What is 360 Marketing and Why You’re Failing at It

Like “Social Media Expert”, “360 Marketing” gets bandied about like marketing’s prettiest girl at the dance, but she ain’t that pretty when her makeup’s all smeared, her dress is torn, and she’s as drunk as a sailor.

This is what happens when your integrated marketing program really isn’t one. In a previous post, I discussed the importance of branding, and the essence of that branding has to carry over to everything else you do in your marketing efforts.

When I was first training foreign teams on effective social media campaigns focused on Americans, they had the mistaken impression that swearing was necessary in all posts. (Probably my fault – I am typically the only American they know personally and I used to swear like a trucker when I first moved East. I’m better now.) When you are spreading the “voice” of your brand across all sorts of media, everyone developing that media needs to match that voice consistently, otherwise subliminal feelings of mistrust start to develop in the receiver.

For example, when most Americans buy their new Dell laptop and try to figure out how to configure their Wi-Fi connection, they call tech support. With all the pressure to buy American these days in the States, reaching a call center in Mumbai or Sao Paulo, with people speaking a distinctly different English, it will immediately put most Americans in a bad mood, affecting their overall impression with the brand.

Another example would be putting your twitter feed into the hands of an intern, who uses it for her personal tweets at the same time. No one wants to know what she had for lunch or about that hunky new guy she saw at the coffee shop yesterday and how much she hopes he’ll call. If I’m following your company’s tweets, I won’t mind hearing about the hunky new guy working in tech support (with a pic, please!) IF the brand has that “voice”. If you’re a law firm, that would still not be appropriate.

But brands have personalities, just like people, and bringing that personality across everything (including your 404 page) can significantly increase engagement. Facebook pages, Linkedin company pages and groups can be places to crowdsource ideas, test marketing promotions, get feedback on your products. Engage, engage, engage, people. Ask lots of open-ended questions (ones that can’t be answered yes or no), like, “How would you deal with (insert situation of frustration here that could possibly be associated with your product)?” Use polls as well, like “Would you rather get a 10% off coupon on your next beverage, or a free beverage after you purchase 10?” Making your fans feel included, as a part of your brand, will go far. Expand on this by building promotions that refer friends or ask them to vote on other fan’s contributions on your page. It could be as simple as a caption contest. Another example of this is to make a contest for a new tagline or product name and having people vote for the best. Have badges for frequent contributor stories. Have people vote for best story of the year – depending on the brand, it could be the craziest thing that ever happened to you while drinking that tasty beverage, or voting on the weirdest story they’ve read in your newspaper.

Now, for those companies that are much more formal (see: law firms, banks), your “voice” will of course be different, more formal, announcing court wins and new clients, but you can also offer free legal advice (with your disclaimer), post profiles of your newest staff members and their practice groups, etc.

The Kicker – Why Companies Fail

360 marketing also includes print, TV, radio, billboards (or hoardings as they’re called here in Asia). Your interaction with the press and industry analysts also needs to use the same “voice”. When working out your messaging, it should stay consistent regardless of the source, with minor tweaks to fit said source.

Many companies outsource this because they’re not sure what to do or how to do it and they have no idea how to measure success. Using multiple companies will give you a headache – they need to be integrated as well, so go back to your branding guidelines and ensure all companies you use are using your unique “voice” across all media. Sometimes it helps to put all your work in a room and look at it. If something doesn’t match, it will immediately stand out. Time for a redo.

Many companies are afraid to engage themselves because they’re nervous a staffer will “go rogue” and embarrass the company, or a disgruntled customer will flame mail your social media endeavors. I actually welcome the flamers. For every one that complains, there are ten more out there that won’t and you can bet your last dollar they’ll tell a friend how badly you treated them, losing you more potential customers. By actively engaging in your authentic voice and over delivering beyond their expectations, you build a fan for life, who will share how you corrected their problem.

For the staffer, it may have been a drunken late night tweet they thought was going to their personal account. A quick apology, maybe retraining or re-assignment for the bad tweeter, and you’re good to go. Most bad social media encounters are quickly forgotten (well, except for some very memorable exceptions) as you continue forward. Even a little bad press can get you visitors to your web site, where they may still be converted to customers. As long as you continue to speak in your authentic voice, make a sincere apology, and engage with the people who are upset, you’ll win more than you’ll lose.

It’s these challenges in life that make it fun to get up in the morning. 360 marketing really is da bomb. :- )

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