, a unicorn dies. Scott’s unique way of communicating marketing expertise with humor and poignancy aside – this is so true. It is not enough to use whatever cool new technology or innovation if you don’t understand the way your customers are interacting with it. Emailing a QR code when many people are reading their emails on their smartphones makes no sense. Don’t include something in your marketing efforts just because it is cool, make sure you understand the way that it can enhance your communication and customer engagement.
Another one of Scott’s points from his presentation was about the content you put on social media. His words of advice are simple – don’t post unless you have something awesome to say. This pertains to Twitter, Facebook, blogs and even company newsletters. Much of the advice regarding frequency of use for these tools has been to post regularly no matter what. There are different numbers that experts will tell you to prescribe by to get the most from your marketing efforts – post on twitter once a day, be sure to blog once a week, send a monthly newsletter to stay in front of your customers, etc. Scott makes the point that people spread awesome. If you are focused on the frequency of communicating instead of the awesomeness, you are missing the point.
Check out Scott’s website. Read his blog, order his book and if you ever get the chance to see him speak don’t let the opportunity pass. How many times do you get to hear a marketing expert talk about unicorns AND give you sound advice?