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Inc. reports this month that machine-to-machine (M2M) connections soon will "rock the Internet."
M2M refers to automated devices—instead of people—connecting to the Web.
Devices like cars, major appliances and industial equipment.
In fact, there are already more machines than people using the networks run by AT&T and Verizon, according to Inc.
"For people, the conveniences are limitless: empty pill bottles that request their own prescription refills with the drug store, tracking devices for lost pets, cars that upload the latest engine diagnostics to the service department before actually going to the service department, etc."
M2M data mining is also coming our way.
"Forget spam," Inc. warns. "Your biggest worry to come won't be the latest phishing scam. More likely, it will be something like your refrigerator or home alarm system ratting you out to marketing companies."
When you produce copy for a living, you become well-accustomed to revising.
But, even after 30 years in the field, I'm still vexed by the few clients who want one rewrite after another.
Sometimes, they're clients who work at one or two removes from the organizations I'm writing about. Ad agencies. PR firms. Design studios. Consultants.
But just as often, the clients work inside the organizations. Hell, sometimes they run the organizations.
The reason for the rewrites is always the same. They don't know where the organization stands.
They don't "get" the organization's brand. Or the brand keeps changing day by day. Or (the same thing) there is no brand.
In the 1980s, I worked at an ad agency. We had a client (an obscure federal agency) named the President's Commission on Executive Exchange. It was a dream to work for.
About four times a year, on the client's behalf I had to "ghostwrite" short speeches and letters for then-President Ronald Reagan.
Naturally, I was pretty nervous the first time round about writing copy for the Commander in Chief.
But every first draft I ever submitted sailed right through.
Did I have deep expertise in "executive exchange?" No.
Did I have a White House insider's viewpoint? No.
Did I embrace the President's policies? No.
Did I know Ronald Reagan? Never met the man.
It was all very simple. I knew where he stood.
In fact, we all did.
My question to those clients who want so many rewrites: Do we know where you stand?
Five years ago, marketing gurus cautioned us: customers' worldviews had changed.
They no longer trusted institutions of any kind, whether business, government, nonprofit or media.
Arguably, the distrust was deserved. Rascals and reprobates ruled the day's headlines. Kenneth Lay. Bernie Ebbers. Jack Abramoff. Jayson Blair. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
But that wasn't the whole story.
The gurus held out another warning at the time.
Trust—the bedrock of purchasing—had not merely ebbed. It was in near-mortal danger.
As things turned out, the gurus were right. The years of distrust have ended.
We've entered the Age of Suspicion.
Customers today aren't just distrustful. They're downright suspicious.
They no longer give you a pass to treat them as lemming-like receptacles for marketing messages. Instead, they discredit your messages before they've even taken them in.
Everyday objectivity has given way to habitual disbelief. It's as if your attempts to communicate were toxic or, worse, "candy from strangers."
Old-fashioned curiosity, open-mindedness and the benefit of the doubt have vanished. Ordinary trust is a dinosaur.
We see proof of this constantly from public opinion polls.
Recent polls show, for example, that:
- 25% of us doubt President Barack Obama's US citizenship
- 40% think the government is suppressing evidence of extraterrestrial life
- 52% have little or no faith in banks
- 72% believe corporate wrongdoing is widespread
Social scientists teach that trust is a bond based on one person's willingness to become vulnerable to another.
Sadly, that bond has been broken once too often in recent years.
As a result, customers no longer feel safe enough to consider unfamiliar risks, even trivial ones. And their refusal to lower their defenses makes customers virtually immune to most forms of persuasion.
Customers today reject most of the tools that have traditionally functioned as marketers' stock in trade.
Customers no longer tolerate the expert opinion, the reasoned argument, the manufacturer's warranty, the "act now" deadline, or the product-claim based on the avoidance of pain.
If you want to win customers in the Age of Suspicion, you cannot rely on outmoded means of persuasion. You must adjust for mistrust.
To learn how, read my free special report, Path of Persuasion.
Want to succeed in exhibit marketing?
Marketing sage Seth Godin suggests there are only two ways.
The first way to succeed is to steal the show. To stage your company's presence so that it dominates the event.
"When you have the biggest booth, when you are the buzz of the event, when you are everywhere people look, you reinforce your position as the leader," Godin says.
The second way to succeed is to design the interactions. To target the few attendees who'll really benefit by talking to you and leave little to chance.
By "designing these interactions so that this small number of people set out to evangelize their peers on your behalf," you'll come out ahead.
The most common mistakes exhibit marketers make?
- They set out to dominate, but don't spend the money required.
- They chase after every attendee, at the expense of ever getting personal.
For an overwhelming majority of firms, designing the interactions is the smart—and safe—choice.
"If you staff and invest appropriately, you don't have to 'win' the show to make it worth the trip," Godin says. "On the other hand, if you're setting out to win and investing at the appropriate level, you better win."
Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman have been around the block. And it shows.
Coauthors of the new Social Marketing to the Business Customer, Gillin and Schwartzman have the street-smarts to avoid those golly-gee-whiz, social-media-is-just-awesome sort of statements that have grown so wearisome.
Instead, they've produced a sound—and in some instances profound—little book, filled with tactics and tips that any business marketer should find welcome.
Part One argues, convincingly, that despite the relentless attention paid to B2C social media efforts, "B2B companies actually have more to gain from social marketing than their consumer counterparts."
That's because social media mirror many of the needs of business buyers (such as their demands for tons of technical information, open communication, and multi-level relationships with suppliers).
But Gillin and Schwartzman are wise enough to state that social media marketing isn't a "panacea."
In fact, they admit that some B2B marketers may discover social media "has little or no apparent value."
How refreshing!
Part One also provides guidance in two crucial areas, "winning buy-in" and "creating a social organization."
If you struggle to overcome internal critics, you'll do well to study the two chapters devoted to these topics.
Part Two walks you through all the basic social media tools—blogs, podcasts, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, SlideShare, etc.
Here, the authors focus on avoiding risk. And what risk is that? The risk that you'll waste time and money if you choose the wrong—i.e., nonproductive—social media platforms.
A worthwhile consideration indeed.
Part Three relies largely on case studies to examine the best uses of social media for lead generation, which the authors call the "Holy Grail for B2B companies."
You'll learn from the far-ranging experiences of such organizations as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Deloitte, Indium, SAP and Spiceworks.
Without doubt, you'll find this the most rewarding portion of a most rewarding book.
