Have you ever taken the time to break down time and realize how valuable time really is, even down to a millisecond? This Tungle video, produced by my friend Scott Stratten, breaks down time by providing powerful examples that will cause you to look at time in a new light after watching it.

If you can’t view this video, you can watch it over here.

A powerful underlying concept, eh? “Stop wasting time on things you can’t control, and focus on the things you can.”

Now, if I didn’t tell you earlier that the video was created for Tungle or if you didn’t watch the last couple seconds of the video, you would’ve thought it was just a motivational and inspirational video. One of thousands available across the internet.

But, go deeper than that and realize what Tungle and Scott Stratten have done by publishing this video. They have created emotionally compelling content based around the subject of time, the very issue that Tungle helps us to manage.

If you’ve never heard of Tungle, they are:

“…a calendar accelerator that let’s you easily schedule meetings and share with people inside or outside your business, even if you use different calendars. Tungle is not a calendar – it integrates with your current calendar, giving you the flexibility and control to connect, collaborate and get more done.”

Instead of a video about how to use their service, Tungle has created a video that illicit emotion thus causing you to want to share the video with your social graph. Think you’d have the same feeling if it was a video about how great Tungle is and how much time their tool will save you? Probably not.

The 71 videos that Tungle currently has uploaded to their YouTube channel, they have received a total of 83,428 views. Of those 83,000+ views, the above video has 25,132 views or 30% of all views and it has only been live for 2 weeks, as of this writing.

Looking for the underlying lesson here? Find ways to create compelling content that don’t just pimp your product. Tell a story, illicit emotion and give your community a reason to share your content.

Oh, and if you haven’t tried Tungle yet, go try it because not only does the tool rock, they’re team is pretty awesome, too. I f you want some more info about Tungle, I interviewed Tungle’s CEO Marc Gingras earlier this year.

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Marketing has changed dramatically since the adoption of social media.  How consumers digest advertising and make buying decisions has forever been altered by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIn.

I lead the Demand Generation team at my organization.  However, the teams name, as well as my title, only tell a small fraction of the story.  Demand, or the creation of it, can be broken down into three distinct, yet dependent parts:

Demand Generation

Commonly referred to as Awareness, encompasses traditional media such as Television, Radio, Print, Billboards, and so on.  These are the bullhorns of advertising.  In many cases this is a customer’s first interaction with a brand; consciously or subconsciously.  I read a lot of nonsense in pop media that suggests traditional advertising is dead.  I believe what is dead is the asynchronous nature of advertising.  It is evolving to become bidirectional.  We have social media and the broader social web to thank for the phenomenon.  Considering that the business models of Facebook and Twitter are predominantly ad based, we better hope that advertising isn’t dead.

While many people think they are immune to advertising, it’s simply not the case.  Many companies use traditional media to imprint or introduce a brand to the target market.  The introduction does not mean there is an expectation (in most cases), to buy now!  The advertising is designed to elicit an emotional response in terms of awareness or association with the product or service.  I’m speaking in generalities because there are many different approaches and theories, such as Direct Response marketing, Branded Response, Content Marketing, Branding, etc.  One of the primary objectives of Demand Generation is to have the prospect take their brand impression and move it onto web.  This is the first step toward Demand Discovery.

Demand Discovery

In this phase, an interested consumer would use the web to inquire about the product.  Such as going onto Twitter to ask about peoples experience with the brand, or engaging with the brand directly and asking questions.  They may look on Facebook or LinkedIn for more content and recommendations, or they may search on YouTube for a product demo.  They will also use the social web to seek out brand alternatives to evaluate what type of service or product best fits their needs.  During this phase customers seek out what is commonly referred to as word-of-mouth.  They are asking their friends both online and offline, about what they use and what they prefer.  During the Discovery phase the brand lets go of the conversation and hands it to the community.  Not literally, but figuratively.

This is the true test of the brands health.  If the product and the value proposition don’t delivery, you’re toast.  The brand can’t use the social web to suddenly make an inferior product sound superior.  This is also where happy customers along with not so happy customers do the marketing on behalf of the brand.  They will influence the buying decision more than any form of traditional media.

Let’s use the iPod as an example.  Everyone remembers the TV ad featuring the dancer with white ear phones playing Are You Gonna be My Girl!.  The ad could have promoted speed and ease of use, but it didn’t.  It turned a stale functional music player into a fashion brand.  In turn, it created an impression that this was more than a music player, it was a must have fashion accessory if you want to be one of the cool kids.  Their legions of fans carried the message from that point forward.  This leads to the final phase, which is Demand Capture.

Demand Capture

This is the sale.  Demand Capture, in my view, happens in one of two areas; search (Google, Bing, etc.), and direct traffic to the brand’s web site or retail store.  Frequently a prospective customer will use a search engine to navigate the web.  During this process they will be exposed to a brand via paid advertising (pay-per-click) or they will find the brand in the natural/organic rankings which leads to the web site.  The primary distinction between Discovery versus Capture, is the transaction.  The Demand is effectively captured by a search landing page and/or directly by the website.  The website can also be substituted or in conjunction with a retail outlet.

