Social Media & Influencer Marketing

How did I get interested in Social Media?

When Shel asked for folks who might be interested in providing some response with an SAP Survey on Social Media, I jumped at the opportunity and immediately wrote him. With Shel’s permission, he’s allowed me to post my responses on my blog. This is Part I!

Tell me when and how you first got interested in social media. Why?

Working in Print Media for over a decade, I watched as the Internet quickly began to siphon attention and, with it, advertising from the newspaper industry. The Internet as a medium is accessible, inexpensive, and the technology is fairly simple. Even within print media, I always believed that each medium had it’s own strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes the Newspaper wasn’t the greatest place to advertise.

When the Internet came along, my colleagues saw it as a threat. I saw it as an incredible opportunity. I jumped ship and moved to Denver, Colorado to work for a company that was leading the charge on utilizing the Internet. Unfortunately, I joined when the bubble was bursting. I moved to Indianapolis to join the local newspaper and lead their direct marketing efforts, utilizing data to better target prospective subscribers and pushing a direct mail program for clients.

I tried as much as possible to get technologies such as Email Marketing into the newspaper as well, but anything “Internet” was seen as a medium to deliver content and sell advertising… not creating relationships. Anything Internet was also under the authority of the IT department so I was stepping on other peoples’ toes. When new management came in and began asking, “What is it that you do?”, I knew they were oblivious and I needed to leave.

Through a friend and colleague, Darrin Gray, I met Pat Coyle and joined their firm, Brandirect. Darrin was and is a master at sales and networking. Pat was and is a master at building relationships. I was the data and technology guy – finding the best technologies to increase companies’ relationships with their prospects and customers. It was a success, Darrin sold, Pat guided, and I built!

047174719X.01. SCMZZZZZZZIt was during this period that Pat and I started seeing the impact that Social Media was having. Not too ironic, we read (devoured) Shel’s book, Naked Conversations. We understood that marketing was no longer simply a ‘push’ technology, it was turning into something very, very different.

Pat moved to The Indianapolis Colts full time. The Colts, led by Jim Irsay, knew they were on the verge of greatness and I believe he had the vision to know that he needed to take the opportunity to connect with fans while his push to the Superbowl was within sight.

I moved to ExactTarget, an Email Service Provider, mesmerized by the evangelism of CMO and founder Chris Baggott. Chris’ message was about the incredible value of permission-based email marketing, targeting the right message to the right people at the right time.

MyColts.netIn the last two years, Pat and I still remained close friends and met often with a local book club that he coordinates, The Indianapolis Book Mashup. Our first book? Naked Conversations of course!

Pat took the opportunity to push The Colts to building a social network for the Superbowl Champions. I salivated as I watched MyColts.net becoming a reality. With a busy schedule of my own, launching a Developer Community for ExactTarget and being promoted to Product Manager for ExactTarget while we grew from hundreds of integrated clients to thousands, I could only watch as MyColts.net was launched.

Chris Baggott and I also began meeting and talking about the medium. Chris understood the value of the medium, which (I believe) was largely influential in propelling ExactTarget to the forefront of the industry. Chris’ Email Best Practices blog was awarded several times over the years and he was definitely recognized as a thought leader in the Email Marketing industry – thanks in part to his blog. This was when Chris started seeing an opportunity, though. Blogs were fantastic vehicles for information – but it still isn’t easy for the consumer to find the nugget of gold that bloggers were posting.

Compendium SoftwareChris began sowing the seeds for Compendium Software, his new startup. Keep an eye on this company! It’s the next evolution of blogging and it’s now becoming a reality. Sometimes I feel like a father watching his child grow up as I see this company starting up – but, unfortunately, the timing wasn’t there for me to join the team.

Why have I got caught up in Social Media?

Social media levels the playing field. I believe it’s as important for business as it is for democracy. Social media provides anyone with a keyboard and internet access to have a voice. Social media provides a means for good, honest businesses to build relationships with their prospects and customers. No longer is it ‘he who can afford the most advertising’ who wins. No longer do businesses have to pay huge percentages of their budgets to print and broadcast media to be found. Now they simply have to do a great job and the word will get out.

What marketer wouldn’t want to be involved with that?

A Side Note: Years later, The Indianapolis Star has begun to see the light as well. Once scoffed by the editorial staff, now user-generated content is becoming a leading growth area for the newspaper. Check out IndyMoms as a great example.

Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is CMO of OpenINSIGHTS and the founder of the Martech Zone. Douglas has helped dozens of successful MarTech startups, has assisted in the due diligence of over $5 bil in Martech acquisitions and investments, and continues to assist companies in implementing and automating their sales and marketing strategies. Douglas is an internationally recognized digital transformation and MarTech expert and speaker. Douglas is also a published author of a Dummie's guide and a business leadership book.

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