Marketing 2.0 Presented at Chamber Event

I was invited to speak at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, which is the largest chamber in the Tampa Bay region where I live. The event was well attended with close to 100 people representing mostly small and midsized businesses and non-profits.

I tested out my new slides which summarize my forthcoming book entitled Marketing 2.0. Judging by the questions, comments and the active note taking in the audience, I’d say my presentation was well received.

I spoke on how the old way of marketing (1.0) comprised of shouting at customers is dead. I referenced this video comically showing the divorce between advertiser and consumer.  I pointed out that buyers have filters that allow us to prevent old-style marketing from reaching us.

I highlighted how marketers must focus on two fundamental pillars in a marketing 2.0 strategy:

• producing great content
• building relationships on the social web

I discussed the types of content to produce ranging from websites, blogs, newsletters, e-books, white papers, articles, press releases, videos, photos. I didn’t mention (but should have) wikis and podcasts.

I stressed the importance of engaging with like minded communities to build relationships with people and to build trust.

I spoke of how buyers now buy differently. I explained that when I buy I turn to two places: 1) my friends (my network) and 2) the web. When researching on the web I ask for opinions from other people whom I’ve never met. But, I can read the profile and experience of people who make recommendations to determine their qualifications (trustworthiness) for recommendations.

I can also make valuable connections, some of which can turn into measurable results. I spoke of how to measure results using tools and Internet marketing software as well as also measuring the outcome of new relationships.

I was not surprised to learn that most people in the audience used LinkedIn. About half the audience used Facebook. But, only three people actively use Twitter and only a few more maintained active blogs.

I got the strong impression that most of the attendees were fairly new to social media marketing. Some indicated they previously had very little exposure to it.

I didn’t hear any major objections to a marketing 2.0, social media marketing strategy, which I characterized as a paradigm shift.

Rather, I believe I heard a willingness to experiment and explore the business benefits of producing and sharing content on the social web and building relationships which can produce positive benefits to their business.

You can view my entire Marketing 2.0 presentation on Slideshare.

Cheers,

Bernie Borges
@berniebay