According to Leonard Brody, marketers need to stop worrying and love the web.
The co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based NowPublic, a user generated social news website, gave a keynote speech on the final day of the Canadian Marketing Association’s Next conference in Toronto.
“I’m surprised with a lot of people’s willingness to ignore the rise of digital,” said Brody says. Ignoring the web means companies are not only missing the chance to create a dialogue with consumers, they are also missing the chance to sell. “[Consumers] will certainly buy things online they would never buy in person,” he said.
But if marketers really want to engage their demographic online, they must first participate in social networking themselves, he said, citing examples like ING CEO Peter Aceto, who has 882 followers on Twitter. “It’s about authenticity,” said Brody. “It’s about being a person, not a CEO.”
Once a brand has created a presence on a social network, the goal is to turn consumers into brand ambassadors, though getting consumers to generate content related to your brand is only part of the battle, said Brody.
In fact, user generated content cannot replace professionally created content. “Simply because you have a video camera does, not make you Steven Spielberg.”
Instead, Brody said marketers should be looking for meaningful user generated content from influencers in their demographic—the early adapters, or “thought leaders.”
At the end of the session Brody admitted to the audience he’s not sure where the web is headed, but he did offer some advice.
Marketers must educate their staff on the web and social networking, but should also hire web savvy pros when necessary. “You need to outsource when you don’t have those talents,” he said.