Admittedly, there is more than a little commingling between Demand Generation, Discovery and Capture.  The Demand sandwich, for lack of a better visual, now has a tasty slice of Discovery sitting in the middle.  The sandwich was bland and predictable, kind of link bologna.  Now it’s full of flavor and stacked high with choices.  I’ll take rich flavor over bland any day.  As a marketer and a consumer, I prefer choice.  I love the transfer of power and the infinite choices a customer has to aid in their buying decision.  This makes for an informed customer.

An informed customer has a higher lifetime value and is likely to become an advocate of the brand on the social web.  Another benefit is transparency.  The brand promise is clear, thus discouraging detractors or those that are not right for the product or service.  If you can prevent detractors from purchasing your product in the first place, better for them, better for your brand.

Marketing’s success does not hinge on traditional media.  The price of entry is a stellar product and an amazing customer experience.  If you have a small budget and a big dream, spend all your waking hours making it a reality.  Talk about your progress, what your creating, create a community of believers.  Those believers will turn into customers, customers become fans, fans become your marketing engine.

This is my view.  What’s yours?

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Ok, I’m a fan of Dancing With The Stars (we all have out guilty pleasures, right?). So, the other day I was watching retired NFL player Warren Sapp dance the samba, which basically consisted of him standing around shaking his big, defensive tackle hips while his professional ballroom partner Kym Johnson danced around him. Because of this, the consensus among the judges was that their dance “lacked content”.

So, what does this have to do with your business website or blog? Well, think of it this way: is your content standing in the middle of the dance floor, not really doing anything, or is it dazzling the audience with all the right moves and making you and your business look professional – like you’re an expert?

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “content is king”; but your web content is nothing if it’s not authoritative. I’ve seen more websites and blogs than I care to admit that just slap up any old content without regard to what will actually interest their audience. This sort of rubbish falls into one or more of the following categories:

• Horribly written articles and blog posts rendered completely useless and nonsensical by keyword stuffing.
• Regurgitations of press releases and news articles without reaction from the blogger or relation back to the reader.
• Sales pages disguised as articles designed to push readers towards a conversion rather than pull them in with valuable, relevant content.

If your content falls into any of these categories, than I hope you can take something away from this post – because you’ll do wonders for your brand, online reputation, marketing and communication efforts, and business in general by forming and implementing a strategy around engaging, authoritative content.

Now, I’m not here to tell you that this sort of content strategy will be easy. It will take some hard work and dedication on your part, because it’s certainly not a “set it and forget it” option. You will, however, reap the rewards once you start offering your buyers content that targets them and their needs with consistently valuable information.

So, how do you form an effective content strategy? Here are some points to think about:

• Determine your goals. Why do you want to add content to your site, and what would you want that content to do for your business? Would you use blog posts or articles to talk about your products or services and increase press coverage? Give your take on industry-related news or relate it back to your readers? Offer advice for relevant problems your readers commonly face? This will give you a better idea of what kind of content will be written, as well as how the content can eventually be promoted.
• Scope out the competition. What are your competitors doing? Do they have blogs, a resources section with articles, or maybe videos and podcasts? Take the time to read/watch/listen to their content in order to determine if a) there’s a possible gap you can fill, and b) if you can implement similar ideas for your business.
• Research your target audience. In order for your content to be of value, you need to create it around topics that interest your target audience. Check out forums related to your niche to find out about relevant issues they may have, as you could develop content that addresses those issues. You can also gather some excellent (and free) research from social bookmarking sites to find out the kind of content your audience likes (check out my post on how to use social media for market research).
• Recruit content creators. Who knows more about your business, industry, or niche than you? You’re an excellent candidate for creating content – but you don’t have to be the only one. Your research should uncover some topics for which some pretty valuable content can be developed, so now you can recruit others to contribute. These can include:
  • Employees at your company with knowledge in niche areas of your business
  • Friends or outside colleagues who know the industry and can offer a unique, expert take
  • Industry experts who would be willing to contribute in exchange for a little good PR and/or a backlink
  • Freelance writers who have knowledge of your industry and can provide regular, authoritative content based on your needs
• Decide how often to update content. This is up to you and completely based on the needs of your business; however, it’s recommended that you update your content at least 2-3 times a week to keep it fresh and your readers coming back for more.
• Decide how your content will be promoted. Content does have to be promoted, whether it’s to your existing customer base or to prospective customers. There are so many ways to promote your content, it would take up a whole new post; but a few to consider are email, social bookmarking and networking sites (look for ones related to your audience or niche market), and blog directories.
• Keep the conversation going. Customer engagement doesn’t end after the content is posted – that’s where it starts. They’ll comment on it, ask questions, and try to start a conversation with you. Why? Because they perceive you as an expert, and they want to know that there is a person behind the company logo. It’s up to you to respond in a timely manner and keep them engaged. Part of your strategy should definitely address who will be your community manager or chief conversation officer, responding to comments and questions from your audience and engaging readers on external sites where your content is being promoted.

No longer is content just words on a page – it has to inform, interest, and engage. By creating a strong content strategy based on your goals and centered on the needs of your audience, you’ll achieve sustainable results that will reap rewards for your business for a long time to come. More than that – your customers will be dazzled by your moves!

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Photo by: pshutterbug